UFC 123: Epic Battle Ends in Controversial Fashion
Last night two former Light Heavyweight Champions took the Octagon to find out who could possibly be in the title hand. Lyoto Machida and Quinton Jackson had a great fight last night. The first two rounds were close but in the third Machida dominated him in my opinion. The judges scored the bout in favor of Jackson, and Jackson defeated Machida by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). I really think Machida should have been given the decision based on the third round. So where does this leave Machida? He lost but he didn’t look like a loser. Will Jackson be in line for another title shot? Only time will tell.
One thing that didn’t end in controversial fashion is B.J. Penn knocking out Matt Hughes in 21 seconds during the first round. Penn wins the rubber match of the two legends. I think Matt Hughes might be done. How could he comeback from that and have confidence as a fighter. Only time will tell if Matt Hughes comes back.
Some other results include:
-Lightweight bout: George Sotiropoulos vs. United States Joe Lauzon
Sotiropoulos defeated Lauzon by submission (kimura) at 2:43 of round 2.
-Light Heavyweight bout: Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch
Davis defeated Boetsch by submission (kimura) at 2:55 of round 2.
-Middleweight bout: United States Gerald Harris vs. Brazil Maiquel Falcão
Falcão defeated Harris by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28).
-Middleweight bout: United States Aaron Simpson vs. United States Mark Muñoz
Muñoz defeated Simpson by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
-Welterweight bout: United States Matt Brown vs. United States Brian Foster
Foster defeated Brown by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:11 of round 2.
– Lightweight bout: Paul Kelly vs. T.J. O’Brien
Kelly defeated O’Brien by TKO (elbows) at 3:16 of round 2.
All the fights were really good and I was impressed with the match-ups. There is a lot to look forward to in the beginning of next year. Here are some big fights coming up.
UFC 124- Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St-Pierre (c) vs. Josh Koscheck
UFC 125- Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (c) vs. Gray Maynard
Featherweight Championship bout: Jose Aldo (c) vs. Josh Grispi
Lightweight bout: Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi
UFC Fight for the Troops 2- Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs. Evan Dunham
Heavyweight bout: Matt Mitrione vs. Tim Hague
UFC 126- Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva (c) vs. Vitor Belfort
Light Heavyweight bout: United States Ryan Bader vs. United States Jon Jones
Bantamweight bout: Miguel Torres vs. Antonio Banuelos
Rumored fights that are in the works but don’t have dates include:
Rich Franklin vs. Forrest Griffin
Mauricio Rua vs. Rashad Evans
Tito Ortiz vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira
Welterweight bout: B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch
Lightweight bout: George Sotiropoulos vs. Dennis Siver
Great stuff from the UFC and I cannot wait for 2011.
