Ultimate Fight Night 19 or MMA Kickboxing for Dummies

Don't let the title of this entry fool you - I thought this card was HIGHLY entertaining. Great back and forth in all the televised bouts and a good card to show the viewers at home on free TV. In terms of relevance to overall rankings in the sport, this card did not have that much impact. None of the fighters were really hitting any sort of stride in terms of wins or large obstacles to overcome. The only exception would be "The Bully" Gray Maynard. He's currently riding a 6 fight win streak but you have to keep in mind he was only 2-0 when he came into the UFC.

Now on to the card itself:


1. Nate Quarry defeats Tim Credur via Decision

This fight for me set the tempo for the rest of the fights that night. It was a streetfight in the Octagon, plain and simple.
I counted FIVE knockdowns throughout the match.
Both guys look somewhat tentative standing and seemed like they were fighting under water. I couldn't tell if they were trying to get down some really good technique or just gun shy with their punches and kicks. I'm mainly referring to Quarry, who's had plenty of experience in the UFC. He definitely looked a little more relaxed and comfortable, but still looked to have a bit of trouble following through with all his punches. In his previous fights, he's looked much more robotic and stiff, almost like he was systematically, hitting mitts in the gym. On the ground, he had a nice RNC escape but he did little much offensively throughout the match. I'd have liked to have seen more aggressive GNP. Let's see Quarry take on someone with a ground acumen AND that utilizes it in a match.
Credur definitely looked like the quicker man standing but he just couldn't put together any real crisp strikes or combos. I'm not sure why he wanted to keep it standing the whole fight. He supposedly had a much bigger advantage on the ground, but it didn't really show.
Could have been those ridiculous haymakers that connected to his skull.
I hope he doesn't have brain damage.


2. Carlos Condit defeats Jake Ellenberger via Decision

Jake did a pretty good job for a newcomer to the UFC. He has a strong wrestling base that he used well offensively, clean counter punches that were timed off Condit's kicks and decent lay 'n' pray to win him some points on the ground. He pretty much did everything he possibly could have short of winning. Actually, he SHOULD have won when he dropped Condit in the first round. I disagree with the ref's decision to let it go, given Condit was pretty much motionless on the ground, curled up like a gigantic fetus.
I did however think after that point in the fight, Condit did a convincing job in the judge's eyes to earn him the decision. He utilized some decent knee strikes and ground defense to neutralize a lot of the damage that was trying to be inflicted on him. He was the much more active fighter on the ground, in both the defensive and offensive positions. Coming in as the WEC's Welterweight champ, I was expecting much more from Carlos but he's really off to a rocky start as of late. Let's throw him in the deep end again and see if he sinks - maybe Swick or a rematch with Twinkle Toes?


3. Gray Maynard defeats Roger Huerta via Decision

This match showcased both fighters strengths well, surprisingly. Not surprisingly, it showed that Gray is ready for a step up in competition. He performed well and made some improvements from previous matches: good combination of standup, wrestling and ground skills. Most notably, he exhibited decent footwork standing, solid counter punching and a wicked Kimura at the end of the fight, that looked like he wanted to take Roger's shoulder home with him. I initially thought he was hesitant to go for takedowns because none panned out in round one. After re-watching the card, I think it was more of his gameplan to feel out Roger in the first round and get comfortable before putting the pressure on him in the later rounds. Plus, he did get tagged good a couple of times. Overall, it proved to be an excellent gameplan and nicely executed strategy. I expect his next opponent to be someone in the top 10 - Sherk, Stevenson or a very unlikely Tyson Griffin whom he trains with at the Xtreme One's gym.
I wasn't surprised by Huerta's post fight comments regarding MMA retirement. He showed he still had the spark and fire that made him the exciting fighter that went 5-1 in his UFC tenure. His standup was crisper than previous fights and there was much more patience exhibited. I would have liked to see him attack at more unorthodox angles, especially since he was constantly trying to advance his position, and less of the head down, windmill attacks he was throwing out when he held his ground in the pocket.


4. Nate Diaz defeats Melvin Guillard via Submission

For some reason, this match brings back thoughts of Gomi vs. Nick Diaz - Guillard got in some decent shots (one good knockdown) but all it took was one good submission attempt to end it all. Guillard definitely looked like he matured as a fighter, staying well composed when initially taken down and clinched up on. Unfortunately, he self-destructed when he tried the Octagon-a-dope to seal his fate and probably drop him back down to the prelims. He should have stuck to what he does best - devastate his opponents with Galactica Phantom-like bombs (a la Ralf from King of Fighters).
Diaz looked like his winning self, constantly putting on the pressure to execute his standard game plan. The main hole in his plan was that random throw Melvin pulled out of thin air against him. I wonder if we'll see more throws applied against him now?


All in all it was a sweet, non-PPV card that should go down in the books as one of the more exciting UFN events.

Next up, UFC 103 - Franklin vs. Belfort.

~S

Why did this take so long to start?

OK.

Finally.

Sitting down to actually start this thing. I've been meaning to get going on this blog but something just keeps coming up.

Gotta look for a job.
Gotta find out what's the best way to prepare for an interview.
Fix my poker game so I actually start having profitable sessions, consistently.

When am I gonna make time for MMA talk? (Dumb question - I talk to myself about it all the time.)

So, this is the first time I'll put those thoughts out there for people to view and ridicule.

And as I said before about lagging, I'm going to have to rewind back a couple weeks to cover some recent events: UFN 19, UFC 103 and Sengoku 10.

That wasn't so hard, now was it?

~S