UFC 115

UFC 115 is in the bag and I would have to give the show a solid thumbs up. More of the fighters were engaged in action with fewer periods of simply laying on the opponent (though there was some of that in the Rothwell vs Yvel fight.

Danzig got jobbed. Incredibly poor ref stoppage. Danzig did allow himself to get into that situation, but it still did not reflect a just ending to the fight.

MacDonald vs Condit provided an interesting dilemma. If the ref was to allow the fight to continue to the end then MacDonald likely takes it on the scorecards. Stopping the fight at that point (seconds left in the 3rd) awarded a TKO to Condit. Here we have a problem with scoring in MMA. With only 3 rounds and an unlikelihood of awarding a 10-8 round, squeeking out a round awards as many points as dominating a round. If the fight had been stopped in the 2nd at the same point I doubt nearly so many in the audience would have complained. How do you score these things? While a fight can turn on a dime, projecting the momentum of the fight as it was happening in the 3rd, does anyone think MacDonald would have survived a 4th round? Controversial stoppage, but I believe it was a good one. The right person won.

Rothwell vs Yvel has a great first round and some moments in the second. Both of these individuals need to step up their conditioning though. This was almost as bad as watching TUF heavyweight season. Rogan called it correctly, the 3rd round had bowling shoe tendencies. How Yvel has not upped his ground game at this point in his career is mind boggling. It continues to cost him fights that he might otherwise win. It cost him the fight against Barnett and it cost him this one. He seemingly can be taken down by simply blowing hard on him.

Kampmann vs Thiago demonstrated total domination by Kampmann. How he lost to Daley is beyond me.

Cro Cop vs Barry was interesting and entertaining. Cro Cop in his last few fights seemed to have his will broken fairly easily. If the guy didn't run away or collapse under a kick then Cro Cop would allow himself to be pushed back and mauled. In the first round of this fight he went down twice and yet battled back. By the 2nd he was primarily coming forward and in the 3rd he totally took over as Barry was spent. He showed much more versatility in his offense. I still do not think he is a contender, but he saved his job and will certainly get another fight. Barry really needs to work on his conditioning. It is getting embarrassing to hear about how hard someone's camp was and then they gas out at 7 minutes of fighting. Still, it was a fun fight to watch.

Liddell vs Franklin entertained. Two popular fighters who unlike the Evans vs Jackson main event engaged with great frequency. Liddell simply has no chin left. It isn't that he is being hit more now; he simply cannot take even a small shot to the chin anymore. Hard to say where Franklin winds up after this. His big wins against W. Silva and Liddell came after both were shells of their former selves. He lost to Machida, Belfort, Henderson and A. Silva. Given that Machida is at 205 and A. Silva is probably heading to 205 it is hard to say where Franklin fits in. Perhaps he will be used in more of an attraction role. Much like this Liddell fight, put him against a name to generate PPV buys.

Overall this card rates highly with me in terms of delivering. Refs had a tough night though.