UFC 108 Recap

It’s a New Year, but nothing much has changed after UFC 108.

Luckily, the injury rate for this event subsided slightly and the card stabilized long enough for an official announcement of the fights. For an event that seemed to fulfill End of Days prophecies, it was a pretty exciting night, with only 3 decisions in 10 fights.

First of all, UFC 108 was bad news for the Lauzons, as both Dan and Joe lost their fights. Dan Lauzon was caught in a bizarre triangle and kimura combo by Cole Miller. Joe Lauzon was simply outmatched in all 3 rounds of his fight against Sam Stout, who has come out looking a much better prospect after his disappointing beginnings in the UFC.

Also on this card was Junior dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel. Originally, this was scheduled to be a fight between dos Santos and Gabriel Gonzaga, which was a very exciting fight for anyone interested in Dos Santos’ rise through the heavyweight division. Gonzaga got sick, however, and Yvel stepped up to replace him. Gilbert Yvel is known for three things – fouls, KO victories, and absolutely no ground game. What a surprise, then, when Junior dos Santos chose to stand with Yvel, knocking him down and then finishing him off at 2:07 of the first round. It’s not all that impressive given Yvel’s record in the biggest promotions, but it demonstrates that dos Santos has a good sense of himself and he knows when he completely outclasses an opponent.

I was sad to see Dustin Hazelett lose to Paul Daley so quickly, but he brought it on himself. Hazelett has only ever managed to finish his UFC fights by submission, yet he did not attempt to take Paul Daley down at all. One wonders if he had been training as if he was still going to fight Karo Parisyan. Regardless, it’s a bit of a shame, as that beard of his is spectacular, and it needs merchandising opportunities.

Finally, let’s look at the main event. Rashad Evans edged out a decision against Thiago Silva, and he was in big trouble near the end of the fight. It was the kind of performance that makes you think he’ll probably get another challenge for the title sometime, but he’s unlikely to win it unless he gets to take it from Forrest again. Beating Thiago Silva is impressive, it just needed to be more dominant to really prove that Evans could become a dominant champion in the future. We’ll see how Rashad does against Rampage, I suppose.

Next week we get an Ultimate Fight Night to tide us over until UFC 109 and Strikeforce: Miami. It’s a pretty busy month for MMA if you think about it, but I imagine a lot of it will pass people by due to New Year headaches.