I was lucky enough to attend this UFC event, and I can tell you that the crowd was revved up the entire time for action standing or on the ground – just so long as the fighters were working! While some late cancellations and replacements led to a particularly one-sided affair (Cro Cop absolutely outclassed Anthony Perosh, as expected) the remaining unaltered fights were a sight to behold.

I’d like to focus attention on 3 fights in particular: Sotiropoulos vs Stevenson, Lytle vs Foster, and Velasquez vs Nogueira. First of all, it did my heart good to see George Sotiropoulos dominate Joe Stevenson standing and on the ground. It was even better to see that George could fight from the bottom, using 10th Planet JJ technique to control Stevenson. Now, I like Joe and I’m sad to see him have to start building up wins again, but Sotiropoulos is an exciting ground fighter who grapples to win. This was a decision only because Joe is so tough – Sotiropoulos made a number of close submission attempts that would have worked on many other less game fighters.

Lytle vs Foster proved that Chris Lytle should be on every card. Of every MMA event. Twice each night, if at all possible. But seriously, that guy always puts on a hell of a show, and while his wild swinging at the start of the fight looked like it might open him up for a spectacular knockout later, he put Brian Foster out of commission for a while with a gorgeous kneebar. That was a thing of beauty to see live, and I couldn’t help but wince as it came on and Foster started tapping furiously. Foster was able to limp on his leg a bit afterwards, so I’m hoping the damage isn’t too severe. Damn good show on the part of Lytle, though my girlfriend thought he was too cocky afterwards.

Finally, Cain Velasquez must have shed his reputation for pillow punches by now, as he knocked Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira down and out in the first round. Considering the number of punches Velasquez was landing with seemingly no effect, I doubt anyone expected a first round KO before it happened. Nogueira looked set to lose that fight from the beginning, though, as Velasquez just kept getting there first with his strikes. This should definitely have earned him a title shot, either against Brock Lesnar directly, or against the winner of Mir/Carwin for the interim title.

It’s hard to get excited for the next event after the huge build-up to 110, but I think I can manage. UFC 111 sees Dan Hardy challenge GSP for the welterweight belt, and I don’t think this will be as one-sided as people expect. While Hardy is primarily a striker, he is fairly obsessed with 10th Planet JJ and actually does quite a bit of work on his ground game. I’m guessing he expects to get taken down, and he probably has a few tricks up his sleeve for fighting from his back against a dominant wrestler like GSP. I doubt Hardy will win, but UFC 111 should prove to doubters that he is a legitimate welterweight contender.

The main event of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Cain Velasquez is getting odds of -115 for both fighters at BetUS and -120 Nog to -110 Velasquez at Bodog. Needless to say, the bookies figure it’ll be a close fight. It’s conventional wisdom not to bet on such close fights, and there’s a good reason for that. You are looking at a fairly even chance of a win or loss, yet neither bet you could make would pay out much. BetUS is also offering over/under odds, but those bets are rarely a good idea.

We’re talking a legend of the sport in Nogueira up against a young undefeated prospect in Velasquez. This is a clear test of whether Velasquez has what it takes to vie for title contention. I think he does, and my feeling is that this will actually be a disappointing technical battle. My other guess is Nogueira by omoplata, but that’s just because I think it would be cool to see.

The other really big fight at UFC 110 will be Wanderlei Silva vs Michael Bisping, which BetUS has at -145 Silva to +115 Bisping, and Bodog has at -154 Silva to +125 Bisping. Anyone who has read this blog knows I like Michael Bisping. And, yes, I think he will win. This is mostly due to the fact that Silva has lost 6 of his last 10 fights, while Bisping’s only recent loss was that spectacular knockout delivered by Dan Henderson. Yep, it was a bad loss, but it didn’t really reveal any fundamental flaws with Bisping’s style. I don’t think Silva will be bringing anything of his old self, nor anything revolutionary that will bring back his winning ways. I call a second round TKO for Bisping, who will knock Silva down and then swarm in for the finish.

Joe Stevenson vs George Sotiropoulos is a really interesting fight. I’ll be happy if either fighter wins, as I like them both, but a win for Sotiropoulos would be far more meaningful. Unfortunately, it’ll be a struggle for him, as he’s the underdog in this fight for good reason. George’s BJJ skills are outstanding, as we’ve seen in many of his fights, but he has yet to fight someone with equally impressive ground fighting. Stevenson is that fight, and he is on something of a tear at the moment, coming back from troubling losses with a couple of dominant victories. If George gets past Stevenson, he’s probably on his way to a title shot in a couple more fights. It just doesn’t seem likely given Joe Stevenson’s great wrestling.

There are just so many excellent fights on this card, and it’s going to be a real treat to watch. Sure, you never know what a fight is going to be like until it happens, but most of these match-ups promise a lot of excitement.

First of all, let’s take a look at George Sotiropoulos vs. Jason Dent. Before the fight even started, many people thought that the Australian Sotiropoulos would win this via submission, and the only surprise was that it took longer than expected. While this fight wasn’t scheduled to be televised, I never had any doubt it would end up on TV – I just didn’t think it would make it to both the Spike broadcast as well as the PPV! George Sotiropoulos is an incredible BJJ fighter. It will be interesting to see him go up against a world class wrestler, though, as that tends to be the real test for BJJ focused grapplers. Nevertheless, the way Sotiropoulos controlled Dent on the ground before going for the armbar was incredible, especially the use of the biceps crusher to weaken the arm before pulling on the armbar.

In a massive upset, Jake Rosholt got tapped out by Kendall Grove in a triangle choke within the first round. Given that Rosholt recently knocked out Chris Leben with a triangle of his own at UFC 102, this had to be embarrassing. A submission looked to be the only way Kendall Grove could have won, and Jake Rosholt was happy to oblige, keeping Kendall in the UFC for another day. I think this is part of an emerging problem with wrestlers forgetting that BJJ guys can actually fight from the bottom. I know it hasn’t been a common occurrence in recent years, but submissions from the bottom will happen if you make a mistake.

Finally, the Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson fight ended in a submission win for Koscheck via rear naked choke. In an utterly bizarre fight, fouls were traded as Anthony Johnson threw a knee to the head of Koscheck while he was grounded, though replays showed that it only seemed to glance off Koscheck’s arm. Soon after, Koscheck caught a poke in the eye, and this must have gotten him mad, as he took Johnson down in the last part of the round and the fight got even weirder in round 2. Two eyepokes from Koscheck to Johnson, and eventually Koscheck gets Johnson down again. From half-guard, Koscheck rained down elbows and broke Johnson’s spirit. Mercifully, he eventually moved to take Johnson’s back and sank in a rear naked choke to end the fight.

This was kind of a weird night of fights, and it’s interesting to see how submissions were used. Kendall Grove threw on a triangle from a generally defensive position, while Sotiropoulos and Koscheck both seem to have gone for submissions as a surer way of ending the fight than ground and pound. I think too many ground fighters are concerned with trying to get TKOs through beating up their opponent and then end up going to decision. If you are clearly dominating the other fighter on the ground, and the only thing keeping the fight going is their seeming inability to get cut badly or be knocked senseless, just accept they have a good chin and go for an arm!

There’s a bit of a wait until the next big events, but The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale will be on soon enough. Matt Hamill will take on the undefeated Jon Jones in the main event, and we’ll also get to see Kimbo Slice get demolished on the ground again for our amusement. I’ve also been reading that Wanderlei Silva will be facing Michael Bisping at UFC 110 in Sydney, so obviously I’ll keep an eye on whether that ends up happening.