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.

This fight is one I don’t really want to pick, as I think Tito will win despite how much I want Forrest to get back into the top of the light heavyweight division. As much as I want a Griffin victory, though, I just do not see him pulling it off if Ortiz really has recovered from his back injuries. It wasn’t as if their last fight was especially close, and Forrest has two losses weighing on his mind that he may not be dealing with. Some sportsbooks are giving odds of -165 Griffin to +135 Ortiz, but I just don’t see how Forrest is going to win this one without getting a knockout in the first exchange, which is hardly something he is known for.

Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson depends, as always, on which Josh Koscheck shows up to fight. If Koscheck just focuses on wrestling, it should be a cakewalk for him. If he decides he wants to try standing with Johnson, however, he’ll soon be reminded that most of Johnson’s wins have been by KO or TKO. It should also be noted that Johnson is a massive welterweight who has trouble making weight, as evidenced by what happened before his last fight against Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Koscheck just will not be able to match or withstand the power of an Anthony Johnson striking onslaught, but his wrestling could definitely control the fight and earn the win.

Karo Parisyan vs. Dustin Hazelett has incredibly close odds of -120 Hazelett and -110 Parisyan. I think Parisyan should have the advantage, but he’s been pretty cocky about his superiority to BJJ practitioners. I really get the feeling he hasn’t taken this fight seriously, and that may be all Hazelett needs to slap on a submission – just a moment when Karo is careless on the ground and makes a perilous mistake. Parisyan should win this fight, but an unchecked ego could be his undoing against the skillful submission artist, Dustin Hazelett.

Amir Sadollah vs. Phil Baroni is generally considered to be in Sadollah’s favor. I just can’t agree, despite Baroni’s inability to fight off his back. While Amir won TUF 7, it was hardly an impressive victory given he had already beaten CB Dolloway in his semi-final fight. Sadollah’s next fight was a loss, putting him at 1-1, but you have to give him credit for fighting all of his pro fights in the UFC. With that said, Phil Baroni has a embarrassing record for someone who calls himself ‘The Best EVA!!!’. His boxing and wrestling are decent, though, and I think his greater experience will make him more than just an easy fight for Sadollah. I expect a lot of complaints from fans after this fight of how Baroni has knocked Sadollah out of the UFC, while having no chance of a title shot himself.

The last of the main card UFC 106 fights sees Antonio Rogerio “Little Nog” Nogueira make his UFC debut against Luiz Cane. This Nogueira is the twin brother of Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, and while not as famous, he has wins over top fighters such as Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem. Nevertheless, Luiz Cane should prove a challenge, with his dangerous striking and training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu allowing him to be competitive on the ground with Nogueira, who is most at home there. I think L’il Nog takes this fight, and practically everyone else in the world agrees.

I’m a bit surprised at how much hate this card is getting. It’s as if every fight in the UFC has to be between two major fighters in order to be at all worthwhile. Sure, the cost of PPVs makes every bad fight sting all the worse, but the UFC isn’t putting on terrible shows. I don’t know, maybe I’m weird. I actually think that fights between middle-tier guys who have no chance at winning the title are still great fun to watch if their styles match up well. Anyway, here’s hoping for an event that’s full of excitement.

While the preliminary card was apparently filled with decisions, the main card of UFC 103 saw almost every fight ending in a KO or TKO. The only fight that didn’t was due to verbal submission as the result of strikes – which you may as well count as a TKO victory.

The results for the event were:

• Tyson Griffin knocked out Hermes Franca at 3:26 of the second round
• Josh Koscheck demolished Frank Trigg with punches at 1:26 of the first round
• Paul Daley beat Martin Kampmann via TKO at 2:31 of the first round
• Junior dos Santos caused Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic to verbally submit at 2:00 of the third round
• Vitor Belfort put himself on the path to an early title shot by knocking out Rich Franklin at 3:02 of the first round

I am incredibly surprised by the results of three of these fights. The first is that Josh Koscheck had so little trouble beating Frank Trigg. I thought Trigg was better than that, but he is clearly so far past his prime that his talk of a title run was more than ridiculous.

Second is that Cro Cop had to verbally submit, though he had certainly taken more than enough punishment by that point that it’s understandable. Some think it may have been a career ending loss, but it’s always a bad idea to jump to such conclusions after a single bad beating.

Finally, I never thought Vitor Belfort could possibly defeat Rich Franklin so soundly. There’s talk that he’ll be next to fight for the title, and I doubt anyone could say that he doesn’t deserve it. Franklin’s reputation is back to where it was after his loss to Dan Henderson, which seems somewhat unfair given his recent win over Wanderlei Silva. The guy can fight – he’s just unlikely to get another shot at the title unless he becomes an entirely different fighter.

Sadly, there’s a long wait until the next UFC event, but it’s going to be Shogun vs. Machida, so I’m already excited. This will be the first test of Machida as a light heavyweight champion. Will he retain his undefeated record, or will a revitalized Shogun work out the karate master’s bizarre defensive style? I can’t wait for this one, but before that there is the next ShoMMA event on 25 September and WEC 43 on 10 October, which I will obviously make comment on.

It’s been a busy week for the UFC, with Fight Night on Wednesday now over and UFC 103 set to play out on Saturday, 19 September.

The results of the Fight Night were:

· Nate Diaz beat Melvin Guillard at 2:13 of the second round with a guillotine choke

· Gray Maynard beat Roger Huerta in a split decision using his superior wrestling skills

· Carlos Condit beat Jake Ellenberger in a split decision, despite getting knocked down three times in the first round

· Nate Quarry beat Tim Credeur in a unanimous decision, in a close contest

· Brian Stann beat Steve Cantwell in a unanimous decision

· Mike Pyle beat Chris Wilson at 2:15 of the third round with a guillotine choke

· C.B. Dolloway beat Jay Silva in a unanimous decision

· Jeremy Stephens beat Justin Buchholz at 3:23 of the first round with a cut

· Mike Pierce beat Brock Larson in a unanimous decision

· Ryan Jensen beat Steve Steinbeiss at 3:56 of the first round with a guillotine choke

Decisions and guillotine chokes. It’s really surprising that so many guillotine chokes ended fights. I mean, they’re great when you have an opportunity to use them, but how often does someone give up an opportunity to sink in an effective guillotine choke? Odd.

UFC 103 doesn’t have the kind of fights that would draw in a massive casual audience, but there are some pretty interesting match ups. What follows are a few of my picks for the main card, along with some reasoning.

In the headline event, Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort, BetUS has it -150 Franklin and +120 Belfort. I think Belfort would need longer odds than that to be worth supporting in this fight, and even though it would be better if Franklin’s odds were longer, he’s the fighter to support in this bout. While many have discounted him after his losses to Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson, it’s unfair to judge him on those performances alone.

Junior dos Santos vs. Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic is Santos -135 and Cro Cop +105 at BetUS. It’s very frustrating when the lesser-known fighter is the favorite, because the well-known underdog’s odds will tend to be shortened by his fans. I think that’s happened here, and I’d avoid betting on this fight at all. I just can’t see a worthwhile risk in this bout. Cro Cop has a good enough chance of winning, despite dos Santos seeming to have him outmatched in every area. You’d think this would suggest a bet on dos Santos is worthwhile, but Cro Cop just has so much more experience. I think Cro Cop will win, but I don’t think it’s a sure enough thing to bet on him at such short underdog odds.

Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg is -400 Koscheck and +300 Trigg at BetUS. I’d bet on Trigg, as his odds are clearly much longer than they should be. That isn’t to say that I think Trigg has the best chance of winning. I just think that his chances are better than the odds suggest, and that there’s opportunity for a massive upset.

That’s all I have to say for now. I’ll talk about the results of the fights next week, and maybe even a bit about TUF 10.