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.

The BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian fight doesn’t seem to have enough hype. While it is certainly true that BJ Penn is a talented monster overshadowing the lightweight division, Kenny Florian poses a genuine risk. Sure, he wasn’t all that impressive when he started out in the UFC, but he’s recently come into his own. It promises to be an excellent fight if both guys come in at the top of their game. Everything points to that being the case, with both fighters hungry to win – Florian to prove he is a legitimate talent and champion, Penn to recover from his loss to GSP.

Sportsbooks are giving the fight to Penn, which is perfectly understandable. BetUS has the fight as -230 for Penn and +180 for Florian. There is definitely good reason to believe that Florian could win, but I would never suggest a bet against BJ Penn at lightweight until it has been proven that his ability has declined at that weight. Plenty of fighters gave him flack over his apparent lack of cardio in his fight against GSP, but I don’t think his welterweight bouts have ever provided useful information about his lightweight performance. The weight change just seems to produce a completely different fighter. I think BJ Penn is most likely to win, unless Florian gets a lucky cut on him.

While the lightweight title defense is exciting, I’m looking forward to the Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin fight much more. The only way I see it not being exciting is if someone gets a knockout in the first 10 seconds, and even that would be interesting. Forrest Griffin doesn’t quit until the fight is over, one way or another, and Anderson Silva is always impressive against fighters like that. Silva is the favorite at BetUS, with -350 odds to Griffin’s +250, and that seems about right. Silva is a better all-round fighter than Griffin, so unless the weight change has severely affected him, it’s almost certain that the fight will go his way. I think it’ll go to decision, as I don’t believe Griffin will be completely outclassed, but any decision is going to come out in favor of Anderson Silva’s ridiculously accurate striking.

Personally, I’m not too interested in that many other fights on the main card. Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino could be good, but I’m more interested in Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida. Both of these fights seem to pit talented mid-tier fighters against one another, and I think that many of the most sincerely fought battles occur at that level of talent. Also, I’ll admit I’m interested in the Grove vs. Almeida fight because I recently started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I think that fight is going to stay on the ground.

This is going to be a great month for MMA fans, with so many major events. The unfortunate death of Affliction at the end of July wasn’t great news, but it has seen a lot of up-and-coming fighters taken into the UFC and WEC, and Fedor Emelianenko is moving to Strikeforce, where people may get to see him fight without forking out for a pay-per-view. Later in the week, I’ll take a look at WEC 42 as well, which will see a bantamweight championship bout between dominant Miguel Torres and Brian Bowles.