Music to listen to: Breathe Again by Little People
Time to review UFC 156
-Jose Aldo’s dominance for three rounds surpassed Frankie Edgar’s effectiveness for two rounds. The battle for the featherweight title on Saturday night served as a tale of two different contests. Aldo looked like a top-five pound-for-pound competitor for the first two rounds, using his reach advantage, superior speed and power to overwhelm Edgar, whose takedown attempts were literally thrown away by Aldo at certain points of the contest. Furthermore, Aldo’s leg kicks were damaging and looked asthetically pleasing to the judges and viewers of the fight. However, with about one minute left in the third round, Edgar’s standup techniques began to get better and one could argue that his ring control may have garnered a round victory for the New Jersey native. Edgar found successful moments in the fourth round and even secured an impressive takedown and kept the Brazilian on the ground. I also gave the fifth round to Edgar, making my scorecard 48-47 in favor of Aldo. It all came down to the third round which I rewarded live to Aldo but after further review, I could comprehend some people judging it for Edgar.
-Antonio Silva’s victory over Alistair Overeem still confuses me two days later. For two straight rounds, Overeem was easily winning his fight over Silva. The Dutchman was able to keep the fight standing, avoiding Silva’s strength on the ground, and used his K-1, elite level kickboxing skills to full effect to control the entire contest. While watching the fight, my belief was the only way that Silva was going to get the victory was to get the fight on the ground, where Overeem is the weaker fighter, and get the submission because even if the contest went to the judges, he would lose the contest. The third round starts and Overeem is just standingin front of Silva taking some punches. While I thought Joe Rogan was a little hyperbolic about the concept of “respecting your opponent,” Overeem lack of respect for Silva’s punching power was surprising or maybe he was tired because stamina has been an issue in his past fights. Silva came out of the third round, punched Overeem directly without opposition and cleanly knocked out his opponent for the win. Silva moves up the heavyweight ladder while the loss not only cost Overeem a shot at the heavyweight title but eliminated the perceived invincibility that he had within the past five years.
-Welcome to the gatekeeper kingdom Jon Fitch and Rashad Evans. As I’ve stated on numerous occasions, there isn’t shame in being a gatekeeper within a division. You’re still a solid fighter who will win the majority of your fights, respected by fight fans and carry a respectable name that makes any fight card that you’re in better overall. However, that fighter will not contend for a title within his division unless numerous events take place outside of winning. I’ve been critical of Fitch’s fighting for a long time so his unimpressive loss to Demian Maia doesn’t surprise me. Did you know that Fitch’s last ELEVEN of TWELVE fights have gone to decision? His lack of aggression has hurt throughout his career and Saturday night didn’t change my thoughts. Evans’ lack of aggression has been baffling as well. The fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was winnable but was dashed by the Brazilian’s takedown defense and superior boxing.
Those are my thoughts, what are yours?
The Sports Inquirer 
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