UFC 144 was a blast! One of the best ever, in my oh so humble opinion. Check out the poster above--Quentin "Rampage" Jackson towering over Tokyo like Godzilla. Way cool.
First Japan UFC in over a decade
The venue was inspiring: Tokyo, in Japan, where many martial arts were born and, with it's samurai history and "way of the warrior" philosophy, should hold a special place in the heart of most martial artists.
Tae Kwon Do fighters
And the fights, from the prelims to the main event, were extremely entertaining, including some highlights that were simply astounding, including standout performances from two Tae Kwon Do black belts: Anthony Pettis and Benson Henderson. Tae Kwon do was my original art and I have long believed that a good Tae Kwon Do artist has a great foundation from which to build into high-level UFC fighters.
Japanese fighters showcased
It was refreshing to see so many great Japanese fighters on the card. There has been talk of why Japanese fighters don't usually perform well at UFC bouts held in the USA. The theory has even been put forth that this is because the trip from Japan to the USA is harder to recover from than vice versa. Having taken a few trips to China for my job, I tend to agree: I am always more exhausted after the return trip and it takes me days to get back to normal.
The prelims were all good. Some highlights:
Kid Yamamoto is one of my favorite Japanese fighters but he was expertly dominated by British fighter Vaughan Lee when the fight went to the ground, with Lee smoothly transitioning from triangle. Lee is definitely someone to keep an eye on.
Takanomi Gomi (another of my Japanese favorites) was getting his butt handed to him at the end of the forst round by Eiji Mitsuoka. But in the second round he came out on fire, throwing a storm of lightning-fast punches and winning the fight with a TKO.
Pay-per-view highlights
The PPV started with with a stunning first round knockout: Anthony "Showtime" Pettis clocked Joe Lauzon with a picture-perfect roundhouse kick to the head. Head kicks used to be a rarity in the UFC but now knockouts and knockdowns with kicks are a common occurrance. Being a striker with a Tae Kwon Do background, I love it!
Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski: Hioki's standup was good (nice work with the jab) but his ground game was masterful and the's what won the decision for him.
Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch: Wow! Huge comeback for Boetsch. After taking a beating and being dominated on every level for two rounds, he came back hard in the third and knocked Okami out with some viscious uppercuts thrown from an odd angle--holding the left side of Okami's face with his left hand while twisting into powerful uppercuts with his right. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like it. Massively effective though.
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields: This was easily the least entertaining fight of the night, prelims included. I'm not a Jake Shields fan. He can't strike for s**t and his grappling fighting style is boring. I enjoy watching a good, active grappler but Shields just bores the hell out of me. Akiyami, probably the most decorated Judoka in the UFC, could have won this fight easily if he would have been busier. He did very little in the fight but he did land a couple of spectacular judo takedowns. Nothing like a good Judo throw in a UFC fight! Shields won. Booorrrrrriiiing.
Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo: Most UFC fans are probably not familiar with Mark Hunt, but I'm a big K1 fan (K1 is the world's premier kickboxing organization) I've watched Hunt fight many times, and here is the simple fact: if he gets a solid hit, his opponent is going down. Period. I thought Hunt's last UFC fight was a sloppy affair but he's lost a little belly fat and seems to be taking his MMA fights more seriously. If his grappling improves he may be a force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division. Big knockout of Cheick Kongo by Hunt. I liked Hunt's post-fight interview also. A man of few words.
Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson vs. Ryan Bader: I like Rampage and he has a HUGE following in Japan, but, lets face it: he's just not the same fighter he used to be back in the Pride days. It was great though to see a vintage Jackson slam and I honestly don't know how Bader survived getting his head rammed into the canvas. But he did, and then proceeded to ground out a win by taking Quentin down and mostly just holding him there.
Jackson came in over weight for the fight at 211 and claimed afterward that it was due to a knee injury. It is not like him to be over weight and he's not one to make excuses so I think it''s probably true. I hope he can regroup and come back strong. We'll see.
Frankie Edgar (c) vs. Benson Henderson: A terrific championship match. While the edge went to Henderson, I believe it was a very close fight. The biggest moment was an upward kick by Henderson, while on his back, to Frankie's face, that did some real damage. But Frankie was in the fight for the entire match and had some moments of his own. There was a lot of talk about Frankie dropping down to flyweight and maybe that's a good idea, Henderson looked much, much bigger than he did. And a Frankie Edgar/Jose Also match is intrigueing.
Henderson is a total package, skilled in every area. His punches and kicks are some of the best in MMA (due to his Tae Kwon Do background, no doubt). Looking forward to a Pettis/Henderson rematch. Tae Kwon Do vs Tae Kwon Do!
One of the best UFCs
Another great night of fights for me, one of the best. However, I had recorded the whole affair and started watching at about 5:30 PM and, with dinner, snacks and bathroom breaks, we were watching fights until 12:30 AM. This might have been a bit much for my wondeful wife, Kim, who endures my UFC addiction and usually enjoys the fights, but spending an entire precious Saturday evening on nothing but UFC may have been pushing it a little.
Fight bonuses
Anthony Pettis, Vaughan Lee, Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar each earned $65,000 fight-night bonuses for their performances.
Pettis earned "Knockout of the Night", Lee won the "Submission of the Night" bonus, and Henderson and Edgar rightfully earned "Fight of the Night" honors.
You can check out the round-by-round descriptions here: http://msn.foxsports.com/ufc/story/UFC-144-Round-by-round-022512
Gotta go now, the Academy Awards are on!
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