Well people, UFC 94 in the books. All in all, it was a solid PPV that really made the judges earn their paychecks. A whopping 8 of the 10 fights on the card went to the judges' scorecards. Lets get cracking shall we?
- Irony is a funny thing. With all the trash talk that BJ Penn was laying down, you'd think he'd actually put on a performance that was, well, not terrible. With Penn saying that he was going to make St. Pierre "quit", it was quite amusing to see that it was actually Penn not answering the bell to begin the 5th round. Looking at the other side, GSP is a scary dude. I don't know how much he can actually improve. He presents a laundry list of problems for every fighter that he will face from hear on out. He completely dominated Penn from start to finish, using more effecient strikes and superior wrestling to outclass the Lightweight champion. Up next for GSP, is a title defense against top contender Thiago Alves. While Alves is good, I don't think he knows what he is up against. For Penn, it's back to 155 and a matchup with Kenny Florian (FINALLY!).
- Ok, can we all stop saying that Machida is no good and is a boring fighter?? He finished and overwhelmed a very good fighter in Thiago Silva. It's ridiculous how this guy still doesn't have a title shot. Dana, quit marketing big names when other people are more deserving! I am routing for Jardine against Rampage, just so Machida can have his chance. This LHW division has been screwed by UFC managment. There is an article coming up about that.
- Who the hell is Jon Jones? I think most who watched the PPV would say that he has the chance to be very good. Jones looked outstanding, displaying an arsenal of kicks and strikes in a convincing decision win. He needs to work on his cardio some, as he gassed out in the closing minutes of the last round. Keep an eye out for this kid. Bonnar, on the other hand, was unsuccessful in his return to the Octagon. Where he goes from here, I do not know. I believe, however, that he still has a lot of fights in him. It is just a matter of staying healthy.
- Karo Parisyan "earned" a split-decision win over Dong Hyun Kim. I say "earned," because the fight could have gone either way. Similar styles made this fight one of the most boring on the card. Not an impressive win for Karo, but a win nonetheless.
- Clay Guida is on a little hot streak now. He has won 3 fights in a row, after taking care of previously undefeated in the Octagon, Nate Diaz. Guida was bothered by Diaz's length, but took the fight to the ground and used his much better wrestling to control Diaz and stay out of his submissions. Good win for Clay. Good loss for Diaz. He needed to take a hit to his cockiness.
- UFC 94 was a solid card. However, I think that there will be much better PPV's down the line this year. This much hyped main event didn't exactly live up to its billing (mainly because only one fighter showed up that night), but it was still fun to watch. Bottom Line: It was worth the $45 bucks. If not for the fights, at least to see Penn quit.
