With UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez in the history books, let's take a brief look at what the results mean for the future of the organization's matchmaking.
First off, 14,856 fans attended the event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, generating a gate of over $2.25 million.
Brock Lesnar topped the payroll, earning $400,000, with new champion Cain Velasquez earning $200K. In his Octagon debut, Jake Shields made $150K. It should be noted that these are the reported numbers by the California State Athletic Commission, and do not include locker room bonuses and earnings each athlete made via sponsorship(s).
As I predicted, Velasquez defeated Lesnar, using a perfectly executed game plan, which showcased a very technical assault and finish. Unlike the errors made by Shane Carwin at UFC 116, Cain picked his shots -- and the one technique that truly stood out for me was when he stopped punching so he could clear Lesnar's legs, gain a better position, and continue to rain down leather bombs. He's a thinking man's fighter, and he isn't going anywhere, anytime soon.
Velasquez' next opponent will be Junior dos Santos, and as it stands today, I'm picking Cain to successfully defend his title. In fact, I believe he will break the record set by Lesnar, Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture, and keep the belt around his waist for quite some time. No fighter has defended the title more than three times in a row; I believe Velasquez will be the first.
As for Lesnar, the former champ will be back and I would not want to be his next opponent. I'll leave that up to Frank Mir or Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. I don't believe Lesnar will step in for the injured Carwin vs. Roy Nelson at UFC 125 (could be Mir or Mirko Cro Cop), especially considering he's been medically suspended for 180 days.
For the most part, I see the UFC only using Lesnar in main event bouts, not in any co-main event format. Then again, the UFC 125 main event between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard is not trending very well, so perhaps the UFC will switch things around, and if cleared, add Lesnar to the card, but I seriously doubt it.
Jake Shields' sub-par performance was not as bad as people are making it out to be. I have first-hand knowledge of the struggle that Jake had making weight, but he did it, fought through it and won. Opponent Martin Kampmann could have done more to win the bout, so it makes one wonder how the bout may have turned out if Jake wasn't as fatigued as he was.
Mind you, Shields has plenty of work to do to improve his stand up, namely because he will not be able to take down his next opponent with ease. Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck are not only better wrestlers than Jake, but better strikers as well. Having said that, it's a welterweight bout I cannot wait to see.
Continuing in the 170-pound weight class, Diego Sanchez put on another inspiring performance, this time over Paulo Thiago. "The Nightmare" lived up to his nickname, making the Octagon a miserable place to be for his Brazilian opponent. Where he goes from here is his decision, but after seeing how he physically looked in his last bout at lightweight (vs. B.J. Penn at UFC 107), I tend to concur with UFC president Dana White -- I'd rather see him at welterweight.
I'd like to see him face off against Dan Hardy next, but I cannot help but think that if there were a division between lightweight and welterweight (i.e. super lightweight), there might just be a title around Diego's waist today.
Matt Hamill emerged victorious over Tito Ortiz -- for "The Hammer", I'd like to see him take on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, while "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" must make immediate changes to his fight prep. Like Hamill was to him, he needs to become the student.
He can no longer be the guy in charge of his training camp -- he needs to leave that to the likes of Greg Jackson, Randy Couture, the coaches at AKA or TriStar. It just seems as if he needs to be pushed more and be given a different approach to developing a game plan that he can train and execute. He is 0-4-1 in his last five bouts -- he is balancing on a fine line of tooth floss right now, with his employment in the UFC all but done.
Other notable winners, and thoughts of what's next include:
Brendan Schaub defeated Gabriel Gonzaga via unanimous judges' decision -- for Schaub, he called out Frank Mir, but I'd rather see him rematch Roy Nelson, but his current medical suspension will prevent that. Perhaps a bout vs. Big Nog or Cheick Kongo should be on the docket. As for "Nepao," a bout vs. Kongo would be nice to see as well.
Court McGee defeated Ryan Jensen via arm triangle choke in round three -- as I tweeted from Octagon-side on Saturday night, "The Crusher" has no quit in him. A lacklustre start in the first round was negated with a strong performance in the second round, followed by a dominant third. How about C.B. Dollaway next, or the guy who also won below?
Tom Lawlor defeated Patrick Cote via unanimous judges decision -- "Filthy" Tom dominated Cote, whose wrestling defence was nearly non-existent. Tom vs. Court would be a great bout, but as for Patrick, three straight losses means he is in the same boat as Ortiz -- fighting outside the Octagon for his UFC job.
Daniel Roberts defeated Mike Guymon via anaconda choke in round one -- if you blinked, this one was over. Roberts, a teammate of Shields and the Diaz brothers, is a rough and rugged welterweight with serious potential. I wonder if taking on John Hathaway next, is too much of a jump?
Sam Stout defeated Paul Taylor via split decision -- not exactly the performance "Hands of Stone" was envisioning, but how about welcoming Marcus Davis back to the lightweight division, considering "The Irish Hand Grenade" recently stated he wants to drop back down to 155 pounds.
Chris Camozzi defeated Dong Yi Yang via split decision -- this was a great back and forth affair, giving Chris is second straight win inside the Octagon in as many tries. John Salter would make for a great opponent at this point.
Jon Madsen defeated Gilbert Yvel via TKO in round one: Madsen has likely sent Yvel packing from the UFC, and in doing so, finally got a finish inside the Octagon. His previous three attempts all went the distance.
Madsen vs Mike Russow anyone?
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