Dominant Champions Disappoint at UFC 112

In what promised to be one of the best UFC cards in recent memory, fans were instead treated to one head-scratching moment after another at UFC 112. Before a crowd full of jiu-jitsu enthusiasts in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, one champion lost his belt by decision and another left everyone in disbelief yet again, while a fight between a ground-and-pound specialist and legendary jiu-jitsu black belt never hit the mat.

If there was a theme for the night, it would be that of jiu-jitsu black belts failing to capitalize on their abilities. As mentioned before, what appeared to be a battle of opposing styles on the mat between Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie instead ended up becoming a rather pedestrian kickboxing match, which was surely a disappointment to the grapple-happy fans in Abu Dhabi, which plays host to the world’s most prestigious grappling tournament each year.

Instead of seeing whether Renzo could threaten Hughes from his guard, fans got to see Hughes lay into Renzo with leg kicks throughout the fight, wearing him down while avoiding Gracie’s looping punches. Finally, Hughes was able to put some strikes together late in the third round, bringing an end to a fight that very few expected to play out how it did.

Then, jiu-jitsu black belt BJ Penn, who has long been considered one of the most dangerous grapplers in the sport, was content to stand and box with challenger Frankie Edgar for five rounds en route to dropping a questionable decision. Rather than using his size advantage and ability on the mat, Penn opted to stand up both times that Edgar threatened with a takedown, and never looked to put Edgar on the mat, either. Instead, the two boxed for 25 minutes, with Edgar slowly wearing Penn down with his almost hyperactive head movement and footwork.

Early on, Penn was able to use his jab effectively and land the more powerful shots, but as the fight went on, Edgar started to turn the tide, with most in the media giving Edgar the third and fifth rounds. However, there are likely only a handful of people in the world that would have given Edgar all five rounds- perhaps Edgar’s friends and family, and judge Doug Crosby. Crosby’s score, the first to be read, was 50-45, which gave everyone the impression that Penn had won the fight, as there was no way that Penn didn’t win at least rounds one and two. Edgar even made a face as that score was read, as if to say, “I know I got at least one of those rounds,” before dropping to his knees in exhilaration (and disbelief?) when he was announced as the winner.

In the main event, two more BJJ black belts collided, as Anderson Silva took on the man who has perhaps supplanted BJ Penn as the world’s most dangerous grappler in mixed martial arts (with consideration to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza as well). Again, this fight never hit the mat, which was not entirely unexpected, as Silva prefers to use his world-class striking over his submission skills whenever possible. What wasn’t expected is that over the last two and a half rounds, Demian Maia would literally chase Silva around the cage, all but begging him to engage him in some sort of fight.

The fight certainly didn’t start that way, with Silva outright disrespecting his opponent in what was a downright bizarre display. Silva taunted Maia throughout the first ten minutes, switching stances, styles, dancing and even horseplaying with referee Dan Miragliotta as Maia tried to stay focused on the task at hand. At one point, Silva began angrily berating his opponent, slapping the mat and gesturing wildly at his apparent frustration towards Maia’s gameplan, which was obviously to attempt takedowns whenever possible while avoiding potentially-deadly striking exchanges.

Drawing comparisons to two other woeful performances against Patrick Cote and Thales Leites, Silva simply shut it down midway through the third, almost refusing to throw any strikes, even as Maia chased him wildly around the cage. Miragliotta even halted the fight with a minute late in the fifth round (a bit too late, eh?) to threaten Silva with a point deduction for avoiding exchanges with his opponent. Still, Silva took the decision, as the scores were interestingly not revealed to the viewing public. During the telecast, it was revealed that Silva would face Georges St. Pierre at 170 pounds if he was victorious against Maia, but it’s unclear if that is still the plan after a performance that left Dana White understandably angry.

Meanwhile, in the other two main card fights, both winners were able to finish their opponents after dropping the first round of their respective fights in solid comeback efforts. Kendall Grove frustrated Mark Munoz throughout the first, putting him in deep trouble at times with his long-range strikes, while Munoz could only desperately hold on to takedown attempts as Grove hammered away at him while defending ably. In the second, though, Munoz showed his explosiveness and power, responding to an early knee by Grove with absolutely vicious ground and pound that put a stop to the fight. Afterward, Munoz admitted that Grove had him in deep trouble with strikes and guillotine choke attempts in the first stanza.

Finally, Rafael dos Anjos dropped a competitive first round before putting Terry Etim away with a beautiful kimura-to-arm-bar transition in the second round, which Etim attempted to escape before finally submitting. It was the only submission victory on the main card, and one of just three on the entire card.

Another bright spot during the night’s fights was prospect Phil Davis taking another step forward in his development with a nicely executed anaconda choke on Alexander Gustaffson. Paul Kelly also won by submission, finishing Matt Veach with a guillotine choke. “The Ultimate Fighter” alum Damarques Johnson beat Brad Blackburn by TKO, while Rick Story beat Nick Osipczak by split decision. Mostapha Al-Turk may have fought his last UFC fight, falling to 0-3 in the organization after losing to Jon Madsen by decision.

Bonuses went to dos Anjos for Submission of the Night, Johnson for Knockout of the Night, and the duo of Grove and Munoz for Fight of the Night.

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Tags: Anderson Silva, BJ Penn, Dana White, Demian Maia, Frankie Edgar, Kendall Grove, Mark Munoz, Matt Hughes, Phil Davis, Rafael dos Anjos, Renzo Gracie, Terry Etim, UFC 112