UFC 120 Parting Shots

Besides a couple of surprises in the main card, there are plenty of other things to discuss in the light of UFC 120′s fights. Far be it from me to complain about free fights anyway, but Saturday’s offerings were really pretty good anyway, so even finicky fight fans were likely happy to watch the event. I know it’s supposed to be “Brocktober” and all, but let’s give one last moment in the spotlight to the fighters who took part in UFC 120.

Bisping-Akiyama fallout

Michael Bisping had his slow,but sure ascent to title contention derailed first by Dan Henderson, then by Wanderlei Silva, but he’s now back on track with wins over Dan Miller and Yoshihiro Akiyama. What happens now with the two fighters?

Bisping heads back up towards the top of the division. He will join a crowded group of fighters working for a title shot, including Nate Marquardt, Demian Maia, Yushin Okami, Wanderlei Silva, the injured Alan Belcher and the now-suspended Chael Sonnen. While the title is spoken for during the first half of 2011 or so (with Vitor Belfort getting a shot, then the winner of Marquardt-Okami after that), Belcher won’t be back for awhile (hopefully he will be okay to return one day), Sonnen is possibly out for a year, and Maia didn’t exactly set the world on fire in his last bout. Don’t be surprised to see a Silva-Bisping rematch…although no matter what, Bisping definitely controls his own destiny now. Another win and he’s right in the mix.

Then there’s Akiyama. Akiyama came into the UFC with plenty of hype and a huge hardcore fan following, but poor cardio and some disappointing performances have left him with a 1-2 record in the Octagon so far. Barring the chance of being cut completely, Akiyama obviously faces a must-win fight next time out. We’ll be able to see a lot from that matchup, especially in terms of whether the UFC wants to let Akiyama get rolling so that he can stick around. Of course, with many of the better UFC middleweights either tied up in fights, injured or suspended, he may get a somewhat easier fight no matter what.

Then again, Leben wasn’t supposed to be an unwinnable fight, was it?

Cheick Kongo…seriously?

If you watched either of the boxing matches between Andrew Golota and Riddick Bowe,you saw a guy (Golota, of course) who simply didn’t seem to want to win either fight. How else can you explain receiving warnings for low blows, then getting a point deduction for low blows, yet continuing to hit your opponent in the goodies until finally being disqualified?

Cheick Kongo’s fight with Travis Browne was kind of similar, only without the undeniable entertainment of watching one man hit another in the berries over and over, as if he can’t help himself. Still, what possesses a man to flagrantly ignore referee instructions until they are assessed a deduction in a three-round fight, then continue to do what he was doing in the first place?

Because Kongo seemingly could not control his urge to grab the shorts of Browne, he missed out on a much-needed win. He could have extended his win streak to two and given himself some breathing room after two losses in a row in 2009. If his pay is the same as it was for his previous fight, he also forfeited $55,000 in the win bonus he could have earned (UFC 120 salaries haven’t come out yet).

What would make a fighter flagrantly ignore the ref’s instructions to do such a simple thing as to let go of an opponent’s shorts? Why would they continue to commit the infraction, even while realizing that a one-point deduction in a three-round fight makes it about 500 times harder to not only get that much-needed win, but to make an extra 50 grand?

Can Pyle take Hathaway’s place?

Right now, the welterweight division is in a funky place. The UFC is clearly shying away from awarding repeat title shots to Jon Fitch or Thiago Alves (two of the top three in the division), former contenders such as Dan Hardy and Mike Swick have dropped out of contention for the time being, and so on.

Previous to their fight, John Hathaway was looking to be a guy that would step up and get in line for a possible future title shot. Now, he’s got to start from scratch after a three-round decision loss to Mike Pyle. So, does Pyle take Hathaway’s spot and get within a couple of wins of a title shot?

I don’t think he does yet. While Pyle’s performance was very impressive, he still has to show that he can put a few fights like that together in a row. Furthermore, out-wrestling Hathaway is pretty impressive, but not enough to show that he could defeat great wrestlers with solid submission defense like Fitch, Jake Shields, or GSP himself.

Quick Shots

–Claude Patrick should definitely get a step-up in competition after his win over James Wilks. He has the experience to become a contender, if he can put some wins together, and it would be nice to see the UFC fast-tracking Patrick a little bit, or at least testing him with a tough style matchup.

–On the other hand, I’d like to see the UFC show some patience with Wilks and give him a like-minded opponent in his next bout. We already know Wilks can be taken down and controlled by a smart, experienced fighter, so give him time to work on his deficiencies while allowing him to get some work in with a fighter of a different style.

–UFC 120 drew 1.9 million viewers for the tape-delayed broadcast on Spike TV, which sounds really good, until you realize that UFC 105, also from London, drew one million more viewers. UFC 105 featured the same emphasis on English fighters, with Hardy, Bisping, Wilks and Ross Pearson on the main card, but also had an all-American main event fight between Randy Couture and Brandon Vera. Sure, that fight ended up to be a stinker, but it’s clear that many U.S. fans just aren’t responding to Bisping and other fighters from the UK. Perhaps a stronger main event, along with your expected lineup of British fighters, would be the way to go next time?

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Tags: Chael Sonnen, Cheick Kongo, Claude Patrick, Dan Hardy, James Wilks, John Hathaway, Michael Bisping, Mike Pyle, Nate Marquardt, Travis Browne, UFC, UFC 120, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Yushin Okami