UFC 131 Parting Shots

Once again, we have tangible proof that neither the name recognition of the fighters on a card nor the number of knockouts or submissions on a card determine how enjoyable it is, as UFC 131 provided consistently entertaining bouts from start to finish. Not only that, but there is plenty to discuss after the night’s events, which included Junior dos Santos dominating his way to a decision victory over the tough Shane Carwin in the main event. Here are my parting shots for UFC 131:

Dos Santos makes strong case for a compelling title fight

There was a lot to like about Junior dos Santos’ performance last Saturday night, and that’s coming from someone who had been somewhat reluctant to buy into the hype surrounding him. (On a side note, that is an indication that I am slow to buy into fighters until they beat some top names, not an indication that I am somehow a “hater”)

There was the willingness to finish when he had Shane Carwin hurt early on, the cardio he showed by keeping a consistent pace throughout the fight, or the “ever-improving” (c) Mike Goldberg standup game that he utilized to punish Carwin. I also was impressed by his ability to get up when taken down, though I did expect that in my preview of the fight.

The point is that these are all attributes that he will need in spades to be a legitimate threat to Cain Velasquez. Velasquez is better in all areas than Carwin with the exceptions of pure punching power and possibly ground and pound, so Dos Santos obviously needs to put on an even better performance against him. I won’t preemptively predict a title change, but I also won’t laugh at anyone else for doing so after seeing what Dos Santos brought to the cage with him against Carwin.

A note on Carwin: I know there are probably endless forum threads right now declaring Carwin “finished” or “overrated”, so this is as good a time as any to point out that losing to a fellow elite fighter in your division doesn’t make either of those things true. Carwin is about what we thought he was- a ridiculously dangerous fighter, particularly early on, with good wrestling, solid striking, and a good chin. Only you can also add “improved cardio” and “a ton of heart” to those qualities after his performance on Saturday night, too.

Quick Shots

–Kudos to Sam Stout for providing us even more evidence that fighters absolutely [em]can[/em] stop themselves from delivering unnecessary shots to unconscious opponents at the conclusion of fights. If Stout was able to recognize, in the heat of battle, that Yves Edwards was out cold, why can’t other fighters do the same in their bouts? Particularly when so many fighters frantically race in to get in extra blows knowing that the referee will be stopping the fight at any moment and they have to rush if they want to get the unnecessary shots in?

–I’m not sure why Vancouver fans didn’t appreciate Demian Maia-Mark Munoz. In my book, it was one of the better fights on a really solid card, with both not only fighting in aggressive fashion but showing off better standup technique than I would have expected. Also, I like that Munoz is always classy and humble in victory, even deflecting attention to his opponents skills regularly during the post-fight interview. And it makes sense: why do fighters ever use post-fight interviews to slight their opponents, even subtly? You just beat the guy, what purpose does it serve you to knock on his skills? Doesn’t that devalue your win? Talking your opponent up makes more sense, as it makes your win appear that much more prestigious. Plus, it doesn’t make you look two-faced, since fighters inevitably hug it out after bouts even when heavy trash talk had occurred before them

–I realize that when you have different referees doing different bouts, there will be some inconsistencies. However, there is no reason that Einemo-Herman should have been stopped while Dos Santos-Carwin was allowed to continue past the whooping Dos Santos was putting on Carwin in round one. I’m not saying that Herb Dean should have stopped the fight in the first round; I’m actually arguing that Kevin Dornan shouldn’t have stopped Einemo-Herman so quickly when Einemo hit the canvas. The real point is that there needs to be more consistency with how quick referees are to stop fights. I’ve heard every explanation in the book in the past, including the asinine theory that bigger fights, or bouts with titles on the line should give fighters more leeway to absorb punishment before a TKO. None of that makes sense- if it’s about fighter safety, Einemo-Herman should be given as much time as Dos Santos-Carwin was.

Say What?!?

“I don’t think jiu-jitsu really even works.“- Dave Herman, during his pre-fight interview

Adventures in Judging

This event had a couple of face-palm moments courtesy of the judges. We of course had the Michihiro Omigawa decision (where Dave Hagen turned in a 30-27 scorecard for Darren Elkins), which was awful, but then there were also some head-scratchers in other fights, as well. Nelson Hamilton turned in a perplexing 30-27 scorecard in favor of Mark Munoz, and Hagen turned in a similarly-improbable 30-27 for Kenny Florian in his fight. There’s simply no way that Munoz or Florian won every round in their respective fights, regardless of whether they deserved to win two out of three rounds. On another note, only one judge, Bill Mahood, gave Junior dos Santos a 10-8 first round in his one-sided beating of Shane Carwin. The other judges, Sal D’Amato and Hamilton apparently do not believe in assigning 10-8 rounds except in cases of dismemberment and/or near execution.

The Munoz scorecard is particularly troubling. In the first round of their fight, Demian Maia outstruck Munoz 23-7 and Munoz missed his only takedown attempt. Just awful judging, and even though one 30-27 didn’t affect the overall outcome, judges still need to be held responsible for such scorecards because one day, their poor judging will make the difference in another fight.

Why You Don’t Bet on MMA

Dos Santos-Carwin actually made it the full fifteen minutes, which somehow became even more improbable thanks to the near-TKO in the first round.

The Sound of Violence Award

This one goes to Dave Herman for walking out to Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” Everyone laughed at the fact that he came out to a Culture Club song during the broadcast, but the idea that a professional fighter would come out to a song about convincing someone not to do them harm is amusing enough in my book.

Movin’ On Up Award

We always see upward mobility on a UFC card, and this one was no different. No one really shocked me on this card, so I’ll give it to Junior dos Santos, who beat a very tough opponent and now has gone from a relatively unproven top ten fighter to a legitimate challenger for the title.

The Bob Seger “Beautiful Loser” Award

This award is for the fighter who was most impressive despite losing his fight, and I’ll avoid picking Omigawa even though he deserved to win and was robbed by the judges. Instead I’ll select Demian Maia, who displayed much improved standup technique in his fight with Mark Munoz, who also looked much better than usual himself.

“Holy Crap!” Award

I know, “Holy crap!” is not as creative as “Goodnight, Irene!” but it is less abrasive and has withstood the test of time. This one goes to Sam Stout, for his beautiful looping left hook counter that laid Yves Edwards out cold during their preliminary bout.

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Tags: Dave Herman, Demian Maia, Jon Olav Einemo, Junior Dos Santos, Mark Munoz, Michihiro Omigawa, Sam Stout, Shane Carwin, UFC, UFC 131, Yves Edwards