UFC 104 RECAP

At last ladies and gentleman, the time has come for another UFC Event. UFC104 has come and gone and here is the low down:

PRELIMS
The preliminary fights actually aired on Spike TV which was a smart way for the UFC to get you hooked into the action the same way that a drug dealer get your hooked on their product... give you a free taste to reel you in and then get you to buy the big show.

The were only 2 real bouts worth mentioning from the undercard. The first was between Patrick Barry and Antoni Hardonk. These two guys kept it mainly a stand up match due to their Muay Thai backgrounds. Barry looked impressive in the stand up, and showed some signs of improvement in his ground game. His emotions after the fight were a bit much, but it's what makes MMA a great sport.

Result:
Barry defeated Hardonk via TKO (strikes) at 2:30 of round 2.

The next fight is the UFC's latest golden boy, Ultimate Fighter season 8 winner Ryan Bader. He took on  MMA veteran Eric Schafer. While I like Bader, and think that he's got good head on his shoulders, I noticed some weaknesses in his game during his fight tonight:
- Bader needs to work on his endurance and stand up skills. While he has the punching power to knock people into the next zip code, the 1 punch swingin' for the fences technique is not gonna cut it as he gets deeper into his career and moves up the 205 ladder.

Result: 
Bader def, Schafer via unanimous decision.

THE MAIN CARD
 (Note: This recap only covers some key fights which I feel were worth mentioning)


 Anthony"Rumble"Johnson v. Yoshiyuki Yoshida(170#)

Round 1: Johnson came aggressively and beat Yoshida quickly and early. It was discovered that he came in 6 pounds over the limit for the fight. I am pretty impressed with his KO power though.

Result: 
 Johnson defeated Yoshida via TKO (punches) at 0:41 of round 1.


Joe"Daddy"Stevenson v. Spencer Fisher (155#)
This is Stevenson's 2nd fight since joining the Greg Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts Team. He was able to beat Nick Diaz (who is such a little punk) and will now test his new skills against MMA journeyman Spencer Fisher.

Round 1: Stevenson looked really fluid and light on his feet. This round was pretty much a lot of the two fighters feeling eachother out and making occasional exchanges. Spencer's excessive scar tissue caused a cut to open above his eye, and the round ended with Stevenson preparing to mount Fisher for a rear naked choke.

Round 2: This round started off pretty much the same way as the 1st till Stevenson went in for a takedown. Joe "Daddy's" skill on the ground allowed him to easily dominate Fisher to move in for the finish with elbows to the head.

Result: Stevenson defeated Fisher via Submission (elbows) at 4:03 of round 2.


Cain Velasquez v. Ben Rothwell (265#)

 Round 1: Velasquez owned Rothwell the whole round. He took Rothwell down fairly easily and proceeded to ground and pound him for the majority of the round.

Round 2: Velasquez continued his dominance of Rothwell through a series of takedowns and cage control. He finally ended ended it with a ground and pound to the face.

Result: Velasquez defeated Rothwell via TKO (punches) at 0:58 of round 2


Main Event : Lyoto Machida v Mauricio Rua (205# - Championship Fight) 

Round 1: Started out pretty even with both fighters stalking eachother and attacking cautiously but aggresively with leg kicks.


Round 2: Machida made a better case for winning the round as he was able to get the better of the exchanges.

Round 3: Machida got Rua in the corner and made strikes but Rua was able to punish Machida with leg kicks to keep his elusiveness to a minimum.

Round 4: Rua took this round with more smart striking to the legs of Machida. While he did counter with leg strikes of his own, Lyoto really didn't do that much damage.

Round 5: This went back what went on in Round 1. While Rua did expose some flaws in Machida's game, it was not aggressive enough to ensure a victory .

Result: 
Machida defeated Rua via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) to retain the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship

Summary:
Overall, the card was pretty good with some pretty entertaining fights.