UFC 118 Review

Top 4 performances from UFC 118

1) Frankie Edgar, wow, he has BJ Penn's number, he has beaten him twice both decisively.
I am curious to see how well he does vs. Gray Maynard in the the re-match. I think his wrestling has improved drastically. Will he be so easy to takedown again?

2) Demian Maia, he did gas, however he wrestled so very well vs. Mario Miranda who has accomplished: Grapplers Quest champion, South American wrestling champion, Four-time Brazilian wrestling champion, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. I don't know who Maia trained wrestling with but he did an amazing job with it. Much improved.

3) Nate Diaz.
Wow, when he establishes his jab and range he picks you apart with what people call "pitter-patter" but getting hit in the same spot consistently especially in the case of opening a cut up and keep picking at it does some serious damage. I think he has a serious chance to contend in the Welterweight division, would like to see him face winner of Dan Hardy vs. Carlos Condit.

4) Joe Lauzon
What a dominate performance, best two minute one sided pounding I have seen in a while. Amazing to see exactly how he fights at nearly 100%.

Disappointments

1) BJ Penn he fought worse than he did the first time vs. Frankie Edgar. His cornermen offered no help or instruction. BJ needs to get a better camp or he will get passed by all of the other lightweights.

2) Kenny Florian, he just cannot win a big fight to save his life. That makes 3 big fights. This loss puts him in a rough spot, he's not quite a gatekeeper but he's not quite a title contender still. Interesting.

3) James Toney, did anyone expect anything different?

4) Amilcar Alves, you're facing an elite level wrestler, do they not train takedown defense in Brazil? I have noticed a trend of Brazilians not being able to avoid takedowns? Maybe he shall improve the next fight.


Conclusions

1) Randy Couture got his Black Belt in NO Gi Catch Wrestling where he trains at Extreme Couture, imagine how many they would have to give out for just tapping James Toney? to quote John Morgan from MMAjunkie.com

2) Wrestling is still the most important tool to have in MMA at this point. Look at the winners from UFC 118 who used wrestling, Mike Pierce, Gray Maynard, Randy Couture, Demian Maia, Joe Lauzon, Nik Lentz, Frankie Edgar, Nate Diaz and Greg Soto. All used wrestling to win their fights. Impressive.

3) Is Demian Maia immediately back in the title contention if Chael Sonnen wins the re-match vs. Anderson Silva?????????

Please comment.