The UFC 158 main event played out exactly as many of the experts predicted, with Georges St-Pierre controlling Nick Diaz on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Although the outcome was generally expected, GSP vs. Diaz was actually still fairly entertaining. If we were to rank it against some of the other main events that have happened so far in 2013, it’d probably be right up there as one of the most interesting, if for no other reason than the drama and antics created by the still-boiling rivalry between the two fighters.
But the fight itself wasn’t particularly exciting outside of the drama.
In the seven UFC fight cards so far this year, three have ended by way of decision, two by submission and two by knockout.
The UFC on FX bout between Michael Bisping and Vitor Belfort started the year off strong, ending in a huge knockout for Belfort. The other knockout so far came in Japan when Wanderlei Silva knocked out Brian Stann in what is perhaps the current “Fight of the Year” favorite of 2013.
The two submissions came in back-to-back fight cards, the first when Renan Barao submitted Michael McDonald to retain his UFC interim bantamweight championship with a beautiful arm-triangle choke. A week later, Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche topped that fight with an epic battle which was the first female fight in UFC history, ending with yet another Rousey armbar.
Of the three bouts that finished with a decision, St-Pierre vs. Diaz has to take the cake as the most entertaining bout. The other two, Demetrious Johnson versus John Dodson and Jose Aldo versus Frankie Edgar were both decent fights, but neither really lived up to the hype of being between two exciting stylistic fighters. Not to mention, the five-round decisions can get a little taxing to watch if there’s not much in the way of near-finishes.
All things considered, GSP-Diaz was a good fight but only falls about middle of the pack in terms of entertainment when compared to the other main events so far in 2013.
It certainly can’t be ranked above Silva-Stann, Rousey-Carmouche or Belfort-Bisping, but it does fit right in after that as the fourth or fifth-best UFC main event we have seen so far in 2013.
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