After an uneventful start to the evening, UFC 145 lived up to the hype by delivering some wildly entertaining fights.
The main event between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans was obviously great, but it wasn’t the only bout that warrants mention. From intense marathon battles, to brutal knockouts, the night was full of incredible fights.
Here are the top three from UFC 145.
Matt Brown vs. Stephen Thompson
This was easily the best fight of the prelims, as middleweight contender Rousimar Palhares said.
In my opinion Fight of the Night so far, goes to Matt Brown X Stephen Thompson
— Rousimar Palhares (@ToquinhoMMA) April 22, 2012
In a beautiful contrast of styles, “The Immortal” repeatedly took Thompson—the former kickboxer—to the canvas. From there, he put on a ground-and-pound clinic, landing blow after blow to Thompson’s head.
Despite some knockout-worthy strikes from both fighters and a few near submissions by Brown, this fight went the distance. Brown won by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 30-27), but it wasn’t as lopsided as the scorecards suggest.
Thompson unleashed some deadly strikes throughout the fight, living up to his reputation as one of the best stand-up fighters in the sport. He wore Thompson down and had a chance to end the fight in the second round, but he failed to capitalize.
In the end, Brown outclassed him on the ground, earning the 14th victory of his UFC career.
Eddie Yagin vs. Mark Hominick
In the most controversial decision of the night, Eddie Yagin was awarded the split decision victory (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) over Hominick.
Yagin came out with a bang, knocking Hominick to the floor with a deadly uppercut just halfway through the first round. In the second, he had another chance to end the fight after leveling Hominick with a big right hook.
However, Hominick recovered well from the vicious hits. He outperformed Yagin for the majority of the fight, and eventually inflicted as much physical damage as his opponent.
Unfortunately for Hominick, the judges rewarded Yagin for his two big strikes, even though he fought a sloppy overall fight and telegraphed nearly every move.
The loss is Hominick’s third in a row, and should squash his bid for a rematch against Jose Aldo.
Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans
No matter who you were rooting for in this fight, you had to appreciate the sight of two masters executing their craft.
Evans and Jones are two of the best fighters in MMA history, and their skills were on full display Saturday night. Eventually, Jon Jones won by unanimous decision.
Jones was throwing elbows like Charles Barkley, and it seemed as if every one found its target. The constant blows wore down Evans, and he looked defeated after the third round.
Evans was a little tentative in the fight, which is something I never thought I would say. Of course, that’s what the problem that is Jon Jones will do to you. Jones has every weapon an MMA fighter can possess, and there’s simply no way to beat him at this point.
Last night, Evans got caught in an unenviable position: either stay on the outside and let Jones tee off with kicks, or crowd him and eat elbows all day long.
He chose to try a little of both, but everything he did just resulted in more punishment.
It was yet another masterpiece from Jones, who is quickly rising up the ranks of the all-time greats.
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