UFC 161 is in the books and for the majority of MMA fans, that’s a good thing.
The card had been maligned with injuries and looked more like a network TV kind of card rather than something fans should’ve shelled out $60 for.
Not that anyone should’ve dished out that kind of money for a main event consisting of two guys coming off a loss (one of them coming off consecutive losses at that) but I’m sure there were a few poor souls who made that mistake.
Or perhaps they have so much money they love spending it on worthless products, like oceanfront property in Iowa.
In short, UFC 161 was a disaster.
The original card had some promise with an interim bantamweight title shot between Renan Barao and Eddie Wineland as the main event. UFC fans haven’t fully bought in to the little guys but at the very least a title fight would’ve been headlining the card.
A rematch between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira also looked good on paper. The bout had Pride FC fans reminiscing about their first matchup which has become one of the all time great fights in MMA history.
Alas, both of those bouts fell through as injuries forced fighters to back out. That left us with Rashad Evans vs. Dan Henderson as a main event. This fight would’ve been a main event a few years ago, but with both fighters clearly heading into the end of their careers, it shouldn’t have been anywhere near the headlining bout.
However, there was still hope for UFC 161. In the past, cards that have been deemed unbearable to watch on paper have actually turned out to be pretty decent cards. Maybe it’s the lowered expectations or fighters realizing they need to put on a show, but whatever the reason, some lackluster cards on paper worked out pretty well.
None of that mattered on Saturday, as UFC 161 was terrible to watch from start to finish. The prelims were filled with questionable judging and the “main event” of the prelims, Jake Shields vs. Tyrone Woodley, was pretty hard to watch.
It would prove to be a sign of things to come as the main card for UFC 161 seemed to drag on like a bad family reunion.
Pat Barry and Shawn Jordan did their best to put on a show and the fight provided an explosive finish (not to mention a sweet backflip from a really big dude). It would be the last time fans had anything to cheer about during UFC 161.
Alexis Davis was supposed to look amazing against Rosi Sexton, but she struggled to put away the scrappy veteran.
Ryan Jimmo was supposed to take a step forward and regain some of the aura he obtained after a seven-second KO in his UFC debut. And Roy Nelson was supposed to drop Stipe Miocic on the canvas to begin his contract negotiations.
None of that happened.
The main event did little to salvage the event as Evans and Henderson failed to put any form of offense together. Hendo was able to wobble Evans with a jab and Evans was able to drop Hendo in the final round, but neither man could’ve convincingly been called a victor.
The card wasn’t filled with as many quirks as UFC 159 and didn’t feature as many one-sided beatdowns as other cards this year but UFC 161 has to be bringing up the rear when discussing the top pay-per-view cards of 2013.
I heard the card was so lacking in excitement even Yushin Okami fell asleep at one point.
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