Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC 129

Filed under: UFCFor those of us who tuned in all the way from the Facebook prelims to the Spike prelims to the pay-per-view card, UFC 129 made for a long and sometimes repetitive night.

There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that. A good knockout…

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For those of us who tuned in all the way from the Facebook prelims to the Spike prelims to the pay-per-view card, UFC 129 made for a long and sometimes repetitive night.

There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that. A good knockout is still a good knockout the second (and third) time you see it, just like ‘UFC Central’ is still an ‘MMA Live’ rip-off whether you’re watching on a laptop or a TV. But am I alone in feeling just a tad overwhelmed by it all?

When you attend a live UFC event, it’s a full evening’s worth of entertainment to begin with. But when you sit through it all from home and still end up rewatching several of those fights again later in the night, at some point they all blur together in the mind. Granted, the UFC can’t assume that its entire audience is hardcore enough to tune in early, but at a certain point it becomes difficult to keep straight who did what to who, and when. Or maybe I’m just easily confused.

Now that we’ve all had a while to digest and decompress Saturday night’s action, let’s look at the big winners, losers, and everything in between after UFC 129.

UFC 129 Live Blog: Jason Brilz vs. Vladimir Matyushenko Updates

Filed under: UFCTORONTO — This is the UFC 129 live blog for Jason Brilz vs. Vladimir Matyushenko, a light heavyweight bout on tonight’s pay-per-view at the Rogers Centre.

Brilz (18-3-1) is coming off a controversial split decision loss to Antonio Rog…

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Jason Brilz vs. Vladimir Matyushenko is a fight on the UFC 129 main card.TORONTO — This is the UFC 129 live blog for Jason Brilz vs. Vladimir Matyushenko, a light heavyweight bout on tonight’s pay-per-view at the Rogers Centre.

Brilz (18-3-1) is coming off a controversial split decision loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 114. Matyushenko (25-5) won his last fight against Alexandre Ferreira by TKO at UFC 122.

The live blog is below.

Brilz and Matyushenko Aim for an Explosive Battle at UFC 129

If you believe what Vladimir Matyushenko (25-5) and Jason Brilz (18-3-1) are saying ahead of their fight at UFC 129 this Saturday night, this is one wrestler-versus-wrestler match-up that will look like anything but.

Matyushenko – a former Belarusian …

If you believe what Vladimir Matyushenko (25-5) and Jason Brilz (18-3-1) are saying ahead of their fight at UFC 129 this Saturday night, this is one wrestler-versus-wrestler match-up that will look like anything but.

Matyushenko – a former Belarusian national team member – claims that he plans to use his wrestling skills mostly to stay off the mat, and his reasoning is fairly simple.

“I’ve been working on my stand-up skills for a little while now and honestly I’d like to show off a little bit in front of the fans,” Matyushenko told MMA Fighting. “And I know my friends and my fans are expecting it.”

Brilz, who’s been out of action since losing a very close split decision to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira last May, seems to be keeping his approach even simpler.

UFC 129 St Pierre vs Shields

George St Pierre vs Jake Shields If you take the Dan Henderson vs Jake Shields fight and remember that Henderson had Jake in bad places early in that fight before tiring out and laying on the ground for a few rounds. Now imagine if Henderson had crisp clean striking, cardio for days, a game plan, […]

George St Pierre vs Jake Shields

If you take the Dan Henderson vs Jake Shields fight and remember that Henderson had Jake in bad places early in that fight before tiring out and laying on the ground for a few rounds. Now imagine if Henderson had crisp clean striking, cardio for days, a game plan, speed, and a sick ground game. If you can imagine that then you can see George St Pierre easily winning this fight.

If this fight turns into a grappling game, Shields probably has a minor edge. If this stays on the feet, Shields has no chance and I mean NONE. I like St. Pierre even with the heavy favorite roll.

Jose Aldo vs Mark Hominick

Despite me thinking Aldo will likely win, Hominick is an excellent bet at +295. He won’t have reach, he won’t have speed, and he won’t have variety that Aldo brings. However, all it takes is one punch and Hominick carries his own sack of power. I like Hominick here as a value play.

Vladimir Matyushenko vs Jason Brilz

Perfect matchup here for these two stocky brawny wrestlers. I like Matyushenko here.

Randy Couture vs Lyoto Machida

If Randy beats Machida, he should end on a high note. He is coming in as a heavy underdog against Machida on the early line of -330 over at Intertops.

Machida has problems on his back. Can Randy take him down and beat him for 3 rounds? Yes I THINK SO.

If Randy stands with Machida it will be a short night. Machida’s style tends to take awhile to unravel. Randy tends to get better over the course of multiple rounds. Both fighters styles will have them meeting and peaking near the end of the fight and should make for an entertaining matchup.

I like Randy in this fight in the heavy underdog position.

Mark Bocek vs Ben Henderson

This is such a tough one to call. I think I’m running with Bocek here in his backyard.

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Nate Diaz vs Rory MacDonald

Awesome fight. Rory can hit and take big hits. Problem is he’s been KO’d a decent amount now and it seems to be happening easier. Not only that he doesn’t have the ground game of Nate Diaz, not even close.

I like Diaz to win at any odds.

Sean Pierson vs Brian Foster

Pass

Preliminary Card

Claude Patrick vs Daniel Roberts

Daniel Roberts

Ivan Menjivar vs Charlie Valencia

Ivan Menjivar

Jason MacDonald vs Ryan Jensen

MacDonald back in the UFC. A one time title contender taking on the up and coming Ryan Jensen. Jensen’s wrestling and ground work as well as submission defense is good. MacDonald is decent everywhere, but best on the ground. MacDonald is probably an underdog, but I don’t see it on the early lines.

I like MacDonald to win here regardless.

John Makdessi vs Kyle Watson

Pass

Yves Jabouin vs Pablo Garza

Pass

How Scouring the Internet Helped Eliot Marshall Get Back in the UFC

Some fighters will tell you that they never read MMA news on the internet. Some will even mean it. It’s a distraction, they say, and the various things they might read about themselves – whether positive or negative – won’t do anything to help them on …

Some fighters will tell you that they never read MMA news on the internet. Some will even mean it. It’s a distraction, they say, and the various things they might read about themselves – whether positive or negative – won’t do anything to help them on fight night.

But as Eliot Marshall found out recently, for an unsigned fighter trying to get back into the UFC, sometimes the up-to-the-minute online reports are a resource too valuable to ignore.

“Some people say to look at the internet and some people say not to look at the internet,” Marshall said. “I’ve always tossed it back and forth in my head, whether it’s a good idea or not. Now I’m thoroughly convinced it’s a good idea.”

UFC 122 Predictions

Nate Marquardt vs Yushin Okami I don’t see Okami posing any threat to Marquardt other than maybe winning a decision, not that this couldn’t happen it could. Marquardt on the other hand has the power to finish Okami inside three rounds. I like Marquardt here. Jorge Rivera vs Alessio Sakara This is the second billing […]

Nate Marquardt vs Yushin Okami

I don’t see Okami posing any threat to Marquardt other than maybe winning a decision, not that this couldn’t happen it could. Marquardt on the other hand has the power to finish Okami inside three rounds. I like Marquardt here.

Jorge Rivera vs Alessio Sakara

This is the second billing fight and is a smart card for a free Spike TV showing. Rivera likes to stay on his feet and of course Sakara does as well. I like Rivera here.

Dennis Siver vs Andre Winner

Both guys have great boxing, Winner has better. Siver has some deadly leg kicks and his sidekick and back fist he uses quite a bit. Andre Winner though I could see putting a pounding on Siver without taking him out until the judge’s decision. Winner via decision.

Amir Sadollah vs Peter Sobotta

Amir Sadollah. UFC likes to showcase him.

Krzysztof Soszynski vs Goran Reljic

In the battle of eastern block names, I like Goran Reljic in this one. However, if Goran gets on his back, Soszynski probably does his key lock.

Kyle Noke vs Rob Kimmons

I’ll ride with Noke. Seemed tough on the show.

Vladimir Matyushenko vs Alexandre Ferreira

Vlad.

Duane Ludwig vs Nick Osipczak

In this match Ludwig is a 2-1 underdog here. I like Ludwig to win and with these odds seems like a no brainer.

Seth Petruzelli vs Karlos Vemola

Petruzelli via ridge hand.