UFC 109: Relentless has come and gone, so let’s take a look at what the history books will say about the event, and examine what some of it’s story lines will breed in the months to come. The Mandalay Bay Events Centre saw 10,687 fans attend the show, generating a gate of $2.27 million for the UFC; $60,000 in bonuses were handed out to Chael Sonnen and Nate Marquardt for Fight of the Night, Matt Serra for Knockout of the Night and Paulo Thiago for Submission of the Night.
In the main event, Randy “The Natural” Couture defeated fellow Hall of Famer Mark “The Hammer” Coleman via rear naked choke, in a bout that saw the ladder completely dispose of his legendary freestyle game plan. According to UFC President Dana White, Coleman is “probably done” with the organization, while he believes Couture is right up there in the title mix for the light heavyweight crown. Not sure I agree with this assessment, as I’d like to see Couture defeat a top contender in the division, or at least according to White, a fellow top contender as he has the former champ ranked much higher than I do.
As for Coleman, the legend will no doubt have to reevaluate whether he should continue fighting, but much is being made about the post-fight verbal altercation between he and Ortiz. Both fighters had choice words for one another, which stem back to October, when Coleman was forced to withdraw from their proposed UFC 106 bout, and where Ortiz called him “a sissy”, and Coleman’s camp responding with some derogatory comments towards Ortiz’s girlfriend, Jenna Jameson.
Don’t fool yourself here: Tito could be jockeying for a future bout with Coleman, (one he may consider an easy pay cheque) likely believing he could easily defeat the UFC Hall of Famer, just like Couture did. Will this bout happen? Not likely, according to Dana White.
In the co-main event, it was heartbreaking to see Nate Marquardt’s title shot disappear into thin air, as Chael Sonnen dominated the former number one contender for the vast majority of the fight. Nate did rebound in the last minute of the fight, but it was too little too late.
One thing I would like the UFC to consider is make all “number one” contender bouts, five rounds (an idea born from my colleague Josh Gross from Sports Illustrated). This would eliminate the need for interim titles, while prepping the contenders for a five round war. Nate will now have to work his way back up the middleweight food chain while Sonnen has taken over the pecking order and is already taking numerous verbal pot shots towards champion Anderson Silva.
Many believe Sonnen came out of nowhere, but then again, many have not paid attention to his stellar accomplishments. While I firmly believed Marquardt was going to win, I knew Sonnen’s wrestling could give Nate fits…and boy did it ever.
Although Silva must first get past Vitor Belfort at UFC 112, I would thoroughly enjoy the lead up to a Silva/Sonnen fight, especially considering the American has made it clear that he is the “alpha male” backstage, and not “The Spider”, even going so far as saying the champion’s “fifteen minutes of fame” are up.
Demian Maia, who holds a victory over Sonnen, rebounded at UFC 109 with a victory over Dan Miller, in a bout that showcased his improved striking and ability. It also proved he can stand and bang with one of the division’s toughest competitors, and that if the fight does not go to the ground, the Brazilian does have the skills to win standing up. Where he goes from here, remains to be seen, but if I was him, I’d be calling out Nate Marquardt right away.
As for Paulo Thiago coming out of nowhere, I disagree. UFC match maker Joe Silva should be commended for recruiting the Jungle Fight veteran and giving him three (of four) stiff tests in the octagon. Thiago knocked Koscheck in his UFC debut, goes the distance with Jon Fitch (#2 WW on my list) at UFC 100, defeats Jacob Volkmann thereafter, then submits Mike Swick at UFC 109. I now rank Thiago at number three and is but another reason champion George St-Pierre should forget his Olympic aspirations.
Matt Serra’s TKO of Frank Trigg in the first round proved the former champ still has some gas left in his tank, and while he may not look pretty throwing leather, if he connects, most guys are going to go down. Unfortunately for Trigg, we may have seen the last of “Twinkle Toes” in the octagon, while Serra continues to jockey for his placing in the welterweight division. With his mentor Renzo Gracie taking on his arch nemesis Matt Hughes at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, look for Serra to be there and call out Hughes immediately, no matter the outcome of the bout.
In the prelims, while Canadian Tim Hague fell short on the judges scorecards, losing a majority decision to Chris Tuchsherer, the arena erupted in boos immediately after the decision was announced. By many accounts, neither fighter did too much to win rounds one and two, but round three was all Hague, but it was obviously too little, too late.
As I predicted in my column yesterday, rookie Phil Davis pulled off a unanimous judges decision victory over veteran Brian Stann and looked great doing so. This guy is another future star in the light heavyweight division, with many people already calling for a match up with Jon Jones. I disagree…Davis still has work to do before he can fight someone on Jones’ level. In time, they will meet, but that time, is not now.
Mac Danzig, Melvin Guillard and Rob Emerson were all victorious as well, with all three fighters showing improvements in their MMA skills. None of them may be ranked high in the lightweight division, but all three are gamers and are capable of pulling off some serious upsets as they ascend the 155 lbs latter.
The one disappointment from UFC 109 was the performance of Rolles Gracie, who came into this fight highly acclaimed as the next “Gracie” to bear the families torch. I’ve yet to find out what really went wrong, but there’s likely a specific reason why he gassed out just four minutes into the fight. He was well prepared for this bout, and I get the feeling the anxiety and pressure caught up with him; I’ve seen this with many MMA fighters in the past. They have all the skills in the world, but the pressure just gets to them and their seemingly endless gas tank in training, ends up starting off on empty when they get to their fight. The real question here, is whether the UFC decides to give him another chance, or he is he just a “one and done’ with the organization.
As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcomed.
- Showdown Joe Ferraro
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