Post-Event Thoughts: UFC 117

It's been almost a week since the event, but I figure this post is better late than never, so without further delay here are my thoughts on UFC 117.

Several MMA sites are reporting that the event did very well in terms of PPV sales and could be close to the 1 million orders mark. A lot of people are giving the credit to Chael Sonnen thanks to continual smack talking leading up to the event and I think that credit is deserved. Anderson Silva, despite being one of the best fighters in the world, has never proven to be that big of a PPV draw. Arguments were made that the sales of UFC 101 and UFC 112 changed that perception, but I disagree. UFC 101 piggy-backed off of the success of UFC 100, had Forrest Griffin as Silva's opponent, and also featured the BJ Penn/Kenny Florian title fight. Penn has proven to be a draw on his own as evidenced by the 700k-800k PPV buys seen with UFC 107 and was once again paired with Silva for UFC 112. Unless Silva is paired with a proven draw, or is given an opponent like Sonnen who will seriously hype the fight, Silva is going to remain a moderate draw. This could very well change thanks to Sonnen making Silva look human for once, so it is very possible that people will actually tune into see if Silva's next opponent can dethrone him, especially when it seems possible now.

Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson: Due to cable issues and dealing with Mediacom over two separate phone calls I missed the first two rounds of the fights. I've since gone back to watch highlights, and it is apparent that the first two rounds of the fight were an absolute beating. Major props to Nelson for hanging on like he did and staying busy despite the fact that Dos Santos was landing several clean, hard shots. Some criticism of Dos Santos has come up due to his inability to finish and his looking a little gassed in the 3rd, but I don't think those criticisms are necessarily valid. Dos Santos stayed busy in the third and despite slowing was still landing shots, throwing knees, and defending the takedown. As for not finishing Nelson, well Dos Santos has finished every other UFC opponent he's faced, so I don't think a lack of a finish should be call for concern, especially when you consider how tough of a guy Nelson is. Dos Santos gets the winner of Velasquez/Lesnar and I couldn't be more excited for either one of those fights. Nelson faces a little bit of a set back, but it shouldn't hurt him too much. I'd like to see Nelson get the loser of Mir/Nog or maybe Cro Cop.

Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida: Wow what a finish. After the losses to GSP and Thiago Alves and the lackluster wins over Matt Serra and Renzo Gracie I really thought that Hughes's best days were behind him. While Hughes may not be holding UFC gold again anytime soon he certainly proved that he is still a threat to anyone at 170. After catching Almeida with a beautiful hook Hughes put him to sleep with one of the craziest submissions I've ever seen. Apparently it's a classic hold used in wrestling, but if I had to describe it I'd call it a blend between a simple front headlock with some anaconda choke/arm triangle thrown in. Hughes is going to take some time off, so we'll have to see how the division shakes out before he makes his return, but I still would love to see him face any of the guys from AKA. As for Almeida, I really expected him to win, but he got caught and put out with ease. I guess it's back to the drawing board for Ricardo, so you could have him face a UFC newcomer or be a step up for guys like Johny Hendriks or Jake Ellenberger.

Clay Guida vs. Rafael Dos Anjos: After the first round it looked like Rafael was going to have a significant advantage on the feet, but when I heard the translation of what his corner was saying, I got scared to think that he had a broken jaw, especially when they talked about him not being able to bite down. From there Dos Anjos looked tentative and was unable to defend Guida's takedowns. Guida is just an animal and it's fun to watch him go and never seem tired, just unbelievable stuff to see. Not sure how long Dos Anjos is going to be out, but when he comes back, fights with Thiago Tavares or Paul Kelly could make sense. As for Guida, I'd like to see him take on Gomi.

Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves: Man this really turned out to be disappointment of the night for me. Fitch is seriously the best at what he does, and I certainly thought it was a fight he could win, but I seriously thought that Alves would be able to put something together and make that fight competitive. I don't know if it was the long layoff, the issues with cutting weight, or a combination of the two, but Alves just did not look like he was in that fight. In fact, he looked complacent at times and was just going through the motions. Dana White originally stated that the winner of the fight would get the next crack at the welterweight title, but he seemed to back off after the fight. I wouldn't be upset if Fitch got the shot now, but I think I'd rather see him face the winner of Shields/Kampmann to determine a true number one contender. Then again, if you give Fitch the show now, you can let the Shields/Kampmann winner have the following shot. It would potentially put guys on the shelf for awhile, but it also allows for more potential title contenders. As for Alves, apparently Dana wants him to go to middleweight, but Alves wants to stick at 170 and has even hired Mike Dolce to oversee his diet to make the cut easier in the future. Assuming he stays at 170 I'd like to see Alves take on Paulo Thiago or Diego Sanchez (since that was a fight Sanchez had to miss due to injury and one that I was super excited for).

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen: I've never been so shocked while watching a fight in my entire life. I expected Sonnen to have about as much success on the ground with Silva as Dan Henderson did, but man, I was WAY off. Sonnen completely dominated that fight for 4.5 rounds before tapping to a triangle in the 5th. Sonnen took Silva down with ease, and even rocked him on the feet on more than one occasion. Sonnen is always susceptible to triangles, though, and there were countless occasions that Silva could have taken it before finally going for it in the fifth. Silva looked like he was working an armbar a bunch of times, but the triangle was just there every time he got control of Sonnen's wrists. The tap was sketchy at first, but after the replay it was pretty obvious that Sonnen tapped. It looks like Silva is going to be out for awhile, but I hope he ends up coming back sooner rather than later. Belfort is waiting for his shot, and I wouldn't be upset if Sonnen got an immediate rematch either. Okami is making noise in the division as well, so there are several options that the UFC could go in determining the next contender.