The biggest event of the past week was the UFC’s second annual ‘Fight for the Troops’: a charitable event to benefit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund for the treatment of Armed Forces veterans who suffered traumatic brain injury in the line of duty.
The televised portion of the event was broadcast on Spike TV, and as is generally the case for UFC’s Spike show, there were no Top 10-ranked fighters on the card – so the impact on rankings was fairly minimal at a high level. However there were some fluctuations, particularly in the heavyweight & lightweight divisions.
Heavyweight action
Matt ‘Meathead’ Mitrione made short work of Tim Hague, improving his record to 4-0 and rising to #23 on the heavyweight ranking. A big, quick heavyweight with serious knockout power, Mitrione looks to have improved in every one of his four professional fights. Despite his inexperience, he already sits at #11 in the UFC’s heavyweight division, and with another couple of wins I won’t be surprised to see him fighting for the title within a year.
Mitrione’s friend and training partner Pat Barry didn’t fare quite as well: though he made it into the Top 50 at #44 with a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Joey Beltran, his struggle with a small brawler like Beltran shows very limited upside in the heavyweight division where he will often face fighters much bigger than himself, and with a much more diverse skill set. Beltran, after winning his first two bouts in the Octagon, loses two straight decisions and his UFC career will be in jeopardy with another loss. Ultimately, the light-heavyweight division seems like a better fit for both Barry and Beltran.
Notable
The loss to Mitrione drops Tim Hague’s UFC record to a miserable 1-4. Hague was already twice cut from his UFC contract after losses to Chris Tuchscherer and Joey Beltran. If the first-round TKO loss sends Hague packing again (and I suspect that it will), this will be the third time he is served his UFC walking papers – in the course of a single year!
Hominick emerges as a contender
With a first-round KO of George Roop, featherweight Mark Hominick moves up four spots to #14, and earns a shot at the champion Jose Aldo. Roop falls 10 spots to #55. Meanwhile, former WEC champion Mike Thomas Brown falls to #21 with a unanimous decision loss to Rani Yahya, Brown’s second consecutive loss and his third in the past four bouts. Yahya, previously ranked at bantamweight, returns to the featherweight rankings at #18.
Six lightweight match-ups to make after ‘Fight For The Troops’
Four of the eleven match-ups on the card took place in the lightweight division. Let’s play amateur matchmaker with the 155 lbs winners and losers of this event:
[#13] Melvin Guillard vs [#16] Yves Edwards
These two were supposed to face each other on the undercard of this event; however an injury to Kenny Florian caused changes to the line-up, and Guillard ended up facing Evan Dunham in the main event while Edwards took on Cody McKenzie.
Both men earned a victory over their new opponents, and both made out well financially, with Guillard taking home $30,000 ‘Knockout of the Night’ bonus and Edwards raking up a cool 60K for ‘Fight of the Night’ and ‘Submission of the Night’. Since there is already a back-log of contenders in the division, neither fighter will sniff a title shot soon, and so it makes sense to pit them against each other like originally scheduled.
[#30] Matt Wiman vs. [#25] Mac Danzig
Their last meeting ended in controversy. A rematch was scheduled then scrapped due to injuries. With both fighters coming off decisive and definitive wins, there is no time like the present for a do-over.
[#74] Waylon Lowe vs [#31] Nik Lentz
Waylon Lowe was the biggest gainer of the night from the rankings perspective, rising 133 spots. His wrestling-heavy style is effective on the judges’ scorecards, but does not make for fan-friendly fights. The same could be said about Nik Lentz, who is 4-0-1 in UFC with all five fights going the distance. Sometimes matching two controlling wrestlers results in fireworks as they cancel each other out and are forced to scramble. Other times it disintegrates into bad kickboxing, dancing, and meaningful stares. Just in case, lets keep this on the untelevised undercard.
[#38] Evan Dunham vs [#59] Rafael dos Anjos
If the controversial decision loss to Sean Sherk slowed down the Dunham hype train ever so slightly, ending up on the wrong end of a first-round knockout in the main event made it grind to a screeching halt. With back-to-back losses, Dunham needs to take a small step back down the ranks. If Rafael dos Anjos is healed from the injury he suffered against Clay Guida, this will make for an interesting matchup of styles and a tough yet beatable opponent for Dunham.
[#69] Cole Miller vs [#88] Willemy Freire
‘Magrinho’ and ‘Chiquerim’ both looked to implement a submission game-plan in their losses, but were stifled by stronger opponents. Put them together and they will have plenty of opportunities to showcase their jiu-jitsu skills, or maybe striking will be the deciding factor when two grapplers meet? The only obstacle may be Freire’s indefinite suspension due to hand and facial injuries; but such suspension can be lifted on advice from a physician once the injuries heal. Lets keep our fingers crossed.
[#167] Cody McKenzie vs [#163] Darrin Elkins
Fresh out of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ house, McKenzie received a rough welcome to the UFC with a fight against Yves Edwards – a veteran with over 50 bouts under his belt. Though he fought valiantly and at times controlled the action, Cody was ultimately choked unconscious. His next fight should be against someone close to his own experience, such as fellow 1-1 UFC sophomore Darrin Elkins.
In other news
Former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver snaps a six-fight losing streak with a first-round submission over unranked Mike Lindquist at an XFO event in Illinois. He returns to featherweight rankings at #221.