This Past Weekend: UFC 130

UFC 130 – Rampage vs. Hamill
May 28, 2011
MGM Grand Garden Arena,
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Light Heavyweight

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32 – 8 – 0) defeated Matt Hamill (10 – 3 – 0) by unanimous decision.  Jackson easily stuffed Hamill’s repeated takedown attempts, answering with powerful punches to the head and body.  Other than leg kicks, Hamill was not able to mount any real offense against the former light heavyweight champion.  Jackson, who is 4-1 in his last 5, holds his ranking at [#4].  Perhaps a rematch with [#5] Lyoto Machida would help show where both men belong among the top of the division. Hamill, who was on a 5 fight win streak prior to this bout, moves 1 spots down the ranks from [#15] to [#16].  He should look to rebound against [#9] Ryan Bader should he defeat [#26] Tito Ortiz, who are scheduled to fight at UFC 132 in July.

Heavyweight

Frank Mir (15 – 5 – 0) defeated Roy Nelson (15 – 6 – 0) by unanimous decision.  Mir took down Nelson repeatedly, once with a textbook judo hip toss in the 1st round.  Nelson’s gas tank failed him by the 2nd round, and Mir continued to capitalize with both strikes on the feet and superior ground control.  Mir, who is 3-2 in his last 5, holds his rank at [#7].  Since the top of the heavyweight division is locked up at this point, Mir should look to face someone like [#22] Travis Browne to stay busy.  Nelson, who is on a 2 fight slide (2-4 in his last 6), moves 1 spot down the ranks from [#25] to [#26].  Nelson could face [#16] Mike Russow next to try and get back on the winning track.

Heavyweight

Travis Browne (11 – 0 – 1) defeated Stefan Struve (21 – 5 – 0) by KO due to a punch at 4:11 of round 1.  Struve nearly locked on a D’arce choke early in the round, but was stopped by a crushing superman punch by Browne.  Struve’s body seemed to fold upon itself as he fell to the canvas, followed by two unanswered blows from Browne.  Browne, who has won 9 of his 11 victories by stoppage, jumps 13 spots up the ranks from [#35] to [#22].  Browne should take a step up and face [#7] Frank Mir in his next bout.  Struve, who is 2-2 in his last 4, falls 16 spots down the ranks from [#34] to [#50].  Struve will need a win in his next bout, and should look to face someone like [#54] Rob Broughton.

Welterweight

Rick Story (13 – 3 – 0) defeated Thiago Alves (18 – 8 – 0) by unanimous decision.  Story used takedowns and clinch work to vex Alves throughout the fight.  Alves fired back with knees and punches that at times backed Story up, but never fully stopped his forward motion.  Story, who is on a 6 fight win streak , jumps 12 spots up the ranks from [#23] to [#11].  Story is making serious waves in the welterweight division, and should look to face a top contender like [#6] Josh Koscheck (who should be returning to competition in mid 2011) or [#4] John Fitch (once he returns from his injury).  Alves, who is now 1-3 in his last 4, falls 5 spots down the ranks from [#12] to [#17].  A fight between Alves and [#16] Jake Ellenberger would prove telling for where both men belong in the division.

Middleweight

Brian Stann (11 – 3 – 0) defeated Jorge Santiago (23 – 9 – 0) by KO due to punches at 4:29 of round 2.  Stann rocked Santiago in the 1st with a left hook that sent him crashing to the mat.  Santiago was able to fight through the ground and pound that followed from Stann.  Santiago’s suspect chin came into play again in the 2nd round, when he ate a right to the side of his head.  Again Santiago hit the mat, and Stann finished it this time with his ground and pound.  Stann, who is  5-1 in his last 6, jumps 12 spots up the ranks from [#18] to [#6].  If [*]Wanderlei Silva makes it past [#23] Chris Leben, that would be a great match to make (as Stann has requested the match personally).   Santiago, who is 3-2 in his last 5 (6 of his 9 losses coming from (T)KO), moves 6 spots down the ranks from [#5] to [#11].  A bout with [#27] Dan Miller would help show if Santiago is in over his head in the deep waters of the UFC.


Bantamweight

Demetrious Johnson (9 – 1 – 0) defeated former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres (39 – 4 – 0) by unanimous decision.  This was a back and forth battle on the ground and on the feet.  Repeated takedowns, sweeps and leg lock battles made this a very entertaining bout to watch.  Johnson spent more time on top, though Torres was always working from the bottom with his aggressive guard.  Ultimately, an overhand right and top control in the 3rd round could have pushed the fight in Johnson’s favor.  Johnson, who is  on a 4 fight win streak, jumps 11 spots up the ranks from [#20] to [#11].  Fights with fellow winners on the card [#8] Renan Barao or [#14] Michael McDonald are just a couple of the many bouts that could be made next for Johnson.  Torres, who is 2-3 in his last 5 (preceded by a 17 fight win streak), moves 7 spots down the ranks from [#5] to [#12].  Torres should look to rebound in what could be a must win against [#28] Brad Pickett, his original opponent for this card before he sustained an injury in training.

Middleweight

Tim Boetsch (13 – 4 – 0) defeated Kendall Grove (12 – 9 – 0) by unanimous decision.  The story here was Boetsch’s ability to earn repeated takedowns throughout the bout.  Grove would attempt submissions, but Boetsch would shrug them off and answer with ground and pound.  This was Boetsch’s first fight at middleweight.  Boetsch, who is 5-1 in his last 6, moves from [#57LHW] into the middleweight “Top 500” at [#39].  Boetsch should face the winner of the [#22] Chris Weidman [#105] Jesse Bongfeldt fight next, which will happen at UFC 131.  Grove, who is on a 2 fight losing streak (1-3 in his last 4), drops 6 spots down the ranks from [#47] to [#53].  A bout with [#63] Tom Lawlor would either save Grove from the chopping block or help Lawlor start building a streak.  A loser leaves town match versus [#133] Ryan Jensen could also be appropriate.

Lightweight

Gleison Tibau (23 – 7 – 0) defeated Rafaello Oliveira (14 – 4 – 0) by submission via rear-naked choke at 3:28 of round 2.  Tibau won the 1st round, scoring takedowns and winning the punching exchanges on the feet.  Tibau scored a takedown in the 2nd round and struck from the top, forcing Oliveira to give him his back Tibau.  Tibau secured a rear-naked choke and gained the submission.  Tibau, who is  on a 2 fight win streak (4-1 in his last 5), moves 7 spots up the ranks from [#22] to [#15].  A bout with the winner of [#7] Clay Guida vs. [#16] Anthony Pettis would have title contender implications.  Oliveira, who was on a 4 fight win streak outside the UFC prior to this loss, moves 2 spots down the ranks from [#151] to [#153].  In an interesting twist, both of the original fighters in this bout ([#64] Bart Palaszewski and [#200] Cody McKenzie) were injured.  Tibau replaced McKenzie, and Oliveira replaced Palaszewski.  It wouldn’t be a bad idea to put McKenzie against Oliveira for their next bout.

Bantamweight

Michael McDonald (13 – 1 – 0) defeated Chris Cariaso (11 – 3 – 0) by split decision.  Both fighters made their arguments to be awarded the decision; McDonald scored a takedown and secured mount in the 2nd round, while Cariaso opened up with punches and kicks in the 3rd.  One judge scored all 3 for Cariaso, while the other two judges scored the bout 29-28 for McDonald.  McDonald, who is  on a 6 fight win streak (4 by stoppage), falls 4 spots down the ranks from [#10] to [#14].  A bout with either [#8] Renan Barao or [#9] Demetrious Johnson would help further stratify the growing division.  Cariaso, who is 2-2 in his last 4, moves 13 spots up the ranks from [#63] to [#50].  Cariaso could face [#23] Cole Escovedo in his next bout.

Bantamweight

Renan Barao (26 – 1 – 0) defeated Cole Escovedo (17 – 7 – 0) by unanimous decision.  Barao scored takedowns throughout the fight and used a bevy of strikes to vex his opponent.  Escovedo went for submissions in the fight, but did not come up on top.  Barao, who has not lost since his 1st bout in 2005 (excluding a 2007 No Contest), moves 5 spots up the ranks from [#13] to [#8].  He should face [#9] Demetrious Johnson or [#14] Michael McDonald next.  Escovedo, who is 1-3 in his last 4, moves from [#30FW] into the bantamweight “Top 150” at  [#23].  Escovedo will need a win in his next bout, which he should fight against fellow bantamweight loser on the night [#50] Chris Cariaso.

Heavyweight Bouts: 2

Light Heavyweight Bouts: 1

Middleweight Bouts: 2

Welterweight Bouts: 1

Lightweight Bouts: 1

Featherweight Bouts: 0

Bantamweight Bouts: 3

Total Bouts: 10