UFC 104 Impressions: Machida’s Win, Who Impressed, What’s Next For Bader, Valesquez?

UFC 104 didn’t look like an amazing card on paper. It had a bunch of okay fights where we can clearly name one fighter the favorite over the other, and it had a main even that featured one of the world’s best fighters taking on a real threat to his crown.

Well, it turned out that we got exactly what we thought we were getting. Insert Dennis Green quote here. While most of the fights were pretty one sided, we did get the main event that we hoped for. We even saw Machida get upset…ohhh, wait. He’s still the champ.

Machida 48, Shogun 47: What the hell happened?

Listen, we’ve gone over this already. The whole internet is on fire because judges don’t know how to score MMA. However, I’ve said my piece about this already. I had a conversation with my father about scoring boxing, which he is a huge fan. I asked him two questions: How do boxing judges score defense, and how often do you see the “You have to truly dominate the champion” rule enacted. His answers were about what I expected: “There’s no real defined way,” and “More times than you can possibly imagine.” If judges haven’t gotten it right in 100 years of regulated boxing, why would we assume that they would get it right in fifteen years of MMA?

For the record, I had the fight scored for Rua by the following breakdown.

• Round 1: Rua 10 – Machida 9
• Round 2: Machida 10 – Rua 9
• Round 3: Rua 10 – Machida 9
• Round 4: Rua 10 – Machida 9
• Round 5: Rua 10 – Machida 9, but I could see giving to Machida because nothing happened as he is the champion.

Cain Velasquez’s Complete Dominance

Well, way to prove me wrong there big guy. Cain’s amazing takedowns were never the question. It was the lack of power that everyone was worried about. Well, due to excellent position and better athleticism than I thought that he had, he dominated a good fighter in Ben Rothwell.

Do I think he’s ready for the winner of Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin? Probably not. However, expect him to get it. His one saving grace may be the UFC wanting to put a card in Mexico City in 2010. If UFC 111 is there, they may put Cain against a mediocre heavyweight because he is such a draw in the country of his heritage.

Was the trigger a little quick? Sure, but Rothwell was getting his ass beat. Let’s be honest.

By the way, here’s a hint for Rothwell. Get some wrestling. In the UFC, if you want to strike, you have to be able to wrestle.

Who Would You Compare Ryan Bader To?

I love Ryan Bader as a prospect. I think that he is the only Ultimate Fighter winner of recent memory that has the chance to be a champ. He’s great wrestling combined with some sick power striking. He had a good gameplan against Eric Schafer. He didn’t want to get into a grappling match with a BJJ ace, so he stayed on his feet for most of the fight.

If there is a chance for him to improve (which there definitely is) it’s in his standup. While the power is excellent, the technique is awful. Bader’s got to get some boxing coaches that can teach him how to have a more consistent striking game. If he keeps heading in the direction that he is, his ceiling is Dan Henderson. If he improves his boxing, we could be saying that some hot prospect in 2015 could be the next Ryan Bader.

Stock Up

1. Cain Velasquez – I never thought that he would be so dominant. He’s gonna need to be able to stay on his feet against bigger wrestlers, and he can be outstruck by a lot of the top heavyweights right now.

2. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua – We thought we were going to get the hyper-agressive Shogun from PRIDE, and instead we get a new Shogun, complete with an unbelievable gameplan based upon body kicks. Already looking forward to Machida-Rua II.

3. Joe Stevenson – Another dominating performance by Joe Daddy. Jason thinks that he’s right back in lightweight race, but I think he needs one more big win. Most of the top lightweights are booked through 2010, so Joe might have to wait for his next fight.

Stock Down

1. Ben Rothwell – For all the hype that they gave this guy, he got thoroughly dominated by a fighter that a lot of people were down on. Like I said earlier, he needs to learn to sprawl if he wants to strike in the UFC.

2. Lyoto Machida – We’re so used to Machida being dominant that it was a bit jarring to watch him get repeatedly kicked in the ribs. He’s still the champ, but he’s going to have a lot to prove when he steps back in the cage against Rua.

3. Anthony Johnson – Rumble may have won, but he didn’t make weight which cost him 20% of his purse. Moreover, he finished Yoshiyuki Yoshida so quickly that he would have won knockout of the night and pocketed 60,000 dollars, but he wasn’t eligible because he couldn’t make the cut. That’s gotta be enough to make him start thinking about his cut. Wow. He claims that it was because of a knee injury, but he can’t keep starting his training camp at 220 lbs and cutting down to 170. He’s still one of the best fighters that UFC has, even at 185. Hell, he might be the 5th ranked middleweight right now.

Related posts:

1. Gettin’ Paid: UFC 104 Salaries
2. UFC 104: Machida Retains; Shogun Was Robbed…
3. Bader’s Twitter: I’m Fighting Schafer at UFC 104
4. Don’t Rush Ryan Bader
5. UFC 104: Prelims To Be Aired For Free On SPIKE TV!