November 15, 2009, at 1:21 am
Stock Up:
Andre Winner: Damn, where did this come from. Winner striking was insanely crisp and technical. What happens when he goes to the ground remains to be scene but an impressive, impressive performance for the 28 year old lightweight.
Alexander Gustafsson: When the UFC signed Gustasfasson the Internet was ablaze with excitement. Doing some digging on Youtube I found an awful lot to like about the 22 year old, Sweedish kick-boxer. His frame, 6′5, gives him a lot of power and provides him a reach advantage over most fighters. His power is obvious, a straight job took down Hamman, and his hand speed (think Mike Swick) might be unrivaled at 205. Gustasfasson is 9-0 but hasn’t fought anyone of note and it’s unclear if his wrestling/ju-jitsu game is any good. However, the future seems to be very bright.
Dennis Siver: Didn’t make the main card but by Sherdog.com’s account he might have had KO of the year. Here’s the description.
He lands a picture-perfect spinning-back kick to the midsection that folds Kelly in two and puts him on his seat. Siver swarms before backing away and inviting Kelly to stand. In obvious pain, Kelly struggles to his feet only to be overwhelmed by Siver strikes. Referee Dan Miragliotta stops the bout at 2:53 of the second frame. Kelly stays down on the mat for a couple minutes as he is tended to. He leaves the cage with help of his team, who are holding a bucket in front of him in case he has to vomit.
And scene. Despite some struggled early in his UFC career Siver has now rattled off 3 UFC wins in a row and is in line for a bigger name opponent.
Nicholas Dominic Osipczak and Matt Riddle: A battle of two very young fighters that didn’t make T.V. Osipczak showcased great ju-jitsu in his victory over Riddle. Riddle, despite being listed as a purple belt on UFC.com, got outclassed on the ground. He’s a great wrestler but needs the rest of his game to catch up.
Terry Etim: Etim always intrigued me because he was so tall, 6′1, for a lightweight. Much like Siver despite early UFC struggled he’s won 3 in a row and is now 5-2 overall in the UFC.
John Hathaway: A recurring theme tonight the rise of the young prospect. Hathaway, a 22 year old welter-weight, dominated and move to 12-0 in his career.
Ross Pearson: Very impressed with Pearson tonight. Riley is a legit fighter and one of the tougher tests a TUF guy can have in his first fight. Perason’s striking was versilite and he physically destroyed Riley. He looked great both in and out of the clinch. Great showing.
Michael Bisping: To be honest I didn’t think Bisping had this in him. I’ve always argued that Bisping built his reputation off fighting cans and being a British hero. The first round seemed to affirm everything I thought about Bisping, he’s an average striker and average grappler. Well…I was wrong. Bisping showcased amazing ju-jitsu defesne in Round 1. He had incridibley active hips and kept Kang (a BJJ blackbelt) at bay. Round 2 Bisping flipped a switch and landed giant takedowns and pounded out Kang. He broke Kangs will. Very impressed.
Stock Down:
The UFC: What did the UFC gain tonight? Vera/Couture was a lackluster fight and provided MMA with another controversial judges decision. Swick lost convincingly to Hardy who now fights GSP. Yawn. Beating; Gono, Markham, Davis and Swick is enough to be a title contender? Fitch won 8 UFC fights before he got to GSP, Koscheck won 5 in a row, Alves won 7 in a row (including wins over Hughes and Koscheck.) Sorry I just don’t buy Hardy as a legit title contender. The UFC also lost Lesnar and ‘Nog due to injury tonight.
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