Main Event Spoils a Great Night (UFC on FX 4 Review)
Photo Credit: UFC.com/Getty Images
The UFC loves to put together fights that will thrill the fans and this has made them the fastest growing sport in the world. At UFC on FX 4 the UFC looked like they had done it again when the pitted two lightweight stars against each other. The fight between Gray Maynard and Clay Guida looked, on paper, to be a classic matchup of two fighters that come forward. The two light weights are fighters that represent the entertaining style that fans love to see. Clay Guida is one of the top fighters in the lightweight division yet he has never fought for the Lightweight title. He is still a fan favorite though as he seems to have endless amounts of energy. When Guida fights he is constantly bouncing up and down on his way to the octagon and throughout the fight. He constantly presses forward and although he is not the strongest fighter or the most skilled his ability to push the pace helps to give him wins. His opponent Gray Maynard does not have the same energy as Guida but his style is still very exciting. Maynard is much more calculated in his striking but he still comes forward constantly. Maynard has the power to earn a knockout and he comes forward, looking for that knockout all the time. Both fighters are the type of athletes that fans love to watch and they would meet in the octagon in what promised to be a great fight. Unfortunately for the fans the fight was far from advertised in a strange main event. It started even before the fight as Maynard and his camp filed a grievance to the New Jersey Athletic Commission about Clay Guida’s hair. His signature hair was dangerous according to them and the commission agreed. This forced Guida to braid his hair for the fight but it may have been an advantage as Guida would no longer need to play with his hair throughout the fight. With braided hair Guida went into the octagon with a simple plan and that was to use his movement and stamina to stay away from Maynard and his power punches. He did this throughout the fight as he continued to avoid Maynard using his footwork and head movement to avoid getting hit. As a result of this strategy the fight looked the same throughout every round as Guida avoided Maynard but did nothing else. The fight was very uneventful aside from a few takedowns throughout the first three rounds. In the fourth and fifth rounds Maynard finally began figuring it out as he got the clinch and began unloading on Guida, although the clinch would sometimes see Maynard holding Guida’s hair to keep him there. The fight was far less than advertised as Guida continued to jump out of the way of Maynard. This style or game plan is not a bad one against a power puncher but the issue with Guida’s performance is that after avoiding Maynard’s punches he did relatively nothing. This strategy even warranted the referee to warn Guida about the fact that he was running from Maynard. The fight made many people turn on Guida who came in to the arena to cheers and left with boos. It seemed clear that the fight would be Mayard’s but the judges seemed to not be as sure. Maynard did win the fight but won via split decision in what the judges saw as a close fight likely because Maynard did not do a lot of damage and was taken down twice in the fight. It was not an impressive showing really by either fighter but a lot less by Guida who is almost always a fight of the night candidate. Guida will continue to fight in the heart of the lightweight division and again will need to find out how he can break through to the title conversation after he will need to put on some more impressive fights in the future. With the win Maynard did not impress enough to become a #1 contender but the win has put him back on the right track as he may very well face the loser of the next title fight with one more win possibly giving him a contender spot.
The main event was not impressive but the main card and undercard made up for the lack of excitement in the top fight. There were plenty of finishes and some great fights but it was the co-main event that stole the show. The fight between Sam stout and Spencer Fisher would be the finale of the trilogy of fights between the two. Their first two fights did not disappoint as both fighters used similar styles to impress the fans. So it was no surprise that this fight stole the show with two strikers facing off for the third time in a highly anticipated fight. Many expected the fight to go one way and that was an all-out brawl between two stand up fighters. Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher were seemingly made from the same cloth as both are great technical strikers. Both fighters are also the type of fighter who gets on a role and then is shut down before they can get to the top of the division. This fight would be a turning point as whoever could get the win would put themselves into a conversation about the top of the division. This does not mean a title shot as both are far from that but a move up in the level of competition again would be the reward for this fight. The fight was a lot of what people expected as both fighters came out and were very technical in their striking. The one big surprise though was that Sam Stout, known for his KO power, decided to use his wrestling more in this fight. IT had almost never been seen by Stout in the past but his takedowns were good, for a striker, and gave him the advantage. There was still plenty of striking as Fisher and Stout caught each other with big punches that cancelled each other out. The striking was hard to use to determine the winner but it was Stout’s newfound wrestling that earned him the unanimous decision. Stout will now move on to new challenges and if he can continue to develop enough wrestling to keep up he may get a shot further down the road. Fisher is saddled with another loss and will fall down the division again where he will stay unless he can begin to string together a number of wins.
The bonuses were handed out after the fight by a disappointed Dana White who was not happy about the main event. Still he gave out $50,000 bonuses in Atlantic City to those fights that showed the true sense of the UFC. The “Submission of the Night” went to hometown favorite Dan Miller who sunk in his signature Guillotine Choke against Ricardo Funch in round three of their undercard bout. The “Knockout of the Night” went to Cub Swanson who kicked off the main card with a bang against Ross Pearson with a devastating KO in round 2. The “Fight of the Night” went to the Co-Main Event as Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher fought to a unanimous decision victory for Stout that had everything including wrestling. The fights in general were great but it may come down to the lack luster main event when people remember UFC on FX 4 which would be a disservice to the great fights all night.
Fight Results:
Main Event:
Gray “The Bully” Maynard def. Clay “The Carpenter” Guida
(Split Decision)
Main Card:
Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout def. Spencer “The King” Fisher
(Unanimous Decision)
Brian “Bad Boy” Ebersole def. TJ Waldburger
(Unanimous Decision)
Cub Swanson def. Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson
(TKO, Rd. 2)
Undercard:
Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas def. Hatsu Hioki
(Unanimous Decision)
Ramsey Nijem def. C.J. Keith
(TKO, Rd. 1)
Rick “The Horror” Story def. Brock “The Machine” Jardine
(Unanimous Decision)
Steven “Super” Siler def. Joey “The Raging Warrior” Gambino
(Submission; Guillotine Choke, Rd. 1)
Chris Camozzi def. Nick “The Jersey Devil” Catone
(TKO; Doctor Stoppage, Rd. 3)
Matt “The Immortal” Brown def. Luis “Beicao” Ramos
(TKOP, Rd. 2)
Dan Miller def. Ricardo “Golden Boy” Funch
(Submission; Guillotine Choke, Rd. 3)
Ken Stone def. Dustin “The Disciple” Pague
(Split Decision)
Upcoming Events:
UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin II (Saturday June 23rd; 10:00 pm)
– Belo Horizonte, Brazil (Mineirinho Gymnasium)
– Main Event: Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva vs. Rich “Ace” Franklin
– Notable: Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira vs. Sergio “Serginho” Moraes [TUF Brazil Middleweight Final]
– Notable: Godofredo Pepey vs. Rony “Jason” Mariano Bezerra [TUF Brazil Featherweight Final]
UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II (Saturday July 7th; 10:00 pm)
– Las Vegas, Nevada (MGM Grand Garden Arena)
– Main Event: Anderson “The Spider” Silva vs. Chael Sonnen [Middleweight Title]
– Notable: Forrest Griffin vs. Tito “The People’s Champ” Ortiz
– Notable: Cung Le vs. Patrick “The Predator” Cote
UFC on Fuel TV 4: Munoz vs. Weidman (Wednesday July 11th; 8:00 pm)
– Live Free on Fuel TV/Sportsnet
– San Jose, California (HP Pavilion)
– Main Event: Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz vs. Chris “The All-American” Weidman
– Notable: James Te Huna vs. Joey “The Mexicutioner” Beltran
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