Brazil Loving Las Vegas (UFC 156 Review)
Photo Credit: UFC.com
The UFC has gone to many places throughout the last few years including a place where many of the UFC fighters come from. Brazil has been a wild place to fight and with so many Brazilians stars filling out cards they seem to consistently be the loudest events. These events have had mixed results for the Brazilian fighters though as is with every event as not all of the Brazilian fighters win and some of the biggest names have suffered losses. This week at UFC 156 the UFC would travel to an old stomping ground in Las Vegas with plenty of Brazilian talent in tow. As the Brazilians faced off in Las Vegas they seemed to make a new home away from Brazil as most were more than comfortable at Mandalay Bay. The Brazilians would have a great night in Las Vegas and there were plenty of those loud fans from Brazil in attendance. The main event would feature one of the biggest Brazilian stars in the UFC as Jose Aldo would defend his Featherweight belt. The challenger would be one of the toughest competitors that Aldo would have faced in a featherweight title fight. Frankie Edgar was the former Lightweight champion and would now drop to featherweight where his build would make for a much better fit. After being the smallest guy in the lightweight division Edgar would move to his natural weight class and immediately get a title shot. It would be a former champion against the current champion but more than that it was one of the most dominant fighters in the UFC against a man who will not quite. The UFC has been looking for someone who can challenge Aldo in the featherweight division as he has entered the level of Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva as the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Edgar had already beaten one of these fighters when he won the lightweight title against BJ Penn, who many thought to be unbeatable. So Frankie Edgar would go into the octagon with the attitude of being that upset king who against all odds will win his second title in his second weight class. Both fighters would come out to meet in the centre of the octagon and immediately Aldo would begin to impose his will. Aldo would begin to show that Edgar no longer had the speed advantage in this new division. Edgar would throw plenty of punches but Aldo would be able to dodge them and land his own strong strikes. Edgar would take a lot of damage in the first round going behind quickly. The second round was not a lot better for Edgar as Aldo would begin to unleash his best weapon in his leg kicks. The champion would begin to take away the legs of Edgar with devastating kicks. Edgar would be down two rounds as the fight seemed to be an easy win for Aldo. Then Aldo would begin to slow down in the third round as Edgar was able to earn a lot more shots and started to catch kicks. Still Aldo would come out on top of the third round landing more than Edgar. The fourth round would see the beginning of a change in the fight though as Edgar began to take the edge in the fight with Aldo slowing down. Edgar would get the better of the exchanges in both the fourth and fifth round of the fight proving that he was the fighter to push Aldo further than ever. It would come down to the way that Aldo came out in the beginning of the fight as he would put Edgar behind quickly. Edgar would not be able to come back enough to win the fight and Aldo would take the win and remain the featherweight champion. Edgar will likely stay in the division and begin to get used to a weight cut against some top fighters in the division as he will try to make a run at the title again. Aldo is still the champion and still one of the best in the UFC as he will continue his reign with a number of potential matchups coming up. Ricardo Lamas could be the next challenger while Chan Sung Jung is beginning to rise and Chad Mendes is looking for a rematch.
Aldo’s win was only the last Brazilian fighter to win his fight as the rest of the Brazilians on the main card saw their own success. The main card at UFC 156 was full of amazing fights that could have been headliners themselves. To open the night on pay per view would be a flyweight fight that stood as a #1 contender fight. Joseph Benavidez would look for a championship rematch if he could get by the man considered by many as the #2 flyweight in the world in Ian McCall. It would be Benavidez who would win the fight and will likely get another shot at the title against Demetrious Johnson. Then the Brazilians made their appearances as Demian Maia would take on Jon Fitch in matchup of one of the best BJJ practitioners against the man with the best BJJ defence. Maia would come out on top as he would grind out a win on the ground but still could not end the fight against Fitch who lost but remained unfinished in his UFC career. The next fight would be a massive fight between Antonio Silva and Allistair Overeem, two of the biggest fighters in the UFC. This fight would ignite the crowd as Antonio Silva would take the win with a massive knockout of Overeem to continue his climb up the heavyweight ladder. In the Co-Main Event Rashad Evans would take on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a fight where both men were looking to get that big win and head towards a title shot. In a very boring fight Nogueira would come out on top to continue the main card sweep for the Brazilians in Las Vegas. UFC 156 had its moments and finally broke through the pattern of boring pay per views with only one fight really falling short as the Brazilians came out as the winners in Las Vegas.
Fight Bonuses:
($50,000 Bonuses)
Submission of the Night
There were a few new fighters at UFC 156 all making their debuts but nobody made a bigger impact than Bobby Green who would submit BJJ specialist Jacob Volkmann and would earn the Submission of the Night honours in his first UFC fight
Knockout of the Night
There was really no question as everyone knew that Antonio Silva would win the KO of the Night when he would take advantage of Allistair Overeem’s cockiness on the feet to land a number of devastating punches that would end the fight
Fight of the Night
The Main event usually gets the benefit of the doubt and this time it would happen again as Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo would win the Fight of the Night despite a number of other fights that could have won the bonus (See McCall-Benavidez)
Fight Results
Main Event:
Jose Aldo “Junior” def. Frankie “The Answer” Edgar
(Unanimous Decision)
Main Card:
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. “Suga” Rashad Evans
(Unanimous Decision)
Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva def. Allistair “The Reem” Overeem
(KO, RD. 2)
Demian Maia def. Jon Fitch
(Unanimous Decision)
Joseph Benavidez def. Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall
(Unanimous Decision)
Undercard:
Evan Dunham def. Gleison Tibau
(Split Decision)
Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley def. Jay “The Thoroughbred” Heiron
(KO, Rd. 1)
Bobby “King” Green def. Jacob “Christmas” Volkmann
(Submission; Rear Naked Choke, Rd. 3)
Isaac Vallie-Flagg def. Yves Edwards
(Split Decision)
Dustin “The Diamond” Kimura def. Chico “The King” Camus
(Submission; Rear Naked Choke, Rd. 3)
Francisco “Cisco” Rivera def. Edwin “El Feroz” Figueroa
(TKO; Rd. 2)
Upcoming Events:
UFC on Fuel TV 7: Barao vs. McDonald (Saturday February 16th; 3:00 pm EST)
– London, England (Wembley Arena)
– Main Event: Renan Barao vs. Michael “Mayday” McDonald
– Notable: Cub Swanson vs. Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier
– Notable: Jimi “Poster Boiy” Manuwa vs. Cyrille “The Snake” Diabate
UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche (Saturday February 23rd; 10:00 pm EST)
– Anaheim, California (Honda Center)
– Main Event: “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey vs. Liz “Girlzilla” Carmouche [Women’s Bantamweight Title]
– Notable: Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida vs. Dan “Hendo” Henderson
– Notable: Urijah “The California Kid” Faber vs. Ivan “The Pride of El Salvador” Menjivar
UFC on Fuel TV 8: Silva vs. Stann (Saturday March 2nd; 10:00 pm EST)
– Tokyo, Japan (Saitama Super Arena)
– Main Event: Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva vs. Brian “All American” Stann
– Notable: Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt vs. Stefan “The Skyscraper” Struve
– Notable: Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi vs. Diego “The Dream” Sanchez
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