Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: UFC on FOX 6 reaction, and Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva thoughts
Jan 30, 2013 - 11:35:35 AM HYDEN BLOG: UFC on FOX 6 reaction, and Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva thoughts

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

UFC on FOX 6 was this past week, and in the main event Demetrious Johnson successfully defended his UFC Flyweight Title against John Dodson by decision. Dodson had a few chances earlier in the fight to try to stop Johnson when he had him wobbled, but couldn't capitalize. As the fight entered the championship rounds, it became clear that Johnson was going to retain. Johnson's cardio wasn't affected one bit by the length of the fight or the incredible speed at which both men fought. The pace was constant, something that Johnson uses to his advantage.

I think that Dodson will come back stronger now. He had never been into the championship rounds, but now he'll have a better idea of what he needs to do in order to succeed. It's true that I would have liked Johnson to have gotten a finish because I love finishes, but that's because of the largely incompetent judging we see all the time in close fights. However, the fact that this was a fairly close fight is the reason why I can't drop Johnson too many points for not getting a finish. Both of these guys are excellent fighters, and neither could dominate the other.

It was a tough fight to score in some areas. Johnson outlanded Dodson in every facet of the striking game, there's no question there. However, Johnson was only successful on 5 of his 15 takedown attempts. How you score that depends on your personal leaning. Dodson was able to stuff 67% of Johnson's takedowns, that's a large number. On the other hand, Dodson was only able to get one takedown of his own.

Back to the striking, Dodson dropped Johnson a few times whereas Dodson wasn't really in a lot of danger himself. There were a few times where Johnson was punishing Dodson in the clinch, but it never seemed to me as though Dodson was in the verge of getting knocked out. I know Joe Rogan was going crazy, but jumping the gun is kind of his thing.

At most I would have given Dodson two rounds and Johnson the other three. I can certainly see someone giving Johnson four rounds and Dodson only one. When it comes to the judges, though, we've all seen scenarios where they do the opposite of what everyone else thinks they will. It's easy to imagine a scenario where two of the judges would give Dodson three of the rounds, resulting in a split-decision win for Dodson. That would have obviously meant an immediate rematch, which would be cool to see, but not exactly the just thing. It's going to be very hard for someone to beat Demetrious Johnson. Whoever does it is going to have to earn it. There will be no easy victories over Johnson, that's for sure.

*************

Anthony Pettis beat Donald Cerrone with seemingly relative ease at UFC on FOX 6. Cerrone is a very tough guy, but Pettis made it look easy. He crushed Cerrone with a devastating assault on his body. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind now that Pettis should get the next Lightweight Title shot after Benson Henderson defends against Gilbert Melendez. There can't be doubt now, not after what Pettis just did.

*************

I thought Joe Rogan might have cursed Glover Teixiera when he kept going on and on about how great Teixiera was before his fight against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC on FOX 6. Rogan actually used the word "perfect" when describing Glover, which is exactly the same way he was describing Cain Velasquez before his first fight with Junior Dos Santos when Cain went out and got knocked out by JDS. This is much the same way that on The Ultimate Fighter show Dana White would seemingly curse guys when he would pick them before their fight, only for them to lose.

This is all in jest, though, as Dana and Joe have both picked correctly a lot of times. I do have a problem with the hyperbole of describing a fighter who isn't even a champion as "perfect", though. Although Glover has good power, his technical striking leaves much to be desired. Glover beat Rampage by decision. It was a solid win, but nothing spectacular. It certainly wasn't a win that has fans calling for him to get an immediate title shot. I do think that Glover could work his way to a title shot, but he's going to have to leapfrog a lot of guys. If he can sand some of the rough edges off of his game he can be a contender. I just think that maybe too many people jumped on the hype train a bit early here.

************

Chris Weidman recently said that Anderson Silva is avoiding fighting him at all costs. If Weidman's goal is to emulate Chael Sonnen's idiocy, than congratulate him because he's done it. I do think that Weidman will do better than Sonnen did against Silva, but he will still lose. Let's be honest here. Weidman will get trounced when he fights Silva. The only reason Sonnen was able to almost beat Silva the first time was Silva had injured ribs, and Sonnen was juiced up.

Silva-Sonnen II is a much more realistic version of the matchup between those. What happened there was a guy in over his head. That's exactly what will happen when and if Weidman fights Silva. Weidman is in over his head, and he has no idea what he's talking about.

We can thank Dana White for this kind of talk becoming more and more prevalent in the UFC. He's the one who's sounding the horn for Chael Sonnen at every opportunity, even though he doesn't deserve 10% of what he's been given. Dana has allowed Sonnen to make a mockery of things by giving him a title shot in a division that he hasn't fought in for years. Not only that, but he also gets a plum TV gig. The UFC not only allows it, they've encouraged it by giving Sonnen the title shot and TV gig.

Other fighters see this and want to emulate it for themselves. That's why you hear Weidman saying that Silva is ducking him. That's why you see Daniel Cormier call out Jon Jones for a title shot in a division that he doesn't fight in, in an organization that he doesn't fight in yet.

I'm all for the entertainment aspect of sports, but you can't have the entertainment at the expense of the sport. Sport and entertainment are supposed to work together, not against each other.


Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com