Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: UFC 156 Reactions - Evans and Overeem lay eggs, Aldo proves his brilliance
Feb 6, 2013 - 12:05:31 PM HYDEN BLOG: UFC 156 Reactions - Evans and Overeem lay eggs, Aldo proves his brilliance

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

UFC 156 was one of the better UFC pay-per-views I've seen in some time. It had a huge upset as Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva knocked out Alistair Overeem. It had a great performance from Joseph Benavidez as he beat Ian McCall to stake his claim at getting a title shot against UFC Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. It also had a great fight between UFC Featherweight champ Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar. Demian Maia also had a solid performance against Jon Fitch.

It wasn't all great, though, as Rashad Evans laid an egg against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Rashad was poised to possibly get a title fight against UFC Middleweight champ Anderson Silva, but now that's over. Rashad didn't fight with purpose, he almost seemed to be sleepwalking. Now it's likely that Chris Weidman will get the shot at Silva and the middleweight belt.

Another guy who laid an egg was Alistair Overeem. He seeed to be in control of Bigfoot, but then he got cocky. He played a dangerous game, and it cost him a shot at Cain Velasquez and the UFC Heavyweight title. You take a big risk when you try to clown your opponent. If it works, you look like an unstoppable badass. If it doesn't work, however, you look like a big idiot. Overeem gambled when he tried to show up Bigfoot, and to say it didn't work out would be a huge understatement.

Ultimately I think the event will be remembered more for the main event than anything else. Jose Aldo proved his brilliance again, and Frankie Edgar showed once again that he is one of the toughest fighters out there.

Moving forward, the line of contenders wanting a shot at Aldo got a little bit longer over the weekend as Anthony Pettis said that he would like to drop to featherweight and fight Aldo. This is a really strange turn of events as Pettis hadn't shown interest in dropping down before. It's also a little odd because Pettis is very close to getting a lightweight title shot after UFC Lightweight champ Benson Henderson defends against Gilbert Melendez.

It's possible that Pettis could drop to featherweight to fight Aldo, then move back to lightweight to fight for the title there. I'm not sure how successful he'd be at going for the belt in two different divisions, but it will be exciting to see him try as the UFC has given him that fight with Aldo.


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