Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC on FOX 9; thoughts on GSP and the UFC Welterweight Title
Dec 18, 2013 - 11:40:11 AM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC on FOX 9; thoughts on GSP and the UFC Welterweight Title

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

The UFC ran another show on Fox this weekend. Injuries hurt the card, but it was still good on paper. Let's get to it.

UFC on FOX 9

GOOD: Abel Trujillo stops Roger Bowling

Trujillo was just too much for Bowling. His power was on display here as he just beat the hell out of Bowling. I give Bowling credit for being tough, but this just wasn't a good fight for him.

GOOD: Undercard decision wins

Sam Stout beat Cody McKenzie in a fairly lackluster fight. I actually shouldn't include this in the GOOD group, but I don't want to make a separate list just for this fight. Zach Makovsky beat Scott Jorgensen in a fun fight. Bobby Green beat Pat Healy with his striking. Edson Barboza beat Danny Castillo in an absolutely teeter-totter fight that saw each guy dominate a round before Barboza won the third. Finally, Ryan Laflare beat Court McGee. This was all solid action for the most part, but nothing to get too excited about.

BAD: Joe Lauzon vs. Mac Danzig

This fight was pretty dull, which is amazing considering that Danzig got busted open and was bleeding pretty well. That usually adds some excitement, but I just didn't like this fight. It was just kind of "meh".

BAD: Chad Mendes vs. Nik Lentz

I didn't like this fight either. It was really disappointing to see Mendes reduced to lay-and-pray. If Joe Rogan is saying that, you know it's pretty bad. I know Mendes was sick, but still, you've got to do more than that. He took Lentz down several times but didn't do a thing with it. He just kind of laid there on him. Not a good fight at all.

GOOD: Urijah Faber submits Michael McDonald

This was impressive. Faber beat McDonald on the feet, and he beat him on the ground. Faber looked great. He could have stopped McDonald with strikes if he wanted to, but chose to submit him. No question that he deserves a title shot now. I don't care if it's Dominick Cruz or Renan Barao, those guys have to be thinking about this long and hard. If Faber fights them like he fought McDonald tonight, he could easily beat either one. I don't mean that he would easily win, I mean that I could easily see him winning. What a statement by Faber.

GREAT: Demetrious Johnson stops Jospeh Benavidez

I try not to go GREAT too often, but this definitely deserves it. When I watched this, I couldn't believe it. I had to wait for the replay because it happened so fast. Urijah Faber made a big statement in the previous fight, but Johnson made a loud declaration in this one. He's the best flyweight in the world. I'll admit that I was a little skeptical of Johnson. There was a large part of me that thought Benavidez would beat him. Johnson just continues to add wrinkles to his game as he improves. This was amazing.

As has been written and said many times, no one had stopped Benavidez before, absolutely no one. Combine this kind of striking with the speed Johnson has and you got some great stuff. Add in the wrestling and he's even better. Add in his submission game that is getting better, and you have the recipe for an all-time great. He's not there yet, but holy hell, it sure looks like a foregone conclusion at this point. Johnson just put the rest of the division on notice.

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

Georges St-Pierre has vacated the UFC Welterweight Championship and is taking an indefinite hiatus. I'm really glad to see this from him because he's obviously not 100% into fighting right now, so there's no point in risking injury in there. I also applaud him for not holding the belt up, though I do disagree with the fight to determine the new champion. Johny Hendricks is a no-brainer, of course, but Robbie Lawler isn't the man I would choose to face him. Nothing against Lawler, but I think Carlos Condit has a much stronger case for the spot.

You could easily have made a case that Condit beat Hendricks the first time they fought. Condit didn't whine and complain after that fight, like others in the same spot have. He didn't act like a petulant little kid demanding to have things handed to him. Again, nothing against Lawler. You can't blame him for accepting the title shot. Hell, we'd all do the same in his shoes. Also, to be clear, I am looking forward to seeing Hendricks and Lawler fight. It should be a really fun fight. It's just not the fight I think should have been made.

Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank