Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC 168
Jan 1, 2014 - 12:05:11 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC 168

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

UFC 168 took place this past weekend and it's a card no one will ever forget. Let's get right to it. I'm going to skip the prelims because of what happened on the main card. It was fine at times, but nothing special.

GOOD: Dustin Poirier stops Diego Brandao

This was a fun fight to watch. Poirier looked really good as he rallied for the stoppage. It gives him a little momentum to try to build on.

GOOD: Jim Miller submits Fabricio Camoes

To be blunt, Miller looked like hell until he got the fight to the ground. After he did that, it wasn't long before he submitted Camoes with a nice armbar.

GOOD: Travis Browne stops Josh Barnett

There's no doubt now that Browne is deserving of a title shot. I feel bad for Fabricio Werdum if he has to fight Browne because Werdum was already promised a title shot. However, with UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez on the shelf for a while with an injury, the UFC will likely want Werdum to fight Browne. One of these guys will have to fight again, either Werdum or Browne. It's unfortunate, but it's likely.

GOOD: Ronda Rousey submits Meisha Tate

I thought Tate would push Rousey further than anyone ever has, but I was off by a round. Rousey is the queen of her division, but her excellence is what pushes her opponents to better themselves in hopes of toppling her. Rousey was in control more often than not, but Tate had her moments. This was a tense fight. It had an air of inevitability to it at times, but MMA is a sport that can literally turn in a second. It's what makes the sport so exciting.

GOOD/BAD: Rousey turns heel and embraces the dark side

This could go either way, depending on how Rousey handles it. Heroes need villains, but Rousey does have to be careful to not alienate everyone. People may hate the New England Patriots and New York Yankees (among others), but they also respect those teams. She has to be careful to not go full Chael Sonnen in his first encounters with Anderson Silva when he was delving into xenophobic rants. As long as she can stay within the boundary of decent taste, I think this is a good move for her. However, she also must be aware that when people pay to see you lose, they stop paying when you lose. She could get away with losing once, but that's about the limit.

UGLY: Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva

First off, I feel absolutely horrible for Silva. The Greatest-of-All-Time deserves better than to go out like this. I also feel badly for Weidman. He was robbed of an opportunity to show that the first fight was no anomaly. We'll never truly know what would have happened in this fight. Weidman won the first round, for sure, but this was a five round fight. Maybe Silva knocks out Weidman? Maybe Weidman knocks out Silva? None of us can definitively say one way or the other.

That's one of the reasons this fight was so sour for me. If the injury had happened in the fourth round, in a fight where Weidman had won the previous three rounds, it would have really changed things for me. I would have still felt really badly for Silva, of course, but I wouldn't have felt robbed of a conclusive ending. This was like The Sopranos fading to black in what was one of the worst endings I've ever seen for a series.

Now, Weidman moves on to rehabbing his injured knee and looks forward to defending his UFC Middleweight Championship against Vitor Belfort. My early pick would be Belfort, but the location of the fight will play a role in my pick as well. For instance, if the fight takes place in the U.S., I would be very tempted to, and probably would, go with Weidman. I don't know what kind of fighter Belfort would be outside of Brazil. Regardless of where the fight takes place, though, I would expect it to be done early rather than late. I would be surprised if the fight made it past the third round. I think both guys are too explosive to go to decision. This is a fight I'm looking forward to as well. Hopefully it can happen as soon as possible.


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