Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 110 and the "TUF: China" Finale, plus Nevada bans TRT
Mar 4, 2014 - 1:35:02 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from Bellator 110 and the "TUF: China" Finale, plus Nevada bans TRT

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Both Bellator and the UFC brought MMA events last weekend, with Bellator 110 on Spike TV and "The Ultimate Fighter: China" Finale on UFC Fight Pass. Here's how it went down.

Bellator 110

GOOD: Desmond Martinez vs. Mike Richman

I didn't want to go BAD with this fight, but it wasn't that GOOD either. I give both guys credit for trying, but this fight was just kind of there. Martinez won the decision.

GOOD: Diego Nunes vs. Matt Bessette

I liked this fight, even though it was sloppy at times. Bessette took the split decision. This wasn't the best fight ever, but it was fun.

BAD: King Mo vs. Mikhail Zayats

This was pretty boring. I didn't really like it, and the crowd didn't like it either. King Mo won the decision, but we all lost as a result of watching this fight.

GOOD: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson stops Christian M'Pumbu

Rampage caught M'Pumbu with a big shot that put him out. He did what he had to. Unfortunately, he had to stain it by having a Dana White moment in the cage where he started acting like a lunatic, with all the screaming and such.

This sets up Rampage vs. King Mo. It's hard to gauge where Rampage is now, but he should knock out King Mo by the second round when they fight. I'm unimpressed by Mo, he's not doing much with his opportunities when he fights.


"The Ultimate Fighter: China" Finale

GOOD: Hatsu Hioki vs. Ivan Menjiivar

Again, this is another fight that wasn't BAD enough to be called that. It was solid, paint-by-the-numbers kind of stuff. Hioki wins by decision.

GOOD: Matt Mitrione stops Shawn Jordan

There wasn't a ton there leading up to the knockout, but the power that Mitrione showed was damn impressive. Not that the fight wasn't good up until the knockout, but it was your typical heavyweight fight with two guys throwing heavy shots at each other.

BAD: Wang Sai vs. Zhang Lipeng

I'm going BAD here instead of UGLY even though this fight sucked. I guess I just feel as though UGLY would be too harsh, probably because they're both unknowns. Either way, this fight was pretty damn bad.

GREAT: Dong Hyun Kim stops John Hathaway

The fight was pretty good, but then came the knockout from hell. This is one of those highlights that will be on the reels for years to come. You couldn't have planned it any better. Hathaway basically leaned and walked right into it. Hyun Kim spun around with a picture perfect elbow right to the dome. Hathaway collapsed in a heap. Kim had his fist cocked and ready to pounce on Hathaway, but he looked at the the ref, who was right there on the spot to call it. Memo to Joe Rogan, that's a guy holding himself back from striking, not like what Donald Cerrone was doing when he was about to unleash on Adriano Martins on UFC on FOX 10 before the ref stopped him.

Anyhow, back to the knockout, that was the best of the year so far. That was incredible. I know we're only a few months into the year, but I could easily see this knockout still being the best by December.

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

The Nevada Athletic Commission has banned the use of Testosterone Replacement Therapy. I've got to say, I'm very happy with this. I'm not sure how this will affect some of the TRT users going forward, but we've already seen this shake things up in the UFC middleweight division. Vitor Belfort will no longer be fighting UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman next at UFC 173. There's debate over where Belfort pulled out himself or whether the UFC did it, but Lyoto Machida will step in to face Weidman now.

I'll admit that I don't know that much about TRT and all this stuff, at least not as much as the experts. I've talked to some guys who would know better, and they say TRT is a joke in sports and has no place. Belfort has released a statement from his doctor saying that he (Belfort) will need 90 days to adapt to not having TRT. I have a couple of questions about that. One, if it's possible for him to fight without TRT then why was he on it in the first place? Two, why does he need 90 days?

Anyway, I assume Belfort will face the winner of Weidman-Machida. As for that fight, I think Weidman will destroy Machida. I've criticized Machida for a long time for his reluctant fighting style, and I think this will play right into Weidman's hands. I firmly believe that Machida has the potential to beat almost anyone in MMA, but he rarely shows it. If The Dragon shows up, I think he could beat Weidman. Unfortunately for fight fans, that's not likely at all. As a matter of fact, if I knew that Machida was going to bring it, I would pick him to win. I've been burned by Machida on this before, though.

Weidman is an aggressive fighter, but he's not sloppy. He's not pinpoint accurate, but he throws enough that it won't matter. You'd think that would play right into Machida's style of being a counter-striker, and it should. However, the problem is that Machida refuses to take advantages that he gets. Hell, he could catch Weidman with a nice counter left that staggers him and he still wouldn't push forward. That's what makes Machida so frustrating, he has the potential to beat nearly anyone but he lays eggs way too often.

I think Weidman's aggressive style will cause Machida to retreat even more than usual. Usually in these big fights it comes down to whoever makes the first mistake. In this fight, though, Weidman can make two or three mistakes without Machida doing anything about it. He might even be able to make four mistakes and unless he runs straight at Machida with his chin sticking out it won't matter. That's why I'm picking Weidman by TKO in the second round. I hope I'm wrong and Machida brings it, I really do. History tells us, though, that we'll be talking about what could have been on his end after the fight is over.


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