Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC on FOX 16
Jul 29, 2015 - 1:15:14 PM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC on FOX 16

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

UFC on Fox 16 hit Chicago last weekend; let's get right to the rundown.

UFC on Fox 16

GOOD/GREAT: Joe Lauzon stops Takanori Gomi

Lauzon was just too much for Gomi. They stood for a bit but then Lauzon took the fight to the ground and it was over at that point. Gomi isn't all that good on the ground while Lauzon is good so it was just a matter of time. Lauzon pounded out Gomi, who went limp, and Lauzon got off of him. Referee Herb Dean just stood there as Lauzon walked away. Lauzon started to return but then Dean waved the fight off. The GOOD is for Lauzon doing what he should against a good striker. The GREAT is for Lauzon stepping away and calling an end to the fight himself. It was over, it was clearly over, so there was no need for him to continue dropping bombs on Gomi. It's unfair to expect fighters to do that often in the heat of the moment, but when they do, they deserve to be commended for it. What Lauzon did was awesome.


GOOD: Edson Barboza vs. Paul Felder

The majority of this fight was fought on the feet, with both guys showing some impressive striking. Barboza won the decision as he showed some crisper striking. His kicks were fantastic, and Felder's right side under his arm was ripped up by them. Felder showed good toughness and Barboza showed great speed. This was a good fight. The most memorable moment, though, was when Barboza accidentally caught Felder with a spinning back kick straight to the onions. That was so cringe-inducing that it almost killed off any enjoyment you got from the fight. That's an exaggeration, of course, but it was a really bad thing to see. Barboza should get a guy ranked above in the division for his next fight now.


GOOD/BAD: Miesha Tate vs. Jessica Eye

To be perfectly honest, I didn't care much for this fight as I watched it. I thought back on it, though, and changed my mind to a degree. It was very much a Meisha Tate-style fight, and that's not a good thing. It was a grinder and had that sense of inevitability to it. You knew in the opening minutes of the second round that Tate would win the fight by decision.

Tate did what she had to, though, and she's now in line to get a title shot at the winner of UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correira at UFC 190 this Saturday. Honestly I can't see it going any differently than her last two title shots, but I guess we'll see.


GREAT: T.J. Dillashaw stops Renan Barao

I'm going GREAT for this because of what we've seen Barao do against everyone else. He's looked good to great against everyone he's fought, except Dillashaw. Barao has beaten some of the toughest guys in the division, and Dillashaw chewed him up and spit him out. This was a great title defense by a promising young star. The only bad thing I can say about this fight is that Joe Rogan's horrendously bad and biased commentary made the fight hard to listen to at times. I'll get to that in a second, though.

Back to Dillashaw, he made Barao look like some slow chump. I actually thought that Barao won the first round, but Dillashaw took things to a whole other level after that, and left Barao in the dust. It was damn impressive, and sets up some interesting questions. Dominick Cruz has fought once in what feels like the last ten years, but he never lost his title and would be a tremendous challenge for Dillashaw.

However, I think it would be extremely unfair to put Cruz in there with a fighter the caliber of Dillashaw after having been injured for so long. If not Cruz, though, then who? At this point, it seems as though Dillashaw would beat anyone and everyone who gets in the cage with him. His footwork and movement were so good that it's hard to imagine many guys getting their hands on him. At the same time, his hands-down style does leave him open. It's hard to say who could beat Dillashaw. It would have to be someone who can hit hard, hit quickly, can equal Dillashaw's movement, and not get tired. Guys like that are rare. DIllashaw may well be champion for a long time.


UGLY: Joe Rogan's commentary

I'm no fan of Joe Rogan as a commentator. Never have been, never will be. I think the UFC could find any number of guys to replace Rogan that would do a much better job. That said, I'm usually able to tune him out. He's a white-noise machine of "Ohhhh!" and "He's hurt!!" and other such variations of (incorrectly, usually) proclamations of someone about to get finished. During the Dillashaw-Barao fight, though, he took it to a level far beyond his usual bad commentary.

I thought Barao won the first round, but I'd be fine with saying Dillashaw won the round. It was very close, but I thought that Barao did more. To hear Rogan talk, though, it should have been a 10-2 round for Dillashaw. Everytime Dillashaw connected with a jab Rogan would have an orgasm of "He hurt him!!!" and his trademark "Ohhhh!" Barao would hit Dillashaw with a knee or something, and it would be upon Mike Goldberg to talk about that as Rogan was oblivious, and too busy calling Dillashaw a wolverine and gushing about his movement. At one point, Rogan openly begged other fighters to emulate Dillashaw. His commentary got ridiculous and so over the top that you would think that Rogan was Dillashaw's dad the way he was carrying on.

The gushing continued after the fight as Rogan thanked Dillashaw for allowing him (Rogan) to commentate the fight. It made me want to mute the TV it was so bad, and I used to regularly listen to John Madden without feeling that way. It's a shame, too, because Dillashaw had such a fantastic performance that it sucks that all my casual MMA friends were going on about how bad Rogan was instead of talking about how badass Dillashaw is.


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