Roundtables
UFC 153 ROUNDTABLE: MMATorch staff rate and review "Silva vs. Bonnar" event
Oct 14, 2012 - 10:30:00 AM UFC 153 ROUNDTABLE: MMATorch staff rate and review "Silva vs. Bonnar" event

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

SHAWN ENNIS, MMATORCH SENIOR COLUMNIST: (9.0)

For the first time in what seems like longer than it probably is, the main card of a UFC pay-per-view led me to mostly forget the prelims. From Demian Maia's sick and twisted rear naked something all the way through Anderson Silva crushing Stephan Bonnar's innards with a knee, UFC 153 delivered in a big way. Maia showed that he's not averse to using his outstanding submission skills. Jon Fitch proved his manliness in out-lasting Erick Silva. Phil Davis reminded everyone that he's not just a guy who will lay on you and get a decision. Glover Teixeira literally re-arranged Fabio Maldonado's face, and the last two fights were almost like oddities. You knew the end was coming, but weren't sure exactly how we were going to get there.

Big Nog obviously desperately wanted a submission against Dave "BJJ doesn't work against me" Herman, and Anderson Silva was always going to destroy Stephan Bonnar, but did anyone predict Silva willfully putting himself up against the fence and inviting Bonnar to take free shots in the only position that he could probably use to his advantage? Pure insanity. As of right now this card sits atop my Event of the Year standings, but I'll have to go back and re-evaluate before it's finalized. I seem to remember the fourth Fox card, and I believe the first Edgar-Henderson event were pretty great as well. All in all, though, great night of fights.


BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST: (8.0)

This turned out to be a very solid card with more talent in the crowd than in the cage. First let's give some serious credit to Joey Gambino's chin for taking that beating from Brandao and coming back for more; also, a fantastic showing from Sam Sicilia in a losing effort to Ronny Jason.

Onto the main card, Demian Maia looked fantastic and absolutely made Rick Story look silly with his grappling ability, great show. How about that Glover Teixeira? The man is an absolute monster that deserves a top 7-8 fighter in his next bout after completely destroying Fabiola Maldonado, but to Maldonado's credit he stuck in there and took an absolutely barbaric beating of elbows and fists that I wouldn't wish upon a Packers fan. Phil Davis looked as dominant as ever taking out Wagner Prado with ease; he looked fantastic. Big Nog did what we all expected and submitted the helpless Dave Herman with a great armbar.

Now onto the main event. Anderson Silva is so obnoxiously talented that it almost is impossibly to explain without claiming he's not human. He dropped his hands with his back to the cage and let Bonnar swing furiously at him without any protection - and yet avoided nearly all of the punches and ended the fight with a perfectly placed knee that folded Bonnar up like a church shirt. It is perhaps one of the most incredible finishes in recent history with how little effort Silva had to put forward. This card turned out phenomenal even with the one sided fights, it was well worth the watch. Now to get Glover a better opponent and figure out who will be takin on Anderson Silva. UFC has done it again.


ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST: (8.0)

It's been a long time since I've ordered a card personally, and it was to see my money was well earned. A victory driven Jon Fitch was a nice surprise, trying to actually earn the win versus sitting and waiting for it to happen. The nice nostalgic feel of Nogueria's win against Herman was nice, if fleeting, knowing his chances against top tier heavyweights. Not that it was anything different, but kudos to Stephan Bonnar doing his best to take the fight to Anderson Silva, but obviously, the same result occurred with Silva confidently taking out Bonnar with his version of "rope a dope." A nice card worth going out of your way to see.


RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST: (8.0)

Normally when there's a UFC PPV full of exciting fights, finishes, elite talents, and memorable moments, I'd be the first to say, "It was perfect; what more would you want?"

Well, only two of the fights on UFC 153 had any divisional relevance. Demian Maia has proven he's over his ill-fated bad-kickboxing phase of his career, a decision that was poorer than U2 doing Zooropa. Fortunately for Maia, like Bono, he recovered spectacularly. In the other fight that had any relevance whatsoever, Jon Fitch put on the most entertaining fight of his career in defeating the untested Erick Silva (who still has a grand total of zero victories over human beings under UFC contract).

Maia is now 2-0 at 170 lbs., with quick wins over Dong Hyun Kim and Rick Story. While neither Kim nor Story are exactly Georges St-Pierre, sometimes your eyes tell you more than the paper shows you. Demian Maia is a killer on the mat, an he is so good down there that he is unique. A literal genius at grappling. Maia is dangerous to anyone at 170, and when he's on he is a complete pleasure to watch.

Normally it's hard to end a paragraph with the phrase 'he is a complete pleasure to watch' and then transition into thoughts of a Jon Fitch fight, but with a performance like he put on against the upstart Erick Silva, it becomes a little bit easier. When Fitch uses all of his skills, i.e. when he does more than get half guard and throw shoulders and weak punches, his style of fighting is entertaining as hell (wait. Is hell entertaining? I mean, it might be fun to watch Packer fans getting stretched on the torture rack, but to actually BE there, not so entertaining. OK, unnecessary Packer shot out of the way, let us resume).

The rest of the card was filler, nothing more. And that's fine, as long as it's entertaining. Anderson Silva is the best in the world, and what he did to Bonnar was as predictable as it gets. You can't tell me it wasn't fun as hell (again, observing, not, you know, IN hell). Nogueira ripped off Dave Herman's arm, and how can that not be enjoyable? One man is a fighter, one man fights. The difference is much less subtle than it reads. Phil Davis destroyed Wagner Prado in a fight that was foolishly re-booked after the eye-poke-of-doom. His performance was entertaining, but completely meaningless because who in the heck is Wagner Prado and why is he debuting against a top 10 fighter like Phil Davis. And then there's the Golver Teixeira farce, which still has me irritated enough that I don't want to write about it, lest one reader in Rio who happens to be in possession of a 60 yard long section of metal tubing, a bottle of lube, and a vat of molten lava takes me literally and tries to find Mario Yamasaki.

So from an entertainment perspective, I was fully entertained. But other than Fitch and Maia, none of it mattered. So it's an 8, because I had fun. But it wasn't important, just fun.


JASON AMADI, MMATORCH COLUMNIST: (10.0)

I feel like UFC 153 was the best card of the year. Every fight on the main card is worth multiple views. Demian Maia's submission of Rick Story is one of the most gruesome things I've ever seen in my life. Maia had a neck crank wrenched to the point where it looked like Story's life was in jeopardy and then seconds before the tap, blood started to pour out of the man's nose. It was brutal.

Phil Davis is leagues better than guys the caliber of Fabio Prado. Next.

Jon Fitch fought the best fight of his UFC career against Erick Silva. This fight had more on the line than any fight on the card, and Fitch fought like it. The grappling display from both was fun to watch and Jon Fitch really raised his stock with this fight.

Glover Texiera is a top 10 light heavyweight. Fans deserved to see the Quinton Jackson fight, but we didn't get it. So, Fabio Maldonado got a beating that he didn't deserve. It's ridiculous that the fight went out of the first round. The Yamasaki brothers were out of control tonight. Athletic commissions need to have a stern talking to with the two of them before either is allowed to referee mixed martial arts again.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is not in his prime again, but the heavyweight division sucks. He's probably going to keep beating people for a long time. Dave Herman doesn't take fighting seriously, and Nogueira absolutely schooled him tonight.

Anderson Silva is the best fighter in the world. Watching him is incredible; I'd love to see him fight overmatched opponents at the end of every fight cards just for the entertainment.

This card was my favorite of the year and I highly, highly recommend the replay. Prelims sucked for the most part, but the main card was amazing.