UFC Fight Night: Diaz v. Neer Review

This card was basically what I expected. It was your average free show. None of the fights were bad but it was not the level of competition we're all used to seeing the UFC put on. Also, two split decisions didn't help anything. Let's break down the fights:

Brad Morris v. Jason Brilz: Congratulations to Brilz for getting his first UFC win by TKO in the second round. I got this fight wrong.

Rob Kimmons v. Dan Miller: Another first win congrats to Miller who wins by submission in the first round. I got this one wrong too.

Alessio Sakara v. Joe Vedepo: Finally a rookie didn't get his first win. Sakara takes care of business and knocks out Vedepo in round one. I picked this one right but didn't get the prediction.

Drew McFedries v. Mike Massenzio: Another rookie gets the win with Massenzio winning by submission in round one. Maybe I need to make a new rule to only pick rookies??

Wilson Gouveia v. Ryan Jensen: I almost got this one right on the nose with Gouveia winning by submission in round two (I picked round one).

Joe Lauzon v. Kyle Bradley: Lauzon beat Bradley down with a TKO in round two to get the win. I got the pick right but not the prediction.

Eric Schafer v. Houston Alexander: In my opinion this should've won fight of the night even though it almost went only one round. It was so back and forth it was an amazing battle. Houston came out firing as usual and landed some good shots but eventually he gassed and Schafer took full advantage getting him to the ground and dominating him with ground and pound and eventually winning by submission. This was a great win for Schafer but he has a long way to go to get back in the mix at 205. His stand up looked awful and he only looked great on the ground because Houston was gassed and is terrible on the ground in general. It was a great fight but didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Alexander who came out strong in the UFC and is a fan favorite but has now lost three fights in a row. I got this fight wrong (though I did preface it with Houston would only win if he could stay off his back so at least I wasn't stupid about the possibility of Schafer winning)

Alan Belcher v. Ed Herman: In what was the most controversial fight of the night Belcher won a split decision mostly for his effective striking. Herman looked good on the ground but got knocked around pretty good on the feet and I think due to the fight spending most of the time on the feet Herman couldn't win the decision. I know a lot of people said Herman won the fight but I actually agree with the judges. I picked this fight right on the nose.

Clay Guida v. Mac Danzig: I was way off on the prediction but I was right about the fact that Guida was just too much for Danzig to handle. His wrestling was incredible and while he didn't punish Danzig as much as I thought he would have he definitely controlled every aspect of the fight and never got in trouble with Danzig's submission game. Guida just gunned it for all fifteen minutes and never looked back leaving Danzig in his dust.

Nate Diaz v. Josh Neer: Nate Diaz is a punk. But he is also a great ground fighter. As a striker he swings like a girl and would get crushed by someone like BJ Penn but he's as slick as anyone I've seen on the ground. He has a very high ceiling and has a lot of room to grow but he's already better than 90% of his division just based on what he can do once the fight gets to the ground. Neer had no answer for him on the ground and couldn't keep the fight on his feet so obviously Diaz won even if one of the refs obviously smoked too much crack before the fight and gave Neer the win (which even Neer disagreed with). I was glad that Diaz didn't do anything embarrassing in the way of addressing his opponent but he was still a dumb ass in the after fight interview and I can't stand the kid but he is a great fighter and we'll be seeing more of him very soon for sure. I got the pick right here but not the prediction.

I went 6-4 with 1 bonus point for calling the Belcher v. Herman fight perfectly. I guess with an ok card comes an ok night for my picks. Hopefully next time will be a better card and a better night for me. One last note on the UFC's first philanthropic endeavor with their Fight For the Troops card in December. I think this is a great thing for the UFC and I applaud their effort here to support such a noble cause. But to be fair they have been a monster in the MMA game for over 3 years now and this is the first charity event they've put on? Granted it's better late than never but I think it's a little sad that it took them this long to finally realize the position they're in to help people. I hope they focus more on these types of opportunities and a little less on crushing, raping, and pillaging their competitors for total domination of MMA. Stay tuned for my TUF 8 recap coming soon. Until then,

Soccer kicks and head stomps...