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Round One: There’s A New UFC Heavyweight Champion
Brock Lesnar walked into UFC 121 as the UFC Heavyweight Champion, but he wouldn’t leave with the championship as Cain Velasquez would unseat the former WWE star in the opening round of their title encounter this past Saturday Night. The end of the fight started off similar to how the Brock Lesnar/Shane Carwin fight was going in round one at UFC 116, the difference this time was Cain Velasquez didn’t gas out and Brock Lesnar didn’t recover. Brock Lesnar took his defeat like a true champion in the post fight interview, stating that he would rebound like a champion. As for Cain Velasquez, the UFC now has a true Mexican star that they could push into a market that they have been trying to get into for a long time now.
Next Round For Cain Velasquez: Junior Dos Santos
Next Round For Brock Lesnar: Mirko Cro Cop, Pat Barry or a rubber match with Frank Mir
Round Two: A Successful Debut For Jake Shields
The man who never was defeated for the Strikeforce Middleweight Title or Elite XC Welterweight Title, Jake Shields, made a successful UFC debut on Saturday Night. Jake Shields, who seemed gassed in the third round, found a way to survive and overcome a late attack from Martin Kampmann. Martin Kampmann could’ve won the fight in the third round, but like Joe Rogan said, didn’t use a proper game plan to effectively win the third round. Jake Shields can now sit back and watch UFC 124, because he will meet the winner of the Georges St. Pierre/Josh Koscheck UFC Middleweight Title encounter.
Next Round For Jake Shields: The Georges St. Pierre/Josh Koscheck winner
Next Round For Martin Kampmann: Marcus Davis, Daniel Roberts or Dan Hardy
Round Three: The Nightmare Haunts Another
Diego Sanchez was a poor performance away from a potential UFC release, but he put his past behind him on route to a decision victory over Paulo Thiago on Saturday Night. Diego Sanchez now repositions himself as a player in the UFC Welterweight Division, which is a role he hasn’t found himself in since at least late 2008. What was even more interesting is that in the UFC 121 post fight press conference, Diego Sanchez said he may bounce between the UFC Lightweight Division and UFC Welterweight Division. Paulo Thiago, now suffering two straight defeats in the UFC, could now be finding himself a defeat away from a potential UFC release.
Next Round For Diego Sanchez: Mike Swick, Carlos Condit or the Matt Hughes/BJ Pen winner
Next Round For Paulo Thiago: Marcus Davis, Nate Diaz or Dan Hardy
Round Four: The Student Has Taught The Teacher
When Tito Ortiz was a coach on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 3, one thing was very evident, that was that Tito Ortiz wanted Matt Hamill to succeed more than any other fighter on his team. Tito Ortiz, in a sense, would be proven correct as Matt Hamill defeated his former coach this past Saturday Night. Matt Hamill put on a hell of a performance that saw him outwrestle the once dominant wrestler in Tito Ortiz. Tito Ortiz now needs to return to the drawing board, as his last MMA victory came over Ken Shamrock a few years ago.
Next Round For Matt Hamill: The Forrest Griffin/Rich Franklin winner or a rematch with Jon Jones
Next Round For Tito Ortiz: The promised third fight with Chuck Liddell that we didn’t get at UFC 115
Round Five: There Are Two More Contenders In The UFC Heavyweight Division
Prior to the pay-per-view going live on Saturday Night, Jon Madsen made a name for himself on the UFC 121 preliminary card. In his fight, Jon Madsen decimated PRIDE veteran Gilbert Yvel by defeating him by TKO in under three minutes. Brendan Schaub also added himself to the contenders list on Saturday Night when he defeated the tough Gabriel Gonzaga on the pay-per-views opening fight. In a truly interesting note, Brendan Schaub said he would like a fight with Frank Mir at the UFC 121 post fight press conference.
Next Round For Brendan Schaub: Pat Barry, Mirko Cro Cop or Frank Mir
Next Round For Jon Madsen: Brendan Schaub, Gabriel Gonzaga or Pat Barry
Next Round For Gabriel Gonzaga: Cheick Kongo, Pat Barry or Mike Russow
Next Round For Gilbert Yvel: A release from the UFC
You can contact David Tees at bigteesps3@yahoo.com
