– Anthony Fusco, staff
On January 29th, the UFC was live on FOX from the Windy City, with a card that looked to be one of the most electrifying cards in recent memory. However, the main card left me disappointed with the first fight displaying an extremely gassed and sluggish bout. That was between Chris Weidman who improved his perfect record to 8-0 with the decision win over Demian Maia.
The main card continued with a co-main event where the winner between Chael Sonnen (the self-proclaimed champion) and Michael Bisping would be guaranteed a title shot against middleweight champ Anderson Silva. In my opinion, Bisping won the first two rounds but was robbed by the judges when they gave the decision to Sonnen. I’m not a UFC conspiracy theorist, but I have a hunch that the UFC was pining for the trash talking Sonnen to make a second run at Anderson Silva.
This poor display of judging is just one of many cases that has happened all too frequently with UFC judges. The judges have had a history of lacking common sense when filling out the scorecards, as I remember two other controversial decisions between Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham and Diego Sanchez vs. Martin Kampmann. Bisping won the fight on Saturday night but disobeyed Dana White’s cardinal rule, don’t leave it in the hands of the judges.
The main event of the evening was also unspectacular with Rashad Evans wrestling out a decision over Phil Davis. With the uncharacteristically defensive win by Evans, he has earned his title shot against former friend and training partner, Jon Jones. The looming rematch looks fantastic for fight fans everywhere and many believe Evans is the only solution to the riddle that is Jon Jones.
Overall, this event didn’t do as well as it planned. The main card was decision heavy and boring, and this may have cost the UFC some of the prized casual fans they are trying so hard to attract with these televised FOX cards.
Luckily for UFC fans, another event is less than a week away with UFC 143 fast approaching. The main event pits Nick Diaz against Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight title. I predict a Nick Diaz win by decision and that will set up an exciting title fight once GSP returns from injury. My last prediction is regarding the Roy Nelson, Fabricio Werdum heavyweight tilt. I believe Nelson takes this fight with a TKO victory in the second round.
Anthony’s Picks:
Nick Diaz def. Carlos Condit
Roy Nelson def. Fabricio Werdum
Record: 7-3
