This event left a bittersweet taste in my mouth. The prelims as well as the main card were filled with incredible, and some jaw-dropping fights, but the main event was a bit lackluster. Georges St-Pierre retained his belt by defeating contender Jake Shields in what seemed to be a shadow of his last fight, but less fulfilling. GSP defended his strap by showing his superior stand-up and using his wrestling to take down the challenger a few times. Despite being poked in the eye by one of Jake Shield's strikes, the champ stayed tough and won the fight on the judges scorecards. Also on the card, Featherweight champ Jose Aldo retained his belt in a hard-fought unanimous decision victory against hometown hero Mark Hominick, Lyoto Machida knocked Randy Couture out and into retirement with a flying front crane kick, Vladimir Matyushenko knocked out Jason Brilz with strikes just 20 seconds into the bout, and Ben Henderson won a one-sided decision against Mark Bocek.
Unfortunately I don't have much to say about the main event, as it didn't really do much for me. In fact, I don't think it did much for anyone else either, as we would all have liked to see GSP finish Shields. What did do something for me though, was the bout between Lyoto Machida and Randy Couture. The first round was probably given to Machida, as he used his karate-style counter punching to strike Randy from a distance and move away. Shortly into round 2, Machida hit Couture with a flying front crane kick (think a jumping version of what Anderson Silva did to Vitor Belfort) that came out of nowhere. Randy fell to the mat unconscious and Yves Lavigne was forced to jump in and stop the bout. It was a brilliant display of his karate skills, and not to mention, makes me proud to be a black belt in the art of Kempo.
The co main event between Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick was a great fight, as Aldo controlled most of the fight, beating and battering Hominick with a barrage of strikes. But, it was Hominick who rallied in the 5th round and almost finished the champ. Aldo proved why he is the champ and toughened his way through the last round, winning the fight via unanimous decision. Hominick also proved he was a true warrior, as he was awarded a large hematoma on his forehead via the strikes of Jose Aldo. Take a look:
I mean Jesus Christ, If I happened to reach up and feel my forehead during the fight I probably would have passed out. It must have hurt like a motherfucker as well. This guy is a true warrior, and he showed why he was the number one contender leading up to this fight.
Also on the card were some great prelims, one being a fight between Yves Jabouin and Pablo Garza in which Garza won the fight via flying triangle choke. Also, in the bout between John Makdessi and Kyle Watson, Makdessi won the bout with a knockout via spinning backfist.
As for the points awarded for the night, Joe got 8 points, Vinny got 6 points, I (Shawn) got 5 points, and Jon got 3 points.
Standings:
Shawn: 39 points
Vinny: 35 points
Joe: 34 points
Jon: 25 points
See you all in the summer for UFC 130
SL
