OK, I don’t think Jose Aldo is scared of Kenny Florian, but there’s definitely some sentimants that show that Aldo’s management is scared of KenFlo. Rightly so, Florian is one of the best in the UFC Lightweight Division and would be a huge test for the Featherweight Champion’s debut at the 155lb Division. Here are my reasons why they declined the fight:
1. Florian is widely considered one of the best at Lightweight
Although Florian has never been the UFC Lightweight Champion, there’s no doubt that he’s one of the best. It takes a ton of talent and perseverance to climb the mountain twice, you can’t discount him that. Aldo’s manager says he wants to fight a (Former) Champion, but is Sean Sherk really a better opponent? That’s what the management would like to push for. Come on now, Florian’s name is big.
2. This fight was risky, doesn’t want to lose debut
There’s a lot of risk here for Aldo to fight Florian. If he lost to Florian in his debut, that would stifle his hopes to ever go up for a while. Aldo is definitely a candidate for winning titles in several different weight classes, and Lightweight is one of them. You got to protect your fighter and I believe his manager doing just that here.
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Sherk scored way more points via takedowns in the later rounds than dunham got for submission ATTEMPTS. It was a close enough fight but dunham most certainly did not get robbed.
ecliptikz
Really? Sean Sherk wasn’t able to impose the wrestling at all after the 1st round. I think the round in question is the 2nd round because I believe we can both agree 1st round (Sherk) and 3rd round (Dunham). When Evan Dunham was taken down in the 2nd round, he was able to pull for submission attempts and stifle attacks from Sherk. Sherk didn’t do anything on the ground outside of the 1st round.
Also, holding a fighter against the cage shouldn’t be highly touted, if anything — that should be less than a submission attempt. Lastly, Dunham inflicted the most damage according to Fight Metrics. He got robbed.
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UFC 119 was a stacked card up and down. There were literally 5 out of 7 exciting fights counting the ones aired Spike TV. The only disappointments were the the bookend fights on the main card. The story coming in was definitely which Mirko Cro Cop was coming to fight — the one from the days of Pride FC or the less than stellar one that has fought in the UFC. Here are the results:
1. Frank Mir KOs Mirko Cro Cop with a high knee
I don’t know if I’m holding onto the past of Mirko Cro Cop and his days at Pride FC, but after this fight, we know that he’s just a shell of what he once was. Once a striking machine with vicious kicks, he only threw 3-4 kicks max today. He didn’t want to engage with Frank Mir and he looked very tentative. Mir somewhat pushed the fight, but stalled when he had Mirko on the cage. Although Mirko stuff all of Mir’s takedown attempts, Mir landed a high knee to knock him out. Boring fight, not main event worthy and I hope Mirko hangs it up.
(-1) Prediction: Mirko Cro Cop over Frank Mir
2. Ryan Bader falls back on his wrestling to win
Ryan Bader did it again. He won the fight even though he gassed out after the first round — his cardio needs to improve. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira definitely got rocked in the first round and took some harsh ground and pound. After that, he knew he was behind and fought like it by pushing the pace. As usual, Bader landed some heavy punches and relied on his wrestling to win the fight with takedowns. Nogueira showed up though, and he’ll be back. Is Jon Jones next for Bader?
(+1) Prediction: Ryan Bader over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
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