Another UFC event is in the books and two of the best fighters in the sport showed the fans exactly why they are in the top five pound for pound rankings.
In the main event, BJ Penn defended his title rather easily against a legit contender in Kenny Florian. The fight ended in the fourth round when Penn made Florian tap from a rear naked choke.
Kenny Florian had a game plan to wear down BJ Penn and it never happened. Penn was in the best I have ever seen him in and that's a scary thought for the rest of the 155 pound division. It has been said many times, a focused BJ Penn, is easily one of the most feared fighters in the game.
Florian didn't have an answer for anything Penn did. He continued to try for takedowns against the cage and he was unable to do so. Penn was just too prepared and too skilled for Florian. BJ got the better of the standup game also, landing a few big shots that rocked Kenny.
Kenny Florian was a very deserving challenger, he was just out of his league last night. When BJ is on top of his game, I don't think anyone can hang with him at 155.
In the co-main event, we saw the old Anderson Silva. He simply destroyed Forrest Griffin. He came out and attacked and made Griffin look like an average fighter. Silva picked him apart and showed everyone that he still is the best striker in all of mixed martial arts.
The fight ended in the first round and the way Griffin went down and acted after, he made a complete ass out of himself. Silva landed a decent shot and Forrest went down like he was shot. What I saw looked like a guy who simply quit. After the ref stopped the fight he sprinted out of the cage pushing people out of his way. I lost a lot of respect for Forrest Griffin. And they game him and Silva the bonus for "Fight of the Night?" Terrible decision by the UFC.
The fight I had slated as my fight of the night was decent but nowhere near as good as I hoped. Kurt Pellegrino defeated Josh Neer via unanimous decision. I anticipated a standup battle and it was anything but. Pellegrino frustrated Neer with takedowns and then didn't too that much on the ground.
Full results:
B.J. Penn def. Kenny Florian via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 4, 3:54 (to defend lightweight title)
Anderson Silva def. Forrest Griffin via knockout (punch) - Round 1, 3:23
Aaron Riley def. Shane Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Johnny Hendricks def. Amir Sadollah via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 0:29
Ricardo Almeida def. Kendall Grove via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 20-27)
Kurt Pellegrino def. Josh Neer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
John Howard def. Tamdan McCrory via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Alessio Sakara def. Thales Leites via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Matthew Riddle def. Dan Cramer via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-27)
George Sotiropoulos def. George Roop via submission (kimura) - Round 2, 1:59
Jesse Lennox def. Danillo Villefort via TKO (cut) - Round 3, 3:37
UFC 101 has come and gone and it was an event that let me down a little bit. I expected fireworks and saw a few duds. I guess every event can't be as good as you would like. The fights were entertaining, don't get me wrong, just nothing that amazed me. Maybe Miguel Torres and the WEC will take care of that for me tonight, I have a feeling it will.
