UFC 142 A Crazy Night

There's no wonder that MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world with crazy action/incident packed cards like UFC 142! Here are some of my thoughts.

1. Anyone at middle weight fancy tangling with Rousimar Palhares? No seriously, any takers? What no one? This guy is a little gorilla who can beat anyone in that division if he can grab hold of a limb.....a scary human being.

2. Barboza's KO will be replayed for years to come. Etim fell like a toppled statue, it was terrifying and hilarious at the same time. If this guy can prove he can handle the attention of an elite wrestler he'll be in title contention before too long.

3. The Belfort v Johnson fight was a little weird following all the antics at the weigh ins. I loved the fact that Vitor overcame some adversity to win the fight. I think he'll get another shot at Anderson eventually, he's a top fighter. It's being reported that Johnson has been cut from the UFC. This might do him some good. He's undoubtedly talented but needs to learn some professionalism and humility, this might just be the catalyst. One thing that needs mentioning in a night full of controversy is the two "stand ups" from Dan Miragliotta. The first one was earlier than I've ever seen him stand two fighters up but Johnson wasn't being overly active so I kind of let it slide. The second one when Johnson was on top working the head and the body was unbelievable. He's never stood two fighters up like that before. If I were a conspiracy theorist it would be easy to imagine someone having a word in his ear to the effect of " whatever happens don't let Johnson lay on him for three rounds", especially after what happened at the weigh ins.

4. Firstly before I talk about the controversy Erick Silva is a beast. He comes into the ring with a rare intensity, like Wanderlei of old. This kid has a huge future in the UFC. For what it's worth I thought it was a poor decision to disqualify him from Yamazaki. In my mind there was only one clear blow to the back of the head and in any scramble one or two will slip through, we see this in so many fights, event after event, it's unavoidable. For me the rule is to stop someone deliberately hammering away to the back of an opponents head. Despite this we really can't have Joe Rogan (who I love by the way) chastising referees in the ring immediately after the fight. It's unprofessional, Yamazaki made what he felt was the right call in the heat of the moment.

5. I'm really starting to appreciate just how good Jose Aldo is. I thought Mendes would push him but he never got close. Aldo's take down defence was most impressive, he could be champ for a while. It only added to the craziness of the night when he ran into the crowd after the fight nearly causing a riot.