UFC 163: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

My review of UFC 163

by Tommy Strong @strong_tea

UFC 163 came and went with a bit of a whimper with Jose Aldo retaining his UFC Featherweight belt for the fifth consecutive time at the HSBC Arena Rio de Janiero, Brazil,  and the co-main event seeing a somewhat controversial decision in the eyes of the fans and the fighter!!

Jose Aldo def. Chan Sung Jung (4th Rd TKO)
The Ugly

Jose Aldo proved once again why he is so formidable at 145lbs, Aldo pressed the action from the off, The Korean Zombie was hesitant in coming forward in a relentless fashion we are accustomed too and where he earn't his nickname.

Aldo made the most of this , landing strikes and taking Chan down and taking control of the first three rounds.

Going into the 4th, the Korean Zombie threw an overhand right to the head of Aldo which missed, leading to a dislocated shoulder, you could clearly see the pain Chan was in, and in the process tried to pop his shoulder back into its socket.

Having failed to do so, Aldo took the advantage straight away landing a kick to the damaged shoulder and jumped all over him, with little else to do but cover up under the barrage of strikes, Herb Dean called an end to the action.

Phil Davis def. Lyoto Machida (29-28 x 3)

The Bad: The Fight & Decision ? 

Im glad we don't see too many of these fights! It was a stinker. With so much on the line for both fighters it became a very cagey fight where both were hesitant to engage or force the action.
Machida was the more aggressive of the two, and was stealing the first two rounds until Davis managed take downs at the end of the first and second round, but doing little once down.

Going into the third Machida landed the better strikes and stuffing the take downs Davis was gunning for.

When the Judges came back with a majority decision , I think everyone expected a Machida win.

29-28 on all 3 judges score cards, Bruce Buffer announced the winner..................
Phil 'Mr. Wonderful' Davis!!!

Cezar Ferreira def. Thiago Santos (1st Rd Sub)

Blink and you would've missed this fight! Cezar wasted no time in hunting down Santos landing a left hook which staggered Santos. Cezar could smell the blood and went in for the kill, sinking in a guillotine choke forcing Santos to tap after just 47 second into the first round.

Thales Leites def. Tom Watson (29-27 x 3)

Leites made his return to the UFC since being released in 2009, looking very impressive against Watson. Controlling the fight from the first bell, showing superior grappling and wrestling skills to control Watson and taking him to the mat at will and keeping him down.

Landing heavy damage throughout the first and second round, Watson had little success until the they got back on their feet.

Watson landed some good strikes when Leites was tired at the end of the second and third round, but it wasn't enough to earn a round let alone a win.

John Linekar def. Jose Maria  (2nd Rd TKO)

If Linekar carries on to miss weight he will either be forced to moved back up to Bantamweight or see himself in deep trouble with the UFC. Having missed weight by 4lbs on Friday its the second time in his last four fights he's failed to miss weight!

Maria look very tentative on his UFC debut with Linekar walking him down looking to land a right hand to finish the fight early. Though it was Maria that started well, landing a wonder spinning backfist that landed flush on Linekar who was on wobbly legs, Maria sensed Linekar was in trouble and landed some heavy shots which saw him in serious trouble.

Linekar managed to survive the first round , into the second Maria started the stronger and faster of the two until he throw a leg kick which seemed to hurt himself. Linekar pounced on the opportunity handed to him and landed some heavy shots to Maria, forcing the ref to stop the fight.

The Good:

With Joe Rogan away with prior arrangements, ex UFC Middleweight Brian Stann stepped up to take his place. With some concern of how the relationship between Goldberg and Stann would work, I was assured after a few minutes he would be a great replacement.

I was very impressed of how informative Stann was, he came across very well without all the excitement of Rogan at key times. As much as I enjoy Rogan and Goldberg, I wouldn't mind seeing more of Stann in future events! Bravo UFC, good call.

Brian Stann The real "All American"

Brian Stann announces his retirement from MMA

by Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

When I heard the news Brian Stann had retired I was hit with mixed emotions. The first being rather saddened by the news, as I felt he had a lot more to offer to the sport and the fans. But after giving it a few hours for the news to sink in and reflect on his decision, its the sort of honourable thing Stann would do. Knowing he couldn't put his family through any more heartache for the sake of the sport and a few more $$$$ and possibly long term health problems.

Brian Stann in an interview with Ariel Helwani on "The MMA Hour" announced his retirement from MMA. Brian Leaves the UFC with the most precious thing in life that money can't buy, his health intact!
The key decision in making the announcement was wanting to leave the sport with his health in check. Having a young family and wife to support there is only a certain amount of fights you can have like the one he had vs Wanderlei Silva before the damage takes it's toll.

Stann speaking to Ariel Helwani 

"I played football from second grade on and after football I went to Iraq and was involved in several explosions, then there was my eight year MMA career that's a long time. There's only so long that  I can roll the dice and be successful, for me the risk isn't worth it"

Brian isn't just an ordinary MMA fighter, he made his way to MMA via a very successful career in the Military and is a former captain in the US Marines. On May 8th 2005 Stann's unit was ambushed, Stann and his Marines held out for 6 days under heavy attack until air and tank support arrived on May 14th 2005. All 42 of Stann's platoon managed to survive the ordeal! For his courage and bravery, Stann was awarded the "Silver Star' the nations third highest award for courage in combat

In 2006 Stann signed with World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) whilst still serving on active duty, using leave to train and fight. By March 2008 he had won the WEC light heavyweight belt, winning all his 6 fights inside the first round. Only to lose the belt on the first defence to Steve Cantwell.

Since signing with the UFC his record was a very average (6-5) , in August 2010 Stann made his debut in the Middleweight division not quite getting to the level that would earn him a title shot, though he was one tough cookie who was very dangerous and feared by many fighters.

He will be remembered most for two notorious fights he was involved in.

Firstly versus Alessio Sakara , where after knocking him down and landing heavy blows and clearly knowing Sakara was out cold, he decided to stop landing any more blows to prevent further damage, and instead motioned the ref over to stop the fight. A truly class act.

And secondly and more recently in March moving back up to light Heavyweight, headlining his now final bout against Wanderlei Silva where he lost in a ferocious back and forth battle ending in Stann being knocked out in the second round. A fight that will surely be in contention for fight of the year, and etched in people's minds for years to come! And possibly a major factor why Stann decided its time to called it a day.

He later added

"I'm still going to be involved as much as the UFC allow me, but as far as competing anymore, as sad as it makes me, its not the best thing for me, as a husband and father, which is ultimately for me and by far the most important thing in my life, and most important job i have"

Stann won't go down as one of the best ever fighters we have see, though he might go down as the nicest and most honourable fighter inside the octagon. A man that oozed class and touched many hearts from all over the world.

Knowing when to bow out at the right time isn't something fighters are renowned for especially at 32 years old. though in this case It's perfect timing for "The All-American" who ends his MMA career (12-6).

Brian Stann will now serve as a broadcast commentator for ACC Football on Fox Sports South.

For everything he has achieved inside and outside of the octagon, I Sir, salute you!!