MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

UFC 85: Bedlam lived up to its name in my mind. With all the canceled fights and replacement fighters leading up to the event, and all the unexpected outcomes in the fights today, Bedlam seems like a very appropriate name for whole event.

• The main event fight between Matt Hughes and Thiago Alves was one of only two fights that played out like I expected. Hughes is clearly well past his glory days and is only sticking around to take a fight with Matt Serra. Alves needs to find a way to consistently make weight without the use of diuretics or he will never get his shot at the welterweight title.
• Michael Bisping once again looked excellent at middleweight and is probably now wondering why he didn’t make the drop in weightclass sooner. Jason Day simply never had a shot in this match as Bisping dominated from the opening bell.
• Whatever issues Mike Swick had in his debut at welterweight a few months back, he seems to have figured them out. Swick was able to outwork Marcus Davis all night long and used his reach advantage and size to his benefit while not allowing Davis to wind up and land any power shots. An impressive performace by Swick, and another strong showing by Davis in defeat.
• Thales Leites is the luckiest man in the United Kingdom tonight after “winning” his fight with Nathan Marquardt by default. Marquardt was penalized a point in the both the second and third rounds that allowed Leites to win on points, 28-27. While the point deduction in the second round due to an illegal knee to the head was justified, the point deduction in the third for an illegal elbow was not. Either way, an excellent fight by both fighters.
• Brandon Vera was victim to a terrible early stoppage in my mind. Fabricio Werdum had Vera mounted and was landing strikes that Vera was defending when referee Dan Miragliotta ended the fight with 20 seconds left in the first round. Very strange since Miragliotta allowed Kimbo Slice to take about 50 undefended shots against James Thompson last weekend while Vera only took about 10 shots that were all defended. Not much to say about this fight as it ended too early for either fighter to really find his groove.
• Matt Wiman walks away with one of the most impressive victories of the night after defeating a very tough Thiago Tavares. Wiman showed some jiu-jitsu skills that I’ve never seen from him before against one of the best BJJ guys in the division. Ending the night with a sweet KO victory gives “Handsome” Matt Wiman a big boost in the welterweight division.
• I found it interesting that Mike Goldberg announced that Chris Leben had to withdraw from his fight with Michael Bisping due to injury? Is that what they are calling incarceration for DUI these days? An injury? Not sure why Goldberg felt the need to lie to cover for Leben. He simply could have said that Leben had to withdraw from the fight unexpected.
• Knockout of the Night went to Thiago Alves; Submission of the Night went to Kevin Burns; Fight of the Night went to Matt Wiman and Thiago Tavares. All fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses.