We’re taking another trip to the Octagon for our next review, with Glover Teixeira challenging Jon Jones for the Light Heavyweight crown at UFC 172, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on BT Sport.
The show began with featherweight action as Max Holloway faced Andre Fili.
This proved to be a very enjoyable show opener. Fili put on a great display in the first round. His striking looked crisp throughout, as did his takedown, and the only blot on his copybook was that Holloway showed some sound defensive skills after the takedown when he got back to his feet within seconds.
Fili couldn’t continue his great work into the second though as Holloway began to come into his own with his striking, especially that spinning back kick to the liver, and although Fili scored with another takedown Holloway shut him down so he couldn’t do anything.
It was more of the same for Holloway in the third round, although this time around he was able to stuff some of Fili’s takedown attempts, and as the fight approached it’s final minute Holloway rocked his man with a great combination before pulling guard and locking in a guillotine. Fili had no choice but to tap out to give Holloway the submission win.
It was up to lightweight for the next fight as Jim Miller took on Yancy Medeiros.
Medeiros began his stint in the cage using his reach advantage to good effect, especially his front kicks that left a nice read mark in the middle of Miller’s chest.
But when Miller connected with a body shot it was the beginning of the end. He then threw his man to the ground and immediately locked in a guillotine. Medeiros fought it for as long as he could, but it wasn’t long before he passed out and the referee called the fight, giving Miller the submission win.
Middleweight action followed as Luke Rockhold went up against Tim Boetsch.
This one may not have lasted that long, but it certainly gave us a fine example of ground fighting. Boetsch went for an early takedown, and the quick scramble that followed saw Rockhold take control with an inverted triangle, and while he could probably have secured the submission with that hold he went looking for another. He eventually managed to get hold of Boetsch’s right arm, and when he cranked on it with a kimura Boetsch tapped to give Rockhold the highly impressive submission win.
The co-main event featured light heavyweight action as Phil Davis faced Anthony Johnson.
The returning Johnson put on an impressive performance in this one. He dominated the entire fight, making Davis look a bit ordinary in the process. He stuffed each and every takedown attempt, and as far as his striking goes he always looked one step ahead of his opponent.
Every thing he did just looked so good, and it was kind of hard to believe that this was the same guy who blew himself up as a welterweight a few years ago, and now that he was fighting at his natural weight he looked like an absolute monster.
Davis, for his part, was no shrinking violet. He never went into his shell, and he was constantly trying to work his way back into the fight. The only problem was that he just couldn’t find that way, and his corner men weren’t exactly much help in that respect either.
So with the fight going the distance it went down to the judges. No big surprises here as Johnson took the unanimous decision.
The main event saw Glover Teixeira challenging Jon Jones for the Light Heavyweight title.
If you needed evidence that Jones was back to his best then you certainly got it in this fight. He dominated the action for five rounds with a great display of striking, and what’s more he did it by fighting Teixeira at his own game.
Teixeira got in some good blows of his own, the only problem was that Jones was getting in a hell of a lot more and doing a hell of a lot more damage, including when a hard elbow opened up a nasty cut above his man’s eye.
Jones slowed down a little in the final round, giving Teixeira the chance to get in a few good blows, but it was obvious by then what the result was going to be,
But with no finish in sight the judges were called upon for the final time in the evening as Jones took the unanimous decision.
In conclusion – so how would I rate the UFC’s latest pay per view offering? Pretty damn good would be the answer.
All five of the main card fights delivered, and it was great to see the likes of former Strikeforce king Luck Rockhold and Anthony Johnson back in the Octagon, and back to winning ways.
As for my fight of the night no-prize once again I’m going to differ from the popular opinion and give my award to the Johnson/Davis fight. Who knows, maybe if Rumble keeps winning he might get a shot at the title soon!
So with all of that being said there’s just one more thing to do, and that’s to give this show the thumbs up.
By day I’m an unemployed retail worker, and at weekends I volunteer at a local museum, but by night I’m the author of The Two Sheds Review, Britain’s longest running professional wrestling and mixed martial arts blog. Visit my site at www.twoshedsreview.vze.com. It’s been online in one form or another since June 2000!
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