UFC 131 Results

Heavyweight: Junior dos Santos d. Shane Carwin (Unanimous Decision)

Aside from a brief period in the second round, this fight was all dos Santos.  JDS dropped Carwin with some heavy blows in the first round, and frankly, I think the fight should have been stopped.  Carwin’s idea of protecting himself was swatting at dos Santos’ fists as he dropped bombs.  The second and third weren’t a ton better for Carwin, whose face resembled something out of a butcher’s shop after 15 minutes.

JDS is now the number one contender to Cain Velasquez’s Heavyweight Title, while Carwin will look to regroup after a tough loss.  Frank Mir would be a good opponent, since both fighters are ranked closely and coming off recent fights.

Featherweight: Kenny Florian d. Diego Nunes (Unanimous Decision)

Kenny Florian was definitely the better man this night, landing takedowns and precision strikes to keep Diego Nunes off guard.  It wasn’t until Nunes’ landed a heavy shot late in the third round that he looked competitive, but by then, the fight was already over.

Kenny Florian has established himself as a top featherweight with this win, and frankly, I think he’s probably the second best featherweight behind Jose Aldo.  Florian looked very sharp even after a difficult weight cut.  It looked like he could have gone a full five last night, and he may very well get a chance to do so with the champ in the near future.

Middleweight: Mark Munoz d. Demian Maia (Unanimous Decision)

Munoz took a controversial decision in a back and forth fight.  Maia pretty clearly won the first round, despite a single judge scoring the contest 30-27 in Munoz’s favor.  The second and third rounds were extremely close, Munoz landing some heavy strikes and takedowns while Maia actively worked for submissions.  I guess you could score the second and third for Munoz, so a 29-28 decision makes sense, but I’m stunned that not one of these judges thought Maia won the fight.

Heavyweight: Dave Herman d. Jon Olav Einemo (TKO – Round 2, 3:19)

These fighters spent very little time on the ground, something that definitely didn’t bode well for Jon Olav Einemo.  Einemo did look pretty good on his feet and landed some big shots, but Dave Herman is the better striker.  Herman crumbled Einemo with some heavy punches in the second round, scoring a big win in his UFC debut.

Lightweight: Donald Cerrone d. Vagner Rocha (Unanimous Decision)

Vagner Rocha wanted this fight to go to the ground.  Donald Cerrone declined this offer, opting instead to destroy Rocha’s legs with vicious kicks.  By the end of the fight, Rocha was clearly in pain on account of Cerrone’s great Muay Thai.  Cerrone earned this victory and looked sharp, but now it’s time for him to step up in competition.

Middleweight: Chris Weidman d. Jesse Bongfeldt (Submission – Round 1, 4:54)

Chris Weidman looked very good in his second UFC fight with a submission win over Jesse Bongfeldt.  Weidman spent most of the first round on top of Bongfeldt and managed a standing guillotine as the first round closed out.

Lightweight: Sam Stout d. Yves Edwards (KO – Round 1, 3:52)

Yves Edwards’ prediction for “explosive shit” was thoroughly fulfilled.  Sam Stout forced Edwards to temporarily part ways with consciousness, scoring a vicious knockout in the opening round.

Featherweight: Dustin Poirier d. Jason Young (Unanimous Decision)

Poirier may have taken the unanimous decision, but the fight was a lot closer than that indicates.  Young was very tough and threatened Poirier at times with his strikes, but Poirier scored some takedowns and landed consistently better strikes than Young.

Middleweight: Nick Ring d. James Head (Submission – Round 3, 3:33)

Nick Ring defeated James Head in decisive fashion, staying in control of the fight and scoring a late submission over a very tough opponent.  Head seemed to gas late in the fight and Ring took advantage of that with a rear naked choke.

Heavyweight: Joey Beltran d. Aaron Rosa (TKO – Round 3, 1:26)

This was a pretty evenly matched fight pitting a couple of big strikers.  Beltran landed some heavy blows in the third, dropping Rosa and allowing him to score the TKO victory.

Featherweight: Darren Elkins d. Michihiro Omigawa (Unanimous Decision)

No UFC event is complete without at least one bogus decision and this definitely fits.  Omigawa landed significantly more strikes and was a lot sharper with his strikes in general.  He even spent a portion of the third round on top of Elkins, but somehow, all three judges scored the fight for Darren Elkins.

Light Heavyweight: Krzysztof Soszynski d. Mike Massenzio (Unanimous Decision)

Soszynski was completely in control of this fight, controlling his smaller opponent for the entirety of three rounds.  The outcome was completely unsurprising given Massenzio usually fights at middleweight and took this fight on short notice.