FanPost

One Fight Fan's Perspective: UFC 172

The UFC brought out the big guns for it's debut in Baltimore, Maryland as Jon Jones looked to defend his title for the seventh time against Glover Teixeira, the heavy handed Brazilian from Connecticut who trains in California (makes perfect sense right?). Also on the card was Anthony Johnson seeking redemption for his past transgressions as he fought top ranked Phil Davis, Luke Rockhold hoping to keep his title aspirations alive against Tim Boetsch, Jim Miller battling Yancy Medieros for relevancy, and a two featherweight prospects getting into a fist fight for the heck of it.

First fight on the main card was Max Holloway fighting Andre Fili. Sporting one of the sports best nicknames, "Touchy" Fili put up good fight against Holloway as he won the first round, maybe the second, but then wilted under Holloway's pressure in the third as he succumbed to a guillotine choke in the third. Holloway's loses are to Dustin Poireir, Dennis Bermudez, and Conor McGregor; the point is Holloway is a good fighter who has only lost to other good fighters and at his young age he has potential to do things. He should fight Clay Guida or the winner of Kevin Souza/Mark Eddiva. Fili also has potential to grow into someone noteworthy after he finishes his time out with Team Alpha Male for tapping to a guilottine he should look to bounce back against Akira Corasanni or maybe Jumabieke Tuerxun.

The next fight was Jim Miller fighting Yancy Medeiros. Simply put, Jim Miller wasn't about to be beaten by someone named "Yancy" so he choked him unconscious in the first round. The next couple of fights for Miller is going to solidify whether he is a contender or a gate keeper in the division (not that there's anything wrong with that). He should look to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov or Donald Cerrone. Medeiros should look to rebound against Charlie Brenneman or Beneil Dariush.

The third fight on the card was Luke Rockhold attempting to murder Tim Boetsch. Rockhold submitted Boetsch with a kimura while in an inverted triangle position about two minutes into the fight. A while back there was an article that posed the question what it meant to be the last Strikeforce middlewieght champion; Luke Rockhold has showed that it means he is in the upper echelon of the division. He holds wins over Tim Kennedy and Jacare Souza, which we now know is a very impressive feat. He ran over Philippou and Boetsch. While they are far from being middleweight elites, they are good fighters, and the fact that both fights weren't even in the realm of being competitive shows he is on another level. Rockhold wants a rematch with the now TRT free Vitor Belfort, give him that fight or another rematch against Jacare. Boetsch should look to fight either Cezar Ferreira or Brad Tavares, in fights that could determine his employment status with the UFC.

The "co-main event" put Phil Davis against the returning Anthony Johnson. Johnson battered Davis from ring post to ring post, this was a horrible style's match up for Phil Davis. Johnson's wrestling was good enough to stop Davis takedowns, and Davis has little to offer anyone in the stand up department. Johnson looked great as he proved the only true "Mr. Wonderful" is Paul Orndorff. He should looked to fight Ryan Bader if he beats Rafeal Cavalcante or possibly Glover Teixeira even though he's coming off a loss. Phil Davis went into 172 a top contender who was verbally going after Jones, and he leaves with egg on his face; he was the punchline at the post fight press conference. Davis looked horrible. He looked lost on the feet when his takedowns failed. Fights with either the Cormier/Henderson loser or Shogun Rua should be on the horizon for him.

Finally the MAIN EVENT, Jon Jones danced his way to the octagon to fight Glover Teixeira who was riding a 20-fight win streak. After what was a feeling out process in the first round, Jones eventually took over the fight battering Teixeira at range and in the clinch. As controversial as Jones is the one thing that can't be denied is that the guy can fight. This fight re-established his dominance in the division. There is only one fight for Jones on the horizon, and that's the rematch with Alexander Gustafsson. Teixeira showed his heart in the fight, trying for the knockout till the final bell, but as most of opponents of Jones, wasn't about to get anything going. He should look to rebound against Phil Davis, the Cormier/Henderson loser, or Shogun Rua.