UFC 90 Review

Results

What I said in the preview: Drew McFedries is a powerful puncher out of Pat Miletech’s camp in Iowa. His trend in the UFC has been to either knock guys out or get taken down and tapped. Thales Leites looks like a bad match-up for him, as he has a strong chin and superior submission skills.

What actually happened in the fight: Leites was indeed a bad match for McFedries. Drew landed one big punch, but he was then immediately taken down and choked out.

What I said: Tyson Griffin is one of my favourite fighters. He’s a cardio and conditioning machine with great wrestling skills. He goes all-out all the time, but he’s had trouble finishing fighters who can keep up with his energy level. Sean Sherk has roughly the same skill set as Griffin, but he’s a bit stronger and more of a finisher. This should be an exciting fight. Sherk has the advantage on paper, but I’m going to be pulling for Griffin.

What happened: Oddly, there was almost none of the superior wrestling that I had expected to see here. Instead, both guys seemed happy to throw awkward punches for three rounds. Goldberg, Rogan, and the live crowd all seemed to really enjoy watching the two talented grapplers stand and bang. It was, certainly, more entertaining than a typical Sherk fight. It looked like Griffin was hitting harder, but Sherk clearly landed more punches. That was enough to earn him the victory on the judges’ score cards.

What I said: Fabricio Werdum is a great submission fighter who trains at the Chute Boxe academy. He’s never been knocked out or forced to tap in his pro MMA career. He has reportedly signed a new contract that puts him in line for a heavyweight title shot if he can get by newcomer Junior dos Santos. Like Lietes vs. McFedries, this bout pits and good striker with suspect submission defense against a tap-out artist with a strong chin. Werdum vs. Big Nog would potentially be only the second UFC title fight to not involve at least one American-born fighter.

What happened: We may never know if Big Nog vs. Werdum II could have been a great ground fight (their first match, at PRIDE’s Critical Countdown 2006, was a disappointment, as Nog just kept it standing to earn a decision). Junior Dos Santos caught Werdum with a thundering right uppercut that ended the fight very early in the first round.

What I said: Gray Maynard has excellent wrestling skills but isn’t much of a finisher. Getting tapped out by Nate Diaz on TUF doesn’t count on his official record, and he whined his way out of what could have been a loss to Rob Emerson at Fight Night 11. Maynard can, therefore, claim to be undefeated. “No Love” Clementi has done pretty well for himself since dropping to welterweight. He’s a well-rounded fighter with a salty personality. This is a nice match-up of youth and experience, with the winner likely to move up the welterweight ladder in the UFC.

What happened: This was a pretty boring fight. The striking was pretty bad. Maynard got some nice takedowns on Clementi, but couldn’t do anything with him on the ground. That was the story for all three rounds. The highlight was probably the minimal ground work that they engaged in during the second round, but the crowd booed that sequence. Some of these fans are neither discerning nor knowledgeable.

What I said: Thiago Alves is a Muay Thai fighter who also has a black belt in BJJ. He’s coming off of five straight KO victories, including a very impressive win over Matt Hughes at UFC 85. He was slated to face Diego Sanchez in what would likely have been an amazing fight. Sanchez got hurt, however, so Alves will instead face off with the less exciting but still very tough lay and pray expert Josh Koscheck. If Alves can keep from being taken down and held there, he’ll likely be next in line to face GSP. That could be a truly great fight, so I’m definitely pulling for Alves here.

What happened: This was easily the best fight of the night. Alves put on a dominating display of power, stuffing Koscheck’s two takedown attempts with ease and landing some devastating shots. Koscheck, to his credit, just kept coming. Alves was able to stun him, but he couldn’t put him out. With the crowd roaring, Alves apparently didn’t hear the horn that signaled the end of the fight, and he took Koscheck down after it sounded. The judges rightly awarded the fight to Alves.

What I said: UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is, pound for pound, the greatest striker in MMA today. TKO middleweight champion Patrick Cote is a hard puncher with knockout power. Anything can happen in MMA, but realistically the best Cote can hope for here is that he lasts long enough to keep it interesting.

What happened: Silva seemed to be toying with Cote through the first two rounds, constantly switching his stance and throwing out Karate Kid strikes and poses. Sadly, Cote’s knee blew out early in the third, and they were forced to stop the fight.

Overall, I had really been looking forward to some good fights on this card, but UFC 90 turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Leites and dos Santos both looked impressive in their quick victories, there was a good deal of action in both the Sherk and Alves fights, and some of Silva’s antics were truly bizarre. On the other hand, nothing here is remotely a must-see fight of the year candidate, Maynard vs. Clementi was flat out terrible, and the title fight ended in a depressing manner.

Poor Patrick.

Gordi is a former professional wrestler who has been following MMA since the very first UFC tournament. Gordi's been part of the Inside Pulse family from day one. He and his wife are currently preparing to move to Japan.