Quick UFC 130 Review

Rick "The Horror" Story upsets Thiago "Pit Bull" Alves at UFC 130.

UFC 130 went pretty much as expected, maybe more dull than anticipated, if anything. Hit the jump for my thoughts on the event, and what to expect moving forward.


Rampage easily defeated Matt Hamill, but failed to KO, or even drop the deaf fighter, although the match was fought entirely standing. Hamill was 0/17 on takedowns, which speaks volumes about Jackson's wrestling defense, and in turn Rashad Evan's wrestling, who was able to ground Rampage several times in their fight last year. Rampage is expected to face Jon Jones for the lightheavyweight title later this year, although Evans and Machida are more deserving in my opinon. Hamill slides back into that gatekeeper role he's been at for the majority of his career. Maybe a fight with everyone's favourite "Janitor" Vladimir Matyshenko could be in the future.

Frank Mir outlasted Roy Nelson in the co-main event, but the cardio(or lack thereof) of both fighters was the real story of the fight. Big Country was completely exhausted after the first round, and Mir wasn't much better. Neither fighter would pose much threat to the top 3 in the division (Carwin, Valesquez, Dos Santos). Perhaps after the Strikeforce heavyweights are integrated into the UFC, the division will open up a bit, but for now, there seems to be a huge gap between the top 3 and the rest of the heavyweight fighters.

KTFO.

Speaking of which, Travis Browne earned KO of the night honours by smashing Stefen Struve out of mid-air in the first round. Browne looked good here, but is still a few fights away from being a viable contender. I think Roy Nelson could potentially be next for Browne or possibly the winner of Big Nog/Shaub. Either way, he will face a deserved step-up in competition next time out.

Rick Story has emerged as a welterweight contender after defeating Thiago Alves. I had picked Story to upset Thiago because of his strong wrestlling, but "The Horror" managed to out-strike the striker over the first 2 rounds. Alves made things interesting with a spirited come back in the 3rd but it was too little too late. "The Pitbull" was able to hurt Story with a vicious knee, but failed to capitalize on what turned out to be the only significant offense he managed the entire fight. There's no shortage of tough fights in the welterweight division for Story moving forward, who will likely get a top-5 opponent after his performance on Saturday.

Other winners were Johnson, Boetsch and Brian Stann who was impressive in his 2nd round destruction of Jorge Santiago. Stann too will face stiffer competition in his next fight.