UFC 129 - Recap

UFC In Toronto

Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 30, 2011 was the biggest UFC event in North American History with an attendance of 55,000 fans. The UFC declared April 24-30 "fight week"; and, they brought everything including the kitchen sink to Toronto. They had Q&A with the UFC president, announcers, former fighters, Fan Expos, Grappling Events, and even brought all seven champions, aptly called the Super 7, for a Q&A session. Mega screens were constructed inside the venue to give the fans that were seated at the very top a fight-view, a lot more speakers were installed to give the fans a loud experience and other perks that are not available in regular shows. In other words, this was the UFC's first super show. 

Was the hype backed up by the performances of the fighters inside the 'Octagon?' Did the television audience feel like this was the biggest North American event in Mixed Martial Arts history? 

Here's the breakdown:

UFC 129 opened up with a light-weight bout between Ben Henderson and Canada's own, Mark Bocek. The fight went back-and-forth with submission attempts by Bocek and a whole barrage of striking from Henderson. However, in the end, Henderson won via unanimous decision. 

The second fight was a bout between Jason Brillz and Vladimir Matyushenko. This bout ended lightning quick, with Vladimir getting the knockout in 20 seconds. Vladimir Matyushenko threw an upper-cut and a left, that dropped Jason. Since, this was a very short fight, another fight was shown to take up time which, also, ended in a fast knock out.

Machida's "Crane" Kick

Now onto to the fights that everyone wanted to see. It started between Lyoto Machida V. Randy Couture. Randy had stated that a fight against Machida intrigued him for many reasons especially since no one had been able to solve "The Machida Puzzle" (His unorthodox fighting style). Did Randy solve the puzzle? Not at all. The fight, from the start, was dominated by Machida, although Randy landed some punches. As the fight progressed, Randy kept moving foward, Machida kept his lateral movement going until the last minutes of the 1st round, where they both were in the center and BAM!!!  Machida utilized the famed "Crane Kick" to Randy's chin, which knocked him out instantly. After the bout, both fighters showed each other good sportsmanship and when asked; Randy said, he no longer is going to fight.

Jose Aldo punishing Mark Homnick

After the Randy Couture V. Lyoto Machida fight, it was the co-main event between Jose Aldo and the native Canadian, Mark Hominick. This was the most exciting match of the entire event, and some can argue that it was worth price of admission. This was a battle between a man with a tremendous skill set, Jose Aldo, and a man that truly has a lion's heart, Mark Hominick. From the start of the bout, Jose Aldo was the aggressor - throwing kicks, punches and even taking him down. However, all this action caused Jose to become exhausted, which Mark and his camp felt, resulting in Mark to 'open up.' As the fight progressed, Jose started to become less aggressive and Mark started to land punches until Jose took him down and started to 'ground-and-pound.' As a result of one elbow thrown to Mark's forehead, it created a massive hematoma (as the picture above illustrates). The damage caused by the elbow look so grotesque that the referee, 'Big" John McCarthy, stopped the fight so that a doctor can inspect it to see if it was safe for Mark to return, which he was. This inspection did not happen only once, but happened often and when asked "want to continue?", Mark replied "expletive yea, hell yea." Most fighter's would probably have been 'broken' mentally by such a beating, but Mark did not, and when it came to the fifth and last round, he took Jose down and commenced, his 'ground-and-pound.' However, one round was not enough unless a knockout were to happen or a referee stoppage but none of that happen, resulting in Jose Aldo being the victor. 

Jake Shields taking a GSP Sidekick

 Now to the main event between Jake Shields and 'Captain Canada', Georges St-Pierre. Among many fight fans, this fight did not live up to the hype, not because no one was submitted or knocked out rather no one pressed the action. However, this was the 1st fight that GSP lost a round in his previous thirty rounds. As with many 1st rounds in a championship bout, it was used to see what each fighter will do, but it seemed that Jake had five first rounds because it seemed like he was waiting to see what GSP will do. Jake never gave the impression that this was a championship fight because it seemed like he had no sense of urgency to defeat him. One can sum up what Jake did the whole bout - nothing, with the exception of a few jabs, petty kicks and 'shots' (take down attempt). However, the few punches that landed on GSP, were effective enough to 'bloody-him-up.'  On the other hand, GSP was most effective with his kicks, not so much punches. He had a vicious spinning back kick to Jake's ribs to end a round, and later, a kick to Jake's head that stunned him for a second. GSP did have the occasional explosive take downs that he is known for (it has been said he is 'best MMA wrestler') but was evident that he did not want to enter the grappling game with Jake. In the end, GSP came away with a bloody face, with his eye suffering damage, and the belt, and Jake came away knowing that he probably should have done a lot more. 

The event as a whole did have that super show feel, with the fights, for the most part, living up to the hype. The UFC has now proven that they can host a extraordinary event with some fights that can only be described by one word - WOW!!! 

Only the people that had the privilege to attend can describe the experience from within the event but for those who weren't fortunate enough to attend, can say that it was a spectacle, sort of like a Wrestlemania. 

The highlights of the event were: 

• The "crane kick' executed to perfection by Lyoto, and the significance of that fight - Randy Couture's last.
•  The incredible display of heart by Mark Hominick, in the face of a far superior fighter, in Jose Aldo.  

Although the main event wasn't as amazing as the UFC marketing campaign, it did attract a lot of people, and was an economic boost for the local economy. One can only wonder, which city will be next and which fights will be on the card?