10 Things We Learned From UFC 120

1. Bisping Shines, but Questions Remain

The hometown favorite sent the fans home happy at the end of the night by dominating Yoshihiro Akiyama over the majority of their fifteen minute fight, taking home a 30-27 sweep on the scorecards to push his record to 20-3 overall.

Bisping was the same sharp fighter we’ve seen in nine of his ten UFC victories, a technically-sound striker who delivers punching in large numbers and does a good job of avoiding danger. As much as being a consistent performer is something positive, there is also a problematic side that presents itself moving forward.

All three of Bisping’s losses have come when he’s been in a position ascend to the next level of the middleweight division, and he’s on the cusp of that move once again. The former TUF winner is clearly a cut above the middle tier of talent in the 185-pound division, but without a victory at the next level, Bisping will remain a good but not great fighter.

2. Akiyama is Nothing More than Average at 185

You can’t look at Yoshihiro Akiyama as a potential contender anymore. That point was driven home Saturday night in England, as the Japanese judoka fell to 1-2 in the UFC, losing to Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC 120.

Through three fights, some would argue that Akiyama should still be winless, as his debut split decision win over Alan Belcher was razor-thin. Regardless of how you scored that bout, the truth is that Akiyama is closer to being a middle-of-the-pack middleweight than he is a contender, and no amount of sexiness can change that.

The positive is that Akiyama is an entertaining fighter; each of his bouts have been solid affairs that went the distance, giving fans a good show for their money. Unfortunately, winning is always important, and Akiyama just doesn’t seem to be able to compete. Many have suggested a drop to welterweight, which would certainly better suit his frame, but it might just be a matter of Akiyama not having what it takes to hang with the high-end talent in the UFC.

3. Carlos Condit Arrives

A lot was expected of Carlos Condit when he joined the UFC as the last welterweight champion in WEC history. A narrow split decision loss to Martin Kampmann in his debut had people second-guessing themselves, and while a pair of wins followed, there were still some who were unconvinced of Condit’s potential as a contender.

Those doubts got smashed Saturday night in London, as Condit knocked out Dan Hardy in the final minute of the first round, proving he belongs with the best of the welterweight division.

Condit was quicker to the punch than Hardy, literally, as his left connected flush as Hardy landed a split second later before falling to the floor. The New Mexico native has now won three-straight and appears to be rounding into the form that had him finishing fighters early and often during his WEC days. He’s a long-and-lean athlete with a diverse offensive attack, which will make Condit a headache for whoever he faces next.

4. Cold, Hard Truth Time for Hardy

With the UFC pushing hard to solidify England as a viable market, Dan Hardy stood as one of the biggest beneficiaries, receiving a heavy promotional push that culminated in his UFC 111 title fight with Georges St-Pierre. While some may say hindsight is a beautiful thing, looking at Hardy after his second-straight loss, you see a fighter who doesn’t belong in the upper echelon of the welterweight division.

There might not be a fighter in the sport who has talked himself into a top-ranked position better than Hardy. He parlayed wins over Marcus Davis and Mike Swick into a title shot, and was looking ahead to big name fights following a win over Condit. Now that he’s staring at a loss, Hardy has to start delivering on all his big talk.

Beating middle tier talent isn’t enough to merit the heavy volume of self-praise that comes from Hardy; while selling yourself is important, backing it up is a bigger plus and that is what Hardy must now do. Whoever he fights next needs to get beaten, badly. For all his talk, Hardy hasn’t finished anyone since beating Rory Markham, and last time I checked, he wasn’t on the UFC roster any longer.

His quick quips and the UFC’s promotional power gave Hardy a taste of the spotlight, but now it’s on him to prove he deserves to stay there going forward.

5. The Truth Always Comes Out in the Cage

You can package a fighter as a contender, build cards around their names, showcase their skills in promotional videos and pump up their victories to make them shine a little more than they should. But at the end of the day, the truth always comes out in the cage, and despite their best efforts, the UFC doesn’t have a British championship contender in their ranks.

The situation for Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy has been discussed already, and while youngsters like John Hathaway and Paul Sass show promise, they’re still a long way away from even being mentioned as contenders. The most legitimate title challenger, Paul Daley, punched himself out of the organization, and while the lack of title contenders isn’t a big deal in North American markets, it doesn’t play in the UK.
British fans want a native son to hang their hopes on, and right now, the country’s top talent is still a step behind the best fighters from other parts of the world. While the situation will most likely level itself out over the coming years, the concern is whether British fans will continue to flock to UFC events to watch the home side lose or advance to the next level?

6. Mike Pyle Needs to Ace the Encore

Everyone will agree that Mike Pyle’s performance against previously-unbeaten British prospect John Hathaway was outstanding; the 35-year-old veteran surprised many by dominating Hathaway throughout the fight to push his record inside the Octagon to 3-2.

What might not earn agreement across the board is how important Pyle’s next performance is. Some might feel that his win over Hathaway has earned him a bit of breathing room, but the reality of the sport is that you’re only as good as your last fight. Right now, Pyle looks great, but what he does for an encore is of greater importance.

A late bloomer who has always been labelled as a guy who is great in the gym, Pyle can’t take a step back in his next bout. This win will earn him a stiffer test next time around, and the long-time Xtreme Couture member must excel. Otherwise, this will become the defining fight in a career marred by a case of the could-have-beens.

7. Don’t Abandon the Hathaway Bandwagon Just Yet

Everyone loses, so John Hathaway’s loss to Mike Pyle is nothing to be overly alarmed about. The not-yet-24-year-old was dominated by a crafty veteran with a strong ground game; it’s not like an inexperienced novice took it to him.

While the defeat takes some of the shine off his star following his coming out party against Diego Sanchez, Hathaway is still a very bright talent with a promising future. A lot of critics and fans will be spraining their ankles jumping off the bandwagon, but there is no real need for unnecessary pain right now.

Another truism of the sport is that you learn your biggest lessons in defeat, and that should hold true for Hathaway as well. Getting beaten in his backyard by a heavy underdog is humbling, but also helpful, provided the young London Shootfighters product looks at what went wrong and works to improve.

8. Not TUF Enough?

In the wake of Efrain Escudero becoming the first non-veteran winner of The Ultimate Fighter to get the axe, James Wilks might be joining him very soon.

The British welterweight was beaten over the entire 15 minutes of his bout with Claude Patrick, dropping his record to 1-2 since the show ended. All three of the performances have been underwhelming, and with the larger-than-normal paycheck Wilks earns as a TUF winner, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him hit the unemployment line.

On a more macro level, the struggles of recent TUF winners only continues to illustrate that the show is far more focused on delivering drama than bringing the best talent into the organization.

9. Prospects Emerge on the Undercard

Paul Sass stamped himself as one to watch with a first-round triangle choke win over Mark Holst.
Alexander Gustafsson bounced back from his first professional loss by submitting Cyrille Diabate in the second round.

Team Nogueira’s Fabio Maldonado became another Brazilian to pay attention to in the 205-pound division with a third round knockout of James McSweeney.

This is what the undercard is supposed to be about: fights that showcase lesser-known talents and helps build fighter than can be marketed moving forward. Had Steve Cantwell not been bitten by the injury bug late in the week, Stanislav Nedkov could have potentially added his name to the list of new faces earning praise after UFC 120 as well.

All-in-all, this was a good night of fights on the preliminary portion of the card.

10. The Problem with Tape Delay

Dana White sent an angry text during the day Saturday, urging fans to put ESPN on blast for spoiling the results of the tape-delayed broadcast of UFC 120, and while many probably took up his advice, it was the wrong advice.

This is what happens with these kinds of events; results escape and the mystery of what you’re waiting to watch can be lost. Instead of complaining about the mainstream sports media including your results on their ticker, stop running events on tape delay.

Canada had the chance to watch the event live, as did everyone across the Atlantic; it was solely on American soil that the tape-delay situation was the only option and it didn’t need to happen in the first place. Stop running hours of Unleashed on Spike, accept that you’re not going to outdraw US College football in the ratings and show the event as it goes down, live and free of potential spoiler situations.

We live in the age of instant information exchange, so stop being surprised when the cat gets let out of the bag before you were hoping.

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