UFC 118 was more sizzle than steak. It is interesting to look back at what made the previous two shows so compelling. UFC 116 and 117 created so much buzz based on how great the stories and fights were with seemingly invincible champions having to come back to defend their titles. UFC 118 tried to create that spectacle by having James Toney fight Randy Couture, rather than letting it happen naturally with a competitive fight that fans wanted to see.

Now, UFC 116 and 117 aren’t the norm. There was definitely some luck in how the fights played out to make those shows so special. But they didn’t feel forced like this one.

I’m not sure anyone hated this show as much as Duan did. Here’s what we thought about UFC 118:

Duan
4 Thumbs Down
Best Fight: The Resident Evil Afterlife commercial
Worst Fight: Everything else

A truly horrid show all things considered. You will be hard pressed to find two more boring fights back to back than Maynard/Florian and Maia/Miranda. I promised I would say no more on Couture/Toney, and that’s probably for the best really. The main event, while impressive on Edgar’s behalf, was a pretty dull, drama-less spectacle. Good luck trying to sell Edgar/Maynard as a main event; that one sure has barn burner written all over it.

At this point, I think Penn really needs to consider where he wants to go from here. He’s now met his match at 155. BJ Penn’s whole character has always been about being the very best. I’m sure he can still beat most guys at either lightweight or welterweight, but not either champion. I don’t know that it’s worth his while fighting on as just another guy in the division. And I don’t know that BJ Penn can be just another guy in the division. Does he add anything to his legacy by knocking off contenders? If he’s made his money this might be the time for him to get out. But with that being said, if Maynard beats Edgar the door swings back open for him.

Alan
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar
Worst Fight: Mario Miranda vs. Demian Maia
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I thought it was odd when Dana White said before Saturday night’s UFC 118 that Kenny Florian chokes in big fights. It was interesting because you rarely see him say that about anyone, especially someone who is one of the better fighters in the lightweight division. Telling one of your fighters through the media that he’s a choke artist isn’t necessarily a shot of confidence.

But when he said it again at the post fight press conference after the show ended (and Florian lost when he couldn’t pull the trigger), I wondered if it was meant as a message or statement that he wanted Florian to hear since he had to know that people would start asking Florian about it. I tried to ask Florian through his Twitter, but never expected a response and didn’t get one.

The next day, he did tweet out a response to everyone, though it didn’t have to do with Dana’s claims. He said:

Thanks for the support everyone. Before I knew it, the fight was over. Wasn’t my night. Congrats to Maynard on a well fought match.

Then yesterday, he tweeted out another message which didn’t reference the choking claims, but mentioned him letting his hometown down.

Lucky to have fans like u guys. I trained hard but need to train harder. Making plans now so I can take my game to where it needs to be. I really appreciate the support. Feel like I let a city down tho. I know what I need to fix & won’t stop till it’s fixed properly. Thank u.

Florian did talk about the claims to Dan Duggan from the Boston Herald. He said in reference to White’s claims:

I don’t think that really makes any sense. For me, it’s someone who is just looking at the big picture and not looking at the actual fight game. It’s someone who isn’t actually that familiar with the full technique of the game. I didn’t crumble. I was outwrestled. Gray fought a smarter fight. That was it.

He also went on to say that he doesn’t think Dana looks at the fight as technically as he should all the time.

Maybe the most interesting part of this is that Florian is also an analyst on ESPN’s MMA Live. Host of the show Jon Anik replied to a question about White’s choking claims on his Twitter account and said that White’s words were, “Too harsh & inaccurate.”

If ESPN thinks of the show as a true MMA news show, Florian will be asked about the comments and allowed to answer them. Where it gets tricky is that if he’s truthful, he’ll be refuting the words of the guy who promotes him. It’s definitely an odd situation.

Shaq says he wants to fight someone his size and he calls out Hong Man Choi. Maybe he should call out Yao Ming?

Dana White:
- It was 3 million dollar gate and the attendance was 15,575.
- Joe Lauzon won the submission of the night.
- Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis was fight of the night.
- All three guys earned $60,000 bonuses.
- They hired Mark Fischer as the executive vice president of UFC Asia.

Mark Fischer:
- Helped the NBA expand in China. (I think someone named Yao Ming also helped out with that.)
- Thinks the sports that strived for excellence are the sports that exceeded in Asia.
- Is looking at Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

White:
- Not after boxing and not trying to attack boxing. He was nervous. Toney lasted longer than he thought he would. James Toney picked a fight and he got one.
- Toney is a boxer and that’s what he does. It’s probably his last UFC fight.
- He thought James took it seriously, but he’s not the most fit boxer in the world.

Joe Lauzon:
- He sold 600 tickets and he had a lot of people in the building rooting for him.

White:
- Thought that the Marcus Davis stoppage was late and he didn’t like it.

Randy Couture:
- The fight played out exactly like he thought. Didn’t want to try to stand up with James. Has been working on the low shot all camp and had to pull it out from his college days.

Gray Maynard:
- Frankie did a great job and he’s the champ. But he wants the belt. Frankie’s changed in the 3 years since they fought.
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I’ll be posting predictions from folks who are in the house watching the fight. Those of us on the site gave our predictions yesterday, which you can read.

Predictions:

Dave – Diaz by 2nd round submission (guillotine)
Daniel – Diaz by 3rd round submission
Mike L. – Diaz by 2nd round TKO
Mike S. – Diaz by 3rd round submission (triangle)
GG – Diaz by 3rd round submission

1. Marcus Davis vs. Nate Diaz

Diaz looks awful in exchanges, but with his boxing style, he often does. Davis is landing his left hand at will, yet Davis is the one who has the big cut, which came from when he turned Diaz around and had him up against the fence. Davis landed the bigger shots, but Diaz landed more shots. Davis’ face looked heavily swollen at the end of the round. I’d give the round slightly to Diaz. The cut is nasty.

Davis’ eye is messed up. They may stop it after this round. Diaz is just keeping both hands right in Davis’ face. A couple times in the round, he went in for a shot, and once, Davis ended up on top, but Diaz flipped him over quickly. Davis is taking a beating. I’m not sure how he can see the punches coming.

Diaz may have broken Davis’ orbital bone. He has a half golf ball on his eye now. Diaz is punishing him. It went to the ground and Diaz put him to sleep with a guillotine. That was pretty impressive.

Winner: Nate Diaz by way of 3rd round submission

Predictions:

Dave – Maynard by decision
Daniel – Florian by decision
Mike L. – Florian by decision
Mike S. – Florian by decision
GG – Florian by 3rd round TKO

2. Gray Maynard vs. Kenny Florian

It was a nothing round for the most part. Florian caught Maynard with a short right, but Maynard then finally got his takedown and threw some blows from the top. Maynard probably steals the round with the takedown.
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