Thoughts:
Sanchez/Stevenson - Sanchez looked pretty good, his stamina was good, and he threw a lot of combo's, and late into the fight. Stevenson was a let-down, but at the same time that might just be all Stevenson is. I'm interested to see what Sanchez will do if he gets bigger fights, maybe a Lauzon or Sherk and how he can handle that.
Dan Hardy/Rory Markham -It's hard to get a lot from this fight, Hardy looked good, but there just isn't much to go on...
Nate Marquardt/Wilson Gouveia - This fight went pretty close to how I thought it would. I just think that Nate is out of Wilson's league, and on track to get another title fight. He looked real solid, but I do wish he would have stuck to his kicks more, but I think I say that about every UFC fighter...
Demian Maia/Chael Sonnen - This was a good win for Maia, and he continues to hold his end up of the BJJ hype he gets. I wonder where he'll go from here, maybe a match-up with Nate who fought the same night. That seems like it could be a nice #1 contender fight for Silva after Thales. That should cover enough time inbetween waiting for TUF to be over, and a new #1 contender to be crowned.
Josh Koscheck Vs. Paulo Thiago - I know this one was a little controversial because of the stoppage, but I don't have an issue with it. First, the combothat was thrown was solid and the second punch actually caught some of the side of Kos's head. Then once he hit the mat, he did sort of look like he was either getting up, or trying to get his head back, but my issue is that his arms did not go up until after the ref made the move to stop the fight. At the moment the ref called it, the only thing that was up was Kos's head, and that is not defending yourself, and also not safe.
Again I'll state that for me, I would rather them stop fights a little too early than a little too late. Kos may have looked ok, but if another punch or two was allowed, he may not have looked very well. I don't know if the UFC could get over a terrible injury in the ring right now during it's current rise, maybe it could, maybe not, but I hope they don't have to try, for the sake of the sport.
You can always schedule a rematch, and it have much more intrigue, but you can't re-do a devestating injury.
Junior Dos Santos Vs. Stefan Struve - I thought that Dos Santos looked good, but at the same time, Struve looked like a kid that didn't belong in the ring. As soon as he started getting hit, it was over. Having said that, I like that Dos Santos can get out there and get the job done when he is expected to. I'm excited to see how he will progress through this weight class, maybe a fight with Cain could be next.
