The UFC ventured to Minneapolis, Minnesota for its latest show. Hometown giant Brock Lesnar was a feature as was the Welterweight decider between GSP and number one contender John Fitch.

Jason MacDonald vs. Demian Maia
Maia and MacDonald put on an awesome display of BJJ right throughout this fight. If any MMA fans ever had the idea that the ground game was boring, they were WRONG! The opening round was clustered with submission attempts, escapes, reversals, sweeps and more submission attempts. Maia is a brutal BJJ player but “The Athlete” backed himself and took on the Brazilian at his own game. One and a half minutes in to the fight, Demian secured a tight triangle choke and cranked Jason’s neck. The fight should have been over then and there! To MacDonald’s credit he managed to survive the attempt and even ended up on Maia’s back looking for his own finish! Late in the round Jason repelled a rear naked choke that again, probably would have stopped a lot of other fights.

The remainder of the fight wasn’t quite as exciting as the first round but was none the less a top match. Maia had the edge over MacDonald and eventually wore down the Canadian to end the fight in the third round via a rear naked choke.

Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta
In a Lightweight eliminator “Ken Flo” battled “El Matador” in a battle that went the distance. Florian’s striking was crisp and his movement immaculate, frustrating Huerta who was continually chasing “Ken Flo”. Huerta looked to me like his mind wasn’t quite in the game as Florian picked him apart and controlled the pace of the fight throughout. Roger is very much the brawler of the two and showed a little of what we have come to know from him only when he was hurt by Kenny. The judge’s decision was a unanimous one all in favor of Florian, in what can only be described as a clinical skilled performance. The “Ken Flo” of today is a totally different fighter to the one we first saw on TUF.

Manny Gamburyan vs. Rob Emerson
Gamburyan who is (I think) still reeling from not winning TUF, has been nothing but impressive since. What he lacks in height, he certainly makes up for in strength, ability and determination. He took on fellow season five cast mate Emerson. “The Saint” likes to stand and bang and when “The Anvil” charged at him at the bell, that’s exactly what he did! Manny swung wildly leaving his chin exposed and Rob connected with a nice right hand dropping Gamburyan. Emerson pounced and finished the fight in just twelve seconds!

Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring
In his home town and in front of his adoring home fans, former wrestling super star Lesnar showed why Dana White signed him to the UFC. Heath Herring is not a small man by any stretch of the imagination but he was dwarfed by the behemoth that is Brock Lesnar. In just his third professional MMA outing (second in the UFC) Brock man handled the highly experienced “Texas Crazy Horse”. Right from the out set when Lesnar struck with an over hand right that destroyed half of Heaths face it was all Lesnar. He utilized his wrestling pedigree to his advantage as expected and moved from the guard to side control, to full mount almost without resistance. Herring had no answers and Lesnars’ confidence grew with each passing minute. He was willing to exchange and even let lose with a few leg kicks, showing that he is learning the art of MMA quickly. Brock secured his first win inside the Octagon with a convincing unanimous points win and his post fight comments and celebrations will only serve to drive his popularity higher with MMA fans, both for and against Lesnar. I for one think he’ll make a perfect villain for everyone outside of Minnesota to cheer against (i.e.: Tim Sylvia).

Georges St-Pierre vs. Jon Fitch
Pre fight “Rush” said that this would be his toughest test yet, not only facing Fitch but also the fact that he was defending the title. He was right… John Fitch turned up ready to battle for the belt and St Pierre threw everything at the challenger. GSP utilized his wrestling skills, his jiu jitsu talent and his formidable striking game in an attempt to stop Fitch. A lesser fighter may have conceded defeat but not John, he was hit with the power and precision of the champion on many occasions and somehow he survived and kept coming at Georges.

GSP also took plenty from Fitch and switched his game accordingly, controlling not only the pace of the fight but also where the fight took place. When GSP wanted it on the mat, that’s where he took it, when he wanted to strike, that’s what happened. He was superior in every facet of the fight, if you were trying to describe what MMA is and show a prime example of an MMA expert, to some one who had never seen it before, GSP would be the person you would show.
He is a complete fighter – I thought he may still have been a little gun shy in regards to his stand up, he obviously wasn’t. John Fitch will be disappointed with the loss for now. Hopefully in a few days he will see that he should be proud of the way he performed and can only gain from such an experience.

After “Rush” got the nod convincingly from all three judges, BJ Penn strode into the Octagon and challenged / pleaded with Georges to agree to fight him for the WW belt in the future. Georges didn’t dismiss BJ saying that he will fight the best that are put in front of him, no matter who they are.

Another successful outing for the UFC and in particular Lesnar, Florian, and GSP.

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