After his impressive win over Roger Huerta at UFC 87, Kenny Florian stated he did not want to take much time off, despite possibly being the next in line for a 155lb title shot, waiting for BJ Penn’s title shot at 170lb king George St. Pierre.
Florian is now tabbed to face another top contender in Joe Stevenson at a still-to-be-named UFC event in Portland, Oregon on November 15.
Stevenson came up short in his first title shot at UFC 80, losing to BJ Penn by submission. He came back in July and choked out the very tough Gleison Tibau and is looking to get back in the title hunt. The winner of this fight will almost surely get the next shot at lightweight champion BJ Penn after his foray into the welterweight division.
UFC 87 was this past Saturday, and there were a couple of super impressive performances, notably Georges St. Pierre and Brock Lesnar.
St. Pierre silenced (or should have at this point) his critics by systematically dismantling the top contender to his 170lb crown, Jon Fitch. Fitch never seemed to really threaten St. Pierre, and was dropped about 4-5 times in the fight from punches and knees…that can’t be good for Fitch’s noodle, but he hung in there, and he was true to his word, he’s a “blood and guts” type of guy. He fights and claws for everything he gets. In the end though, he was simply outclassed by a better fighter. St. Pierre imposed his will and the only thing he couldn’t do, was put his gi on after the fight.
Now that St. Pierre has dominated the guy who dominated everyone else, who else is there?
BJ Penn. More on that later.
Brock Lesnar showed great improvement in his second trip in the cage, dominating the very tough Heath Herring over three rounds. Unlike his spastic-like offense against Frank Mir in his debut, Lesnar paced himself and didn’t blow his wad. Next up on Lesnar’s to-do list is submissions.
Kenny Florian defeated home town boy Roger Huerta by sticking to his system and not getting caught up in an emotional brawl. Each time Kenny rocked Roger, Roger would get riled up, but unlike past opponents, Kenny found a way to suppress Huerta’s rage until it passed. Look for Kenny to get a title shot, after BJ Penn’s foray back to 170lbs.
In my near-favorite bout of the night, Rob Emerson scored a surprising TKO victory over Manny Gamburyan twelve seconds into the fight. I dislike Gamburyan for a few reasons, his attitude and his cheap shot on Jeff Cox. Surely one of the more satisfying smashings I’ve ever seen.
In the televised opening bout, Damian Maia wore down a very game and scrappy Canadian Jason MacDonald and scored a 3rd round choke out. MacDonald came right at Maia and took him to the ground, which surely must have surprised Maia.
Oh, and Cheik Kongo won by TKO over Dan Evenson…Kongo is one scary dude, but not a great interview
All in all, an excellent night of fights. The rest of the results are listed below.
Check out Fitch’s face!! Like he had been through a meat grinder…and the guy keeps on fighting. I feel bad for his next opponent.
UFC 87 RESULTS:
Georges St. Pierre def. Jon Fitch by unanimous decision (50-43, 50-44, 50-44)
Brock Lesnar def. Heath Herring by unanimous decision (30-26 on all cards)
Rob Emerson def. Manny Gamburyan by KO at :12, R1
Kenny Florian def. Roger Huerta by unanimous decision (30-27 on all cards)
Demian Maia def. Jason MacDonald by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:44, R3
Tamdan McCrory def. Luke Cummo by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Cheick Kongo def. Dan Evensen by TKO (strikes on the ground) at 4:55, R1
Jon Jones def. Andre Gusmao by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Chris Wilson def. Steve Bruno by Unanimous Decision (30-27) on all judges score cards
Ben Saunders def. Ryan Thomas by submission (armbar) at 2:28, R2
