Pacquiao vs. Cotto + UFC 105 Commentary

Last night was huge in fighting sports as we finally got to see the much-anticipated Pacquiao-Cotto fight, with the free UFC 105 competing against it. Pacquiao vs. Cotto was electric and UFC 105 was less so, though for a free card it was certainly no disappointment. I was able to catch the last 1 1/2 undercard bouts of the boxing event (which were boring) before watching the Pacquiao-Cotto fight, then watched the UFC event (which I taped) later that night. Interestingly enough, apparently it was the undercard of UFC 105 which delivered the better fights than the main card. They eventually aired two of these undercard fights during the televised coverage, and they delivered. Anyway, here is my commentary on the Pacquiao-Cotto fight and all the televised UFC 105 fights.

*****

Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto

The big question coming into the fight was which would trump the other: Cotto's power or Pacquiao's speed. Well it turns out that not only did Pacquiao's speed seem to play a key role in this huge win, but also that Pacquiao did have the power to match up to a true welterweight.

Cotto was impressive in the first round and was actually speedier than I expected. Starting from the third, though, when Cotto got knocked down for the first time, the fight was pretty much a sealed deal. Pacquiao's ability to accurately connect from odd angles and his strategy during the fight were what I thought to be the biggest keys to his win. Cotto was mainly using his left hand, so most of his shots that were connecting weren't too powerful. Pacquiao spent a portion of each round just absorbing shots from Cotto with his gloves and body. Whenever Pacquiao found an opening, though, he exploded with a flurry, and this strategy is evident if you look at the statistics of the fight: Pacquiao landed almost twice as many strikes as Cotto, more than twice as many power shots, and was significantly more accurate.

In the end, Manny Pacquiao stops Cotto in the final round, though he was already significantly ahead in the scorecards. In my personal scorecard, I gave Cotto the 1st round 9-10, Manny the 4th round 10-8, and all of the other rounds to Manny 10-9. I give Cotto the extra point in the 3rd despite the knockdown because I thought he kept the round close. Cotto is a champion in his own right for fighting through the 11th and into the 12th round, as he was starting to get punished big time starting in the middle rounds. He definitely loses no respect for losing to someone who many now consider to be one of boxing's all time greats.

Pacquiao defeats Cotto by TKO (Round 12, 0:55)

*****

Andre Winner vs. Rolando Delgado

I am quite impressed with Andre Winner, who is making his UFC debut on the undercard of UFC 105 after finishing as runner-up in last year's Ultimate Fighter competition - although I'm not sure if they intended to challenge him by putting him against Rolando "Popsicle Stick" Delgado, who had a lowly record of 6-4-1. Though Delgado seemed to be holding his own for a while, his shots didn't really seem to be doing any damage, but with the physique that he has I am not surprised. Andre Winner's solid boxing, composure, and power came out victorious in the end after he connected with a huge overhand right that knocks the Popsicle Stick out cold.

Winner defeats Delgado by KO (Round 1, 3:22)

*****

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jared Hamman

This short undercard fight eventually made it onto the TV broadcast as a replay. There is not much to say, as both fighters seemed to just be just flailing wildly at each other. Eventually it is Gustafsson who lands one of his shots on Hamman, knocking him down and making his mouthpiece go flying. After jumping in and landing some big blows, the fight is much more than in the books.

Gustafsson defeats Hamman by KO (Round 1, 0:41)

*****

Ross Pearson vs. Aaron Riley

The Ultimate Fighter's Season 9 lightweight champion Ross Pearson looked rock solid in his UFC debut against veteran Aaron Riley. The story of the fight is knees. Riley kept on falling into Pearson's muay thai clinch and consequently got punished by multiple knees to the body and face. Other aspects of Pearson's standup game were evidently solid too, but in the end the knees put it away. In the second round, Pearson connected with a flying knee that cuts Riley's nose wide open, leading to a doctor stoppage.

Pearson defeats Riley by TKO (doctor stoppage, Round 2, 4:34)

*****

James Wilks vs. Matt Brown

Now James Wilks makes his UFC debut after winning the welterweight competition of The Ultimate Fighter Season 9, and doesn't impress as much as Ross Pearson does. The first round is uneventful, as Wilks presses Brown up against the cage, apparently looking for a takedown. Brown is content with just defending himself and letting Wilks use his energy up. In the second round, the action heightens when Brown lands a perfectly timed flying knee to the face of Wilks, who is unsurprisingly going for a shoot. The round ends after some more cage-pressing, with Brown starting a triangle choke attempt.

In the third round, the fighters end up (surprise!) against the cage. Brown seems to be on the verge of having a kimura set up, but instead it is Wilks who gets the kimura set up on Brown. Brown's shoulder really looks in danger of being dislocated, but Brown is eventually able to roll out of the submission. Wilks is able to start twisting Brown's shoulder again, but each time he is unable to keep Brown from rolling out. Finally, Brown is able to roll conveniently into a full mount where he is able to finish Wilks off with uncontested punches.

Brown defeats Wilks by TKO (punches, Round 3, 2:26)

*****

Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang

This "Fight of the Night" made me sad, though I suppose I may be biased, because this fight must have been awesome for all the Michael Bisping fans out there. The first round was all Kang, who seemed to be calmly composed, and was able to drop Bisping with a punch and do some damage on the ground. Props go to Bisping in that round though, as he was able to scramble out of some pretty bad positions and minimize damage well.

The story changes in the second round, when Bisping is able to wrestle Kang to the ground and land some huge hits. This seems to really daze Kang, who also seems to be running out of gas. From then on, the fight wasn't even close, as Bisping takes Kang down at will with some really spectacular throws. At this point, Kang can hardly defend himself, and the fight lasts longer than I think it should have as Kang is taking a really hard beating and clearly is doing nothing more than just taking the shots uncontested.

Bisping defeats Kang by TKO (punches, Round 2, 4:24)

*****

Mike Swick vs. Dan Hardy

I have little to say about this fight, which ended in a well-deserved decision victory for Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy. Swick looked incredibly lean and anyone who hasn't seen his previous fights may have trouble believing that he used to fight as a middleweight. This fight was basically a standup battle with its own share of clinching against the cage - of which we had no shortage during this event - though in these clinches Hardy was able to land some really good elbows. In the end, Hardy just outclassed Swick for the entirety of the fight, which I scored 30-27 for Hardy.

Hardy defeats Swick by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

*****

Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera

Randy Couture's strategy for the fight made it incredibly boring, but it was also the perfect plan for someone like him to beat someone like Brandon Vera. Basically, Couture's strategy seems to be to eliminate Vera's advantage in the standup (from his range and strong kicks) by staying in the clinch and playing his own game. Vera is also a great wrestler, but Couture sees wrestling as his best shot for winning.

The first round is incredibly uneventful, with Couture pressing Vera up against the cage for basically the entirety of the round, but I give the round to Couture for control. Second round is largely the same story, but Vera is able to land a good number of strikes, and so I give the round to him. The final round was the closest to being considered exciting, and it seems to be widely debated as to who won the round - many writers gave the round, and thus the fight to Vera. Couture opens with a great flurry and goes straight back to the clinch. Now Couture is doing some good dirty boxing, which along with the flurry I think gave him the round. After the referee splits up the two fighters yet again, Vera lands two hard kicks that take the wind out of Randy. Close to the end of the fight, Vera gets a takedown and mounts, but doesn't have enough time to do any real damage.

Many seem to give Vera the round for this late series of attacks, but I don't think it matches up to Couture's performance at the beginning and through the rest of the round. Attacks later in the round also naturally have more influence on how people score the round, but you have to consider everything that happened and not just who's on top in the end - especially in close fights like this. So anyway, I personally gave this fight to Couture, 29-28, in agreement with all the judges. It is kind of a disappointment, as Couture didn't really need the win to validate himself and didn't really prove anything with it, and Vera failed at both establishing himself as a top light heavyweight contender and addressing his status as a rather boring fighter.

Couture defeats Vera by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

*****

I am glad I saw the Pacquiao fight because it was great in comparison to UFC 105 - though you should never expect too much from a free UFC event. Who's next for Manny Pacquiao will be a hot subject for a while - and I along with the rest of the world hope it will be Floyd Mayweather. But one of the problems with boxing is that fighters - perhaps Mayweather - want to leave their record untarnished. This is different from the UFC, where top fighters are constantly against other top fighters, and can always redeem themselves after a loss by working their way back up the ladder. In boxing, this "ladder" doesn't really exist, as there are so few superstars and so many promotions.

As for the world of MMA, it has been an huge month, and the excitement will continue. After a solid Strikeforce event last week and a mediocre but free UFC event last night, the action will continue with two events in the upcoming week! First up on Wednesday, 11/18 is WEC 44, which mostly has un-noteworthy fights but ends with one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world Mike Brown as he tries to defend his 145 lb championship belt for the fourth time against the hard-hitter Jose Aldo, who has really been on a roll. This is the first real heavy hitter we'll see Mike Brown against since he came into the WEC and should be a really great fight, and after we saw Miguel Torres get handed by Brian Bowles not too long ago, who knows what can happen?

Then we can start off our Thanksgiving break with the absolutely stacked UFC 106, which was originally set to be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin before Lesnar had to pull out after falling ill with mono. Instead, the event is headlined with another great matchup - a rematch between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin (who replaced an injured Mark Coleman in the lineup) after Ortiz's close and controversial split decision victory 3 1/2 years ago in UFC 59. The card also has what will be an electric battle between the quick and heavy hitters Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson, as well as Antonio Rogerio Nogueira's debut in the UFC against Luiz Cane. Completing the main card is a bout between Ultimate Fighter 7 winner Amir Sadollah, as he looks to bounce back from a recent quick TKO loss in UFC 101, and the always exciting Phil "The New York Badass" Baroni, as he reenters the UFC after nearly 4 years of fighting for other organizations - and a match between one of my favorite fighters in judo specialist Karo Parisyan and Dustin Hazelett.