UFC 123 REVIEW: PHIL DAVIS VS. TIM BOETSCH

ROUND 1

After more than 2 minutes of feeling each other out, Davis takes Boetsch down and attempts an Arm Triangle.  Davis is unable to complete the submission, so lets Boetsch's arm go and rains down some ground and pound instead. It's not the most exciting ground and pound ever seen, but it at least allows Davis to maintain a dominant position over Boetsch and control him for the rest of the round. Despite not showcasing the most exciting match in MMA, though he admittedly try to finish early, Davis easily takes the round because of Octagon control.

ROUND 2

Davis continues his strategy of taking Boetsch down and controlling him there for a possible finish as he immediately gets hold of and pins Boetsch against the cage. Despite being controlled for much of the first round, though, Boetsch shows he's no slouch in his wrestling and BJJ either, by not only reversing Davis, but also taking him down and locking on a Guillotine choke.

Phil Davis controlled Tim Boetsch on the ground for much of the fight

Davis escapes the submission, gets top position on Boetsch and locks on what looks like a Kimura, except that Davis seems to be pulling it off with only one arm. What's even more surprising is that he managed to get Boetsch to tap from this variation. Woah.

THE MR. WONDERFUL

Joe Rogan comments, "he finished him with, like, a police move". That submission was very unusual, indeed, and it's one of the things that I love so much about MMA: anything can happen in the cage, and you really can't predict most of it.

The instant replay shows that Davis did use both arms in the submission, though, but Joe Rogan deems the hold different enough from the standard Kimura to give it a name all its own, calling it "The Mr. Wonderful". A brand new submission created on the fly in the middle of a cage fight. Wow, now that's definitely something you don't see every day.

Phil Davis was so happy that he took down one of his coaches in celebration. Not only that, but he set it up with a high five! What an interestingly odd fight. Though it started with a very slow first round, this matchup wound up becoming one of the most memorable of the evening, and that's kind of hard to do considering all the surprises that occurred.

Check out more amazing photos of UFC 123 at the official UFC website!