WEC 52 REVIEW PART 3: THE PRELIMS

This article only contains one fight as this was the only shown on the live broadcast. Not to worry, though, this fight was so amazing that it deserves a whole review all to itself!

CUB SWANSON VS. MACKENS SEMERZIER

WEC 52 REVIEW PART 2: THE MAIN CARD

This review features the other fights on the main card. To check out my views on the main and co-main events, go here. For the preliminary fights, go here.

ERIK KOCH VS. FRANCISCO RIVERA 

WEC 52 REVIEW PART 1

I almost missed this one as I had completely forgotten the date, which is why I didn't post my predictions. Good thing I remembered at the last minute, though, because this was certainly another great night of fights, which is pretty typical for the WEC.

THE MAIN EVENT:

URIJAH FABER VS. TAKEYA MIZUGAKI

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 6: THE PRELIMS

COURT MCGEE VS. RYAN JENSEN

I've been a huge fan of Court McGee ever since The Ultimate Fighter 11. This is his first fight after the finale, and you can be sure that I was rooting for him all the way. He faces longtime veteran Ryan Jensen, who has been fighting professionally since 1997.

Jensen's experience shows early when he dominates McGee both standing up and on the ground. He drops McGee with a left early in the first round and controls him easily on the ground afterward. McGee recovers and begins exchanging bravely against the experienced veteran, though. He finds his rhythm and begins mixing up his punches with successful leg kicks, and keeps Jensen off balance.

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 5: SCHAUB VS. GONZAGA

I've been a fan of Brendan Schaub ever since his days as a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10. He made it to the finals that season but lost against heavy favorite Roy "Big Country" Nelson. He's very much a newcomer to this sport, but has shown genuinely constant improvements every time he steps in the cage. His last two fights prior to this featured some very impressive first round knockouts. His opponent this time, though, Gabriel Gonzaga, is a former top contender who has knockout power in both hands and feet, and is one of the stronger fighters in the division. 

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 4: ORTIZ VS. HAMILL

TITO ORTIZ

Tito Ortiz really needs to win again in the UFC. The last time he won a match was back in 2006 when he beat Ken Shamrock. After that, he lost to Chuck Liddell for the second time in a row, got a draw against Rashad Evans, and lost to Lyoto Machida and then Forrest Griffin, then backed out in his much-hyped rematch against Chuck Liddell, which got him fired from The Ultimate Fighter (Rich Franklin replaced him in that match).

Tito Ortiz has a very established fan base since he was the UFC Light Heavyweight champion for two straight years, defended the belt five times in a row, has been in the sport for 13 years, and is one of the UFC's classic bad boys. I'm one of Tito's big fans, but honestly? If a fighter hasn't won a match in four straight years, your expectations of him kind of dwindle. Kind of really dwindle.

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 3: SANCHEZ VS. THIAGO

Diego Sanchez is one of my favorite fighters in the UFC. From his time in The Ultimate Fighter 1, his odd personality and extreme aggression in the cage was, win or lose, always fun to behold. When he was thoroughly dominated by former Lightweight champion BJ Penn at UFC 107, however, something changed in  Diego, and it wasn't good. This was more than evident in his bout against John Hathaway at UFC 114. Diego looked clearly off his game and lacked his trademark aggressiveness. He lost via unanimous decision and the fighter who was previously known to, by far, have one of the toughest mental fortitudes in the organization seemed to have completely lost his edge. It seemed that BJ Penn took much more than a simple victory from Diego that night. 

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 2: SHIELDS VS. KAMPMANN

Jake Shields, former Strikeforce Middleweight champion riding a 15-fight win streak, has finally come to the UFC. Shields has been fighting professionally for over a decade now and is incredibly popular, but fans worldwide have always wondered how he would fare against the cream of the crop of the world's biggest MMA organization, the UFC? UFC 121 answered this question as Shields went up against the ever-dangerous well-rounded fighter Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann.