UFC 102 roundup

Results :

Evan Dunham defeats Marcus Aurelio by Decision (Split)

Mark Munoz defeats Nick Catone by Decision (Split)

Todd Duffee defeats Tim Hague by KO (Punches), round 1.

Michael Russow defeats Justin McCully by Decision (Unanimous)

Gabriel Gonzaga defeats Chris Tuchscherer by TKO (Punches), rd 1.

Aaron Simpson defeats Ed Herman by TKO (Knee Injury), round 2.

Brandon Vera defeats Krzysztof Soszynski by Decision (Unanimous)

Nate Marquardt defeats Demian Maia by KO (Punch), round 1.

Jake Rosholt defeats Chris Leben by Technical Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke), round 3.

Thiago Silva defeats Keith Jardine by TKO (Punches), round 1.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defeats Randy Couture by Decision (Unanimous)

I got to say, I loved this card.

Round 1 of this fight should be round of the year. Nogueira looked very good. I found it weird to watch Randy get dominated like that. Usually, if Randy doesn't get knocked out, he's beating up his opponent. It was nice to see Nog back in top form.

As for my picks, I was 8 - 3 & I got the method of victory in 5 of those. More importantly, I was very impressed with most of the winners. I already mentioned how good Big Nog looked, so I'll give a rundown of the fighters that really impressed on Saturday night in Portland.

Todd Duffee - I picked Duffee to knock out Hague but I didn't think it would that quick. Duffee set a new record for fastest UFC knock out, 7 seconds in. I attribute that more to Hague not having his hands up, but still, watch out for another big heavyweight in Todd Duffee.

Aaron Simpson - Ed Herman hurt his knee, which is how he lost the fight, but Simpson was beating him up real good. I really believe Simpson is the next big thing in the middleweight division.

Jake Rosholt - As I posted before, I wasn't interested in this middleweight fight. I was wrong. Rosholt looked good. He was out striking the heavy handed Leben and dominated him for 3 rounds. Roshalts arm triangle-choke on Leben was smooth & great to watch. I will not overlook Rosholt again.

Thiago Silva - I always looked at Thiago Silva as a straight banger, but against Jardine he put together a solid striking game plan & did exactly what I thought he would do, knock Jardine out in the first round. I'm looking forward to the next Thiago Silva fight.

All in all, this card was great. 102 was the best UFC card since UFC 96 in Ohio. I think it all comes down to getting my hopes up when I see a stacked line up & it usually doesn't live up to the hype.