Ultimate Fight Night 4 Review

April 9th, 2006

I decided to hold off on posting this until I got a chance to watch the entire event again during the replay on Saturday night, as the Bonnar-Jardine fight warranted another viewing. The undercard was definitely full of surprises, while the main card went pretty much as expected.

Chael Sonnen d. Trevor Prangley

I knew that Chael is a good fighter, but I am astonished that he totally dominated Prangley for the entire fight. Trevor Prangley is pretty good on the ground, and for Sonnen to beat him like that should instantly put the entire division on notice. If Sonnen gets a couple more big wins, he should get into the title picture sometime next year. This is an unfortunate setback for Prangley however, especially with his razor close loss to Jeremy Horn at UFC 56. I hope he is brought back, for it would be a shame to let him go when he has so much potential.

Dan Christison d. Brad Imes

I’m pretty surprised at the result of this one. I thought that with all the improvements that Imes has made over the last 6 months, he would be able to get the win without too much difficulty. However, Christison showed that his performance on the show was an anomoly, and redeemed himself in what sounds like a very entertaining match. I can’t wait for this to be shown on UFC Unleashed. I’d like to see Dan Christison fight Gilbert Aldana next, that should make for a great match. Brad will have to do some more work on his ground game, but I think he should be able to regroup from this loss.

Josh Koscheck d. Ansar Chalangov

Again, I’m surprised at how easily Koscheck won this match. Apparently, there wasn’t much stand up action, and once the fight was on the ground, Koscheck got his back and sunk the rear naked choke. It’s hard to say who Koscheck should fight next, but I’m leaning towards Spencer Fisher or Jon Fitch.

Jon Fitch d. Josh Burkman

Again, another result I did not see coming. I knew Jon Fitch was capable of winning, but I didn’t think he would dominate Burkman so badly. This is a big setback for Burkman, who said at UFN3 that he wanted Diego Sanchez next. Now he will have to settle for a lesser opponent, while Jon Fitch moves up the ladder.

Luke Cummo d. Jason Von Flue

Luke has proven himself to be a very dangerous opponent yet again. The fight wasn’t even close, with Cummo opening up a huge gash on Jason’s head and getting the unanimous decision. It’s hard to say what Cummo’s future will be, as he can beat almost anyone on the feet, but against a strong wrestler, he runs into trouble, as evidenced by his losses to Josh Koscheck and Joe Stevenson. Perhaps Jason could fight one of the Middleweights from the current season of The Ultimate Fighter who loses are drops to welterweight.

Chris Leben d. Luigi Fioravanti

This was a good win for Chris, as the fight was never close. I thought he would win inside of the distance, but Luigi is obviously a very tough fighter who can take a lot of punishment. With this one, Chris is ready to start taking on serious competition. Future opponents I would like to see for him are David Terrell, Nathan Marquardt, and a rematch with Joe Doerkson. Wins over a couple of these fighters would put him in the top 3 in the Middleweight Division. Of course, if the rumours are true, he will have to get past Joe Riggs first in what should make for a spectacular fight.

Josh Neer d. Joe Stevenson

Just as I suspected, Josh Neer was a bad matchup for Joe. Joe’s best chance was at the beginning of the fight, where he locked in a great kneebar. However, when Josh refused to tap, Joe let go, and the fight went downhill from there. Josh did very well on the feet, and even stuffed a lot of takedown attempts. The second round was all Neer, and when Joe finally got good positioning late in the third round, it was too little, too late. This is a pretty devastating loss for Stevenson, as he is the only fighter to win the Ultimate Fighter and lose his first fight. Going down to 155 is a good move, but with Neer following him, and several other top fighters also in that division, I see mixed success at best for Stevenson. Fighters like Sean Sherk, Spencer Fisher, Sam Stout, and Mark Hominick are going to outshine him.

Rashad Evans d. Sam Hoger

The biggest surprise of this fight was how differently the three judges scored the bout. I can’t understand how one judge gave two rounds to Hoger. While Sam fought a hell of a fight, Rashad definitely earned the victory. In a post-fight interview at Sherdog, Hoger complained about the time running out when he had that kimura locked in at the end of round 2. Well, Sam isn’t the first fighter to lose a submission because time ran out, and he certainly won’t be the last. I’d like to see Rashad fight Forrest next. That fight would be amazing, and I really have no idea who would win that one. As for Hoger, he should be given another chance, as both his losses were to great fighters, and he still did very well. It wouldn’t surprise me if he fights one of the fighters from TUF3 on the undercard of the season finale.

Stephan Bonnar d. Keith Jardine

Watching fights like this makes me glad I’m not a judge. The first time I saw it, I wasn’t quite sure who won the fight, but I gave Bonnar a slight edge. However, watching it a second time, Jardine probably deserved the win. I have to give the first round to Keith Jardine, as he was more aggressive and landed more hits. Those leg kicks of his were devestating and clearly took their toll on Bonnar. The second round was closer, and I could see it going to either fighter. Bonnar had some great moments, such as where he got Jardine’s back with a beautiful transition, but Jardine was still the more aggressive of the two. Round 3 was again close. Bonnar landed a great punch that dropped Jardine, but near the end, Jardine connected with a great kick to the head that really stunned Bonnar. Jardine also finished the round strong, coming after Bonnar with a flurry of punches. The one thing that bothered me with Bonnar’s performance was that he let too many hits to unanswered, which is not typical of him. In his fights with Bobby Southworth and Forrest Griffin, if the opponent hit him a couple of times, Bonnar would go right back after him and pay him back. He didn’t do much of that with Jardine, and I’m not sure if it is because the leg kicks took their toll on him, or because something else. It’s too bad that this fight couldn’t have been a draw, as UFC scoring wouldn’t allow for one in this instance. In any event, this was a very close fight, and Bonnar is fortunate that the judges gave the decision to him.

At his last fight, Bonnar said he wants to fight someone along the lines of Vitor Belfort, Ken Shamrock, or Mario Sperry. With Shamrock already booked to fight Tito in July, and Vitor and Sperry not in the UFC, Bonnar probabably won’t get his wish anytime soon. So who should he fight next? It’s a tough one to answer. Of course, the rematch with Forrest has to happen eventually, and if Forrest loses next week at UFC 59, that could expedite the fight. Of course, Keith Jardine deserves a rematch with Bonnar, but that shouldn’t happen for at least a year. So in the meantime, there are two routes the UFC can take with Bonnar, One is to build him up and give him respectable, but definitely beatable opponents, like Jason Lambert and Mike Van Arsdale. The other would be to give him the ultimate test and give him Babalu. While I still think Babalu deserves a title shot next, it looks like he will have to fight one more time, as Chuck is out of action until August. Apparently, Babalu was supposed to fight Marvin Eastman soon, but Eastman lost a fight last week, and that fight won’t happen. Bonnar and Babalu could make for an excellent fight, as both are comparable on the ground and feet.

As for Jardine, his performance proves that he is a force at 205, and the UFC would be wise to build him up. I’d like to see him fight Marvin Eastman next, now that Eastman won’t be fighting Babalu. Jason Lambert and Mike Van Arsdale would make good matches for him too. If Jardine keeps winning for the rest of the year, he could find himself in the same position as Forrest is now, ready to fight a top 5 guy and then possibly a title shot.

The Future

While not the best, it was certainly a good card, and it goes a long way towards building fighters like Bonnar, Jardine, Neer, and Leben. The next Ultimate Fight Night is supposed to take place in June I believe, and The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale should also be around then. Until then, we can keep ourselves occupied with TUF3 and UFC 59 and UFC 60.

Entry Filed under: Mixed Martial Arts