UFC 135: Jones retains, Kos and Diaz win quick

Jones, right, successfully defended his title against Jackson at UFC 135.

A one-time outcast looked to rebound against a newcomer, a hall of famer that everyone loves took on one of the sport’s most hated fighters and a legend looked to take “his belt” back from the future of the industry. These were the major storylines heading in to UFC 135.

Those three matches were the bookends to boring heavyweight showings that begs one to question why there were heavyweights fighting in a city with such high altitude? Let’s move past those fights and focus on the three fights that had the most excitement and earned my Submission of the Night, Knockout of the Night and Fight of the Night.

Submission of the Night: There were two fights that ended in submission, but Nate Diaz’s first-round submission of Takanori Gomi to start off the night was fantastic. Diaz was controlling the match with his boxing, but it was easy to see he is even more comfortable on the ground. He transitioned beautifully into an arm-bar and made Gomi tap with 33 seconds remaining in the opening round. Diaz followed his brother, Nick, in submitting the former PRIDE champion Gomi.



Knockout of the Night: It was the Hall of Famer, and fan favorite, Matt Hughes doing battle against the “bad boy” of the UFC Josh Koscheck. There wasn’t the usual Koscheck trash-talk leading to the fight, instead the fighter did all his talking in the cage. The fight started with both men on their feet, neither really getting an edge in the striking game. Both tried to attempt a takedown and put to use their wrestling skills.

It was Hughes that left his feet first and it was Koscheck that took advantage. Hammer fists from Kos ended Hughes’ night and, quite possibly, his career. With one-second remaining the referee stepped in and called the match as Hughes lay unconscious.

Fight of the Night: Simple choice here. You had a legend and former light-heavyweight champ in Rampage Jackson looking to retain his belt from the young superstar Jon Jones. Jones was holding a slim margin through the first three hands by using his length, quickness and height. Jackson was still able to get in some shots and shoot for takedowns.

Early in the fourth-round, it seemed Jones was biding his time and really waiting for things to settle out. It seemed to work. As Jones took Jackson’s back against the cage and put in a rear naked choke for the submission win. It was Jones’ first title defense and sets up a much anticipated fight between himself and Rashad Evans.

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