UFC Fight Night 17 Recap
- Again, believe the hype regarding Cain Velasquez. He really is that good and is only getting better. Granted, Denis Stojnic wasn’t much competition, but like I said earlier, this fight was designed to showcase Velasquez. With a bit more experience, and a continued lack of talent in the heavyweight division, we could be seeing Velasquez fighting for a title at the end of 2009.
- Man, did Josh Neer fight like a guy with a chip on his shoulder or what? Neer looked excellent in his fight against Mac Danzig and if he fights like that every time, his stay in the UFC will be longer this time around. Danzig was simply overmatched last night, and I do think his smaller size and frame really played to his disadvantage. Neer showed the full range of skills last night, with strong striking and several good submission attempts.
- I’ve always hyped and backed Anthony Johnson in the past, and “Rock and Rumble” made me regret my lack of faith in him against Luigi Fioravati. Johnson was sharp last night with his striking and it won him a quick TKO victory.
- Both Dan Miller and his brother Jim Miller are two fighters that need to be watched for. Both are strong submission specialists and both are highly underrated at this point in their careers.
Like I said in my preview, Joe Lauzon’s BJJ game was simply too much for Jeremy Stephens to handle. Stephens simply doesn’t have a decent enough level of ground defense to compete with Lauzon and needs to get a ground game if he wants to truly be competitive in the lightweight division. A nice victory for Lauzon who put on an impressive performance and improved his stock considerably.
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