111 impressions and a bit about Strikeforce Challengers

Well I went 6-4 for the night. Bleh.

I was disappointed in Matt Brown's performance. Brown has made great progress and started to show signs of being better than advertised especially with his win against James Wilks. He had to know that Ricardo was just going to double leg him to death. Why he didn't have a better answer to that strategy than running straight at him with punches, I will never know. Ricardo on the other hand did gas in the second but was able to finish Brown once he immediately got him on the ground. I don't know how far he gets at 170 with a one round gas tank.

Nate Diaz did exactly what he needed to against Rory. He looked a teeny bit bigger in his frame but Rory outsized him by a lot on fight night. If Nate continues to fight at 170 he's going to almost always look across the cage at bigger guys. Rory can't hack it anymore in the UFC which is sad. The game is progressing a lot faster now and just being one-dimensional isn't cutting it anymore. This fight doesn't make it excited to see Nate fight again at 170 but it does get him back on the winning track.

Palhares deserved his suspension. He held on way too long. End of story.

I scored Miller vs. Bocek as a draw. The first went to Miller, second to Bocek and then the third obviously as a draw. Neither guy did anything offensively to gain my scorecard in the round. Bocek on the ground is def a force at 155. He had Miller in a beautiful arm trap in the second. He obviously slowed down in the 3rd but he was a serious test for Miller. It's obvious Miller still needs time to groom before he takes that next big step at 155.

Jon Fitch did what he does. Wins.

Batman's tenacity got him the win against Camoes. I don't know if this moves him from gatekeeper to mid-level guy but he did look very good in his transitions from the feet to the ground and the during scrambles.

I was duped into thinking Mir had actually grown as a MMA fighter. He really hasn't. His chin isn't that great along with his actual clinch work. He's not able to move quickly with the extra weight, which was the problem against Carwin. Carwin manhandled him and now is going to fight Brock in July. The right man won. Now we can wait until next year for a Brock vs Mir rubber match. Thank God.

GSP dominated Dan Hardy. He didn't finish him, but who cares? The man is the best 170er on the planet and also top two pound for pound.

Those waiting for my thoughts on Showtime: Challengers, here they are:
I have none. Mediocre fights. That's pretty much it.

Until next time, don't forget to make your UFC Fight Night Bets!