UFC 122 Results: Okami Earns Title Shot

Carlos Eduardo Rocha defeats Kris McCray with a submission via Kneebar. I find the leg game to be 1 of the most underutilized skills in MMA and love to see a submission with the increasingly rare kneebar. "Submission Of The Night"

Karlos Vemola swarmed Seth Petruzelli until he gained the brutal TKO stoppage. It could have been "Submission Of The Night" since once the "Silverback" was slammed twice and hit by Vemola, he quit. I love to see the lack of heart come out from Seth time and time again. Hopefully he will be cut, again, and Karlos has a chance at Light Heavyweight, but he is awfully short. The crazy style still needs to learn some calm and more cardio, cardio, cardio. "(T)KO Of The Night"

Kyle Noke out grapples Rob Kimmons to earn an impressive RNC submission win. I did not see that coming. I actually saw the opposite in my crystal ball but give the tough Aussie credit. He said he knew his job was on the line and responded by tapping a grappling ace. Well earned mate.

Pascal Krauss defeats Mark Scanlon by Decision. Yup. Apparently, "Fight Of The Night" though I haven't got to see it.

Vladimir Matyushenko stands firm in front of father time as he gets a TKO victory over Alexandre Ferreira. The old man of the Light Heavyweight division will not go quietly into that good night getting his 1st stoppage in the UFC and taking said record to 3-1. The "Janitor" is not done yet people!

Duane Ludwig defeats Nick Osipczak by an ultra-close and controversial Split-Decision. Shipshack took the 1st 2 rounds pretty obviously but the genius judges saw things differently. It was embarrassing to watch Nick fall apart completely gassed out in the 3rd but that should not offset the work he did in the 1st 10 minutes. Nick can ask Genki Suda about getting robbed this very same way.

Krzysztof Soszynski handled a tough but fading Goran Reljic to earn the Decision. Goran tried his damnedest to make it a boring fight but Krzysztof kept busy working for submissions and striking with some good G&P. I just don't see the necessary will power in Reljic but Soszynski is coming along nicely.

* Krzysztof broke his right hand in the 2nd round of the fight but punched through it though he could not "feel his hands."

Amir Sadollah outstruck Peter Sobotta for the full 15 to win by Decision. Peter is a tough guy but he got his left leg shattered by Amir who just punished the leg for the entire fight. Sobotta never said die but looked very small at Welterweight and could not keep up with the bigger, more active, and more accurate Sadollah. I'm interested to see how far the fan favorite can go because I like the kid, but the odds are against him.

Dennis Siver represents Germany by subbing Andre Winner with the RNC after a dropping the Brit with a left hand that had him reeling. Andre gets cocky and Siver trained the perfect counter left to the England natives attack. It connects and Winner is barely with us as Dennis swarmed all over him before sinking in a kinda headlock with the left arm trapped of Andre who was defenseless. Impressive finish and Germany cheers the countries hero!

Yushin Okami pushes past Nate Marquardt by gritty Decision. "Thunder," the last man to defeat Anderson Silva (by DQ ROTR 8 2006) will finally earn his coveted title shot against the "Spider" if he survives Vitor Belfort. It was a close fight but Okami worked a bit more and controlled the daunting pace of the fight. You just kind of see this coming with Nate these days. The brass ring is there again and again he is taken out by Chael Sonnen via training Okami for this fight. Ouch. I have no idea where Nate goes from here but I see "Thunder" meeting the "Spider" in a title rematch in 2011.

* Dana White was not happy with the "main event" and specifically the increasingly notorious Arizona camp. White said, "I got to be honest; you see this happen now consistently with the Greg Jackson camp. I don't know if they are told or what their deal is, in their minds they are winning the fight going into the last round and it's not true. There's like this avoid the fight because we think we're winning thing. I look at fights the way that I see them... and there is absolutely, one hundred percent, consistency with that in the Greg Jackson camp."

Dana then pulled no punches about Marquardt saying, “He is a choker, he choked tonight. Marquardt is such a talented guy, and what I’m seeing is stuff from the Greg Jackson camp. This camp continuously – when these guys fight, their corner is either telling them they’re ahead or they’re winning. I mean, Nate Marquardt sat here tonight and said that he thought he won the fight. Where the fuck is his corner? You go into the last round and you’re getting out struck by a wrestler, and you think you won the fight? And this is consistent with the Greg Jackson camp…You already blew a title shot once; you’re in a fight for the title shot again in the third round, and you’re not throwing any punches or kicks? It has nothing to do with pressure. You’re … professional, and you’re going to go after it in the last round to get your title shot.”

Wow, that is not a ringing endorsement for the Greg Jackson camp or Nate Marquardt. This is exactly what I saw coming for the "main event" and Nate. I hate to say it because I like the guy but he does lose all aggression for the big bouts and ends up getting out pointed when he retreats to a cautious style.

* The bout between Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara for the co-main event of UFC 122 was cancelled due to "Legionarius" having "flu like symptoms." Both men were generously paid even though they did not fight and the "Conquistador" revealed he already has his next opponent in Michael Bisping, and that both will square off in Australia. That event should be UFC 127 and tentatively scheduled for Feb. 27th at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.

8-2 on the picks.