Total Perspective Vortex: UFC 123

Overall, a good card, and a pretty surprising outcome in both the main event and the co-main event.  Penn came out and TKO'd Matt Hughes in a stunning 21 seconds.  I had actually picked Hughes to win, since BJ certainly didn't have that kind of energy either time he fought Edgar.  But Hughes is at the twilight of his career, and should seriously consider retirement at this point.  I had hoped for a little bit longer bout, but the outcome of this one didn't bother me - both are good fighters, and I don't like either one of them, lol.

The Machida-Rampage fight was a bit of a surprise.  Again, I'm not particularly fond of either fighter, but I would say Machida is an overall better fighter.  Rampage was able to hold his own, although he didn't do anything but box for the first two rounds, while Machida laid back, throwing an occasional leg kick and waiting for countering opportunities.  Unfortunately for Machida, while that may be a good strategy for winning a real fight, it does not win rounds in the UFC.  And though he turned it up and decisively won the third round, it wasn't enough to overcome a 2 round deficit.  Machida needs to adapt his style a bit more, because the elite in the UFC are going to start figuring him out; Shogun already has, twice.  In my opinion, Lyoto Machida needs to stop waiting for opportunities to attack, and start making them.  On a side note, it is amusing to see all the Machida fanboys whining about their boy losing - they don't seem to realize that not doing anything for two rounds doesn't exactly help you on the score cards.

And it was nice to see Karo Parisyan lose quickly...lol, this was a good card, but it turned into a "who do I like least" for quite a few fights.

I went 3-5 on my predictions for the night, so definitely a step down from the last PPV.  St. Pierre and Koscheck is up for UFC 124, and GSP is one of my favourites, and I despise Koscheck, so I'm looking forward to him going 0-2 against St. Pierre.