Roger Gracie vs. other guy
If there was a sure thing, this was it. If I was still betting, I would have put some money on this. Roger is a world BJJ champion. What is is other guy going to do? He was going to lose, that's what! Roger had a reach advantage, which he used to jab a bit. The other did get a few shots in but nothing big. He got frustrated, clinched -- Big Mistake. That allowed Roger to take him down. From there it was a BJJ clinic: Roger easily got to side, then mount. Other guy tried to roll away, but that allowed Roger to get his back and Rear Naked Choke him.
Walker vs. Carson
Sure betting thing #2. Walker trained at AKA, where Cain Velaquez trains. I hear those Camarillo brothers know what they're doing. Look them up. Very well-rounded and on the cutting edge of MMA. I also read that Strikeforce is grooming Walker, so he's not going to get any tough fights til they build him up a little. True or not, those two things made this a sure win for Walker.
Round 1: They trade punches for little bit, then Walker gets a takedown and Carson just gives his back and Turtles up!!?? So Walker just punches to the side of his head, punches and punches and even throws in a few knees. I think Carson got up eventually but only to have Walker take him down again and start punching from top Guard. Referee came in and stopped the fight. I was really surprised that Walker didn't finish Carson when he Turtled up. He kept pounding him, instead of getting on his back, get hooks in, the RNC.
Jacare vs. Lawler
Round 1: Lawler comes out quick with some lightning strikes and flying knees? that rock Jacare. But Jacare slowly recovers and is back in the fight, and I think he even takes him down in this round and has side control for most of it. Jacare gets some strikes in from side and I'm surprised he never really tries to get Mount, but he looks very comfortable and in control from Side. Not surprising since he's a world BJJ champion, like Roger Gracie. Eventually, Lawler gets out of it and both trade punches standing.
Round 2: Jacare finally figured out that Lawler is a very dangerous striker and decides to take him down every chance he gets. He does and gets Side Control again and Lawler escapes.
Round 3: Lawler gets his shots in but before he can do any real damage, Jacare takes him down again and eventually works his way to a Rear Naked Choke. I think being on the bottom of Jacare's Side Control all that time really wore him out.
Diaz vs. Cyborg
Diaz, although a Gracie Black Belt, is surprisingly (to me) extremely comfortable and competent on his feet. He's a good boxer, not surprising that he's planning a boxing match next. Cyborg, the Muy Thai guy, is a dangerous and strong striker.
They were on their feet most of the fight, exchanging punches. Cyborg had the right strategy of kicking to the legs of Diaz. His Muy Thai background was the only advantage he had over Diaz. Those kicks kept Diaz at a distance, off balance and was killing his leg.
When they clinched, I was surprised that Cyborg didn't have more of an advantage with his Muy Thai background. In fact, in a few of the clinch exchanges of knees, it looked like Diaz came out slightly ahead. The other surprising thing (at least for me), Diaz has a lot of heart and withstood quite some punishing strikes from Cyborg.
Gradually, as Diaz got closer, his superior boxing skills rocked Cyborg. He got many punches to land and either Cyborg got tired or he was letting his hands drop and more and more punches got in. He was weaving and ducking, instead of keeping his hands up.
But in third round, Cyborg was doing better: he was leading with his kicks and holding his own with his punches. If he could have kicked Diaz's leg for one more round, I think Diaz probably couldn't put much weight on it, and that could have swung the fight Cyborg's way.
Anyway, in the third with about 30 seconds left, Cyborg strikes and sees Diaz slightly off balance and decides to take him down. Cyborg gets inside Diaz's guard and starts to punch; his left fist is framed against Diaz's chin for balance and to set up a big right. That's when Diaz gets the arm and twists and gets the armbar. Diaz gets his right arm under Cyborg's near leg and flips him over. Cyborg's only defense is to clasp his arms together as he is flat on his back on the mat. Diaz pounds on Cyborg's belly to loosen the grip and a few seconds later, Cyborg's grip is loosened and Diaz submits him with the arm bar ... with 10 seconds left in the round.
My immediate thought was, "Didn't Cyborg work on his armbar defense??" Also, I think Cyborg was getting tired, and maybe thought he could take Diaz down and ground and pound from there and finish it. In hindsight, I think Diaz would have eventually won it because of his superior boxing skills and his better conditioning (the man is a triathlete, for freak's sake). And he's a Gracie Black Belt who felt so comfortable with his standup game that he never felt compelled to take it to the ground like most BJJ guys. But when it did go to the ground, he just turned on his BJJ skills and finished him.
Most MMA guys come up as standup strikers, who add grappling and BJJ to their game as an afterthought, to round out their game and in case the fight gets to the ground. But there the MMA guys who start out with BJJ or wrestling/grappling as their base. I think it's easier for them to learn the standup game then the other way around.
The standup MMA guys with BJJ can succeed as long as they don't fight a world class BJJ guy like Roger Gracie or Jacare. Roger and Jacare looked so comfortable on the ground that it was sick. Their opponents were not going to escape or if they did, it was going really tire them out in the process.
