Review: UFC 155

The lineup seemed strong heading into the final UFC pay-per-view of the year, being headlined by a much awaited rematch between the top two heavyweights of the world and the co-main event pitting two warriors in Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon against each other.

While the first 3 fights on the main card were lacklustre, the main event and co-main event made up for it, by featuring raw action and going the distance. Below is the match-by-match review:

Main Card

UFC Heavyweight Championship: Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez

Velasquez defeated Dos Santos by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-43, 50-44).

In the main event of the night, Cain Velasquez regained his belt in a dominating performance. Dos Santos was never in the fight, but impressed many with his hard head, surviving a sustained beating from the new champion. A rematch from an year ago, when JDS knocked out Can in 64 seconds, this time there was no such short spectacle as Cain laid a whooping on the defending champ, outfighting him in every aspect, including striking which was said to be the champ’s forte.

Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon

Miller defeated Lauzon by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

One of the best fights of 2012, this was also one of the more brutal fights one will get to see in the UFC. Midway into the 1^st round, Lauzon got cut and then he fought till the very end, with blood pouring out of his head. It might sound like hyperbole, but it isn’t. Lauzon was covered in blood. Opponent Jim Miller was covered in his blood. The cage mat was covered in his blood. Miller may have won a unanimous decision, but it was Lauzon who won the hearts and minds of the crowd.

Tim Boetsch vs. Costa Philippou

Philippou defeated Boetsch by TKO at 2:11 of the third round.

Originally scheduled to be facing Chris Weidman, Tim boetsch ended up facing his teammate Philippou after Weidman pulled out of the card due to injuries. It was a dominating performance by Costa, as he derailed the momentum that Tim had going into this fight, after he had knocked out Yushin Okami previously.

Yushin Okami vs. Alan Belcher

Okami defeated Belcher by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

A typically grinding performance by Okami won him the fight against Belcher, but did not win him a lot of fans for sure as the crowd wasn’t particularly invested in this bout, owing to it’s ‘boring’ nature. Another fight of the night to go the distance.

Chris Leben vs. Derek Brunson

Brunson defeated Leben by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). The 1^st fight of the night was also perhaps the worst fight of the night (UFC president Dana White attests), where Leben returning to the Octagon after a year, looked to be visibly struggling against Brunson, a fighter who took the fight on a week’s notice. By the time the ‘fight’ ended, Leben had been totally outclassed and the judges’ scorecard reflected the same.

Apart from the above matches that aired on TV, the event also included several fights on the under card the results for which are below :

Preliminary card (FX)

Brad Pickett vs. Eddie Wineland

Wineland defeated Pickett by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27).

Erik Perez vs. Byron Bloodworth

Perez defeated Bloodworth by TKO at 3:50 of the first round.

Melvin Guillard vs. Jamie Varner

Varner defeats Guillard by split decision (30-27, 27-30, 30-27).

Michael Johnson vs. Myles Jury

Jury defeats Johnson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Preliminary card (Facebook)

Phil De Fries vs. Todd Duffee

Duffee defeated De Fries by TKO at 2:04 of the first round.

Leonard Garcia vs. Max Holloway

Holloway defeated Garcia by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

Chris Cariaso vs. John Moraga

Moraga defeated Cariaso via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:11 of the third round.