As usual, a great night of fights. Here are my thoughts:

  1. BJ Penn: WOW!!!!!!! I still can’t believe what I saw. Penn, moving up to weltweight after back to back defeats at the hands of Frankie Edgar, proved he’s still one of the best fighters in the UFC. In the trilogy of his battles with Matt Hughes, BJ came out the aggressor, then clipped Hughes with a hard right, immediately dropping Hughes to the ground. BJ jumped on top and reigned a couple more punches before the fight was called 21 seconds into the first round. BJ is determined to make a run at the welterweight title again. Up next for BJ: maybe Jon Fitch, then the winner will be in line behind Jake Shields for the welterweight title.

  2. Never leave it in the hands of the judges. This refers to the Rampage-Machida fight. I scored it 29-28 Machida, with Rampage winning the second round. First round was close to call, but I scored it for Machida. Second round went to Rampage, and third round went to Machida. Even Rampage looked surprised he won. Some may see it as justification for Machida’s unanimous decision title defense v. Shogun, but regardless, don’t leave it in the hands of the judges. Machida’s elusive style and Rampage’s aggressive style may have proven the difference to the judges, and see that Rampage was the aggressor while Machida retreated, again playing in to his style.

  3. Phil Davis is for real. Mr. Wonderful looked wonderful in the Octagon, submitting Tim Boesch with a kimura in the second round. It was more impressive he virtually pulled off a one-hand kimura (which called the move the Mr. Wonderful haha). Davis is undefeated in his MMA career and 4-0 in the UFC. He represents a mold of Jon Jones, in the form of a strong, young wrestler with a big toolbox and a lot of potential. Davis should start getting some pretty good fights and put himself into title contention in the stacked light heavyweight division.

  4. George Sotiropoulos is in contention for the lightweight belt. After a second round submission of the always tough Joe Lauzon, the Aussie is undefeated in the UFC, and 5-0 since moving down to lightweight from welterweight. With some of the best ground game in the lightweight division, Sotiropoulos could put himself in title contention in the next two fights. He’ll face Dennis Siver at UFC 127 in his native Australia, and could fight for the strap by the end of 2011.

  5. **Maiquel Falcao very impressive. **Falcao, facing off against TUF 7 alum Gerald “Hurricane” Harris showed why he belonged in the UFC. He sunk in a rear naked choke on Harris at the end of the first round, and Harris was saved by the bell from a submission. Falcao again tried to sink in the choke in the second round but eventually let go. He outworked the Hurricane the entire fight and earned a well deserved victory. With the middleweight division arguably being the weakest division in the UFC, Falcao can provide a much-needed spark to the division.