Five Things Learned From UFC 108

Five Things Learned From UFC 108Despite a myriad of injuries, the Ultimate Fighting Championship put on an exciting night of fights this past Saturday at UFC 108: “Evans vs Silva.” With only three fights going the distance, the injury plagued card proved to be a success and a number of future stars and contenders emerged.

MMARising.com’s Mike Miller takes a look back at the action from Saturday’s event. From Sam Stout’s breakout performance to yet another quick and dominant victory for heavyweight contender Junior dos Santos, Mike gives his take on UFC 108 with five key thoughts.

 

The Top 5 Things Learned From UFC 108

5. Sam Stout should be that impressive more often.

After a devastating loss to Kenny Florian, Stout’s opponent Joe Lauzon picked up impressive wins over Jeremy Stephens and Kyle Bradley. Going into this fight, many people (myself included) expected this to be an exciting fight that would end when Lauzon managed to slap on a submission that would bring him back into lightweight contendership. Stout had other plans on Saturday, though, and put on a top-tier performance.

He survived the early takedowns and submission onslaught from Lauzon, kept up a quick pace and picked Lauzon apart with crisp and accurate strikes. Stout is nearly always an exciting fighter and he brings a lot of heart to every fight. However, now he has shown UFC fans just what he is capable of. If he can keep up this success in the Octagon, I would love to see him move up in the lightweight division.

 

4. Rashad Evans should return to his wrestling/striking hybrid style.

Aside from a brutal and embarrassing loss to Lyoto Machida, Evans has led an interesting and successful career. Beginning his UFC run on The Ultimate Fighter, Evans started off as a pure wrestler. He was quickly labeled as a boring fighter who preferred to lay and pray on his opponents rather than look for a finish. Not until his fourth official UFC fight did Evans show how powerful his hands could be. After that, it seemed like he began to depend more on his hand speed and power and less on his wrestling background.

His fight on Saturday against Thiago Silva appeared to mark the comeback of Evans’s lightning-fast shots and powerful takedown ability. His fluid combinations seemed to always be followed by a takedown, which Silva had no answer for until the third round. Evans must try to keep up this combination because he will need it against the harder-hitting and arguably more technical striker in Rampage.

 

For the top three from UFC 108, turn to page 2.

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