UFC 145: The Battle of Former Brothers
After a long hiatus from the lucrative pay-per-view stage, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returned on Saturday April 21 with a tantalizing headline of betrayal, and the vengeance that often comes with it. Former light heavyweight Sugar Rashad Evans squared off against former close friend and teammate, reigning light heavyweight champion Jon bones Jones, in the most anticipated fight of the year. Former training partners, their professional breakup had been well-documented in the months leading up to UFC 145, as one half of the ex-duo broke the unspoken but heralded rule that training partners never accepted the chance to fight each other in the ring – for practical as well as other reasons. It was evident that fury burned in Evans’ heart and eyes in interviews throughout the New Year and much of last, answered by Jones’ own proclaimed readiness to do battle.
Despite the marked size advantage held by the 6’4” Jones over the 5’11” Evans, one would do well to remember the late great Joe Frazier and what relentless fury can do when combined with skill against the greater opponent. More than any other fighter in his prime, Smokin’ Joe gave the incomparable Muhammad Ali battles for the ages. And Evans felt he had cause for relentless fury this night.
But before this battle of premier light heavyweights, lightweight veterans John Alessio and Mark Bocek would square off in the center of the Octagon. The summation of their extensive record of previous fights suggested that Bocek could dominate on the ground with his Brazilian ju-jitsu black belt pedigree, whereas Alessio should be able to control the stand-up with his technique. Unfortunately for Alessio, Bocek was able to avoid – except for a few flashes here and there in which Alessio showed what could have been had the fight remained standing – the standup and dominate him on the ground through most of 3 rounds. Alessio’s composure under Bocek’s superior grappling allowed him to get up well before the 3rd was over and make a very good striking show for himself; but it wasn’t enough to overcome the fight-long ground-pounding of Bocek, who would have his hand raised at the end of the fight.
Featherweight fighters Mike Hominick and Hawaiian Eddie Yagin. Yagin came out like a firestorm, powering nearly every punch and severely damaging Hominick, even dropping him to the ground; he was unable to finish him in the first, however, and Hominick recovered to stand back up and slowly start to take control of the fight back with his renowned technical striking. Despite getting dropped viciously twice in the earlier rounds, Hominick’s ridiculous cardio enabled him to almost completely control the 3rd and final round with pinpoint strikes that busted up Yagin as badly as Yagin had damaged his own face through the first two. Unfortunately, the judges deemed that it hadn’t been enough, and Yagin took the victory.
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