What we learned from UFC 109

Randy Couture does not deserve a title shot. Sure, he beat Mark Coleman at Saturday’s UFC 109, dominated him really, even managed to choke him out. But frankly, it would only have been news had Couture lost.

So before UFC president Dana White rushes to roll out the red carpet for another Couture run at the light heavyweight crown, how about he beat a legitimate contender or two and actually earn that shot. Wouldn’t that be novel? I know he’s not getting any younger, and I know he’s won and lost more UFC belts than anybody else, but he needs to get in line and wait his turn just like everybody else.

As for Coleman, he’s done. Not officially, of course. At least, not yet. But he doesn’t deserve to see the inside of the octagon again. He just had no answer for Couture at all. And those insults exchanged between him and a cageside Tito Ortiz post-fight? These two have been acting like schoolyard bullies since they were slated to meet at UFC 106. I don’t expect them to actually throw down unless it’s in a parking lot somewhere.

In the battle to determine the top middleweight contender it was over-rated vs. under-rated, as it turns out. Everybody (including yours truly) predicted Nate Marquardt would roll through Chael Sonnen with ease. Perhaps we had our judgment clouded by Marquardt’s highlight reel-type wins over Martin Kampmann, Wilson Gouveia and Demian Maia. I know the 21-second Maia victory certainly caused some over-praising of Marquardt’s stand-up skills. And we didn’t fear for him on the ground – he was a multi-time King of Pancrase who trains alongside Rashad Evans and Georges St. Pierre, after all. We believed the hype. So did he, it seems.

Sonnen put him on his back and kept him there for three rounds to earn the unanimous decision and the title shot. Sure, there was the guillotine attempt late in the third frame but lucky for Sonnen the gash in his forehead (the result of an elbow thrown from Marquardt’s back) bled enough to help him slip free.

And what about Sonnen? Nobody gave him much of a chance. Guess we forgot the guy’s a warrior (he had a 24-10-1 record heading into the bout with more notable losses than wins). So as Marquardt slipped down the middleweight ladder – plummeted would be more accurate – Sonnen took a huge step up. Still not convinced he deserves a title shot, though. He did lose – badly – to Maia in his previous fight. And I don’t think he has much of shot against either current champ Anderson Silva or Silva’s next challenger, Vitor Belfort, but then I said the same thing about Sonnen facing Marquardt.

Just as two wrestlers often end up standing and banging, submission specialists Maia and Dan Miller opted to duke it on their feet. I was a little surprised, and disappointed, as I’d hope to see a jiu-jitsu clinic. Barring that I’d have loved for Maia to knock Miller out to to show he can do it. What we got was Maia’s first decision win in four years and second of his career.

Now, obviously Maia’s striking has improved since losing to Marquardt in 21 seconds at UFC 102. To really understand how much better he’s gotten you have to look back beyond that and past his wins over Sonnen and Nate Quarry (neither of those fighters made it past the three-minute mark of the first round before being submitted) to his third-round win over Jason MacDonald at UFC 87. Still, Maia was impressive on his feet. Strong, crisp striking. He even looked comfortable. I’d love to see him rematch with Marquardt.

I like Paulo Thiago. I liked him from the moment he knocked out Josh Koscheck at UFC 95. Then he took Jon Fitch to a decision at UFC 100. On Saturday, he submitted Mike Swick, who is looking less and less impressive each time into the cage. Yes, I know he took the fight on late notice, but not that late. He’s a one trick pony in a thoroughbred race. Who’s next for Thiago? If I was matchmaking – Georges St. Pierre. Thiago has knockout power and solid jiu-jitsu and could give the champ trouble.

Matt Serra may not be a good technical striker – he’s short and tends to lunge forward, leaving his head open – but he’s got power, turning the lights out on Frank Trigg’s UFC comeback midway through the first round. If Matt Hughes won’t give Serra a rematch after his fight with Renzo Gracie at UFC 112 then put him in against Swick, who desperately needs to redeem himself.

Not a lot of excitement on the preliminary card. Mac Danzig, Melvin Guillard and Phil “Super Thighs” Davis all came up winners while the UFC debut of Rolles Gracie was a colossal bust as he gassed out and was TKO’ed by Joey Beltran in the second round. Not a good sign but still, the Gracie name carries enough weight that he’ll get another chance to prove himself.