UFC 167 Recap
By Zach Heim, RCM MMA Correspondent
Las Vegas, NV (November 17th,2013)– It was nothing short of an epic night of fights in Las Vegas tonight. Dana White and the UFC came through for their 20th anniversary show. There were great knock outs and fantastic fights all around. It was a true pleasure to watch this event at Buffalo Wild Wings with my beautiful fiancé and a couple of great friends.
Ali Bagationov was able to earn a unanimous decision victory over Tim Elliott in a back and forth battle in the first main card fight. Then Tyron Woodley scored a vicious knock out win over Josh Koscheck which looked to make Koscheck’s ear explode. Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald had a tough fight as they exchanged punches in the first two rounds. The third round was a fast paced battle, as Lawler scored with a knock down that I thought should have ended the fight. Macdonald was able to battle back, get a big take down and punish Robbie with some good ground and pound. What I thought would be the fight of the night for sure, ended in a split decision victory for Robbie Lawler, ending the talk of would Rory change his mind and take a title fight against GSP.
As for the co-main event Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen both started fast, which I thought would be the only way for Chael to win. It was back and forth as the two changed positions on the cage before Rashad was able to take Sonnen down. Evans was able to work his ground and pound until he took Chael’s back and landed some big shots until Herb Dean stepped in and stopped the fight, giving Suga Rashad Evans a TKO victory over “The American Gangster”.
Then it was time for the main event. Both GSP and Johny Hendricks came out and looked comfortable in the first round. Johny “Big Rig” Hendricks was able to land some big shots on GSP. GSP however, was able to get a takedown but lost two chokes before Hendricks got back to his feet. Johny was able to take Georges down before the round came to an end. The second round was huge for Hendricks as he hurt GSP twice and was able to counter every time St-Pierre landed a shot. In the third round it seemed as if Hendricks may have been losing a little steam as GSP seemed to dominate the battle of the feet, but Johny did land a big takedown at the end of the round. GSP slipped early in the fourth round which gave Hendricks a great chance to bust him up with some ground and pound. GSP was busted and bloody at the end of the round, but came out ready for the fifth round in true Champion fashion. In the fifth round; the two warriors went toe to toe for much of the round, reversing each other against the cage. This fight was by far the best fight I have ever seen with Georges St-Pierre coming out on top with a split decision victory.
After all was said and done, the big announcement came that GSP was going to take some time off. It seemed as though when GSP was talking with Joe Rogan that it may in fact be the last time we see him in the cage. After all of the rumors going around this week about him retiring, it seems there may have been a lot more truth to the rumors than anybody wanted to think. If it was in fact the last time we see Georges St-Pierre, I want to say a big THANK YOU to the fighter with the best winning percentage in UFC history. It has been a true pleasure watching you over the last 10 years or so.
If you paid the money for this card, then I know you weren’t disappointed. The fights were amazing and there seemed to be a type of electricity in the MGM Grand. I know there was where we were watching. So again it was a great night, with great fights, and great friends.
- Georges St-Pierre def. Johny Hendricks via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
- Rashad Evans def. Chael Sonnen via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:05
- Robbie Lawler def. Rory MacDonald via split decision (29-28, 28-29,29-28)
- Tyron Woodley def. Josh Koscheck via KO (punches) – Round 1, 4:38
- Ali Bagautinov def. Timothy Elliott via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Donald Cerrone def. Evan Dunham via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2,3:49
- Thales Leites def. Ed Herman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rick Story def. Brian Ebersole via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Erik Perez def. Edwin Figueroa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jason High def. Anthony Lapsley via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Sergio Pettis def. Will Campuzano via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Gian Villante def. Cody Donovan via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:22
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