Post UFC 112

It seems the support UFC champions receive from fans is going down hill. GSP was scrutinized after grinding out a win over Dan Hardy at UFC 111 and not finishing the fight (although he tried many times). GSP, however, had many fans (including myself) defending his performance while many other fans simply thought, "I'm not impressed by his performance!" Well this weekend had a lot in store for UFC/MMA fans across the world. BJ Penn lost his belt to Frankie Edgar in a fight in which Edgar looked dominant throughout the fight landing quick combos and having constant movement which even allowed him to dodge BJ's quick jab. Edgar looked great and received the undisputed title, leaving scrutiny on BJ now by some fans now. Now let's get into Anderson Silva's performance. When George St. Pierre fought Dan Hardy in NJ, he sunk in a tight armbar and kimura which Hardy, being tough as nails, defended successfully and did not tap. GSP also landed 2 strong punches right to Hardy's chin which did not even phase the Brit, and nobody can say he didn't try to end the fight. Hardy was just too tough an opponent to finish, and if he had any sort of takedown defense, he could have kept the fight standing and won some rounds on the judges' scorecard at the very least. Silva, however, can not be defended by fans. He began the fight show boating and acting like Rashad Evans in the ring, but he was striking and connecting with his strikes in the first two rounds. Round 3 brought a whole new fighter into the ring-Silva was yelling in Portugese at Maia and rounds 4 and 5 showed Silva running around the cage dodging Maia completely and just slipping out of his takedowns. Silva was even warned by the referee to stop running around the cage or he would be docked a point. The fight, while humorous, was not worth the PPV or the price of tickets to watch the show live. Needless to say, Dana was furious after the fight. This video sums up everyone's feelings towards the fight:

GSP was scrutinized heavily last week for not ending his fights, but after UFC 112 many could argue he is the best champion the UFC has right now-BJ Penn lost his belt and there is a new, fresh champion holding the belt with no title defenses, Silva's performance was lackluster and a disgrace, Lyoto Machida is being scrutinized for his performance against Rua and many think he lost the fight, and Brock Lesnar does not have as many title defenses as GSP and is likely to lose his belt in the near future to either Shane Carwin, or if Carwin does not dethrone Lesnar Cain Velasquez will.
Before this post closes, let's examine the Matt Hughes vs Renzo Gracie fight. The anticipated fight almost went the distance giving fans plenty of action in the bout. Hughes used a Forrest Griffin technique by delivering a series of leg kicks which ended up buckling Gracie many times in the third round. Hughes was able to finish the fight via TKO in round 3 by kicking out the leg of Gracie and delivering a rapid fire of punches. UFC 112 had many entertaining fights and some great performances by the fighters on the card, with the exception of Anderson Silva.