1. Does Phil Davis think he is Moses… wait, wait, no.

Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis once again showed his incredible promise and skill. He beat a legend in Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira. He controlled most the fight, displayed a high MMA IQ by switching to the single-leg takedown to get Rogerio on the mat in the second and third rounds, but he has a ways to go before he can part any oceans.

With great promise comes the need and hunger to maximize it. Davis is certainly a top light heavyweight, but he has yet to prove he is elite. The skill and talent are there, he just needs to push himself to that next level. A heavy dose of standup work will serve Davis well. His strong wrestling base will give him a huge advantage against most light heavies, but his hands really need to improve, especially if he plans on challenging Jon “Bones” Jones in the future.

I’d say he is about three solid wins away from a title fight.


2. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

You can’t learn enough takedown defense in the course of one or two years to compete with someone who has been wrestling for most of their teenage/adult life. That’s just a fact. You might avoid some of their takedowns, but chances are you're going down. UFC Fight Night 24 proved this to be the case once again. A wrestling base really seems to be required in an ever evolving MMA game. If you can’t wrestle than you better have one hell of a striking attack complimented by an outstanding ground game. And even then, you are at a major disadvantage.

Disagree?

Ask Dan Hardy and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira how things have worked out for them.


3. It takes two to tango.

When the Anthony Johnson/Dan Hardy match was announced, all us true MMA nerds got a little wet. Sometimes matches are put together because they can’t miss, no matter who wins or what happens, something amazing is bound to ensue… well at least I once believed that to be true.

False.

There are no locks anymore, in terms of matchmaking. No matter how much boasting or shit talking goes down, no matter the skill level, sure things can easily turn into duds. The art of pitting two fighters against each other and expecting a great standup war has diminished quite considerably. You can’t force these guys to stand and bang, and in today’s MMA it was once again proven that a win trumps everything else. Both fighters need to want to fight and put it all on the line. And that is becoming a rare thing in the UFC.

My heart breaks when we are teased with match-ups like Anthony Johnson/Dan Hardy or Jeremy Stephens/Melvin Guillard and end up getting fights like Anthony Johnson/Dan Hardy and Jeremy Stephens/Melvin Guillard.


4. Luck can only take you so far.

Leonard “The Luckiest Man in MMA’” Garcia had much to be thankful prior to his fight night meeting with Chan Sung Jung. He could have been 1-7 going into the fight (and probably cut from the UFC; with the match never even taking place). But the “Bad Boy” was gifted horrible split decision wins over Jung, Phan, and Massouh. His erratic and frenetic stand and brawl style won judges over as he often hit air with powerful windmill punches. His...