UFC 127: What the heck just happened?

For the second time in 4 cards the main event ended in a draw (majority draw, still a draw) I really don't know what to say about that. I Thought Fitch won the fight. I just wanted to hear other people's take on all the craziness that happened...

Was Fitch v. Penn really a draw?

Did Bisping’s illegal knee make that much of a difference in the fight?

Seriously, who predicted Siver pulling that fight out?

And who predicted Ebersole’s win?

Do you think they should have review for the poor judging in the ***uda-Ring fight? (Sometimes I wish their could be overturned decisions when fighters are clearly robbed by the judges.)

UFC 127 was loaded with surprises and upsets.  I did a bad job predicting, but it was fun to watch.

I had the fight scored 29 - 27 for Jon Fitch.  I could see the argument being made for a 28 - 28 fight, but I didn't see it that way.  The first two rounds were close and I had it 19 - 19, but the third round was nothing but Fitch beating on a squirming BJ Penn so I had to give it to Fitch 10 - 8.

I don't think Bisping's knee affected the outcome of their fight.  Rivera didn't look hurt from what I saw.  He looked fine.  I wanted to see Bisping lose too, but I thought Rivera overplayed the knee.

I definitely did not see Siver pulling that off.  I thought G-Sot would have his way with Siver once the fight hit the ground, but Siver's takedown defence seemed impenetrable.  Was very happy to see Siver win that fight because I've been a fan of his since he spinning back kicked the **** outta Paul Kelly.  Hope he gets his shot at the title with one more win.

Ebersole was a huge surprise.  Lytle didn't look like he took Ebersole very seriously, but Ebersole was good.  At first I thought Ebersole was a little too goofy.  I thought he was going to be more flashy than effective.  After the first round though he really took over.  Even dropped Lytle with a beautiful knee.

The Ring/***uda decision was just the latest example of very poor MMA judging, no surprise.

Overall a great event considering how weak it looked on paper.

To me the most surprising part of the Siver/GSot fight was how poor GSot's takedowns looked. Seemed like the only thing in his arsenal was grabbing for a single leg. He wasn't even close.  Still it was an entertaining fight.

Penn Fitch I really enjoyed and was glued to every second start to finish. Really interesting chess match between two top fighters.

I wasn't into the Ring/***uda fight.

Seeing Mark Hunt get maybe one last KO was cool.

Nobody is talking about Fisher vs Pearson, but I thought that was pretty badass too. Fisher came into the fight looking better than he has in a few fights. I had written him off a little too early.

The ***uda decision was the wost I've seen in a while. Fitch should have won the decision too. Mark Hunt was awesome (Pride Never Die!!!). I kinda saw the whole Siver thing coming, I was really happy to see him upset Sot. Finally, Bisping's actions were just terrible, that knee clearly messed Rivera up, and spitting at his corner, calling him a loser after the fight, inexplicable. 

@Gregory/Jeremy ... Sorry guys i dont know what happened but i predicted ring to win his fight by decision but it somehow changed it wont make too much of a difference i know since i only got 4 of 12 but i definetly did...

Hmm thiagosilva... nobody has complained about this happening before.  It's possible that it's a Tapology bug, but something like this would probably impact tons of people.

I promise we will keep it in mind. Maybe another clue will emerge if/when someone else complains about this.

I scored Penn/Fitch: 29-27 (Fitch)

That knee completely threw Rivera off and he never fully recoverd....

I predicted Siver over G-Sot!!!!

I was half right about Lytle/Ebersole: Lyte lost, but it was fight of the night....

They've been working on the judging since Couture/Rizzo....

~@Gregory .... Maybe I just picked ***uda by mistake I dont know doesnt affect my pick % too much anyway ....

Was Fitch v. Penn really a draw?

I thought Fitch won 29-27 but I can understand a draw

Did Bisping’s illegal knee make that much of a difference in the fight?

No it didn't. Rivera was outclassed the entire fight. Without the break he got from that knee it likely ends sooner.

Seriously, who predicted Siver pulling that fight out?

Very few but someone did. Siver improved his TDD for that fight and looked like a new fighter. Unfortunate for Sotiropoulus who was making a case as a contender. Back to the drawing board for G-sot and Siver gets to try to make a case for himself as a contender. 

And who predicted Ebersole’s win?

I thought it was possible considering his record is similar to Lytles. I really think Lytle got caught hard in the second but the fight was close and had good offense from both sides. 

wow i dont know how many saw fitch winning, i had BJ winning both the first and second round, albit they were close rounds but BJ hand more dominate postions. The draw made since and i can see how the judges scored it. Im not sold on a rematch but i guess its inevitable...

Though the bisping knee was hard, i think RIveria got lucky that it landed flush on his forhead and not anywhere else, he did look cloudy eyed but he powered through. i thought Bisping acted like an ass after the win though he did apologize, but when doesnt he act like an ass...?

Siver continues to improve, his takedown deffense may have have looked amazing, but we can part way contribute this to GSots horrible gameplan? single legs and nothing more. Its his one major weakness, but he learned a lot in this fight.

Never imagined Siver would stuff the takedowns so well. Was a bit surprised to see Sot recover from first round and try to rally back. Siver looked tired towards end of fight but it was still a very nice fight to watch.

After I picked Lytle I did some research and slapped myself for once again making a blind pick. Ebersole is a good fighter that has been lurking behind the scenes. Good for him to get such a big win in his first fight out for the UFC. Would love to see him up against Condit next.

The knee looked solid but the only one who knows how hard it hit was Rivera. We shouldn't say he was buying time, he received an illegal blow and in all right has up to 5 mins to recover. The only one who knows if it was intentional is Bisping. Did it change the outcome of the fight? Who knows. If Jorge was that hurt he could have simply waived off the fight making Bisping look bad for his antics. He chose to continue so he has to live with his decision. All in all I'm happy this grudge match lived up to its hype. I was getting tired of these grudge fights like GSP vs Kos and Rampage vs Evans where all the bad blood took a back seat to fighting safe.

As for the main event, I couldn't pick a winner before hand here on Tapology, both are two of my favorite fighters so I was sorta happy it ended in a draw. That being said I must say that the stats show Fitch was more effective in the striking while Penn out grappled him. Fightmetric gives the slight edge to Fitch and I would have to agree. But before I jump on the "Fitch got robbed wagon" lets remember Penn was in Fitches shoes against Uno a few years ago. Also all those bringing up the stats for this fight should check the Fightmetric on Penn vs Edgar 1 in which Penn clearly won that fight according to that stats.

Siver was like a brick wall, George just bounced off the guy.

@caymanfighter, you got a link for those fightermetric stats, id be very interested, it did look like fitch got the best of the exchanges, though he did get stuck with that short elbow to the nose. But BJ has always been hard to cut, hes got crazy genetic armor skin. 
I retract my last statement, i think a rematch would still be interesting and i think they would both go after it, i think BJ will show up with even more fire (cardio) for that third round. 

http://blog.fightmetric.com/2011/02/fitch-vs-penn-official-ufc-statistics.html
Here is the Fightmetric Stats take them for what they are. 
Total Strikes: Fitch-231; Penn-48Rd 1 - Penn 28; Fitch - 23Rd 2 - Fitch 59; Penn - 18Rd 3 - Fitch 149; Penn - 2 
Total TD's: Fitch-4; Penn-2Rd 1 - Penn 1; Fitch - 0Rd 2 - Penn 1; Fitch - 1Rd 3 - Fitch 3; Penn - 0
1 Sub attempt by Penn in rd 1. 

Going only from the stats, Fitch wins. I think Rivera was playing possum,his attacks straight after looked strong and precise, not the attacks of a wobbled guy.