UFC 114's Three Stars: Brilz, Evans and Hathaway
Hockey has a tradition of choosing three stars from each game and honoring them on the ice. It's such a nice tradition that we're going to use it here at Cagewriter. Here are your stars from UFC 114.
No. 1 star: Jason Brilz, who lost a split decision to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
It's rare that a losing fighter would be considered a star, but Brilz was impressive in his split decision loss to "Little Nog," a decision that easily could have been awarded to Brilz. Taking the fight on just four weeks notice, Brilz came close to beating a top 205-lb fighter. For his trouble, he was awarded a $65,000 Fight of the Night bonus.
No. 2 star: Rashad Evans, who beat Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and earned a title shot
Evans' speed and wrestling won the fight for him, but his chin kept him from losing that bout. In the third round, Jackson clipped Evans with a punch that knocked him to the ground. Jackson followed up with a series of strikes that put Evans in danger, but because he remained calm and used more wrestling skills to get away from Jackson, he survived to win.
No. 3 star: John Hathaway, who won a unanimous decision over Diego Sanchez
Hathaway fought a well-rounded game to beat Sanchez. He rocked Sanchez with a knee in the first round and continued to dominate for the rest of the fight. Hathaway even proved a stereotype about British fighters wrong. His takedown defense showed that there are some Brits who can wrestle. I can't wait to see what this 22-year-old, undefeated fighter does next.
Honorable mention: Mike Russow, who was losing badly to Todd Duffee before he pulled out a knockout in the third round, and Melvin Guillard, who knocked out Waylon Lowe with a knee to the body. This is Guillard's second body blow knockout, as he took out Gabe Ruedier with a shot to the chest.
Who are your three stars from UFC 114?
