Poor Gameplans Lead to Unsettling Performances at UFC 103

UFC 103 wasn't short of exciting performances. The five-fight main card and two-fight free SpikeTV preliminary bout broadcast produced zero decision victories from its match-ups. The event also featured a number of impressive upset performances in many of the event's 13 fights. Most notably, British import and Muay Thai striker Paul Daley dashed the hopes of Martin Kampmann being put into the mix for a shot at the welterweight title. 

Although Daley's victory over Kampmann was the biggest upset on the event's main card, there were a number of complete failures by some of the main card fighters. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's battle with Junior Dos Santos didn't end in some sort of historical upset by any means, but it was surprising that Mirko not only quit in the third round... but his gameplan throughout the fight was absolutely appalling to watch.

Hardcore fans everywhere were clamoring at possibly seeing the old Mirko "Cro Cop" come to life in the match-up. After all, he had come into the weigh-ins looking to be in better shape with some added muscle to his physique. The ultimate problem for Mirko was that he wasn't the predator, but the prey. Mirko circled around the cage for two rounds, being backed into the fence, and being wrecked with powerful blows from Dos Santos. Most of the shots were absorbed by Mirko, but it was obvious that the power of Dos Santos, even in blocking those shots, was affecting Mirko's will to continue. 

Even more unsettling was the setup for the patented Left Head Kick, something Mirko is legendary for. There weren't any setup kicks to the body or legs, but rather futile attempts to catch Dos Santos sleeping throughout the fight. It was a pitiful performance for the Croatian, and that performance will only prove to be a blueprint for other fighters that Mirko may fight later. Is his career over? I personally don't believe he can compete with fighters in the UFC's heavyweight division.

Hermes Franca, while not a favorite to win, also failed in his gameplan to give Tyson Griffin any sort of competition. Franca seemed to use a tactic of hoping Griffin would tire from striking in the first round as he nearly did nothing against Griffin. In the second round, Franca came out swinging for the fences with power. Griffin easily weathered the sloppy and wild blows from Franca and eventually devastated the Brazilian with brutalizing punches. Franca not only completely failed in how he wanted to handle Griffin, but he looked to have come into the fight out of shape as well. The combination of those two problems for Franca don't exude confidence in a win for any fan, and it resulted in an one-sided beatdown.

The biggest failure of the evening came in the Paul Daley vs. Martin Kampmann match-up. While I thought Kampmann would surely come out trying to put Daley on his back with tenacity, the pre-fight interview with Kampmann didn't portray that philosophy. No... Kampmann actually stated he was going to prove he could bang with Daley. 

Unfortunately, many fans actually believed Kampmann could rumble with "Semtex" due to their scarce knowledge of who Daley actually was. There's a huge difference between being a Danish kickboxing champion and a world Muay Thai champion, and Kampmann apparently thought it was a good idea to try to end the hype surrounding Daley. Many Muay Thai champions fight in K-1 and K-1 MAX, and Daley happens to train with some of the best K-1 fighters in the world and hold his own. Developing a ground game and defense were his only hurdles, and he's still improving vastly in those areas.

You only need to watch 2 or 3 of Daley's bouts to realize that he's a solid technical striker with huge power and a great accuracy. Daley keeps his hands up in perfect form, throws with massive power and speed, and moves forward with every intention of crushing his opponent. Kampmann must have missed the memo. As he tried to strike with the Brit, Kampmann was caught multiple times and resorted to poor single legs that only required Daley to back up to escape. A truly poor gameplan by a Martin Kampmann who thought he could prove to the world that Daley was all hype. 

It was a night of some "What is he doing?!" moments, but I'd be the first to say that Kampmann's performance against Daley was surprising. Daley could give GSP some fits for the first exchange, but GSP will ultimately crush Daley with takedowns and ground n' pound. As noted by some of the other writers, the welterweight division isn't looking too challenging for GSP following Kampmann's loss.