UFC 123 pay-per-view
Auburn Hills, Mich.
Report by Dot Net contributor Mark Gessner

1. George Sotiropoulos defeated Joe Lauzon via submission via Americana Armbar at 2:43 of the second round.

Gessner's Glance: Lauzon on my card had the first round won. Sotiorpoulos had a good final minute of the first, but Lauzon was on the offensive for the majority of the round. Lauzon looked gassed at the start of the second round, and Sotiropulos was able to stuff a takedown attempt, move from north-south into side control, and locked in an Americana armbar which Lauzon tapped out to.

2. Phil Davis defeated Tim Boetsch via submission via Reverse Kimura at 2:55 of the second round.

Gessner's Glance: Davis dominated the entire fight on the ground and in the second round transitioned from an armbar into a reverse Kimura that he locked in behind Boetsch's back to cause the tapout. 

3. Maiquel Falcao defeated Gerald Harris via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28).

Gessner's Glance: Really boring fight that both the Detroit crowd and the people watching at the bar I was at shit all over. Throughout the fifteen minutes of the three rounds, there was maybe five minutes of action tops. 

4. BJ Penns defeated Matt Hughes via knockout at :21 of the first round.

Gessner's Glance: Any amazing display of striking by BJ Penn right from the opening bell. Penn opened the round with a nice one-two punch combo. Hughes threw a leg kick which Penn caught, and landed a huge right to the jaw that dropped Hughes. Penn threw a flurry of punches and was stopped by the referee to win the fight. Awesome KO which I did not see happening. This was Hughes' fight to lose and Penn showed up in a big way. Had BJ Penn been pushed the action and attempted to be on the offensive as much as he did tonight in his two fights with Frankie Edgar, he would probably still be champion. Amazing KO.

5. Quenton "Rampage" Jackson defeated Lyoto Machida via Spilt Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).

Gessner's Glance: While I personally had Machida winning on my scorecard 29-28 (winning the first and third round), I cannot dispute the judges decision. Rampage even looked shock as Bruce Buffer announced him the winner.Machida did what he does in every fight: stay back, wait for your opponent to make a mistake, and then try to capitalize.

Rampage did not make any mistakes that Lyoto could take advantage of to win the fight. Machida did not show any sense of urgency until the third and final round. Jackson showed great heart, escaping and armbar that could have ended the fight with a minute left in the third. Rampage said in the post fight interview that he got his ass kicked and that Machida deserved a rematch (Dana White has since said it's not happening). 

Notes: Overall, This was a pretty good show. Aside from the main event and co-main event, there was not any big name value for any of the other fights unless you are a diehard MMA fan. With the exception of Falcao vs Harris, the fights were very entertaining for the most part and the first two demonstrated great submission work by Sotiropoulos and Davis. The Penn vs Hughes III fight was great due to the sheer shock value of Penn knocking out Hughes as quickly as he did. Jackson vs Machida was pretty much what you expected it to be going in; not flashy and nonstop action but a solid fight none the less. 

The main event also demonstrated something that I have felt should be an issue addressed by the UFC for quite sometime. Regardless of whether it is a title fight or not, the main event of every card should be five rounds. Rampage and Machida was way to close of a fight to call and should have gone longer to get a clear cut winner, as is the case with most main event, non-title fights.

Thank you for clicking the link that brought you to my coverage of tonight's UFC 123: Rampage vs Machida. If you have any thoughts, comments, or critiques, feel free to email me atkliq4life28@gmail.com or tweet me at Twitter.com/mgessner28..

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