UFC 118 was held in Boston, but it was the New Jersey fighters that shone brightest on the card.  Frankie Edgar, from Toms River, retained his title in a dominating performance against BJ Penn, winning all five rounds on all judges scorecards.   Dan Miller, of Sparta, returned to form by finishing John Salter with one of his patented guillotines, and Greg Soto of Monmouth County notched his first victory in the UFC, beating Nick Osipczak by unanimous decision.

These fighters all did New Jersey proud in their performances and their success is a tribute to the state's MMA promotions.  Thanks to the efforts of Nick Lembo, counsel to the NJSACB, New Jersey has always been on the forefront of MMA, legalizing and regulating the sport well in advance of most other states.  NJSACB Commissioner Aaron Davis is also a big proponent of the sport and he can be found enjoying the action at many shows.

When you have quality promotions in both the amateur and professional ranks, you build the kind of fighters that you saw at UFC 118: tough, tenacious and victorious.

Well done, New Joisey!

 

In a short interview with Fanhouse correspondent Ariel Helwani at UFC 118, Shaquille O’Neal said that he'd like to fight MMA behemoth Hong Man Choi:

“I wanna fight somebody my own size . . . only one guy is at my size, and that’s Hong Man Choi.”

Both men are just over seven feet tall and weigh over 300 pounds.  And Choi may be just the man to dig into this sports-celebrity-style freakshow.  In May 2009, he submitted Jose Canseco via first round strikes.  Yup, Jose went down swinging.  Maybe a basketball player will have better luck.

Here’s the video of Shaq’s callout:

Alistair Overeem not only eats like a horse, he actually eats a horse.  He says that horse meat is better quality protein than beef, and that he eats many times a day in order to keep his physique.  And he's got a secret weapon:  Mama's home cooking.  Check out this video where Overeem talks about his diet and demonstrates his cooking abilities.

Frankie Edgar retained his UFC LW title, once again beating legendary Hawaiian fighter BJ Penn.  This time the decision was unanimous and no one, not even BJ himself, could complain about the scoring, which was a shut out for Frankie, 50-45 on every judges card.

James Toney's mouth earned him a shot at Randy Couture, but in the Octagon, he looked like, well, a boxer fighting MMA.  Couture shot a single, putting Toney on his back, and securing an arm-triangle for the submission win.  Looks like James will be one and done in his UFC career, but at least he took home some coin for his efforts.

The LW title picture also got a clearer last night, with Gray Maynard defeating Kenny Florian by decision.  The fight was close but clear cut, and now Maynard will be challenging Edgar for the strap.  Maynard beat Edgar before, so despite how Frankie looked against Penn, he will have his hands full with the Bully.

In a battle of BJJers, Demian Maia took on Mario Miranda and won a solid 3 round unanimous decision.  We'll be talking to Demian in the near future to get his thoughts on this fight, and his future in the UFC.

Nate Diaz once again looked great in his victory over tough Marcus Davis.  Diaz was able to use his stand up effectively but did his best work on the ground where he stopped Davis with a guillotine.

Speaking of guillotines, Dan Miller once again used a brutal guillotine to stop John Salter.  The guillotine is Miller's go-to sub and once he locked it on last night, there was no escaping for Salter.  Miller told Joe Rogan that it has been a long time since he'd done the victory interview, and it was great to see him get the W.

On the Spike undercard, Nick Lentz mauled Andre Winner for a 3 round decision victory.  Lentz fought his fight, and although the crowd booed him at the end, he clearly won the fight.  You have to fight to your strengths in MMA, and guys like Maynard and Lentz take some criticism for their styles, but it's the win that counts.

In a highly anticipated grudge match, TUF 5 alumni Joe Lauzon and Gabe Rudiger went at it, but Creepy Joe looked like a man possessed and just worked Gabe over, beating him on the feet, then on the ground enroute to a 2 minute first round win.  Lauzon definitely made a statement in his hometown and walked away with a 60k bonus to boot.

Amilcar Alves had a rough UFC debut, losing to a very talented and tough Mike Pierce.  Pierce was able to get the armbar submission to end the fight in the third round.  To have to fight an opponent such as Pierce in your debut is tough, but this is the UFC and there are no easy fights.  I'm sure we'll see Amilcar back to his winning ways his next time out.

Greg Soto, another fighter I've had the privilege of watching come up through the local ranks in NJ, looked great in his fight against Nick Osipczak, winning a unanimous decision.  I've seen Soto fight several times in NJ, at Ring of Combat, BCX and WCA shows.  Very happy to see him get a win in the UFC.

Official times for all fights after the jump, courtesy of Sherdog.com