UFC Fight Night 21: Florian Vs. Gomi is in the books and we learned a couple things: Spin kicks are only look cool when you hit them; height and reach don’t matter; and as nice as it was to see Rachelle Leah on the weekend, it’s good to see Arianny cageside again.

Pearson Vs. Siver

This one’s not going down as a classic but it was a pretty decent opening bout. There were a few good exchanges, a couple takedowns, but a lot of feeling out (not as much as the main event, but I’ll get to that in a second). It just felt like neither fighter ever seemed to go in for the kill. Ross Pearson gets the win by unanimous decision and I wouldn’t argue otherwise.

I give it 1.75 Arianny Celestes out of 3.

Quarry Vs. Rivera

Bout #2 kicked it up a notch. Nate Quarry tried to set the pace with some leg kicks early on but “El Conquistador” decided to throw some the leather. Quarry was able to regroup after getting dropped three times in the first, but Rivera’s fists were too much in the second. Jorge gets the TKO win 29 seconds into round number 2.

This one gets 2.5 Ariannys out of 3 partly because of the way Joe Rogan rolled his “R” when he said, “El Conquistadorrr.”

Nelson Vs. Struve

If you missed the “Tale of the Tape” for this one and just saw these two walk to the middle of the octagon, you would of thought that Stefan Struve was fighting a midget and “Big Country” was a sarcastic nickname for Roy Nelson. Nope. Struve’s that tall. It kinda looked like when you create someone in a video game of unnecessary height but it was actually happening. Usually if you’re opponent has a height and reach advantage (and in this case an 11 inch height advantage and a 10 inch reach advantage) you’d take it to the ground cause you’re both the same height on the mat. “Big Country” took it to the ground alright… with an overhand punch of doom! This didn’t take too long, Nelson with the win 39 seconds into the first.

I give it 2.5 Ariannys out of 3 not just cause of the knockout but also cause “Big Country’s” mullet is growing out nicely.

Florian Vs. Gomi

This was a disappointment. Gomi spent 90% of the first 2 rounds trying to feel out Florian while KenFlo just jabbed him in the face then Gomi would swing for the fences with only seconds left in the round. Florian pressed the action in the 3rd eventually locking in a rear naked choke.

This gets 1 Arianny out of 3 and only that high cause even though I saw it on tape delay on Sportsnet, they let a couple F-bombs out in KenFlo’s corner and there wasn’t even an attempt to bleep it. It made me chuckle.

OK start, really awesome middle, and a crappy ending. Regardless, still worth the price of admission. Next event is UFC 112: Invincible in Abudabi and I’ll be back later to talk about The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell Vs. Team Ortiz.