Wow, did Koscheck and Alves go to war! Alves is one of those guys who has the strikers’ Midas touch. At times it seems he only has to touch you, as he did Koscheck in the first round, and the impact will knock you down. Koscheck showed he’s no fool on the feet either in what may have been a clash between the two best strikers in the division.

Koscheck - Another 4 weeks of training camp may have sharpened his striking enough to get him the win here, and so he takes immense credit for taking on the tank Alves on two weeks notice. After being knocked down in the first he showed composure to come back and win the second round, charging Alves with punches to good effect. His boxing was effective but he struggled to deal with Alves’s kicks. He could still improve his striking-to-wrestling transitions but for me looked great in this fight. Next up he deserves near any fight he wants in my eyes, but I’d like to see him fight Yoshiyuki Yoshida next, as was previously scheduled. Kos is right in there with the guys just below Georges St.Pierre waiting for his chance at a shot, despite this fairly comprehensive loss.

Alves - How in the world is this guy 170 lbs? Alves is a solid block of muscle. His punches are straight, accurate and powerful. His kicks are technically superb. Watch him launch them without telegraphing, turn his hips over and thud them in at thigh, body and head alike. He brings the commentators’ tedious baseball bat analogies to life. It’s a frightening thing for the division if Koscheck can’t take him down and keep him there. Worse still, his composure and confidence are now on a roll as he carries a 7 fight winning streak, including 5 stoppages. We were looking for a test for GSP and it appears we have found it, given Alves is difficult to take down for anyone and a superior striker to St.Pierre. The number one Thiago in the UFC is surely guaranteed the next crack at the welterweight championship belt. Can’t wait to see that one.

Mixed reviews are echoing around for Anderson Silva’s title defense performance. Many fans say they saw a master at work toying with his opponent. In my opinion, for all his showmanship, Silva did only a few impressive things during the two and a bit rounds before Cote’s challenge was brutally cut short by a blown ACL injury. As always Silva was hard to hit, but Cote did hit him and landed some nice leg kicks. Silva landed a few nice punches and a couple of solid knees and kicks, but Cote ate them all and was still pressing forward. Silva had the fight under control, no doubt, but did he even nearly finish Cote? Most fans would probably rather he had imposed himself, and disposed of Cote sharply, than whatever it was he was trying to do in the name of entertainment. As for the possible rematch, Silva showed enough to suggest there’s little chance for Cote, but that was the supposition from the outset and the fight was still made. In the absence of a better challenger, why not Cote again, since at least he can go a few rounds with the middleweight king.