By Mark Gessner

1. Mark Bocek (9-3) vs. Ben Henderson (12-2) [Lightweight Division]

Round One: 10-9 Henderson. Henderson had the edge over Bocek in striking, using leg kicks and right hands. Bocek scored a takedown with a minute remaining in the round but Henderson did all the work on the ground, landing elbows to the head and punches to the body.

Round Two: 10-9 Bocek. Bocek went for a guillotine choke halfway through the round and really worked on the guillotine but took a flurry of strikes from Henderson he after escaping the submission. Henderson landed a knee to the top of Bocek's head while escaping and opened up a gash.

Round Three: 10-9 Henderson. Bocek scored a takedown but Henderson was able to reverse positions, got on top of Bocek, and ground and pounded. Bocek was able to escape. Henderson muay thai clinched and landed good knees to the body. Henderson closed out the round with a flurry of punches to win the round and the fight on my card, 29-28.

Official Decision: Ben Henderson defeated Mark Bocek via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

2. Vladimir Matyushenko (25-5) vs. Jason Brilz (18-3-1) [Light Heavyweight Division]

Round One: Matyushenko landed a right uppercut-left hook combo that dropped Brilz. Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko jumped on the grounded Brilz and cleaned his clock with hammerfists leading to the referee stepping in and stopping the fight.

Official Decision: Vladimir Matyushenko defeated Jason Brilz via TKO at :20 of the first round

3. Randy Couture (19-10) vs. Lyoto Machida (16-2) [Light Heavyweight Division]

Round One: 10-9 Machida. Machida kept distance throughout the round. Every time Couture tried to move in he ate a punch or kick. Machida landed a knee in the final seconds of the round that landed big and clean. The fifteen year age difference between the two showed at Machida was much quicker than Couture.

Round Two: Machida continued to pick up apart Couture when ever Randy moved in on him. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Machida landed with a crane kick to the jaw of Couture knocking him out and ending his career with a knockout loss.

Official Decision: Lyoto Machida defeated Randy Couture via KO at 1:05 of the second round

4. Jose Aldo (18-1) vs. Mark Hominick (20-8) for the UFC Featherweight Championship

Round One: 10-9 Aldo. Aldo peppered Hominick leg kicks in the opening minutes of the round. Aldo took Hominick to the ground and landed some good strikes. Referee stood them back up due to a lack of movement and Aldo responded by taking Hominick down immediately after the restart, and remained on top to close the round.

Round Two: 10-9 Aldo. Aldo continued to take Hominick down. Once on the ground though, Hominick would hold him in place, not allowing Aldo to advance positioning or deliver any significant strikes, and waited for the referee to stand them up.

Round Three: 10-9 Aldo. Aldo rocked and dropped Hominick with right hook. Following Hominick dropping, Aldo laid into him with hammerfists but so how Hominick managed to survive.

Round Four: 10-9 Aldo. Aldo rocked Hominick with straight right hand early but Hominick regained his composure. Aldo took him to the ground and began to lay into him with punches and elbows to the head. Hominick began to develop a welt the size of a golf ball on his forehead leading to a stoppage to have it looked at by a doctor. The doctor allowed the fight to continue. Aldo took him down following the restart and remained in top position to close out the round.

Round Five: 10-8 Hominick. Despite the welt swelling up to the size of a baseball, the doctor again cleared him to fight in the fifth and final round. Hominick took Aldo down early and wailed on him with punches to the body and head, including over half a dozen big left hands to the head of Aldo. Hominick unloaded on Aldo with everything he had for nearly the entire round but was unable to finish him. 48-46 Aldo on my card.

Official Decision: Jose Aldo defeated Mark Hominick via unanimous decision to retain the UFC Featherweight Championship (48-45, 48-46, 49-46)

5. Georges St-Pierre (21-2) vs. Jake Shields (26-4-1) for the UFC Welterweight Championship

Round One: 10-9 GSP. Stand up battle between the two with GSP out-striking Shields. GSP continued to work his jab that won him his fight with Josh Koscheck. GSP landed a big hook and an overhand right in the final minute of the round to sure up the round.

Round Two: 10-9 GSP. Again, another stand up striking round that again favored the better stand up striker in St-Pierre. GSP continued to land with the jab and rock Shields with overhand rights.

Round Three: 10-9 GSP. Lather, rinse, repeat. GSP jabs and hits with the overhand right hand. GSP scores the first takedown of the fight with twenty seconds left in the round.

Round Four: 10-9 GSP. GSP scored a takedown early and landed an elbow to the head but got back to his feet as to not allow Shields to have an opening to submit him. GSP rocked Shields with a huge switch head kick to sure up the round and guarantee that even a 10-8 round in the fifth wouldn't give Shields the win.

Round Five: 10-9 GSP. Shields showed zero sense of urgency, did not shoot for takedowns, and attempted to beat GSP with his standup. It didn't work. Jabs and over hands with a superman punch mixed in here and there by St-Pierre to remain champion.

Official Decision: Georges St-Pierre defeats Jake Shields via unanimous decision (50-45, 48-46, 48-46)

Overall Show Thoughts: If this was a four fight main card headlined by Aldo vs. Hominick, this would of been the second consecutive phenomenal Zuffa produced show in a row from top-to-bottom (Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley being the other). Henderson versus Bocek was a very closely contested fight despite all three judges scoring it 30-27 for Henderson. It took you longer to read my recap of Matyushenko versus Brilz than the actual fight lasted. Awesome, awesome knockout by "The Janitor." Lyoto Machida won with another Steven Seagal kick that fellow Team Blackhouse fighter Anderson Silva retained his title with. Beware Brock Lesnar in your fight with Junior Dos Santos. Jose Aldo versus Mark Hominick told a great story with Aldo dominating Hominick for twenty minutes only to have Hominick comeback and take out four rounds of frustration out on Aldo. Despite coming up short, the fifth round alone piqued this viewers interest in a possible rematch.

Then you get to the main event. The weakest part of Jake Shields' game is his standup striking. So he decided to try and beat one of the top three pound-for-pound fighters with his standup striking? Shields only real chance was shooting for takedowns and looking for a submission. He did not once shoot for a takedown. He got GSP at his least impressive and a GSP who said that he could not see out of his left eye following the second round, and Shields did not do anything to put himself in a position to win. Shields did however do what I said he would as two judges awarded him two rounds so he did end GSP's undefeated round streak.

GSP has hinted that he could potentially be moving up a weight class for a super fight with Anderson Silva. If tonight's GSP shows up, Anderson Silva will turn his lights out. And while GSP did win and retain the UFC Welterweight Championship, he has still only finished one fighter since becoming champion.

Thanks again very much for clicking the link that brought you to my coverage of UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields. If you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or critiques, feel free to email me at kliq4life28@gmail.com or tweet me at @MarkGessner.

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