Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Michelle Waterson vs Cortney Casey

Here's the match video of Michelle Waterson vs Cortney Casey from last night's UFC show in Glendale, AZ. As I said in my preview on yesterday's podcast, I thought the size difference could determine the winner of this fight. What ended up determining it was strategic choices by both fighters that ultimately gave Michelle the win by split decision. I think she was very lucky. I scored the fight 29-28 for Casey. It seems everyone else scored it that way except the three judges. Round one was the difference. I thought Casey won the striking exchanges. Michelle did take her down towards the end of the round. But I don't think she did enough in top position to steal the round. Two of the three judges scored round one 10-9 for Michelle. It just shows how important top position is and taking the fight to the ground was a very good strategic decision for Michelle. It won her the fight. In round two, Michelle took the fight to the ground again and won the round by maintaining top position. Cortney tried for submissions from bottom position. But she spent too much time on what I thought were low percentage possibilities. I think she needed to get out from under and get back to her feet. That was a poor strategic choice. A fighter has to know when something isn't working and Michelle knew what Cortney was trying to do. So I guess Cortney beat herself. The start of round three was similar to round two. But by the end of the round, Cortney finally got top position and she was working toward a finish when time ran out. Maybe she should have shown more urgency. But I thought she won round one and I'm pretty sure her coach John Crouch thought that too. Who thought the judges would score it differently? It's a big win for Michelle. Plenty of folks picked Cortney to win and plenty of us scored it in her favor. That's why you don't leave it to the judges. It's a pretty good fight so enjoy the video!