GSP looked alright. I mean, he looked very good considering it's been 4 years since he retired. No small feat coming back to that stage after such a long break, quite amazing actually. Striking wise he looked a bit slower than his younger self, but most improve seemed to be his power. He has found a way to sit down a little more and with the added weight it has paid off. He was starting to fade a little bit though, so I think it's a good thing for him he caught Bisping with that hook (big surprise), or I could see Bisping overwhelming him. It's obvious he worked on the overhand specificly for Bisping. He's always had a pretty hard overhand right. Jab was nice and long, and spearing, as always. Was very cool to see Roach in the corner!
Cody never jabs and hardly throws straights. He's always a little open in the pocket and uses flurries as hooks. The thing is, he is so fast and powerful that he gets away with it. He's also an excellent counter puncher, not at least in the sense that he doesn't mind taking one to give one either. This time it just didn't work for him. That combination that ended it could have gone either way imo, it was pretty random that TJ landed and not he other way around. The headkicks though, TJ set them up well. Cody has his hands down most of the time and it's a weakness coming over the top with the kick, especially as TJ is good at setting it up and Cody is mostly boxing orientated.
Joanna vs Rose was a surprise I'd say. I mean, I knew Rose had her best chance in the first as she always starts strong and Joanna always starts slow, but never expected that KO. Rose was looking really good before that point though. She was a lot tighter than she usually is, she moved well, she read everything and she had a great rhythm going with manipulating her weight around constantly. I kept commenting on how good she looked up untill the stoppage.
Joanna has shown holes in her striking defense before, she tends to get tagged on the inside and she doesn't really protect her chin that well. It's just that her last fight she looked so damn good against Andrade and used her range and movement so well staying on the outside. This was a very different matchup though. Looked like she expected the jab or something as she was pawing with the rear hand and then bam. Huge upset.
