Classic UFC 101 Declaration PPV Breakdown.

Written By Patrick O'malley

Intro.

This past few weeks hasn't been very easy for me, because at the start of the month I was trying to get over a nasty feeling flu. This meant that i've had to miss the past three UFC shows, this is due to the fact that It took longer to get over, because I was tired for a long time. I'm all right now, and feeling 100% again. I wanted to give you guys something that is quite in depth, so I decided to go back and watch one of my favourite UFC PPV's. UFC 101 Declaration. I know what you're all thinking, why this PPV Patrick, well let me tell you something, this was one of the first events that I watched with my own family, as I tried to educate them on the sport of MMA. The year was 2009. Justin Bieber had just been signed to a major label. The film 500 days Of Summer was on record to became a lofi success story, given the fact that it was made with a minor budget, when you look at the budgets of bigger films of the time, and Radiohead headlined that years Reading festival. But what was going on with the worlds biggest fight organisation, well they were breaking ground across the world, by the time that the year was out, they had celebrated 100 PPV's, and had travelled all over the globe, proving the fact that MMA is on the rise, as the sport grew, and grew, and grew. This PPV was a look at the future of one divsion, as a former champ was starting to slow down. So sit back, and enjoy my guys, and girls, because this one is going to be interesting.

Josh Neer vs Kurt Pellergrino. ( Lightweight Division ).

This fight is a clear look at how a fighter should utilise the groundgame philosophy. Kurt owned Josh in the first round on the ground, whilst Josh tried to stay standing. The second round saw this philosophy come even more into the light. Kurt continued to be dominant on the ground, and Josh was starting to not have an answer for how to come back. And in the third round this was evidently clear, as Kurts onslaught of how manipulate his jiu jitsu groundgame was starting to come undone, as Josh managed to get in some office, but it was too little too late, as Kurt got the win. Kurt would leave the UFC in 2011, and then take a fight with Bellator, before retiring shortly after. He now works as a coach. Josh Neer would also leave the UFC, but two years later in 2013, and would go on to take fights in several fight promotions, some being unsanctioned. I must stress that unsanctioned fights are highly dangerous, and deemed unsafe in MMA. I do not condone unlegalised fights in anyway shape or form.

Kendall Grove vs Ricardo Almeida ( Middleweight Division ).

In the early stages of the first round, you could easily be forgiven that this would be an easy win for the former Ultimate Fighter winner Kendall Grove, this wasn't the case. Both men tried to keep things standing, whilst Ricardo managed to take his side control whilst standing. You could argue that both men took major points from the first round, whilst Kendall was a clear favourite heading into the second round. He managed to keep Ricardo at Bay with two submission attempts, after Ricardo made some detrimental mistakes. The third round made me think that I would hate to be an MMA Judge, because this round for me was quite difficult to score, and you could tell that both fighters wanted to try and finish strong, after having a solid start. Ricardo got the win, and then it hit me, his stand up in the third got this result over the line. In 2011 Kendall would leave the UFC, and go on to fight for other promotions, before retiring in January of 2023. Ricardo Almeida retired from Mixed Martial Arts in 2011, and as of 2026 works as a Jiu Jitsu instructor.

Johny Hendricks vs Amir Saddolah ( Welterweight Division ).

This fight was over in less than 30 seconds. Johny beat Amir in quick succession. Johny would go on to become the UFC Welterweight Champion in March of 2014, after he beat Ruthless Robbie Lawler for vacant belt, after George Saint Pierre stepped away from MMA in the after of there fight at UFC 167, which pissed off Dana White. Since he retired from MMA in 2018. Johny Hendricks had a short stint in Bare Knuckle boxing. He now works as a Wrestling Coach in Texas. Amir Saddolah left the world of MMA behind him, after he got cut from the UFC in late 2015. He hasn't come back to the fight scene, and is now prioritising his private life as his main focus.

Shane Nelson vs Aaron Riley. ( Lightweight Division )

This was by far the worst fight on the card. The first round was centred around both mens excellent stand up, however this was a problem, because when they went to the ground, neither fighter managed to advance their settings. This would be a problem as the second round started. When Shane went to the ground, he failed to gain any form of momentum. This would be detrimental as the third round kicked off. Aaron took him to the ground, and was starting to lay in some ground and pound, however the punches and elbows that he threw did nothing to abvance his position, and as the final 10 seconds klaxon sounded you could  make the case that neither fighter had any form of urgentcy in there bodies. Aaron got the win, and all I was left feeling was letdown, because this fight was a lifeless shell. The former UFC Ultimate Fighter contestant was released from the company not long after this fight, after losing both of his fights on his two fight contract, Whilst Aaron Riley retired from the sport in the summer of 2013. I couldn't out much info on him from after this point.

Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin ( Light Heavyweight Division ).

This fight didn't make it out of the first round, because Anderson would knocked Forrset out. Now we all know about the legal struggles of Anderson, and i've covered them before so I won't go down that route, so I'm going to talk about what happened to Forrest in the aftermath of this fight. He would go on to have a mixed bag relationship with the sport, stating a mixed fight record in his final years with the promotion, before retiring in late 2012.

BJ Penn vs Kenny Florian UFC Lightweight Championship. 

When this fight got confirmed back in May of 2009. I was excited to see it. Some have called this one of the worst BJ Penn fights, but if you ask me I don't think it was that bad. BJ Penn has one of the most unauthordox fighting styles in the history of the sport, so it was interesting to see him fight Kenny Florian, who was known for his Wrestling. BJ is known for his Jiu Jitsu groundgame, so on paper this looked slick, and this was how the fight played out. The first round showcased BJ's excellent boxing, whilst Kenny tried to hold him against the cage for the first round. The second round saw both men own the centre of the cage, with BJ landing the better of the exchanges. Interesting fact, BJ Penn taught Grey Maynard this same technique during his time coaching him on the Ultimate Fighter, so it was cool to see the master using his skills. The third round looked a bit more measured, and you could sense this both fighters looked exhausted. The fight went to a fourth round, and it was here when Kenny made a serious mistake, allowing BJ to lay in the choke for the retention. In the years that followed BJ would go on to lose his belt to Frankie Edgar, and then in the rematch had an even worse performance, he would then go on to have a disasterous run with the promotion over the following years, whilst Kenny retired in 2012, and then went into TV presenting, in which he hosted Battlebots. Which as a sci fi fan wasn't actually a bad show, so take that online haters.

Overview Of This show. 

I had fun watching this PPV back for the first time in a long time, and as a big UFC fan, It's great to see were fighters are now, and how these fights shaped the industry going forward.

UFC 101 comes highly recomended at 8/10.