UFC 129 Complete Collection Part 1 Of 12: Yves Jabouin vs. Pablo Garza

Get ready, fans and friends. I’m about to embark on my most ambitious project since the fourteen-part “Heavy Wait” series that gave an ultra in-depth look into Strikeforce’s Heavyweight Grand Prix. Starting today, right now, I’m beginning a twelve-part series focusing on every single fight from an event that may one day be remembered as one of the most important events in MMA history. It’s ufc 129: the UFC’s debut in Ontario, in front of 55,000 fans, with some of the UFC’s best and brightest all scheduled to compete. I’ll be looking at all twelve of the UFC 129 bouts: detailing them, giving my thoughts, and much more. Since I’m collecting and dissecting the complete UFC 129 fight card, I think “UFC 129 Complete Collection” is a pretty fitting title. So without further ado, let’s dive right in.

For those wondering how I’m ordering these fights, I’m basing them off the official UFC.com page for the UFC 129 card. For a simpler version, click here. So, judging from that list, the first fight I’ll be covering will be Yves Jabouin vs. Pablo Garza, which is one of five free preliminary fights that will air on the UFC’s Facebook page.

I think I’ll borrow from my “Best Performance of the Night” series and start us out with some context.

Yves Jabouin will celebrate his tenth year competing as a Mixed Martial Artist in May, but he’ll be making his UFC debut at UFC 129. In October 2009, Jabouin debuted in the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion after amassing an overall record of 14-4. Most importantly, Jabouin entered the famed blue cage on a four-fight win-streak with three (T)KO victories.

Unfortunately, his potential in the WEC would crash and burn before it ever really got the chance to take off. Jabouin would lose his WEC debut by Split Decision and then get TKO’d in his next fight in the WEC. His third and final fight inside the blue cage finally saw him post one in the win column, as he earned a Unanimous Decision victory over Brandon Visher at WEC 52 (one of the last events the WEC would ever run) back in November 2010.

His opponent, 10-1 Pablo Garza, has also had his fair share of hardships, including a loss in the WEC. Garza was a participant in the twelfth season of the popular UFC reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter”, but would lose early in the season (the debut episode, in fact)  to the eventual TUF 12 champion, Michael Johnson. Garza attempted to rebound with a fight in the WEC, but was submitted in the first round by “The Mongolian Wolf” Zhang Tie Quan.

But his most-recent fight also happened to be the defining moment of his career. When Pablo Garza fought Fredson Paixao at the TUF 12 Finale event, it was the first time in history that Featherweight fighters had fought inside the Octagon. And Garza promptly clued in UFC fans as to what all the fuss was about when it came to lighter-weight fighters: he KO’d his opponent in under a minute with a knee so vicious that it was downright scary. Paixao would end up having to leave the cage on a stretcher.

I think I’m going to like this fight for one simple reason: experience. Not my experience, but what both these fighters have experienced. Putting it plainly, both men have had fights where they’ve failed to realize their potential, both men have been dealt humbling blows that could have been crippling blows if they weren’t fully committed to this sport.

But now they’ve won their most-recent fights, and now they know that it’s still possible to realize their full potential. It’s always darkest before the dawn, and both men could be heading towards a new chapter in their careers if they’re able to score a dominant win at UFC 129. They will most likely bring out the best in each other, and that’s never a bad thing.

And that’s what I think, fans and friends. Stay tuned as I plunge ever-deeper into this twelve-part series. But for now: what do you think of this fight?