I was there and you’re right we dominated. Noles did everything they could to make the game “look” competitive.
It was one of those GSP fights back in his prime when everyone knew the fight was over before it started, but for half a round or so everyone got all excited that this might be the time he got upset, but it was evident almost immediately the other dude had no chance.
And you sit there for 5 rounds, kinda bored, but just watching GSP choke the life out of buddy and for not one second, ever, do you think the fight is in question.
Then, after 5 rounds, people who know the sport say it was a completely dominating performance in every technical aspect, but haters or fans of the other dude say he didn’t get beat “that bad”.
Wash, rinse, repeat. We just leaned on a weaker kid for 60 minutes. Treated them like your older brother did when you tried to fight him.
In 2 years, we went from getting blown off the field to pushing around a weakling who doesn’t even belong in your weight class. Just 2 totally different trajectories for a program.