- Melvin Guillard vs. Rick Davis
BLAM. Man, was that a home run shot or what? Not too
often you're going to land an overhand right like that
in the big shows. Props to Rick for stepping up,
though. I think this was like his first fight in
almost two years or something. The outcome seemed
inevitable.
- Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Fabiano Scherner
Wow! This fight was wild, like King Kong and Godzilla
going at it (Scherner moves more like the Stay-Puft
Marshmellow Man, though). I'm guessing this is the
last time we'll Scherner in the octagon. Gonzaga
seems to have the raw tools to go far in this sport.
Especially in the HW division. Especially in the
UFC's HW division. I was glad to see him win after
hearing about the circumstances surrounding his last
performance (as I'm sure a lot of other fans were).
Seems like a good guy. I'm definitely a fan.
- Spencer Fisher vs. Matt Wiman
I know Spencer has a lot of fans on this forum, but
Matt kicked his ass that first round. I really
couldn't believe what I was seeing. I expected
Spencer to just walk right through him. He ended up
LEAPING right through him with that flying knee in
the second round, but only after a close call with
Matt's guillotine in the first. The in-fight trash
talk was cool. And Fisher vs. Guillard has to happen.
The LWs are fucking awesome.
- Jeremy Horn vs. Chael Sonnen
Wasn't broadcast on the PPV. Read that Jeremy won by
armbar in the second. Pretty much in keeping with
almost everyone's expectations.
- Mike Swick vs. Joe Riggs
Joe seems to win and lose on an alternating basis in
the UFC. And every time he's lost, he's lost by
submission. In the first round.
I have to say that I didn't really know what to expect
out of Swick in this fight. Nice high kick (oh yeah,
and the "Swick"-o-tine). The guy's fast as fuck, that
much is obvious. But what happens if he doesn't blow
the other guy away in under one round? Can he fight
with any sort of sustained strategy? Good win, but
still a lot of unanswered questions (questions that
are going to need to be answered and that will
definitely be asked by someone the caliber of Rich
Franklin). Does he have Chin? Heart? Cardio? A
ground game (you know, other than the swickotine)?
If he does, the UFC may have a real beast roaming the
ranks at 185.
- Brandon Vera vs. Assuerio Silva
First time Silva's been stopped in over seven years.
I thought Vera looked nervous before the fight, but
he was smooth was silk as soon as the clock started.
It's probably a little early to annoint Brandon "The
Next Big" Anything, but this guy's had some very
impressive showings in a 7-fight career. AND he could
still drop down to LHW. He may be the best
up-and-coming fighter in any major MMA organization.
We'll see what happens over the next year, year and a
half.
- Diego Sanchez vs. John Alessio
I don't really care to see John Alessio back in the
octagon again. I know styles make fights, but damn,
the whole point of a sprawl is to keep your opponent
standing so you can HIT him. Yeah, that one jab
opened up a nice cut, but that was one jab. No
combinations. No effort to finish the fight
(except for the "head" bar, lol). No effort to do
anything but survive by remaining standing AT ALL
COSTS. Sprawl and stall is not guaranteed to win you
any decisions, and it definitely isn't guaranteed to
win you any fans.
Alessio did expose Diego as a very vulnerable fighter
once his takedown can be stopped. Someone with a good
sprawl who's not afraid to fire strikes (i.e. Georges
St. Pierre) will eat Diego alive if Diego doesn't
improve his standup. Footwork, defense, offense, the
whole nine yards. Tips like "keeping punching,"
and "keep going forward" are liable to get him
slaughtered against a striker who's not scared to
strike (and has a good sprawl). Diego is tenacious as
fuck, though, and lucky for him, there probably aren't
too many welterweights out there who possess a sprawl
that can consistently stop his takedowns. Diego vs.
Karo would probably be fun.
- Dean Lister vs. Alessio Sakara
Oh shit, was that some rubber guard at work, there???
Beautiful triangle setup by Lister. This is the way
the guard should look in MMA. Tight, compact,
aggressive. If the rest of Lister's MMA game can keep
improving (he looked more comfortable standing up),
he could be a real force, and not just a "threat" in
the LHW and MW divisions.
- Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie
Fuck. Can't say this was a huge suprise, especially
to anyone who saw Royce struggle against Hideo Tokoro
(of all people) at K-1 Dynamite. And even though it
would've been great for sentimentalists to see Royce
pull off a miracle submission, what would that have
really said about the evolution of our sport?
But huge props to both men here. Both are legends,
and both were VERY classy after the lopsided contest
was over. I wanted to say the stoppage was early
(especially with the small amount of time left to go
in the first round), but Royce's face told the whole
story after Big John broke them up. I know Royce said
he has a few more left in him, but I don't really know
who he could match up with (Ken, maybe? Would the
athletic commissions even allow that with the weight
discrepency?). Whatever he chooses to do, his legacy
as the first "Ultimate" fighter and the bringer of BJJ
to the masses (here in the States, anyway) will always
be intact.
In the meantime, we all have Matt Hughes vs. GSP II to
look forward too : )