Josh pushed the pace, attempted takedowns, controlled the cage, and won at least two rounds while Swick looked tentative and almost had moments where it looked like he was just surviving. Yea, he had some good counter strikes but that was really about it.
So just moving forward wins the fight? I don't understand the logic. Swick dictated where the fight took place by stuffing every single takedown, that to me is Octagon Control.
Wish I knew...I fell asleep during the fight....seriously.
I don't think anyone won that fight. Not that I wanted to see another round - just call it a draw and move on.
josh got round 1, round 2 & 3 was swick, the big loser = the fans. fight sucked
The winner of that fight still got deleted from Joe Silva's cell phone...
"So just moving forward wins the fight? I don't understand the logic. Swick dictated where the fight took place by stuffing every single takedown, that to me is Octagon Control. "
So Swick decided he wanted to be pushed up against the fence for the whole fight trying NOT to get taken down and mounting NO offense?
Octagon Control = equal
Aggression- slight edge to Burkman
Striking- slight edge to Swick
Grappling- equal
Fight was a draw, IMO.
very similar to lytle vs serra
i loved his spinning omg tkd tornado kick, that alone should've given him the advantage.
Swick won 2 and 3. Burkman's battle plan was flawed. He could have even won the fight if he just changed his strategy in the 3rd round.
By what criteria did "Swick win 2 and 3"?
I agree on a draw. No clear winner imo = scoring that fight accordingly. Neither fighter asserted themselves or exerted their will and gameplan on the other.
The UFC and / or the Athletic Comissions (as well as other fighting orgs that use the 10 point must system) should entertain the addition of a 4th round for fights like this. Examples of such would be the Lytle -vs- Serra fight that was mentioned, the Evans -vs- Ortiz fight, and others.
If the judges decide that the fight needs to go to a 4th round, that sends a VERY cledar message that the fighers need to push the pace and actually fight to win, as opposed to just grind out a decision. It's entirely possible that one more round last night would have resulted in more of the same, but at least it would let the combatants know that "hey, you guys haven't shown us anything yet."
I think they both put on a bad shopwing ano one deserves a victory....DRAW!
Judges look at it as if he tried take downs and Swick would not let it happen. My opinion is they both lost.
Josh COMPLETELY lost that fight
very good judging. Majority decision is really how the fight went
That was a brutal fight. To complain about either winning or losing is ridiculous. No one controlled any round. Burkman didn't want any part of Mike on his feet and thus the hugging on the cage the whole night.
Either one could have won or it could have been a draw and no one could have bitched, IMO.
Josh did nothing in 2 and 3. yes he attempted takedowns but they were not successful. Thats like attempting strikes that miss. If absolutely nothing else happened in the fight (which is almost but not completely the case) then maybe you would have a case for Burkman.
But there were striking exchanges in between lame takedown attempts and Swick won almost all of them in round 2 and 3.
Therefore he wins the fight. Neither guy should be proud of the performance but swick created more offense.
If Burkman had of scored the odd takedown it might have been different but he didn't so that's the way it goes.
I personally thought Swick won and a big reason I thought that is because when Burkman was rushing in, he didn't look to be rushing in offensively to try to bring the fight to Swick. To me, it looked like he was using the clinch defensively, as a way to avoid trading with Swick.
Josh seemed to always get double unders but never was able to really control him and get him down. I know Swick is tough to take down, but if Josh's gameplan was to rush in, clinch, then take Swick down and pound him, he failed miserably. Even when he was striking, it looked like he was only throwing as a way to close the distance and clinch.
If your gameplan is to use the clinch for a takedown, you better make sure you take him down, or chances are you'll lose. Holding a guy against the cage doesn't equate to a win in my book.
I'm not saying Swick did a ton more either. He landed a bit more than Burkman, but not a ton more, and I really like the way he looked like he was upset with his performance.
Burkman was raising his arms as if he was proud of his performance and thought he did enough. Even after Swick was announced the winner, Swick looked upset and disappointed.
I would have loved a draw in this fight. Neither guy deserved to win, but I thought Burkman deserved to lose more than Swick did.