Choi vs Giant Silva: this is boring!
Minowa vs Leko: Leko is perhaps the worst fighter in the sport. Glad it didn't last long.
Ryan vs Anjo: Ryan punching at the ref was crazy! He looked like he was cracking his knuckles, weighing the options...'do I deck him, or do I let it slide?' Aside from that, another snoozer...I'd like to see Ryan stand more, he has Vitor like hand speed and could repeat his debut KO if he stood and threw punches now and again.
Chonan vs Silva: I think this was THE most electrifying submission we've ever seen in MMA. Here's why. Yes, I know Sato and Genki have had some crazy subs, but those were against so-so competition. Chonan came from out of NOWHERE and lands this flying heel hook on arguably the number one fighter in the 185 lb weight class? Amazing! Plus, Chonan was winning the fight handily up to that point, even his standup looked very sharp. He catapults himself high into the top 10 with this performance.
Henderson vs Kondo: As a die hard Henderson fan, I breathed a sigh of releif when they announced him as the winner. That said, I felt he should have lost the fight. Kondo did more damage. Henderson's biggest edge was in takedowns, but he really didn't do much damage on the ground. I couldn't understand why Dan kept going for takedowns late in the fight when I felt he really needed a KO or near KO to win the fight. Obviously I was wrong.
Gomi vs Pulver: GREAT action fight. Good clean (kick)boxing. Gomi's standup skills are far better than I thought. Gomi looked much bigger and stronger than Pulver, and I wonder if this had an effect on the result, as Gomi seemed able to take whatever Pulver had to offer. Still a great showing by both guys.
Crocop vs Randleman: Hugely disappointing showing by the Monster. I would have thought Crocop would want the KO for revenge.
Gardner vs Yoshida: Rulon was much better than I expected! I actually wouldn't mind seeing him fight again, and I was not looking forward to this one. He showed surprisingly good hands and smarts. Yoshida tagged him hard a couple times, but other than that it was all Rulon who did everything but finish.
Hunt vs Vanderlei: Hunt, like Gardner, was very impressive for a seemingly 1 dimensional guy to burst onto the scene. I didn't like this matchup only because it wasn't very fair to Vanderlei. Not only was this outside his weight class, but they give him a last minute replacement that's 70lbs heavier AND a horrible style matchup for Vanderlei's style. That said, I think Hunt's win says more good things about Hunt than bad things about Vanderlei, who is still the 205 champ and I can't wait to see him take on Randy. Hunt needs to be fighting the big boys, as he's perfectly capable of being a force at HW.
Fedor vs Minotauro: These guys are clearly #1 and #2 at HW, and yet there's still such a huge disrepancy between them. Fedor is just a machine. He didn't even use technique, he showed no fear of Minotauro's punching power. Actually, both guys showed rock hard jaws in this one. Minotauro can take unreal punishment without showing it, but he just wasn't able to mount enough offense to be a factor. I guess Crocop-Fedor is up next.