No, I’d seen some Pride events, but their availability was spotty. I missed Shogun’s tournament victories though. Of course, Wanderlei also had his early, unimpressive run in the UFC (The highlight reel knockout by Belfort, in particular) before he really came into form and dominated for years in Pride.
I just want to be clear it’s not my assertion that Jones should be unpopular, but merely an observation based on the player-hating evident here and elsewhere. I don’t actually much care about it since he’s going to keep winning for some time as far as I can see, but it’s real and it’s out there. He’s just going to have to keep beating fan favorites into submission until he hits the flip side of popularity and some other young upstart is the focus of the hate.
Pretty lousy card tonight. Very disappointed that Diaz didn’t get flattened. And Lesnar’s efforts in that single round were strange in the lack of takedown attempts. Did he really think standing there against a huge kickboxer was a good idea? His liver is now telling him a very different story.
Lesner was going out to get one more paycheck so he can go back to his farm for good.
Kalle
1605
Lesnar wanted to clinch up with Overeem and even had his leg caught for a moment but Overeem is big, strong as hell, and an underrated grappler IMO. Lesnar tried to work for it, he couldn’t get it. Overeem just ran through one of the best wrestlers at heavyweight, the one area where people have been questioning his skills, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up taking the title.
And that liver kick is a K-1 classic. I love the delayed reaction. The kick hits, everything seems fine, and then a moment later you crumple to the ground in agony.
I don’t begrudge Lesnar retiring. He doesn’t need the money so I don’t think this fight was all about the payday, I figure he was in this for a chance of getting the title and now he’d have to work his way back up the ranks. Not that appealing after getting crushed like this. Maybe he’ll get lured back in for a rematch with Frank Mir for a payday but this fight was about wanting to be the best in the world.
Anyway, the highlight of this UFC was not Brock crumpling to the ground but Jim Hettes putting on a grappling clinic on Nam Phan. The judo guy in me just adored the way he went for those foot sweeps, trips, and hip tosses and he completely shut out Nam Phan. Hell, even the judges managed to see what a 10-8 round looks like.
My fellow Swede Alexander Gustafsson had a very weird KO on Vladimir Matyushenko. I want to like Gustafsson more, he’s got loads of talent and you can’t argue with four stoppages in four fights but he just looks so lanky and awkward in there. I’ll still cheer for him but I was hoping for something more like the Matt Hamill fight. Wonder who he’ll be fighting next.
Cerrone looked awful. What the hell happened to his head movement. Diaz is a good striker but Cerrone is seasoned enough to know that he shouldn’t act like a standing target.
Finally, Jon Fitch will never get another title shot. Dana White finally has an excuse now that he’s no longer on a massive winning streak.
Yeah, no doubt, a split lip doesn’t explain why he let himself take so much damage that first round. Weird. The look in his eyes was very, very different at the start of the 2nd than the 1st.
Finally, Jon Fitch will never get another title shot. Dana White finally has an excuse now that he’s no longer on a massive winning streak.
Fitch is the most boring of the UFC’s roster of regular fighters IMO. I was so happy to see that punch drop him.
I think this was his 5th fight in a year. Looks like doing that much caught up to him.
Kalle
1608
I think it was the pre-fight trash talking that got him. Once he saw that he got outboxed he could still have come back and worked for takedowns off of those leg kick sweeps to inflict some ground and pound. I can see not diving into Diaz’ guard as he’s good off his back but just stack him up and punch him in the face. Every second he could have kept Diaz on his back was a second when he would be edging towards winning that round.
Also for a while it seemed like he was getting some great effects by taking Diaz’ leg out, but he just kept eating those punches.
Looking forward to Overeem and Dos Santos. The tall Korean guy and the Canuck were the only fast-forwards on the card, but in general it was nothing special. It was strange seeing someone stand in front of Brock Lesnar and “normalize” the giant factor so it almost looks like they aren’t monstrous human beings. For a second.
Also, this.
This looks like an awesome free card tonight (naturally I’ll be on an airplane the whole time :( )
Some intriguing title elimination scenarios on the line - rumor has it that Hendo may face JJ if Davis pulls the upset, and if Davis destroys Rashad he may get the next shot outright. I think Rashad pulls it off, maybe an ugly UD. The beef angle vs Jones will drive the PPV sales, but the matchup is likely one of the last threats to JJ’s imminent dynasty at LHW.
And then there’s Sonnen-Bisping, where no matter who wins we all lose :( Except Anderson Silva, who will still win. I think Sliva-Sonnen II will happen and that it’s the more interesting matchup.
Maia vs Weidman: I’m going with Maia since I don’t know much about the other dude besides his name and record, and that he took this fight on 2 weeks notice two months between fights, and that Maia is a sick grappler.
Thongsy
1611
I never thought I would ever root for Bisping. But I think I’m going around on him. He’s a bit of a jerk and but Sonnen is on a whole other level. Also Fox needs to stop with the fighting robots and their NFL football music and use something else.
Sonnen’s post fight blurb was WWE quality acting, and hopefully Dana puts a stop to that nonsense right away. Glad to see Bisping lose though.
Bisping took the first 2 rounds. More shitty MMA judging.
Though it pains me to admit it, I have to agree.
Thongsy
1615
I like to use the Japanese system of judging it on the whole fight so I’ll give it to Sonnen but under the American system that probably should’ve been Bisping’s fight. I guess it makes up for the Hamil fight kinda.
I would love to get back into the UFC as a fan but at $54.99 a pop for the events, I just can’t justify it. Pity, I really like MMA but until they get a deal for the big fighters to be on cable or network, I’m afraid I’m just done with the sport.
Silva is fighting Sonnen tonight but I won’t be watching. :(
z22
1617
Luckily for me I go to either a friends house or my brothers, and we usually get around 6 people to chip in, costing us each about $10. The main event was very exciting, but I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it.
I enjoy it too but the only way I’m paying $55 would be for an actual ticket. Sucks but at least between Fox, FX, and Fuel there’s allot of MMA that isn’t behind a big pay wall.
Yo_Rudy
1619
So this season of The Ultimate Fighter has been pretty amazing. The live format didn’t work, so they’re trying something new again, this time moving away from the “rawr fighting men rawr” attitude of last season and more towards a sports documentary. There are a lot of stylized zooms and cuts that work very well and many of the fighter interviews include self-inflection and the answer to “why I fight.” The fighters themselves act like professionals (a huge contrast to last season’s “Let me bang, bro” blowups) and all have a mutual respect for each other. Sonnen has really stood out as a great coach, both physically and mentally - his speeches are incredibly motivating and he really seems invested in getting his fighters in the right headspace before a fight. You always have to remember whenever Sonnen is doing his schtick is that it’s to sell those PPVs and that he’s actually an okay guy outside of that silliness.
The fights have all been excellent (by TUF standards) and as the tournament moves into the semi-finals, the stand-out is Uriah Hall, who has had two absolutely devastating knockout wins. Dana White in particular has been impressed, and has stated that every competitor will be fighting on the finale (again, a big contrast to last season, where only two fighters outside the finalists got a shot).
This Saturday’s UFC on Fuel’s main event has been drastically changed, as Alexander Gustaffson was not cleared by the Swedish Athletic Commission to fight because of a cut over his eye. Mousasi is instead fighting one of Gustaffson’s training partners, a guy named Ilir Latifi, who will be making his UFC debut. If Mousasi loses it will be a huge hit to his credibility; it’s a sucky situation for him as I’m sure he just wants to fight (and get paid). The rest of the fights are okay, with some that look fun, but nothing really stands out. I guess it’ll be neat that Ryan Couture is fighting, making him the first son of a former fighter to fight. Ross Pearson should beat him up pretty good though. I’m looking forward to Tom Lawlor’s walkout.
From the rather cool Fightnomics Twitter feed:
If -2000 line holds Mousasi will enter the cage as the largest favorite in @UFC history. Prior record: Mendes -1650 vs Meza @MMAOddsBreaker
