Frank Edgar vs Spencer Fisher. My pick: Edgar by decision. I was expecting a ground war and a game with knees vs takedowns but during the whole match it looked like Fisher just didn’t get into his usual groove. Disappointing indeed, even though I was super impressed that Edgar dominated someone THAT good.
Ed Herman vs Joe Doerksen. My pick: Doerksen by sub R1. Someone needs to give Joe better advice next time he faces a wrestler.. Joe has the edge on the mat and on the feet IMO but the transitions are the only thing Ed is really good at, so I wonder why Joe did try so hard to get on top when that is the only position that is really hard for him to get on Ed. This match-up did definitely had it’s moments though. It was the one of two match on the PPV I got excited for. Joe had Ed’s back for a while in round 2 after getting dominated in the first. And the Canadian almost sealed it with a super slick triangle chOke, it was a beautiful setup after Ed whiffed a punch in guard. I was really bumped to see Ed KO his foe in the last 5 minutes. (MMAWeekly reports that Joe Doerkson suffers a broken orbital bone. Get well soon Joe!)
Karo Parisyan vs Ryo Chonan. My pick: Parisyan by decision. Other letdown.. Karo edges Ryo in the grappling and wins this uneventful match.
Thiago Silva vs Houston Alexander. My pick: Silva by sub R1. This was the second fight that got me going! I was really looking for Houston to get beaten in this match-up. I never gave him a chance vs Jardine and I thought Sakara would school him in London. Silva looked good vs the over-hyped Alexander. Rogan said about Houston “If this guy touches you, then you are going to be in some SERIOUS trouble”. I hope I am not the only one tired of this kind of overhype..
Rashad Evans vs Michael Bisping. My pick: Evans by TKO R3. I missed some of round 1&2 so I won’t comment to much on this match. Round 3 had a somewhat tired Rashad, who maybe had done a little better after 15 minutes than his foe but only slightly though. Nothing special in this match-up.. The commentating about how tired Rashad was hilarious! Ask Rashad if he was about fall over at any time and just die out of exhaustion..
Joe Lauzon vs Jason Reinhardt. My pick: Joe by KO R1. Man, Jason had the funniest style I’ve seen in a long time. Talk about a savage beast! Had Joe lost this one… Anyways it’s starting with Jason barraging full steam and Joe sidestepping, it ends up on the floor and Joe applies the RNC for the win. PLEASE have Jason back for the sole purpose of our amusement.
Prelims:
Akihiro Gono vs. Tamden McCrory. My pick: Gono by decision. Some nice back and forth action! McCrory looked awesome in the first vs the notorious slow starting Gono. He dominated the Japanese with punches and knees from the clinch by using his superior length. Akihoro looked unfazed though and took the enemy down late during the first 5 minutes. McCrory looked like he changed his plan for the next round and didn’t do much. Gono got the contest to the hit the floor again and had bad intentions when he moved into the mount. The local kid got on the worse end trying to escape an armbar attempt and Gono got an flashy submission win (and the submission of the night bonus, $55000 btw).
Marcus Aurelio vs. Luke Caudillo. My pick: Aurelio by decision. Marcus looked totally different the second time in the octagon, not having to worry about first-time jitters and sprawling takedowns from “the carpenter”. I was glad to see the American top team-prospect stop Luke late in the opening round via TKO.
Thiago Alves vs. Chris Lytle. My pick: Alves by decision. Saving the best for last! Man this was an awesome fight with two different stand-up styles clashing. It didn’t look like Alves had much of an offensive plan at the beginning so we were left with Chris doing all the offense for the first 90 secs before Thiago got a flash knock down. Thiago chose to feel Chris out for another 2.5 mins and fireman puts the heat on the ATT-member until the firepower starts going two-ways. Alves starts to get this match going for real and the anticipation is high for the next round.
OMG, guess what? The next round is better than the whole PPV together. From the corner Alves comes out with beautiful low kicks and Chris with sharp hands. The battle is ON and it goes back and forth the whole round with really really nasty kicks from Alves that has Chris limping half way into the round. Chris uses one of my faorite Muay Thai techniques in the straight stop kick vs Alves leg kick (which is poorly displayed below) with only seconds left on the clock. Lytle suffered a cut above the eye in round 1 which got nastier during round 2 and the doctor choses to hinder the veteran to continue. Alves wins by TKO (doc stoppage). DAAAMN.
To summarize the card, it looked very nice on paper but I’ve got to say that this was a rather lack-luster show. The two best matches were not shown, I guess the UFC had less luck that so many matches went to decision, as Lytle and Alves match-up was definitely the best on the card.
Now the next UFC looks awesome do far with:
-Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes
-Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva
-Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Lyoto Machida
And the return of Manny Gamburyan!
