MMA

[TwisT]

Can't believe anyone hasn't commented on UFC 117. For some reason i forgot about it. I was psyched about it on Thursday and but then it just slipped my mind. Just watched it today. And man was it a sweet event. One of the best in a long time.

Roy Nelson impressed big time even though he was dominated. Just love him more for every fight. Animeniax said in the post above me, "Too bad he won't be able to learn how to eat a punch. Some guys have it, some don't.". Well we know for sure now that Roy Nelson have it ^^ . Thought it was a little unfair of Rogan to say comment on his weight and that is why he was so tired. We know for a fact that big punches like those add fatigue big time. We have seen it before with people we know can go 5 rounds breathing heavy in the second round when they been rocked big time like that. Of course he would perform better but the fatigue in this fight i would contribute to the power shots he ate instead of the shape he was in. I could be wrong. I guess he just reminds you of the average Joe and that is why he gets all the love.

Matt Hughes had a great and quick victory as well. Showed that he isn't done. And against someone from the Gracie camp no less. Extra sweet IMO. I always liked Matt. Maybe because he was so dominate. I was never the biggest fan of his cockiness that he had. But his accomplishments and dominance earned him the right i guess. But it still rubbed you the wrong way. Great to see him more humble. His demeanor reminded me of Randy Coture. And then you just have to love him. Maybe he has grown up some.

And Clay "The Carpenter" Guida is always a delight to watch. Like the energizer bunny from hell. He never disappoints. He gets me so pumped up just watching him enter the ring.

Stefan Struve made a huge comeback. Got dominated the first round and that swollen lip was freakish. But he didn't give up and got the knock out. Great to see.

Jon Fitch is great as always. Never liked Thiago so it was extra sweet for me even though i would have wanted to see him finish it.

Anderson and Sonnen was a great fight. Most people counted Chael out, including me. Despite Anderson's clowning in his resent fights you know the level he could bring. And with all the hate i suspected he would bring it. And i never thought Chael would last long if that happened. But he did. He dominated. And rocked him too. Chael shut me up good. But he got caught with less then 2min left. 23min of dominance and then lost. can never drop your guard against a BJJer. And the strange breakup made it look like Chael was gonna deny the tap and i started to get pissed, but he owned up to it and his arguing with the ref was probably about something else. Once again i started to hate on Chael prematurely and he shut me up.

Awesome card. Every aired fight was great and i worried about the Silva-Sonnen fight for nothing. So, why didn't anyone comment on this. Did you guys miss it too or didn't you find it as great as i did?

EDIT: I of course meant UFC 117 and not UFC 118.

[Animeniax]

Nelson is likable but he doesn't have the standup to hang with the strikers and he doesn't have the wrestling to keep it standing against the wrestlers. He'll make a fine gatekeeper, and he should have some good fights against other middle-tier HWs like Gonzaga and Mir.

I don't think Hughes showed us anything beyond Almeida's lack of standup ability which was nothing surprising. Hughes would still get destroyed by any of the top 5-6 WWs. He'd still be good to see against guys like Diego Sanchez, Paulo Thiago, or Martin Kampmann. I'd also love to see him wrestle Fitch. I'm surprised you're cheering for Fitch's performance. The guy is talented but his performances show why North American MMA rules suck in favor of wrestlers. He'll never be #1 as long as GSP is at WW, and Shields tooled him in a grappling match so that fight would be fun to see.

Anderson vs Sonnen was much closer than I expected it would be but I still couldn't watch the entire fight since it resembled a typical GSP title fight: 5 rounds of top control with no chance of finishing. The compustrike "record" of 250+ strikes is a bullshit stat, most of Sonnen's punches were love-taps. Look at Anderson's face after the fight and then look at Sonnen's. Further proof that MMA judging needs to be changed to not reward takedowns and top control as much and also give more credit to takedown defense, reverses, and escapes. They also need to allow kicks and knees to the head. Stomps I can see continuing to be banned since they are really dangerous in a cage.