This past weekend was huge for MMA action! Saturday we had UFC 101, live from Philly and on Sunday we had WEC 42 from Las Vegas. Both shows were great! Not very often that we get fights on Saturday and Sunday. I watched UFC 101 at a friend’s house and we had a little trouble at first with his verizon service….we couldn’t purchase the fight! Needless to say that we were freaking out a little haha! We were ready to scramble and find another place that was showing the fight but luckily we finally got the purchase to go through. My buddy and I had been talking all week about the Anderson Silva/Forrest Griffin fight…He said that there was no way that Forrest had a chance against the Spider but I thought Forrest had a chance because I thought he would pressure Silva and maybe would be able to take Silva down and grind out the decision. Boy was I wrong! Forrest took a beating! Then ran out of the cage, all the way back to the locker room! I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know whether he was hurt or just couldn’t handle the loss…After the fight I was reading some posts on twitter (if you want to follow me, my twitter name is @nwh9386), people were calling Forrest a poor sport and even said that they thought the fight was rigged!! I don’t think people understand what the fighters go through preparing for a fight…it is just as much mental as it is physical. It disgusts me that people jumped to the conclusion of Forrest being a poor sport or even rigging the fight! It just goes to show you how easily people will turn their back on you. Forrest is the same guy that we cheered on during the epic Bonnar fight, Tito Ortiz fight, Rampage Jackson fight, Rashad Evans fight and the Shogun Rua fight!! All the training and mental conditioning that goes into stepping into that octagon, getting knocked out in such a devastating manner in the first round would be a tough one to swallow for anyone. Forrest will be back! I hope that everyone stops with all the misinformed accusations…let’s face it! Forrest lost to Anderson Silva! Just like many others have in the past, this is nothing to be ashamed of, Silva is an incredible athlete. Although I questioned Forrest’s strategy in the fight, at least he has the guts to get in there and throw hands with quite possibly the best striker in MMA.
What’s next for Silva?? Stay at middleweight, keep destroying every challenger until there is someone worthy enough to dethrone him?, a super fight with Georges St. Pierre?, relinquish his middleweight title and move full time to Light Heavyweight? Lets address these one by one. First off Anderson Silva still has some tough fights ahead of him..next in line is Dan Henderson! I know that Silva already has a submission win against Hendo but I think Dan Henderson is possibly the biggest threat to Silva’s title. In the first fight between Silva and Henderson, Henderson was able to take Silva to the ground. Henderson has the wrestling skills to keep Silva at bay and take the fight to a decision victory…Henderson admits that he knows what he messed up on in that fight and thinks he can pull off a victory against Silva if he gets another shot. Well, here’s your shot Hendo, lets see what you got! I don’t think he’ll land a big right hand knockout like he did against Bisping…Silva is just way too fast.
People have been holding their breath for a super fight between Anderson Silva and George St. Pierre for awhile now…I’m just not convinced on this possibility. Anderson Silva is heavy for a middleweight! Probably walks around at like 220 lbs…GSP would be pushing to make 185 lbs! Silva would be way bigger than GSP and I think it would be a mismatch. Don’t get me wrong! I think GSP might be one of the best pound for pound fighters in MMA but size is definitely a factor in a fight…ask Frank Mir if Brock Lesnar’s size had an effect haha!
Another option for the Spider would be to abandon his middleweight title and move full time to light heavyweight..this is interesting but what’s the point if Silva doesn’t want to fight his buddy Lyoto Machida?? There are other possibilities of course…Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, etc. There are some fights that could be interesting but in all honesty, I don’t see anyone in the light heavyweight division that could put up a good enough fight to beat Silva. There are still people in the middleweight division that deserve a shot against the Spider (Dan Henderson, the winner of the Nate Marquardt/Demian Maia fight) and I think that is where he belongs…at least for now.
BJ Penn vs Kenny Florian, what a fight…I was really looking forward to this fight. Couldn’t wait to see how Penn would look after the ass whooping he took from George St. Pierre. Penn looked better than I’ve ever seen him and an in shape BJ Penn is a dangerous BJ Penn, which Kenny Florian found out the hard way…I told my friend that I saw this fight going the same way BJ Penn/Joe Stevenson went. I thought it would be a war with BJ Penn eventually sinking in a submission and making Florian tap. Kenny fought like a true warrior but fell victim to Penn’s superior ground skills. Florian has nothing to be ashamed of and I know he’ll be back in search of the title in no time. It was good seeing BJ Penn winning in such a convincing manner, he definitely shut a lot of people’s mouths.
I believe the better of the two fight cards was on Sunday! Live from Las Vegas was WEC 42. You all know how partial I am to the free WEC fights…I think the WEC fighters are more hungry and put on a better show. I enjoyed all the fights…Leonard Garcia wasn’t as impressive as I expected but he did win by decision…I think he could have won by TKO or KO if he had capitalized on that big hit he landed but a win is a win right?? Danny Castillo vs Ricardo Lamas was an amazing and entertaining fight! Both fighters brought war with them and fought with an intensity that is rarely seen. Castillo landed a beautiful right hand that landed right on the money! Ricardo Lamas fell to the canvas and Castillo pounced…the ref was forced to stop the fight, Castillo wins by TKO! The main event was great but kind of short…3 minutes 57 seconds into the first round Brian Bowles dropped the unstoppable Miguel Torres. Brain Bowles looked tough, I’m looking forward to watching him defend the title. Torres was disgusted and disappointed with his performance but that’s how MMA is! Anyone can get rocked with a shot and its lights out.
This Saturday brings us to the Strikeforce event with Gina Carano going up against Christine “Cyborg” Santos, I’ve been waiting for this fight for quite some time. I don’t see Gina Carano escaping this fight with a win, much less with her face intact! “Cyborg” Santos is a beast!! I’m looking for Gina to be over powered and just pummeled..I know Gina has been training very hard at Extreme Couture but I don’t think she will be prepared for the onslaught that Santos is going to unleash on her. I’m picking Cyborg by KO in round one or two. The controversy surrounding Nick Diaz has been astounding! Diaz ducked his drug test and is now not licensed to fight, Strikeforce is now bringing in Jesse Taylor (the out of control idiot, throw away from the Ultimate Fighter) to battle Jay Hieron. What kind of moron ducks the drug test and turns away from the money that he was going to get for this fight? Nick Diaz is starting to really hit a good stride in his fighting career but I think he has a long way to go, as far as maturity level. I’m not making assumptions because his camp said that he was “training”…that’s why he missed the drug test. If doing drugs is more important than fighting for Nick Diaz, I would suggest finding another occupation. As far as Jesse Taylor vs Jay Hieron, this fight goes to Hieron..hands down by TKO in the first round. Next up is Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs Gegard Mousasi, these two fighters have come from the now belly up Affliction. This will be another good fight..Babalu is a crafty veteran who is tough as nails, it won’t be easy but I’m thinking Mousasi catches Babalu in a submission and shocks some folks. The last televised fight will be Gilbert Melendez vs Mitsuhiro Ishida, both are tough fighters but I see this one going to a decision with Melendez taking the split. So my picks for this Saturdays Strikeforce event are the following:
Gina Carano vs Christine “Cyborg” Santos (Strikeforce Women’s title) – Winner = Christine “Cyborg” Santos via KO in first or second round
Jay Hieron vs Jesse Taylor – Winner = Jay Hieron via TKO round 1
Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs Gegard Mousasi (Strikeforce light heavyweight title) – Winner = Gegard Mousasi via submission, round 2
Gilbert Melendez vs Mitsuhiro Ishida (Strikeforce interim lightweight title) – Winner = Gilbert Melendez via split decision
I’m very impressed with Strikeforce lately, they are by no means on the UFC’s level yet but they do have entertaining fights and the signing of Fedor will only help them get bigger, if they use Fedor in the right way. I’m looking forward to this fight and also looking forward to seeing what Strikeforce has in store for the future. Until next time fight fans, enjoy the fight this weekend…I know I will.
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