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Quick Results:
Rich Franklin def. Yushin Okami by Unanimous Decision - 3 Rounds
Forrest Griffin def. Hector Ramirez by Unanimous Decision - 3 Rounds
Jason MacDonald def. Rory Singer by TKO (due to strikes) at 3:18, R2
Tyson Griffin def. Clay Guida by Split Decision - 3 Rounds
Ed Herman def. Scott Smith by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:25, R2
Marcus Davis def. Jason Tan by TKO (due to strikes) at 1:15, R1
Eddie Sanchez def. Colin Robinson by TKO (due to strikes) at 0:32, R2
Dustin Hazelett def. Steve Lynch by Submission (Anaconda Choke) at 2:50, R1
Click 'Read More' for post fight analysis by Damon Daniels
Post Fight Analysis by Damon Daniels:
IN MY OH SO HUMBLE OPINION…
Hello again, fans and fighters! Once again, it’s time for some more of
my honest, and oh so humble opinions of yesterday’s events at UFC 72.
I’ve got a big bottle of water, I’ve popped some stay awake pills, I
have Buckcherry playing in the background, and I’m ready to share with
the world. So sit back, relax, sip some apple juice if you have some,
and enjoy.
ED HERMAN vs. SCOTT SMITH
So maybe it’s just me, but did Smith look a little lost in there? I got
the distinct feeling that he was like a 5 year old going to school for
the first time, and had the unfortunate luck of meeting the school
bully. Instead of a sloppy fat kid with a smear of some sort of food
product over his mouth, you had a red-headed stepchild that looked
hungry and wanted that lunch money badly. “Hands of Steel” got tooled.
Not only did he not let those hands fly, but he pretty much handed his
loot to Herman. From the word go, it was all Herman as he smothered and
pounded Smith. At one point in the first round, a very hard, well
placed elbow opened up the bridge of Smith’s nose, briefly stopping the
fight. After a quick checkup and wipe-off, it was back to the action. A
bit more smothering and striking ensued until Scott reversed his
position and began raining down strikes to close out the round. Round
one went decisively to Herman. Round two begins in much the same
fashion as round one, only midway through it, after a guillotine
attempt by Smith, he gave up his back, and pretty much gave up as
Herman secured a RNC. I was disgusted by this ending because instead of
fighting it, Smith tapped as soon as Herman applied it. There was no
pressure on it from what I can see, only fear on Smith’s part. Time to
adjust fire and think about your future in this sport Smith…
TYSON GRIFFIN vs. CLAY GUIDA FIGHT OF THE NIGHT!!!!
This fight promised to be the most competitive and fast paced fight of
the night, and they delivered in spades. Every strike thrown, every
takedown, everything was done at full throttle. These two dudes left
everything in the cage, and my respect for them has increased greatly.
In the first round, Griffin showed that his striking was better than
Guida’s as he appeared to be one step ahead of Guida when throwing
hands and feet. After a brief tussle, Griffin managed to lock up a
tight-looking guillotine, however, all hopes of finishing were dashed
as Guida gave a thumbs-up to the ref. After slipping out, both fighters
tussled some more on the ground and ended up back on their feet. The
round ended after a brief, but exciting exchange. The second round was
just as fast paced as the first, however, Guida began taking control of
the fight, as managed, at one point to get Griffin’s leg in what could
have been a fight-ending knee bar, however, once again, all hopes of
finishing the fight were dashed as Griffin opened up a barrage of rib
and kidney blasts. Griffin finds his way out of the leg lock and
attempts to apply an ankle lock of his own, but to no avail. After a
series of reversals, Guida finds his way onto Griffin’s back and
attempts a RNC. Griffin defends well, and even plaster’s Guida’s face
onto the floor, as he got too high. Instead of giving his position up
completely, Guida simply sinks in a body triangle, as Griffin attempts
to reverse the position to close out the round. I down a bottle of
apple juice at this point, as I’m super-excited to see the final round.
I look to my right, and my young roommate is shadow-boxing from his
chair, and a very large Samoan dude is talking about what would happen
if he ever fought Griffin. After some wacky repartee, I down a second
bottle of apple juice, and watch as Griffin controls the striking to
open round three. After a couple of takedown attempts, Guida ends up in
half-guard and begins trying to pass, while striking. Believe it or
not, Griffin actually connects a lot more than Guida, while on his
back. This is how the round ends. I personally gave the fight to Guida,
however, the judges saw it for Griffin. While the fans were upset, and
I disagreed, this is one of the many things that happens when you leave
the fight up to the judges. I am, though, now a fan of both fighters.
Very exciting fight.
JASON MACDONALD vs. RORY SINGER
On paper, this was supposed to be a close, competitive fight. The first
round looked like it would be, however, with Rory dominating late. Rory
was better with striking, while MacDonald was stronger in the clinch.
While his striking was better, I think he got a little overzealous with
the jumping knee. For some reason, I couldn’t help but think that Rory
looked a lot like my elementary school science teacher, Mr. Sidenstein.
I always thought he was secretly parlaying at night as The Ultimate
Warrior, of WWF fame. Not to say that Rory is like TUW, but he just
looked like my science teacher. Weird, really. I take a hit of Pepsi (I
gave up an apple juice to my roommate…greedy bastard!!) and tune back
into the fight as Rory applies the beginnings of a triangle choke. Pity
he didn’t get that arm across. The round ends. At this point, I once
again find myself thinking back to the days of yesteryear, where I am
in junior high, and prior to my transformation into a young, hungry,
monster of an athlete, I was a chubby kid with a sorta chubby, but
still cute as hell girlfriend. We were pretty tight until this nerdy,
smart-assed red-head dude transfers to my school and quickly steals her
away. That was the catalyst that moved me to transform myself into the
stud I am today. His name was Luke. I really didn’t like him. MacDonald
reminds me of him. I down the rest of my Pepsi, and feel a warm anger
rising from the depth of my cockles. I hold my empty can in my hand,
and crush it. I say to the TV with all kinds of fire, “Destroy him,
Singer!” I then got some very strange looks from the other guys sitting
around me. The big Samoan dude takes the can away from me. Back to the
fights. MacDonald managed to get another takedown, then opens Rory’s
guard using the can-opener. From there, he simply transitions to
half-guard, then full mount, and rains the fists down. The ref stops
the fight. I can’t take it, so I go get more apple juice to calm me
down. Damn it to hell!!!! It was like Rory just stopped fighting.
Bastard…
FORREST GRIFFIN vs. HECTOR RAMIREZ
After I down two more bottles of apple juice, I feel more composed. I
rejoin my comrades, in time to hear Forrest say that since he’s Irish
and fighting in Ireland, he can’t lose to a Hispanic dude. I cringed a
bit. The Irish first sergeant sitting beside me said a few choice words
that echoed my cringe. The fight begins and pretty much all three
rounds show Forrest putting on a clinic, displaying his crisp combos,
and slick footwork. Ramirez looked all kinds of lost in there.
Definitely a feeder fight for Forrest, as this dude had no business in
the cage with Forrest. At one point, Ramirez tells his corner that he
cannot feel his left leg. That elicits a chuckle from us. After Forrest
gets his hand raised, I think he summed his fight up pretty good with,
“I got knocked out in my last fight, so I was just a little afraid for
this one.” Truthful, but funny. The first sergeant echoes his earlier
sentiments about Forrest. I almost spit my apple juice out as an IED
goes off after the last word is spoken. MESSAGE!!! LOL.
RICH FRANKLIN vs. YUSHIN OKAMI
Yushin Okami is “beep” huge! I can see how he was dismantling his last
four opponents, but I found it hard to think that his strength would
play much of a factor with Franklin. Especially since Franklin is a
natural 220 pounder (roundabout.) The fight begins pretty tentative,
with jabs and kicks being thrown sporadically. I could see right off
the bat that this fight was going to be a very cautious,
“win-by-inches” fight. Franklin connected with more jabs and kicks than
Okami even threw. Round two was very similar to the first, with the
exception of one Okami leg kick that looked very fast and landed very
solidly, and a clip to the chin that shook Franklin for a second. Dude
really needs to keep that chin tucked in. He doesn’t have a strong
chin. When will he realize this fact? Other than that, his footwork and
head/body movement is pretty impressive. It’s never a good thing when
the only thing worth mentioning is footwork and head/body movement. Now
the third opened with a whiff, as Okami tries a flying knee instead of
touching hands. Rich does the obligatory finger wag, then engages. From
there, this round is Okami’s as he gets Rich on the ground and shows
what he is capable of. While Rich did get up and out a couple of times,
even slamming him down, Okami kept digging and eventually came up with
not only a full mount, but a wicked tight kimura. I wasn’t shocked by
this, but I was a little apprehensive. I would hate to see Franklin
lose to a lesser fighter in the last round because he got
sloppy/greedy. Which is exactly what Jorge Gurgel told him not to do.
Momma always said a hard head leads to a soft ass. Luckily, Franklin
escapes and closes the round raining punches down on Okami. A very
lackluster victory for Franklin, who is now the number one contender
for the Middleweight title.
My final thoughts on this one…I’ll have to admit to being wrong for
once. This should have been a cable tv show. Not only was the venue not
the greatest, but who in the hell handled the music???? Along with the
show being “aight,” I had to question my mental state, as I kept
finding myself thinking back to my follies during my formative teen
years. So terrifyingly sad, that I had to bore myself to sleep with a
Women’s Health magazine. It worked, and I overslept like a champ!!! But
is anyone else pretty amped up about the 73 and 74 cards??? I’m
especially excited about GSP taking on Kos. That’s going to be a
helluva fight. Deuces!!
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