- Frank Edgar defeated Mark Bocek by TKO at 4:55 of Rd 1
- Chris Lytle defeated Jason Gilliam 2:15
of Rd 1 by triangle choke
- Jorge Gurgel defeated Diego Saraiva by Unanimous Decision
- Stephan Bonnar defeated Mike Nickels by Rear Naked Choke at 2:14 of Rd 1
- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defeated Heath Herring by Unanimous Decision.
-
Sean Sherk defeated Hermes Franca by Unanimous Decision.
-
Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans is judged a Unanimous Draw
-
Anderson Silva defeated Nathan Marquat by TKO Rd 1 (Referee's stoppage due to strikes)
-
Kenny Florian defeated Alvin Robinson due to Tapout from Strikes at 4:30 of Rd 1
Post fight analysis by Damon "The Beast" Daniels
I’m sitting at my desk, lost in a sea of chicken, biscuits, and apple
juice. I’m trying to figure out what exactly is wrong with the day.
From the time I woke up, I’ve felt a bit out of sorts. Could it be the
heat? Could it be the fact I had to watch an almost-grown man crying as
I watched “Bounce” starring Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow? (Bite me…I
was in a sentimental mood and decided to watch a chick flick. The
roommate joined in watching later…honest.) Or could it be the mixed
feelings I am feeling for this edition of In My Oh So Humble Opinion…?
ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA vs. HEATH HERRING
As Heath’s entrance music whistled thru the speakers, I couldn’t help
but grimace just a little. The western theme is just waaayy too
cliché-ish for me. With Heath and his entourage in Stetsons and such,
it was just a bit much. Especially seeing as how that was the best
showing I’ve seen of Heath, thus far. And I meant that last statement.
His entrance evoked more response in me than his actual fighting. That
will change though, but later. Next came Big Nog, whose entrance was
filled with cheers, but my gut was filled with fear. My only thoughts
at the moment were “please don’t let this dude get knocked the f***
out!” As the fight started, it was clear from the onset how much better
Nog’s punching was compared to Herring’s. With punches landing at will,
you would have thought he was going to knock Herring out at any given
moment. Then came the takedown. I was getting anxious. What a way to
make your debut, throw leather, get the takedown, get the sub. Nope. I
guess having Marc Laimon in his corner helped Herring a lot because the
subs just weren’t happening in this bout. Almost as soon as he hit the
canvas, Herring was right back on his feet, throwing sloppy punches,
but pretty good-looking kicks. Why good looking kicks you ask? Because
one of said kicks smacked Nog on the jaw as he was stepping in, and put
Nog on his back. As I screamed to the high heavens “WHY!?!?!!” I was
brought back to the fight as my buddies screamed at what Herring was
doing to finish the fight. A few paltry hammer fists, and then an
invite to stand back up. My jaw and the bottle of apple juice hit the
floor. One because the ref didn’t stop the fight (thankfully), and two,
because WHAT THE HELL WAS HERRING THINKING!?! “Oh my, I seemed to have
put Minotauro on his back with a kick to the head. Let me just throw a
few fast hammer-fists and see if the ref will stop the fight. No? Then
let me get up off of him so he can stand back up as time runs out.”
Herring cemented himself in my head as an idiot. The cement dried
further as he failed to engage Nog in the second period, thus allowing
Nog to get his bearings back. After that, the rest of the fight pretty
much consisted of Nog punching Herring, getting some takedowns,
attempting a RNC/Neck Crank, and riding out the unanimous decision win.
Not a pretty victory for Nog, but not altogether bad, either. Herring
should consider finding a new job.
SEAN SHERK vs. HERMES FRANCA
I’m not going to dress this fight up with much. I’ll only say that if
you have to beg for a title-shot, you probably didn’t deserve it. As I
said prior to the fight, Franca isn’t on the same level as Sherk.
Period. The only noteworthy offense Franca provided was a knee at the
beginning of round 2, where Sherk was wobbled a little, but even then,
he could not capitalize on it. That knee found its mark on all but one
opening stanza for this fight. Somewhere, some hopeful contender was
writing down on a notepad “knee” as a viable weapon against Sherk.
Overall, this was a five round molly-whopping with the UD going to
Sherk. Next up, B.J. Penn. Get ready for a war.
TITO ORTIZ vs. RASHAD EVANS
This was supposed to be the fight of the night. While it was exciting
to a certain degree, I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I wanted to.
This fight showcased a one-dimensional Tito against a talented, though
inexperienced, timid Evans. Much of this fight was spent up against the
cage, or dancing around. The offensive highlights for this fight was
the very fast double-leg takedown achieved by Tito, followed by a very
fast standup by Evans. The next was a takedown attempt and finish by
Evans, however, in the process, Tito grabbed the fence and was hit with
a point deduction. Upon hitting the canvas, though, Tito quickly
applied a deep guillotine choke but time expired. The next round saw
some more dancing, takedown attempts, and some leather flying. The
round came to a close with an authoritative slam by Rashad, followed by
several unanswered punches from side-control. I found that last
offensive by Rashad to be quite telling of a future encounter between
these two, however, the fight was ruled a draw. I had to agree with the
ruling, but I will go on record to say that when (already scheduled for
an immediate rematch) these two meet again, you’ll see a much more
aggressive Rashad Evans, and you’ll see Tito Ortiz next gracing posters
for the WEC. Bank on it!!!
ANDERSON SILVA vs. NATHAN MARQUARDT (Bankhead Bounce)
I originally said that you’ll either see Marquardt push the pace, or
you’ll see him go back into his very boring, very timid shell (maybe
not those exact words.) The Marquardt that entered that Octagon looked
shook, shaken, stirred, and any other colorful adjectives one can think
of. To give Marquardt the benefit of the doubt, he handled the
acrobatics of Silva pretty well, but didn’t capitalize on the ground as
he is capable of. When the ref stood them up, I just knew it was the
beginning of the end. When “The Great’s” head was snapped back and he
was sent backpedaling to the cage, that previous knowledge gained some
momentum, and when Silva soon stood over Marquardt and started sending
heat rounds to his head, I could only shake my head and sigh. The
Spider claimed yet another victim by TKO.
ALVIN ROBINSON vs. KENNY FLORIAN (Doing the butterfly)
I had mixed feelings about this fight as it appeared both KenFlo and
Kid were rushed to the cage. I imagine both were either fairly cold, or
nerve-wracked. The ensuing fight was pretty good, though. Alvin came to
fight. I had to give the striking to Alvin, as his hands were faster
and more powerful. Too bad his takedown defense sucked all to hell. The
same can almost be said for his ground-game. Unless people wish to
agree with my logic that KenFlo is simply good. While Robinson did
defend okay for a little bit, it was only a matter of time before he
got ripped back down to the ground and was subsequently taken to
school, as Kenny quickly and efficiently achieved the full mount and
unleashed hell on a tapping Robinson. One of the better fights
televised in my opinion, as both fighters brought it.
As you can see, I wasn’t truly blown away by “the best card ever
assembled.” With the heavyweight clash evoking the most reaction out of
me, I can only hope future cards top this one. I didn’t even drink very
much apple juice with this one. Good fights, but not great. Time to hit
the gym. Until next time, people.
 |
|
|
Who's Online
We have 7 guests and 1 member online
|
