UFC 123: Machida vs Rampage -- The Dragon versus The Ram

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Ask any fighter of the difficulties of coming back after a loss and they’ll tell you the same thing: Of course, it’s difficult.

Levity is no match for severity, and Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson are in for some serious time in the Octagon hours from now. The loss that Machida underwent was more damaging than the one Jackson went through. Machida got knocked out in the first round in his defense of his UFC light-heavyweight title against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, while Jackson merely lost a three-round decision to Rashad Evans. Both losses were humbling for the former holders of the division title and they must have rethought their strategies for today’s UFC 123 main event.

Machida was under a lot of pressure to prove that he deserved to hold on to the light-heavyweight belt after his unanimous-decision win in UFC 104. That pressure made Machida more aggressive than normal and he paid a steep price by losing his belt and his consciousness courtesy of a Shogun right overhand/hook to the temple. Rampage, on the other hand, got soft after his Hollywood stint and allowed Evans to dictate their UFC 114 tussle with good wrestling and constant takedowns.

You could say that Machida has fallen in love with the straight-on attack and knockouts this offensive system produced after successive KO wins over bangers Thiago Silva and Evans. Machida’s mistake was that he took Shogun’s strength and determination lightly after the ex-Pride middleweight Grand Prix king proved to be a disappointment in his first few fights since jumping over to the UFC. Machida admitted that he knew early on even before signing up with the UFC that he would have to take on Shogun. What he didn’t expect was to get knocked out by his fellow Brazilian.

Rampage has dismissed Machida as a “boring” fighter and he has maintained his opinion going into UFC 123. If Rampage really believes that, it could be his undoing. If by boring Rampage means that Machida relies too much on strategy and counter-striking to earn his victories, then Rampage is right. But those are the things that make Machida such a formidable fighter. He is not impatient (with the exception of the second fight with Shogun) and sticks to his bread-and-butter moves (with the exception of the second fight with Shogun). Like another pro-fighter of Asian heritage, Manny Pacquiao, Machida is quick on his feet and uses a lot of lateral movement in picking his shots. Pacquiao may use way more punches than Machida but they both produce just about the same amount of damage on their opponents: Pacquiao has knocked out 10 of his ring foes since adopting the stick-and-move approach to fighting starting with the Marco Antonio Barrera fight and starting his tutelage under the supreme trainer and strategist Freddie Roach.

Machida has always been an elusive fighter since joining MMA and statistics show that (with the exception of the two fights with Shogun).

If we limit our appraisal of Machida-Rampage I on their track record especially their past UFC performances, we can easily be tempted to give the fight to Machida who has only one loss on his record (two, arguing that he actually lost to Shogun twice) while Rampage has eight losses to 30 MMA wins. But styles will always make fights, and based on this dictum Rampage has a big chance of beating Machida.

The Japanese-Brazilian karateka is a very calculating fighter and can hardly be goaded to go toe to toe. His training dictates him to only go for a strike when his opponent leaves himself open especially after a missed strike of his own. But Rampage does not always leave himself open even after a strike misses or not. Rampage reacts to an attack or an opening. So if Machida comes in with a punch, kick or knee, he has to be very careful not to get caught in the process by a Rampage retaliatory strike.

Former middleweight UFC fighter Dan Henderson is superb at hooking or jabbing then stepping back or doing it in one motion, protecting himself from counterstrikes. Machida, on the other hand, looks for an opening, strikes, then pulls back, and only strikes again if his foe is vulnerable enough. The difficult part is knowing when to do this and a split second of hesitation or an opening could be all that Rampage needs to throw a punch or go for a shoot prior to some ground and pound.

Machida and Rampage need this win. A victory will not only put them back on the championship picture but better still, boost their confidence that they still matter and belong in the upper echelons of the light-heavyweight lineup.

Pacquiao vs Margarito results: Pacquiao is too good for Margarito, makes boxing history again

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All apprehensions of Manny Pacquiao being too small for Antonio Margarito vanished even before the first round ended in their WBC super-welterweight title fight Saturday at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas that Pacquiao won by unanimous decision with the judges scoring it 120-108, 119-109, and 118-110. Pacquiao also won his eighth world boxing title in as many weight categories.

Pacquaio’s near-mythic speed and volume punching obviously flustered Margarito, who at 5-feet-11 and 165 pounds on fight night, looked enormous against Pacquiao’s 5-6 ½ and 146lbs. The next 11 rounds were not much different as Pacquiao took on all of Margarito’s hardest punches even as he methodically destroyed Margarito’s mug and his chances of redemption. The hand-wraps controversy will forever mar Margarito’s legacy but his hopes of putting a sheen on his tarnished image with a win over the “Mexicutioner” diminished as the fight progressed.

Round 4 could have been the most dominating for Pacquaio as he pummeled Margarito with his arsenal of punches while dancing away from counterattacks. Margarito’s body language looked like that of a defeated man as he walked back to his corner when the bell rang. But that was only a third of the punishment he got.

Round 5 showed a reckless Pacquaio who allowed himself to be trapped in the ropes twice, taking on Margarito’s blows but deftly swaying from either side while punching back and eventually escaping. It is not difficult to lure Pacquiao into a toe-to-toe battle even against bigger and theoretically stronger foes as evinced by the Miguel Cotto fight exactly a year ago, the Saranggani Province congressman from the Philippines later admitting that he wanted to get a taste of Cotto’s supposedly more formidable power. Pacquiao did get hit by Margarito but the Mexican couldn’t consistently hurt the Filipino.

It would be redundant and cruel to go through the fight round for round as they practically resembled each other: Pacquiao either attacking and landing punches or gracefully avoiding being hit or countering after Margarito’s punches landed. It was a night full of frustrations for Margarito, who verbally expressed his confidence before the fight of doing what many of his countrymen have failed to do in the last five years: Put an end to the win streak of the bane of Mexico’s best boxers in the 126lbs-150lbs divisions.

Margarito was so confident of beating Pacquiao that he even bet his Mercedes Benz against his uncle’s Jeep. Not only did Margarito lose his car, he lost a lot of blood as Pacquiao cut him below his right eye which also puffed up with a purple hue.

Many are still asking why the fight was allowed to consume all of 12 rounds when it should have been stopped without much protestations except from Margarito, of course, four or five rounds earlier. Margarito, as brave as he was, clearly didn’t have much chance of winning at that point and had obviously taken too much of a beating already that by the 11th round Pacquiao looked imploringly at the referee to stop the carnage. Strangely, neither referee Laurence Cole nor Margarito’s corner with Roberto Garcia at the helm showed much concern and allowed him to finish the fight to the bitter end.

Cole, for his part, merely stopped the fight twice to ask Margarito to count how many fingers he raised to determine the state of his eyesight. The warrior that he is, Margarito could have merely made a guess and got it right to be allowed to continue fighting. Never was the ringside physician called to look at Margarito’s injuries and make his recommendations (as limited as our view of the fight was by the hours-delayed telecast and intrusive commercials).

At the start of the 12th and final round, Pacquiao, the softhearted humanitarian that he is, said something to Margarito, probably asking him if he could still go on. By that time Margarito was so banged up that Pacquiao clearly pulled his punches, merely letting the minutes tick away until the bell rang.

The question in every fight fan’s mind now is: Will Floyd Mayweather Jr. ever agree to fight Pacquiao, especially after seeing (he did watch the fight, didn’t he?) the present holder of the world’s best pound-four-pound boxer title that Mayweather once owned make mincemeat of the slugger that he (Floyd Jr.) so skillfully avoided fighting in the ring? The answer to that right now is a resounding no.

If Mayweather, who loves to tell anyone who still cares to listen that he is the world’s best boxer (throwing his unblemished 41-0 win-loss record at anybody who dares doubt his excellence) wasn’t afraid of Pacquiao, he would have already agreed to sign the contract which stipulated that he gets $40 million besides a share of the pay-per-view money to be generated by the would-have-been richest purse in professional boxing history. There is no arguing the fact: Floyd Mayweather Jr. is afraid of Manny Pacquiao. Another fact-to-be should Pacquiao-Mayweather I push through: Pacquiao will beat Mayweather.

Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito: PacMan Pacquiao ‘KOs’ Margarito, keeps munching on the competition

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That’s not the only way for Manny Pacquiao to beat Antonio Margarito, but if Pacquiao wants to bag his eighth world title in the same number of weight classes, he better get rid of Margarito fast – in three rounds or less. Ironically, Margarito has to do the same if he intends to be the first boxer to give Pacquiao a loss in 12 straight fights.

It is doubtful if Margarito can go 12 rounds with the same intensity as Pacquiao especially if according to plan Pacquiao makes the Mexican his moveable feast of a punching bag. If Pacquiao gains enough weight to replenish what he lost cutting down to 144.6 pounds, way below the catchweight of 151lbs., he will still have the speed that he relies on a large part if he stays near enough what he weighed during the weigh-in.

Size and length have been the basic keywords in arguments endorsing a Margarito win over the comparatively diminutive Filipino, who at an official 5-feet-6 ½ inches is very short to the Mexican’s 5-11. Margarito also has a six-inch reach advantage.

In terms of power, we could give Margarito that considering his size edge, but even though Pacquiao has to crane his neck up to look Margarito in the eye, Pacquiao is no slouch in the power and KO department, amassing a 38-knockout record in 56 bouts, to Margarito’s just as notable 27 KOs in 44 matches.

Bigger is not always stronger even in the power-reliant sport of boxing. Speed is just as important in pugilism since you cannot hurt what you cannot hit, and this is where the smaller Pacquiao excels, having those twinkle toes that mocked the also taller (5-10 ½) Oscar de la Hoya and the just as short as Pacquiao, English crowder-swarmer Ricky Hatton.

De La Hoya practically had the same six-inch reach advantage when he fought Pacquiao, but that didn’t do him much good, although semi-retired at the time, he was not as frisky and hungry as Margarito is now in light of his one-year suspension for glove padding.

Margarito has been tagged the “Tijuana Tornado” for his relentless attack and relatively heavy punches, but his persistence and power may not be enough to neutralize Pacquiao’s competitive power and superior speed and footwork. Pacquiao needs to crowd Margarito, turn the tables on the Mexican who seems to only know one direction: forward. Pacquiao won’t commit the mistake of standing in front of Margarito – a sure way to end up on his back. The clever Filipino long ago learned to run rings around opponents, which made de la Hoya say post-fight that taking on Pacquiao was like fighting several people all at once.

Pacquiao’s stamina is legendary, a product of his near-mythic training regimen – more than willing to go another kilometer on road runs, spar several more rounds than required, take a couple more whacks on the abdomen with those sticks, and take on another bigger opponent. His dedication to training and fighting is unquestioned, that skeptics and the envious go to the extent of alleging that he takes illegal performance-enhancing substances. That remains to be proven. In the meantime, we see Pacquiao lay it all out there on the ring, win or lose. He will go for a consecutive dozen victories in a few hours and nothing less of a knockout win over Margarito will please his literally millions of fans all over the world.

UFC 121 results: Cain Velasquez knocks out Brock Lesnar -- Viva Mexico!

Control prevails over brute strength

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Expect the unexpected, that is a phrase that could best describe Cain Velasquez’s stunning win over Brock Lesnar. It doesn’t have anything to do with strategy or mode of attack – both fighters trained for what the other might do. It’s the unexpected manner by which Velasquez grabbed the UFC heavyweight title from Lesnar: relatively easy.

Sure, Velasquez got hurt. Lesnar kneed him and was able to take him down, but Velasquez was never seriously in danger and got back on his feet rather quickly after every fall.

The dominance was by Velasquez. He landed the heavier blows and was always in control of his emotions, never let himself be tempted to let go and just pummel Lesnar even when he had the advantage. He definitely picked his shots. Velasquez is notorious for his iron-lung stamina and now he is just as famous for his control and restraint.

Lesnar looked intimidating making his entrance into the Octagon with his full beard and Metallica’s Enter Sandman coming out of the speakers. Velasquez, on the other hand, walked towards the Octagon stoic as usual. No emotion registering on his face. His intro music, in contrast to Lesnar’s heavy-metal menace, was celebratory. It was as if Velasquez was with his posse wading into a crowd at a Mexican fiesta.

The crowd made known where its sentiments lay as it cheered lustily for Velasquez during the fighter introductions and booed Lesnar. Accustomed to his heel role in professional wrestling, Lesnar managed to smile even before MC Bruce Buffer introduced him.

In mere seconds from the start of the fight, the fighters clinched. Lesnar kneed Velasquez and took him down. It didn’t take long for Velasquez to get right back up on his feet, but Lesnar quickly pushed him to the fence. Velasquez, with his back securely on the fence, elbowed the side of Lesnar’s head.

For almost a minute, Lesnar kept Velasquez on the fence before taking him down. Velasquez got back right up. It was Velasquez’s turn to take down Lesnar who did a Velasquez by getting vertical rather easily but Velasquez again took down Lesnar and got his back.

Velasquez kept the pressure and at 2:16 he knocked Lesnar down and proceeded to ground and pound him. He separated but fell down on Lesnar, controlling the bigger fighter with a knee on the chest.

Lesnar found a way to stand up at 1:07 but Velasquez hit him again with a solid punch. Lesnar fell while trying to cover up, his face bloodied from a cut below his left eye not counting the other damage Velasquez had inflicted on him.

Velasquez didn’t go postal and was still picking his shots even as match referee Herb Dean yelled something to the fighters; probably telling Lesnar to defend himself or he would be forced to stop the fight, which he did at 4:12 of the round.

With 48 seconds left and kilograms of oxygen still left in Velasquez’s gas tank, he became the new UFC heavyweight champion.

“I trained for a five-round fight...You can’t expect a first round stoppage…Latinos!...We did it, ha!” a jubilant Velasquez said in the post-fight Octagon interview.

Joe Rogan also interviewed Lesnar predictably with the crowd booing. Lesnar smiled through the pain, promising he would be back in the gym to train.

Lesnar said: “He is a great fighter…What can I say? He was better than me tonight.”

Yes, Brock, but you were not expecting that.

Other results:

• Jon Madsen over Gilbert Yvel (TKO, referee stoppage, Round 1, 1:48)
• Chris Camozzi over Dongi Yang (Split Decision, 3 rounds)
• Sam Stout over Paul Taylor (SD, 3 rounds)
• Daniel Roberts over Michael Guymon (Submission, anaconda choke, R1, 1:13)
• Tom Lawlor over Patrick Cote (Unanimous Decision, 3 rounds)
• Court McGee over Ryan Jensen (Submission, arm triangle, R3, 1:21)
• Brendan Schaub over Gabriel Gonzaga (UD, R3)
• Matt Hamill over Tito Ortiz (UD, 3 rounds)
• Diego Sanchez over Paulo Thiago (UD, 3 rounds)
• Jake Shields over Martin Kampmann (SD, 3 rounds)

UFC 121 preview: Cain Velasquez looks to do an Abel on Brock Lesnar

They’re not brothers. One is a Mexican American banger who has decent wrestling and grappling skills, has a granite jaw, is definitely smaller but is as tough as any Aztec warrior there ever was.

The other is a huge white boy who once did some acting in professional wrestling, has a head full of bricks, has more muscle on him than most overweight people have fat, and is as tough as any WWE product who ventured into MMA. Er, scratch the last one.

Cain Velasquez is the underdog in his match with Brock Lesnar in most fight fans’ eyes. Coming in at 6-feet-1 and 244 pounds to Lesnar’s 6-3 and 264 pounds, Velasquez weighs now what Lesnar did in college minus five meals in a week.

The size disparity alone makes Lesnar the prohibitive favorite. Considering that Lesnar earned all his past victories by submission through strikes and technical knockouts and possessing such amazing speed for a large man, Velasquez is already counted out as just another victim.

Lesnar will naturally want to take the fight to the ground and pound Velasquez senseless unless he taps out verbally or with a hand slamming the mat. But with a strong college wrestling background just like Lesnar, Velasquez (who also has a purple belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu) can fight on the ground. Lesnar may have heavier hands but Velasquez has more refined boxing skills.

Don’t expect either of them to use too much kicking. It will be feet planted on the ground and letting go of haymakers. Should Lesnar be on the receiving end of fisticuffs, he will use his superior speed and strength to take down Velasquez and try to pound him with those sledgehammer fists of his, or even surprise us again with a submission hold just like he did on Shane Carwin.

Lesnar said that he doesn’t expect Velasquez to give him much trouble, pointing out that smaller fighters like Randy Couture and Min-Soo Kim did not pose much of a threat to him before. The trouble is neither Couture nor Kim was as good, strong and young as Velasquez is at present. Both opponents were past their prime when they lost to Lesnar.

At 28 and on a hot eight-match win streak (seven by KO), Velasquez is as dangerous a challenger as Carwin was in the first round against Lesnar in UFC 116.

The non-garrulous Velasquez (in contrast to the brash and voluble Lesnar) is determined to take away Lesnar’s title. With the resolute look of a killer, wearing those Dethrone shirts and caps should help fortify Velasquez’s goal: Destroy Brock!

UFC 117: Chael Sonnen grinds his way into near upset of Anderson Silva

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Jon Fitch again shows why he is the most boring top-level MMA fighter

Chael Sonnen fights as well as he (trash) talks and gave Anderson Silva more of a beating than he underwent in all of his past 11 UFC bouts.

For most of four rounds and a half Sonnen grounded and pounded Silva and was a minute and 50 seconds away from winning the UFC middleweight belt when his tired body was unable to escape from a triangle choke.

Sonnen’s right hand tapped once on Silva’s left leg but when Silva let go, Sonnen feigned (or perhaps it was oxygen depletion that caused his confusion) not to have submitted.

Sonnen didn’t pretend to be something else. He came in to the Octagon with the reputation of a damn fine wrestler and that’s what he did. He did surprise Silva with some crisp punching, hitting Silva in the very first round with straight lefts that buckled the Brazilian.

Then the takedowns and pounding on the ground ensued. Except when Silva tapped out Sonnen in the fifth round, Sonnen’s Greco-Roman wrestling proved better than Silva’s Nogueira Brothers Jiujitsu.

While controlling Silva on the ground, Sonnen peppered him with punches, hammer blows, elbows, forearms, even some palms and slaps that you could almost see Silva’s round bald head start to get dented and his brain cells fall into place preventing another clownish behavior like in the Thales Leites and Demian Maia fights.

Sonnen is not really a powerful striker. If he had, say, fellow Team Quest Dan Henderson’s force, the fight would not have reached the fifth round and Sonnen would have been the new UFC middleweight king. But such is the way of should, would, and could have beens -- it’s pure speculation.

But the dominance with which Sonnen displayed was pure reality. It is proof that to beat a superb striker like Silva, it takes a superb wrestler. Maia’s world-class jiujitsu could not touch Silva. For jujitsu technique to be applied, one has to get hold of an opponent and preferably take the fight to the ground.

As capable a grappler Silva is, he favors standup battles. But Sonnen did not grant Silva that luxury. He took Silva to the ground every chance he got. It was Sonnen’s misfortune that he was too tired and got careless in the final minutes of the fight and got caught in a triangle choke. If Sonnen wants to win a rematch with Silva and grab the title, he better learn some (or a lot of) defense against submissions.

That is if Vitor Belfort doesn’t beat Silva first. Belfort is like Silva’s mirror image -– they are both Brazilian Jiujitsu black belts who prefer to strike. Belfort has the edge on Silva in the speed department, they are quite even power-wise, but Silva has the savvy advantage. Silva has shown that he can withstand a pounding. Belfort’s chin is still relatively untested. But that is what will make it fun, strikers who will be testing each other out as to who will last.

As both Silva and Sonnen tapped gloves before the fight started, it was no surprise that they hugged and shook hands after the fight despite all the jibes Sonnen heaped on Silva. Silva had to show his respect to Sonnen, battered as he was. This was probably the only time that Silva knelt in the Octagon and sincerely felt like showing respect to an opponent and the crowd. Right after ducking a bullet in the form of a 185.5-pound American-bred wrestler, Silva knelt before Sonnen and laid his belt on the ground.

The Brazilian striking specialist said in the post-fight interview that he doesn’t bear grudges but he wouldn’t have said it if he had lost. It’s easier to be magnanimous in victory. If he had lost, he would probably would have cursed Sonnen in Portuguese and let his manager Ed Soares do the translating.

BORING. Jon Fitch is right now the most boring fighter in the UFC. To start with, he doesn’t have much skills. Then all he does is try to take down his opponents and keep them there. He has submitted opponents before. The easy ones. Against an opponent with good defense, all he can do is sneak in a few ineffective punches before the referee starts to get as bored as the audience and stands up both fighters. Fitch’s win over Thiago Alves was a waste of 15 minutes better spent watching Arianny Celeste walk back to her chair outside the Octagon. What Joe Rogan said of Fitch’s fighting style that he fights ugly but it’s beautiful to watch doesn’t make sense. Boring is never beautiful, Joseph.

Semi-retired or should-be-retired Matt Hughes, on the other hand, is still worth the pay-per-view fee. At 36 years of age and past his prime, Hughes proved he is still relevant in the welterweight division by choking out BJJ third-degree black belt Ricardo Almeida in 3:15 of the very first round. That earned Hughes Submission of the Night honors and a cool $60,000 extra. But this should not put ideas in Hughes’ head that he can still get back his title. Georges St. Pierre still sits comfortably on the welterweight throne and the pretenders to that throne are guys named Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez, Mike Swick, Marcus Davis, Dan Hardy, and the aforementioned Fitch and Alves, who could make Hughes feel his age.

UFC 117 has one of the best cards this year even though the battle of giants -– Junior dos Santos and Roy Nelson –- didn’t produce a knockout despite all the leather thrown. There’s still five months left before the year ends but Silva vs. Sonnen will be hard to top.

UFC 112: Anderson Silva confirms he is the world’s best MMA showboat and clown

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BJ Penn gets dethroned as lightweight king

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva could be bipolar. He certainly fights like he’s got split personalities. One round he looks like he’s indeed the best mixed-martial-arts fighter in the world, the next round he acts like he’s auditioning for The Last Comic Standing with his fists.

Yesterday, Silva gave detractors another reason to put him down. While he successfully defended his title against fellow Brazilian Demian Maia, he did it in such an eccentric manner. Silva showed flashes of his brilliance with quick and accurate strikes with his hands and feet but he suddenly decided to ham it up with rubbery torso swaying, doing circles with his arms, going down low with his hands nearly touching the canvas, and running circles around Maia.

At one point, Silva even hid behind referee Dan Miragliotta, who stepped to one side and pushed Silva by his shoulder. Miragliotta actually stopped the fight in the fifth round as Silva did everything to avoid making contact with Maia and warned the champion he would deduct a point from him if he kept literally running circles around the frustrated (and by then battered) Maia.

This latest weird episode in Silva’s UFC career is not that surprising in light of what he did in UFC 90 against Patrick Cote. Silva also avoided fighting it out with Cote in a good part of the match.

Yesterday was Silva’s most bizarre behavior in the UFC. He was not only weird, even worst, he was arrogant and haughty. After connecting with some good punches and kicks on Maia, he seemed to have decided he had done enough to show his superiority and kept on shouting and taunting with gestures at Maia to attack him.

Later in the fight, the crowd had enough of Silva’s shenanigans by chanting Maia’s name and then GSP’s (Georges St. Pierre). Silva said pre-fight that he would drop to 170 pounds after the Maia fight to challenge GSP for the welterweight crown. That is the fight many MMA fans would love to see, hoping that the excellent (some even believe is even the better fighter than Silva) Kyokushinkai black belt would be the first UFC warrior to put Silva in his place.

It is obvious all this talk about Silva being the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter has gone to the Brazilian’s bald head. Rock stars are constantly warned not to believe in their own press release because it would mess them up. Someone should give a similar warning to Silva.

In the co-main event, BJ Penn, another Top 10 PFP MMA fighter, got his lightweight belt snatched by challenger Frankie Edgar. This fight is one proof of the necessity of scoring judges. A fan’s passive view of the fight would create the impression that Penn did enough to retain his title. Sure, Edgar was the more active of the two if you see his prancing and dancing and faking as evidence of being more active.

But it did appear that Penn was the more accurate striker and he did manage to stay on his feet most of the fight. Edgar took him down twice. The first time Penn almost instantly got back up and the second time he got Edgar in his guard and got back on his feet without Edgar doing any damage with strikes or submission attempts.

The scores were 50-45, 48-47 and 49-46 for Edgar. OK, granted that the fight was close and the judges, whose business it is to keep close track of the fight and score it accordingly, actually saw Edgar had the edge and he deserved to win -- but casual observers, those who take their eyes off the fight to say to a friend Did you see that? or get up from the sofa to get more beer from the fridge could not be blamed for believing that Penn should have won.

Penn seemed he controlled the fight and whenever he hit Edgar, most of his strikes appeared solid and were more numerous. Anyway, Edgar won and that’s how the judges saw it. Even Penn touched Edgar on the head after the decision was announced. Too bad Joe Rogan did not get Penn’s opinion post fight.

As to the welterweight match between two grizzled veterans in Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie: Wow! Hughes still got it. He can still bang and he still has most of his wits about him. Never did Hughes try too many times to take down Gracie and do his patented ground and pound. He knew too well that Gracie is better than him technically on the ground so he did more striking than takedowns.

Those leg kicks Hughes landed on Gracie’s left leg did their job. They took out Gracie’s base and he came in close to punch him out. TKO win in the third round for Hughes. But lest Hughes start believing he can capitalize on that win to get back on the title hunt, someone please remind him that he is 36 years old and that his best years are behind him. Knocking out someone seven years older than him and fighting guys 10 years younger than him are too different things.

In another middleweight bout, Mark Muñoz showed why he is called the “Filipino Wrecking Machine.” After Kendall Grove pummeled him and almost submitted him twice, he caught the six-inch taller fighter with one heavy punch and added several more heavy punches to force the referee to stop the punishment in the second round.

Another Filipino, Brandon Vera, hasn’t had much luck in the UFC lately and still another Filipino, Phillipe Nover, did not have his contract with the UFC renewed -- so it is now up to Muñoz to carry the Philippine flag in the world’s foremost MMA promotion.

If Muñoz can improve his defense (meaning, he gets hit less) and learns some submission techniques, he will be a meaner stud and could be one of the five best in his division.

UFC 108: Thiago Silva Nearly Makes Rashad Evans' Sugar Turn Sour

Evans decisions Silva with superior wrestling (and takedowns)

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The fact of Rashad Evans being a top-class wrestler is inevitably mentioned whenever he fights. But aside from clinching his opponents in between episodes of striking, Evans has been more of a striker than a wrestler/grappler. Not anymore. Evans rediscovered his roots and used this to his full advantage in eking out a unanimous decision victory over Thiago Silva last Sunday.

Evans stuck to his game plan and almost got plastered because of it. Evans was quite successful in taking down Silva, unwilling to trade strikes with the taller Chute Boxe specialist and Brazilian Jiujitsu black belt (they both are, Evans earning his rank on the day of their match).

It was clear a minute into round one that Evans was not too confident standing up against Silva, who has a two-inch height and half-an-inch reach advantage over him. Evans thrived in rushing towards Silva, going for a single-leg takedown. Silva was smart enough to use the Octagon fence at times to get back up on his feet. But even after being taken down away from the fence, he didn’t have much difficulty getting right back up.

Clearly, due to his aggression and numerous successful TD attempts, Evans won both the first two rounds. But Silva’s striking finally caught up with Evans in the final two minutes.

Round 1 was typical of the way Evans fought. Not 10 seconds after the horn sounded to start the main event, Evans clinched Silva with a right underhook with the latter’s back on the fence. Silva temporarily had a Thai plum on Evans, pulled him down looking for a Kimura on Evan’s right arm.

Evans then transitioned to a double-leg takedown and slammed Silva to the ground. But almost just as quickly, Silva was able to stand up.

At the 4:09 mark, Evans again slammed Silva with double-leg TD, moving to side control. Evans got full mount to the excited howl of the crowd. Silva, finally getting lots of chances to show his jiujitsu skills, shrimped out grabbing Evans’ left ankle, using that for leverage to get back up on his feet.

They again got into a clinch until the 2:57 mark. Evans landed a weak left elbow to Silva’s head. They separated and traded punches at an even rate while moving towards the middle of the Octagon.

Evans walked in to a Silva left knee, but he took down Silva again and got side control. Evans went for north-south. Silva turned, grabbed Evans’ right leg, got on his knees before standing up. Excellent escapes were shown by Silva all throughout the fight, recalling another Thiago (Alves) who was taken down more than 10 times in his championship bout with welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre in UFC 100, but had no trouble getting vertical again.

It is safe to say that a very good wrestler constantly going for a takedown can neutralize the superior striking skills of a kickboxer or muay Thai specialist. Evans was an NCAA division 1 wrestler, while St. Pierre may not have had as stellar a college sports career, but his wrestling is just as good as Evans’.

For an awkward stretch (from 2:12 to 1:48), Evans and Silva simply stood in front of each other doing nothing until Silva initiated some striking with jabs and inside leg kicks. Predictably, Evans rushed in with punches then clinched Silva who was walking back to the fence. Evans got a right arm underhook, maneuvering for position. Silva got hold of Evans' neck, but the former light-heavyweight champion pulled out with 35 seconds left on the clock, exploding with punches.

Evans stepped back and hit Silva with a right hook to the body, immediately going for a double-leg TD. Silva fell but had both arms wrapped around the torso of Evans, landing in a sitting position, his back to the fence. In the final 21 seconds, Silva got back on his feet, but Evans pushed him to the fence. With eight seconds remaining, they disengaged, went to Octagon center. Silva ended the round with a left roundhouse to Evans head that fell short.

The rest of the three-round fight went practically the same except for the last two minutes of Round 3 when Silva tagged Evans on the jaw with a left hook and an overhand right, wobbling him. Silva landed one more punch before Evans fell on his hands and knees near the fence. Silva hit Evans on the head with another punch, before the latter somehow got back up on his feet.

Silva took his sweet time punching Evans. He landed two uppercuts and showboated by spreading his arms, pushing his head forward, baiting Evans to counter. The takedowns and the struggle to get out from under in the early part of the match took their toll. Silva gassed out and he stood in the middle of the Octagon, hands on his hips, looking spent.

With less than a minute left, Silva threw a half-hearted lunging left jab. A few seconds later Evans pinned Silva to the fence in a clinch and they stayed there until the end of the match when Silva pushed off Evans just as the horn sounded.

Silva looked frustrated with his business unfinished. He could have knocked out Evans if only there was enough gas left in his tank.

The judges were unanimous in handing the victory to Evans on similar 29-28 scores.

Evans said in the post-fight interview that he wants Quinton “Rampage” Jackson next. Evans is not careful with what he wishes for. Jackson is potentially more dangerous than Silva and definitely stronger. Evans' wrestling could not be enough to beat Rampage.

UFC 107: Nightmare’s End, Prodigy on the Mend

BJ Penn powers past Diego Sanchez

(Photo from sherdog.com)

Apparently, BJ Penn has gotten over the humiliating defeat he suffered at the hands of Georges St. Pierre almost a year ago. Penn has accepted the fact that he is a natural lightweight and that the super fight with St. Pierre at welterweight was at a distinct disadvantage to him and he better put up stakes exclusively at 155 pounds.

In UFC 107, Penn legitimized his stranglehold with a just-as-dominant win over Diego Sanchez, the same way St. Pierre put Penn in his place in UFC 94.

Just when Jo Rogan finished saying: “Freddie Roach once said that B.J. Penn has the best boxing in MMA,” Penn knocked down Sanchez with an overhand right to the jaw in 4:33 of the first round. Sanchez got up quickly, but Penn had him in a muay Thai plum and kneed him on his mean-face contest-winning mug for another fall. With his left arm around Sanchez’s waist, Penn pummeled Sanchez with fists while “Nightmare’ stayed semi-conscious on all fours probably thinking to himself the punishment he was undergoing wasn’t for real – that it was just a terrible dream he was to wake up from.

Sanchez rolled and sought a full guard with his back to the ground. Penn was too smart to get caught in a guard, and too frenzied to knock Sanchez out. Penn stepped to Sanchez’s left and kept striking. Penn wanted to get side control but Sanchez’s butterfly prevented him.

At 4:01, the two fighters found themselves on the fence in a north-south position. Sanchez pushed with both feet on the fence while trying to escape, but Penn pushed him back. Sanchez was able to get back on his feet at 3:43 when Penn let go of his hold as he went for punches to the head of Sanchez, who seemingly did not sustain much damage despite the barrage of blows.

Penn got back to stalking Sanchez. The challenger’s left roundhouse kick missed Penn by at least a foot, proving that he hadn’t fully recovered yet.

At 2:54, Sanchez rushed Penn with hand strikes and a half-assed flying knee, pushing the champion to the fence, getting hold of his right leg but was unable to take Penn down. They disengaged as Sanchez landed a left elbow on Penn’s head.

The rest of the first round had Sanchez surviving, but not before getting hit with another right to the head before the bell rang.

Rounds 2 to the fateful 5 was more of the same, as Sanchez was intent on getting a takedown and perhaps grounding and pounding or submitting Penn with a choke or armbar or something. Something is the right word for Sanchez, because that’s all he could hope for as Penn clearly showed his superiority.

A kick to the head of Sanchez inside the last three minutes of Round 5 produced an obscenely huge cut on the left side of Sanchez’s forehead. It was a good thing referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the beating that Penn was dealing Sanchez to have the latter’s wound checked by the ring doctor who decided Sanchez had enough for the night. Penn by TKO in the 5th.

Mir vs. Kongo

In the undercard, Cheick Kongo paid dearly by keeping his hands down as he ate a left overhand punch to the right jaw that dropped him in only 4:18 of the first round. Mir followed Kongo to the ground where the French kickboxer hit Mir on the rib with a rather weak shin kick followed by a right single-leg takedown attempt.

Mir missed with two hooks but trapped Kongo’s neck in a guillotine choke in a half guard. Kongo got back on his feet, but Mir took him down to the ground holding on tight while falling on his back. Referee Herb Dean lifted Kongo's right arm which went limp as he called a stop to the fight at 3:49 of the round.

Other results:
Jon Fitch over Mike Pierce via Unanimous Decision in 3 rounds; Kenny Florian over Clay Guida, Submission (choke) R2 (2:19); Stefan Struve over Paul Buentello, Majority Decision 3R; Alan Belcher over Wilson Gouveia, Technical Knockout, R1 (3:03); Matt Wiman over Shane Nelson, UD 3R; Johny Hendricks over Ricardo Funch, UD, 3R; Rousimar Palhares over Lucio Linhares, Submission (leglock), 2R (3:21); DaMarques Johnson over Edgar Garcia, Submission (choke) 1R (4:03); TJ Grant over Kevin Burns, TKO, 1R (1:57).