UFC 165: Jon Jones Scandal – ‘Bones’ Exposed

YOU SHOULD SEE THE OTHER GUY. Jon 'Bones' Jones got busted up worse in one fight, courtesy of Sweden's Alexander 'The Mauler' Gustafsson, than in all of his previous 13 UFC fights put together. Jones won by controversial unanimous decision on the judges' scorecards. (Image from: www.gannett-cdn.com)

FIGHTING someone his size, light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones retained (he shouldn’t have) his title while losing a lot of blood and prestige in the MMA community. In the post-fight interview inside the Octagon with color-commentator Joe Rogan, Jones tried to show a brave face despite the numerous cuts on it, referring repeatedly to his “warrior spirit” and referencing Bruce Lee’s “be water” philosophy. There was plenty of water, all right, after a hard-fought bout with all the sweat and blood that both combatants expelled.

Judges’ decisions have been a sore point in the Ultimate Fighting Championship for a long time. Alexander Gustafsson should have been given the win for the first three rounds at least, with his accurate sniping, fleet-footed defense in the standup battle, and his amazing takedown defense. For the record, the Swede is the first UFC fighter to have taken down Jones, scoring two, while stuffing 10-of-11 takedown attempts by the defending champion.

Round 4 was clearly won by Jones as his elbow finally landed squarely on a (sitting) ducking Gustaffson, who remarkably survived follow-up strikes by Jones. Round 5 could have gone either way as the candidate for Fight-of-the-Year honors went all five rounds.

The Air Canada Centre audience made their sentiments known after the winner was announced. All three judges scored it all for Jones (48-47,48-47, and 49-46!). Gustaffson, with good grace, refused to criticize the judges’ decision or said anything suggesting that he got a bum call, only saying that it was an honor for him to fight the champion.

The end of the first round saw Jones with a familiar look in his mug, the worry etched reminiscent of the way he walked back to his corner after Round 1 when he fought Lyoto Machida in UFC 140. Against Machida his main concern was how to tag the Brazilian; against Gustafsson he had to contend not just with the difficulty of landing a solid strike on the Swede, he also had to avoid The Mauler’s accurate striking.

The same pattern followed in Rounds 2 and 3. Jones kept missing with his patented spinning elbow, hitting Gustafsson once but merely grazing him. Gustafsson’s defense and chin were superb all throughout the fight. It wasn’t that it was just The Mauler who punished Bones; the defending champion gave as good as he got but the challenger had the edge in the initial three rounds. In Round 4, Gustafsson stayed down low too long, exposing his head on which Jones finally hit with a solid spinning elbow. Jones smelled blood and went for the kill but he couldn’t finish Gustafsson despite a knee, an elbow, punches, and the kitchen sink.

YOU KNOW I BEAT YOU, JON. Alexander Gustafsson talks with Jon Jones inside the Octagon after their UFC 165 lightheavyweight championship fight at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.(Image from: www.gannett-cdn.com)

THIS is one of those big fights that will almost always have the adjective “controversial” attached to it with people demanding a rematch which will most likely still be a close fight but with Jones more prepared for a beating. Snicker. The last time a rematch was conducted due to the controversy involved; the challenger did in the “undeserving” champion via first-round KO. We know that The Mauler has enough power to do what Mauricio “Shogun” Rua did to his fellow-Brazilian Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida. But will Dana White’s Las-Vegas mafia allow a Gustafsson-Jones II? Of course they will. It’s all about the money after all despite White’s mouthpiece Joe Rogan repeatedly extolling the ultimate virtues of the UFC’s current moneymaker “the greatest talent to ever enter the Octagon” Jones who now has to rethink his ego and his future plans. Yes, plans, as in moving up to the heavyweight division.

As a 206-and-above pounder, Jones can comfortably allow his weight to balloon on the condition that it doesn’t go beyond 265lbs, and take on the likes of Alistair Overeem who will probably break Jones’ spindly legs like matchstick. Even gatekeeper Frank Mir will give Jones fits should Mir get Jones to the ground or hit him with a punch courtesy of his improved boxing.

We knew all along that Jones was “dominating” his division because he was fighting below his proper weight, same as the recently dethroned hype-machine Anderson “The Spider” Silva. Jones and Silva are authentically extremely-talented athletes who have brought excitement and loads of income into the UFC, but one of the major reasons they have ruled the ranks is size disparity, their physical edge over majority of their opponents. Silva couldn’t have that against Chris Weidman and paid for it. Sure, Silva shot himself with his kooky taunting ways, too, but at 6-feet-2, the same height as Weidman, he couldn’t look over his opponent. Jones, at 6-4, is actually shorter than Gustafsson officially by an inch.

The Fertitta brothers are shrewd businessmen whose financial acumen has been honed in the gambling paradise of Vegas. With the ouster of Silva and the relative popularity of Georges St. Pierre, the UFC only has Jones to nurture and milk because of the championship title he holds…but barely. Despite being robbed of a victory, the loss is a moral victory for Gustafsson who confidently declared before the fight that he could beat Jones any day. He did, unfortunately, the judges didn’t see it that way. And for those waiting for the man to beat Jones, Gustafsson is it, disproving the words “NOT QUITE HUMAN” emblazoned on Jones’ Nike sponsored-walkout shirt.

Many are of the opinion that Jones should not be the UFC light-heavyweight king anymore. In the post-fight press conference, Dana White played it safe after being asked as to who he believed should have gotten the judges’ nod. White cried, “I stopped scoring the fight…” Sure you did, Dana, and if the judges were more enlightened, you would have cried for the right reason.

There’s only one way to settle this controversy – rematch. Glover Teixeira was promised a shot at whoever won Jones-Gustafsson I, but except for Teixeira and his supporters, everyone would rather have Jones-Gustafsson II as soon as possible.

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

(Image from centurymartialarts.com)

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)

(Photo from sherdog.com)

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 100: A Centennial of Striking, Grappling, and Grounding and Pounding

Dan Henderson over Michael Bisping, Georges St. Pierre over Thiago Alves, and Frank Mir over Brock Lesnar.

It’s a wish list not prophecy.

Only the divinely-inspired are infallible but that won’t stop anyone from predicting the outcome of anything. The hype leading to the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been as relentless as Wanderlei Silva stalking Kazushi Sakuraba and as Dana White insisting that Anderson Silva is the world’s pound-for-pound best MMA fighter. There have been press conferences, a weigh-in, a top 100 UFC fights series, match-up predictions – lots of MMA on the buffet table – that you just get the urge to come up with your own crystal-ball gazing.

Free-For-All’s 10 cents’ worth comes from a fan’s perspective more than from a fight analyst’s point of view.

I am biased towards Henderson for his pug and pit-bull approach to fighting. He will try to knock you out as quickly as he can. If he has to use his formidable wrestling skills to do it, he will. But Henderson relies more on his striking than his wrestling, no doubt about that.

I also like St. Pierre’s workmanlike attitude and careful strategic preparation for a fight. He will study his opponent and set a plan on how to devastate his foe. His athletic abilities would not matter if his mental approach to the fight game were not at par.

I am a sucker for underdog. Mir is smaller and less powerful than Lesnar. More people believe Mir will lose to Lesnar. Mir was gone from MMA for about a year and a half after breaking his knee in a motorcycle accident. He fought again but lost two of his first three comeback fights. He did not quit and won all of his next three fights including a kneebar submission victory over Lesnar and a stunning win by strikes over legendary Brazilian jiujitsu black belt Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Mir’s rise from the ashes of his terrible accident and discouraging early comeback defeats is inspirational. He was known for his world-class grappling and submissions but has added a standup game to his arsenal.

After the bells and whistles, Free-For-All’s look into the future less than 12 hours from now:
Henderson will win via knockout in Round 2; GSP by submission in three; and Mir by submission in two.

Don’t bet on it.

Petruzelli's Turn At 15 Minutes Of Infamy

After Kimbo Sliced Off In 14 seconds

Four million three hundred thousand TV viewers saw Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson humiliated in 14 seconds. Talk about 15 minutes of fame and all that transitory glory certain individuals enjoy or suffer from. Mr. Slice had his temporal anomaly, his chance at disproving naysayers and he blew it. But not before cashing in on whatever amount of fame and glory that was available to him...and poor cash-strapped EliteXC. Slice reportedly got $500,000 for his troubles, $200,000 more than what Fedor Emelianenko supposedly got for battering Tim Sylvia in the more credible newbie promotion Affliction MMA's Affliction: Banned heavyweight championship bout.

OK, a bit of recent history. Ken Shamrock, once tagged as the World's Most Dangerous Man, was another in a series of tomato cans thrown Slice's way to add to the illusion of his being one of the, if not the, toughest banger out there. Shamrock, is not exactly a worthy opponent to who is supposedly the meanest mother in existence. Shamrock is a mixed martial arts pioneer who helped make the Ultimate Fighting Championship what is today the most lucrative MMA organization in the world with reported assets of at least a billion dollars. But having lost all of his last four fights since April 9, 2005, Shamrock at 44, is no spring chicken with everything to gain and nothing to lose in the MMA arena. But, yes, Shamrock had a lot to profit from with a win over Slice. But it wasn't meant to be, as Shamrock was deemed unfit by Florida state fight officials to go up against Slice as Shamrock suffered a cut on his eye during training. His adoptive brother, Frank Shamrock, a former UFC champion who is part of the EliteXC commentators pool, said that he was offered and agreed to take his brother's place but EXC brass realized that Frank was too dangerous an opponent. EXC said that Florida state fight officials did not clear Frank to fight. Frank said it was EXC promoters who blocked the proposal.

Whatever the truth of the matter, what is true is that the honor of exposing Slice as purely a product of Internet (particularly YouTube.com) hype went to Seth Petruzelli, a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter 2 who was dropped by the UFC after losing to Wilson Gouveia in 39 seconds of Round 2 by submission via guillotine choke in Fight Night 9 on April 5, 2007.

PINK SPOTS AND STREAKS. As the bell for Round 1 rang, Slice, pumped up by three wins in his short MMA career and at the sight from across the cage of a white boy with bright pink spots and a streak on his hair, rushed to his doom. A weak left jab by Slice at nothing was met by Seth (much easier to type and spell and it alliterates with Kimbo's faux last name) with a right-hand parry and right push-kick and a short right mestiza jab/overhand that missed, even as Seth backed off while maintaining balance. Slice kept on charging, letting go of a right straight that got nowhere. Seth kept him at a distance with another right push kick and the short right jab that landed on the face of Slice, felling him. With Slice down on all fours, Seth hit him on the back of the head with hammer fist.

Probably realizing he just did an illegal blow, Seth's next strike was on the right side of Slice's head. Hitting Slice on the shoulder with the next two punches, Seth kept on delivering power punches that made Slice turn and roll on his back, maybe seeking to get Seth in his guard, but Seth was relentlessly striking, forcing referee Troy Waugh to step in between the two fighters, pushing Seth away as a dazed Slice grabbed Waugh's left leg, thinking it was Seth's.

It was all right hands. Seth could have fought Slice with his left hand tied behind his back and still knock him out. He was that dominating and he deserved to celebrate like he had just sank a last-second 3-pointer to edge out the other team by a single point in the last game of a best-of-seven basketball championship game, or hit a game-ending home run in the bottom of the ninth.

No, Seth Petruzelli (no e) did not make like Ralph Macchio (no a) in Karate Kid with a crane stance after referee Troy Waugh stopped the punishment. Seth merely threw away his mouth guard and threw his arms up in celebration as he ran around the cage while Kimbo, half out of his mind, grappled with the referee. And, yes, one of the guys in the commentary booth was right to dig up a Rocky analogy. Seth Petruzelli was indeed Rocky-like in earning a win over the Apollo Creed-like Kimbo Slice. Not many expected white-boy Seth to pound out black-dude Slice. To distinguish MMA Seth from the Hollywood Rocky, it didn't take Petruzelli 15 minutes of pounding and a bucketful of blood to have the crowd rise to its feet and roar in unison. Fourteen frigging seconds...That's all it took. Even the fading power kicker and puncher Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic might have needed 30 seconds to take out Slice.

EXCITING COMMENTARY. If the outcome of the match didn't excite you enough, the fight commentary might have:

“And it's about to get serious. Slice quickly across...the fight is over...”

“Slice goes down. Slice in trouble. Oh, my goodness. Slice gets pounded out and they stopped it. Rocky, Rocky is here! Seth Petruzelli shocks the world!...Kimbo Slice is shooting on the referee. He is trying to get the referee down...The most incredible victory in the history of mixed martial arts. Seth Petruzelli!!!...It can happen! Believe!...This is what mixed martial arts is all about. If you have a dream. If you're willing to step into a cage and fight for your life, you!, can be anything you want...Kimbo Slice battered, bruised, bloodied...Seth Petruzelli, a young man from Fort Myers, Florida. His nickname is The Silverback. He came here tonight, found out that he would be the main event. And he has shocked the entire world of mixed martial arts!”

Well, shocked is not exactly the word for it. Try, amused. The casual fight fan, brainwashed by EliteXC and CBS' hype machine on the awesomeness of Slice would be stunned immobile on his/her feet or seat at the sight of the largely unknown Petruzelli taking out Slice in less than 20 seconds of the very first round. Who wouldn't, if you had figured out Slice to be the best thing in the fight game since Mike Tyson? Thirty pounds heavier, two inches taller, and with a reach four inches longer, the then undefeated Slice (now 3-1, 2 KOs, 1 submission), on paper, looked like an overmatch for Seth (now 11-4, 9 KOs, 1 submission).

Anyone skeptical of Petruzelli's KO win over Slice should be allayed that the former can really hit and hit hard. His MMA win-loss record is rather middling, unimpressive from a Western boxing fan's perspective. But in MMA, a winning record like 11-4 is a badge of honor and respect. Considering that Petruzelli's nine wins before the Slice fight included eight victories by KO and a lone submission, while his four losses were by way of three submissions and a decision, Petruzelli is a decent MMA fighter.

TRADITIONAL. Like traditional karatekas Lyoto Machida (Shotokan) who looks so cool in the Octagon he makes cool hot, and Georges St. Pierre (Kyokushinkai), Petruzelli (Shito-Ryu) didn't get stuck in his traditional base and explored other avenues of martial arts. Machida has done sumo and Brazilian Jiujitsu, St. Pierre wrestling, Petruzelli kickboxing, all of them are mixed martial artists.

Now, the bad news. In an interview, Seth Petruzelli claimed that EliteXC offered him money to stand up and trade punches with Kimbo Slice; meaning, if Seth had any plans of going to the ground to cancel out Slice's assumed advantage on strikes standing up, he better give up that notion for an x amount of cash. As it turned out, Seth did say that he planned to shoot or take down Slice.

On The Monsters in Orlando radio show, Seth said: “The promoters kind of hinted to me, and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him. They didn’t want me to take him down, let’s just put it that way. It was worth my while to try to stand up and punch with him.”

That is exactly the kind of dubiousness that EliteXC and mixed martial arts in general do not need. Growing by leaps and bounds after the novelty early years of the UFC in the 1990s, MMA has gained fight fans' interest, if not loyalty, for its brutal mystique and general reputation for reality, as opposed to the fantasy of the WWE nee WWF, the UFC of professional wrestling.

Critics (read: boxing purists and loyalists) are waiting on the wings to descend on every perceived weakness and fakeness of MMA. Slice-Seth I was hardly rigged: neither did Slice take a dive nor did Seth put a horseshoe in his glove, but that kind of talk plants the seed of distrust in the minds of fight fans.

Petruzelli did explain himself right after, saying that he didn't mean to say what people heard on the The Monsters in Orlando. He told yahoo.com MMA writer Dan Wetzel in a phone interview: “What that meant was they offer a Knockout bonus, Submission bonuses, Fight of the Night bonuses. I think it just got misconstrued.

“I wanted to have an exciting fight and I wanted the Knockout bonus, so I wanted to keep it standing...They just said, ‘We want to see an exciting fight no matter what happens.’ I took it as I wanted the Knockout bonus.”

This suspiciously sounds like backtracking and spin control by a professional fighter pressured by management to turn bull shit into chocolate cake.

This is bad news for MMA. But, if bad publicity is good, this is the kind of bad that is very good for MMA. Bad seed can grow into a twisted tree that bears edible sour fruit. Tamarind* anyone?

* Tamarindus indica (from the Arabic: تمر هندي tamar hindi = Indian date) is in the family Fabaceae.

UFC 87: Sought and Destroyed

KenFlo’s even flow, Hard Brock’s afternoon café, GSP’s Fitch Festival

Florian was very smart and surprising. Lesnar was huge and unrelenting. St. Pierre was just being himself.

I take it back. Kenny Florian is a stud. I’ve always thought he was too soft to be successful in MMA. He wasn’t particularly tough against Roger Huerta two Sundays ago, but he used as much brain cells as muscles in carving a win in three fun (for Florian and fair-minded fight fans -- alliteration can be fun too) rounds.

Staying away most of the time from Huerta’s Superman punch and a toe-to-toe stand-up battle, Florian circled, stepped back, kept his distance from Huerta except when he struck, took down and tried to submit No Conquistador, er, El Matador (lo siento mucho, Rogelio).

In honor of Florian’s well-deserved victory over Huerta, I hereby name my new puppy KenFlo. (Wipe that smile/smirk off your mug! Or I’ll have “KenFlo” bull rush you for a quadruple leg takedown and lick your lips. She hasn’t had her shots yet.)

While Brock Lesnar was just sheer size, power, and determination against Heath Herring. Getting in the first shot attempt (a flying knee, of all things), then a right straight that landed on Herring’s chin, dropping him, Lesnar charged into Herring with what looked like a spear against a stunned horse who reverse rolled. Lesnar got caught in a left standing guillotine. He escaped and kept the fight on the ground for most of the three rounds of 15 minutes. Herring did get in licks of his own a few times, but these were few and far between, hardly fazing the hard Brock.

At 3:39 of Round 1, Herring was already bleeding below the left eye. Lesnar controlled Herring’s back with a little over two minutes left, Herring fell back to get Lesnar in his guard but Lesnar pushed him away and kneed Herring on the body, three times before the bell rang. Herring’s left eye was obviously damaged. Lesnar’s speed was amazing.

The next two rounds were almost picture-perfect copies of the opening round. It was Lesnar all the way. He fully deserved the unanimous-decision victory.

As to Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, what can you say about the cool GSP? With talk focused on Fedor Emelianenko and Anderson Silva as to who is mixed martial arts’ pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, GSP tends to get left out in the mix. Rush is as well-rounded as Fedor and Silva, maybe even more so than “Spider” Silva, and definitely at par with “The Last Emperor.” The trouble is GSP has his two losses to two former welterweight champions, the two Matts -- Hughes and Serra. But he did win in the rematches, decisively at that.

That’s similar to what GSP did to No.1 challenger Jon Fitch in UFC 87. Judging by the way GSP manhandled a game and durable Fitch, GSP has no plans of letting go of his belt, not even to Mickey-Mouse-voiced but Mighty-Mouse-muscled BJ Penn.

After Fitch had lifted GSP on his shoulders as Rush was declared the winner by an all-too obvious Unanimous Decision, Penn entered the Octagon and declared on the microphone Joe Rogan was holding: “Let’s do it! Let’s put the fight together.” Penn, looking manic as usual, spoke in a squeaky voice that sounded funny. But him and GSP in the Octagon is not funny at all. And yes, GSP-Penn would be an explosive match. Let the UFC grant Penn’s wish!

The other results:

(Middleweights)
Demian Maia over Jason McDonald (by Submission/Tapout Rear-Naked Choke in 2:24 of the 3rd Round) -- Great technical ground game with some strikes.

(Lightweights)
Robert Emerson over Manuel Gamburyan (KO R1 12 seconds) -- Emerson’s right straight overhand to Gamburyan’s chin and left hook to the head when Gamburyan was already on the ground did in the latter. Referee Yves Lavigne caught Emerson’s right hook to prevent more punishment.

(Heavyweights)
Cheick Kongo over Dan “The Viking” Evensen (TKO R1 4:55) -- Thrice Kongo got Evensen on the ground, twice ref Lavigne stood them up. Kongo hit Evensen on the chin with a right straight, knocking him down, pounded him some more before the fight was Stopped for a TKO win by Kongo.

Joe Rogan tried to interview Kongo post-fight but was brushed off with an I-am-wasting-my-time-I-am-one-¬of-the-best-fighters-in-the-world-give-me-a-title-shot!

(Lightheavyweights)
Jon Jones over Andre Gusmao (UD 3 rounds) – Jones dominated a stand-up and ground match that was marred by capoiera stylist Gusmao acting as if he got hit in his groin but the crowd disagreed and expressed its displeasure with boos. The judges seemed to agree and awarded Jones the victory after three rather uneventful rounds.

(Welterweights)
Tamdan McRory over Luke Cummo (UD 3 rounds) -- McRory had several submission attempts, while Cummo tried to strike quite successfully but not consistently enough to lose by unanimous decision.

Addendum: Looking at the UFC 87 poster, you will notice that all the fighters to the left won. Perhaps for UFC 88, managers should do everything in their power, including bribery and grave threats, to have their clients take the left spot. There’s a thin line between superstition and faith. Another reason those who subscribe to this dictum can be excommunicated by the Church.