Brush with Greatness

While it may be two months away yet, I haven't seen any posts on it, and with card announced, I figured it was time we start giving it some love. MAIN CARD Kenny "KenFlo" Florian vs. Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon Thiago "Pit Bull" Alves vs. Karo "The Heat" Parisyan Matt "The Hammer" Hamill" vs. Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch Nate Diaz vs. Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino James "The Sandman" Irvin vs. Houston "The Assassin" Alexander Gray "The Bully" Maynard vs. Frankie "The Answer" Edgar (swing bout) PRELIMINARY CARD Marcus "Maximus" Aurelio vs. Spencer "The King" Fisher Josh "The Dentist" Neer vs. Din Thomas Manvel "The Pitbull" Gamburyan vs. Jeff Cox Samy Schiavo vs. Clay "The Carpenter" Guida Roman "The Emperor" Mitichyan vs. George Sotiropoulos Anthony "Rumble" Johnson vs. Tommy "The Farmboy" Speer

The official results are as follows: Main Card Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson - via decision - Henderson tries to stand and bang with Silva in the first 1 1/2 rounds and gets caught but not finished. He'll smarten up, take the fight to the ground and grind out a win. Post fight, Henderson's face will look like he lost. Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo - via decision -Like Henderson, Herring will try to stand and trade, smarten up, take Kongo down and grind out a JD Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara - via TKO, round 3 -Leben will eventually put Sakara on his back and score a GNP victory Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner - via decision -Okami will control the fight but won't be able to finish and will settle for the UD Jon Fitch vs. Chris Wilson - via RNC, round 2 -Fitch will eventually take him to the ground, force Wilson to give up his back and score the win with a RNC Preliminary Card Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O’Brien - via KO, round 1 -Arlovski is going to come out banging and will eventually tag O'Brien Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti - via decision -I don't know much about Mario's brother. Cummo has been constantly improving. I'll give it to him. Dustin Hazelett vs. Josh Koscheck - via Triangle, round 2 -Upset of the night. I wholeheartedly agree that normally Kos would easily put Hazelett on his back at will and grind out the LNP victory. However, I see Kos taking some chances in this fight that he normally doesn't while looking for the new contract and I see it costing him. David Bielkheden vs. Diego Sanchez - via TKO, round 1 -Diego looks like he's in his best shape ever and is looking to murder someone. Interesting note, despite a lacklustre 12-5 record, Bielkheden has only ever lost via decision. Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson - via KO, round 2 -I don't care for Jorge and just want to see him get KO'ed

Fight card has been updated. Hopefully Edgar v. Maynard makes the air.

Updated the card on the main page. FWIW, GracieFighter is reporting that Nate Diaz has been added against a fighter to be named shortly, although that's debatable considering the already stacked card. This would make much more sense for either 84 or possibly 83. As it is, Spike better extend this to three hours.

That main event was awful. Tank was SLOOOOWWWW. If you can say anything, Kimbo did a good job avoiding (for the most part) Tank's slow shots and counter punching. As far as "attraction" heavyweights go, I'm pretty sure that Brock would shoot in and GNP Slice into oblivion in about 30 seconds. I don't think it would be a bad move for the UFC although I could never see Kimbo doing it.

Cote is out (and according to his camp was never in). Fellow canuck Jason "Dooms" Day takes his place and makes his UFC debut against the Talent.

Have to disagree. I think Mir is a much bigger name, at least to American audiences, than Werdum. I'm not sure that either one of them deserves it (although agree that Werdum does moreso than Mir), but in my opinion, Nogueria-Mir is an easier sell to the masses.

You sure like to live the gimmick, eh? You are undoubtedly the toughest guy on the internet and the way that you attempt to belittle me and curse me out sends a chill of fear throughout my body, so I certainly don't want to mess with you. Anyways, I'm sorry Simon. I saw the way that you decapitated that cop. You so loco. I really hope that you don't jump through the computer screen with a machete. Once again, sorry. One other thing I've always wanted to know though... how did you get your hat to stay on your head like that without it falling off?

Why would they be? You do know there is such fights as prelim fights right? Really? Thanks, tips. Notice how I didn't ask if the Marcus Aurelio vs. Spencer Fisher or Sami Schiavo vs. Clay Guida fights were off, despite them also being prelims? While the UFC site still has them listed, while early articles on Five Ounces of Pain had them listed, I hadn't seen anything recently and was wondering if they were confirmed. But thanks for enlightening me about preliminary fights (despite me listing the preliminary card on my original post). Here I was thinking that Emerson v. Nakamura and Lytle v. Bradley were the main and semi-main for UFC 81. It turns out that they were actually taped before (OMG?!) and were just prelim (OMG?!) fights. Wow !!!!! Thanks again.

Why the fuck is UFC always so behind things on their website? EDIT: Are the Johnson vs. Speer and Neer vs. Thomas fights now off?

Is the WEC show worth going out of my way to see? I mean, I know the results, so are the fights themselves anything special or did it end up being average/slight above average?

Courtesy Da Meltz...

Apparently Hughes demanded the interim title 5 round fight if he was going to fight GSP, probably solely on the thinking that he will have had a lot more prep time than GSP so if it goes past three he should have the advantage.

I imagine that guys such as Joe Dirt, Diesel Riggs, etc. probably see Terrell's name on the card and start to train as if they would be facing that opponent, knowing that the call will come soon or later for one of them.

You know who else has been described as having a great chin... Cabbage!!!

I didn't think there was anything wrong with the judging in that fight. Personally I had the fight 10-10, 10-9. I would score the first round 9-9 if possible, simply based on the fact that Ben pushed the round, landed more blows, and Dan did almost nothing at all, outside of tagging him with that solid shot to earn the split. Final round was Ben easy. Meltzer stated that he had it at 9-10, 10-8 which I could see as well. The only fight that I took major issue with was the Bisping decision. Outside of that, while I have disagreed on fights (a few Tyson Griffin fights in particular), I can usually see where they were coming from with the decision. Granted, I'm not a fan of the 10 point must system in MMA and this needs to be overhauled (as well as developing a consistent criteria). As it was, using a Pride-esque system in this fight would also have resulted in a win for Ben. All in all, I thought the right guy won.

I thought Sylvia v. Cabbage was decent.

Add Denis Kang to that list of top middleweights that could possess a challenge that are not under contract with UFC. On top of that, even if you do bring in a guy like Filho (won't happen) or Kang, you still need to build them up to sell the fight. You could potentially insert Lindland into that spot right away. Maybe Filho (but again, won't happen anyway). I wouldn't mind seeing BJ move up and wouldn't count him out. BJ is a freak and could probably hang with anyone. I don't think I've ever seen anyone beat Penn (only Penn beat himself). Hughes could move up, only for the mere fact that I would love to see him get reconstructive surgery courtesy of Silva. Fitch is another big, strong welterweight but it wouldn't do him much good to move up either.

Exactly how I feel. I'm hearing some stories about how this is such a hit for them and "what are they going to do now?", seemingly forgetting that as little as a year ago Randy wasn't even around. Edit- my response was in regard to YNA's post.

Honestly, while I love the guy, I think Randy is in the wrong here. If he is not happy with the money being offered his way and doesn't want to fight again for the UFC, I have no problem with that. However, I'm fairly disappointed with how he approached the situation. As much as Randy has helped the UFC, the UFC has helped Randy. He's fortunate enough to be able to make a living associated with the sport he loves thanks to what the Fertitta's and Dana have been able to do over the years. And I'm not talking about fighting. Xtreme Couture and Affliction are direct results of the opportunity that the UFC provided for Randy and other individuals. Without the huge growth of MMA by UFC (which Randy has been a part of) Xtreme Couture and Affliction may have never come to the surface. Not to mention the colour commentary position that he has had, which only helps his self promotion. Furthermore, I agree on the lower card fighters getting paid more. There is a huge discrepancy in fighter wages from top card guys to the undercard guys. I don't necessarily agree with one fighter getting a base of $250,000 (plus huge bonuses) while another makes $8,000 (plus potentially small bonuses) on the same show. If Randy wants to fight a cause, fight for the undercard guys to get more money. If the issue is being undervalued (which UFC still claims is untrue, standing by their claim that he is #2), I still think he owes it to them to bow out properly, even if they can't agree on a contract (lest I remind you that he is still contractually obligated to two fights - although I'm sure he has some sort of out clause). Step out, announce a retirement (even if it's fake and he's fighting somewhere else in 9 months when he is no longer with the UFC) on a show and retire as champion. However, to leave it up in the air and just walk away with no explanation to the fans (and by that I mean mainstream fans on a UFC show) is a cheap move in my opinion. As for a comeback, he is still under contract to UFC for the next nine months. He won't be able to fight again until next July (which itself would be early, considering that he would need time to properly train for a scheduled fight and July is the first point where he could negotiate with anyone else). We would likely be looking at August at least before he fights. I don't believe that Randy Couture, at age 45, not having fought for over a year and probably not training much (he is acting after all) is going to be that eager to fight again. As it stands, I wouldn't mind seeing UFC placing an ad ban on the Affliction shirts (although I doubt it would happen). While I love the shirts, I think Randy is biting a gift horse in the mouth with this move. Let the flaming begin.

Arona v. Lyoto could be an interesting matchup. As for LHW, I would really like to see Randy drop and take on Rampage.

Completely agree with everything that you said. Not to mention the fact that Couture beat Gonzaga, who defeated Cro Cop, who beat Barnett three times. That's not to say that Barnett couldn't defeat Couture, just that he hasn't exactly been undefeated since leaving.

When salaries are always listed, I never see bonuses for finishing fights. Do guys get such bonuses and they are just not disclosed, or do they not exist?

Here's an idea: Don't get slammed, but if you are going to get slammed, don't grab the fence.

It sounds like it was Superdick Sobral busting open Heath's nose. Not to mention "Sobral with a guillotine turned into a choke for the tap. Sobral held on way longer than he should have and Heath is twitching." (wrestlingobserver.com) And yes, I'm glad the Blanket lost. As much as Kos tried to bring the suck, GSP's awesomeness was too much for him to overcome. What were Kos' quotes before the fight? HE thinks he's going to out wrestle me? I've been wrestling since I was five. Welcome to my world. Outside of the one takedown in round one, Koscheck got in zero offense. ZERO (wait, he might have landed one good punch or kick). I think Koscheck just needs to be thankful that he never had to wrestle GSP in the NCAA and as a result he has two National Championships instead of zero.