UFC 49: Unfinished Business (no PRIDE spoilers)

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I'm tired of having to avoid this forum (and MMA forums in general) because of fearing PRIDE spoilers (ONE. MORE. DAY.) only to miss out discussing this show.

 

Vitor Belfort [205] vs. Randy Couture [204] - Light Heavyweight Championship

 

Too much focus, IMO, is going towards their last fight and not enough is going towards their first one. Their first match was AWESOME, and they have only gotten better. The clinch will be where this fight is won and lost. Randy is a master of it and Vitor has been training to avoid it. However, the clinch could also be where a well placed knee could show up and change the fight dramatically (or Coutures face, even). I'm almost happy their second fight ended the way it did because I am even more hyped NOW than I was in January to see these two go at it. For some reason I'm favouring Belfort, which is stupid because you never bet against Couture (ambiguousity~!)

 

Chuck Liddell [206] vs. Vernon White [200]

 

This is such an underlooked and underappreciated match. White fucking rules despite having a shitty record (mainly due to Pancrase fighting and high calibre competition). He is very well rounded and has been in some of my favourite fights (vs. Sakuraba and vs. Freeman). He could give Liddell a ton of trouble and I wouldn't be surprised to see him pull this one out. Should be an awesome fight.

 

Matt Lindland [185] vs. David Terrell [185]

 

This seems to be Zuffa feeding Lindland so they can set up Lindland/Tanner in the future. As long as Lindland doesn't knock himself out, it should be a pretty easy fight.

 

Mike Kyle [237] vs. Justin Eilers [232]

 

I applaud the UFC for trying to build its heavyweight division. I loathe them for doing it with Mike Kyle. Eilers is from MLS and that's all I know. This is on the main draw and Diaz/Parisyan isn't?? Eugh.

 

Ron Jhun [170] vs. Chris Lytle [169.5]

 

This should be a good lil match that'll probably be forgettable and go the distance and the winner will be fed to the guy who will challenge for whatever belt their weightclass is at... something against St. Pierre and Hughes will fight the winner of Diaz/Parisyan and whatever. I dunno. This division and the lack of clearity in it makes me cry.

 

Nick Diaz [168.5] vs. Karo Parisyan [169]

Yves Edwards [154.5] vs. Josh Thomson [156]

 

These two are sooooo fucking awesome fights that I wanna see bad and we better get to fucking see em! Diaz won me over completely by murderizing Robbie Lawler and bitcherizing him into exile. Parisyans rolling kimura on dave strasser is still one of my favourite finishes. Both guys are pretty well rounded so it should make for a really fun and active fight.

 

I bought UFC 43 on DVD a few weeks ago and Edwards/Ruiz is fucking whompass beautiful. I love me some Edwards. Thomson is highly regarded and I've seen 2 of his matches but I forget both. This could be MOTN.

 

Joe Doerksen [184.5] vs. Joe Riggs [185]

 

Doerksen is Canadian and everyone says I should love him. We shall see.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Here are Meltzers thoughts. I haven't read them, but I assume they will contain something whacky.

 

Tonight's UFC line-up:

 

*Yves Edwards vs. Josh Thompson - Both are quality fighters. This is a dark match and is likely to go the distance, which means there is a good chance it won't air on PPV. Dana White, in trying to encourage fighters to finish, said that long prelims have a lower chance of getting on PPV.

 

*Chris Lytle vs. Ronald Jhun - Another prelim fight, Lytle is a pro boxer with lots of submission training.

 

*Karo Parisyan vs. Nick Diaz - Hopefully this will air on tape because this is, on paper, the second best match of the show. Parisyan is top class in judo and looked great in previous matches until George St. Pierre shut him down en route to a title shot. Diaz, if he wins, would be in title contention, since he's coming off knocking out Robbie Lawler

 

*Mike Kyle vs. Justin Eilers - Kyle isn't a great fighter, but he's got that smaller Goldberg look thing going for him and beat Wes Sims (who took the fight on little notice) a few months back. It's on the show because they want a heavyweight fight on the show

 

*Joe Riggs vs. Joe Doerksen - Why this is on the main show is beyond me

 

*Matt Lindland vs. David Terrell - This is an interesting fight. Most people seem to favor Terrell, who is an Abu Dhabi submission fighting champion. Lindland is an Olympic silver medalist in wrestling. Still, Lindland is one of those guys like Dan Henderson and Randy Couture from Team Quest that are grade A competitors under pressure, and win fights that skill-wise, you think they are going to lose

 

*Chuck Liddell vs. Vernon Tiger White - White is one of the pioneers of shootfighting as he dates back to the Pancrase originals from 1994. He's being put in here to get knocked out, since Liddell is one of UFC's big stars. On paper, that is what should happen.

 

*Vitor Belfort vs. Randy Couture for the UFC light heavyweight title. This is a one match show and it's an intriguing main event. Belfort has blinding speed in his hands, and is an underrated wrestler. Couture is a great wrestler and an even better competitor. He's also 41 years old. I just saw a weigh-in photo of Couture, and to say he's in shape is the understatement of the year. Belfort has trained harder for this fight than any other, and he really does have phenomenal tools, which he often doesn't take advantage of. Belfort can win fast, but if he doesn't, I strongly favor Couture because he's got far more guts and won't crack. I don't see a submission here. Either Vitor knocks him out because Couture can't cope with his hands and take him down, or Randy throws him around like a rag doll, breaks his spirit, and he mentally quits and loses to a G&P stoppage. This is the third fight between the two. Fight one saw situation No. 2 take place. Fight two was the fluke stoppage, so they are technically 1-1. Couture is not the underdog, which means he can lose, because he always wins as the underdog.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Oh man... from the weigh-ins via InsideFighting.com

 

There were two notable moments during the weigh-ins. The first one occurred with the opening bout of Thomson versus Yves Edwards. In typical thug-jitsu fashion, Edwards weighed in while eating food – this time, it was a bar of white chocolate. Before he stepped onto the scale, he offered some to Nevada State Athletic Commission chief, Marc Ratner, who conducts all the weigh-ins. Then, in a move that brought laughter from around the arena, he offered Thomson some chocolate before the customary pose down. “Hell yeah, I’ll take some,” the Punk replied as he munched on a healthy piece of candy. Both fighters laughed before embracing as friends.

 

 

Tito Ortiz: “Belfort’s hands are really, really good, but they’re also really brittle. The kid has problems breaking his hands. Randy has a hard head, too. He really isn’t a person who’s going to get knocked out. A perfect match for Vitor Belfort is him using his striking to maintain the distance and keep away from Randy. He needs to defend the takedown and avoid the clinch. If the fight does go to the ground, he needs to work his submissions rather than just doing nothing in the guard. For Couture, of course, he needs to close the distance, work the clinch and try to take Belfort down. Once he gets him down, he needs to work his ground-n-pound, which is he does better than everyone else including me. That’s how I see Randy winning – by ground-n-pound.”

[Angle-plex 0]

The PRIDE PPVs on tomorrow, right? If so, I think I'm going to save my money for that. Better fights. Better fighters.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Yeah. From what I've heard -and I've been religiously avoiding spoilers (can I use religiously here?)- that it was an amazing show. Which is to say, Meltzer heard that...

[LooseCannon25 0]

Here are my Predictions:

 

Vitor Belfort over Randy Couture --- I see Belfort defending the clinch much better, and intializing his own as Vitor has developed good Muay Thai skills and has good knees.

 

Chuck Liddell over Vernon White --- I see this being tough for Liddell for the first RD. White is underrated, but Liddel scores the KO victory midway through the 2nd. RD.

 

David Terrell over Matt Lindland --- This is my upset of the night. I think Terrell is underrated and Lindland may be looking past him for future fights. Terrell pushes the pace and wins convincingly via decision. After the mat Phil Baroni taunts Lindland a little from the crowd to the fans delight.

 

Chris Lytle over Ronald Jhun --- I see Lytle taking the decision in this one, but look out for Jhun who's gonna be throwin down tonight.

 

Mike Kyle over Justin Eilers --- I can't really comment too much because I dont know much og Eilers and have never seen him fight.

 

Karo Parisyan over Nick Diaz --- Diaz gets cocky, tries to pull off that junk he did with Lawler to frustrate KAro. Karo has none of it, stays poised and wins via decision

 

Yves Edwards over Josh Thomson - It's horrible this match isnt on the main card. I see Yves winning via TKO (strikes). Thompson was almost finished off by Franca, and Yves is much more skilled striking than Hermes.

[Styles 0]

I've already decided I'm ordering the Pride show, but 1 hour before show time, Im still undecided on UFC. It's a total one match show, and I don't know if that's enough for me to plunk down 30 bucks for, especially since none of the undercard matches (with exception of the ones that probably won't air!) don't interest me. I don't know, anyone want to make me a last minute pitch (or even confirm my feelings?)

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

This is a show that will dictate the next year of the UFC. The Lightheavyweight division is -by far- Zuffas strongest one and its champion will be decided here. If Couture wins, then who's left for him to face? A Liddell rematch? If Belfort wins, then you have new opportunities. This is a history making match that you might be sorry to miss. PLUS, it has been my experience with 'no name' undercards that they tend to turn out to be a really positive experience. You will see half of these guys in the future, so you should start seeing them now before they get into some really important fights.

 

And it's a change of pace. 2 MMA shows in a row? That's heaven.

[Styles 0]

I trust your opinion on MMA and notice that you tend to order the shows that will likely be good and skip the ones worth skipping...and you're not skipping this one....damnit you might have convinced me!

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

That's true.

 

Though I missed Payback and it was really good. It's hard for the UFC to have a bad show nowadays. Let's look at their last 10 shows...

 

Payback - worth it

It's On - worth it

Supernatural - worth it

Revolution - not worth it

Undisputed - worth it*

Meltdown - worth it*

Sudden Impact - not worth it (saw it, but illegally)

Onslaught - not worth it

Vendetta - worth it*

The Warriors Return - not worth it

 

...and even the ones that weren't worth it had reasons to buy it. TWR had Cabbage and Sylvia beating the shit out of each other along with Baroni killing Menne and Coutures last heavyweight match. Onslaught had Sylvia beating Rico and a supposedly great Lindland/Baroni match. Sudden Impact had Ludwig vs. Sudo and Franklin vs. Tanner. And I'm thinking about buying Revolution on DVD just to see some of the fights that I missed. I feel _bad_ when I miss a show. I dunno about you or anybody else, but I feel like I'm missing out on something if I don't see a show in one way or another.

 

There's like a 70% chance of this show being good, and 30% chance of it being off-the-charts (which is what the * represented). C'mon... if it's bad, you'll forget all about it during tomorrows PRIDE show

[the pinjockey 0]

Well, so much for building the heavyweight division around Kyle. I got a kick out of Eilers. He looked like a kid on Christmas with the huge smile and the missing front tooth.

 

And god damn do they have way too much filler crap. Just show the god damn fights and throw in a few quick things like Pride does for the Bushido shows.

[the pinjockey 0]

Jesus Christ, when they show the G&P shots is slow mo they are fucking sick.

[the pinjockey 0]

THUG F'N JITSU~!

 

Yves Edwards is the fucking man. That high kick was one of the greatest fucking things I have ever seen.

[the pinjockey 0]

BTW, results for those who did not get the show

 

Eilers def. Kyle via KO at 1:15 in Rd.1

Terrell def. Lindland via KO at :25 in Rd.1

Edwards def. Thomson via KTFO at 4:?? in Rd.1

[the pinjockey 0]

Holy christ, Lidell/White was an awesome fight. I knew Lidell had a chin, but how the hell did White stay up so long. Big credit to him for taking the bombs he was taking. And he had Lidell's number early, popping in quick shots before Lidell's longer shots could hit. Nice counter shot by Lidell to KO White.

 

More thoughts on the previous three matches (not that there is much to describe):

 

Kyle/Eilers - Well, I guess we see why Kyle had problems with Sims. It wasn't that Sims improved, Kyle just sucks. Nice offense of a knee to the groin by Kyle. Then Eilers with the KO of Kyle.

 

Terrell/Lindland - Play-by-play time. Bell rings...Terrell hits Lindland.....Lindland goes down.....Terrell jumps on Lindland and KhimTFO. Terrell is a motherfucking finisher. If his hands are legit (this knockdown punch didn't look lucky) and his submission reputation is legit, he could be a big force.

 

Edwards/Thompson - Bunch of clinching early. Looked like Thompson just got sloppy, since no damage had been done from the position. Tried to flip Edwards, Edwards got him from behind, pushed away, and brought the greatest kick ever to (this is the song that never ends) KhimTFO.

 

The knockouts have been awesome, but I could go for seeing a longer fight right about now. A submission would rule at this point.

[the pinjockey 0]

Doerksen/Riggs - Well I got my submission. Of course it was from strikes. Doerksen sucks. Riggs was able to sit up in his guard at will and Doerksen's only noticeable skill was to be able to keep his legs high while using his closed guard. Whoopdee-fucking-doo. Nice Eastman sized cut there at the end on Doerksen. Riggs via submission (strikes) at 3:?? Rd.2.

[the pinjockey 0]

Lytle/Jhun - Excellent performance by Lytle. He was able to control Jhun whenever he wanted. Plus he brough me a real submission. That guillotine with Jhun rolling every which way trying to escape, to no avail, was pretty sweet. Lytle via submission (guillotine) at 3:?? of Rd.2.

[LooseCannon25 0]

I called Lindland losing to Terrell......I said he was going to overlook him, and that's what I think happened.

 

Now all I need is Vitor to knock out Couture

 

I also called the Liddell 2nd Rd Ko, after a tough first RD

 

I'm on a friggin roll tonight bitches.......yeah

[the pinjockey 0]

Yeah and you were only 14:35 off in the time of the match.

 

And is there a reason they are interviewing Kerri fucking Kasem?!?

[LooseCannon25 0]

Yeah and you were only 14:35 off in the time of the match.

 

And is there a reason they are interviewing Kerri fucking Kasem?!?

LOL.....true

 

I called Liddell 2nd Rd KO damnit!!!!!

 

I'm 5-1 tonight so far

[the pinjockey 0]

On a different note, they may have mentioned it and I missed it but did they ever find Vitor's sister?

[LooseCannon25 0]

I just saw Wanderlei Silva in the front row...no joke

[the pinjockey 0]

They need to institute a new rule stating all fighters must wear white trunks. Seeing Couture's trunks, stained in blood, was ridiculous. I can't believe the slo mo shot they had after the incidental headbutt where you could actually see Vitor's blood spurting out onto Couture.

 

Now someone needs to brave somewhere else to find the Parisyian/Diaz result. No way am I risking seeing the PRIDE results.

 

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

 

This is fucking bullshit. Why the fuck do they have him here spoiling tomorrow's shit?!?!? FUCK UFC! FUCK DANA WHITE! FUCK PRIDE! FUCK SILVA! FUCK FUCK FUCK.

[the pinjockey 0]

Well since we are seeing Parisyian/Diaz, I can forgive somewhat since this fight is freaking awesome.

[Styles 0]

RRR, thank you. Thank you very much for convincing me to give this show a shot. Money well spent and a really fun evening.

 

Justin Eilers def. Mike Kyle, KO:

Eilers looks like a beast. Glad to see Kyle lose. Ever since the bite mark incident with Wes Simms I've been negative on him, and he fights dirty here again with a couple of groin shots. What an interesting storyline dynamic with these guys growing up together and being former roomates. Sick knockout that had me jumping out of my chair. Exciting way to start things off.

 

David Terrell def. Matt Lindland, KO:

I thought this Terrell guy was supposed to be a submission expert! What the hell was that!? Super quick knockout before you could even blink. Another exciting finish, it's obvious at this point that this show won't be boring.

 

Yves Edwards def. Josh Thompson, KO:

YVES!!!! Oh my god, I think I love thug-jitsu! What an insane knockout with that spinning kick. Just awesome. These 2 were actually having a pretty competitive fight unlike the last 2 quick finishers. Definitely the knockout of the night, on a night of them.

 

Chuck Liddell def. Vernon Tiger White, KO:

This one gets my vote for most exciting match of the night. These 2 were just slugging it out, nonstop action. And White gained a lot of respect from me. He was like the terminator, taking hard knockout shots, falling in a heap and then materializing back up to his feet like nothing happened! Unbelievable! Chuck finally finished him, and it looked like White basically ran into his fist! Ouch. Close call for Chuck. Mike Goldberg was right, just call this Ultimate Knockouts 4.

 

Chris Lytle def. Ronald Jhun, Submission:

Wow, a non knockout finish! The most "technical" fight up to that point (I think Diaz/Parisian would outclass them there), and a really nice rollthrough to hang on to the Gullitine by Lytle. Jhun got in some good shots too, but overall Lytle was ahead.

 

Joe Riggs def. Joe Doerksen, Tap Out:

Probably the least interesting fight of the night, but it still wasn't a bad fight. I noticed a lot of lay and pray (did I saw that right?) from Doerksen, but that elbow shot by Riggs was sick that opened up the cut. He landed some sick shots to finish it and Doerksen had no choice but to tap.

 

Randy Couture def. Vitor Belfort, TKO:

Randy Couture is not human. He's like Fedor's UFC, lighter weight equivalent, only almost 20 years older. Just total domination by Randy as besides a couple of quick triangle tries, Vitor had nothing. Nothing fancy but Couture just complete conrolled him until he couldn't continue. Now, the cut was opened I think by an inadvertent headbutt, which I believe is illegal, but they didn't really make a big deal out of it, so I assume it's ok, but I was all ready for more controversy in this saga. Anyway, this was a BLOODBATH, reminicent in wrestling terms of Bulldog vs. Bret from IYH in Dec. 95. Couture's white trunks were completely stained with Vitor's blood, to the point that they were PINK by the time the match ended. There was blood on the mat, on the camera lenses, on Mike Goldberg's notes even. Just sick. Couture is the best in the world. Period. And that confrontation with Silva had me absolutely marking out at the end. What are the chances of the match actually happening anyway? I take it the relationship between Pride and UFC is far better than say, WWF and WCW since they allow their fighters to appear on each other's shows (I even think I saw Bas Rutten putting the belt on Randy). But if that one happens, watch out, and I truly think Couture would win in similar smothering fashion.

 

Karo Parisyan def. Nick Diaz, split decision:

This was probably the match of the night, but lacked my full attention by coming after the climax of the show. If it was on before I probably could have been more into it. I will watch it again but from what I saw, those reversals and ground submission attempts were wild! Very evenly matches and entertaining. If Karo's contact really did fall out and he won anyway, that is extremely impressive. It's too bad they couldn't show the last round to this one because of lack of time (although they did have a few minutes remaining before the top of the hour).

 

Overall a very fun show that was non stop action and enjoyable.

Bring on Pride!

[Styles 0]

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

 

This is fucking bullshit. Why the fuck do they have him here spoiling tomorrow's shit?!?!? FUCK UFC! FUCK DANA WHITE! FUCK PRIDE! FUCK SILVA! FUCK FUCK FUCK.

Unless I am mistaken, I believe Silva vs. Kondo is/was NON TITLE. Therefore Silva with the belt doesn't really spoil it.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

OOOOOOOOOOOH DADDY~!!!

 

That was some fucking hotness!

 

GHOJAHGKLJDSL:"GKSDJ!11!

 

I thought this would be a good card, but we're talking Show of the Year right now - AND PRIDE IS TOMORROW! I was jumping up and down and yelling at the TV all night baby~! (the sign of true enjoyment... thank god I'm alone...so very...very...alone.. )

 

Parisyan/Diaz was the fight of the night and maybe the fight of the year. Just constant action on the ground and standing. It was like watching Sakuraba in his prime... but both guys were Sakuraba. FUCK, I wanted Diaz to win so we could see Diaz/St. Pierre. But hey, if GSP loses to Hughes we could still see it and it would rock! ASS!

 

Liddell vs. White would have been fight of the night (and possible FOTY) if not for the swankass Diaz/Paris match. That was fucking BALLS OUT. There is somethign about two guys just throwing punches at each other that is exciting... I dunno why Liddell was HUGE over, which was suprising because you don't see guys that over in the UFC. His post match interview and him biguppin White was class.

 

I tend to hate it when I'm wrong. But Terrell makes me love it. That was disgusting. And beautiful. So very, very beautiful.

 

Eilers is SOOOO my favourite fighter now. Him saying he'd fight his mom made me a fan - but his post-match promo and heavy hands made me a worshiper.

 

The psychology in Jhun/Lytle was better than any I've seen in the WWE. Lytle constantly going for the guillotine from the top (and Rogan constantly wondering why) and then finally finishing with it - just the awesome. STEIBLINGBLING in his corner was the swank.

 

Couture/Belfort, again, had better storytelling and psychology than most WWE matches. It was the worst fight of the night, but I wouldn't call it bad. Couture playing the smart game, which was boring when they were standing but got better when he was working on the ground. Belfort ATTACKING THE EYE~! Couture getting the cut from a headbut and working it for the rest of the match until it was over. PSYCHOLOGY~! It wasn't the most exciting finish, but I was surprised the crowd didn't shit on it. However, it not being exciting made what happened next all the more...

 

Silva coming out - majorly spoilerish, though everyone knew he'd kill Kondo (well... probably... Emelianenko Rudor is still spoiler free) - was fucking BALLS. I loved me a lot of that. I hope PRIDE doesn't do what they did last year w/ Takada and just talk, but rather actually make this happen. It would have to be in a PRIDE/UFC joint show whenever PRIDE debuts in the US - because it would be foolish for them not to take it into Japan because that's where the money is, but the US MMA scene would get a major boost from something like this. We can have this discussion another day, though. Right now, SILVA/COUTURE! CLINCHERIFFIC~!

 

Heath Herring was there too. Fuck. They should have had him cut a promo on FRANK MIR (who was also there) and set something up there.

 

There were some minor production problems (the show got cut off up here at 12:50) but other than that it was good. Goldie/Rogan were solid, but they weren't as good as they could have been. If Ranallo/Rutten step up tomorrow, we could see a shift in Best Commentary Team. There was a lot of filler, but I don't mind that as long as it is well paced, which I thought it was. Too many commercials. I paid to see this, so there shouldn't be all this crap. However, they have to do it some how, so I won't hate too much.

 

Another TV show? SWEET~! Dana White is soooo sleazy - he makes Heyman look like the pope.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

SHIT!

 

How could I forget about Edwards' high kick of DEATH! ? That had me going NUTS. That was a really fun fight with Thomson being a dick and controlling the whole fight until Edwards decides to say "Screw this... I'MAGONNAKICKYOUINDAHEAD!" His post match promo saying God loves him more was the shit.

 

Pinoya Ogawa, I don't get your Doerkson hate. He had some good ground control and blocked really well. Riggs had some sick GnPdage. Watch out.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

There was a shot of Couture after the second (I believe) round where he had Vitors blood on his belly. Goldies comment about the blood on his notes was hilarious and sick and wonderful. The blood on the camera was a nice touch and you could see the camera guy move in hoping for that to happen. Mmmm...

 

And the music didn't annoy me tonight. ROCK ON!

[the pinjockey 0]

My problem with Doerksen is that he just didn't seem to do anything. I'll have to watch it again (everything else tonight was so awesome maybe I underrated his effort), but save for one or two times Riggs was able to sit up in guard or stand up at will. All in all he just kind of laid there, keeping his legs high when Riggs was in his closed guard.

 

I could also just be severely underrating Riggs, but it just seemed so easy for him to do what he wanted that I immediately think the other guy is in over his head.