UFC 54: Boiling Point

[Guest Brian]

 

Pre-Lims:

Terry Martin vs. James Irvin

Trevor Prangley vs. Travis Lutter

Matt Lindland vs. Joe Doerksen

 

Live Card:

George St. Pierre vs. Frank Trigg

Brian Gassaway vs. Diego Sanchez

Randy Couture vs. Mike Van Arsdale

Tra Telligman vs. Tim Sylvia

Light-Heavyweight Title: Chuck Liddell vs. Jeremy Horn

[razazteca 0]

So will Linddell get choked out again?

[Lei Tong 0]

The odds of Liddell getting choke out again are slim compared to the odds of Horn choking on the big stage once again.

 

It should also be noted that when Horn self-destructs, it's usually in impressively embarassing fashion.

 

Groin tear shooting in for a takedown? Check.

 

Submitted via standing guillotine? Check.

 

Getting caught in a triangle double armbar that ONLY your's and your opponent's specific body types could make happen?

 

 

Motherfuckin' check.

[razazteca 0]

Does Chuck have any skills on the ground or is he only a standing striker?

[Lei Tong 0]

Chuck's ground skills consist of getting back to his feet very quickly, or flopping around like a fish if it doesn't happen.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

It's all about Rush this Saturday, bitches. Hughes better get some last-minute spooning in with the title because (provided he doesn't lose it to Parisian at UFC 55) that belt is St. Pierre's to win. Your precious armbars won't save you this time Matt! GSP by guillotine, Round 2.

 

Coture vs Van Arsdale should be a walk for Randy, if he doesn't end it in the first round I'll be worried. Randy by TKO, Round 1.

 

Sylvia will be looking to show Dana that he is still worth keeping around so he'll be coming out swinging. Telligmen has a chance, I didn't give Arlovski any chance of knocking Sylvia down but it happened. Sylvia by KO, Round 1.

 

I've never see Gassaway fight but was a Diego supporter early on in TUF so my pick for this one is obvious. Diego by GNP Ref Stoppage, Round 2. If he loses this one he's in some trouble, especially with a twice-impressive Mike Swick and a rapidly improving Josh Koscheck nipping at his heels.

 

Fuck Chuck. I mean, not really because I do like him as a fighter but find him to be terribly overrated. Always found his offense to be solid but loved up way too much. When he's on his game, striking-wise he can be the most dangerous guy on the planet. However, when your game plane is "Swing for the fences and see what happens" you tend to get into trouble. If he tries to play that game w/ Horn it could be disasterous. Horn can take him on the ground but keeping Chuck on the ground will be a challenge. The longer the fight goes the more it favours Horn so look for Chuck to be favouring the left hook early on. Horn via armbar, Round 3.

[LooseCannon25 0]

My picks:

 

Pre-Lims:

Terry Martin vs. James Irvin

Trevor Prangley vs. Travis Lutter

Matt Lindland vs. Joe Doerksen

 

Live Card:

George St. Pierre vs. Frank Trigg

Brian Gassaway vs. Diego Sanchez

Randy Couture vs. Mike Van Arsdale

Tra Telligman vs. Tim Sylvia

Light-Heavyweight Title: Chuck Liddell vs. Jeremy Horn

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Yes, I really think GSP is losing to Trigg

[Styles 0]

Looking forward to it. Will be ordering since UFC never puts on bad PPVs. Seriously, even those who thought the live Spike special was bad, their PPVs are way better and there's no 10 minute Coq Rock commercials.

 

Pre-Lims:

James Irvin over Terry Martin via KO, Rd1.

Trevor Prangley over Travis Lutter via submission, Rd2.

Matt Lindland over Joe Doerksen via unanimous decision.

 

Live Card:

George St. Pierre over Frank Trigg via TKO, Rd 3.

Diego Sanchez over Brian Gassaway via submission, Rd 1.

Randy Couture over Mike Van Arsdale via split decision

Tim Sylvia over Tra Telligman via KO, RD 1.

Light-Heavyweight Title: Chuck Liddell over Jeremy Horn via KO. Rd 2.

[AmericanDragon 0]

http://69.46.29.2:8080/absoluteig/gallery.asp?categoryid=202

[Guest Brian]

Thanks AD!

 

Here's the Sherdog Weigh-ins video.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

It's like fucking christmas!

 

I woke up today and the first thing on my mind was "UFC tonight".

[{''({o..o})''} 0]

I just couldn't resist after watching that Horn/Liddell buildup show again.

[Guest Brian]

Shows started.

[Sass 0]

Fuck Chuck. I mean, not really because I do like him as a fighter but find him to be terribly overrated. Always found his offense to be solid but loved up way too much. When he's on his game, striking-wise he can be the most dangerous guy on the planet. However, when your game plane is "Swing for the fences and see what happens" you tend to get into trouble. If he tries to play that game w/ Horn it could be disasterous. Horn can take him on the ground but keeping Chuck on the ground will be a challenge. The longer the fight goes the more it favours Horn so look for Chuck to be favouring the left hook early on.  Horn via armbar, Round 3.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Haaaaaaattttteeeerrr.

 

Hey, whatever works for him. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Besides that, I don't see Chuck losing to Horn here if they stand up. But if Horn takes him down and starts wrasslin around with Chuck, it could be curtains for the Iceman.

[Guest Brian]

I just want to say that the main card was good. And the first round of Doerksen/Lindland was all kinds of fun.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Fuck Chuck. I mean, not really because I do like him as a fighter but find him to be terribly overrated. Always found his offense to be solid but loved up way too much. When he's on his game, striking-wise he can be the most dangerous guy on the planet. However, when your game plane is "Swing for the fences and see what happens" you tend to get into trouble. If he tries to play that game w/ Horn it could be disasterous. Horn can take him on the ground but keeping Chuck on the ground will be a challenge. The longer the fight goes the more it favours Horn so look for Chuck to be favouring the left hook early on.  Horn via armbar, Round 3.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Haaaaaaattttteeeerrr.

 

Hey, whatever works for him. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Besides that, I don't see Chuck losing to Horn here if they stand up. But if Horn takes him down and starts wrasslin around with Chuck, it could be curtains for the Iceman.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hater = Coture Fan

 

WHAT WORKED

 

- GSP, mafucka! B-Level what? Rear naked again? Shut the fuck up, Frank. George Saint PWNED~!

 

- Diego looked uber-smooth on the ground and survived some nice shots from Gassaway. Forget "Nightmare", with the new look his new nickname needs to be "Desperado".

 

- Tim fucking Sylvia did a goddamn high kick. And goddamn killed him. Only time I've seen a stretcher job in UFC.

 

- The matwork in Van Arsdale/Coture was balls out, I fucking freaked when Mike actually TOOK RANDY COTURE DOWN with that swank-ass headlock throw. Props to Randy for the Anaconda Choke love.

 

Oh.......ahem.

 

JUMPING KNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

 

Good way to end off a solid-very good show.

 

I'll give the credit where credit is due: Chuck destroyed him on his feet and neutralized him on the ground.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

GSP! I was worried for him against Trigg, cause Trigg dominated both Charuto and Hallman, and came so close to beating Hughes. I feel silly now after watching Rush just fuck Trigg up on every single fucking level. The guy is a monster. An absolute monster. They should have let Hughes come into the ring afterwards, just so I can see those two face to face, just so St. Pierre can look into the eyes of the man who no doubt fears him right now, just so Hughes can look into the eyes of the man that will destroy him when they fight again. Fuck. Yeah. His post-fight promo was tremendous.

 

Sanchez looked good in there, though him not going for submissions was a bit of a wonderer especially when they were presented to him freely by Gassaway. Still, the objective was to have Sanchez win in impressive fashion, and he did.

 

Couture/Van Arsdale, Round 1, was freakin amazing. MVAs takedown was sweet, and them exchanging positions was some of the best wrestling I've seen displayed in the octagon. The rest of the fight was ok, building up to the Anaconda Choke, but boy that first round was sweet.

 

Sylvia/Telligman was fucking SCARY. That highkick was insane, but the way Tra was lying there completely out, it was rough watching. Good fight, nice exchanges on their feet, impressive finish.

 

Horn/Liddell was good, but it was a typical Liddell performance of "pick your spots" which made for some nice spots, but in between those spots sorta lacked. Big John gave some major leeway that you would NEVER see outside of a title fight. The finish was anti-climatic, but fitting for the story of the match. Tip for anyone fighting Chuck - wear goggles.

 

Lindland/Doerkson for the first two rounds was great (especially the first) with Doerkson actually taking down as well as sweeping an Olympic Silver Medalist in wrestling. Fuck. That loss hurts a lot more than I thought it would, cause I really wanted Joe to win for a couple of reasons: 1. He's an exciting fighter, 2. He'd be good match ups against the top Middleweights, particularly Franklin, 3. I don't really want to see Lindland/Franklin. But Lindlands promos are primo.

 

I was wondering why they were showing the Irvin fight, but DAMN, that was a Silva/Newton-style flying knee. JEEEESUS. His reaction to it was classic - looking back and then throwing his hands up cause he knew Martin was KTFO.

 

Overall, really good show.

 

*pulls out piece of paper*

 

Now, -I gotta do this- I'd like to my sponsors. Lord of the Curry, for hosting the event, the UFC and Zuffa for putting it on, COWS Fightwear - which supplies me with my much needed bovine humour and puns in Tshirt form, Wendys for sustaining my appetite so I could watch the show without distraction, and TSM, cause this is where I post. God bless.

[snuffbox 0]

Thanks for the reports...Im just now getting electricity back in my town after a tornado nearly destroyed it entirely a few days ago.

[Guest Brian]

My full thoughts:

 

St. Pierre/Trigg was good to see just because it was Trigg showing just how much of a great fighter was becoming. I love Trigg and I feel sorry for him, but he was a stepping stone for Pierre. What a finish going back to the rear naked choke. I love this and am sad at the same time. I hope they bring Trigg back, but things are soo deep in that division.

 

Diego and Gassaway was okay. I felt it was the weakest fight of the night. There were some good spurts when Gassaway worked to get up, but it didn't seem like much was going down in the first.

 

Van Arsdale and Randy was really neat. I loved that first round. Randy looked like he wasn't Mr. Cardio there, so maybe training with Rampage and Twinkle Toes wasn't the best idea. I always love when they bust out submissions they hint at earlier.

 

Telligman and Sylvia was a crazy knockout. Standing action was good.

 

Chuck really showed a ton in that fight with Horn. He neutralized all his takedowns and really has shown that he's honing in on his boxing and striking. I was surprised Horn went down, but Chuck was on top of things and totally avoided the guard. Another good fight. I can't wait to see Horn if he drops down.

 

I missed some of the Lindland/Doerksen fight, but when they were on the ground in the first round looked really good, with Doerksen's sweeps and ability to get good position. And, oh yeah, the takedowns off Lindland.

 

Martin/Irvin was another crazy finish. Two stretcher jobs in one night!

 

Overall, it was a really good show IMO. All the main card stuff had finishes, two crazy knockouts, alot of good ground and stand-up work, and the UFC pretty much got exactly what they wanted out of it. They've set up St. Pierre/Hughes II (GO RUSH~!), had a lot of finishes, got Chuck and Randy a step closer to their third meeting, and get some great knockouts and finishes out of most of their fights.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Crap, I missed it. Now I guess I'll have to find it somewhere online since I'll be at work for the replays *curses Time Warner Cable*.

[Styles 0]

I went 8-0 on my predictions!

 

No MOTYC but a fun overall night.

 

Quick thoughts:

 

-Irving's flying knee was awesome and is up against Yves Edwards spinning kick as my favorite KO of the year.

 

-Lindland/Doerkson was so boring. I hope Ace finishes him quickly.

 

-St. Pierre is amazing. I knew he'd win but not that dominating. Trigg is done, unless he learns to defend a choke.

 

-What's up with Diego's new look? impressive win but not exactly top competition.

 

-Oh ye of little faith. The cardinal rule: Never underestimate Randy Couture. Great win, nice submission finish. Can't wait for Couture/Liddell III.

 

-Sylvia is BACK~! I always loved Tim, and am glad to see him with a big victory. That high kick was brutal. The problem is the heaviweight division is still the love triangle of Arlovski, Sylvia and Mir (if he ever comes back).

 

-I don't know if I'm more impressed with Lidell or Horn! Horn's strategy was obviously get Chuck on the ground but Chuck would have none of it, even after brutal knockdowns where he could have finished. How Jeremy is still amongst the living after those brutal combinations I will never know. That's a pretty scary finish with the guy cowering in the corner and telling the ref he can't see. Hope he's ok, but don't think Dana will bring him back since he was only brought back to lose to Chuck.

 

-Next show's looking a little weak. They need to get Arlovski some real competition, Buentello is going to be murderized. Forrest/Friedman could be fun but doesn't scream marquee fight.

 

-I wonder if they bring in Quinton Jackson first, or do the Couture rematch first?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

At the December show do Couture/Liddell III, and on the undercard have Rampage fight someone to set him up for the title shot.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I dunno how one could consider Lindland/Doerkson "boring". The third round, yes. But the first round was stellar, and the second round had its exciting moments.

[Styles 0]

I dunno how one could consider Lindland/Doerkson "boring".  The third round, yes.  But the first round was stellar, and the second round had its exciting moments.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The first round was ok with Joe owning but round 2 and 3 got progressively worse with Lindland's boring lay on top of his opponent offense.

[Styles 0]

At the December show do Couture/Liddell III, and on the undercard have Rampage fight someone to set him up for the title shot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

GSP/Hughes and Ace/Lindland is already being planned for December. I highly doubt they do 3 title matches on one show, so I think Chuck/Randy III gets pushed back to February.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I proposed the idea tonight of a USA vs Canada PPV. Loiseau, GSP, Cote and Doerkson.

 

Dana White looked righteously sleazy in the TUF commercials. Can't wait for this Monday night.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I don't think I was watching the same fight if you called the 1st round "ok". Then again, I was cheering for someone in that fight which adds a lil more emotion.

 

3 title fights would be the UFCs christmas present to all of us.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

[LooseCannon25 0]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

That high kick was fuckin brutal. The kick went right through Tra's arms when he tried to block. The only thing as nasty as that was the Irvin Flyyyyyyyying Kneeeeeeeee.

 

I went 6-2 in my picks. Lost the Trigg, and Martin picks

[Lord of The Curry 0]

So can Trigg even attempt at fighting again without being laughed off the show? Honestly. The first two times you tried to fuck with The Champ, got choked out twice (even after you kneed the guy in the junk). Now you attempt to run your mouth on a "B-level" French-Canadian who just a put a severe hurtin' on you on every level and destroyed any rep you previously had.