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Lt. Al Giardello

UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson

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It's kind of a shame that at one time in MMA tapping Jeremy Horn was an impossible act but now that Santiago opened the floodgates it's the new hotness.

 

When was this? He's had long periods where wasn't submitted, but he's proven himself as succeptable as any other good grappler throughout his career. To illustrate, a haiku:

 

Both legs in kneebar

Triangle double armbar

Dude, get some damn width

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... fighting skilled grapplers after years of physical punishment? Hell, the deterioration may be a moot point; if you look at his resume, he wasn't exactly facing submission threats through most of his career.

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I think this show suffers from what I will dub the "Anderson Silva syndrome". Meaning, I don't care about these two fighting because Silva murdered them both so easily and decisively. Neither should get a title fight with Silva again, and if they fight at LHW for the title...so what? They still were murdered by Anderson Silva.

 

The semi main event doesn't do much for me. If Shogun's knee isn't something that will hurt him fighting, he should murder Coleman like he should have years ago. But Shogun's knee has been an issue trying tocome back. That could help Coleman. Either way...neither gains really. Shogun beats Coleman...well, so what? He beat an old man. Coleman beats Shogun...Well, so what? You'll be retiring pretty soon anyway.

 

I am a cold, cold human being.

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I like seeing both Shogun and Coleman fight. Coleman is a novelty purpose, as I enjoyed his earlier days in the UFC and it's just gonna be kinda fucked to see him back in the octagon, especially at 205. And I really want Shogun to return-to-form (or get better), because his peak year was so damn good. I want that killer back.

 

I really, really, like this card. I don't even know where to start with Hendo vs. Rich at 205, so that's bit of a mystery, which is always fun with fighting. Horn/Palhares should be good, tight, fun. Kang vs. Belcher is a great fight and it will be interesting to see what Denis can bring to the MW division. He's not a top fighter, but the dude has gone on some serious runs and if he can get his footing it will make the division interesting... at least, the division below Anderson Silva...

 

And Lytle/Davis may disappoint, cause I think Davis is too smart to get into the type of brawl Lytle wants, but it could also be fireworks.

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Kang's loss to Mousasi looks a lot better in retrospect. At the time I seem to remember everyone saying that Kang essentially shit the bed to lose to him but I don't really think that's the case now.

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Kang has improved a ton in his striking, and is going to make a serious run in the UFC Middleweight division. People are going to be surprised, and I've been as vocal a critic as any in the past.

 

His success will depend on the quality of his masking agents.

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Oh shit... now I remember Kang. He was the guy most people were saying on various boards who was going to give Anderson Silva and the UFC/Dana were stupid for not offering him a contract once they got PRIDE, cuz he was ready to tear shit up.

 

What happened to kill his aura?

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Also, back-to-back underwhelming performances against Team Grabaka in Bushido...

 

... and wanting desperately to be the most Korean non-Korean ever.

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Also, back-to-back underwhelming performances against Team Grabaka in Bushido...

 

... and wanting desperately to be the most Korean non-Korean ever.

 

But his daddy is Korean!

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I am interested in this one, mainly for Coleman vs. Shogun. In part because it's a return to the UFC for Coleman, and I am a mark for the 10-20 UFC era which were earmarked by his reign as champion. Plus, I want to see if Shogun can return to form and show the killer that came out in PRIDE. It really a relevant fight, but more akin to when Rampage fought Eastman - they want to see if Shogun can look good against an opponent who has a W over him.

 

I have little desire to see Franklin fight Hendo, since I like both guys and it's a bout of little implication in either the MW or LHW division. Nor did I ever ponder 'who would win' when the two were both respective champions.

 

Kang debuting against Belcher is a dope fight, though. As is Davis vs. Lytle. I can't see Davis/Lytle being the slugfest both guys say it will be, but it should be a fairly decent stand up affair (and if both guys took it to the ground, it wouldn't be half bad there either).

 

But overall I am in agreement with most - I have no idea why this card exists, other than to give the UK another show. Or maybe to give Bisping a rival leading to a bigger UK show.

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I like how I wrote the exact same post twice. Anywhooo...

 

They need a better talker than Rich or Hendo. It's almost impossible to hate Franklin, unless they turn it into a holy war (cause we all know brits are atheist and Rich loves him some jesus), and Hendo can't trash talk effectively with his nasally voice. Unless you wanna do a Bret Hart thing and have Bisping hated in the US but luvved everywhere else. Then they totally can do the Count Foundation.

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Mustafa Al Turk with a pointed goatee. Paul Kelly with a flat top. Paul Taylor with a curly blonde wig. Dan Hardy with his two slammy awards. All leading up to Rich Franklin stealing an ambulance with Bisping inside it.

 

All of a sudden I am really looking forward to this next season of TUF.

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Countdown to this show is up on UFC.com

 

Franklin leads the new year with possibly its best quote in responding to Hendo saying that he's "going to beat the shit" out of Rich...

 

"...He say shit? That's just mean... I'm picturing myself laying in the middle of the octagon in a pile of my own shit right now. Thats unsightly."

 

Shiiit, Franklin already won the war.

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I like Rich. I know a lot of people that are all about what MMA really is don't really like the guy. But if he beats Hendo then he should silence them all. Dude's only lost to 1 guy in the UFC

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People who dislike Franklin tend to believe that because he was marketed aggressively by the UFC, he was somehow not a real fighter, disregarding the fact that he's a well-rounded guy who's beaten (and utterly dominated) some good fighters. But fuck 'em, I like the guy. And Rudo's right, he already won the war of words.

 

Also fairly amusing was the inability of the production team to find any noteworthy highlights from Henderson's rematch with Bustamante.

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He was ducking Matt Lindland! Lindland was a top contender when Rich wuz champ! UFC dumps The Law on a trumped up sponsorship scandal! COINCIDENCE?! They were protectin their boy! CONSPIRACY!

 

And I didn't mean war of words (though Rich does win it), I meant in general. Even if Hendo destroys Rich (unlikely), he still has that massive burn to contend with for the rest of his life.

 

My main bone of contention with Rich, beyond the creepy religiousness, is his association with American Fighter. How can someone who is clearly a cool dude be associated with such a lame clothing company? Also, Cyborg Soldier. DoubleYouTeeEff Rich, DoubleYouTeeEff. This is why Huerta is retarded for thinking he is going to do anything worthwhile in Hollywood. The track record is like 1 for 46. And that one is Oleg Taktarov fer crissakes. And he still came back to MMA. At like 80. Even after ROLLERBALL. You think Huerta is going to touch ROLLERBALL? That shit had LL in it. There is clearly something about fighting and fighters that does not mesh at all with having standards when getting roles in movies.

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