UFC 92 Thoughts And Commentary: Frank Mir Steals The Show
Frank Mir
Lots to talk about so let’s get to it: “The Ultimate 2008” delivered and delivered huge. The order of the bouts was all over the place but I can’t complain. The show was well paced and absolutely packed with fireworks and surprises. Kudos to the UFC for capping off the New Year strong.
Upset of the year? Try upset of the decade.
Wow.
I can’t really think of a better phrase to sum up my thoughts on Frank Mir dominating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira the way he did. Wow.
Just…Wow.
It’s not as if Rashad Evans, Quinton Jackson, Cheick Kongo and the rest of the winning crew weren’t equally impressive last night. But given the odds, the storyline, and the worldwide general consensus, Frank Mir’s performance absolutely stole the show, and for anyone who thinks otherwise- think again about what Frank Mir just accomplished.
Flashback: Frank Mir was lucky enough to pull out a knee bar/heel hook against an inexperienced Brock Lesnar, who was absolutely destroying his face until said submission transpired. Prior to that, Mir had only a few select “impress you” moments, and many more “maybe he isn’t so great” moments, peppered between victories over underwhelming heavyweights and devastating losses to Marcio Cruz and Brandon Vera. And before all of that, Mir was involved in a horrific motorcycle accident which should have ended his career (they wanted to amputate his leg.)
Now I, along with almost every other person in the MMA universe, am officially dining on crow. Not only did most of us suckas pick Mir to lose based on sheer aptitude, but Mir seemed to bet against himself in every interview leading up to the fight. When coming up with the prediction in my head, I ultimately concluded every time “Nope, Mir can’t win a striking exchange, a grappling match, Jenga, or any other type of contest over Nogueira. Nogueira has also never been finished and Mir has terrible cardio. He simply cannot win. Smart bet Eric, you deserve that last snickerdoodle.”
And then what happens? Frank Mir comes out with crisp boxing, solid in and out combinations, forces Minotauro to fight his fight, and moves in for the kill without getting caught in one of Nogueira’s famous back from the dead submissions. Wow, indeed. My hats off to anyone who bet the house on Mir.
Now that Mir has screwed up the anticipated Nogueira/Lesnar match, we the people are treated to Mir/Lesnar 2 for the heavyweight unification title. I’ll be honest, before last night’s upset I probably would have picked Brock over Mir in a second encounter between the two, but now it looks like Mir has the rejuvenated upper hand. Either way, the UFC can at least promote a decent fight as Mir already commenced the Lesnar antagonizing shortly after his big win last night. I can’t say I blame him. It has to be quite a rush to stop someone who has never been stopped in 38 fights by even the stiffest of competition.
As for one Minotauro Nogueira, the future seems pretty wide open. With the UFC’s HW division having a lot of up and comers but much less top 5 competition, it shouldn’t take Nogueira more than a couple of wins to get back into title contention. Bouts against one of the UFC’s heavyweight prospects are a possibility, but I think now might be the time to put Nogueira in there with Randy Couture, assuming Couture is up to it. Despite Couture’s age and Nogueira losing a little bit of luster, Couture/Nogueira could still make for a strong non-title main event for a future pay-per-view.
Rashad Evans has to be a happy man. The undersized perpetual underdog, Rashad gave up 4 inches in height to Forrest Griffin and was losing the bulk of the standing exchanges rather convincingly. But Evans wasn’t about to let himself get pummeled and risk a decision, and instead continued sticking combinations until a nice shot brought Forrest to the canvas where Evans put the original Ultimate Fighter away for good. I think, or at least hope, that some of the Rashad haters will see a different light now that Evans isn’t solely relying on his wrestling and laying n’ praying his way toward victory.
However, I would be remiss if I did not make mention of one glaring issue from last nights light-heavyweight contest: Rashad’s cardio looked damn near destroyed as he was trying to finish off Griffin. I guess that kind of pace and “explosiveness” really does take its toll. But there is no way Evans can defend that belt for very long if he isn’t prepared to rock and roll for 25 minutes. I can only assume that Greg Jackson is already on this matter.
Also, I am a little upset that I didn’t catch the infamous Jackson-camp nipple tweak, did anyone else?
Quinton Jackson is back…we think.
In a fashion similar to his dispatching of Chuck Liddell, Rampage managed to place a well timed hook directly on the ‘go to sleep’ button of Wanderlei Silva. This absolutely has to be just as much an internal victory for Jackson as well as a tangible one. So is Rampage back? Who knows. Jackson’s victory was so hard and swift that we weren’t able to find out how the rest of his arsenal is looking, though we can only assume that his camp (Wolfslair) is keeping him up to standard. We can also only assume that Jackson’s head is alas in the right place, and that he is just as mentally ready to maintain his climb back to the top. Though no one other than Jackson and a select few really have any idea.
Now what, you say? Rampage vs. Rashad Evans would make for an excellent fight stylistically, and word has it that Dana wants him to challenge Evans as soon as possible- although Jackson apparently still wants his revenge with Forrest Griffin. I thought it made more sense to have Jackson fight the winner of Lyoto Machida/Thiago Silva for the number one contender spot, but I guess that would keep Rashad on the shelf for too long. And keeping a champion out of competition for extended periods of time is definitely a trend the UFC should work to avoid.
The inevitable question is can Rashad successfully defend against Machida, Thiago or Jackson? Off the top of my head- Rashad loses all three of those fights, but I would nonetheless pay to see any one of them to find out.
Wanderlei Silva on the other hand has a much less predictable future ahead. Since returning to the UFC, Silva has lost a tough battle to Chuck Liddell, destroyed Keith Jardine, and been floored by old foe Rampage. Prior to that Silva was knocked unconscious in consecutive losses to Dan Henderson and Mirko Cro Cop. That’s a lot of MRI’s for anyone. But Silva has stated that he wishes to continue fighting for a good while, and I imagine the UFC will keep the Axe Muderer on the roster so long as that is the case. Wanderlei still has a very marketable name, and even if he isn’t the one doing the bashing, his style is just too exciting to let work for the competition. An immediate thought of Silva vs. Griffin just danced in my head; perhaps it will become a reality…
Cheick Kongo is a sprawling machine. While his ground game has much to be desired, it really doesn’t matter when you can out-muscle even the strongest attackers. Though a more natural, well sized grappler, Mustapha Al Turk just couldn’t get the mountain that is Kongo down where he needed to. Given that the pickings are generally slim, Kongo probably deserves a slot somewhere in the newly reformed heavyweight title picture, but it might be a while before Dana can pencil him in. Patience Kongo, patience…
C.B. Dollaway is better than I would like to admit. He comes off like a Varsity Blues stereotype and got armbar’d twice consecutively by the same guy. He also has a lame voice. But past all of that, Dollaway showed legitimate skill in his quick dispatching of Mike Massenzio. Dollaway avoided serious guillotine trouble and a minor triangle threat en route to a strong TKO victory. I still don’t like him, but the kid can at least hold his own.
Given, Dan Evensen has never done anything remotely impressive since coming to the UFC, but Pat Barry put a striking clinic on him the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Bas Rutten tuned up Ruben Villareal. Assuming Barry puts serious time in on his ground game (remember Pat this is MMA now, not K-1) he could become a contender sooner than later. But the ground game needs work…seriously Pat. We will enjoy watching you make people look foolish standing up, but you will only look twice as foolish if you turn into a heavyweight Houston Alexander.
Does anyone else find it strange that Matt Hamill didn’t use his wrestling more? I love to see fighters get TKO’d just as much as the next guy, but I feel like Hamill could have ended things earlier had he wanted to out grapple Reese Andy and sink in a submission. Ah well. Hamill still looked great while Andy’s UFC contract is likely in serious Jeopardy.
Antoni Hardonk knows some jiujitsu. That will definitely prove helpful in future MMA bouts. Newcomer Mike Wessel didn’t really show much of a reason to be kept around, but he is a heavyweight so he could be used as fodder for one of the better up and comers in the division.
While I thought it strange to relegate Yushin Okami vs. Dean Lister to the unaired portion, it looks like the UFC made the right call- as all of the liveblogs I read described the contest as little more than a snooze-fest. Furthermore, Yushin Okami has won yet another fight in the UFC against solid competition. So what the heck does he do now? He can’t get a shot at The Spyder any time soon and other contenders will probably have a tough time getting one over on him. Oh Yushin, you’re just too good for your own good. Maybe you should grab a beer with Lyoto Machida.
Unrelated notes: My buddy Willis, who doesn’t know anything about anything, picked Mir to win at the bar last night, despite all of my screaming and violent hand gestures. Boy was my face red.
Also, to the trashy drunk chick behind me who was shouting at her boyfriend for 20 minutes: We all get that you are hammered and hate when people “talk shit” on you, and we get that you think you are really hot, but please take your thousand-decibel drunken tirade outside or to the bathroom or something. Despite your rampant need for attention, there are some of us here who just want to watch the fights. I know, crazy right?
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I knew my pick of Massenzio was on trouble when he came out with a busted knee.
I think you’re right about Okami being too good for his own good. He is very much in a Machida/Franklin -esque situation.
Pat Berry was impressive for sure but does need to male sure he had a ground game moving forward.
Also, I too was puzzled by the definitive absence of wrestling in Matt Hammil’s game plan. Glad he picked up the win though.
I picked Massenzio too. I started the night 6-0 then went 0-4. Oh well, that’s MMA for ya.
I started the night 0-2 and bounced back to 6-4. wasn’t too bad, but hopefully I will do better on the next card.
yea mir was shockingly impressive. i hate mir but after a min or 2 i found myself routing for him. either mir was spectacular or big nogs looked like big pile of crap. rampage putting wandy down was sick. and my boy rashad taken care of buisness. and idk if he was gassed when goin for the finish. he always looks kinda gassed but presses forward so idk. great night
i wanted mir to win but i thought nog was going to win but man he dominated
cmon mir submit lesnar
Does anyone else think that rashad is secretly cuba gooding Jr?
Yeah.. Mir was greta.. the unification is going to be beautiful
wow rampage is bk i would like him to fight evans in march then the winner of machida and silva fight shogun for the number 1 condendership also for the ufc to bring back josh barnett and arlovski to beef up the hw division hopefully bisping can challage anderson silva for the mw tittle later this year
Did anyone else notice C.B. tapping on Mike’s shoulder while he was getting choked out. There was two or three taps. If the ref would have noticed, another quick loss for Dollaway.
I said that in a previous post. Dolloway tapped at 1 min 7 sec into the round. Good call, glad you saw that too, Bob.
i said that in the rsults page lol lucky win for cb
I thought Dolloway tapped as well, but maybe it was just the way his arm was. Hopefully Massenzio didn’t think he tapped and let go, allowing him to get out.
I thought for sure he tapped. I haven’t watched any replays yet but it sure looked like he tapped quickly to the choke then worked his way out.
Just rewatched it, looked like a tap to me, but then he changed his mind, kinda like in that fight against Sodollah.
I didn’t catch the alleged tap but I haven’t seen the replay yet. If he did tap I get to give CB even less credit. Woo hoo.
justin-I didn’t find it on my usual “completely legitimate video site” so I will have to tool around a bit more tomorrow.
Eric,
The video is available on the net, so its not hard to find.
this buds for you crazy drunkin girl!
O and it should be the winner of the Silva/Machida fight to challenge rashad next. we can all agree that will be a very good match.
Yeah, it should be unbeaten against unbeaten for the LHW title. That could be a great fight. Styles make fights and Evans-Loyota could make a really long 25 minutes of boredom. Silva and Rashad could be batter, but Silva gonna get beat down by Loyota.
I gave my break down on Post UFC-92 News and Notes. Not that anyone gives a s***t.
i think rampage should fight evans next….evans/machida or silva wouldn’t draw much interest…unless they have 2 other fights on the card that are exciting match ups…
evans vs machida/silva
mir vs lesnar
sherk vs sanchez..
this would be a fun card…
but imo, the winner of t silva n machida does not deserve a title shot…neither of them have defeated a legit title contender…
If anyone whats to answer this question feel free to.
“IF” Franklin beats Henderson he’s the new coach of TUF then
with Bisping.
Which means “IF” Franklin is the coach its him and Bisping verus each other. {Winner of this gets a title shot at Anderson Silva}
“IF” Franklin wins that fight its Him Verus Silva 3 did I add that up right. Yes there are alot of “IF’s” but I think it should happen ,if all my facts are right.
That’s the way things seem to be lined up…are you saying that you somehow think Franklin is going to pull a Rampage and beat Silva if all those other factors line up and he gets to fight him again?
its really hard to beat someone 3 times.. in this case i don’t see rich doing it..
SurfingK5 I sent u an e~mail but I don’t think it through, soo welcome to Cali my friend..
Ok to touch on a few points, Eric nice write up forsure, I also know the feeling of wanting a drunk girl to choke on an olive that she put in her designer martini because she like forgot to eat o my gaaawwww
See what is soo impressive about Frank Mir is well how much he has transformed in essentially 6months and he thoughts process seemed tip top, now definately Nog didn’t look good (psyhically nor fighting wise) but Mir kicked his arse point blank period..
Is this greater than Serra’s upset of Gsp YES bottom line most definately Serra’s was an explosive ko Frank was methodical in his approach to the destruction of Nog percise and he had a game plan he knew not to attack right away and when Nog got dropped the first time he knew not to stay on the ground too long and get caught in a sub I also believe the knock down at the end of the first gave him soo much confidence that Mir finally believed he could beat Nog I simply can’t say enough on how much I was impressed by Frank Mir congrats
People are putting Big Nog down for something no one saw , Mir’s striking ,I personnally picked Mir to win but not by Knockout, I thought Crocop had more of a chance of submitting Nog then Mir Knocking him out. I picked Mir because I saw all his old fights from one of my friend and I didn’t think Nog could handle Mir’s size and strenght and skill on the ground. I’m not even should if Nog has ever faced someone as good or almost as good as himself on the ground. Thats why I picked Mir. It not like Nog got Submitted then you could say he didn’t fight smartly , If Nog looked at a few of Mir’s fights he fights Left handed and Right handed and looks ok from both side. Nog didn’t see the improvement in Mir’s hand and no one on here said Mir by Knockout either, because no one knew. I thought he’d gas if it was a stand up war, but he added cardio and a nice upper cut and his punches were on the button and with power so has hands aren’t wild shoots that landed, some nice kicks. Just alround improved stand. He’s no Kongo in the stand up but the difference between most Strikers and Mir is Mir doesn’t fear the ground with Nog so he was putting some right power into those shoots.
I’m not sure what to make of your post, but I will tell you that I’m not shhhiting on Big Nog I was just rather impressed by Mir.. I’ve seen old Mir fights and will state that without a doubt this is the best that he has ever looked eva.. Big Nog is a champions champion and he has face tremendous opposition in his carrer, he wasn’t the better man at UFC 92 and it showed, Mir v Lesnar II for the undisputed HW title wow
on sherdog.com rampage says he doesnt want the title sht he wants a griffin rematch…So im guessing rampage will not fight evans next because wants his loss back first not his title….So to me if machida or thiago silva finish there fight it looks like it will be the winner of thiago/machida vs rashad
ohh and if everyone wouldnt mind can we keep the cb dollaway hate to a low….cb did not tap okay go to mma-core.com and watch eric and anyone else that not even close to a tap he just puts his arm under massenzio’s…come on though guys really that doesnt look anything remotly close to a tap and thats why if you go to any other mma website sherdog,mmajunkie they dont talk about that because it was started a rumor here!….cb didnt tap he beat massenzio you all know it….Long live cb…I understand not liking him because of his voice and his amir losses but if any of you meet him in person i guarentee youll like him he is a totally different guy!
I gotta disagree. I re-watched the clip a bunch of times and to me it looked like he tapped. The referee was on the other side and wasn’t in position to see the tap, but if I was reffing a fight and saw someone do that I’d stop the fight.
That fight really irked me between the tap controversy and the stoppage. I hate stoppages like those because those punches aren’t doing that much damage but that position is just so hard to get out of and the fight has to be stopped, even if the other guy isn’t hurt. Plus, those punches were awfully close to being illegal on the back of the head. Just sayin’…
We’re definitely not to only ones who’re talking about this either, as I’ve read discussions on other sites about this as well.
If I was a ref and saw that I would have stopped it. He didn’t “just put his arm under massenzio’s(sic)” it bounced three times before he grabbed on.
Also, I don’t dislike him for his voice (even though its terrible and annoying), or the Amir losses (even though he acted like an idiot after the second one), or even his jacked up lips (even though they’re annoying too). I don’t like CB because he acted like he was the anointed one that was going to win TUF, and that no one else even deserved to be there. He thought he was God’s gift to the UFC and his crap doesn’t stink, and neither of those is true, and obviously he wasn’t the best guy there, or else he wouldn’t have lost twice the same way to the same guy.
I think Nog v Randy should happen now
I also think that Wanderlei should drop to 185, better fights for him there imo, he won’t be fighting for the LHW title anytime soon so whynot go destroy the likes of Bisbing, or a rematch with Hendo?
Kongo has a mad crazy sprawl
Al~Turk v Barry should happen
Forrest v Jardine II or Rampage v Forrest II but I also think crazy pants Jackson is clearly (time wise) next in line for the shot @ Evans
CB what to make of him, well time will tell I guess, he is talented but he hasn’t been very impressive as of yet (and mike flattend himself out, who does that?)
Resse will be cut from the UFC soon imo
Yushin Okami where does he rank now after beating Lister? He is 7~1 in the UFC I believe, is Lister going to get cut from the roster or are they going to give him a chance? (Gun I’m not saying he should be cut)
What a great night of fights I’m soo happy I have it on my dvr, cheers….
Totally agree on Noggy vs Randy seems like the next logical step and a obvious headliner for the Germans at ufc 99.
i know fr lister just needs to stop tryig to stand with people and start taking people to the ground and subbing them….He should have took one of okamis arms or legs home with him saturday night…after that performance though i could care less if lister stays or goes!……..just wait fr youll see CB, he is alot better than people give him credit for, they dont like him because he has a weird voice …kongo is a bad man, Im pretty sure id run if i saw him in a dark alley…also i just watched danas last video blog 12/27/08 and it showed him talking to reese and it looks like reese will get one more chance and rampage vs evans is not happening from what rampage is saying on sherdog, he said he wants a griffin rematch before he is ready for the title
haha gun… i doubt you’d see kongo if it was in a dark alley…
Well with Forrest’s broken hand it will be difficult for the UFC to find a suitable opponent for Evans unless the Machida/Thiago fight goes quickly… What one wants isn’t always what one gets but then again with Rampage’s courtroom battle coming up their return might happen at the same time who knows, Rampage also says a lot of things sooo.
CB tapped, I’m sure he had a bad sexual experience with something around his neck. Probably forgot his “safe word” tried to tap but passed out. So now he taps every chance he gets
jackson vs evans
randy c. vs big nog at hw or fight a.silva at lhw
griffin or liddell vs jardine
bisping to be mw champ by end of year
cheick kongo whats next 4 him
1. Why does Rashad need to do things like blow a kiss to his crotch as a way to show Forrest didn’t hurt him during an exchange. Seems like all we hear about Rashad being a jerk seems true. Easy guy to root against.
2. Why did Babaloo get kicked out of the UFC for not stopping a choke when the ref stepped in, but Rampage gets three extra punches on a brain-dead opponent? … which is way worse
I don’t think Rashad was being a jerk, just a way to get into the champs head. Forrest had him against the cage landing good shots and Rashad wanted to let him know he ain’t got nothin. And it seemed to work as Forrest didn’t push the action much after that.
I thought the extra punches were completely unnecessary as well. Silva was out cold and 3 punches straight to the dome were unneeded. Rivalry or not, that could seriously injure a fighter and a bit cheap. But Wandi still up 2-1.
which is worse the ref for page vs wand 3 ?
or babalu – tie.
don’t blame rampage
Not clear on what you are saying “ref for page; babalu – tie”
I like Q, and thought Wandi was done before this fight. But “don’t blame rampage” is an odd statement. He’s a professional fighter, and knows full well that when the ref grabs him it’s over. What he did was unprofessional and dangerous.
In every instance of this pushing the limits it comes off as a final insult. But the downside is that it can end up making a person a veg.
I would say taking 3 shots to the head while laying on the canvas is worse then an extended RNC. Yeah the RNC is cutting blood off the the brain, but it won’t cause severe damage. Taking 3 heavy shots when your head can’t snap backwards, can cause serious brain damage. Silva’s head already looks like a f#cked up pumpkin. If it was only one punch, then ok, one more for good measure, but 3 with the ref grabbing him after the 1st one, not cool.
CC the only reason i can come up wit for ur 2nd point is that theres actual bad blood between the 2 where as david heath called babalu a mother f***er at the weigh-ins which although im sure pissed babalu off does not count as a heated rivalry. case in point bj penn vs jens pulver there was some legitiment bad blood between the 2 so it was looked passed when bj held the choke on him for a lil extra
I agree the action was due to the bad blood/history – but I don’t think it’s a valid excuse for pro fighters. The fighters/UFC need to get a handle on this before someone’s extra punch/choke ruins the sport.
ok…i think i might be dreaming this, but did ANYONE see Dollaway tap Massenzio twice immediately into that guillotine?? it seemed like he tapped in habit, quickly before realizing and recovering to win. maybe i’m wrong.
ok, many apologies, i didnt read all those comments, but yes, i saw the tap too, and the rest of the room i was in, didnt.
Hey, at least you caught yourself for not reading first…
I dont know why everybody keeps saying what a huge upset Mir was over big nog? Big nog sucks. He is incredibly boring and has no skill besides a slow, mediocre ground game. He was getting beat up by both herring and Silvia before getting lucky (with silvia… catching him in a stupid guillitine). No surprises… Mir would have dominated no matter where nog wanted to take this fight. No knee bar will save him again though, against lesnar… his weeks with the title belt are numbered.
Big Nog sucks? Interesting opinion. Although you at least tried to back it with some reasoning your reasons are simply misinformed. Everyone, including Mir before the fight, saw NOWHERE that Mir was better than Nog. Obviously we’ve figured out afterward that Mir was better on the feet, but what you know afyerwards doesn’t change the fact that or was an upset.
it*
Wasn’t Nog pretty close to the #1 heavy weight Justin?
And since I’m going to ****, I’m tired of people ****ing about the refs. Those guys are screwed no matter what. Stop early, stop late…piss off.
Yeah something like that. He’d also never been finished, ever, at heavyweight that’s an accomplishment.
just so everyone knows im done posting on this thread “ufc 92 thoughts and commentary” the Cb hate is crazy and i cant stand it…….Ive meet him he’s nice in person thats alll i gotta say cya in a different post
Seriously?
People simply stated they didn’t like him, you wanted to jump to his defense by creating a straw man argument for why people don’t like him (his voice). I posted the real reason people don’t like him, and rather than respond intelligently you say “I’m not posting here anymore, the Cb hate is crazy”. I expect better from you, gunslinger.
for me atleast the fact that hes nice in person weighs very lil on my feelings about him. granted if i wanted to hang out wit him and have a beer then yes him being nice in person would make a differance but the fact that hes got a holier then thou attitude everytime he opens his mouth just grinds my gears especially when if u even think about puttin him in a submission he taps.it seems to me that he lacks the will of the warrior to gut out those tough spots. but hey we all got fighters we love and fighters we love to hate. for me cb is the latter
I’ve almost never found myself rooting for Frank Mir… and I cared for him even less after watching him act like an arrogant jackass on the ultimate fighter 8. I’ll admit I was wrong, I picked Minotauro to take out Mir… but I am taking away some satisfaction from this knowing that Frank Mir does have it in him to take out Brock Lesnar, and to me thats been the whole purpose of this four man tournament.
Okay…I may have to become a UFC nuthugger after this past event. Wow is all I have to say. Had I been a betting man I would have won all but the CB Dollaway fight. Man what a great event.
Eric, I have to disagree with you on Evans’ cardio…he played Griffin exactly like he played Liddell. He out danced him and out struck him. I never saw that he was gassed or that he was close to becoming gassed until AFTER the exchange that won him the fight. Obviously it was a good idea to gas out on that exchange since it won him the fight.
Overall A+++ for the event. I hope Mir can beat Lesnar again…he really showed what determination, positive thinking and heart can get you. From possible amputation to Heavyweight Champ (Interim) is a helluva road. Congrats to Mir.
Jackson? NICE. I see him as being the lone wolf to take out Rashad with his own style. Should be an excellent fight. I know you wanted “Fight of the Night” but “Knockout of the Night” should be good enough for you.
Dana…you keep this up…I may have to love you again…
O by the end of January u will once again be singing the praise of the all mighty UFC
I would like to officially crown…
CB Dolloway QUEEN DOUCHE BAG
Known hereinafter as “Queen of the Douche Bag, Sympathetic Tappers” allowing all fighters the opportunity to win by ref stoppage due to…
PANIC-A-TAP!
As much as I think the winner of Machida/Silva deserves a title shot I think Quinton will get the first opportunity at the belt. A fight between Rashad and Machida/Silva just wouldn’t be that interesting or exciting, but Evans-Jackson would be a great headliner imo.
??? Silva vs evans would not be a good fight?? yeah oook. i can agree on machida/evans being a drawn out match, but evans/silva would not be. you know they will be trading punches cause thats both of their strengths.
A fight against Silva wouldn’t be bad provided he finishes Machida at 94.
Machida desperately needs to change his style so he’s more exciting and finishes fights. His style wins fights but so does Okami’s and look at where he’s at: fighting on undercards because he’s so boring. Granted, his matchup with Lister didn’t setup well for fireworks, but wins aren’t everything and until Machida wins over the fans with excitement I don’t think he’ll get his title shot.
I don’t know…DARE you???
Impressed by Rashad certainly my hats off to the new LHW champ, I also believe that the timing works out better for a Evans v Jackson title fight (side note is that the fight would be the first time that two black guys would be the mainevent which is a random bit of knowledge for ya) I also (as stated before) don’t see anyone going on a huge run of title defenses do to how difficultly stacked the division is… Forrest is awesome but clearly he needs to regroup and I think he will be back better than eva.. Evans did look good and he just keeps getting better…
Rampage ko’d Silva well that’s what happend and I was pissed and impressed, Wanderlei will be back, and getting ko’d like that happens I don’t believe Silva is washed up blah blah did u see how hard he got hit wow it was impressive good for Page he stepped up 2~1 advantage Wanderlei
What a great night o and I thought CB tapped too and just a great night of fights