Re: UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida (Nov. 20th) He doesn't look as good as I would hope... Machida looks good.
Re: UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida (Nov. 20th) He looks like he had a hard weight cut. Hopefully he hydrates well.
Re: UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida (Nov. 20th) MAIN CARD Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (205) vs. Lyoto Machida (205) Matt Hughes (169) vs. B.J. Penn (169) Tim Boetsch (205) vs. Phil Davis (205) Joe Lauzon (155) vs. George Sotiropoulos (155) Maiquel Falcao (185) vs. Gerald Harris (185) PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV) Matt Brown (170) vs. Brian Foster (170) Mark Munoz (185) vs. Aaron Simpson (185.5) PRELIMINARY CARD (un-aired) Dennis Hallman (170) vs. Karo Parisyan (170) Edson Barboza (155) vs. Mike Lullo (155) Paul Kelly (155) vs. T.J. O'Brien (155) Nik Lentz (155) vs. Tyson Griffin (155)
Post fight presser... http://modulesorigin.ufc.com/live/?...ontextId=f563ad34-99cf-42f7-954f-f43c0f6f6e33
Results Jackson d. Machida, split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) Penn d. Hughes, knockout - punches, 0.21/R1 Falcao d. Harris, unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28) Davis d. Boetsch, modified kimura, 2.55/R2 Sotiroupolous d. Lauzon, kimura, 2.43/R2 Foster d. Brown, guillotine, 2.11/R2 Munoz d. Simpson, unanimous decision (29-28 x3) Hallman d. Parisyan, TKO - strikes, 1.47/R1 Barboza d. Lullo, TKO - leg kicks, 0.26/R3 Kelly d. O'Brien, TKO - strikes, 3.16/R2 Lentz d. Griffin, split decision (29-28, 29-28, 27-30)
Its best to give an opinion on something before you have time to maturely analyze what you've seen so here are my unreasonable thoughts on the show... Machida/Rampage was kind of boring for like 12/15 minutes. I find it hard to believe Machida can only muster one flurry in the whole fight. There is a point where being too strategic becomes inactivity. Yet Rampage didn't charge at him. I dunno what to make of this fight. I certainly don't want to see a rematch, at least not right away, so where Joe Rogan gets off talking on behalf of the fans I don't know. DW has already shot this down so I'm glad for that. BTW, DW also shot down the Mir/Lesnar rubber match because fans complained to him on Twitter. At least he's listening. Penn/Hughes was remarkable. Hughes decided to continue his "I'm a good striker now" experiment but it needed more time in the lab. Penn is at least a decent striker at any weight class whereas Hughes has had striking success almost exclusively against bums. Still, I don't think too many people expected to see Hughes flattened in 20 seconds. Where either fighter goes from here I don't know. Actually, I think we'll see Hughes fight Dennis Hallman. Seems like the timing and the reasoning are sound. I don't know about Penn. DW thinks he looks good at welterweight so maybe he'll hang around. He's certainly a long way away from another crack at GSP... I would hope. Harris/Falcao was pretty bad. Harris was saved by the bell in the first and Falcao pretty much rode that momentum until the final bell. Harris was either on queer street or he doesn't have the heart to recover from a bit of a beating. Harris earned a spot on the PPV but Falcao was a complete newcomer so I don't know how he got on there. Props to him for the W, though. Speaking of earning a spot on the PPV, Phil Davis is a serious prospect. He needs to get a big upgrade in competition. They are bringing him along like they did Jon Jones. Maybe Davis will fight one of Jones' journeymen opponents like Bonnar or Matyushenko next? He has some skills but is still very raw. No need to push him too far up the ladder just yet. As for Boetsch, the guy flamed out of the UFC and suddenly he's back on PPV to take beating? I'm not a fan of these showcase fights being on PPV. I pay for good fights--you want to build a guy up, do it on free TV, IMO. Sotiropoulous/Lauzon shocked me. Lauzon burned off all his energy or was injured and didn't mention it. He hardly fought off Sotiroupolous' attempts on his arms. Sotiropoulous will fight next at UFC 128-ish (wherever the Australia one lands) but against who I don't know. Should be a top-ranked lightweight like say the winner of Guida/Gomi. Lauzon drops back down into the middle of an increasingly competitive weight class. You don't want to be coming off a few losses at 155 right now considering they just increased the size of the division by half. Foster/Brown, Kelly/O'Brien, & Munoz/Simpson were somewhat interesting I suppose. Not much to say about those. Not a lot of weight to them. Karo Parisyan came into his return bout with Hallman looking as pudgy and unmotivated as ever. He fought hard for the two or so minutes it lasted but then got wobbled with a shot (similar to what happened to him vs. Thiago Alves) and he didn't show immediate signs that he could defend himself, leading to a premature but not totally unwarranted stoppage by Big Dan. He has a right to complain a little but since he always complains after losing I suppose that right is diminished in his case. Dude needs to get his shit in order. I don't expect to see him get another chance in the UFC anytime soon. Barboza/Lullo was SICK! Somebody email Cecil Peoples and tell him that leg kicks finish fights. Barboza looks to be a larger version of Jose Aldo in terms of his kicking. He completely battered Lullo. That dude's leg will be Urijah Faber black and purple tomorrow. Barboza looked good standing up but his complacency in his opponents guard is somewhat worrisome. Maybe he's just patient. The rubber guard continues to be largely ineffective in MMA. The only fight we didn't see was Griffin/Lentz which ended in a controversial (?) split decision. Lentz's last performance had the MMA community hating on him for being such a human blanket. Dunno if that is how this one played out. One judge gave Tyson Griffin all three rounds. There is little consistency in judging. Don't let it go there.
I'm one of the few who never gave up on Penn. He needed a win bad and iniconvincing fashion. This was a great night for BJ fans. KO. Filipino wrecking machine looked good too
UFC is becoming like WWE now, weak fights, fake judges. Seriously though, the last few PPVs have been like shit.
Shogun fans rejoice.. karma perhaps? I'm dissapointed by Machida's performance moreso than the decision lost.
Too bad about Lauzon, he really Carwin-ed it after doing well the first round. I hate Sotiropolous. Surprised Rampage got the decision but the judges have made worse decisions. Penn was really intense last night, talking to himself on the way to the ring and looking very focused. IMO he can still dominate at 155, Edgar is just a bad matchup for him and he wasn't that interested. I'm glad hes up at 170 though there are a lot more interesting fights at WW IMO.
