Re: UFC 112: Invincible (Apr. 10th) Results: Anderson Silva def. Demian Maia by Unanimous Decision (No Scores Read), R5 Frankie Edgar def. B.J. Penn by Unanimous Decision (50-45, 48-47, 49-46), R3 Matt Hughes def. Renzo Gracie by TKO (Strikes) at 4:40, R3 Rafael Dos Anjos def. Terry Etim by Submission (Armbar) at 4:30, R2 Mark Munoz def. Kendall Grove by TKO (Strikes) at 2:50, R2 Phil Davis def. Alexander Gustafsson by Submission (Anaconda Choke) at 4:55, R1 Paul Taylor (10-5-1) vs. John Gunderson (22-7) - CANCELLED Rick Story def. Nick Osipczak by Split Decision, R3 DaMarques Johnson def. Brad Blackburn by TKO (Strikes) at 2:08, R3 Paul Kelly def. Matt Veach by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 3:41, R2 Jon Madsen def. Mostapha Al-Turk by Unanimous Decision, R3
Thanks very much to Mamba for keeping the spoilers in the spoiler thread and to everyone for not posting a "BJ PENN WAZ ROBBED!!!1" thread.
So, thoughts on the card... Grove vs. Munoz -- this fight is what it is all about. Grove had his way with him but Munoz was too tough or too stupid to quit. Wonderful performance for him but he needs a lot of work. Grove is destined to be a middling fighter forever because his chin is weak and he seems to lack toughness. Dos Anjos vs. Etim -- great fight as well. Good contrast of styles. I thought Dos Anjos looked much better than he has in the past and he might've surprised Etim with how good he was standing. Etim's take down defence and clinch game needs work. He shouldn't have wasted his arms on the guillotine either. Chalk this one up to inexperience. Davis vs. Gustafsson -- not the dominant performance everyone expected from Davis but a good one (with a fantastic finish). He's a promising fighter but I wonder if he is doing the right thing by being in the UFC already. Hughes vs. Gracie -- awful, awful fight. Gracie has no business in the Octagon at this age and Hughes has no business picking anyone apart on the feet. Credit to Hughes for winning the fight and finally getting a standing knockout victory in the UFC. Gracie shouldn't drop to lightweight, he should forget about fighting in the UFC. Love the guy but it is just too late for him. Penn vs. Edgar -- dunno what to say about this fight. Edgar has a tremendous motor which seemed to win him the fight. Penn got tired in the third round and lost focus. I thought it would be three rounds to two split and was a bit shocked that it went to Edgar (even at 50-45 on one card). Can't wait for the excuses from Penn's camp this time. I wonder what it was--broken spine? Swine flu? Edgar used illegal eyebrow clippers? Maybe it was the dry air hurting Penn's island lungs. Just wait for it, we'll hear it within the week. Silva vs. Maia -- what was a highly entertaining and hugely disrespectful fight for two rounds became an ordeal. Silva's counter-attacking style needs to be revisited. Why does he want the fight to last so long? Maia had nothing for him but Silva wouldn't take a chance at anything. This will undoubtedly be compared to GSP/Hardy but at least GSP used fight-ending techniques. Silva danced and punched Maia's thigh and kicked his knees. Credit to Maia for sticking with it but fuck this was a strange fight.
[video=youtube;0qb5xo5LKhU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qb5xo5LKhU&feature=player_embedded[/video]
[video=youtube;Q2wlP_Vj3W0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2wlP_Vj3W0&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Big $75,000 bonuses went to... DaMarques Johnson: "Knockout of the Night" Rafael Dos Anjos: "Submission of the Night" Mark Munoz and Kendall Grove: "Fight of the Night"
Dana can make it up to us by having a dope ass free card sometime in the summer. Also if anybody put some money down on Frankie Edgar...they must be pretty happy.
[video=youtube;NTEVu-91k74]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTEVu-91k74&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Put a free card on Spike with Silva vs. winner of Rampage/Shogun. He won't pull his shit there. I don't think Silva was being a defensive fighter, speeds. I think he was just fucking with Maia and showing off how fucking good he was. Look @ Maia and how fucked up his face was....and that was with Anderson fighting @ like 40%.
Lol my bad, I dunno what the hell I posted there. Got a lil buzz workin' lol. I meant give him Rampage or Shogun, since he won't fight Machida and Rampage is going to knock Evans' ass out ;]
OK, this is probably a dumb question, but... Given the overall questionable talent of the lightweight division, why is a guy like Roger Huerta not on the UFC roster? Did he really get sacked just for losing to Maynard, or was there something else going on?
Huerta was outspoken about the level of pay of fighters in the UFC in general and himself as well. Sooo Dana froze him out for something like a year + and just before his contract was about to be done via the end date, he set him up with his last fight. I also don't think there's questionable talent at the LW division either. Just that an inspired BJ Penn has made all contenders look bad... Last night's BJ Penn was not inspired IMO. I mean he was either really banged up (doubt it, he'd just tell Dana he couldn't go rather than lose) or he under trained (likely) because he didn't even try to change his tactics (like throw more than a couple of combo's a round, get a takedown himself etc,etc. IMO Maynard,Tyson Griffin or Kenny Florian can and most likely will beat Edgar if given the chance.
anyone else think Silva is trying to get Dana to set him up with some big name super fights so A: he can get more money via PPV buys and B: to challenge himself? He's out there just saying 'this guy has no business being in the ring with me and I'm gonna prove it'. Killing Maia is under 2 mins would only make Dana happy, content and want to keep Anderson at 185. But if Anderson clowns ppl he's hoping Dana will give him Brock/GSP/Rampage/whomever else would be a draw so he can cement his legacy and be challenged and make money.
Silva is strictly a counter fighter now. He relies on guys coming straight at him. When they don't nothing happens. If he fought Chuck Liddell no punches would be thrown for the whole fight. And yet when he fought Cote, who loves to come forward swinging, he still pulled this shit. It's almost like he doesn't even want to be in the cage anymore let alone try and finish a fight at middleweight. He is out to lunch. I don't know what his problem is. He should be on the offensive. He could be winning fights within 30s but instead he acts like an idiot and drags fights on for no reason. Huerta is good enough for the UFC, no doubt. However he is balancing an acting and modeling career at the same time as being a fighter. For the past couple years other things have taken precedent. He looked great in his return a week or so ago, though. The UFC will bring him back if he does well in Bellator. +1 I was hoping Maia would knock his ass out. Silva really needs to lose to remember what being a fighter is about. He is a cocky asshole in the Octagon right now. He's Floyd Mayweather, not Muhammed Ali. In the PFPC he said he was disrespected by Maia because Maia said he would "take his arm, take his neck" so he decided to "punish" Maia in the fight. He ended up punishing the fans. Hopefully Belfort can give him a real fight.
Dunno why the scores weren't announced post-fight but the Silva/Maia totals were 50-45, 50-45, 49-46.
