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KELLER'S UFC 82 BLOG: Ongoing "virtual time" results and thoughts on live PPV event
By Wade Keller, MMATorch editor
Mar 1, 2008, 22:53
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KELLER'S UFC 82 BLOG: Ongoing "virtual time" results and thoughts on live PPV event
Check out Shawn Ennis's ongoing blow-by-blow coverage for more detailed descriptions of the fights as they happen, then check back here for my thoughts on the fights and commentary plus star ratings.
-First a personal note. I want to send best wishes to Mike Jarsulic, a charter contributor to MMATorch.com. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy after being sick since November and being diagnosed a few weeks ago with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Please drop him a line of support and encouragement at jarsulic@comcast.net. He still will be contributing on a regular basis as we amp up content starting this week.
-Mike Goldberg called this the most loaded UFC line-up in history. UFC does tend to try to reward viewers with strong match-ups when the show isn't top heavy with two or three marquee fights. Joe Rogan and Goldberg agreed that if Anderson Silva beats Dan Henderson, there's nobody left for him to beat.
1 -- JOHN FITCH vs. CHRIS WILSON
ROUND ONE: Rogan said Wilson is known as Team Quest's best striker, but warned about what happens to fighters the first time they're in the Octagon more often than not... Rogan said Fitch has an amateur wrestling base, and he thinks that's the best base to have when entering MMA because those guys tend to have such a drive and discipline already when they begin learning other aspects of MMA... Wilson landed some early punches. The ref stood them up after Fitch took Wilson down. Rogan didn't agree with it. He added that he doesn't agree with any stand-ups, philosophically as he likes to see that situation play out. He said, "The most boring aspect of mixed martial arts is still more exciting than the best part of baseball." Uh, did he watch the Silva vs. Arlovski or Severn vs. Shamrock debacles compared to game seven of the Yankees-Red Sox series a few years back? Just to name a couple examples of that theory being very specific to the person and hardly universal. But I know what he's getting at... Good showing for Wilson. He gets the round for landing some strikes in my view, but Fitch got two takedowns so it's very, very close and subjective. Judges may side with the veteran...
ROUND TWO: Wilson landed a knee and a punch as Fitch moved in for a takedown early. Fitch got him down and controlled him the entire round. Not exactly full of highspots, but a strong round for Fitch...
ROUND THREE: After circling each other for three minutes, Fitch got Wilson down. That secured the round for him, giving him either a 3-0 or 2-1 decision barring any late-round mistakes. Wilson looked winded by the end, too... There was some late fight drama as Wilson seemed to be on the verge of locking on a good triangle choke. Fitch held out the last 15 seconds and didn't seem overly nervous about it once the horn sounded... Rogan gave Wilson credit for a good showing against one of the top Welterweights in the world...
DECISION: Fitch via decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). Fitch said he's there to take on the "toughest f---in' guys you can find and I'll fight 'em." He said he's not into the fame and the money. Dana White likes to hear that!... STAR RATING: (**)
-They showed Matt Serra and then Urijah Faber, the WEC Featherweight Champion, in the crowd.
-Text voting was heavily in favor of Anderson Silva over Dan Henderson earlier by a 62-38 margin, but it has since tightened to 53-47. They showed backstage arrivals of Silva and Henderson.
[Please vote in our poll regarding the cut-off point for UFC's ever-increasing PPV prices. Our poll can be found in the left blue sidebar on this page.]
-A commercial aired for Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre in Montreal, Quebec on Apr. 13, plus Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter.
-A clip aired of Mark Coleman being inducted earlier into the UFC Hall of Fame. Rogan interviewed Coleman live at ringside. He said he's not retired yet. He said he's asked for any opponent. He said he has five months to train, but he'll be facing Brock Lesnar. Rogan said he can't wait to see it. Coleman said not to count him out because he'll be bringing it.
2 -- YUSHIN OKAMI vs. EVAN TANNER
PRE-FIGHT: Rogan and Goldberg talked up Tanner as being one of the fight world's favorites to watch making his return after almost two years away from the Octagon. Goldberg said he's had "some controversy in his life." Rogan said he's been very open about his struggles and demons with alcohol. He said he's been a traveller the last two years and didn't travel at all for a long time. He said before he started training for his comeback, he posted a picture of his body on his blog to show the progress of his return. He looked really good, but not overly muscular, which is nice to see. Goldberg noted he taught himself grappling off of instructional tapes... Tanner (34-6) is 37 and 6-0, Okami (22-4) is 26 and 6-2...
ROUND ONE: At 1:30 Okami dropped Tanner with a straight left. When he dove onto Tanner, Tanner recovered nicely and ended up with Okami's back briefly. They finished the round with decent sparring, but nothing decisive landing.
ROUND TWO: At 3:00, after more sparring and no takedowns, Okami got Tanner in a clinch and KO'd him with a knee to the head. Tanner was out and the ref stepped in. Only one other solid blow all round came from Okami with another left.
DECISION: Omaki via KO in round two at 3:00. STAR RATING: (**)
-Upcoming Dates: Apr. 2 UFC Fight Night featuring Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon, plus Matt Hamill vs. Tim Boetsch, and Karo Karisya vs. Tiago Alves on Spike TV. Then Ultimate Fighter debuts with Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest. If that's not the best season in terms of judges adding one-liners and non-orchestrated drama, I'll be shocked... Apr. 19 UFC 83 on PPV with Serra vs. St. Pierre and Franklin vs. Lutter, plus Michael Bisbing vs. Charles McCarthy... UFC 84 with B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk for the Lightweight Title, Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva, and Tito Ortiz vs. Leoto Machida. I like the SIlva vs. Jardine match-up. It's the right "next fight" for both guys. Penn vs. Sherk should be amazing, too... Chuck Liddell wlll fight on UFC 85 in the UK. Goldberg did not name the opponent.
-Dave Batista from WWE was shown sitting in the front row. There were some scattered boos. I find it so strange that so many MMA fans have a chip on their shoulder about pro wrestling. It's so 1970s. Pro wrestlers admit they're performers and don't pretend they could beat MMA guys in real fights (well, except for Bill Goldberg back in 2001 when I interviewed him, but that didn't go anywhere and he ended up doing color commentary because he was a big fan). Brock Lesnar and Ken Shamrock had enough respect to leave pro wrestling to fully immerse themselves in MMA training. Pro wrestling fans aren't anti-MMA and don't try to "fool themselves" into thinking their favorite performers are a all in the same category as MMA fighters. Anyway, there are a lot of us who respect and appreciate both industries and genres for what they are without feeling one clashes or diminishes the other. The fact that WWE's top stars such as Undertaker and Batista are such fans shows that some (but not all) don't have a chip on their shoulder about being seen at events, either, even though they're competition for each other on PPV for people who like both and have a limited budget and limited free time.
[Please consider bookmarking us and checking in on us every day for the latest updates and exclusive columns. We're committed to a steady increase in content in coming days and weeks as March progresses.]
3 -- CHRIS LEBEN vs. ALESSIO SAKARA - Middlweight Contenders
PRE-FIGHT: Leben is also fun with pre-fight promos. "I'm going to hit (Alessio) so hard, he's going to wake up in Italy." Sakara is moving down from light-heavyweight to middleweight for this fight... Rogan said after the loss to Silva, he realized "there's a higher frequency he wasn't tuned into yet." He decided to pick it up because the other option was go home... Leben is 27 and 5-11. Sakara is 26 and 6-0...
ROUND ONE: Nice opening seconds with Leben throwing and landing a left. Rogan noted, as did our own Shawn Ennis in his pre-fight picks, that Sakara's chin is his weakness. Sakara landed a right on Leben, but Leben seemed unfazed. Leben seemed not the least bit intimidated by Sakara's punches as they exchanged. Rogan said head size affects your ability to take punches; "look a cabbage," he noted. Goldberg asked, "If you have a bigger head, isn't it easier to hit?" Rogan laughed and said good point. Rogan brought up boxing examples to back his case. At 3:10, with a cut under his right eye, Leben dropped Sakara and began landing punches flush and undefended. Sakara, though, immediately questioned the call. Rogan wasn't so sure. I'm not a fan of Herb Dean's judgment in the Octagon at times; Rogan endorsed his judgement. The ref stepped in just as Sakara was moving his hands into position to block after taking two big flush punches, but it was over. I think it was a good call, but I also would have let it go one more punch just to avoid any ambiguity.
WINNER: Leben at 3:16 of round one. STAR RATING: (**+). Not very long, but non-stop, exciting round. Leben said he took some clean shots that hurt him, and it takes a lot to hurt him, so he's impressed. "But if you want to swing, swing!" he said. "This is what you come to see. Slugging and banging."
-Text voting moved all the way to favoring Henderson by a 52-48 margin. Wow. UFC fans have seen a lot more of Silva than Henderson, and Silva's looked better than Henderson in UFC. Henderson's reputation and UFC PPV viewer's knowledge is closing that early advantage to Silva which was 2-1 at the start of the show.
[For all of our new visitors - and we've got a ton tonight (welcome!) - our star ratings aren't not grading the strategy or awarding anything for smart fighting; they're purely a viewer-guide to whether the fight was "exciting" to watch first and foremost and "well-fought technically" also. As Rogan noted on this show earlier, Joe Silva has 200 fighters under contract and the ones who aren't exciting get put on the back burning. Star ratings collectively for any fighter is a reflection of their tendency to be part of exciting fights. It's also shorthand for people wanting to rent or buy UFC events and getting an overview of whether the show was good or bad at a glance without having to read a lot of superlatives.]
4 -- CHEICK KONGO vs. HEALTH HERRING
PRE-FIGHT: Herring noted he's been in the MMA game a long time and he's getting a little tired of reminding people of his credentials; he said it with a smile, though. He says he doesn't see Kongo bringing him anything he hasn't seen. He said it's not a bodybuilding competition... Rogan said these two may be fighting over the no. 1 contender position. Goldberg said Rampage Jackson, whom Kongo is training with, believes Kongo will be the next heavyweight champion... Herring (27-13-1) is 29, 6-4, 244. Kongo (21-3-1) is 32, 6-4, 233. Kongo has a four inch reach advantage... Rogan said Herring put a noticeable amount of mass on his body... Good, intense staredown...
ROUND ONE: Herring ran out to meet Kong in his corner and actually dropped him right away. Kongo got up quickly and just held onto Herring against the fence. Then he took Herring down, drawing a "wow" out of Rogan. Herring grabbed Kongo's arm for a submission attempt, but Kongo slipped out and they were back on their feet. Kongo took Herring down again at 1:00 after several more intense, exciting seconds standing up. Herring reversed on top of Kongo. Kongo almost got right up, but Herring held him down. Kongo got a full mount on Herring backed against the cage, but wasn't landing much of anything as he was in so tight. Kongo had Herring's back, but he didn't go for a submission, instead trying to reposition himself for punches. It was a real lost opportunity and showed he's still not fully well-rounded yet. Both guys got tired and just held position on the mat in the final minute, drawing some boos. Great round. Tough to call.
ROUND TWO: Herring moved in quickly again, but Kongo was ready for him and tried to hip toss him. Herring held on and they both went to the mat. Kongo ended up on top, but didn't show great skill at finishing him. He has improved in controlling his opponent on the mat, but otherwise he's still not top level. Herring caught Kongo with an upkick at 1:00 that drew some serious "ooohhhs" from the crowd. Kongo seemed unphased, though. Kongo pretended he was going to let Herring up, but didn't back down enough to let Herring actually get up until the ref separated them. Herring got up and immediately charged in on Kongo. That was clearly his gameplan. Half way in Kongo lifted and dropped Herring. Rogan said Kongo is really stepping up his game. Again, though, on the ma he wasn't able to do anything close to finishing Herring, who didn't even seem all that concerned. Kongo moved to Herring's back at 3:00 with both guys on their knees. Herring hooked and rolled Kongo onto his back and shifted to side control. He droves knees into Kongo's ribs repeatedly at 4:00. Ouch. Herring checked out the clock. That's how the round ended. Another good round. They showed Roger Huerta in the front row after the round.
ROUND THREE: Herring charged again at the start of this round. They both threw kicks and slipped. Kongo got control. Herring reversed him. Rogan and Goldberg talked about how close the fight was if it went to judges. Rogan said Kongo was on top more, but that's when Herring rolled on top. Herring's strategy of charging at the start of each round plants a seed in the judges' mind of him being more aggressive in the case of a fight this close. Herring held Kongo in position and threw more knees to the body, then punched his abs several times. With 20 seconds left, Herring moved into a full mount. Kongo nearly got a side headlock on from below, but Herring slipped out and ended the right on top throwing punches. That final two minutes probably gives Herring the fight. Rogan said both fighters look great. He said it was the best he's ever seen Herring. It was also the best Kongo has looked as a multi-dimensional fighter, but he's still not a complete fighter.
DECISION: Herring by a 2-1 judges' split decision. The drama unfolded with the announcement going this way: 29-28 for Herring, 29-28 for Kongo, 29-28 for Herring. The fighters winced with each dramatic judge's decision. Kongo seemed a bit dejected, but understood it was close and the decision was fair. An excited Herring told Rogan he trained all stand-up and didn't expect anything to stay on the mat. STAR RATING: (***) The exciting parts were exciting, but the ground fighting was a bit sloppy, so it stalls out at three-stars in my book.
5 -- ANDERSON SILVA vs. DAN HENDERSON -- Middleweight Championship
MMATorch.com editor Wade Keller has covered MMA since UFC1 for the Torch Newsletter, has attended UFC in person, has interviewed Dana White, and has more than 15 years experience in tae kwan do with some formal judo and jiu jitsu training at North Star Martial Arts Academy in the 1990s.
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