|
|
|
PPV Events
:
UFC PPVs
PELKEY COLUMN: Post UFC 82 thoughts and analysis
By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist
Mar 2, 2008, 11:18
|
(6.0) Now I may be in the minority here, but I was pretty underwhelmed with last night's show. It just seems to me that with the way the MMA world is today (i.e. tons of fighters competing for not that many spots), every fighter would come out guns blazing to show how exciting they can be and justify bringing them back again and again. I felt like three of the six fights on last night's broadcast were very lackluster. We started the show off with a relatively boring Jon Fitch-Chris Wilson fight. I don't blame Wilson as he came out throwing everything he had and actually had Fitch hurt early in the first round. As soon as Fitch realized he was in a real fight, it's almost as if he said, "Oh crap. I better not take any chances. I should probably just take him down and lay on him just to be safe". Don't get me wrong, I understand where Fitch was coming from. He's no more than one more win (and maybe none) away from a title shot, and there's no point in ruining that with a stoppage loss on PPV to a no-name. I just thought his post-fight, "I'll fight anybody" interview was a little hypocritical after he clearly didn't give everything he had in the fight. Anybody who thinks that was the best Jon Fitch last night is kidding themselves. He very carefully worked for takedowns and passes to score points without ever really trying to finish the fight.
The Okami-Tanner and Herring-Kongo fights did nothing for me either. I love Evan Tanner but he just looked like it was a matter of time before he got KO'd the moment he stepped into the cage. I hope he sticks around and makes this a full-fledged comeback, but he has to be questioning his decision now.
I know I'm definitely in the minority on the Herring-Kongo fight, but bear with me. I'll give credit where credit is due: Kongo's ground game was five times better than we've seen it before. However, in the last round it was the same old Kongo. On his back, begging to be mounted, and a lightweight could've held him down. I'm not upset with Kongo's performance though. He's clearly worked on improving his weak spots and it showed. For that I applaud him. My ire goes to Heath Herring. If Herring was going to win this fight it was going to be with takedowns and punishing Kongo from the top position. Well he had an opportunity to make a statement in the last round. He spent a good portion of the round in side control with Kongo making no attempt to regain guard, get up, or even keep himself from being mounted. Herring could've mounted at any time and rained down punches to put no doubt in the judge's minds. Instead he stayed in side control and threw the occasional body punch. Seriously? Body punches? He was lucky to win the decision and only would've had himself to blame if it had gone the other way.
Alright enough of the negative. There was plenty to like on this card too. Leben-Sakara was the three minute slugfest it was destined to be. They should really just keep Leben in these style fights. He's never gonna win the title, but he's always good for an exciting fight if you match him up with a striker. It's a winning formula. I'd love to see him against Drew McFeddries next time out. Everyone criticizes Sakara for having a weak chin, but look who has stopped him. Chris Leben, Houston Alexander, and Drew McFeddries. Those are three of the hardest punchers in the sport. Cut the poor guy some slack.
Anderson Silva was his usual fantastic, un-human self. Seriously, we may be witnessing the greatest run by the greatest fighter in MMA history. He's our Michael Jordan/Tiger Woods folks. Enjoy him while he lasts. Poor Dan Henderson. He's 0-2 in the UFC now with two lost belts to two of the best fighters in the world. Can somebody please get this guy a can? Maybe he can be matched up with Sakara next time out. Then one of them has to win, right?
We got a nice little fight from Josh Koscheck and Dustin Hazelett to close out the show. Koscheck looked determined to get a T(KO) in this fight and he didn't disappoint. He connected with a nice high kick that knocked Hazelett silly in the second round and ended a decent night of fights.
The biggest news coming out of this show is that Mark Coleman is coming back to the Octagon to face Brock Freakin' Lesnar. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS FIGHT! Coleman is a legend, and anyone who hasn't seen him before is in for a treat. He'll come out shooting and looking to release his trademarked brand of relentless ground and pound. I'm assuming Lesnar will be too much for him as he's basically a younger, bigger, better version of Coleman, but it should be a fun changing of the guard of sorts. That's all for me for now. What'd everyone else think of the show? Email me your thoughts at matt6buckeye@hotmail.com or jump on to the message boards and share them with everyone. Be sure to check back everyday TorchNation. We're gonna have a lot of good stuff coming up from here on out.
RETURN TO MMA TORCH'S MAIN LISTING
REACT TO THIS STORY IN OUR FREE MMATORCH FORUM
| 
(c) 1999-2008 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.
|
|
|
