Mixed Martial B0nes

It is finally over. UFC 84: Ill Will came and went like a shock to the system. Now it is over and done with. Well… for some of these guys, it is definitely over for the rest of the year. A few may be even considering a new career as StarBucks baristas. It’s definitely safer than letting your face get beat to a pulp. They can at least watch the matches on their iPhones on Yahoo. So, how did it go? Pretty surprising in many ways!

Thiago Silva Vs. Antonio Mendes This one didn’t take too long. It was all Mendes for a while there and it looked as though the UFC newbie was going to get his first win. Of course, Thiago had something to say about that with his fists. He got ground control on Mendes and rained down punches. Ground and pound stopped this fight in the first.

Tito Ortiz Vs. Lyoto Machida Ortiz made a name for himself before this event and was trash talking any and everyone. He made sure to burn every bridge he had in the UFC. I guess he figured a win was guaranteed in this match. The first two rounds of this one went to Machida. Tito did not have any answers for Lyoto. It wasn’t until the third that Ortiz figured out what he had to do. He landed a bunch of punches and a few knees. But Machida was able to take Tito down and work some ground game on him. Tito almost gets Machida in a triangle but couldn’t lock it in. So, what happens to Tito now? Who knows.

Wilson Gouveia Vs. Goran Reljic I said that “Stranger things have happened!” in my last post. Well, this is one of them. Reljic was supposed to go down in a blaze of newbie glory. The first round was a kicking mans dream come true in the Octagon. I really thought that I’d go this whole year without seeing some solid kicking but both Gouveia and Reljic were kicking like wild. In the second round, Gouveia had enough of Goran and was putting him down with some solid punches and kicks. Somehow Reljic took the upper hand and put the hurt on Wilson. The ref gave Wilson the night off and Goran the win.

Wanderlei Silva Vs. Keith Jardine The “Axe Murderer” and “The Dean of Mean” had barely enough time to say hello before it was all over. Jardine stepped in and threw a big right but then Silva countered and then kept pounding until the ref realized the fight was over 30 seconds and change into the match! Jardine wasn’t moving at all and it looked almost like the “Axe Murderer” really axed Keith. Luckily, Jardine eventually woke up. Wanderlei, the PRIDE Champion is back in business for another fight at least. Jardine is dusting off that barista resume.

BJ Penn Vs. Sean Sherk Here was the strange fight. I guess the game plan for Sherk was to keep it standup and try not to fall into one of BJ’s many pins and submissions. Unfortunately for him, he and his fight staff didn’t count on absolutely solid and deadly standup skills on Penn’s part. BJ totally dominated the fight. They traded blow after blow and when Sherk decided that the standup wasn’t working, he’d try to get a takedown on BJ. Sorry dude, no dice on that one! It went like this for three rounds. In the last round Sherk was really looking bloodied up. He was still able to fight but really couldn’t land anything that counted. BJ just took him apart. It was so bad that at the end of the round, the ref had to call it TKO because Sherk was on a different planet! BJ wins by TKO??!? I predicted rear naked choke. That’s like a move invented specifically for Penn. A TKO though… That’s something else entirely. Penn’s next opponent had better game plan everything because that’s what it is going to take to defeat BJ! Add the kitchen sink for good measure.

This first of three troubles really was quite a satisfying event. It’s too bad everyone can’t be televised because there were some good matches in the undercard as well. This will prepare us for what’s to come in the near future. I can’t wait!

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Trouble comes in threes people and this month is NO exception. We’ve got major events from the UFC, WEC and EliteXC all happening within a week of each other. UFC 84 is scheduled for Saturday, May 24th. The UFC as well as UFC 84 has lived up to its name “Ill Will” for sure. What with Tito Ortiz doing battle with Dana White taking up all the news. And, Oh yeah, how about Chris Leben violating his parole by getting a DUI and then turning himself into jail? Luckily he wasn’t scheduled to fight in this one. “Ill” is certainly the operative word here. Let’s see what we’ve got…

Thiago Silva(11-0-0) Vs. Antonio Mendes(14-2-0) Here we have two very very tough customers squaring off in the Octagon. I’ll have to give Silva the edge here as Mendes is debuting in the UFC in this event. They both have impressive records but going from a small pond to the big sea is probably the experience that Mendes will have. Silva in 2.

Tito Ortiz(16-5-1) Vs. Lyoto Machida(12-0-0) Ortiz has had it with the UFC and this will be his last fight in the organization… until both he and Dana figure out that they can make more money being mad at each other together than if they we’re happy and apart. Machida is riding quite a win streak. His last fight in the UFC was a somewhat surprising win in UFC 79:Nemesis over Soko who’s fighting the undercard. I’m thinking the fading Ortiz will find his second wind and choke out Lyoto in the 3rd.

Wilson Gouveia(10-4-0) Vs. Goran Reljic(7-0-0) Here is another newcomer with a stellar record going against a salty UFC veteran. This seems to be the theme of this event. I guess, after Dana’s housecleaning this year, the stable had to be refilled with more fighters. I’m going out on a limb here and will predict a shocker win by Reljic over Gouveia in the 1st. Stranger things have happened!

Wanderlei Silva(31-8-1) Vs. Keith Jardine(13-4-1) It’s the “Axe Murderer” versus “The Dean of Mean.” Wanderlei didn’t have quite the fight he expected in UFC79 versus Chuck Liddell i.e. he lost! His days in the fight game are coming to a close so a few wins here and there would probably help his pocketbook as well as his street cred back in Brazil. He didn’t draw a cupcake in Jardine. He has earned his reputation by putting the hurt on both Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. I thought Wanderlei was going to handle Chuck in UFC79. I was wrong. Well, maybe this time I’ll be right when I say: Silva in 3 by decision.

BJ Penn(13-4-1) Vs. Sean Sherk(35-2-1) This is the main event of the evening and for good reason. BJ, “The Progidy” has proven himself to be one recently in UFC80. Sherk proved himself last in UFC73. Although he also proved to be hopped up on performance enhancing drugs. It was a long battle for him to get reinstated to the UFC. In the mean time BJ has just been piling on the wins and training like a madman. I think Sherk will put up a good fight but then say “night night” once Penn puts a rear naked choke on him and the tappity tappity starts to happen in the 3rd.

This is one big and stacked event. The full fight card really is packed with great fighters and fights. It makes me wonder why on earth some of these fights aren’t on the main card. Oh well, at least if these fights don’t live up to the hype, there will be two more next week to calm our fears or make them worse. Trouble *does* come in threes!

It’s been a long weekend and a Charger loss in the AFC title game has thrown us SanDiegans for a loop. UFC80 Rapid Fire brought us some great fights. Maybe next time we’ll spring for the PPV in order to catch the new blood in the Octagon. Here’s how it finished:

Kendall Grove vs. Jorge Rivera This really didn’t take too long to figure out. I thought the TUF champion Grove was going to put the hurt on Rivera but Jorge beat Kendall to the punch in the first round. Next time don’t turn your back Kendall!

Jason Lambert vs. Wilson Gouveia This was a fight for the submission fans of MMA. Both Lambert and Gouveia traded submissions and chokes. Lambert was handing out a bit more punishment in this round but Wilson was keeping him in check. It looked like we were in for a long night at the start of the second round as they started their grappling work in the stand up game. Then Wilson decided “Forget that noise!” and decked Jason about thirty seconds into round two. Not all MMA fights end on the ground apparently.

Marcus Davis vs. Jess Liaudin This was a pretty short match. All of it was standup and it featured kicking and punching. When you can land clean and solid kicks and punches, there’s no need to shoot to the ground game. Davis KO’d Liaudin a minute into the first round without too much trouble.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Fabricio Werdum The momentum shifted in this fight from Gabe to Fab. The first round was all about Gonzaga putting Werdum to the ground by leg sweeps and shooting, then a little pound action. Near the end of the round, Werdum figured out what was up and started dishing out some submissions of his own. At the start of the second, Gonzaga stuck with his game plan of kicking while Werdum mixed it up with a bunch of punches and terrific knees to the face. Ouch. A few of those put Gabe into LaLa land and the ref stopped the beating late in round two.

BJ Penn vs. Joe Stevenson The title fight of the night and, arguably, the best. BJ really put the hurt on Joe early on. He rattled him with punches and then worked his ground game. Joe managed to strike back and punched out of a few clenches but then BJ elbowed his head and opened up a geyser of blood. In the second round, Stevenson knew he was going to have to come out aggressive to beat Penn. He swung wildly and landed a few good shots but BJ’s counters were much better. The match had to be stopped for a bit so the doctors could check out the bloody mess that was Joe’s head. They probably should have done Joe a favor and stopped it as it was all BJ after that. He landed a punch that put Joe down on the ground. Another punch made Joe turn his back to BJ and that’s just Sleepy-Time-Bye-Bye for most Penn opponents. Rear naked choke by BJ wins him the title and a shiny new belt. Tip for future BJ opponents: NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON BJ!