Be Excellent To Each Other

I just finished watching UFC136, which I had recorded, and figured that since I know a few people like MMA and perhaps even Boxing or other combat sports, I'd start a thread.

If you don't want to know the results of the card, look away now...

























Okay, here's my take on the matches I saw:

Lauzon d Guillard at 0.47 - didn't see that coming! Really nice work by Lauzon, and once he'd landed the blow, skipping round the back and choking him out was pretty simple.

Nam Phan d Leonard Garcia via unanimous decision (29-28 x3) - incredible fight. Garcia is one tough S.O.B, but Phan can take a punch too. It was such an interesting clash of styles to see Phan picking apart Garcia methodically, only for Garcia to keep swinging massive haymakers, and finally connect with one that almost ended the fight. Great strength and courage from Phan to keep it together and get the win.

Chael Sonnen d Brian Stann via arm triangle choke near the end of Rd 2. - Absolute masterclass in wrestling from Sonnen; Stann just didn't have an answer at all. I like Sonnen, and he's a tough bastard, but if this leads to a rematch with Silva, I think the agility and speed might still be too much for him. I did like the wrestling-style calling out of Silva though. Most amusing.

Jose Aldo d Kenny Florian via unanimous decision (49-46 x3) - I was disappointed with Aldo in this. He was technically great, and his takedown defence is absolutely insanely good, but all he seemed to do for most of the fight was prevent Florian from taking him down whilst not giving a massive amount in return. I mean, I think he won it (though not 49-46), but he fought so conservatively and it really didn't interest me a great deal. It's a shame, as I have liked Aldo since the WEC days and was expecting more. I have high hopes for Chad Mendes to really test his grappling.

Frankie Edgar d Gray Maynard via TKO (punches, Rd 4) - What the hell is wrong with Edgar? AGAIN, in Round One he looked like a bum off the street as Maynard used his head as a punchbag. Again, he proved that he has a frikkin' Adamantium jaw, and came out in Rd2 as if nothing had happened. From there, Maynard looked dispirited, and Edgar looked a different fighter with blinding speed and was going to go ahead on points when he snuck in a punch and then brutally finished Maynard off.

Soooo... anyone else with thoughts?

Anyone looking forward to upcoming fights/cards?

Not too excited by 137 (I'm not too excited by BJ Penn, tbh), but Velasquez vs Dos Santos should be fun, and 140 has my favourite fighter (Jon Jones) going at it, so there's some good stuff in there.

I saw it coming. J-Lo can take a shot, and Guillard is shit on the ground. Quite surprised Lauzon knocked him down, but hey, he fucked Pulver up on his UFC début.


Hate Garcia. Worst of the 'swinging = points' brigade.


I don't like Sonnen's personality (racism, criminality, cheating), but he is one awesome fighter. Takes me back to the glory days of Couture, Lindland and Tanner. I'd like to know why you think Anderson's agility and speed would be too much for him, when they clearly weren't last year, when Sonnen out-fought Silva on the feet and the ground for... 23 minutes?


Also has an awesome highlight reel, but that was compiled against dudes a lot worse than Florian. Florian has a habit of making his opponents look bad, due to his fighting style (Gomi, Guida, Stevenson, Huerta, Lauzon). Hard to go to town on the muay Thai when your opponent is also good at that, and can take you down with ridiculous jits. Good strategic fight, I thought.


What's wrong with Edgar? Dunno. He seems ok to me. Maynard's first loss, two wins over Penn, beating Sherk and Griffin... excellent record. Now he can beat Guida/Henderson/Wallkick. The initial beating was just because Maynard start really bloody strongly, and wipes people out. Edgar is just so tough he could ride it out. He certainly benefited from Maynard chilling a bit in round two.


I look forward to every show, because I love MMA and I know Joe Silva is a good matchmaker. You may not be excited about Penn, but Penn vs Diaz is a brilliantly combustible combination. Two actual fighters going at it. Shame GSP dropped out, like. Also a shame Rashad dropped out, as Machida is going to get eviscerated by Bones. JDS vs Cain will be more than 'fun' - it's the battle of arguable the two most dangerous heavyweights. Then we have Lesnar vs Reem, which is a classic case of if Lesnar gets it to the ground, Lesnar wins, and if it stays on the feet for a minute of two, Reem does (and it'll go to the ground in an altogether different fashion).

Anyone else looking forward to Velasquez Vs Dos Santos next week? Its bound to be quite an occasion as the UFCs first show on FOX in the US. I'm slightly in favour of Dos Santos to take it but its bound to be an entertaining slugfest either way.

but, will mayweather dare to fight pacquiao?

http://www.boxinginsider.com/columns/co ... uperfight/