UFC 100 - Sifting Through the Rubble

The UFC 100 card was touted as the best ever and it showed, both in the match outcomes as well as pay-per-view sales and the gate. Closed-circuit viewings of the event were put up all over Vegas, at pools and smaller venues. Holly Madison served as an honorary ring girl and you could feel the contempt coming from the normal ring girls. They were so angry, they couldn’t even muster a fake smile and wave for all the pervs UFC fans at home. In perhaps the biggest upset of the night, Joe Rogan narrowly beat out Criss Angel for tightest jeans and I’m pretty sure Rogan and light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida bought their shirts 2 for 1.

The night started off innocently enough as Yoshihiro Akiyama won a 3 round decision over American, Alan Belcher, although many believed that Belcher had the fight won. The fight was actually pretty solid as both fighters were game and consistently stood toe to toe with each other. Belcher succeeded in closing Akiyama’s left eye as the fight waned but Akiyama was able to gain the upper hand in the last minute with a takedown. That was likely the nail in the coffin in what was a close fight and a close decision, although Joe Rogan did say that “Belcher got robbed”. Thanks Joe.

With most UFC cards you have one championship bout or at least 2 guys fighting for a title shot and maybe one other good fight with intriguing guys. This card boasted two title fights as well as a fight between the two guys who coached this season of The Ultimate Fighter, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping. Normally the coaches draft the guys they coach but this season the UFC decided to have a team of Americans (coached by Henderson) and a team of International fighters (coached by Bisping). The International team dominated the American team all season and Bisping never forgot to let Hendo know about it.

Add a little Bisping smack to a couple of Hendo “douchebag” blasts and you have a grudge match between 2 capable fighters. Henderson, who is a very low key/under the radar guy outside the octagon is an animal of a fighter inside. A former Olympic wrestler, Hendo has expanded his game to the point where he is one of the more feared strikers in the game. Bisping, the brash young Briton, has been working his way up the middleweight ladder ever since he destroyed all comers in season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter. He is an English national treasure and wears his nationality proudly on his sleeve. Of course, that did not sit well with the American crowd who booed the Brit from the outset; Bisping responded by waving his hands up and down unapologetically, begging for more. The fight started innocently enough, Hendo stalking as Bisping retreated, more than willing to play a waiting man’s game. Hendo loaded up a few haymakers but was unable to connect to his retreating foe. The first round ended and while Henderson succeeded in winning the round, the fight was unquestionably still in doubt. A little into the 2^nd, Rogan pointed out that Bisping was circling to his left, doing exactly as his corner instructed him not to. This effectively allowed Hendo to call in the bomb squad, a little timing of footwork, a left shoulder cock, and he was weapons hot. Bisping never saw it coming. As he moved his head backwards to escape a left jab he dropped his hands and was hit with a thunderous right hand, perfectly placed to the base of the left side of his jaw. The lights went out immediately; at least he didn’t have to suffer what came next. As Bisping’s head went back and whiplashed into the canvas, Henderson threw his entire body weight into another glorious shot to the prone combatant. The referee intervened at that point, it was the first time Michael Bisping was KO’d in his career.

Eventually he woke up, confused, trying to figure out what happened. Did somebody hit him with a two-by-four? Maybe an unruly fan threw a chair into the fracas and he was knocked cold? No, that was a healthy dose of karma in the form of a Dan Henderson right. He walked out of the octagon with some help, stumbling like a frat boy on his 21^st birthday. Of note during Hendo’s interview was that:

1. Bisping does that in all his fights and he knew he would catch him with one eventually.
2. Hendo knows when he’s knocked somebody out and he doesn’t usually do that but, “that second shot was just a little something to shut his mouth.”

Tell it like it is Hendo.

The Georges St. Pierre – Thiago Alves fight was pretty yawn inducing. GSP came out with his normal workmanlike attitude and methodically broke down the explosive challenger. He said before the fight that this would be his biggest test yet and he aced it. After 25 minutes of MMA action, GSP hadn’t a cut or bruise on him while Alves was left badly beaten. All the more humiliating for Alves, was the fact that GSP suffered a torn groin or abductor midway through the fight but was still able to get Thiago to the ground whenever he felt like it. Sadly, much like Anderson Silva in the middleweight division, as far as legitimate challengers go, the cupboard may be bare for St. Pierre.

What happened in the main event could not live up to what happened after the main event. Brock Lesnar v Frank Mir is a rematch that has been in the making since Mir stopped Lesnar in his UFC debut back in February of 2008 with a knee bar after Lesnar had dominated the fight up to that point. Their relationship was not born out of respect. Mir believes the belt Lesnar earned was rightfully his since Mir lost it without actually losing a match (he was injured in a motorcycle accident and could not defend his title). Lesnar claimed that Mir's interim belt (which was awarded to him after his win over Antonio Nogueira) was a fake belt and was unhappy at the lack of respect shown by Mir. Lesnar quickly showed what he was capable of as he smothered Mir early and often, taking him down and repeatedly throwing unanswered strikes to Mir's face. The fight was stopped in the 2nd round when Mir showed he was no longer able to defend himself. This is when Lesnar's WWE roots kicked in. As Mir rose, his face bloodied and battered, Lesnar walked over and tried to get in Mir's face, but was held back. He then proceeded to flip off the crowd who had booed him all night. During the postfight interview with Rogan, Lesnar put on perhaps his greatest show by:

1. Saying he was going to go home and drink a Coors Light... not a Bud Light (which was one of the main sponsors of the event) because Bud Light would not pay him any money.
2. Saying he was going to go home and hang with friends and family and "maybe even get on top of my wife." Keep it classy.
3. Claiming that Frank Mir has "had a horseshoe up his ass for 2 years."

Even though Lesnar was apologetic (following a severe tongue lashing by UFC president Dana White), it is clear that the UFC now has a villain. Overall, The Ultimate Fighter alum fared poorly on the night. Former winners Bisping and Mac Danzig as well as former runners up, Stephan Bonnar and CB Dollaway were all beaten. Of note, UFC Hall of Famer, Mark "The Hammer" Coleman managed to win his match (over Bonnar) without the ability to stand under his own power for longer than 2 minutes. In all seriousness, Coleman used to be my favorite fighter and it was good to see him last 3 rounds and get a win under his belt.

Looking forward to UFC 101 where BJ Penn will put his title on the line against Kenny Florian and Anderson Silva (the middleweight champion) will move up a weight class to battle former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin. Remember what happened last time Silva moved up to 205.

-PSon