Happy Manic Monday Errone. Another big weekend in MMA. Did y’all catch it? Let’s recap shall we?
UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin (Fight Card)
Rory Markham continues his success with a Rashad Evans-esque roundhouse knockout of Brodie Farber. CB Dollaway tricks us all with a unique (but self-proclaimed favorite) Peruvian necktie choke on Jesse Taylor (I wanna try that one!). The latest rumor is that Taylor is close to being kicked out of the UFC (again) after disparaging remarks he made about Quinton Rampage Jackson’s latest troubles. Good for him if that is the case. Two strikes and you’re out if you ask me. I was surprised that Kevin Burns lasted as long as he did against a beast like Anthony Johnson, let alone win by TKO over him. Granted the eyepoke caused it, but like Johnson said in his post fight interview, give it up for Burns. Cain Velasquez put Jake O’Brien in a crucifix arms to stop him, while Frankie Edgar showed that he only has one gear (forward) over his decision win over Hermes Franca. Brandon Vera looked very unimpressive over a decision win over Reese Andy (I thought he would walk through him), and finally… the main event! Anderon Silva does it again! We all knew his technical skills would pick apart the brawler in James Irvin, but 1:01 in the first round? WOW! That straight right after catching Irvin’s kick was so short and compact, but the fact that it had enough power behind it to knock Irvin down, woah! I can’t think of anyone who will be able to beat Silva besides Silva.
Affliction Banned (Fight Card)
Paul Buentello looked unimpressive yet again against an out of shape, last minute addition in Gary Goodridge. Was really looking forward to seeing watching Aleksander Emelianenko too! 😦 Vitor Belfort looked like the Vitor of old and really impressed in his decisive knockout of Terry Martin. Edwin Dewees was overmatched, as expected against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Mike Pyle impressed against a green JJ Ambrose. Renato Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead and Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao were snoozers. I didn’t expect that from Lindland. Until this point, it looked like Affliction was a bust (boring as heck). And then… Josh Barnett surprised with an uncharacteristic knockout (jumping left hook) of Pedro Rizzo. Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell was a snoozer until the Andrei of old showed up at the end of the second and then into the third when he knocked out Big Ben. And then… HOLY COW! Fedor Emelianenko answered all questions about his #1 ranking when he just ran through Tim Sylvia with a flurry of punch combinations and then a modified rear naked choke using his forearm! W-O-W! Bring on Couture!
Dream 5 (Fight Card)
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto’s injury was unfortunate, but the show sure did go on. Eddie Alvarez impressed again in a gritty knockout of a tough, game Tatsuya Kawajiri, but suffered an eye injury (from a right cross) in the process. He almost made a critical mistake by thinking Kawajiri was done, but jumped in to finish the job after the referee told him to keep going. Did you see that insanely quick triangle lockup of Caol Uno compliments of Shinya Aoki! Jeez! That was lightning quick and I just had to rewind that like 5 times to watch it carefully! It almost looked like he let Uno out of the guard to set that up. But how about Uno’s heart? That triangle was TIGHT! I cheered when he got out of it! LOL! Joachim Hansen‘s arm-bar submission victory over the Black Mamba (Kultar Gill) set the stage for his path to the final. Urijah Faber’s protégé Joseph Benavidez made quick work of Kodo, while Hideo Tokoro stopped Takeshi Yamazaki in the second. That Tokoro guy impresses me with his speed and athleticism. Kuniyoshi Hironaka split open Motoki Miyazawa‘s forehead with a straight right, causing the doctor to stop the fight, while Yoshihiro Akiyama used his gi to his advantage to choke out Katsuyori Shibata from the top. Alistair Overeem proved he is a star in the making with an impressive arm lock over an out of shape Mark Hunt. Hansen’s straight left from the top found it’s mark on Aoki’s chin as he jumped on to finish the job. Aoki cried as usual, but you could really feel the pain from Alvarez’s tears during his speech. You know the Alvarez Hansen 2 matchup will be a good one. As a fan, I also want to see the Alvarez Aoki matchup some time in the future.
Talk to me!
Whatchu think? Were my observations pretty accurate or ya got something to say? Holla atcho boy! 🙂 Have a good week all!
And finally… For those non-MMA fans out there, here’s a snap from yet another Acai Bowl I’m enjoying on this Acai quest, this time from Diamond Head Cove Health Bar off Monsarrat. Look for the first in my two part series on the first of the month at AroundHawaii.com!
Da Cove Bowl from Diamond Head Cove Health Bar
World Wide Ed 