Well, UFC 100 has come and gone, and I am a satisfied customer. My excitement for the next month’s events from the UFC, WEC, Affliction, DREAM, and Sengoku has reached a fever pitch. That said, there’s a few things swirling about to think about…
– Tom Lawlor has had a really impressive weekend. His reference to the “just bleed” guy at the weigh in on Friday got people buzzing about his personality and good humor. His quick submission over CB Dollaway added some steak to match the sizzle.
– I’ve decided that I’m no longer a fan of hearing that fighters are having decisions “stolen” from them. The Alan Belcher/Yoshihiro Akiyama fight has moved me in this direction. First, see the Fightmetric report that those guys so graciously allow the public to access. The margin of victory in the fight was narrow to say the least, and both guys fought hard. Since I’m watching on television I can’t hear all the mustard being put on every shot, but Akiyama looked the better man last night. I just can’t see where Belcher was a clear winner outside of the leg kicks. He was taken down, controlled, transitioned against, and received some ground and pound. There were several times my excitement rose as I sensed that Akiyama might be nearing a TKO victory. He simply came the closest to finishing the fight.
Saying the fight is stolen is usually intended as a criticism towards the judges, but sometimes the fighter who benefits from the decision ends up receiving the bite of criticism. Also, we all disagree about outcomes on fights like this one, Edgar/Griffin, Sanchez/Guida, and many others. One has a duty to justify their opinion…
– I could not be any happier with Dan Henderson right now. I hope Bisping is able to return to action improved by this experience, and I’d like to see a matchup with Wanderlei, Gouveia, or maybe the loser of Maia/Marquardt.
– GSP is a machine right now, and I’m not seeing anyone at welter that I’d pick against him (I’d like to see a submission specialist myself). I thought Thiago Alves showed tremendous grit, much like Jon Fitch in weathering the storm of having GSP just push the pace in all areas of the fight game. It was the real main event of the night, and I think GSP is smart to downplay talk of him moving to middleweight. The circumstances need to be right first.
– Finally, Brock Lesnar has put the heavyweight divison on notice. I was swaying back and forth on this fight, having trouble committing to any one fighter, but I thought a Frank Mir who appeared to be in the best shape of his life, coming out of a solid training camp, and with more experience and technique (wrestling aside) would be more of a match for Lesnar. The only 2 heavyweight title fights I’m interested in that are available to the UFC are Lesnar/Carwin and Lesnar/Velazquez (I wish Gonzaga would get rolling).
Also, I think that an interesting strategy against Lesnar may be to attack him with takedowns first. When Lesnar gets on top, he gets his engine running. How would he do if someone could put him on his back for a change?
KNEEBAR 