9LikesPoor Patrick. What a s***ty way to lose. He made it to the 3rd round with Anderson with almost no marks on him. Some good exchanges both ways. Hopefully he gets another shot sometime.
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From what I saw, it was pretty average. I kept flipping between the fights and the Wings/Hawks game. Kos / Alves was pretty good, and unlike most people, I enjoyed the Silva/Cote fight as well. Missed the Sherk/Griffin fight, voluntarily skipped the Maynard/Clementi fight. Caught the Werdum fight and was kinda glad to see him brought back down to earth. He kept talking like a title shot was owed to him, but he hasn't done anything spectacular in the UFC to warrant it in my mind. So I was glad to see him get KTFO.Originally Posted by ASUcruz
Well, I haven't done one of these in a while, so bear with me if I get wordy or ramble a little.
UFC 90 Breakdown:
Sherk vs. Griffin:
Pretty much billed as a fight between two guys that are mirror images of each other, it ended up being a pretty even fight. The real shame with these two guys is that they both have Tito Ortiz disease as I like to call it. They can totally control their opponents on the ground, but are DYING to show you how well they can box. . .and they just don't have any power. So, for three rounds we saw two wrestlers punch each other in the face. I believe there were two attempted takedowns (both by Sherk) and nothing came from them.
While the fight was enjoyable, there was never really any fear of it ending. It was just two guys wailing on each other. I really think Tyson Griffin needs to stop worrying about how much his standup has improved and just use it as a way to set up his superior strength on the ground. He's got a very good ground game with solid subs, but he just doesn't seem to want to use it anymore. Hopefully getting beat by Sherk will convince him to not just rely on his striking. When you get outstruck by Sherk and his little arms, it's time to rethink the strategy.
What happens now? Well, since that division is so loaded, it's really anyone's guess. I figure Sherk gets the winner of Florian and Stevenson like he asks, but who does Griffin fight? The guy has won several matches so it's hard to send him backwards, but maybe he fights the loser of that fight? Maybe he fights Huerta if they get him signed again? Tough to say.
Werdum Vs. Dos Santos
Boy oh boy was I happy to see this happen. When Werdum was coming into the ring, Joe Rogan mentioned that he was "bulking up" to compete with the larger heavyweights. Well, there's a difference between that and just putting on weight. Suffice to say, Werdum put on some weight. He looked totally out of shape and slower than he has before. I know it's tough to make that call in only a minute and change, but anyone who saw the fight would say the same thing. He was flat on his feet and not very poised. Bottom line, he looked terrible. Both physically and performance wise. It couldn't have gone worse for him.
What happens next? Well, for Dos Santos (and the UFC), it's a blessing. Now there's another younger guy who is in the HW division with power. He wasn't given much chance, and maybe he won't pan out, but he got a few more fights after KO'ing Werdum like he did. For Werdum, well like I said, it couldn't have gone any worse for him. From what I've heard, he was promised a title shot after this mini-tourney happens against the winner. Well, how do you do that now? This situation could get ugly, but that's what happens with promises in the fight game I suppose. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get matched up with Herring or even a younger guy like Velasquez or Carwin. Those last two seem unlikely though considering they want to build those guys. Likely one of them gets matched up with Dos Santos next.
Koscheck Vs. Alves
Man, what a decent scrap. Alves looked like a beast in there and Koscheck just looked like someone that didn't want to lose. A credit goes to Kos for taking the fight on two weeks notice. . .but it showed. Not in his conditioning, but his gameplan. Again, another wrestler that wants to show how much better his striking has gotten. Having said that, he tried to shoot on Alves but he had some great takedown defense. The only problem was that he tried after almost getting KO'd by Alves (twice I think). Bottom line, Alves has some incredibly vicious leg kicks. He threw one in the second or third round that literally took both of Koscheck's feet out from under him. It was ridiculous.
What's next? Well, Alves is getting GSP (if he beats Penn). I'll be honest, GSP could be in some serious trouble. GSP won't be able to overpower him with his size, and his wrestling might be neutralized too. This could be a striking match and that might be a toss-up. Koscheck really put himself in some danger here too. He's supposed to fight in Dec, but I'd be shocked if the dude didn't have some damage to his knees after that fight. We'll see, but don't be surprised if he has to pull out of that fight. Next for him to fight? Not sure, but if the UFC gets Shields, might be a nice matchup there. If not him, maybe he gets Swick? He's fought a bunch of the other dudes in there so it's tough to match him up against someone like Sanchez or Hazelett again.
...and finally...
Silva vs. Cote
Ugh. Where do I begin? Should I talk about the ending? Silva's lack of fighting? The oddness of some of the behavior of the two guys? It really was a let down to be honest. I saw a guy in there (Silva) who was completely bored out of his mind and seemed to not be interested in fighting. Here is a guy who destroyed Rich Franklin and Chris Leben and James Irvin in less time than he spent fighting Cote. I'm talking COMBINED time. He probably threw more strikes in the fight against Leben in the first 40 seconds than he did in the entire fight against Cote. I was VERY disappointed in his performance. Anytime there was action, he dominated and outclassed Cote. There was a moment in the second where Cote shoots on him, and Silva steps away and reverses it and put Cote into the cage. What did he do when he had him against he cage and on his back? He got up and goofed off. Then he put his hand down to offer to help him up. It was very unlike his previous fights. I really don't know what was going through his mind.
What's next? Well, Cote is out for 8-10 months by all accounts, and there's likely very little interest in a rematch. Fluke accident? Yes. Would a rematch be entertaining? No. So, the guy will be pushed away and likely end up fighting someone like Damien Maia (who should run through him) in a while. For Silva? Hopefully they give him someone that interests him. The dude just looked totally unmotivated in there on Saturday. There's talk of him fighting Liddell in Feb on UFC 95, and more talk of him fighting GSP. White needs to make these fights happen. Regardless of what happens with GSP and Penn, this is a fight that should happen. After that, who knows. He says he wants to retire after this contract is up. If that's the case, give him some challenges so we don't have another debacle like this last fight.
Leben has been suspended for testing positive for steroids after his fight at UFC 89.
UFC : Ultimate Fighting Championship
Gone for 9 months.
So, instead of alcohol, he decided to take steroids? Nice.
BTW, supposedly this was Seth Petruzelli's halloween costume:
BLACKFACE IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA | With Leather - The shallowest sports blog on the Internet. And yes, that's redundant.
Nice signing for the UFC
UFC inks middleweight Denis Kang to four-fight deal | MMAjunkie.com
MW division needs all the talent it can get.
This is disappointing.
7 pounds over is just ridiculous
Filho Misses Weight for WEC 36 Title Bout
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