Sunday, May 25, 2008
Sport Crack’s UFC 84: Ill Will Recap
Even though some of UFC 84’s most hyped matches didn’t quite play out how we may have wanted, it was still a great ticket. Besides, any UFC even is a good event, that much is common knowledge. UFC 84 saw knockouts, submissions, ground technicians and a main event that lived up to all that preceded it.
Warning: Spoilers follow. If you’ve taped it and still haven’t seen it, and somehow got this far -- well, I warned you.
Christian ‘The Hungarian Nightmare’ Wellisch (8-3-0) vs. Shane Carwin (8-0-0)
This fight would finish second for quickest fights to end for the evening. Up and comer Shane Carwin clocked The Hungarian Nightmare, sending him reeling -- without missing a step, Carwin would go on to pound Wellisch until the referee stopped the fight at 0:44 in the 1st round.
Victor: Carwin by 1st round KO
John ‘War Machine’ Copenhaver (5-1-0) vs. Yoshiyuki ‘Zenko’ Yoshida (9-2-0)
In yet another match that failed to get past the minute mark, Yoshiyuki Yoshida maneuvered his way into locking in a lethal anaconda choke on Copenhaver. The referee would stop the fight at 0:56 after it was discovered that Copenhaver had actually been put to sleep. Score one for Zenko.
Victor: Yoshida by 1st round submission (anaconda choke)
Ivan Salaverry (12-6-0) vs. Rousimar ‘Toquinho’ Palhares (7-1-0)
This fight went to the ground in a hurry and Palhares had Salaverry in a potential rear naked choke for what seemed like forever. After appearing to finally escape, Palhares dragged Salaverry back down and as smooth as silk, maneuvered his way around to Salaverry’s arm and locked in the arm bar. It was the submission specialist at his finest. Seriously, if you haven’t seen it -- you need to go and find video of it. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
Victor: Palhares by 1st round submission (arm bar)
Tito ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ Ortiz (15-5-1) vs. Ryoto ‘Lyoto’ Machida (12-0-0)
I hadn’t seen much of Machida up until this fight, but after watching him it’s easy to see why he’s undefeated. He has a unique style all his own, quickly and skillfully dodging incoming attacks.
He had Ortiz exasperated at multiple points in the match, but showed at the end of the first round that although he flees for much of his fights, he is lethal when he sees an opening to attack. It was basically cat and mouse the entire time, with Ortiz stalking Machida the entire fight and failing to land any meaningful strikes on him. He had opportunities in the second and third round, but failed to capitalize on them and Machida would stylistically dominate his way into his 13th victory.
Victor: Machida wins by unanimous decision
Wanderlei ‘The Axe Murderer’ Silva (31-8-1) vs. Keith ‘The Dean of Mean’ Jardine (13-3-1)
Even though this would turn out to be the quickest fight of the evening, it was the one I was most looking forward to and it did not fail to live up to my expectations. Although I thought they would go toe to toe for a bit longer, it was common knowledge that this fight was going to be strictly striking.
Unfortunately for Jardine, Silva got the early advantage with a stunning right and in typical Axe Murderer fashion, he finished it off in a hurry. Although many of Silva’s knockouts have been brutal and bloody, it was great to see him attempt to go over multiple times to make sure Jardine was okay. The guy is a class act and shot up my list of favorite fighters by his actions last night.
Victor: Silva by 1st round KO
BJ ‘The Prodigy’ Penn (12-4-1) vs. Sean ‘The Muscle Shark’ Sherk (32-2-1)
The much awaited main event did not fail to live up expectations, surprisingly remaining upright for the entire fight. Penn and Sherk would trade jabs, hooks and strikes for three straight rounds, leading many to wonder why Sherk wasn’t trying to take it to the ground where he had a better chance of winning. After the fight, Sherk would say he thought he was doing fine on his feet and so no reason to change his strategy. While Sherk did land many blows, Penn seemed just a step ahead of him, keeping him at bay with a stiff jab.
In a controversial ending, a flying knee by Penn followed by multiple strikes led Penn to just stand up and claim Sherk “was done”. After much confusion, and a continuing Penn celebration, it was announced that Penn had won by TKO. The referee had stopped the fight. It was also interesting to note that Sherk stopped using his right hand for much of the end of the fight and may have injured it, although he said nothing of it during his post fight interview. After all the bad blood that had brewed, Penn and Sherk hugged and Penn told Sherk he could come and train with him anytime.
Fifteen straight minutes of kicking the shit out of each other and they both showed class and respect at the end, hugging multiple times. One of the many reasons I love the MMA.
Other fight results:
Dong Hyun Kim defeated Jason Tan by KO in the 3rd round
Rich Clementi defeated Terry Etim by unanimous decision
Rameau Sokoudjou defeated Kazuhiro Nakamura by TKO in the 1st round
Thiago Silva defeated Antonio Mendes by submission in the 1st round
Goran Reljic defeated Wilson Gouveia by KO in the 2nd round
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Sport Crack's UFC 84: Ill Will Preview
Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine (13-3-1) vs. Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva (31-8-1)
Wanderlei Silva’s last fight was his UFC debut at UFC 79: Nemesis versus Chuck Liddell. Liddell won by unanimous decision in what was a very exciting stand up striking match. On the other side of the Octagon is Keith Jardine, whose last fight was also against The Iceman. Unlike Silva, Jardine won the fight by split decision with the help from his superb kicking ability.
This fight is almost certain to be a standup brawl, similar to the Silva/Liddell fight. I also think that the fight most certainly will not go the full three rounds. As much respect as I have for Jardine as a striker, I think Silva will have something to prove after losing his UFC debut. Not to mention, he needs a win to even be considered for an eventual title shot.
Prediction: Silva wins by KO in the 1st round.
Tito “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz (15-5-1) vs. Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida (12-0-0)
Machida, who has won all four of his UFC fights thus far (not to mention all of his fights for his career) will be going against a highly motivated Tito Ortiz in what could be his final fight in the UFC. Ortiz, who hasn’t fought in nearly a year, fought to a draw with Rashad Evens at UFC 73: Stacked. While many people are predicting a Machida victory, I think the fact that Ortiz hasn’t fought in so long has numbed us to just how good he used to be.
While Machida may technically be the better pound for pound fighter, you should never underestimate a man’s pride. Ortiz doesn’t want his last fight in the UFC to be a loss and I’m sure he would love to stick it to Dana White with a victory to end his UFC career.
Prediction: Ortiz wins by split decision.
Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk (32-2-1) vs. BJ “The Prodigy” Penn (12-4-1)
These two cannot wait to get into the Octagon against each other in hopes of destroying the other. This is Sherk’s first fight since he was suspended for violating the UFC’s steroid policy. Sherk’s last loss was to Georges St. Pierre 3 years ago at UFC 56: Full Force. Meanwhile, the UFC Lightweight champion BJ Penn, is coming off two straight victories by rear naked choke, one of which won him the belt against Joe Stevenson at UFC 80: Rapid Fire at the beginning of this year.
Like the Ortiz/Machida match, the majority of people making predictions are going with Penn to defend his belt. However, this is a rivalry of sorts and anything can happen -- not too mention, I love taking the underdog. If Sherk can avoid being submitted and utilize his ground and pound skills, he should have an excellent shot at winning the match. The only problem is, Penn is going to make that very hard for him. If Sherk can take it into the later rounds, his superior conditioning will give him a better shot as well. As much as I’d like to take the underdog in Sherk, though, logical thinking prevails…
Prediction: Penn wins by submission in the 3rd round.
If you plan on watching, then enjoy! If not, I'll be posting a recap later on tonight or early tomorrow, so stay tuned.
