Post UFC 88 Thoughts
Posted by angryfightfan on September 7, 2008
Rashad Evans KO2 Chuck Liddell
What else can be said other then HOLY SHIT!!!!! I’m still in shock over that result. That was like when Gonzaga Cro Cop’d Cro Cop because Rashad Liddell’d Liddell. Evans fought an extremely smart gameplan and frustrated the hell out of Liddell and made him open up and then showed surprising punching power and scored maybe the best one punch knockout I’ve seen in MMA. Dana White has apparently said that Evans will get the first shot at new champion Forrest Griffin. I really never thought we’d see the day when these two are the top two light heavyweights in the World. To be honest, as big as this win is, I’d be more interested in seeing Wanderlei Silva get the first shot at Forrest but with that impressive win it’s hard to argue with Evans getting his shot.
That very well could be the last we see of Chuck Liddell. I’d like to see him comeback and I think he might just so he doesn’t go out on that note. I think a rematch with Keith Jardine would be a good fight for him because if he can’t beat Jardine he won’t be getting anywhere in the future in this division. Liddell, like Matt Hughes, seems to have a target on his back and all these guys really analyse what is needed to beat him and they execute it. I’m still in shock over the fact that Rashad Evans could knock out Liddell yet Wanderlei Silva couldn’t. Despite this loss, in my opinion it doesn’t take away from the fact that Liddell is probably the greatest 205lber of all-time.
Rich Franklin KO3 Matt Hammill
Franklin is just in a totally different league. Hammill is a wrestler with very limited stand-up and against someone as well rounded as Franklin you’re going to pay the price. I’ve said it before (not on here though) that Hammill is ridiculously open for a body kick the way he holds his hands up. Honestly, the guy needs to learn some proper stand-up if he’s going to get anywhere because that stupid hands covering you’re head crap doesn’t cut it in a world class fight. I think Franklin could do alright at this weight, and I’d like to see him rematch Lyoto Machida who for anyone who doesn’t know is the other guy apart from Anderson Silva to beat Franklin.
Dan Henderson decision Rousimar Palhares, Nate Marquadt KO1 Martin Kampmann
Henderson can be very hot and cold and it shows how great he is when he can fight as far from his best as he was today and still win a wide unanimous decision. Palhares definately has a future in the UFC and I’d love to see him take on Demian Maia. There aren’t too many guys in the UFC who I think could avoid his ground game. His transitions are amazing and people who can’t appreciate that sort of ground fighting need to go and follow another sport because that was top notch BJJ.
A good fight that could be made now would be Henderson vs Marquadt. Even though Marquadt lost to Leites in his last fight, this fight would determine a highly rated contender in the middleweight division. I really didn’t rate Marquadt’s stand-up that highly before this fight but he showed great versatility in his strikes and good finishing instincts against an apparently top level kickboxer. It’s great to see MMA fighters punching to the body and it was the body punch that really finished off anything Kampmann had left. Marquadt-Henderson would be a great fight and while I wouldn’t like to see Marquadt-Silva II, I’d definately be interested in a Silva-Henderson rematch. Henderson is a legend of the sport and if he can beat someone like Marquadt in his next fight then I think he deserves another crack at Silva.
Dong Hyun Kim split decision Matt Brown
Strange fight. I scored it for Kim yet Brown seemed to be the one who did better. Its a good example of why the 10 point must system doesn’t really work over short fights and one of the reasons why I prefer the idea of PRIDE’s scoring system over the 10 point must system. Both fighters looked good and I’d like to see a rematch. I’m a big Matt Brown fan, mainly because he knocked out Jeremy ‘Douche Bag’ May but also because he’s a proper fighter who just likes to fight.
Preliminary Fights
I’ve only seen two of these so far, I’ll probably edit this post when I see Pellegrino-Tavares which is on UFC.com apparently.
Lambert doesn’t belong in the UFC as far as I’m concerned. Really, what does this guy do well? He’s lost three in a row now so its time for him to take his man tits and go fight on a lesser show. That guys body type just disgusts me, he looks like he came off the Biggest Loser.
Boetsch looks like he could be a handful in a few fights, but I doubt he’s going to get too high up. He’s strong and he hits hard, but against guys he can’t ragdoll or bully he’s going to fall short like he did with Matt Hammill.
Overall I got 5/9 fights right on this card. Round that down to 5/8 because NO ONE picked Rashad Evans and then add the razor thin decision with the Matt Brown-Dong Hyun Kim fight and I did ok. Anyone who got 7/9 today did very very well because there were some upsets and some close fights.
