A shitload of MMA thoughts
I got a huuuuuuuuuuge MMA order like 2 weeks ago (45 discs…mmmm) and got another 15 discs from another guy this week…I’ve already plowed through most of the discs, so here are some brief thoughts…in order of them sitting in the pile next to me.
DREAM 1
Ass. Too many decisions. Eddie Alvarez impressed me. Dida didn’t look bad. JZ-Aoki was going nicely until the bullshit ND with Aoki being a total pussy bitch. Fuck that guy. MIRKO looked back to form fighting someone with less experience than him thats smaller than him.
DREAM 2
This wasn’t bad. Aoki-JZ THE REMATCH pissed me off a good bit because of Aoki stealing the win by crafting a gameplan totally based around not standing with JZ. Nothing JZ could really do. SAKU’s neck crank submission in the main event was fucking awesome. Thats all I really got on this show…nothing stood out too much.
DREAM 3
Probably the best of the 3 DREAM shows I’ve seen so far. Manhoef looked BEASTLIKE, Mayhem looked real good, Kawajiri & Alvarez grinded their way to solid decision wins (and Alvarez’s fight was great, too), and Uno came back from behind to get a nice sub win.
DREAM 4
OVEREEM looked so fucking awesome. Tokoro-Uyenoyama was FUCKING AWESOME, such a war. OH THAT FUCKING ARM INJURY WAS SO GROSS. Jacare-Mayhem was just textbook wrestling…fundamentally sound and all, but not horribly exciting. Melvin-SAKU was fucking awesome and I plan on watching it at least 5 more times this week. The shows are getting better as they go along, and I’ve heard a lot of good things about 5.
WEC 28
This looked like an ep of Wrekcage I’ve already watched and some random dark matches, so I didn’t watch this. Probably will when I finish with the DREAM later tonight.
WEC 29
Now this was good shit. Jamie Varner started slow but finished nicely. PAULO beat the shit out of Doerksen. Condit got pounded for half the round against Larson, then caught him with a DOPE armbar for the finish. Great stuff in the main.
WEC 30
I don’t remember anything from this show.
WEC 31
My disc was never finalized so it didn’t work. Grrrrrrrr.
WEC 32
This is one of the best MMA cards of the year. Garcia fucked up Takaya’s shit, and I’m so amped for him vs Pulver at the next show. Tapia-Banuelos was way totally awesome. Torres-Beebe was just a total destruction of Chase from Torres, he looked fucking awesome. Torres is becoming one of my favorite fighters, dude is so exciting. Varner-Razor was FUCKING AWWWWWWWESOME! The first 2 rounds were real slow…then in the 3rd round, they just went balls to the wall. Varner beat the everloving piss outta Razor in the last 30 seconds, knocking him down THREE TIMES, and Razor kept getting up until the last one, where he just kinda slumped against the cage. HUNT THIS DOWN. Prater-Condit didn’t go at all as I expected, and Condit pretty much dominated him before grabbing the sub. Might be the show of the year, still got a lot of stuff to watch.
WEC 33
This was actually the first show I watched when I got that pile of discs. Steve Cantwell looked kickass in dismantling McKenzie. I need my copy of 35 so I can watch him & Stann again. Marcus Hicks was CRAZY with all his guillotine attempts on Ed Ratcliff before finally finishing. I again need my copy of 35…this time, so I can watch Hicks-Varner again. I didn’t watch Sonnen-Baker the second time around because I was limited on time, but when I first watched it, I remember being highly entertained because of how fucking bad Sonnen beat the shit out of Baker. I think 2 judges actually scored it 30-25, which is an insanely one-sided score. Stann & Marshall was a quick slugfest of a main event and it was awesome. On second thought…this might be better than 32. Hm
WEC 34
I’m watching this again tomorrow. I do remember not being impressed by the first 3 fights, but thinking the last 2 were fucking awesome…and Faber-Pulver could be the fight of the year. It merits another watch for sure. And upon a second viewing…Torres-Maeda was AMAZING. Seriously phenomenal MMA in this fight…its pretty much a must-see for anyone who wants to consider themselves a MMA fan. The finish was weak, but what do you expect with a BROKEN ORBITAL BONE?! Faber-Pulver actually was as good as I remember seeing Urijah just pick Pulver apart, but Jens still landing some shots to keep it close. BACK TO BACK FOTYCs make this a probably contender for the SHOW OF THE YEAR.
WVR Sengoku 1
So disappointing. Gomi-Ludwig ended on a cut less than 3 minutes into the fight. FUCK THAT. Everything else was forgettable
WVR Sengoku 2-3
Haven’t watched a thing on any of these. I have 4 coming this week, and I really need to catch up…though I’ve heard theres nothing worth anything on them. But hell, I wanna see Gomi-Ludwig.
AFFLICTION Banned
My guy got me the FSN card in addition to the PPV card…and in all honesty, I only watched the last 2 fights, which were very entertaining. Fedor subbing Big Dim in 30 seconds is one of the greatest things I’ve seen all year.
ICON Sport - Mayhem vs Trigg
Haven’t watched this, and you’ll see why in a minute.
ICON Sport - To Hell & Back
Now on this show, I only watched Baroni-Hose, because I heard it was an asswhooping. I was sorely disappointed. First off, the venue looks like shit and is dimly lit. The production of the broadcast is fucking horrible, its not even on the scale of something like HDNet. Then theres KALA KOLOHE HOSE. This guy fucking sucks more than Baroni. He’s got some of the worst tats I’ve ever seen, and MMA fighters have some shitty fucking ones (I’m talking…this dude has a checkerboard pattern on his chest and thigh. Really). The fight fucking blew, because both guys gassed in the first round and thats a huge problem when the fight goes 5. The finish was hardly decisive and it looked like they just wanted the thing not to go to decision. I was so pissed off I didn’t watch anything else on the show, not that I had heard of any of their other fighters. VOMIT.
StrikeForce - Shamrock vs Baroni
Now we’re back into the good stuff. Again, I only watched the last 2 fights (I think…) but that was just due to laziness, and me wanting to see some fucking action. CUNG LE looked killer destroying Tony Fryklund…and the main event…wow. Frank Shamrock is the man. Phil Baroni is a chump. Thats all I really have to say.
StrikeForce - Shamrock vs Le
Here we go. I remember watching this live, and shitting all over it…probably because I was really drunk, and didn’t wanna give Elite any credit for anything at all. But everyone kept talking about how awesome it was. So I went into this with an open mind…and was amazed. Absolutely incredible fight, and the third round was probably ROUND OF THE YEAR. So pissed it didn’t go any further because of Frank’s arm, but its totally understandable, considering it was…you know…broken. I want a rematch. I also want more Cung Le in my future. Le vs Lawler would be KICKASS.
EliteXC - Uprising
This card pissed me off. We’ll tackle the fun topic first. Gina Carano. What a joke. She was getting picked apart by Evinger…and she randomly got her back, locked in a weak sub, and got the tap. It looked so rigged to me, because there is no fucking chance in hell that a smart, experienced fighter like Evinger would let a ground slug like Carano take her back. Really irritating shit. Diaz-Aina was another thing that stunk of management muddying the waters. I had Aina winning 29-28 and he loses a split. Now, that could be understandable…but one judge had it 30-27 Diaz. Um, WHAT?!?!? Shit does not make sense at all. Unfortunately for Elite…the Nick Diaz dream would not continue. Keep reading for more. Then there was Ninja-Lawler…with Ninja expected to tear Lawler apart. Only problem is, he gassed in the first round, and Lawler didn’t, and was able to pick his spots and knock Ninja on his ass in the third. But hey, anything that blows up in Elite’s face is fine in my book. Awesome.
EliteXC - Renegade
I have the undercard as well, but haven’t watched any of that yet. Antonio Silva and his giant vat of steroids looked good enough taking apart a dude who fought in the UFC like once and got destroyed. Noke-Kleinbeck was pretty decent, with noke opening up a VICIOUS cut on Kleinbeck which led to the stoppage. Shields-Pyle…whatever. Wkae me up when Shields beats a top 30 welterweight. Kimbo-Cantrell…no comment needed. Cantrell is a living breathing example of a can. Now the fun stuff…Diaz-Noons. KJ picked the shit out of Diaz, opened up like 3 cuts on his face, and got the win by doctor stoppage, which totally shit in the bags of Elite and their Nick Diaz Tribute Weight Class title. Diaz was a fucking selfish asshole too, leaving the ring immediately and flicking everyone off. What a fucking baby. KJ is gonna tear him apart the next time they fight, if it even happens.
EliteXC - Street Certified
Haven’t watched it. No real desire to. Watched it live, and thought it was ass.
EliteXC - Primetime
If I watch this again, I might snap the disc in half after watching Thompson-Kimbo with one of the worst stoppages in MMA history. OMGZ HIS EAR WAS BLOODY! Big deal. It wasn’t impairing his vision, LET THE FIGHT GO ON.
EliteXC - Return of the King
Diaz looked like shit taking 3 rounds to KO a guy with less than 10 fights, where as KJ looked dominant in beating Yves Edwards…who is past his prime, but still.
EliteXC - Unfinished Business
Cyborg-Baszler was FUCKING AWESOME. Cyborg-Carano is gonna be the best fight ever, because Gina is gonna get her pretty face smashed into a hundred pieces. Shields-Thompson was an abortion. Why Nick Thompson? He’s admittedly a decent fighter…but do you REALLY want him as the guy in your title fight? And then there was Lawler-Smith, which wasn’t as good as their first fight. EliteXC pisses me off.
PRIDE FC - Bushido 4
Yay, PRIDE!!! This show wasn’t too good..nothing really kept my attention except for Giant Silva getting his ass kicked, and GOMI.
PRIDE FC 29 - Fists of Fire
This was pretty fun. As usual, I can’t remember much of the undercard…but Nog-Overeem was pretty fun, though I was pulling for Overeem. Ninja-Rampage was a HORRIBLE decision, and led to one of the best fights ever with Shogun beating the everloving shit outta Rampage at Total Elimination. Mirko-Coleman was quick and painless. I want one of those CROCOP SQUAD t-shirts.
PRIDE FC - Bushido 6
I…don’t remember much off this. Sorry.
PRIDE FC - Bushido 7
Don’t remember too much of this either. Pulver looked pretty good. Baroni beat the piss out of Minowa…but its Minowa. Come on. And then Gomi was Gomi.
PRIDE FC 30 - Fully Loaded
Don’t even remember if I watched this.
PRIDE FC - Shockwave 2005
This card was soooooo huge, I’ll try to keep my thoughts minimal. Fedor-Zuluzinho was horribly entertaining for the 20 seconds it went it. It was just like the Sylvia fight! Hendo-Bustamante was horribly boring. Gomi-Sakurai was fun. Saku-Minowa…yeah, I just like to see Minowa lose. Hunt-Mirko was depressing because of how fucking fat Mark Hunt is. Such an untalented fighter, but he’s got bricks in his head, so he’s able to survive everything Mirko throws at him. I think he ate like 3 headkicks flush. And then WAND-Arona…yeah. I thought Arona probably won, since WAND isn’t too hot on the ground and thats where most of the fight was…but whatever. I’m not bitching about a WAND victory.
PRIDE FC 31 - Dreamers
Haven’t watched yet.
PRIDE FC 32 - The Real Deal
Haven’t watched yet.
UFC Ultimate Fight Night 13
Houston-Irvin was quick and dirty. Diaz-Pellegrino was a nice little jiu jitsu war. Hamill-Boetsch sucked, which was disappointing to me. Karo getting KTFO made me smile because I despite Karo. Also, Anthony Johnson knocking the shit out of that piece of garbage Tom Speer was rather awesome. Maynard-Edgar was fun for wrestling fans. Florian-Lauzon was real good in the first, but turned into domination in the second. Sotiropolous-Mitchiyan was another submission clinic that I really liked. Aurelio’s sub over Roberts was CRAAAAAAAAZY!
UFC 83 - Serra vs St Pierre 2
CAIN-Morris was awesome…I don’t think Cain took one punch at all and landed something like 60 or so. Absolute DOMINANCE. Maia-Herman and Macdonald-Doerksen were BJJ CLINICS. Day-Belcher was a brutal KO. Clementi-Stout & Goulet-Hironaka were fun little fights. Bisping looked like a MONSTER at 185. Quarry-Starnes was such a horrible fight, though no fault of Quarry. What an embarrssing performance from Starnes…just horrible. Franklin-Lutter was nothing special, and Serra-GSP was just a clinic in dominatioin. The card actually seemed to get worse as it went along.
UFC 84 - Ill Will
Only watched a couple fights since the live airing. Carwin-Wellisch, Silva-Mendes, and Reljic-Gouveia were all great KOs. WAND-Jardine was fucking epic and one of the most dominating fights of WAND’s career. Then there was the main event which consisted of Sean Sherk defying logic by trying to stand with BJ, getting picked apart for 3 rounds, then eating a knee to the face to end the fight. Awesome.
UFC 85 - Bedlam
I actually watched all of this card. Cane-Lambert was ridiculous, and LUIZ CANE is gonna be a stud. Werdum-Vera blew. Leites-Marquardt was a fundamentally sound fight, with 2 big point deductions for Nate costing him the fight, even though one was bullshit and it should have been a draw…but then again, the SHOOT PILEDRIVER should have been a point as well. Swick-Davis was more of a Mike Swick fight than a Marcus Davis fight…which isn’t a good thing, because Swick has had a few boring fights in a row now. Bisping-Day made me a believer of The Count at 185, because Jason Day is a real good fighter, and he TOOLED him. The main of Alves-Hughes was real good, and fat or no, Alves knocked a legend out. Thats gotta count for something.
UFC 86 - Jackson vs Griffin
REAL drunk when I saw this live, haven’t watched since. I was actually asleep for the last 4 rounds of the main, and I can’t remember any other fights off the top of my head.
UFC - Silva vs Irvin
This was an immensely entertaining free show. Markham-Farber and CAIN-O’Brien were both great KOs…CAIN is a stud and I’d loooooove to see him & Carwin go at it soon. Burns-Johnson was another one of those total bullshit ref decisions that pisses me off. Don’t remember a thing about Edgar-Franca. Vera-Andy blew, but you had to give Vera an easy win in his first fight at 205, right? Silva-Irvin was maginificent, with a BIG JOE style catch of the kick, punch to the jaw KO. Fucking. Awesome.
So yeah…I have 17 more discs coming sometime at the end of this week, beginning of next week, and will spend the rest of my time watching the previously mentioned unwatched shit. But as a teaser for next time…HERE’S WHATS COMING!
WEC 31 (1x)
WEC 35 (1x)
Sengoku 4 (2x)
UFC 79 (1x)
UFC 80 (1x)
UFC 81 (1x)
UFC 84 (2x)
PRIDE FC Total Elimination 2004 (1x)
PRIDE FC Critical Countdown 2004 (1x)
PRIDE FC Shockwave 2006 (1x)
PRIDE FC Absolute 2006 Set (5x)
The UFC’s are DVD clones…so YAY, prelim fights! Later.
-JOE