UFC 103 Fallout: Legends Return, Legends Fall, Floyd Mayweather Laughs

At the risk of sounding trite or spoiled: This last UFC was something of a disappointment. It wasn’t the UFC`s fault. The production was solid as usual - though they really need to lock down those changing sound levels (or is it just my TV that`s fucked - someone let me know). The fighters (for the most part) were motivated, prepared, and showed up ready to fight and entertain. The fans were impatient and rude, booing even the slightest inaction - but it was in Texas, where everything is bigger, including apparently fan expectations. Everything seemed to be on ten.

Yet it was disappointing nonetheless. I think it’s mostly because of the way fights played out. The last couple of UFC`s trended towards long, hard fought decisions, but that trend was not in effect last Saturday. All the televised main card fights ended before the judges horn - usually well before, and always in a decisive manner. The quick finishes, the blowouts, the occasional questionable stoppage and the sadly more then occasional underwhelming performance left me feeling unsatisfied as the night wrapped up. But life goes forward, and there was a lot to talk about coming out of last weekend, starting with

Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin

This fight was an interesting contrast of a surprisingly impressive performance with a surprisingly lacklustre one. The great performance was undoubtedly Griffin`s. Continuing to improve every time he steps into the cage, Tyson displayed improved footwork and overall diversity in his striking game. He also dispelled the notion that he can`t finish fights by dramatically halting Franca - who had never before been stopped in a UFC match - with strikes in the second frame. He showed the improvement in his striking game that was needed after the Sean Sherk loss - the ability to move into the pocket and prevent his opponent from putting together combos, while landing his own. Great win, and he could be one win away (Maynard, or Edgar possibly) from fighting for the title.

The poor performance, on the other hand, was all Franca`s. First, he missed weight (one of three fighters on the UFC 103 card to do so) by a whopping four and a half pounds. Then, he entered the fight sporting a hairstyle so bad, the written word may not be able to do it justice - imagine a roll of cotton candy that thinned out and got a perm, and you’d be in the neighbourhood. He looked out of shape and off his timing throughout the bout, the result of which left him looking up at the lights, wondering what happened. This is a setback for Franca, but it should not be reason to cut him or relegate him to gatekeeper status. Something like this makes me feel that there was a disruption or injury in his training camp, and he should have a chance to prove it was an isolated incident rather then a sign of things to come for him. He has a previous submission win over Nate Diaz - I`d make that rematch next for both men in the UFC to test their ability to endure at the elite level.

Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg

Before the fight, Trigg openly talked about how Koscheck was the younger, stronger, faster version of himself at the same age - leaving many to wonder what avenue Trigg saw leading to victory. Turns out he, and most of the MMA world, was right on the money. Unable to outwrestle Kos, Trigg was forced into a standup exchange in which he was thoroughly outgunned. Koscheck caught Trigg with a brutal shot to drop him, then a few more to make it official. Blown out of the water in 89 seconds - not exactly the way ``Twinkletoes`saw his big UFC return going. It`s troubling for him (I don`t see any title shots on his horizon) but it shouldn’t be his swan song and it shouldn’t prevent him from competing in some more fun fights. Call me crazy, but I say put him up against Matt Serra. Sure, it would be the ultimate òld timers`match, and not relevant at all in helping to clear up the muddled 170 title picture. But it would be fun - if that isn’t enough of a reason for a fight to happen, I don’t know what is.

Koscheck surprised a few people by publicly calling out Matt Hughes following his win. He joins a long line of welterweight fighters - most of them team mates of Kos at AKA - who have called out Hughes in the twilight of his career. It`s no mystery - Hughes is still a huge name, and an impressive notch on the blt of any young 170`er angling for a title shot. He`s also well past his prime and in today`s ultra-competitive welterweight division could be viewed as an ``easy`` win. Personally, a Koscheck-Hughes match has no interest for me, as Koscheck seems a more improved version of the old legend and would probably defeat him in much the same way he dispatched Trigg. I`d rather see Kos thrown back into the shark tank against another hungry 170 challenger - Carlos Condit, Martin Kampmann, or even Anthony Johnson could all work to help build up Ko

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