1. Anderson Silva is the baddest man in the UFC.
Personally, I had faith with Silva moving up a weight class, but there were some who doubted. Silva destroyed Irvin in the first round and looked good doing it.
There isn't a question in my mind that Silva can hang with anyone at 205, and I mean ANYONE. I'm not going to say he is a lock to win every match, but there isn't a guy in the division that I would say Silva doesn't have equal odds to win.
On a separate note, did anyone else see the gash under the eye of Irvin? Holy crap! That cut was huge and nasty.
Not only did Irvin get spanked after spending a minute in the octagon, he got to spend some quality time with the Doc getting stitched up after. I don't think that the UFC will be putting any more mid-level competition against Silva, he might put someone in a coma.
2. Fedor is not human.
Tim Sylvia never had a chance. As we like to say at our home poker games, Fedor had Tim beat both mentally and physically.
I believe the whole thing took under 40 seconds, and Fedor looked spectacular the whole time. His hands were super fast and Timmy never knew what hit him. Sylvia tried the stop, drop, and roll method and it got him choked.
The next step for Fedor has to be one of the two other victorious fighters on the card before him. If Affliction wants to carry the momentum they have going, they should have Fedor fight either Josh Barnett or Andrei Arlovski.
After what happened with Sylvia I don't want to see Fedor vs. Couture next. If Couture comes back after the whole contract fiasco and his first fight is Fedor, it will not end well for Captain America.
3. If you can't throw a closed fist you shouldn't be medically cleared.
During the UFC event Kevin Burns ended the fight with an finger to the eye of Anthony "Rumble" Johnson.
Up to that point the fight had been exciting and fairly competitive. Burns had been warned several times about digits to the eyes of Johnson and in the third Johnson hit the mat in agony after taking a finger straight to the peepers.
The fight was ruled a TKO and Burns won. Interesting.
After the fight Burns told Rogan that he has broken his left hand three times recently and he can't throw a closed fist with his left hand. In my opinion you can't medically clear a guy who can't close his fist.
Every time Burns throws a left hand there is a great chance for someone to get caught in the eye. An eye poke is a horrible way to end a fight, and I'm sure Burns didn't mean to, but I hope it doesn't become a pattern of his fights ending in this fashion.
4. Arlovski is back...
Ben Rothwell couldn't match the hand speed of Arlovski. Arlovski got back a piece of what he had when he was one of the most feared men in the UFC. He was more aggressive and Rothwell never looked comfortable.
When AA let his hands go it was fun to watch. Some of the combos that he landed made you blink and go, "wow, that was fast."
If the folks at Affliction don't think that AA is ready for Fedor then I would like to see him take on Fedor's little brother Aleksander. I recently wrote an article of the fights I'd like to see from Affliction—this was one of them.
5. Goldberg and Rogan will always give me a "what the hell" moment.
It was Goldberg's turn for dumb statement of the night as he unleashed a true gem during the Silva vs. Irvin fight. While Goldberg was spewing how great Silva is he ran out of adjectives and gave us this: "His precision is so precise"
I had to hear that one again. His what is what? Goldie you know it doesn't make sense if you use the same word...oh never mind. I don't know if Rogan meant it as a dig but he followed up with, "Precision is a great way to describe his striking."
But to make up for it Rogan talked about how Anderson likes to judge his opponents then explode about a minute in. At 4:06 left Irvin throws a leg kick and at exactly 4:00 the fight is over. Not bad Rogan, not bad at all.
17 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Derek Bolender 11 months ago
I'm with you on all 5 here. With regards to Goldberg and Rogan they do make me scratch my head from time to time but I will take those two over the glazer/mccarthy/trigg trio any day. Trigg did really well to his credit. McCarthy was awkward. Glazer had no enthusiasm.
Edit Comment Cancel
Bryan Trafford 11 months ago
I second Derek's motions.
All five of your assessments are dead on. I saw the segment where Fedor was warming up in the back and thought to myself, Timmy has no chance. Fedor looked extremely fast.
Affliction's announce team was kinda awkward. That's a good way to describe them. Not horrible, not great, just ok.
Edit Comment Cancel
David Mayeda 11 months ago
Great points all around. Yeah, I think if Couture goes after Fedor, he'll really need an amazing game plan, but that's what Couture does - create great game plans and execute them. That notwithstanding, Fedor was awesome.
You also make a really great point about the medical clearance of Burns. How on earth can an illegal move end a fight and give the puncher the win? If his physical impediments don't allow him to strike legally, he shouldn't be allowed to fight - as we saw, it's a greater danger to his opponents.
Good article.
Edit Comment Cancel
Ryan Wales 11 months ago
Concerning Burns, how could you not DQ him after he received three or four warnings? I give all the credit in the world to Johnson, he got hosed and he was a good sport at the interview with Rogan.
Edit Comment Cancel
David Mayeda 11 months ago
Great points all around. Yeah, I think if Couture goes after Fedor, he'll really need an amazing game plan, but that's what Couture does - create great game plans and execute them. That notwithstanding, Fedor was awesome.
You also make a really great point about the medical clearance of Burns. How on earth can an illegal move end a fight and give the puncher the win? If his physical impediments don't allow him to strike legally, he shouldn't be allowed to fight - as we saw, it's a greater danger to his opponents.
Good article.
Edit Comment Cancel
david wills 11 months ago
I loved to read this one! Good job.
My girlfriend and I were both laughing when we heard "His precision is so precise" on the live show... I'm glad we were not alone on that one, it degraded into a night of(double points)
Good luck on Couture "game plan" the only plan that might work is to bring a gun and an extra clip.
Edit Comment Cancel
Ryan Wales 11 months ago
Thanks for the compliment. My wife and I had to stop and rewind just to make sure we heard right. She refers to Goldie as "the stupid one".
Edit Comment Cancel
Dorothy Willis 11 months ago
Wow, you really outdid yourself on this one, and struck a universal cord in all of us. Dead on points and excellent descriptions. Great job, Ryan.
Edit Comment Cancel
Ryan Wales 11 months ago
Thanks Dee!
Edit Comment Cancel
Dorothy Willis 11 months ago
Just being honest.
Edit Comment Cancel
Richard Abbey 11 months ago
total agreement. i would say for their first outing, affliction did very well. (could do away with megadeath, they were cool back in '89 i guess) rogan is ok, his comedy completely SUCKS.
but for an outfit to put a card like that together, awesome. ufc has some competion. i paid for affliction and watched live. recorded ufc and watched it later. good job Ryan
Edit Comment Cancel
T.S. Simmons 11 months ago
My favorite glitch of the night was when we saw Glazer getting makeup while John was ready to do an in-ring interview.
Edit Comment Cancel
BYOB 11 months ago
As for the eye poke, his punch went straight in. If he couldn't close his hand he should have been "looping" his left hand strikes. And how can you give him the win, it gives another way to end a fight with a tko. Not that he tryed, but, IMO it's that he didn't not try. ( if you follow). You are right he should not have been medically cleared for the fight. As for Goldberg, this guy has got to go. Seriously Dana, you gotta get someone more intelligent than this, he represents the sport just as much as the fighters. What ever happened to Rachelle Leah? Bring her back to take his place. She is oh so yummy and I enjoyed her interviews with that show they did behind the scene with fighters. I have two more points to bring up. 1. Silva needs to do catch weights with whoever will raise their hand. 2. Fedor is all alone. NOBODY will beat Fedor unless someone builds the next generation of terminator better than the liquid metal one. ( and would someone please tell me how to make a new paragraph).
Edit Comment Cancel
Ryan Wales 11 months ago
Never say never, Fedor is a beast and looks unbeatable but no one is invincible. Right now the person with the best chance to beat him is Arlovski. Knockout power, with a sambo background. If you go to the floor with Fedor you will lose. The best chance to beat him is stay on your feet and give yourself a punchers chance.
As for Silva and catch weight fights, I want to see him at 205. Silva vs. Silva, Liddell, Griffin, Rampage, Shogun, Machida, these are all fights I want to see.
Edit Comment Cancel
Bryan Trafford 11 months ago
ill tell you who could beat Fedor,
Brock Lesnar.
just not yet.
i think that to beat Fedor either your hoping to land a bomb and ko him, or you need a massive machine with the size, strength, and wrestling ability of lesnar, albeit with much more experience and submission defense.
if i were drawing up the perfect fighter to beat fedor, it would be brock with at least 10 mma fights under his belt.
Edit Comment Cancel
BYOB 11 months ago
Arlovski, Lesnar, really? First Arlovski. He is good, but, Tim beat him twice recently. I don't think he has the right mind set or chin. Lesnar is a beast for strength, but, in order to beat Fedor IMO the guy has to have a lifetime of at least one of the big arts going for him, with alot of others mixed in for cross training. I can't believe I'm going to say his name, but, if there was a way to mix Kimbo and Lesnar and train this new hybrid guy in a top camp, maybe he could take Fedor. But this new guy would still have to be trained a long time first. ( I'm now going to time out and write I will not say the word Kimbo when talking about MMA 1,000 times). As for A. Silva, yeah you are thinking just like me. That is exactly what I meant about " whoever will raise their hand. All the guys you mentioned are at the top of 205, and that is where Silva is after 1 min. of being there. I hope he stays 205 also, these fights will bring ALOT of excitement. I was very excited to watch him against Irvin. Let's just say I was wrong about that fight. I had AS picked to win, but was waaaay wrong about how that fight was going to go. ( but still seriously, I don't know how to make a new paragraph, please help).
Edit Comment Cancel
BYOB 11 months ago
I didn't finish my point about Silva. I was interested in him at catch weight, because I think he would beat anyone at 205. These fights would be fun to watch though. Like joe Rogan said Silva looked bigger when fighting Irvin. There are some hw guys I would like to see Silva fight. Gonzaga, Couture, Arlovski, but most of all big Nog. I know he trains with him, but come on this would be a good fight. And keep in mind he was 206 in this fight, so he was still dropping weight. At hw these guys don't drop they just eat right and train, no sauna for them.
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.