MMA: Five Things I Learned From Affliction:Banned, And UFC Fight Night 14

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.