UFC Seek and Destroy Was a Disappointment to Me

Money-wise I suppose that UFC 87 Seek and Destroy will go down in history as another money making marvel for Dana White and the UFC.  In that respect it was certainly not a disappointment, but for me it was a bittersweet event.

For one thing, starting with the end of the night rather than the beginning because it was most significant to me, BJ Penn not only got face time for being present at the event, but much worse, after the fight he came into the octagon practically panting like a new puppy in a closet full of expensive shoes.

Apparently Georges will indeed be facing BJ on December 27 unless unforeseen events intervene, and put an end to Baby Jay's obsession with a second meeting in the octagon with Georges St. Pierre for a re-match.

I really hate this on so many levels, it is hard to know where to begin.

First, it makes me wonder who is in charge of the UFC. Why should BJ be allowed to leave the Lightweight division and his challengers twisting slowly in the wind while he jumps weight classes and fulfills his dreams of avenging a loss to Georges. Don't his challengers have dreams too, and as the winner of the LW title, doesn't he have an obligation to the UFC and the fans to honor his obligations first? Why does he deserve so much leeway?

Second, he appears to deliberately try to mark up his victims, perhaps to make himself feel superior to them by so marking them as a dog marks its territory. I see no necessity for this especially since the MMA is trying to distance itself from the spectacle of being a bloodsport like cockfighting. BJ's actions are contrary to this goal and may actually leave his opponents with injuries that will shorten their ability to fight in the future.  Maintaining longevity is important to fighters not born into wealth and having to provide for their families; something I doubt BJ understands.

Third, BJ now wants to rewrite the UFC rules and go up and down in weight classes as he feels the whim--what type of a joke is that? Why even have weight classes or rules for that matter, let's just let BJ do whatever he wants.

Writing these three statements has left me too drained to continue on this subject (do I hear someone cheering?), so I am going back to the beginning of the event.

Seeing Jason McDonald lose after the marvelous fight he fought, reversing holds that appeared irreversible and then getting the better of Maia only to eventually end up in another submission was more exhausting and disheartening than my BJ rant. Jason has improved so much each time I have seen him.  Tonight he looked great physically and less tired at the end than Maia, in my opinion. I was so hoping he would not finally be submitted. Darn! And my disappointment is just beginning.

Next I was so happy to see how much Huerta's fighting skills had improved. His leg strikes were awesome and resounded with authority every time he connected. He had Florian retreating and looked more aggressive than Ken did in my opinion. His cardio was superb, so I was very surprised that he lost by a unanimous decision. This will definitely give Dana the upper hand in contract negotiations. And furthermore, what was all that smack about Kenny being a "finisher?" I felt Kenny was very fortunate that the judges saw him as the victor; he appeared used up, bruised up and old long before the fight ended.

Manny Gamburian being KO'd at 12 seconds prevented a war I was really looking forward to witnessing, but "congratulations" to Rob Emerson on his stunning (no pun intended) striking ability.

Brock Lesnar winning was lucky for him since Dana has so much money invested in him.  I think he and Cheick Kongo would have been a better match-up looking back on the night's performances. I never thought I would see Heath Herring take such a beating, though I am not a big fan of his and was just going by who he has faced in the Pride arena.

The GSP Jon Fitch fight had my son and grandson yelling and jumping up and down so much I could hardly concentrate on the fight. Luckily we had our PPV pizza early enough that no one choked on it for cheering like mad men--all I would need would be a Heimlich situation to occur while I am trying to watch Georges defend his title. But defend it he did much to the Willis family's delight. And other than four year old Trevor going for a rear naked choke on his older brother Cody and ending up falling on his head, we had no mishaps. (The frozen peas we keep on hand for such boo- boos did the trick).

Seeing Georges triumph yet again was worth the disappointments, but still . . . just sayin'.