UFC 93: Final Thoughts on Rua/Coleman, What's next for Marcus Davis?

Expectations are a tricky thing in professional sports, as Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is finding out after his uneven performance at UFC 93.

It seems like everyone with an internet connection is coming after him for not being what they wanted him to be in this fight.

Dominant.

While I agree his fight with Mark Coleman was strange and probably should have ended sooner, it's not like he went out and was submitted by Alan Belcher. When Brandon Vera spent three rounds dancing with Reese Andy, the outcry wasn't even this bad.

Rua controlled most of the fight, staggered Coleman multiple times, and was never in serious trouble. I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and remember this is a fighter coming off serious injuries and a loss.

For him to be cautious and have cardio issues in his return to the Octagon after 16 months is not shocking.

If anything, it's realistic.

Mark Coleman deserves an enormous amount of credit for the punishment he took in this bout in the cage.  He was being beaten repeatedly and never stopped fighting back.

Most other fighters would not have made it to the third round.

Yes, calling it the "Fight of the Night" was a stretch, but Coleman deserves every penny of the bonus he received.

Other thoughts:

Rousimar Palhares is just another Jiu-Jitsu guy.

Phil Baroni is the most inspirational corner guy since Duke in Rocky IV. His "You're a legend!" speech was the real world equivalent of Duke's "He's not a machine! He's a man!" pep talk.

Dan Miragliotta pulled another "Miragliotta" during the Henderson/Franklin main event.  He's as close to a real world bumbling professional wrestling referee as we'll ever get.

He always has a moment where you say, "Does this guy know what he's doing?"

That moment occurred when he had to ask Vice President of the UFC Marc Ratner how much time to give Franklin to recover. No competent referee should be consulting the VP of the company on a rule like that.

It does not make a difference that Ratner used to work for the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The fact it came to that is yet another strike against Miragliotta's record.

From now on, I'm referring to him as Earl Hebner.

After re-watching the main event, I still think Franklin won.

Give Marcus Davis the winner of Hughes/Serra.

He's popular, entertaining, and an excellent fighter.

A potential match-up with Serra would sell, especially with the New York/New England angle to build upon.

Davis and Serra play those roles anyway, so you might as well give them a grand stage.