...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Shawn Ennis, MMATorch Senior Columnist
There was a lot to like about the UFC's (potentially) final event on the doomed Fuel TV network. But there were also things that probably stuck in the craw of several MMA fans. And as we are wont to do in the days following any UFC event, it's time to run through a list of both categories.
Thumbs Up: To another spectacular showing by the Brazilian crowd. One would think by now that the overwhelming nationalism shown by the crowds in Brazil would have worn on us. But how can I be tired of such enthusiasm? The crowd was as rabid for Antonio Braga Neto as they were for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. And while they can seem borderline xenophobic at times with their reaction to non-Brazilian fighters, in the end a crowd that gets as excited as the one in Fortaleza only enhances a show. And this show wouldn't have been nearly as fun to watch with a more indifferent crowd.
Thumbs Down: To the practice of referring to Brazilian fighters by their nicknames in place of their actual names. You'd never know by the broadcast, from Bruce Buffer to Jon Anik and Kenny Florian, that Rony "Jason's" last name is Bezerra, or that Rafael "Feijao's" last name is Cavalcante. There's nothing wrong with nicknames, of course, but not even acknowledging someone's actual name is just a little silly, isn't it?
Thumbs Up: To Jiu Jitsu! It's only fitting that a card taking place in the birthplace of one of MMA's cornerstone disciplines offered up a record number of tapout victories. With eight total submissions in the event, UFC on Fuel 10 broke the record of six submissions in an event (a record held by Fuel 2, Fight Night 17, and the TUF 6 Finale) and tied the record for percentage of submission victories (75%, also held by the TUF 6 Finale with six of nine fights ending via tapout).
Thumbs Down: By the same token, it's tough not to criticize the lack of competitiveness on the card. Of course, competitiveness was never the goal for this event. The Brazil cards right now, it would seem anyway, are geared to build up an audience in Brazil. And judging by the reaction of the fans to Brazilian fighters, the best way to build an audience is to have a bunch of Brazilian guys come out and win in dominant fashion. So in this case? Mission accomplished.
Thumbs Up: To good refereeing. Or at least a good start. During the final fight of TUF Brazil 2, William Macario (or "Patolino" as he was referred to on the broadcast) grabbed the fence during a takedown attempt from Leonardo Santos and ended up in top position. Marc Goddard called time and stood them up, not rewarding the fence grab. Of course, it would have been nice to just take a point for such an egregious grabbing of the fence (it's not as if anyone doesn't know the rules at this point) or to grab a translator to help him explain to Macario what was happening, but at this point I'm just glad that the fence grab wasn't rewarded with Macario being allowed to remain in an advantageous position which was gained illegally.
Thumbs Down: To Jason High's luck. I mean sure, if you're offered a spot on the main card instead of Facebook, you're definitely going to take it. But I don't think it's a stretch to say that High would have had a much better night had he faced Ildemar Alcantara instead of uber-prospect Erick Silva, who despite his loss to the apparently-non-existent Jon Fitch (whose name was not mentioned in regards to Silva during the broadcast) is likely destined for big things in the welterweight division. High is a good fighter and belongs in the UFC, but Silva didn't treat him like that was true.
Thumbs Up: To Jose Aldo being a legitimate star in Brazil. During the post-fight interview after the TUF finals, Leonardo Santos talked of his love for Aldo and his entire team, which led the crowd to chant Aldo's name. It's a crime that Aldo isn't a bigger star in the States, but this incident plus Aldo's last title defense that saw him being carried on someone's shoulders in the middle of a very fired up crowd show that this apparently is not a problem in Brazil.
Thumbs Up: To Fabricio Werdum's effort against Big Nog. Nogueira was definitely game and had his moments in the first round, but it was crystal clear when the fight hit the floor that he was simply outgunned. Werdum looked fantastic in doing essentially whatever he wanted to a legendary fighter once considered to be un-finish-able, let alone un-submit-able.
Thumbs Down: To Werdum's chances against MMA's heavyweight power couple of Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos. Werdum has the grappling to beat just about anyone (Remember that Fedor guy?). But when he steps in the Octagon with fighters who are faster, with better takedown defense and better striking? It probably won't be pretty. For all his strengths, Werdum has tended to look like he's fighting in quicksand when he's standing up, and if he fights that slow against dos Santos or the Champ, it won't end well for him.
Thumbs Up: To a night of fun fights that didn't last long enough in most cases for us to get tired of them. Ten total finishes out of twelve fights is an insane ratio, and if any card ever needed it, it was this one.
Thumbs Down: To not really knowing anything more than we knew going into the fights. Mismatches can be fun for a minute, but they don't really tell us much. That having been said, not every fight was a mismatch.
Thumbs Up: To perseverance. Thiago Silva laid waste to a suddenly tired/cocky/disinterested/etc. Rafael Cavalcante after it looked like Cavalcante could run roughshod over Silva after the weirdness of their bad blood was established by Jon Anik (along with their shared "outside the Octagon adversity"), but after "Feijao" established that he was capable of outstriking Silva, he decided not to do so, but rather to stand still while Silva put him to sleep. In more perseverance news, Caio Magalhaes survived a first round that made him look pretty bad only to come back and choke out Karlos Vemola. Felipe Arantes also showed some heart in his shorter fight with Godofredo "Pepey" Castro in surviving the mount twice only to come back and land some laser-accurate ground and pound for a TKO stoppage.
Thumbs Down: To post-fight interviews. The post-fight interview in general is a useless thing, but it's ultra-useless when you involve a third party. As good as the translator was last night, it seems extraneous to take up a bunch of time just so that every fighter can say the exact same thing. How many times do we need to hear about how it's great to fight in Brazil and how their team and sponsors are awesome? There are some instances that would serve as a counter-point to this (the Santos-Aldo lovefest, GSP's infamous "I am not impressed by your performance"), but for the most part, post-fight interviews are just bad.
Thumbs Down: To the production issues with Fuel. I don't know what it is, but the FX and Fox shows, while still somewhat bloated with advertising, always seem to flow better than the Fuel cards. I don't know if it's the familiarity of Goldberg and Rogan as compared to the seemingly more caffeinated Anik and Florian or whether the production is actually just a bit choppier, but the Fuel cards always feel a little less UFC-worthy from a production standpoint. The issue was exacerbated last night with the fact that Brazil's Globo network was only showing the final two fights, and those had to start at a very specific time, meaning there was lots of time to kill with all the quick stoppages. Hopefully the re-branding to Fox Sports will do the UFC some favors from a production values standpoint.
Questions? Comments? Hit me up on Twitter - @shawnennis, shoot me an email – ennistorch(at)gmail.com, or leave a comment below.
(Attention MMATorch app users: Make sure to upgrade to the latest edition of the MMATorch app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device!)
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
