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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor Affliction (8.0)
Jay Glazer? Ugh. Mike Pyle looked very good and I'd like to see him take on a more established opponent. J.J. Ambrose looked overwhelmed but he should still be given a chance to redeem himself in the future. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira also looked great against Edwin Dewees. I'm not a big fan of Dewees, but he's got heart. Nogueira could be a standout for Affliction at 205 lbs. Matt Lindland looked excellent in some spots in his fight but then looked pretty bad in others. There's no doubt he won the decision but if Fabio Negao had done a few things differently it could have been a totally different story. The extreme weight cutting Mike Whitehead did showed bigtime as he looked horrible in the later portion of his fight with Renato Sobral. Not that he looked that great in the beginning of the fight, though. The fight was fairly boring and was only somewhat exciting do the fighters going through the ropes a few times. Mark Hominick looked good in his submission victory over Savant Young. Hominich pressed the action well and finished with a nice arm bar. The Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo fight was really bad until Barnett landed that big left that sent Rizzo packing. Great highlight punch.
Andrei Arlovski looked fantastic in beating Ben Rothwell. This is the Arlovski we've all wanted to see for the past few years. And Ben Rothwell has the heart of a lion. I couldn't believe he lasted as long as he did. It's a testament to his desire as he was getting worked but still hung in there. Awesome showing by both fighters. The Pit Bull looks to be back. Fedor Emelianenko whupped Tim Slyvia in less time than it took me to write this sentence. What a destruction. I hope we see Fedor vs. Randy Couture soon. The time is ticking away on that matchup. Randy's not getting any younger. If Arlovski is back to his old form I'm honestly more excited to see him fight Fedor than Randy.
UFC (6.0)
I only give this card that high a rating because of Anderson Silva. Also, I really liked CB Dollaway slapping that Peruvian Necktie on Jesse Taylor. CB had to win or he was gone. He's looked unimpressive in his fights up until last night. Jesse Taylor will probably get one more chance to show what he can do but if he loses again, he should be out. I couldn't believe that Kevin Burns got a TKO win over Anthony Johnson. Is that a new fighting technique, to poke a guy in the eyes until he can't fight anymore? Burns should have been disqualified without hesitation. I can understand a guy poking someone once by accident, but to do so 3 or 4 times is ridiculous. This was like when Andrew Golota low-blowed Riddick Bowe repeatedly in each of their 2 fights. Difference is that Golota was DQed both times. If a guy can't keep from poking another fighter in the eyes then tape his fingers together. It's absolutely insane that Burns got the win. Hopefully, this loss won't be held against Johnson.
Cain Velasquez getting the TKO win over Jake O'Brien was a fairly uneventful fight. It just kind of happened in the background as my friends and I discussed the Burns/Johnson decision. Frank Edgar's victory over Hermes Franca was even worse than the Velasquez fight. There was a decent moment here and there, like when Edgar escaped the Franca submission attempt early but, by and large, the fight was pretty bad. I thought that it was going to be the worst fight of the night until Brandon Vera stepped into the octagon. Can we stop acting like this guy is a big deal now? He's beaten a Who's Who list of opponents. You look at the guys he's beaten and you go, "Who?" He beat Frank Mir 2 years ago but that was when Mir was still recovering from his motorcycle accident. Vera has looked horrible in his last 3 fights. His fight last night with Reese Andy was so bad that I almost fell asleep a few times.
What can I say about Anderson Silva's total destruction of James Irvin. I bet James feels pretty stupid after talking so much trash pre-fight. All this talk about how he's bigger and Silva has no chance because he's moving up in weight. He was making it sound like Silva was a little kid trying to fight grown men. To be honest, I was glad Silva smashed him and left a huge gash on his cheek. Maybe that'll serve as a reminder to him and the other meatheads who think that just because someone is bigger they're automatically going to win. This is the first of many wins at 205, if Silva decides to fight at this weight again. A great showing by a great fighter.
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