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From MMATorch.com Staff Columnists
It wasn't. Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks was never worthy of being on a PPV to begin with, but most of these fights aren't even going to be worth getting a second look at on 'UFC Unleashed' on Spike TV. I mean could you really get someone to want to re-watch Neer-Pellegrino, Grove-Almeida, Nelson-Riley or Penn-Florian? Save for a hardcore B.J. Penn fan wanting to rewatch a dominant win over a perceived number one contender, I see no one making such efforts to check anything out. Well, except for the Griffin-Silva fight which will be checked out like the Zapruder film and broken down and rehashed to the extent that Michael Jackson's death is still somehow important enough and fresh enough to be headline material on our nightly news. This was an atrocious PPV. Action was minimal, Penn and Silva looked so dominant that it made both stars from the first season of 'The Ultimate Fighter' look like Damarques Johnson belongs in there with Georges St. Pierre at an upcoming event. This one was bad all over and the fact Griffin pocketed a bonus for 'Fight of the Night' makes me wonder what other kind of "bonus" the Fertitta brothers pulled out of the wall safe to give him for his, ahem, efforts against Silva. If Griffin didn't flop or take a dive, then you must at least concede that he quit, which is damned near the same. When you walk off of the court, field, take a knee in boxing or pull the Roberto Duran "no mas" move; it is as close to throwing the event without actually doing so as you can get. Perhaps Griffin never gave his best effort, or more likely it is that his best would never be enough to topple Silva but still, but this one reeks almost as bad as the B.O. of fans in the upper reaches of the Wachovia Center after camping out in the parking lot with a keg all day. I am not going to break down each fight blow by blow and round by round as I usually do. For one, Shawn and Jamie both have already done so tonight, and those who watched this show are not going to want to get water boarded by dictation of the not so thrilling fights which took place this evening. I am however, going to give you my take on the fights, my scorecards and reasons why I feel the way I do. Not everyone will agree with me, and many can disagree but those who believe I am wrong will hopefully at least respect my reasons why or my opinion itself. I predicted Johny Hendricks would blast through Amir Sadollah and I was told this was somehow "retarded," so as always any dissent will be taken with a grain of salt and I will respect your opinions as I hope you will do mine even if we do not see eye to eye. Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino This lightweight tilt which was my dark horse pick for "Fight of the Night". I sure am glad I went ahead and took Griffin-Silva with that bet, even though I disagree with it being awarded as such. At any rate, Pellegrino and Neer did combine to give us some impressive moments in terms of techniques, but this was neither competitive, enthralling or anything to prove that either man belongs against the upper echelon in the division. Penn could wipe the floor with both men at once and could have done so after dispatching of Florian and while eating a Whopper from Burger King at the same time. I scored the first round 10-9 for Josh Neer. I did so because I gave him credit for his groundwork, activity from the bottom and his armbar attempt and brilliant use of the butterfly guard. In hindsight, maybe I was compensating for sometimes giving a round to whichever man remains on top as many usually do. Although I still believe Neer did more to keep Pellegrino from doing anything than "Batman" actually did. So, I stand by this, and aside from the big slam out of the armbar attempt, it wasn't as if Pellegrino did much more than lay on top of Neer. That's is because Neer wouldn't allow it, and why I gave him the round. Neer impressed me more in the second round, but I had no choice but to award it to Kurt Pellegrino by the score of 10-9. Neer was impressive from the bottom again and looked for an armbar, triangle and a kimura but it was Pellegrino who got the full mount, took Neer's back and had the hooks in as the round ended. More time on the clock and this one may have ended. Round three was another round in which I had to score it 10-9 for Pellegrino, but the final seconds of this one coupled with multiple submission attempts did make an argument for Neer in some respect. Much like Pellegrino almost finished it in the 2nd, Neer was elbowing the hell out of Pellegrino as the round ended and busted him wide open. With more time, Neer's elbows would have stopped the fight. As it stands though, Pellegrino smothered Neer and by remaining on top and nullifying aforementioned submission attempts, it mattered not what the elbows did as he had this fight in the bag. Bent Scored The Fight- 29-28 for Kurt Pellegrino Official Scores-30-27, 30-27, 30-27 all for Pellegrino Winner is Kurt Pellegrino by Unanimous Decision The right game plan by Pellegrino for certain but the most trouble either man was in was at the end of the fight as Neer laid in those vicious elbows. "Batman" wins but another few moments and "POW", "BAM", "CRASH" and "The Dentist" would have shown how a villain can win. Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida "Big Dog" vs. "The Ultimate Fighter" answer to "Big Lazy". Kendall Grove has done little to show he belongs in the UFC and barely beating Ed Herman should have been our first clue as to how special he really is, but this fight seemed interesting on paper. Of course, birds defecate on paper and watching that would be more fun than revisiting this classic. Sure, it was part of the PPV package but be glad it wasn't an unaired fight which you shelled out money to watch by way of the UFC website, because this one can be summed up easily. Ricardo Almeida didn't look nearly as impressive as he should be, but perhaps age and time away from the game has took its toll on him. Kendall Grove is not special at all and he will soon be able to run his gym full-time with Troy Mandaloniz as they can both be Hawaiians who were on 'The Ultimate Fighter' but are now out of the UFC. Grove isn't marketable, and here he was in his very best shape and not only couldn't get the job done but never even got started in doing a job. He tried, but succeeding in the UFC is not equal to a 5 yr. old kid on a T-Ball team; not everyone gets a prize when it's over. Once Almeida began to take down Grove is when the fight changed and became one-sided. Grove did show good resolve in stuffing early attempts, had one huge moment when he almost had an armbar so deep that he could have submitted the black belt in Almeida but outside of that it was elementary. Bent Scored The Fight- 30-27 for Ricardo Almeida Official Scores- 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 all for Almeida Winner is Ricardo Almeida by Unanimous Decision Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks This fight never belonged on a PPV and should have really been placed on a UFC Fight Night. I get it. People like Amir Sadollah. They like his haircut, his grin, the fact he beat the hated C.B. Dollaway and because he is a self-deprecating everyman who won 'The Ultimate Fighter' with zero professional experience. Sadollah isn't as great a personality as so many would lead you to believe and he sure as hell isn't the fighter some would argue either. He submitted Dollaway, sure, but is Dollaway REALLY going to be a force in the UFC? No. Johny Hendricks is no joke and yes, he was going to beat Sadollah because, yes, his striking is that much better than Dollaway's. Amir could submit Dollaway but this doesn't mean he can best every top flight wrestler; and folks, Hendricks was such a decorated amateur that C.B. Dollaway wouldn't even have been worthy of wiping down his mats after practice. Was this an early stoppage? Perhaps. Although had Amir gotten back up, he would have gotten knocked right back down and could have gotten hurt. Fans of Amir Sadollah should be glad this didn't happen as this means his face isn't banged up and he can get back to what he can actually do for the UFC which is host "Inside the Octagon" during the tenth season of 'The Ultimate Fighter'. Hendricks belongs on your radar and Sadollah doesn't belong inside of the Octagon. At least not yet. His lack of professional experience coupled with his relatively advanced age will hurt him and I am sorry but just because a fighter trains at Xtreme Couture, it doesn't mean they will walk out a top fighter. Junie Browning spent time at Xtreme Couture, too, and he looked awful his last few fights. I was high on Browning before he began on the show and still feel he has the talent to succeed but have to admit he has failed miserably. Those who feel Sadollah is so special need to do the same and admit they like the guy because of his personality and not because of his ability. Winner is Johny Hendricks by TKO at :29 of Round 1 Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley Yet another fight which never, ever, ever belonged on PPV. Even 'Affliction' wouldn't have put this fight on a PPV and remember, they paid Tim Sylvia damned near one million bucks for his efforts and hired Megadeth to crank out some tunes. Yes, their first fight was mired in controversy, but were any of you really buzzing over this? Were you that concerned about righting the wrong? No. Shane Nelson doesn't deserve the moniker of "Sugar," and this has nothing to do with Rashad Evans but rather all of the great men who have gone by this nickname, and he isn't one of them. Ray Robinson and Ray Leonard are the two who made this nickname famous and they are the two who are the only ones worthy of having it before their names. Unless Evans really goes on to be great, until then I must reserve judgment. "Sugar" Shane Helms in the world of wrestling didn't deserve it either. Shane Nelson isn't sweet at all and his fights make me sour. They also are proof positive that the UFC should not award every single damned cast member of a previous edition of 'TUF' with bouts inside of the Octagon on a PPV. Yes, fighters from 'The Ultimate Fighter' are known names and in that respect may be more marketable to some fans, but if you want to book someone because of a name then you should go ahead and call Ken Shamrock, Kimo, "Tank" Abbott, Don Frye and Dan Severn and throw together a nostalgia card. That would still be better than at least this fight and arguably some of the others we saw at UFC 101. Frank Mir isn't so embarrassed now after being fisted by Brock Lesnar at UFC 100, but he is probably embarrassed to know Shane Nelson is on a main card. I predicted this to be a unanimous decision victory for Nelson and I was wrong. However, I knew neither man would be able to stop the other and that much came true to my dismay as I would have rather taken the 'Activia' challenge and chased it with a bottle of stool softeners than see this one. Because time spent on the toilet would be more productive than this battle. Aaron Riley was too big and too strong for Shane Nelson but he just seemed unmotivated throughout this bout and content to just get by and coast to an easy win. Aaron Riley was on top of Shane Nelson all night long and you know it's bad when Rogan and Goldberg comment on how a fight in the crowd was better than this one. Even Chuck Liddell was watching the fight in the crowd because this was so atrocious. Bent Scored The Fight: 30-27 for Aaron Riley Official Scores- 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 all for Riley Winner is Aaron Riley by Unanimous Decision Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin Wow. I picked Griffin to win this bout because of his size advantage, tenacity and the intangible of heart which he seemed to have the most of in comparison to everyone else. Griffin is the Tin Man right now. He has no heart, no balls and got a "Fight of the Night" bonus to go along with his big payday. Can you believe this? Go to work on Monday, perform your job poorly and then just quit in the middle of the day and sprint out of the building and get into your card and drive off. Let me know if you get a bonus with your paycheck and if you would still have a job. Anderson Silva looked small, and as if he gained no weight after weighing in but this would soon not matter. Griffin ran to the Octagon before the bout and apparently was just warming up and planning his escape route once it was over. Griffin did some range finding and then got dropped by Silva. Once. Silva landed an uppercut, taunted Griffin by begging him to bring on a fight and then dropped him again. Twice. Silva let him get back to his feet and then landed a jab while backpedaling and dropped Griffin once more. Three times is indeed the charm as that was all she wrote for this one. Griffin dropped after that weak jab which somehow packed more wallop than a prime Earnie Shavers-Sonny Liston bastard love child on steroids and then put his hands up as if to tell them to sound the horn. Remember when B.J. Penn waved his hands and declared Sean Sherk was done at UFC 84? Forrest Griffin did that tonight at UFC 101. For himself, and after a jab. A JAB. A JAB WHILE SILVA WAS GOING BACKWARDS!?!?!?!?!?! I don't want to say this was a dive because even lending credence to that argument makes me sad and would surely signal the end of our sport being so adored and garnering mainstream pub. However, this one makes the notion that Jared Shaw was trying to "arrange" things for Elite XC seem like he was giving the UFC a good idea. Forrest Griffin doesn't need a championship belt. Like I stated in the audio preview, he can lose more fights than he wins and still draw money, put butts in seats and become rich in the process while remaining as beloved as ever. Anderson Silva was coming off of two performances that make Shane Nelson-Aaron Riley look like Tito Ortiz vs. Frank Shamrock. Silva needs to maintain his undefeated UFC record as he can speak little English, is generally cocky or seemingly aloof and the moment he gets exposed is the time in which he no longer becomes any semblance of a draw. In short, Silva needed this win but he needed to look good even more than he did the victory. Uncanny that "the old Silva" was declared to be back when he stopped Griffin with a jab. Not so uncanny that they would need Silva to get a KO victory over someone such as Griffin in order to make fans care about him anymore. Following the fight, a load of fans suddenly said that you can forget GSP as Anderson Silva has just shown he is indeed the best in the world. I disagree. I think Forrest Griffin showed us he has no heart, and padded his bank account by either quitting after being dominated or taking the fall after eating a jab. This wasn't exactly Georges St. Pierre meeting his stiffest challenge physically at 170 lbs. in Thiago Alves and then whipping him like an unruly child. This was Anderson Silva knocking around a guy who never really looked like he was all in for this bout and who sheepishly sprinted from the Octagon and then no-showed the press conference. If you believe Griffin was knocked out, explain to me how a man who was just rendered loopy would be able to spring to his feet and sprint to the back like "Rocky Balboa" doing roadwork in the movies. I want to believe the best but I fear the worst, and worse than all of this is Forrest Griffin taking home a damned bonus for his efforts. His purse should be withheld and this one should be investigated. This isn't "Vaseline-gate" my friends but something far, far worse. Winner is Anderson Silva by KO at 3:23 of Round 1 UFC Lightweight Championship B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian Finally, we had a fight on our hands which might take away the uneasy feeling we had as we watched Griffin make Kalib Starnes proud by running away and ease the pain we felt by paying for a PPV which featured Amir Sadollah and Shane Nelson. This was the number one lightweight in the world facing off against the number two lightweight in the world and we had the villain in Penn taking on the beloved Florian. Penn made accusations about St. Pierre taking steroids recently and made himself look even worse than he did against St. Pierre at UFC 94, and here was Kenny Florian who not only was still the guy we loved but was now an evolved fighter looking to "kill the master". If this is how you kill a master, it would be best if Florian would bring a weapon with him next time, because B.J. Penn dominated him to the point that it made Kenny Florian look like a joke. Sean Sherk at least fired off some shots and stood toe-to-toe with him at UFC 84 and Joe Stevenson bled and gave it the old college try, but KenFlo was summarily neutered by the man who is the best fighter in the world at lightweight. I argue that B.J. Penn should return to his lofty position in the mythical "pound-for-pound" rankings before you elevate Anderson Silva because of his win over Griffin. Penn beat an opponent who was deemed to have a better chance and he made this one look like a sparring session. Yes, GSP lubed it up and then pounded Penn until he couldn't sit for a week but what B.J. did to Florian was nothing short of awesome. Florian didn't quit, and he had every right to after Penn racked up points throughout until finally choking him out. Griffin bailed from the arena and Florian sat in his chair with tears in his eyes and was filled with sadness over having failed. Yes, Florian failed but he is not a loser. B.J. Penn is just that damned good, at least at lightweight and at jumping out of swimming pools, as well making comments that would make Brock Lesnar tell him to mind himself. I scored the first three rounds 30-27 for Penn as did everyone else. If anyone gave a round to Florian, I'd love to hear about it and then listen to you try to tell me how little I know about scoring while showing me proof positive you are serving as your own example. Winner is B.J. Penn by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:54 of Round 4 Kenny Florian has nothing to be ashamed of for his efforts at UFC 101. Maybe in time, Florian can repair his damaged pride, rebuild his body and retry going for the title. Because I have every reason to believe that Kenny Florian is the second best lightweight in the world and this is because B.J. Penn showed me tonight enough reason to rate him the number one lightweight in the world and also one of the best "pound-for-pound". Preliminary Fight George Roop vs. George Sotiropoulos This fight is again another example of why being on 'The Ultimate Fighter' should not put you on the fast track to appearing inside of the Octagon. The UFC had no desire to go after Bret Rogers, but throws every single fighter from 'The Ultimate Fighter' on as many shows as possible? Well, this is mainly because they fight cheap. So cheap that they took home everyone's hat which was left in the locker room, and then raided the backstage catering leftovers for groceries for the next month. George Roop is a nice guy. I'd let him pet my dog, trust him to get my mail and shake his hand and tell him I respect the balls he has to fight for a living as I commend him on making it this far. I would also tell him he does not belong in the UFC, and no matter how likable he is, the man cannot fight at this level and succeed unless they were to bring in a grappling dummy and lay it on the mat first so as to give him a better chance at victory. Sotiropoulos isn't the biggest stud Frank Mir could ever see, either but he is amazing on the ground and just needs to learn how to put up more of a fight so that he can win more of them. The man was a favorite to win 'The Ultimate Fighter' and he probably would have beaten Danzig but we just will never know. He is better than Tommy Speer even though he got poked in the eye before being stopped. This was my prediction for submission of the night early on but I just couldn't commit to it because my head told me not to. Well, I should have listened to my heart on this one as Sotiropoulos put on a clinic and more than earned his bonus for a beautiful fight. This preliminary fight making air at least allowed me to not feel nearly as miserable about the fact Shane Nelson made this PPV. Reese Andy made me very angry with his lackluster efforts inside of a UFC Octagon and if I ever do see him, I would still ask him for a few bucks back towards those PPV bills as he fought with the vigor of two elderly people doing it doggy style, but Shane Nelson just may edge him out shortly. George Sotiropoulos eases that discomfort as well as he passed George Roop's guard all night long. Of course passing Roop's guard is as much of an accomplishment as is scoring with a prostitute. Anyone can do it at any time and it isn't something to brag about in public. I scored the first round 10-8 for Sotiropoulos but just like sex with a hooker, scoring wasn't something anyone was talking about after the second round began. Winner is George Sotiropoulos by Submission (Kimura) at 1:59 of Round 2 Congratulations George Sotiropoulos, you shot fish in a barrel tonight but it wasn't your fault it was so easy because you are brilliant on the ground and were facing a man who is not. Good win for Sotiropoulos who before this win was known more for not waking Ben Saunders up in the morning and his accent than anything else. THIS bonus should be doubled if they could take Griffin's away. Sotiropoulos is likable but has legitimate skills and let us hope and pray he gets a main card shot in the future before some of the other guys we had the displeasure of seeing tonight. My overall grade for this show is a "C". B.J. Penn scored an "A++++", George Sotiropoulos scored a "B" (easier opponent than Penn faced), Anderson Silva gets an "Incomplete" and Forrest Griffin gets an "F" which is the same mark given to Shane Nelson and Amir Sadollah. Johny Hendricks gets a "B", Kurt Pellegrino gets a "C", Josh Neer gets a "C" as well for at least trying to win it near the end of their fight, George Roop gets a "D" for at least being nice, Ricardo Almeida and Kendall Grove both get a "D," Kenny Florian gets an "A-" because he is a hell of a fighter but went up against a buzz saw in Penn and Aaron Riley gets a "D" because he did just enough to pass. Anderson Silva gets an "Incomplete" because he was getting "A" grades on all of his work but the semester never finished and not enough was done to get the passing grade he deserved. No summer school is needed but just an opponent who fights until the end and doesn't taint what perhaps could have been a great moment with the stench of something improper as Griffin did. Forrest Griffin should be ashamed of himself for his efforts and quitting in the manner he did. To a certain extent I really don't believe he quit in much the same way I do not believe he was knocked out. Those who say he was knocked out should get a concussion themselves and see if they can bounce up and sprint away. Let me know how it works out, too, by the way. Griffin did something improper. Whether he took a dive or not is something I just don't know. I hope not but right now I cannot completely say this isn't the case. I pray this is not so but given what we witnessed and judging by his history it reeks of something,. Griffin once fought with a broken arm. He didn't quit. He got beaten up and knocked out by Rashad Evans. He didn't quit. A jab from Anderson Silva is enough to score the "KO"? He quits? Really? Well, Forrest Griffin quits is one of the hardest things to write but it's a hell of a lot better than writing what the skeptic in me is feeling he did. It is also easier than sitting through the bulk of the fights we bore witness to tonight as we only have three weeks to go before we must reach up into our collective ass and yank out some more money to purchase another UFC PPV when Couture and Nogueira clash at UFC 102. This sport needed the feel good story of Randy Couture once upon a time and he was called "Captain America' for his efforts and the moniker stuck. Well, this sport needs Randy Couture again; because we need something to feel good about, and something to erase the memory of Griffin running away. Because "Captain America" never runs away. He would rather go out on his shield. © Copyright by MMATorch.com |
