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By: Marc Patching, MMATorch Contributor Welcome to another edition of the UFC Fan Bar Without The Grill, with your host Marc Patching. With the busyness of life, The Fan Bar has taken somewhat of a back seat in recent weeks. Hopefully things will change shortly, and we can get back to a weekly read. Today’s featured article will take a look at UFC 93, which includes why some fans need a reality check in their thoughts towards Coleman vs. Rua. In addition, I’ll give my thoughts on two future fights that have recently been announced by the UFC. So grab yourself a soda, go find a vacant table and let’s begin.
A Southern Chicken Sandwich - UFC 93 delivers a solid, yet unspectacular night of action.
Maybe it’s because in recent months the UFC have hit some homeruns in UFC 91, and UFC 92. Maybe it’s because St. Pierre vs. Penn II is just around the corner. Whatever the reason, UFC 93 will soon be a distant memory long forgotten, well until the next season of The Ultimate Fighter is shown. It was all just a bit blah, like a taco salad without salsa and sour cream. In fact you really needed to throw in some jalapenos to spice things up a bit.
Before I totally shoot down the event, there were some things that I did enjoy through the evening; just not that many. So let’s look at the positive before the negative.
I really enjoyed the involvement from the Irish crowd, whether it was turning on Shogun Rua in favor of Mark Coleman, to cheering on local lad Tom Egan like he was some MMA legend, they were red hot all evening. So big props to Ireland, and let’s hope the UFC visit there again very soon.
As far as the fights during the pay-per-view go, there were only two fights I enjoyed; Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle, and Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson. Other than that, the rest of the card was a bit of a let down, possibly as expected.
Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle are two fighters that the UFC can rely on to put on a good show. Davis has had some intriguing battles in the past against Paul Kelly, and Paul Taylor. Whilst Chris Lytle has put on some great shows against Paul Taylor, Kyle Bradley, and Thiago Alves. This fight lived up to expectations, a bit one dimensional but none the less pretty entertaining. Both Davis and Lytle need to be retained for some time to come.
The main event of the evening was Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson, supposedly a dream match for MMA fans; I guess they somehow had to sell the event. This was a good fight that in all honesty could have gone either way. An eventual rematch will be good somewhere down the road, but definitely not the main event of a show, unless it’s on for free. I like both Franklin and Henderson, yet they both have been disposed of by Anderson Silva, which doesn’t leave much to be desired in the middleweight division. This adds extra importance to the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, and the eventual fight of Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson. I hope that Bisping comes out victorious, and that’s not because I’m English. I would love to see Bisping take on Silva for the middleweight title in England, which my friends would be off the hook! Fortunately for Franklin with him stepping into the Light Heavyweight division, there is enough fresh match-ups to maintain his appeal.
Well that is about it as far as positives go for the evening, well except to see Michael Bisping in attendance. He really could become "money" for the UFC, not only overseas but here in the US as well.
Mirko Crocop, Mauricio Rua, Rameau Thierry Sokodjou, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and now add Denis Kang to the seemingly growing list of PRIDE disappointments. I’ve said it before, but unless you’ve witnessed PRIDE, you would wonder what all the fuss was about, and that’s a shame. Maybe it’s time to put on a PRIDE DVD and re-find what was so special about it, like a spiritual PRIDE journey. I wasn’t entirely impressed by Alan Belcher, sure he won the fight, but Kang seemed to be in control until the submission. I’m holding on to the thought of eventually seeing Kang at his best inside the Octagon, and relighting a middleweight division that desperately needs it.
Since his defeat to Chuck Liddell at UFC 54 back in 2005, Jeremy Horn now has a record of four wins and five defeats. Add to the fact that three of those defeats have come in his last three fights, and you begin to wonder how much longer Horn will be with the UFC. He has had a good career, but time is clearly up. The only reason he lasted all three rounds against Palhares is more down to a disappointing showing from Palhares than anything. Yes, Palheres dominated the fight but he couldn’t finish Horn off, despite Horn tapping out in his last two fights. Palhares is now 2-1 in the UFC, so his next bout should give us more indication to whether or not Palhares can make any type of impact in the UFC.
Okay onto the fight that both Wade Keller and Jamie Penick (whom I both highly respect, by the way) gave four stars to, and many others have spoken highly of; Mark Coleman vs. “Shogun” Rua. I’m not sure if I was watching a totally different fight, but what I witnessed was a fighter who gassed out at the beginning of the second round struggle to a decision victory over a fighter who gassed out halfway through the very first round. It was neither exciting nor spectacular. People, this is meant to be a sport that presents the very best athletes in the world! Granted, Rua is coming off two knee surgeries but still, in reality he should have beaten Coleman in the very first round if he is again to be taken seriously. It was such a shame to see a legend like Coleman put to this. Again, Coleman is a legend, but like Couture, Shamrock, Horn, and others, every dog has it day, and that day has long gone. I suggest you go ahead and re-watch the fight again, this time with the volume muted. The crowd really added that extra something to the fight, but again the fight itself was poor, hardly worth raving about. I’ll give it a ** star rating, one of those stars is down to the crowd.
This would be a card I would skip if you haven’t seen it, and check out UFC 94, or wait until UFC 92 comes out on DVD and purchase that instead.
A side of Garlic Mushrooms - Chuck Liddell to face “Shogun” Rua at UFC 97.
It’s been a fight that has been speculated for some time, but it certainly isn’t a fight that I am excited about. I’ve already spent time in this article ranting on "Shogun," and how he has been a major disappointment so far in the UFC. It seems that every time I write a UFC Fan Bar article, I rant on Liddell, so my feelings are out there for all to read. Maybe this is the fight that Rua needs to finally show that he is near to his best, same could be said for Liddell. Still, at this point in time I hope UFC 97 has at least one more "marquee" match added to it.
Chocolate Cake and Vanilla Ice Cream - UFC announces “Rampage” Jackson vs. Keith Jardine.
What is going through the minds of Dana White, and others! Have they even considered what would happen if Jackson lost this fight. I for one certainly have:
I) The money match-up of Rashad Evans vs. “Rampage” Jackson II is lost.
II) Rashad Evans vs. Keith Jardine hardly wets the appetite.
III) "Rampage" Jackson vs. Keith Jardine shouldn’t be the main event of a pay-per-view.
This potentially has disaster written all over it, a disaster I hope that does not come about. Keith Jardine is one of those fighters I just don’t like for some unknown reason. Question, didn’t Jardine lose in the first round to a fighter that Jackson just defeated in the first round? Confusing it is! When you visit various MMA sites/forums there have been plenty of negative responses to this fight. In all fairness what did the UFC expect? I was looking forward to the prospects of Jackson vs. Griffin II, but that dream may be unfortunately shattered when UFC 96 rolls around.
Well that’s it for this week’s edition of The UFC Fan Bar Without The Grill. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, The UFC Fan Bar should return next week.
Until then,
Marc Patching
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