Dec 25, 2009 - 12:26:35 PM By Wade Keller, Torch editor
-Lots of hype building up this card by hosts Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg. They do a great job making viewers think they're about to witness history - and most often they're right. No need for hyperbole when it comes to this card.
1 -- CLAY GUIDA vs. NICK DIAZ - Lightweights
ROUND ONE: Good video features to get over Guida's story of going from trying to be the most exciting fighter to being more successful. Diaz is always a blast to watch during his interview time. Rogan said Guida still lives with his mom and is still proud of it... Rogan notes that Diaz has a great guard and Guida is a great wrestler, so it's a good match. They circle and throw punches for the first half of the round. Guida ends up on top of Diaz but doesn't do much damage. When Diaz stood, Guida climbed onto his back, but Diaz stayed calm... They settled back to the mat where Guida applied a full nelson. Diaz twisted out, but Guida got side control and threw some damaging elbows. "That might be the first full nelson in UFC history," said Rogan, adding that when he was in high school it was a big thing. Guida hit a single leg powerbomb at 4:10. Diaz broke free and threw some punches in the final seconds. He raised his arm after the horn and the pro-Guida crowd booed... Round to Guida on points...
ROUND TWO: Diaz attempted a hip toss early, but he didn't get all of it... Guida tried to wrestle Diaz to the mat for most of the round. Diaz maneuvered into an attempted kimura. Guida avoided it and got Diaz's back. "This guy's like a dog, man!" said Rogan. Goldberg said, "I love his quote that he wants to make his opponent miserable"... Late in the round Diaz went for a triangle attempt. Guida resisted as the horn sounded. Guida got up with an arm raised. Diaz raised both arms, less convincingly this time... Another round to Guida...
ROUND THREE: Between rounds, I think Guida let out a huge burp in the middle of his corner's instructions. Guida's corner said he seems like he's stalling and he needs a definitive round... They came out swinging. Diaz began really pelting Guida for a full minute mid-round, even getting cocky with both arms extended up and then switching stances, almost challenging him to come at him. Definitive punching advantage in this round for Diaz by the mid-point. Guida pushed Diaz back against the fence. Diaz broke free with just a second or two left and threw a punch at Guida on the mat, but it didn't land... Round to Diaz based on the flurry of punches at 2:00, but it shouldn't be enough unless the judges punish Guida for never really doing much damage to Diaz and not getting any near submissions and just grinding it out with relatively boring mat control...
RESULT: Guida via split decision (28-29, 29-28-, 29-28). Goldberg declared Guida the first man to beat Diaz inside the Octagon.
STAR RATING (**): It was just an okay fight. There just wasn't a sense Guida was ever on the verge of winning. Diaz was more exciting when he was on offense. Guida deserved the win, but it's not a must-see fight.
CELEBRITY: They showed Anthoy Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers front row.
2 -- KARO PARISYAN vs. DONG HYUN KIM - Welterweight
PREFIGHT: Rogan noted that his hamstring injury on his left leg years ago is still an issue as he has significantly less strength in that leg, which affects his judo greatly... Tale of the Tape: Kim has the advantage on height by three inches and reach by four inches. Otherwise, pretty close. Ages are 26 and 27...
ROUND ONE: Karo went after Kim aggressively at the start, backing him to the fence. Kim ended up on top of Karo in the corner, struggling to get a strong position. Karo went into full guard briefly. Kim kept moving and ended up on Karo's back. Kim stayed on Karo's back and threw some punches from behind to Karo's head at 2:00. Karo stood, but Kim remained clung to his back. Karo lost his mouthpiece at 2:30. Kim went for an armbar, but Karo reacted quickly to avoid it getting locked on. Rogan was impressed with Kim's ground game to hold Karo in that position that long. Kim almost locked on a triangle at 3:15, drawing a roar from the crowd. Rogan said Karo was getting out-techniqued as Kim continued to control positioning as Guida did in the first round against Diaz. They ended with a few swings at each other without any damage. Karo shook Kim's hand in a show of respect after the round... Round to Kim...
CELEBRITY: They showed skateboarder Rob Dyrdek in the crowd between rounds.
ROUND TWO: Before the round, Karo's corner gave him a pep talk by telling him, "You got pushed, and you showed you got heart. Now let's take this fight over. That's your first wind, like your warm-up. Take this round... Rogan noted that Karo has had panic attacks where he's lost control of his thinking, and it's tough to come back from that. He said some people can't go to the office with this condition, so image stepping into the Octagon... Kim took control early. Karo ended on top with a grip on Kim's arm at 1:00, but Kim quickly got back to his feet... At 2:00 Karo hit a quintessential judo throw on Kim, sending him to the mat and landing in dominant position with side control. Rogan noted Karo's been training with Randy Couture and Rashad Evans, who are in the crowd tonight... Text poll results show GSP with a 56-44 advantage over Penn... Karo kept dropping his mouthpiece. The ref stopped it at 3:45 to have the piece put back in. He warned him that he'll lose a point if it happens again. Rogan blamed Karo for using a cheap mouthpiece because a good one should stick in his mouth... Karo landed a left during stand-up in the final minute... Round to Karo..
CELEBRITY: They showed actor Michael Clarke Duncan in the front row.
ROUND THREE: Before the round, Karo's corner told him he's kicking Kim's ass and he's looking strong now. Greg Jackson told him to hit him a few times and clinch him and he wins the fight... Karo upkicked Kim, but the ref took it as more of a push off than a kick, so he gave Karo a warning after Kim threw his hands up in protest... They spent several minutes against the fence. The crowd grew restless. Rogan and Goldberg talked about Karo's achievement just getting back into the Octagon with all he's been through. Pretty mundane finish. Rogan noted it's going to be a tough fight to score. The crowd booed at the horn... Could go either way. Karo seemed to be more aggressive and in control in that last round, so I'd give him the edge, but it's not outrage if a knee to the body and an elbow to Karo's face during their work against the fence is enough to put him over the top... Karo said to the camera it was a tough fight, "but I've still got it."
CELEBRITY: They showed Chuck LIddell in the front row with Jay Glazer.
RESULT: Karo split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
STAR RATING (*+): Bottom line is almost nobody's going to hear their names on a fight card and pay to see them against...
3 -- STEPHAN BONNAR vs. JON JONES - Light-Heavyweight
PRE-FIGHT: Joes came out to "Poe." Cool song, but it's more something you listen to before a spa treatment, not an MMA fight... Bonnar came out with the "American Psycho" look in his eyes... Bonnar 31, Jones 21. Jones has a 4.5 inch reach advantage. Otherwise, no big differences in the Tale of the Tape...
ROUND ONE: More rapid-fire energy in the opening 30 seconds as the whole last fight. Both fights came out swinging. Jones hip-tossed Bonnar down and threw some punches at 1:30. He seemed stronger and quicker and more skilled early, but not overwhelmingly so. When Bonnar got up, Jones tossed him to the mat again. Bonnar got up again and got back to center ring. Bonnar threw a swinging roundkick that missed. Each fighter threw a spinning sidekick by mid-round; neither landed solid. Jones hit a great back suplex at 3:30. Bonnar got back to his feet quickly. Jones hit him with a spinning back elbow. Bonnar went down hard. Jones seized it with a barrage, but Bonnar survived and covered up. Bonnar was aware enough to defend himself well and get back to his feet 20 seconds later. Bonnar bled from the forehead. Mid-ring Jones landed a standing knee with 15 seconds left. He tackled Bonnar to the mat as the round ended... Round to Jones easily... The replay showed that the elbow actually hit the back of Bonnar's head by the time it landed. Joe Silva was seen in the background gasping and leaping to his feet...
ROUND TWO: Bonnar came out aggressively at the start, channelling the mdoe he was in against Forrest Griffin. By 30 seconds Jones got Bonnar from behind. When Jones went for a back suplex, Bonnar dropped to the mat to avoid being tossed back... They were back to the feet at 1:15. Jones again took Bonnar down after a few seconds of stand-up... Bonnar survived and seemed to move into a strategy of having better cardio and taking ontrol then... Jones took Bonnar down with an amazing, unpredictable, wild from double-underhook overhead toss. He just snapped hi over. He also leg tripped him seconds later. Bonnar survived, and Jones did glance up at the clock late in the round, so Bonnar's hope is that Jones has cardio issues...
ROUND THREE: Bonnar went for some uppercuts and knees while in the clinch, perhaps sensing Jones was running out of steam. Back at center-ring at 1:00, Bonnar caught Jones with a nice right and got the better of an exchange until Jones landed a knee that seemed to set Bonnar back a bit... Rogan said Jones was definitely running out of gas, but he still can be strike out of nowhere suddenly... At 2:10 Bonnar went for a trip, but Jones easily reversed Bonnar to the mat. Bonnar went for a triangle from underneath. Jones popped out after a few dramatic seconds... Both were winded during a final minute of stand-up... Bonnar looked disappointed... Rogan said
RESULT: Jones via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
STAR RATING (***): Good solid fight. It needed a little more "hope" for Bonnar to make a truly three-star-plus candidate as it felt pretty inevitable 98 percent of the time that Jones was a rising star and Bonnar was a stepping stone.
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4 -- LYOTO MACHIDA vs. THIAGO SILVA - Light-Heavyweight
PRE-FIGHT: Machida is 30, Silva 26, otherwise identical "Tale of the Tape" stats... 13-0 versus 13-0 records... No glove touch after the ref instructions mid-ring...
ROUND ONE: At 1:00 Machida nailed Silva with a knee to the cup. Thank got for cups on that one. Silva got time to cover and he was ready to go after less than a minute... At 1:15 Machida took Silva down with a leg sweep. They were back on their feet seconds later... At 2:00 Machida threw a knee to the gut and then took Silva down with a big left punch to the face. He jumped on Silva for what appeared to be a possible finish. Silva recovered and defended himself from his back. Goldberg noted that Machida has never lost a round on any scorecard for any of his fights that went the distance... Machida challenged Silva to get back on his feet. Silva didn't, pulling the Inoki strategy. Machida eventually moved back in and mounted him... They got back to their feet seconds later, Machida giving Silva plenty of room to stand this time... Machida dropped Silva with a strong right hand to decisively win the round barring a miracle, although he had it before then. Machida stood up, but then moved back in on the mat. Goldberg noted that Machida has absorbed the fewest blows in UFC history. Rogan said he's incorporated some of the very good things about karate with all of the effective techniques of other disciplines. He said it's an unusual mix of skills and difficult to train for... Crazy finish to the round. Machida knocked out Silva at the very end of the round out of nowhere. He threw some uppercuts and threw him to the mat with a leg sweep, then punched him in the face with his weight coming down on top of him at the horn and got in one more decisive punch right after the horn but before the ref could step in. The ref looked at Silva and called it off after the round ended. Silva was clearly out from the first punch based on the replay...
RESULTS: Machida via KO at 5:00 of the second round.
STAR RATING (****-): One of the great knockouts in UFC history. Totally different with the end-of-round aspect and also coming right after a leg sweep with his body weight coming down on him. Really memorable and a decisive win by Machida. No doubt who the better fighter was from start to finish.
POST-FIGHT: Machida told Rogan that Silva is a great fighter, but tonight he proved to be better than him. Rogan asked him what's next. Machida, "I'm ready, whatever, whatever, whoever, I'm here." Great answer.
-They showed Frank Mir at ringside. They showed Rashad Evans at ringside earlier.
5 -- GEORGES ST. PIERRE vs. B.J. PENN - Welterweight Title Fight
PRE-FIGHT: Rogan said it's rare when two completely dominant champions fight each other in their primes after cleaning out their respective divisions. "This is just a dream match-up. What a fight. I can't wait!" he said... Penn overtook GSP in voting 53 to 47. Rogan said: "This is easily the most anticipated fight we have ever been a part of"... Rogan said Penn seemed almost oddly supremely confident. They talked up his hitting a switch at age 28 to become not just good enough to win most fights, but the best at what he does and a legend... Rogan said GSP is the epitome of a disciplined athlete his whole career, a contrast to Penn... Tale of the Tape" Penn 30 years old, GSP only 27. GSP has a one inch height and six inch reach advantage...
ROUND ONE: They were like chained hungry dogs before the horn sounded. They clinched mid-ring and had a stalemate for a minute. Penn protested with a scream that GSP was grabbing his shorts. The ref warned GSP. GSP grabbed Penn's leg, but Penn wouldn't go down. Goldberg noted that GSP was recognized as the 2008 Canadian Athlete of the Year. Rogan said it's amazing to see how far it's come. Rogan asked if he'd have ever imagined this. Goldberg said, "Not a chance." I thought it had a good chance, actually. It was always a matter of time as long as nobody got seriously injured. It just needed time to build a track record of safety and the patient investors. The Ultimate Fighter following WWE Raw on Spike TV didn't hurt, but it would have gotten to this point even without it... GSP couldn't get Penn down. They went back to center ring at 3:30. GSP scored with two rights, but Penn seemed fine... Nice round. Not spectacular or decisive, but I'd give the edge to GSP for sure, but not by much. He simply landed several more punches and was more aggressive with takedown attempts... GSP's corner told him if he wants to take Penn down, lift him, "but don't worry about it... Penn's corner told him to explode at GSP with punches and kick box him to win a round...
ROUND TWO: Penn scored with a right jab early. After taking another, GSP moved in on him. Rogan said Penn doesn't look even a little bit tired. GSP got Penn down, at which point Penn just wrapped his legs around GSP with that inhuman flexibility of his... GSP broke free of his grip and landed a punch, then passed Penn's guard. He began throwing a nonstop flurry of short rights to Penn's head, but didn't have a lot of leverage or muscle behind them... At 2:30 GSP had side mount and threw some rights. Lots of crowd heat at this point. GSP kept scoring points with punches. GSP postured up and began throwing more at Penn as the crowd cheered. Penn looked calm and relaxed, although he's losing on points decisively at 4:00. GSP unleashed on Penn and passed his guard again. In side mount, Penn slipped back into full guard within seconds. A loud "GSP" chant broke out... Penn bled from under his left eye as GSP controlled until the end... Rogan called it "complete domination that round by GSP."
ROUND THREE: Penn looked very tired after the round in his corner as his cuts were worked on. GSP looked fresh. Penn was taking deep breaths as he stood for the start of round three... GSP scored early with a variety of punches, and Penn's nose began to bleed. Penn held his ground, but just seemed to have no defense for being pelted. GSP moved in at 0:45 and he took Penn down again. Penn's face continued to bleed more. He just neutralized Penn, who had no answers as he scrambled underneath GSP to try to find some opening, some way out, a submission attempt... Mid-round Rogan said it's so tough for Penn to get a submission with so much sweat... Penn worked his way to his feet at 3:00, which popped the pro-Penn fans in the crowd, and there were a lot of them, too... Penn attempted to take GSP down. Instead, at 4:00 GSP took Penn down again... Not... even... close... GSP wins first three rounds easily and decisively, borderline 10-8 for sheer overwhelming dominance...
ROUND FOUR: Penn's corner told him he can turn this around and to go for broke... GSP's corner told him to be unpredictable with some striking, but then take him down because he's winning the fight... Slo-mo shots of the GSP jabs early in round three were just nasty... Rogan said Penn is beginning to look discouraged while GSP is looking fired up... GSP easily took Penn down at 0:30. He passed his guard immediately, despite Penn's guard being notoriously tough to pass. GSP threw elbows and punches from a side mount with an inside position. Penn looked to be in pain, and when he turned his head, GSP's punches his the back of his head, so the ref warned him. GSP landed short elbows and just dished out punishment only 90 seconds into the round... When Penn got half guard, GSP popped right back out. A loud "GSP" chant broke out mid-round. The ref told Penn he has to fight back. Rogan said he can't because he's just exhausted... GSP was just relentless. Rogan said what's scary is GSP is getting better. What's going to be interesting is how Penn handles this loss after the fight if it continues on this path. Rogan said no one works harder than GSP, and this is a testament to his work ethic and discipline. GSP went for the win with rights and lefts with 30 seconds left as Penn covered up. Penn squirmed and covered up, but just had nothing. GSP really turned it up, but Penn continued to squirm with just seonds left. GSP wanted that win before the end of the round, but Penn wasn't giving it to him... GSP punched padded corner in excitement over his performance... Penn leaned against the fence for the second straight break between rounds, not sitting down. Ref Herb Dea stopped it. Rogan wondered what happened. GSP immediately moved in to congratulate and pay respect to Penn...
RESULT: Georges St. Pierre via TKO after four rounds.
STAR RATING (****-): So one-sided, tough to go above four-stars-minus because there wasn't much drama in terms of who could win, but it's in the four-star range for the historical nature of the dominant performance by GSP. Wow. Although very different, as shocking and decisive as Anderson Silva's first win over Rich Franklin. An inspiring performance by GSP...
INTERVIEW: Rogan interviewed GSP after he finished dancing and signing with his trainers. GSP said he's been training since September and felt a lot of pressure. He said last time he won via decision and this time he wanted to do it before the time limit. He said Penn has a shoulder made for boxing, so he wanted to ground him and numb his arm so he couldn't punch, and then take him out standing up. Rogan asked GSP about facing top contender Thiago Alvez. GSP said he wants to fight the top guy in the sport, and Alvez is next. They showed Alvez at ringside. He walked in and shook hands with GSP. Rogan asked him for his thoughts on that fight and a potential title fight against GSP. He said he looked great in the fight and he's a big fan. He said he's the no. 1 contender and he really wants to get a title shot. Some fans booed. Rogan said nobody should boo as that will be an outstanding fight. Rogan said for Penn to have the career he wants, he needs to stick at his natural weight of 155 because the bigger of two great fighters will almost always win and he's in the wrong division at 170. Rogan said GSP is too big and too fast for Penn, but even if they had the same frame, he might have done the same thing because he's so disciplined. He called him one of the all time greats. Rogan seemed to switch gears quickly from this being a dream match for the ages to a virtual mismatch because of the size difference. He could have said that before the event and saved us all the trouble!... Rogan said GSP leaped up in the debate for pound-for-pound rankings along with Anderson Silva or B.J. Penn or Fedor. He said he's not even 30 and hasn't reached his physical prime yet. He said Alvez is a tough challenge, so Rogan had his eye on the ball of selling the next fight. They quickly discarded Penn and moved right on to the next biggest fight ever, which UFC is good at doing. Of course, it's not just marketing. We learned something tonight that 53 percent of UFC text message voters didn't predict: GSP isn't just better than Penn, he's a lot better than Penn, when matched against one another.
-No prelims made it to the air, so check back to MMATorch for staff reviews of the prelim fights from the UFC website as the weekend progresses. We will have a variety of post-event stories including our signature Roundtable Reviews with a score for the overall entertainment value and historical magnitude of the event, plus other columns from the MMATorch staff.
[Georges St. Pierre art credit Cory Gould (c) MMATorch]
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Why star ratings? Why not? Would you rate tonight's Super Bowl as one of
the most exciting, well played games ever? You can say that in seven or
eight words, or call it a five-star Super Bowl! Same thing with a great NBA
game or an amazing billiards game. MMA exists for multiple reasons, but
people watch for one main reason: to be entertained. Assigning star-ratings
is short-hand for how entertaining a fight was. Are both fighters trying to
win? Yep. Does assigning a star rating have anything at all to do with
that? Nope. But it is a good shorthand way to describe how entertaining and
historically significant a fight was. So why not? I mean, seriously, why
not? Once you get past the idea that MMA is some pure art form that is
"above" being rated on entertainment value, which is just not the case (as
the article cited above illustrates with quotes from Frank Mir, among other
evidence), why not create individual subjective star ratings to get a
debate started? We don't take them seriously relative to wins and losses or
title shots or buyrates or whether a deserving contender is overlooked for
a more exciting fighter with better name value or who's in better standing
with the promoter. Those are all important. But really, it's one line in a
match report and speaking for myself, I get a kick out of rating a fight on
entertainment value, technical precision, historical value, etc. and then
compare mine to Jamie or Shawn or others. The idea of getting worked up
about it seems wayyyy more silly than us doing it in the first place. If we
self-aggrandized our rankings and put them in our headlines and declared
them objective scores on some sort of statistical system, then ridicule us,
but come on, "great game" "great fight" "ugly fight" "boring game"
"must-see game" are all just wordy ways of rating a fight or a game on a
star-scale. Stars is just another form of language that allows everyone to
more tangibly compare in short-hand what they thought of a fight compared
to someone else.
