Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night 35 and WSOF 8; Dana White on GSP
Jan 22, 2014 - 11:40:53 AM HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from UFC Fight Night 35 and WSOF 8; Dana White on GSP

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

There were a couple of events this past week worth talking about, so let's get right to it.

UFC Fight Night 35

GOOD: Alptekin Ozkilic vs. Louis Smolka

The other prelim fights weren't anything special, but this fight was pretty good. Smolka announced his arrival to the UFC flyweight division with this convincing decision win. Smolka has a lot of potential, based on his age, and the skills we've seen from him so far. If he keeps improving we might be looking at a longtime flyweight contender.

GOOD: Cole Miller submits Sam Sicilia

This was the best I've ever seen Miller. He looked fantastic in this fight. I don't want to run down Sicilia, but it looked like he didn't have much of a chance here. Miller was on fire from the start.

GOOD and BAD: John Moraga vs. Dustin Ortiz

It was a good fight, but I don't agree with Moraga winning the decision. I thought Ortiz had the much stronger case for winning two of the three rounds. I guess the judges gave Moraga the first round, though.

GOOD: Yoel Romero stops Derek Brunson

Brunson took the first two rounds, but he gassed hard and Romero jumped on that opportunity, crushing Brunson with some brutal shots to the body for the TKO. It's always cool to see a guy rally from a big deficit for the win. Romero knew he was down on the cards, and needed the finish, and that's exactly what he went out there and got.

GOOD: T.J. Dillashaw vs. Mike Easton

This was a really solid decision win for Dillashaw. He stymied Easton at every turn and picked him apart. I want to see Dillashaw against a top ten fighter to see how he does. I think he'd do pretty well, depending on who it is, but I'd like to see it first. Dillashaw seems to be improving at a good rate, I'm excited to see where he's at in a few more years.

GOOD: Lorenz Larkin vs. Brad Tavares

It's a bit of a stretch to call this fight GOOD, as it was more slightly above average than anything else, but I certainly can't call it BAD. Tavares did enough to win the first two rounds before Larkin tried to rally. He took the third, but it wasn't enough. This was a solid fight.

GREAT: Luke Rockhold stops Costas Philippou

Rockhold looked awesome in this fight. His striking was crisp and spot-on. It started slowly, but picked up quickly as Rockhold dropped Philippou with a powerful body kick. The ref had to step in after Rockhold landed another body kick. I'd like to see this from Rockhold at least once more before I buy in fully, but he could be in the title mix here soon if he keeps fighting like this.


World Series of Fighting 8

GOOD: Luis Palomino stops Jorge Patino

Patino survived some big shots from Palomino until he got put out with some vicious strikes. Palomino got the chance and jumped on it to get the finish.

BAD: Tyson Nam vs. Cody Bollinger

This fight sucked. Bollinger won the decision, and that's about all I want to say about it. Very little offense.

GOOD: Jessica Aguilar submits Alida Gray

Aguilar was just too good for Gray here. Another fight where it seemed one of the fighters didn't have much a chance. Aguilar wins the inaugural World Series of Fighting Women's Strawweight Championship. She looked like she'll be hard to beat, as she showed some very good striking and submission skills.

GOOD: Anthony "Rumble" Johnson stops Mike Kyle

Rumble looked great in this, as he showed his power. This was his final fight on his WSOF contract, and I'd be willing to bet that the UFC brings him in again. I guess we'll see, though.

GOOD: Justin Gaethje stops Rich Patishnock

Gaethje just unloaded on Patishnock, who did land a few good shots of his own. The referee stepped in as Gaethje was unleashing a flurry on Patishnock for the stoppage. Patishnock complained, but it was a good stoppage. Better early than late. Gaethje wins the inaugural World Series of Fighting Lightweight Championship.

*************

Last week Dana White had some choice words for Georges St. Pierre. GSP had earlier said that one of the reasons for his sabbatical was the UFC's hesitancy on drug testing, and them not wanting to go as far as they could. Of course, this led White to try to throw GSP under the bus with some BS comments. MMATorch Editor-in-Chief Jamie Penick had a great article last week where he went through White's comments and basically blew them up. I would encourage everyone to read the article for yourself.

[CLICK HERE]

My biggest problem with what White said was the parts about how GSP should "be a man" and talk to White face to face. That's ridiculous. The best way for GSP to get things done is to make it a PR nightmare for the UFC if they don't. I'm sure there have been others who have said to White and UFC brass before about how they should drug test more and better. Nothing has happened. The UFC doesn't have to listen to its fighters. The UFC and Dana White are not beholden to their fighters, they're beholden to the fans. They may not listen to the fighters, but they may listen to fans.

The other thing I find insulting is when White talks about how they drug test everyone on fight night. That's fine, and it's certainly better than not testing everyone. However, tests on fight night won't catch everyone. First off, those are urine tests, they're not going to catch everything. Secondly, what about the rest of the time? A lot of athletes who use PEDs do so for the recovery in addition to any physical gain. If you have a drug that allows you to train for an extra hour a day, that will add up over time. Then you stop using the drug shortly before the fight, no problem. It won't show up on the test.

There's also the issue of the chemists and scientists behind these drugs always seeming to be a step ahead of everyone on this. Even with blood tests that may not catch everyone or everything. That brings up the issue of whether we should even be worried about testing or not. This is definitely a complicated issue, and there's no easy answers. I just found White's attitude and statements to be insulting and offensive, especially to a guy who has done as much for the UFC as anyone ever has.


Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank