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April was a huge month for MMA fans and for the sport itself. I think this month would have to be considered the busiest month in MMA history. We had Bellator 13-16, UFC 112, (WEC 48:) Aldo vs. Faber, Strikeforce: Nashville, and those are just the major organizations.
The month as a whole was very shaky to me, though. It was not consistent at all; UFC 112 was not at all what most thought it would be, Strikeforce almost ruined the organization's entire reputation, and the only organization to do well did not even get to put their name on the card. With all that being said this month alone has changed the landscape of rankings, reputations of organizations, and just many people’s overall opinion of the sport.
We started off the month with the beginning of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), and this season actually looks like there is talent in the roster. I am sure the ratings will not be as good as the past season, but I do think that we are going to see some great fighters come from the season. The season was looking interesting coming in because I was hoping that Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz would have a retirement match.
Let’s face it, they both need to go. Chuck is getting close to having brain damage if he gets knocked out again and apparently Ortiz can only beat up women (that is, depending on if he did it or not.) That brings in more questions as to what happens to Ortiz during the season. Does he complete the season? Does Franklin come in before it is over? But overall I am liking the season thus far and am enjoying the fights as fighters are making weight, skill levels are high and they have good conditioning.
I thought going into this month that it would be the best month ever for a fan, but coming out of the month I think otherwise. The month sounded great on paper, as UFC 112 was just overall ridiculous. It seemed it went completely backwards (the most exciting fight was the first Kendall Grove vs. Mark Munoz) and then ended with the worst performance of a champion I have ever seen. Not just a champion, but a man that many will say is the best pound-for-pound fighter.
While there is no doubt he is an amazing fighter, he has scarred his name forever with his performance. B.J. Penn might have put on an equally humiliating performance himself. While there are rumors of him being sick, if he was sick he should have gotten out of the fight. A champion that is trying to make his legacy does not need to tarnish his record by fighting with a sinus infection (if that is the case).
Frankie Edgar once again rose past expectations and beat Penn at his own game. Congrats to Edgar, because no one gave him a chance. Matt Hughes got to beat up another Gracie that was just as much washed up as the last Gracie he fought. It is making Hughes look like the baddest legend of all time or just a bully beating up on old men!
That brings us to the worst event I have seen in a long time in Strikeforce: Nashville. It was pathetic. Three championship fights and out of the 6 men fighting, 5 of them were ranked in the top ten of their division, and every fight went to a decision. Was it 6 GSP’s fighting? (Just a joke).
It started off with Gegard Mousasi and King Mo fighting for the Light heavyweight belt. Mousasi displayed the same effort as Dan Hardy did against GSP, no takedown defense, but at least Hardy showed conditioning and heart. If you were impressed with Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal you must be a wrestling scout. The man displayed no conditioning, good wrestling ability, and he was able to put his eye in front of every punch that Mousasi threw.
Next we had the crab crawling and overrated Shinya Aoki vs. rock’em sock’em Gilbert Melendez for the lightweight belt. Aoki displayed his ability to crab crawl and take punches to the face while Melendez showed off his mediocre striking ability and his ability to stand over Aoki while he is lying on his back (please just let the man up if you are going to stand there with your hands in your pockets.) Then Melendez has the nerve to say he considers himself one of the best, when he beat a man that has no stand-up what so ever. It was like boxing a paraplegic.
Then we have the main event as I was really getting excited because I knew Dan Henderson was going to kill Jake Shields for the Middleweight belt. Henderson comes out and takes off Shields head twice, but is unable to finish him. Then the second round begins and Henderson looks stiff as a board, and apparently the Olympic wrestler has no takedown defense and cannot stop a smaller man from mounting him. WTF?
Jake Shields pulled the GSP card and out wrestled Henderson in every position, and apparently Dana White can see the future, because Henderson looked washed up. Jake Shields of course won the fight by complete domination and then decided that it is okay to have an all out gang assault on Jason “Mayhem” Miller. For the people who did not see that coming, apparently you do not know the Diaz brothers.
When you have 6 men beating on one man and then you are bragging about it, it shows that you are nothing more than a punk. The Diaz bros, Shields, and Melendez all got in their fair share of punches to the defenseless Mayhem who was beat on like a red headed step child for a good 20 seconds. This really goes to show you how inexperienced and unprofessional Strikeforce really is. If they keep up this same routine they will not get to celebrate 2011 and Fedor will go back to Japan where he can beat up some more washed up nobodies.
Now we get to the only major event that put on a show to talk about. Too bad we do not know who really put on the event, since WEC was not found nowhere on the entire PPV. I would have to say that overall the event was a success, and even though I had to pay $44.95 for the event it was definitely worth it.
Faber vs. Aldo was the ONLY event this month that was actually worth watching. Out of the 11 fights we got to see 10 of them, which as you know is awesome for a fan. Six out of the 11 fights did not go to the judges and the 5 that did go to a decision were so entertaining and technical that it did not matter.
Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung was by far the most entertaining fight I have seen in a long time, maybe not the most technical, but entertaining to say the least. The two men swung for the fences with every punch and showed some of the most conditioning and heart I have ever seen in a fight.
Mike Brown getting knocked out by Manny Gamburyan was probably the biggest upset since the mullet man Miguel Torres got TKO’d by the one hit wonder Brian Bowles. I thought surely that Mike Brown would get the Knockout of the Night honors, but it was the other way around.
Last year many people thought that Ben Henserson vs Donald Cerrone was the fight of the year, and many were waiting to see that same kind of action again since now they are fighting for the real Lightweight belt. Henderson put on an amazing show of skill and ended the fight in less than two minutes. My favorite thing about the fight was that he was not crying about not being ranked and ranting about things that he has no control of (yes, I am making fun of Melendez).
In the sport of MMA, you do not come across too many men like Ben Henderson and I think that is why he is not ranked. He does not make a scene, he is humble, doesn't cuss, doesn't party and he just comes out there and does his job; simple as that. I would rank him over Melendez just to piss off Melendez.
Then we have the main event for the invisible WEC PPV: Faber vs. Aldo. Many people say that Aldo should have finished Faber in the fight, but I think otherwise. Aldo really needed to be accepted by the Sacramento crowd. You cannot be liked by a community if you literally kill their king. Let’s face it, Faber rules the town. I mean the Sacramento Kings had a Urijah Faber Day and the Mayor of Sacramento made a Urijah Faber Day.
Aldo needs fans and Sacramento will accept him more now. I am sure that is where every PPV event will be since they do so well, so I think he did the right thing. Jose Aldo should now be considered amongst the top pound-for-pound fighters. He has completely dominated every man he has faced in the past two years. Faber, on the other hand, needs to lose the corn rows; apparently he is having a reverse Samson effect and it is killing his power. WEC was by far the best event of the month, if not the best of the year. Thank you WEC for saving the month.
Let us all hope that May brings better things to the sport then April did, besides WEC that is. We have UFC 113 and we will get to see Shogun beat Machida AGAIN. Then a Strikeforce Challengers Series event; which normally is completely boring and almost all the fighters showcase no technical skill. That will bring us to DREAM 14 and we get to see the gang fighter Nick Diaz showcase his brawling skills, but this time he will not have as much help.
The last event of the month is UFC 114 and we finally get to see TUF coaches put an end to all of their arguing. Oh yeah, do not be surprised if Evans talks a lot of crap and says he is going to stand up with Jackson and then tries to wrestle him just to win the match, much like he did against Thiago Silva. Zuffa will also showcase their Primetime series with the trash talking duo of Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans. I would suspect this will have huge ratings. Not to mention TUF season 11 continuing into the month of May.
If you have any questions, comments, or you simply just want to tell me off leave me a comment at MMATorch.com in the comment box or write me an e-mail at LarLLeet@yahoo.com
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