Penick's Take
PENICK: Notebook 1/2 - UFC on Xbox Live App update (w/quote from Microsoft), dos Santos-Overeem poll results, 11 of '11 thoughts, Brock Lesnar
Jan 2, 2012 - 11:45:15 PM PENICK: Notebook 1/2 - UFC on Xbox Live App update (w/quote from Microsoft), dos Santos-Overeem poll results, 11 of '11 thoughts, Brock Lesnar

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

--Microsoft dropped the ball in a big way on Friday night, as they suffered technical difficulties with the UFC on Xbox Live app that could not be resolved in time for the beginning of the UFC 141 event. They had 30,000 users who had received a free purchase of the event to check out the service, but when users turned on their systems Friday night, they were unable to gain access to the App. Microsoft will be allowing those who signed up for the allotted free viewings to gain access to a future pay-per-view event, but there aren't many more specifics available yet. I spoke to a Microsoft spokesperson on Monday about the situation, and was given the following response:

"We want to ensure that the 30,000 giveaway recipients for UFC 141 have an optimal experience with UFC on Xbox LIVE, and we are currently working with our partners at the UFC to ensure we deliver just that," the spokesperson informed me. "The gamertags of the 30,000 users who registered for UFC 141 are being safely kept on file for free access to a future UFC event, and we will have more updates to share in the near future."

It's a positive that those who registered to receive the event free will be able to see another event coming up. Unfortunately, they may have missed out on one of the more anticipated cards with Brock Lesnar's return. There are going to be hiccups when rolling out any new service, but with the system not being up for an event that had a controlled release that was free, there isn't going to be a lot of confidence in them when they ask people to actually pay for events through the service. It's still a very cool and interesting set up to watch events, but if you're not able to actually get the events to watch, it becomes a less functional version of UFC.com.

--After nearly 1,000 responses already to the poll we posted this afternoon, it's an almost 50-50 split in predictions for who will win the UFC Heavyweight Championship fight between Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem later this year. 51% currently lean towards dos Santos, and that's where I lean with my initial reaction to the bout. The main concern is dos Santos coming off of an injury that required surgery, as it could definitely be a negative towards his performance in that fight, but he will still be the most capable striker, and the best overall fighter, Overeem will have faced in his heavyweight MMA career. While Overeem looked fantastic against Lesnar last Friday night, it didn't really answer any questions that remain about his game, and dos Santos is as dangerous a striker as he is. It's going to be an excellent Heavyweight Title fight for the UFC, but I'm definitely leaning towards dos Santos early.

--I hope everyone is enjoying or 11 of '11 series so far, with two excellent lists from Shawn Ennis and Rich Hansen to kick us off in the new year. Up next will be my top 11 knockouts of the year tomorrow, and we'll continue to roll out new lists over the next nine days in a look back at what was an incredibly eventful 2011. As for Shawn and Rich's lists, I'm in complete agreement with the top pick for both fight and event of the year.

There were a lot of great fights in 2011, but none stood as high for me as Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 139 in November. It was just a tremendous combination of name value, importance, drama, and actual in-cage action that had every MMA fan on the edge of their seats. That same night had Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler in Bellator, and while that was a fantastic fight in its own right, the stakes and the platform were so much higher for Henderson-Rua that it raised it up even further.

While that event as a whole was also fantastic, the spectacle and the action that UFC 129 provided earned it the top spot looking back on the year. A disappointing main event between GSP and Jake Shields brings it down slightly, but not enough to knock it from the top spot. With 55,000+ in attendance, it was the most incredible looking atmosphere for a UFC event ever, and the crowd stayed frenzied throughout a highly entertaining fight card that provided some stellar highlights from start to finish.

--The desire to retroactively dismiss Brock Lesnar's entire run in MMA is something that just doesn't compute to me, and Jason Amadi tackled it spot on in his "Ask the Torch" responses today. Yes, Lesnar's striking game was woefully unpolished and not anywhere near the level of the other top fighters in the world at heavyweight. But this is still a man who took on a former Champion in his second fight, fought only top 10 competition in the UFC outside of the Heath Herring fight, and won four of them. And when you look at the Herring fight, Herring had 42 fights to Lesnar's two before they entered the cage in Minneapolis that night. No other fighter has faced the level of competition that Lesnar did in that short of a time, and a very serious illness had a major effect on his progression as well. He was never as bad as his biggest detractors would say that he is, but he also never got to the level maybe he could have without the illness. He moved the needle for the UFC, he brought big business to the organization that had a ripple effect onto the events and fighters around him, and it brought more money to all involved. No one needs to be a fan of Lesnar, but there should be some level of respect for not only the challenge he asked for in his MMA career, but also for what he did to raise the profile of the sport on a larger level as well.