UFC 101 Thoughts

Wow.

For what was a largely "eh" pay per view broadcast (most of the prelims were very solid, though), it was amazing to be live and in person for some pretty historic moments.

Well, one with massive ramifications at the very least.

So here, in no particular order are my thoughts on the entire show:

Villefort pulls a Starnes. Danillo Villefort pulled a Kalib Starnes, running frequently from his opponent throughout the fight. The fight started pretty competitively against Jesse Lennox but he quickly earned the ire of Philadelphia's frenzied fans, and rightfully so.

Sotiropoulos! Prepare for glory! George Sotiropoulos was playfully labeled "George of Sparta" on TUF in an homage to 300. But those cries may be valid... he's as tenacious and strategic as Leonidas. He's going to be one to watch in the lightweight division. Roop deserves respect for taking the fight on relatively short notice.

Best. Entrance music. Ever. In addition to coming back from a losing first round to Dan Cramer, Matt Riddle got major props (and tons of fanfare) for entering to Michael Jackson's "Beat It." It was a competitive fight, and this should've gone on the main card instead of the Riley-Nelson snoozer.

Welcome to the Thales Leites Show. Here's your pillow. This was the first fight Philly's rabid fans booed furiously. And with good reason. Thales Leites gave a repeat performance of his "Silva Plan," which apparently consisted of the bullets "Stall," "Lay Down" and "Stall." Sakara doesn't earn much respect for being unable to pull the trigger, but this fight proves that UFC 97's main event was not Anderson Silva's fault. The ref actually stopped the fight in the third and instructed these guys to engage. Never seen that. The only thing keeping Thales employed is his record so far. He's not moving to the main card after this, and making this game plan a trilogy will almost surely get him canned.

Howard's Turn. John Howard has got a ton of power in that frame. He pulled off some good slams against McCrory and deserved the win. He needs some more refinement but showed good potential.

Slow Simmer Start. The first two televised matches were pretty blah. Not gonna lie. Pellegrino/Neer didn't live up to expectations and Almeida/Grove was a bit plodding. That said, credit to both Kurt and Ricardo for enacting very precise game plans. It doesn't make for thrilling fights, but it does win the battle.

The Johny Hendricks Experience. Hendricks spoiled me going over .500 on my predictions with a shocking TKO win. I'm a little skeptical of the stoppage being appropriate, but I feel as though he would have continued to unload had Sadollah recovered.

"Hey guys, this fight is more interesting! Throwing the unadvertised rematch between Aaron Riley and Shane Nelson was like throwing a hungry dog a milkbone when it wants a steak. The fight that broke out in the audience late in the third deserved more attention than what was going on. Poor planning by the UFC here.

Rebuilding the Web. The negative reaction Anderson Silva got during his entrance/announcement was topped only by the one given to Thales Leites. The reaction to his win and celebration couldn't have been more polar opposite if we were comparing Led Zeppelin to DMX. He immediately re-ingratiated himself to the fans, and his performance should speak for itself. A lot is being made of his pseudo-handshakes and keeping his hands down. Look, if you know you're that good and can get away with it, why not? Silva to me is MMA's version of Muhammad Ali, and he's a showman in the cage. This is part of his personality, which is pretty playful and quirky. It may not go over well with everyone, but let's be realistic... it's a far cry from Brock Lesnar's post-victory speech last month. Seeing him and Henderson lock horns again should be a phenomenal rematch. To date, Henderson is the only guy to really give Silva trouble, and after his last several fights I can see him still imposing his will. That should be a great clash.

(On a personal note, let me just say I got chills when I watched Silva straddle the cage after winning like he has in previous fights. There's something to be said for that moment of glory that comes with a win, and watching him celebrate to a rousing ovation was stirring. If only he broke out the air guitar...)

Run Forrest, Run! I honestly still don't know what to make of Griffin's hasty exit. It was surreal... the PPV broadcast didn't pick up how harshly he was jeered. It was like watching a "double turn" in pro wrestling where the babyface becomes a heel and the heel becomes a babyface in a single moment. I thought early reports of him running out for an injury would sufficiently explain it, but that has since been debunked. This poses the question as to whether or not he took a dive. He looked like he was waving off the ref following Silva's knockout jab, that much is clear. But I really think he was almost verbally tapping. He knew he was outclassed... it's not like Griffin to do something underhanded like a dive. He got rocked pretty early on and charged already hurt into a pawing jab. At that point, it probably was just enough to take him off his feet. Plus, there's no known history of this in MMA, especially in the UFC. It is in Griffin's nature to be emotional (see: Griffin vs. Jardine), and I think he probably didn't take well to the loss. This will be talked about for a while, and it's certainly the number two talking point coming out of the show behind Silva's return to form.

The Prodigal Son returns. I'm not a BJ Penn fan. I can't stand his attitude and arrogance. But he looked great. Physically, it was the best he's ever looked as far as I can recall, and he enacted a phenomenal gameplan. Good defense for the first three rounds leading to a strong takedown and masterful transitions between getting mount and the back. His flexibility is absolutely crazy! Florian looked confident going in, but that very quickly changed to obvious confusion. He just couldn't overcome Penn's game, but he did try hard. Penn's dominating performance really solidifies that this is the best weight class for him. Comparing Penn's physique in his fight against GSP and his physique Saturday night is like night and day. Not since Frank Mir has anyone made such a huge leap in conditioning from one fight to the next. If Diego Sanchez really is the current top contender, it'll be a different fight for BJ. Diego won't be quite as methodical as Ken-Flo... he'll explode fast, and that could be problematic for Penn. Either way, expect a more exciting fight when and if that happens.

Minutiae...

He didn't even compete! But who cares! The cheers GSP received were insane. My friend put it best: "All he has to do is show up."

Well look who's back... Seeing Tito Ortiz's face cageside was surreal. Can't say I'm surprised, but between him, Liddell and Couture all being in attendance, it was like an MMA legends convention. Very cool.

"Tough crowd" is an understatement. Philly has notoriously harsh fans, and UFC's debut was reminiscent of ECW's heyday at the corner of Swanson and Ritner. These fans were not shy about showing their dissatisfaction. That said, it made for a very interesting night. This is all the more reason Silva's win was impressive: he turned perhaps the most critical sports fans in his favor. Not easy to do.

It sounded like I had cauliflower ear... I don't know if it was where we were sitting or the acoustics, but we couldn't hear Buffer or Rogan well at all. A lot of the amplification was drowned out amongst the crowd noise, and it wasn't until viewing the pay per view broadcast last night I was able to hear just what was said.

Above average Joe. I want to thank Joe Rogan for alluding to the crowd fight that took place during the Riley-Nelson fight. I was worried it would come off like the crowd was into the fight on PPV, so at least they didn't try to disregard it as though we liked what we were seeing live.

Human highlight reels. Other than the time on the mic, the production values placed on the show are very high. It definitely helped the crowd get fired up, especially a video package that was shown just before going live set to the tune of "Baba O'Reilly" by the Who. Phenomenal job. This is a huge reason why UFC has risen so astronomically. If boxing pay per views could offer this type of production value, they'd be receiving a lot more attention, no question.

Overall, for my first UFC experience I was happy. There was a pretty equal mix of spectacle and blandness, and I'll concede this was probably the weakest UFC PPV of the year. That said, watching Silva, Penn and Sotiroupoulos really made the night for me. I'm hoping they come back to Philly, and rumors of a stadium show at Fenway Park have whetted my tongue severely.

I went 2-5 for my main card predictions, making the to-date ILK record 0.400. Granted, I did pick Florian for an upset, so I took a chance. I'll keep these coming for future PPV's and WEC and Strikeforce events as I become more familiar with the talents.

Speaking of which, I just caught the main event of WEC 42 last night before bed. Damn, that was a shocker. I DVR'd the event so I'll have thoughts posted later this week for sure, in addition to my pound-for-pound rankings, no doubt affected by the weekend's events.