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UFC 77
By Zach Arnold | October 20, 2007
All thoughts, spoilers, reviews, etc. goes here. Feel free to post thoughts about the show in the comments section.
Event results: MMA Weekly | Sherdog | MMA Junkie | UFC Mania | Yahoo Sports | Steve Cofield | F4W Online | Observer | The Canadian Press | The Sweet Science | CBS Sports | Dayton Daily News | Houston Chronicle | Long Beach Press-Telegram | Gregg Doyel
Second round of links: Cincinnati Enquirer | CE II | CE III | Dann Stupp | Washington Post | NBC Sports | Hamilton Journal-News | MMA HQ
Audio review: Fightlinker
Alex Marvez at Fox Sports says that Rich Franklin is considering a retirement from MMA. Marvez also says that Randy Couture has a press conference scheduled for Thursday in Las Vegas.
Topics: MMA, Media, UFC, Zach Arnold | | Permalink | Trackback | Share This
How long has the Army sponsored UFC?
That was not a very interesting fight :/ I’m not seeing the great standup here. Two trees waving their branches at one another.
Still, that cut…wow. What was up with that?
Bonnar fight … not bad, but still not great. On the upside, we’re probably going to get a couple swing matches since fights are ending early and there’s no titles.
There’s one title. Middleweight.
Like I said
You caught me though. I did check online to see if I could find one, but I didn’t recognize one.
Alvin “The Chipmunk” Robinson crushed Gurgel. And I should have mentioned this earlier, but Alan Belcher’s nickname should be “The Burp.”
Well, apparently Brock Lesnar now works for UFC.
Talk about making a hot-shot deal.
Brock Lesnar is a big time signing. He has the look. He already has a Pro Wrestling following. Combine that with the UFC Hype Machine, and he could potentially become a huge money draw for them.
I have no clue how much the UFC is paying him, and I’m sure he could have found some millionaire to pay him more money per fight. However, I think the K-1 Debut left a bad taste in his mouth for certain types of promoters. And he likely wanted to find a sturdy company that he didn’t have to worry about his opponent not passing physicals and getting last minute replacements.
Brandon Vera’s strategy in the first round was a complete bust. I understand that he wanted to work the clinch, but that obviously did not work. From there, his next option is to stand and fight. However, he needs to take the center of the octagon to work that effectively, and not be circling around the cage.
Sylvia is absolutely pathetic. He had Vera pushed up against the fence and did nothing with it. And now he is just holding on from the bottom.
It will be VERY interesting to see how Brock goes in the cage. I’m picking he will do very well, in the right environment he is driven and with his look and experience of being a world wide star, he can concentrate on training and learning. I was hoping they would sign Mark Hunt by now as well, it will be a great shame if Hunt is left in limbo as he has alot to offer the UFC.
Sylvia is just too big, and Vera didn’t have the core strength to throw him around.
Like I said on Fight Opinion Radio, this fight was tailor-made for Sylvia to win and that he did. The fact that he challenged Kongo afterwards says it all.
Through this entire fight I’ve been thinking about Lesnar.
I wonder how long this deal has been done. I wonder if this had anything to do with Couture leaving, i.e. whether Couture left because he knew that his next fight would be Lesnar, or if he got wind that Lesnar was going to get megabucks.
Just a thought.
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I kind of feel bad for Sylvia fighting a guy like Vera. The best strategy is the one that’s going to get him a lot of grief from the fans. The weird thing is, Randy puts a guy up on the cage and leans on him, and you have a very different attitude from a lot of people versus when Tim does it. It’s the same game plan: put the guy on the cage, wear him out by using your weight, knees, and punches.
Joe Rogan said the “Silva-Franklin” fight was going to be “exciting”
Really? Are you fucking kidding me? I had no idea…thanks Joe!
I think Silva looks nervous and Rich looks relaxed. I think Silva takes it, but I have the upset bugs in my stomach.
Vera needs to move to Light Heavyweight, where he would actually be pretty darn good. At Heavyweight, he will always struggle with those big guys. I think the Sylvia fight is proof of this.
Will Anderson Silva ever get respect?
He seems to get booed during every entrance.
Maybe it’s cause the crowd is full of Melvin Costa’s
Matt Hume ius doing an awesome job of cornering…people should learn from what he does..and is doing.
Marvelous.
Wow! Holy Crap! What an uppercut by Rich! New champ!
WHooo! Fuck yeah! Dance Silve Dance!
Jeremy you might be onto something, Lesnar is pretty savvy when it comes to money. I doubt he would have taken a bum deal.
Anderson Silva is an absolute BEAST. This is not the same guy we all saw in Pride. Unlike Rua & Filipovic who came over and looked to be shells of fighters…. Silva has looked to being triple the fighter he use to be.
I use to think that Matt Lindland would walk through Anderson Silva. I’m not so sure about that anymore….. I think Lindland would have a lot of problems with Silva. Both on the ground and on the feet.
What was that, 2 minutes longer?
Great job by Silva.
Is it safe to say that Silva is the UFCs most dominant champion in any of their weight divisions right now?
MMAweekly had vera winning the fight and the last round. WOW!!!
******** SPOILER ALERT ***********
It will likely be an Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami rematch, unless Dan Henderson decides to move down to Middleweight.
Anderson Silva lost by DQ to Okami in their first fight, but should win the rematch. I know Franklin beat Okami, but that was mostly because Okami took so long to get going, so a Silva/Okami fight is a legit title fight. However, after that the division is truly empty.
As for Rich Franklin, he is completely lost in limbo at this point in his career. They can’t give him a 3rd fight with Silva, and he is very unlikely to move up to Light Heavyweight.
So who does Silva fight next? Its a pity Lawler cant get in there with him, or Mayhem most likely… Nate Quarry? I dont really care to see Silva against anyone else on the UFC roster right now (except Henderson…).
I think Silva looks nervous and Rich looks relaxed. I think Silva takes it, but I have the upset bugs in my stomach.
This is kind of interesting, because when I was watching the guys in their corners before the fight, it seemed exactly the opposite to me. Silva was kind of loose and full of energy, while Franklin looked kind of nervous (as well he should have been).
A good fight to watch. I’m happy with it. This is something of a low rent event compared to even some of the recent cards though, IMHO.
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I guess there’s no way that UFC will put Lesnar on the 78 card at this point (although you would certainly see certain other promotions doing that, UFC seems to try to avoid scheduling guys with only two or three weeks warning unless it’s absolutely unavoidable).
Could they possibly add him to the December 29th show? Three headline fights?
There is no reason for the UFC to put Lesnar on the New Jersey card. The event has already sold 9,200 tickets for $1.5 Million (Meltzer is source). That event is doing perfectly fine. And I doubt he will be on the 12/29 card because they already have Serra/Hughes, Stevenson/Penn, and perhaps Silva/Liddell. He will probably fight on the UK card in January or the Superbowl Sunday card.
Maybe Hughes should step up a weight class…
It will be interesting to see who Lesnar is matched up with, he needs a couple tune up fights before fighting any of the top 10, no matter that he thinks he can jump straight in. Problem is he’s likely to destroy tune up fighters in seconds which throws that theory out the window.. I’d like to see him against another wrestler for his first fight but their aren’t any in the UFC HW division now Coutures gone.
It’s doing fine on ticket sales, but the box office is a tiny fraction of the PPV receipts, which is what might have some trouble.
How about Frank Trigg vs Anderson Silva? Frank Trigg has beaten good competion in Jason Miller and Kazuo Misaki. Frank is said to have a strong ground game.
So I guess the consolation prize in the Fedor sweepstakes was Brock Lesnar
Pretty good consolation prize for an American promotion. Frankly, I think that he’s a bigger property in terms of growing MMA than Fedor is.
Fedor helps you with the guys who are already MMA fans, but Lesnar brings his posse along with him.
Jeremy is correct. Lesnar is a ten times bigger draw then Fedor will ever be in the United States.
Lesnar is not a guy with heavy cross-over appeal. If he becomes a star in UFC, it’s because UFC put him in that position (not vice versa).
As someone who isn’t a fan of pro wrestling, I can tell you that until the K1 event, I had never heard of him in my life. They are starting from scratch with him, in my book, and I’m a pop culture sponge. Only pro wrestling fans will know who he is. On the other hand, I know of plenty of casual MMA fans who know Fedor, or know him by reputation. Rogan mentions him quite a bit (or did, and probably won’t now). Lesnar has never been mentioned on air before tonight.
Watching Anderson Silva fight is a thing of beauty. Spinning back kicks, spinning back fists, and some of the most hilarious, showman-like, and still effective head movement ever seen in MMA. I don’t care what language that man speaks, he’s fucking brilliant in the cage.
Am I the only one who noticed Gurgel’s gynecomastia?
I really hope Okami isn’t matched up with Anderson; nobody wants to watch Okami, and worst of all, he might be able to hold Anderson down long enough to win a decision, which would take away the UFC’s most exciting champion and put the title in the hands of an incredibly boring fighter who doesn’t speak English or have any following or charisma.
Am I the only one who noticed Gurgel’s gynecomastia?
No, my brother and I noticed it too. I commented that he looks like he’s in need of a bra. One of the worst cases I’ve ever seen.
Lesnar is known worldwide by pro wrestling fans at least, thats a pretty huge audience and if pro wrestlings fans werent all watching UFC before, they will be now. He’s no Hulk Hogan as far as name appeal but he is known. Lesnar doesnt need the UFC, he’s made his millions, he’s doing this purely for ego and the challenge and he is going to beat a fair amount of fights on natural ability alone. The thing that excites me most about Lesnar though is he is likely to learn as much as he can, the guy is hudgely competitive and he will try anything, this is the guy that quit to try football and did a shooting star press off the top rope landing on his head. Who the hell knows what he will try in a cage but I would not put it past him to attempt an F5.
Fact is, the MW division in the UFC is very weak. Okami could do something on the ground, but trying to get inside on Silva is nearly impossible it seems.
TUF should have went to the MWs, just to spark something in that division. Almeida is a decent pickup, but come on, Silva is so dominant, I doubt he can do much. Almeida vs. Marquardt is an ideal rematch from the Pancrase brawl, that’s it.
“Fact is, the MW division in the UFC is very weak. Okami could do something on the ground, but trying to get inside on Silva is nearly impossible it seems.”
I agree that Silva would probably win that fight, but the UFC isn’t exactly helping the marketability of that fight by burying Okami’s #1 contender’s fight on the untelevised prelims below Bonnar vs. Schafer, Belcher vs. Starnes, and Gurgel vs. Robinson (and by not even acknowledging the Okami-MacDonald fight on the PPV broadcast).
LR - check your site. The RSS feed is broken.
lol, never mind, the UFC went from talking about Okami vs. MacDonald as a potential #1 contender’s fight to now apparently considering the possibility of not even attempting to re-sign Okami (according to the Fox Sports article). I’m sure the NBA would like to do the same with the San Antonio Spurs. I guess that’s the difference between pro-wrestling-style promotion and real-sports-style promotion.
Dana needs to bribe Dan Henderson to move down to 185. Give him a warmup fight against someone who will make him look really good, and then have him go at Anderson in what would be an epic match.
Well, Henderson’s contract is coming up, so it wouldn’t be shocking if he got a little more in the offer to move down in weight class…..
well, he previously said that it was “stupid” for Dan Henderson to be fighting at 205 after he beat Wanderlei Silva, and just tonight in an interview with Kevin Iole he said that he wants to head-butt Dan Henderson every time he talks to him because he still wants to fight at 205.
Do you whave a written list of all the things Dana has done to make you angry or do you just remember them off by heart?
Seriously Trembow, shut up. The UFC is getting all sorts of competition from other promotions who treat MMA as a spectacle, and you get on the UFC’s case for possibly not wanting to resign one of the dullest fighters in the sport? Get a clue.
I get on anyone’s case who treats MMA in a way that makes it seem more like pro wrestling than a legitimate sport. EliteXC signing Kimbo and potentially using footage of his illegal street fights to promote him is a recent example of something that is disgraceful that I complained about at the time. I wasn’t aware that I’m not allowed to have opinions, I’ll try to keep that in mind in the future.
I just read some “mainstream press”, some calling this UFC disappointing and the main event as being disastrous for the UFC. Some journalists thought Silva’s performance was detrimental to the company. Hell maybe they’re right. Many fans went home disappointed.
I call the main event, simply one of the greatest displays of martial arts fighting ever displayed. Anderson Silva may not speak english, but his fighting prowess certainly speaks for itself. That fight will go down as one of the greatest performances in UFC history.
I don’t know how you tolerate me, then.
Ivan,
I have heard from a few different folks that K-1 is going to make Okami a large offer. My guess is that Okami has already turned down a deal from the UFC.
You know, it never ceases to piss me off when the press and/or promoters lament the fact that a fighter doesn’t speak english. So the fuck what?!!
I mean seriously, these individuals are paid to fight not to speak.
Roberto Duran became a legend without speaking english. So did Julio Cesar Chavez, Felix Trinidad & many, many others. So, if they can do that in boxing then Silva & others can certainly do so in MMA.
If promoted right.
So, Dana & the boys have to quit their worrying about these fighters not being able to “work the mike”. Once again, the UFC has to decide whether they want to run their business like a legitimate sport or like pro wrestling.
And I say that without being a pro wrestling hater by any means. It’s always been a sort of guilty pleasure of mine & I enjoy the spectacle of a good work as much as some of “sports entertainments” biggest fans do. But, when the UFC ( or any other MMA organization in this hemisphere for that matter ) finds more value in an individual’s personality or “crossover appeal” than they do in what the fighter does in the cage, THEN I have a problem with it.
Blocker, Lesnar ‘made his millions’ but doesn’t still have them. The court case with the WWF/WWE showed that he was near broke. He most definitely needs the payday.
lol, never mind, the UFC went from talking about Okami vs. MacDonald as a potential #1 contender’s fight to now apparently considering the possibility of not even attempting to re-sign Okami (according to the Fox Sports article). I’m sure the NBA would like to do the same with the San Antonio Spurs. I guess that’s the difference between pro-wrestling-style promotion and real-sports-style promotion.
Yeah, The LA Lakers would never try to get rid of Kobi Bryant. Damn, that guy’s so good. Everyone wants him on their team.
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I’m kind of surprised that Lesnar didn’t go to HEROs or the new Japanese MMA promotion. He’s fought in Japan as a wrestler before, and he would carry that wrestling value into Japan. They also seem to like to sign guys who are short on career more than UFC typically does. UFC pretty much plays it down the middle, with the exception of guys who were UFC developed. Or at least, they did until the last year or so when they started poaching pride guys.
I’m with Jim on the language barrier.
I think fans respond well to the demeanor and body language and excitement that a fighter projects, and Silva’s on the right side of that street.
He got a lot of hate in Ohio because he was fighting a home town guy and former champ, but despite Franklin’s statements there at the end, I wasn’t hearing much in the way of boos after that fight (there presumably must have been some group over there yelling).
Lesnar definately has money, what came out in the court case was overstating to make WWE look bad(or worse if thats possible). He owns property and invests heavily. He was getting well renumerated by New Japan as well as K-1, his track record though is to say he isn’t getting paid enough, he is well aware of his marquee value. Which will make his dealings with Dana White interesting, Lesnar is notoriously difficult to deal with as far as cash and contract but is also brutally honest if things are happening he does not like.
I think the UFC is the best possible place for Lesnar and I am not surprised that he did not sign with a Japanese promotion. He HATES travel, thats why he left WWE and was only wrestling in Japan to sidetrack his WWE contract that had forbidden him signing with another pro wrestling promotion stateside for a ridiculous time limit, hence the court case, he had to make himself look poor to convince a judge that WWE was limiting his work opportunities. Now he can stay at home for most of the year,and fight competitively and get paid instead of travelling most of the year and wrestling every other night…its win/win for Brock Lesnar.
Any idea who they might match him up with first up? I’m thinking a Brad Imes or a Ben Rothwell type.
http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/3353408/
Translation by miscmisc @ kakutougi.info
Okami’s comment:
“You probably saw both the good and bad aspects of my game in this fight, but I think I could push the pace more in stand up, which is a positive. MacDonald was physically big and mentally strong. Great fighter. I think with this win I earned a shot for the title. I fought many different fighters and had good results, but that doesn’t mean I can beat Anderson Silva. I can only learn how good I am when I actually fight him. Also, they gave me a nickname ‘Thunder’, and finally I feel like I’m a UFC fighter who belongs here. I’ve had six fights so far and gained a lot of experience. I want to go as far as I can in the UFC.”
“Jeremy is correct. Lesnar is a ten times bigger draw then Fedor will ever be in the United States.”
The same Brock Lesnar that drew monster PPV buys and a massive gate while co-headlining for Dynamite!! in CA??
Meh. UFC brand recognition and market penetration will result in Lesnar being more of a draw there than at the horribly mismanaged gong show that was Dynamite USA.
Doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it though.
Yeah, but following that logic Fedor would be on equal footing as a drawing fighter b/c it would be all based on the fact that the UFC has brand recognition and market penetration.
The only difference would be that Fedor is actually a proven entity as an elite fighter (who has exciting fights) and the other is a former pro wrestler with a 1-0 record against an ultimate tomato can. Granted Lesnar speaks english, but as far as I recall Lesnar was never a good guy on the mike in pro wrestling or anything like that anyhow.
Yea, but Lesnar can do a shooting star press off the top rope landing on his skull
@ The Gaijin:
I’d argue that a large majority of those buying PPVs in America would have no idea that Fedor is a proven entity as an elite fighter. Brock still has more face recognition to the average casual fan in America than Fedor. Although the penis tattooed on his chest may be a little off-putting to some. :p
^Good point…I’ll definitely give you that.