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« | Home | »

UFC 112: The Invincible road to Abu Dhabi

By Zach Arnold | April 10, 2010

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News & Notes

Earlier in the week, I noted that you can check out which bars/restaurants in your area will be airing the UFC 112 Abu Dhabi event on Saturday. One of the trends that I’m noticing with UFC 112 is that fewer bars are picking up the tab to get this show. It’s a far cry from the huge demand there was for UFC 111 a couple of weeks ago (an estimated 750,000 PPV buys).

Speaking of UFC and programming distribution, there reportedly is a war going on between WWE and UFC in Europe.

Regarding the medical condition that Thiago Alves had corrected during his 8-hour surgerical procedure, he is dealing with issues related to arteriovenous fistula. Here is some more information on the surgery done to correct the matter. If you are wondering why the surgery for Alves took so long, read this for more details.

The event card line-up:

Dark matches

Main card

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 128 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

128 Responses to “UFC 112: The Invincible road to Abu Dhabi”

  1. Ultimo Santa says:

    Triple main event…but possibly three squash matches?

    I’m calling a VERY easy win for Anderson Silva, R1 TKO. Maia is simply not a mixed martial artist – he’s a BJJ player who can outclass some lower-level guys on the mat, but he’s probably only marginally better at no-gi BJJ than Silva (not enough to submit him, anyway) and at striking? It’s going to get messy if Maia tries to stand for even a moment.

    I can’t see Edgar providing more competition for Penn than Florian did, so I’ll call a R2 submission for BJ.

    Hughes is no longer at the top of his game, but I can’t see Renzo providing a significantly more dangerous threat than Royce did…of the three fights I see this as being the closest. It might go to a decision in Hughes’ favor.

    The loss of the Vitor Belfort on this card was the deal breaker for me – he’s the only MW capable of giving Anderson a fight.

    • Alan Conceicao says:

      I feel the same way. You see a clear difference in the way sports operate looking at a PPV like this – when Hopkins and Roy Jones were scheduled to fight Saturday, the boxing media hated it to no end. They do the same thing for mismatches being put on PPV. This event and the MMA Media? People are going out of their way to try and sell the fights for the UFC.

      Renzo/Hughes captures my attention, actually. The rest? Ehhh. Just doesn’t sound like fun to me, more like a compulsory event so that you can talk trash on the internet. Frankly, I’m done watching MMA shows that don’t sound like fun (which is a LOT of them).

      • edub says:

        So your relating a fight between two 40 year olds that was about 8 or 9 years overdue, to a fight between the #1 and roughly #5 ranked MW in the world. I completely agree that was the case with Couture and Coleman, but not with this fight. From what I’ve seen by pretty much all internet media is this is being covered as who can stop BJ, and Anderson. Which is about right because both are next to unbeateable at their weight class.

        So to sum it all up I don’t agree.

        • Alan Conceicao says:

          Well, the fight with the two 40 year olds had a closer line, and that didn’t stop boxing writers from just saying “Roy Jones is in survival mode and won’t win”.

          The UFC bouts not terribly competitive fights, but no one wants to just go out and say that. I guess it would be too negative to tell the truth? So instead blogs run endless variations of “Anything can happen” talk along with how awesome it will be to pick which two random white dudes punch swing wildly at each other, Toughman style as their super great fight of the night.

          Like I said, I just don’t enjoy shows like this, particularly on PPV with all the loopholes, legal or otherwise, to watch. I end up either bored by crappy fights or unsatisfied by ridiculously short fights featuring zero technicality (which people adore). I see a lot of the latter, and the one fight I do want to see has strong odds of becoming the former.

  2. Miller says:

    Silva won’t leave his feet so Maia has no shot. Edgar isn’t bigger than Penn so he can’t GSP/Hughes him. Renzo seems more motivated to fight these days than Hughes so I’d give him the edge (although you can also argue Hughes has the edge since he’s fought way more top comp.) Etim should be able to run through Dos Anjos. I have no idea about Grove-Munos.

  3. David M says:

    Maia is no jobber, you gotta be kidding. He took down an olympic wrestler, so his takedowns aren’t shitty at all. If he gets in the clinch, he can take Anderson down. Let’s not forget Silva was subbed twice and Travis Lutter almost stopped him.

    • Miller says:

      He’s not a can but the man couldn’t even stand and trade with Royce Gracie. He got KOed in like 20 seconds by Nate Marquardt dude. You don’t think Silva can do better than that? He’s a master at BJJ, but he will eat nasty knees in the clinch before he can take Silva down.

      • Miller says:

        http://www.mmaroot.com/nate-marquardt-vs-demian-maia-fight-video-ufc-102/

        Look at how much he leaves himself open standing. It’s hilarious. Silva is going to knock him into Neptune if Marquardt could do that. He’s woefully unprepared (and undeserving IMO) for this.

        • Asa says:

          Personally, I don’t see Maia trying to throw testing-the-waters-speed leg kicks at Silva. He’s stated that he’s been specifically training Anderson’s biggest weakness: wrestling.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          A lot of it is based on level of expectation. You don’t go into a fight with Marquardt thinking you will be KO’d in the first minute. So a guy like Maia thinks he can work a little striking before he secures a takedown.

          With Silva, there is no doubt Maia has no intentions to strike. Which means he is less likely to keep himself open.

  4. David M says:

    you guys don’t think he can learn from his mistakes? seriously? if he is able to clinch with him once, he has a decent shot at winning the fight. This is more intriguing than most of Silva’s fights because usually teh Spider is better both on the feet and on the ground than his opponents, whereas here he is at a distinct disadvantage on the ground.

    • Mark says:

      Ok, so one man can definitely learn to cope with a style he isn’t very good at in a single training camp, yet the other man definitely cannot? Huh?

      Maia was pegged coming in to do good until he ran into somebody to take him apart standing. This was always pegged to be Anderson Silva, but actually he met it two fights earlier with Nate. I don’t believe him beating Anderson Silva is impossible, but your logic that Silva isn’t going to be ready for takedown attempts but Maia is going to be ready for the best defense of his life is pretty impossible. We’ve seen Silva stuff takedowns and utilize knees, but we haven’t seen any stand up from Maia that wasn’t rudimentary at best. But maybe Silva will take him lightly or would just be happy dropping the MW belt so he can move on to 205 and bring his B-game.

  5. 45 Huddle says:

    Renzo Gracie has zero shot of beating Matt Hughes. His striking is sub-par and he isn’t a good enough grappler (for MMA) to submit Hughes. I sadly had to witness Renzo Gracie vs. Carlos Newton 2 at an IFL event. To call it a pitiful main event would be a vast understatement. It was sad to watch. Hughes should finish Gracie before the end of the second round.

    UFC 112 main card is a 3 fight card. I could care less about the Etim or Grove fights. I’m more interested in Gustafsson/Davis and Osipczak fight.

    I still think it has a potential to have a huge title change. This isn’t like GSP/Hardy, where Hardy had no chance. If Maia can attach himself to Silva and pull guard to the ground, he does have a chance. And Edgar is a live underdog, much more so then people are giving him credit for.

    Still undecided on purchasing the card. Right now I’m still leaning towards the WEC PPV instead.

    • Mark says:

      What the underdogs do have going for them are facing two champions who are bored out of their minds and want out of their divisions like yesterday. It is possible that the determination of two underdogs having nothing to lose and everything to gain can win out against champions complacent, bored and eager to move on to more lucrative pastures.

      If an upset were to happen it would be Maia using his superior ground game if he can get takedowns. The big problem is Maia’s inexperience will leave some wide open holes for Silva to knock him out as he’s going for takedowns.

      On the otherhand, I see zero reason why Edgar could beat Penn. People keep harping on wrestling being Penn’s weakness, but they forget his losses to wrestlers were those who outweighed him by 15-20 pounds, which Edgar does not. Edgar has never faced anybody remotely close to Penn’s worldclass fighter status. His big win was against a mentally broken Sean Sherk and a bunch of 2nd and 3rd level fighters whereas Penn has been facing the best the UFC has to offer. To me it looks like a college football team playing the Saints or Colts without even getting a warm up against the Browns or Lions. He will be outclassed.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        I think you are looking at Penn/Edgar wrong. Edgar won’t be able to take Penn down and nobody is doubting that. but Edgar has faced world class guys, like Sherk… And won.

        If Penn loses to Edgar, it will happen in one of two ways…

        1) Edgar pushed Penn up against the fence and works a boring 5 round decision. Penn was pushed up against the fence with relative easy against Florian. While he is nearly impossible to be taken down, he is vulnerable to lose a round just being stuck up against the fence sn taking small shots.

        2) Edgar can outstrike Penn. Penn won’t be able to take Edgar down to stay away from the strikes. People somehow are completely counting out Edgar to outstrike Penn. Edgar has shown that his striking has improved greatly. He looked better on his feet against Sherk then Penn did. His footwork is better and he is quicker.

        I still think Penn will win this fight. I do think Edgar is a live underdog.

        • Mark says:

          But Sherk is the only legit top Lightweight he has beaten. The other one he faced (Maynard) beat him. And Penn beat Sherk and would beat Maynard. I’m not saying Edgar isn’t a good fighter or anything, I just think he should have to prove himself more before he gets in there against a guy who may go down as one of the greatest MMA champions of all-time. There’s a ton of Lightweights he hasn’t faced that he should before getting Penn. Why hasn’t he faced Florian or Stevenson or Sanchez first? That’s the reason he’s getting zero respect going in against Penn.

        • edub says:

          There is no way in hell Edgar out strikes Penn. Edgars best striking asset is boxing and speed. Penn while maybe just as fast is years ahead of Edgar in boxing and has him beat in reach.

          The only way Edgar wins is by decision, and to do this he has to keep Edgar guessing all fight. Mixing up his takedowns and punches.

          I really dont see this happening.

  6. Zack says:

    This card will rule if I can find a bar showing it at the 10am live time on here the west coast. In fact, it will be a great tribute to my childhood watching squash matches on Superstars on Sat morning. Top 3 fights are non competitive, just like their last PPV main event.

  7. Ultimo Santa says:

    Silva is NOT at a ‘distinct disadvantage’ on the ground. He’s at a mild disadvantage.

    IF Maia can survive long enough to get it to the ground (BIG if) Silva will latch on his stand-by – the body triangle – and wait for the fans to boo and the ref to stand them up.

    Anderson locks down BJJ VERY well (and as we all saw vs. Luter and Henderson, can do a little BJJ himself).

  8. David M says:

    Maia is very high level on the ground; much better than Lutter and his takedowns are better too. Nobody is saying he should be favored, but he is no long-shot. Comparing Maia to Anderson on the ground is like comparing Anderson to Nate Marquardt on the feet; in both cases the latter is very good, the former is world-class.

    45 makes an interesting point about Edgar’s hands–he looked really quick and crisp against Sherk. Me thinks however that BJ is too heavy-handed for him and will knock him out in the exchanges.

    • Mark says:

      We’ve seen Silva survive on the ground when in trouble, we’ve never seen Maia survive on his feet when in trouble. You’re also under estimating that Anderson Silva is a huge Middleweight. Look at his career: he’s never faced a dangerous striker before. And the one guy who did knock him out was so disrespected standing it turned into a punch line (no pun intended.) Like someone said a while back, if this started in the guard Maia would win in 3 minutes. But I’m not convinced he can take it there before getting his clock cleaned.

      As for Edgar outboxing Sherk. Sherk has baby-length arms, anybody can outbox him.

    • GassedOut says:

      What’s really interesting is that I’ve seen some of Anderson Silva’s pre-PRIDE fights, and his BJJ looked very slick, speaking as a practitioner. From what I’ve seen from Maia, Sure, maybe he’s better (and not that much better), but only in that one aspect, and he’s got to survive the stand-up. I don’t give him much chance of that. This is MIXED Martial Arts, right? I give Demian Maia that proverbial puncher’s chance.

      • Oh Yeah says:

        Maia’s flush power punches didn’t even hurt Dan Miller. They won’t faze Anderson in the slightest.

        Grappler’s chance?

  9. Zack says:

    LOL @ thinking that there will be booing in Abu Dhabi. Those infidels will be beheaded ASAP

    • Fluyid says:

      “LOL @ thinking that there will be booing in Abu Dhabi. Those infidels will be beheaded ASAP”

      100% correct.

      I’m told that there is a standing order for security to quickly and quietly snatch up anyone who boos. The seized person will then be given, on the spot, a summary trial and beheading in the back staging area.

  10. […] when you consider the monumental effort and resources that was put into building Concert Arena (via Fight Opinion). For Lee Charteris, the director of operations for the event organisers, Flash, and the army of […]

  11. Jonathan says:

    I wonder if they will have ring girls there…me thinks not.

  12. The Gaijin says:

    People are seriously delusional if they think Edgar is going to outbox/outstrike Penn. That’s pretty much grounds to be committed.

    Stop saying Edgar is a “live underdog” because you’re dying to make this fight feel relevant for whatever reason.

    Edgar is not a better boxer. Edgar does not have more power. Edgar is not bigger than Penn. Penn easily has the counter-wrestling to nullify Edgar’s wrestling, to the point that he won’t have to be worried about it. Edgar doesn’t have a better top game. Edgar doesn’t have better BJJ. Edgar doesn’t have a better chin.

    Penn has shown ZERO issues with his cardio @ 155 and his biggest cardio challenge barely made him break a sweat and is still trying to close the axe wound to his forehead.

    • Mr. Roadblock says:

      You’re going to want to add this to the list of awful predictions. Sometimes it is best not to be so snarky in making predictions. Because when the exact opposite of what you predicted happens it makes you look like a total asshole.

      • The Gaijin says:

        Ohhh….how embarrassing I made an “incorrect” prediction on a comment board ~!the horror! Didn’t see you noticing all the right calls I make all the time…I can’t judge for these brainless retards, even though I (and a number of people) would do a 1000% more competent and defensible job.

        Thanks for the advice – if I want to know how to be a snarky know nothing asshole, I’ll make shitty useless comments like yours.

        Not to mention the fact that I don’t think my “prediction” was off one bit. Penn did outstrike him, in any unbiased person’s world Penn easily won that fight 3-1-1 rounds, but I had it 4-1 Penn. Penn completely shrugged off 99% of his TD attempts and tossed him off with ease. The only part of my comment that was even close to off was about his cardio…but I can really go out there and do road work and cardio training for him, so what am I gonna do on that one. Frankie Edgar sure did “move around” a lot…wow that sure is good fighting, much better than actually landing 99% of the meaningful strikes…apparently that’s part of the scoring criteria now, that and “how tired” or “beat up” someone looks too…I’m glad people like you and those totally useless judges care about gymnastics exhibitions.

        This comment I saw from someone else sums it up as well as anything:

        *Edgar proved that you can win a major title fight by shucking around a lot and looking busy, even if the other guy is actively out-punching you for the duration.

        Edgar would bounce a round for a while, step in to shoot or throw a quick combination, get shrugged off/miss, and then Penn would swat him away with short punches. Penn seemed to land more left hooks on the inside than all of Edgarā€™s attacks combined. So basically Penn stood in the middle of the cage all night, and Edgar couldnā€™t do anything to get to him. I donā€™t get the argument that Penn was ā€œout-workedā€. Apparently he was obligated to throw in a bunch of wasted movement to keep pace with Edgarā€™s pantomime between every exchange.*

  13. Zack says:

    Edgar should be fighting the winner of Aldo/Faber in the WEC, not BJ Penn. It’s a shame that the money isn’t there yet or the WEC hasn’t just been folded into the UFC so we can get the best matchups.

    On a side note, will the ring girls be in burkas?

    • Mark says:

      My guess is they won’t be there period. Even in full burqua, veil and dress down to the floor it is still taboo to stare at a woman unless she’s a family member in Islamic culture. Granted I’m sure they’ve got casino girls and the like at the tourists areas, but I’m sure Zuffa isn’t going to want to offend their new favorite region by having Arianny mindlessly wave and blow kisses at a bunch of fundamentalist Muslims when they just came there to see a bunch of Westerners beat the hell out of each other.

      • Ultimo Santa says:

        Interesting points…if they don’t have the ring girls, I wonder if Goldberg and Rogan will even mention the fact that they’re not there.

  14. […] when you consider the monumental effort and resources that was put into building Concert Arena (via Fight Opinion). For Lee Charteris, the director of operations for the event organisers, Flash, and the army of […]

  15. Grape Knee High says:

    45, I disagree with your Penn/Edgar views.

    1) Timed right, I do think Edgar can take Penn down. I don’t think he’ll have any other way to victory. He has to hope he can wear Penn down and keep him on the ground.

    2) Edgar is small, in terms of both height and weight. Penn probably hasn’t fought someone as small as Edgar in many years, perhaps since Caol Uno, and Uno seems a bit taller. I doubt he’ll be able to muscle Penn around the way the much bigger Florian did for a short amount of time against Penn.

    3) I have trouble believing that Edgar could outstrike Penn. Given that BJ is 3 inches taller, I’d imagine Penn has a significant reach advantage as well.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      You could be right. I just saw Florian push Penn up against the cage for a few rounds and it made me think that Penn doesn’t do well avoiding that position. And Florian is not strong for the weight class either.

      • Grape Knee High says:

        Florian has actually surprised me quite a bit with his functional strength recently.

        He picked up and slammed Guida, IIRC, whereas someone like Diego even had trouble taking Guida down. He easily threw Stevenson down when everyone thought Stevenson would dominate the wrestling in their bout.

        I’d really love to see how much he’s improved against a non-roided Sherk.

    • Matt says:

      Edgar still has a 2 inch reach even though he’s shorter.

  16. 45 Huddle says:

    Looks like I’m ordering this event after all. Have an event to attend to during the WEC PPV so this becomes the default purchase for the month. I still think the WEC PPV will be more fun to watch.

  17. 45 Huddle says:

    A little off topic…

    Has anybody else noticed that the cage being used for the TUF 11 show is definitively smaller then the typical UFC cage? It looks to be the size of the WEC cage.

    I’m surprised no big website has picked up on this yet. There was already talks about them making a smaller cage for the UFC, and this appears to be their testing ground.

    So far, I hate it.

    The camera angles are suffering as there isn’t as much difference between the camera and the fighters to get a proper shot. It isn’t as big of a deal in the WEC because the fighters are so small.

    And in general, there isn’t enough space to let the fighters work their magic. Forces them to be far too close to each other which will turn MMA into more of a pure boxing and push up against the fence sort of combat style.

    I really hope they ditch this idea after this season and definitely don’t push it into the UFC events themselves.

    • Matt says:

      I’m sure it has something to do with the venues being significantly smaller in UFN & WEC than PPVs. They have discussed it for a while with the key reason being they think it would cut down on overt backpeddling. Machida will stage a protest I’m sure.

  18. Zack says:

    The cage the UFC uses on UFNs is smaller than the UFC PPV cage.

  19. 45 Huddle says:

    ******* SPOILERS ******

    Thoughts so far….

    1. For anybody who wants to see a Senior’s Division of MMA…. Just watch Hughes/Renzo as an example of why these guys should be hanging it up and not be fighting. This was as bad as Renzo looked against Newton in the IFL. The guy just is horribly boring.

    2. Matt Hughes should probably retire now. He has a few wins under his belt to retire on a high note, but the guy has nothing left.

    3. Phil Davis impressed me. The guy is stil very raw. And he certainly has a longer learning curve then Jon Jones…. But the guy just has future contender written all over him.

    4. Munoz is one tough guy. Grove has no chin.

    Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn is next….. Edgar is going to win.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      What up B!tches!! What did I tell you!! Edgar is World Champion.

      I actually had it 3 rounds for Penn, but it was very hard to tell based on some of the camera angles which punches landed.

  20. Mr. Roadblock says:

    Poll Time:

    What will be BJ’s excuse?

    A. Phantom injury only one out of five doctors can find

    B. Edgar cheated

    C. Time difference/jetlag

    D. Weight cut is too much for him at this age

    E. Bad judging

    F. Needs new camp

  21. Vic Mackey says:

    LOL! What a joke.

  22. 45 Huddle says:

    Anderson Silva is a disagrace to the sport.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      And call me crazy, but I have the 4th round for Maia based on aggression alone. And he won the 5th as well. So if any judges gave him one of the 1st 3 based on aggression…. He could win the fight…

      Silva did nothing at all for the last 2 rounds and there is no way he should have won either of them on the judges score cards….

      What a pathetic fight by Anderson Silva. The guy is spitting in the face of every person who pays a ticket to see him fight. The is spitting in the face of every person who pays for a PPV to watch him fight.

      Pathetic.

  23. liger05 says:

    A disgraceful main event. Silva should be ashamed of himself!!

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Dana White didn’t even come into the Octagon to put the belt around his waist.

      He must be PISSED.

      • Tomer Chen says:

        Perhaps Dana is regretting not letting Anderson fight Roy Jones Jr. right now. In any case, give him only top opponents that seriously risk his winning streak/title (if it’s at MW) and don’t put him in with guys who haven’t shown the capacity to fight at the very top tier. Hell, maybe Dana is thinking of tossing him at someone like Junior dos Santos or Cain Velasquez at HW to let him get battered…

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Chael Sonnen or Belfort will be next. And the fight won’t be a main event. I highly doubt they put him as a main event anytime in the next year.

          They won’t let him fight GSP now.

          The UFC shouldn’t have to worry about giving him “worthy” opponents. Leitas and Maia were both Top 10 when they were challenging for the belt. This is nobody’s fault but Anderson Silva’s. He wants to act like a clown when fighting.

          You don’t see GSP acting like a clown when given Hardy. He tried to finish it a few times and took it seriously. It was cautious… but he still took the fight seriously.

  24. IceMuncher says:

    -Silva needs an opponent that can challenge him, otherwise you get boring bs like this. Finding that man is easier said then done however. GSP could do it at 170, and guys like Shogun, Rampage and Machida at 205, but it’s a short list. Sonnen might make a fight of it, since he has no problem going straight to his wrestling without even pretending that he wants to strike.

    -Hughes: Love him (as a fighter), and he’s the second most dominant champ in UFC history behind Silva, but he needs to retire soon. I think he knows it though, and he’s just taking a few easy paydays to finish off his career. One benefit of being a company man is that Zuffa will take care of you.

    -BJ Penn vs Edgar was so close that a decision either way would have been acceptable, so it was a good decision, but 50-45 is ridiculous. I thought Edgar’s speed would give Penn trouble, but not enough to put money on it. Kinda regret it.

    -On a similar note, this is why the #1 fighter has to continue taking on all challengers. It’s very easy to assume guys like Penn, GSP, Silva and Fedor will never be beat, but the truth is that these guys aren’t as invincible as they seem.

    -Phil Davis is very raw, but it’s scary to see a national champion wrestler pull off an anaconda choke. There’s some big potential there.

  25. Zack says:

    Why didn’t they read the cards for Maia/Silva? And why did it say majority decision on the screen while Goldberg said unanimous decision?

    I wonder if one judge gave Silva rds 1 & 2, 10-10 3rd, and 4 & 5 to Maia.

  26. IceMuncher says:

    I just thought of this: Sonnen is probably going to be a trash-talking babyface when he fights Silva. Crazy world.

  27. Mr. Roadblock says:

    He’s done this three straight times at 185. UFC should strip him of the belt and/or refuse to book him at 185 for a year then strip him and force Silva to fight at 205.

    • Tomer Chen says:

      The problem is that if they do strip him of the belt, they kill any legitimacy of the next guy to get the belt as being faux champion – they need to help he loses the belt in the Octagon to someone at 185 (which I honestly don’t see happening). The better strategy is to feed his ‘desire’ by tossing him to Top 5 HWs (don’t risk killing off anymore LHW contenders since he won’t fight Lyoto at LHW so unless Rua wins the rematch, it’d be pointless beyond trying to elevate a 205 guy like Jones) and hoping he gets smashed.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        Silva will be contained only to the Middleweight Division from now on. Why have him ruin other divisions when he won’t be sticking around.

        It’s better to let him stink up only 1 division and that is it.

        • Tomer Chen says:

          The problem for MW is that he really only has 2 fights of note right now before he’s basically wiped out the division (Belfort and Sonnen) and after that, you either have to build up someone like Palhares or bring in a Jake Shields. I guess you can ice him and kill his contract if he does beat both Belfort and Sonnen but, really, that’d only make things worse for MW since he’d be the titan of the division who was ‘so feared’ that they iced him rather than tried to give him someone that could knock off his crown. The UFC is basically in a corner with Silva at this point, IMO.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          You are right. But it’s still bad business to let him ruin the other divisions potentially.

          Letting him run through opponents and hope for a shocker is the lesser of 2 evils…

  28. 45 Huddle says:

    “Silva might be first champ fighting on a prelim” – Dana White

  29. Jonathan says:

    I have not seen it…was the A. Silva fight that bad? And how come there are not more comments on Penn losing. He was supposed to be the best in the world at 155….I do not see Edgar sticking around as champion. I think alot of guys can beat him.

    • Mr. Roadblock says:

      Gray Maynard should get the first shot. He’s first in line and has a win over Edgar.

      I really hope they don’t do Florian vs Edgar. Florian has a good chance to win that fight and I really hope he never gets to be champion. Florian Edgar feels like the August main event. Or the co-headline for Brock/Carin if they can convince Edgar to turn around that quick.

  30. Jonathan says:

    And I just read the Sherdog pbp….all three of them had Penn winning pretty handily on points. Was it a good decision or did Penn get robbed?

    • Jonathan says:

      Man….is this was killed boxing? What happened to the exciting fights? Now all the high profile ones seem to be boring….and that is what I never liked about boxing…all the hugging and clinching. Are fights like A. Silva’s the MMA of the boring boxing matches?

  31. 45 Huddle says:

    Jonathan,

    Penn vs. Edgar had a few close rounds. Could have gone either way. Penn looked tired at the end. Edgar just out worked him.

    And Silva today was worse then he was against Leitas.

    Mike Rone has a great article on BE. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

  32. MK says:

    Hopkins-Jones was action packed compared to Silva-Maia. Worst high level fight (in any combat sport) that I have ever seen live.

  33. 45 Huddle says:

    “There’s people out there that need (to be) beaten up – he’s one of them. And I have a moral obligation to society to beat him up.”

    -Chael Sonnen [R] talking Anderson Silva

  34. PizzaChef says:

    Just checked out Dana White’s twitter. He’s not happy and people are trying to troll him. Yikes.

  35. 45 Huddle says:

    It amazes me that Anderson Silva’s own teammates aren’t in his face and confronting him about these performances.

    Anderson Silva is one of the 5 champions of the major MMA organization in the world. He headlines PPV’s. It is crap like he pulled that can hurt the sport.

    This is more far reaching then just Silva/Maia. If casual fans see enough fights like this…. It hurts the entire sport. That means it hurts the paychecks of his teammates like Nogueira and Machida. This means it hurts organizations like the UFC. It hurts organizations like Strikeforce and Bellator.

    What he pulled today is disrespectful to the fans. It is disrespectful to his teammates. It is disrespectful to his fellow fighters who are out there trying to put on meaningful fights and get more fans out there to increase the popularity of the sport. And this certainly is not good for the UFC who just entered a brand new market.

    Anderson Silva reminds me of Michael Jackson. A true talent that has the maturity level of a child. It isn’t shocking that he did this again. It is sad. And it’s not suprising that his child’s brain can’t figure out the idea that he is hurting the sport that his teammates are also in by pulling these stunts.

    Imagine watching the World Series and watching a pitcher taunt the batters for 9 straight innings because they can’t hit his fastball. Or watching a QB in the Super Bowl just throw the ball straight up in the air time and time again because his team is winning so much and he thinks it is funny. This is pretty much what Anderson Silva did.

    I watched Dana White’s interview with Ariel. The guy seemed so upset, almost to the point of tears. He has a champion that is keeping his division hostage, playing games, disrespecting his fanbase, and in general spitting on the sport he is trying to build up.

    People can hate on Dana White all they want… But the guy is trying to build it up more. He knows that guys like Anderson Silva can be bring down everything they worked for.

    I happen to agree with White while he was all pissed off. They should relegate him to the prelims for his next fight, put him in there with Sonner. If the fight is good, they can show it on the telecast. If not, it can be lost on the undercard like Okami’s fights are.

    • Ultimo Santa says:

      I agree 100% with everything you wrote. Excellent post.

      I have nothing to add to this because you took the words out of my mouth (or off my keyboard).

  36. Grape Knee High says:

    I had Penn winning 3-2, but I could also see 3-2 in favor of Edgar. Close fight, much closer than, say, Machida/Rua. But I had Penn winning.

    What was ludicrous was that, if I heard correctly, one idiot judge gave every single round to Edgar. Where do these guys come from?

    And, absolutely, stick Silva on the prelims. Hit him where it hurts: in his pocket. Fuck him. He deserves a severe ass-beating.

    • Zack says:

      Where do those judges come from? Ask Zuffa, since on these shows without commissions they actually select and pay the judges.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        They are typically the same judges Nevada or California use.

        And they had no incentive to have Frankie Edgar beat BJ Penn. Penn is the bigger draw and more marketable fighter.

  37. Coyote says:

    You americans, allways think be the center of the world, Anderson is too much for all the guys on the UFC’s middleweights divisiĆ³n. He can get fun of all of you for paying 45 dollars for an event, all the rest of the world get UFC for free, and his natives (Americans) still have to pay?

    You are not so clever, sons of Uncle Sam.

    I just see all the people in bloodyelbow asking for a Lesnar vs Anderson? What so weird, you are begin to look like japanese casual fans.

    You can cry all you want but AS is still the champ, and Sonnen is gonna eat….. more jokes.

    • Michaelthebox says:

      Coyote, we are the center of the world. I know it makes guys like you sad, but because we’re the center of the world, we don’t care.

      • edub says:

        Here here.

        To qoute Dave Chappelle:
        “Oh you don’t like it. Then sanction me. Sanction me with your army. Oh you don’t have an army. Well you can go ahead and shut the f*#% up then. SHUT TH F$^& UP.”
        – Dave Dhappelle as Black Bush

  38. matthew says:

    Putting Silva in any thing less than a main or co-main event while he is the belt holder is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. First of all the UFC or any org for that matter cannot de-value one of their own belts. To put a title match in anything less than the main or co-main is saying that regular matches are more important. And second who ever earns the shot at the title should not be part of a punishment for Silva.

  39. matthew says:

    And does anybody give Sonnen a better chance than any of the last 4 opponents for Silva? I got Silva by whatever he wants, which hopefully is a KO.

    • Ultimo Santa says:

      I don’t know about Sonnen, but I have a feeling that against Vitor Belfort, or Shogun at 205, Anderson Silva wouldn’t be prancing around like a fcuking fruitcake with him hands by his sides.

  40. Ivan Trembow says:

    That’s three straight Middleweight Title defenses in which Anderson Silva has spent more time goofing around than actually attempting to fight, and this was the worst one. Getting tapped out in his 11th career fight by a fighter with a career MMA record of 4 wins and 7 losses was far less shameful than Silva’s “performance” today.

  41. Ivan Trembow says:

    Also, I had Penn winning the first three rounds against Edgar, although all three rounds were close, and Edgar clearly winning the last two rounds. So I would have scored it 48 to 47 in favor of Penn, but those first three rounds were close ones.

  42. Mr. Roadblock says:

    Belfort should get Silva next, provided Vitor’s shoulder is better. If Silva clowns Vitor he’s going to sleep.

  43. CapnHulk says:

    A little showboating I can get, but man, Silva just takes it to an otherworldly level. There’s no sport in watching the man toy with someone for so long.

    There’s no honor in it either.

  44. ajz123 says:

    I am surprised there are a number of people who are ok with the Penn-Edgar decision. At no point during that fight did I think….”wow, Edgar is winning this fight.” Apparently, twitching your muscles for 25 minutes counts as being active and working hard. BJ should keep that in mind next time he fights. You don’t need to land more strikes or avoid takedowns…..just act really jittery. And the 50-45 score is easily the worst MMA judging score I have ever heard.

    It’s amazing how many fans Silva loses every time he fights.

    Excuse me while I go watch a replay of Anderson screaming in agony as he frantically taps out to a Ryo Chonan flying scissor heel hook :).

    • Michaelthebox says:

      I thought Penn won the fight too, but I was kind of pleased when Edgar got the decision. I think Penn’s general arrogance and Edgar’s likeability, combined with Penn’s mediocre performance, puts a damper on a lot of people’s concerns about the decision. Its certainly a far cry from the Machida/Shogun decision, where the charismatic challenger solved the riddle of the elusive champion and wasn’t rewarded. If Penn had gotten the decision it would have been due to his innate talent, not anything special he did. Thats why I think fewer people really care.

  45. Justin says:

    I haven’t read all the comments yet. I just want to say, that was the best night of fights that the UFC has had in a while.

  46. David M says:

    I had BJ winning 4-1. Edgar clearly won the fifth, and all the rest went to BJ. I was entirely shocked when the scores were announced and so was everyone else at the bar where I watched. That was unbelievable. I guess landing many more solid blows than your opponent and stopping almost all of his takedown attempts don’t count as much as lateral movement and running away for most of the fight.

    BJ clearly was not 100% physically but still was a better fighter. That was a disgraceful decision.

  47. klown says:

    Let’s give Anderson Silva his fair share of the blame in this fiasco, but let’s also look at the responsibility of the matchmakers.

    There’s a clear pattern if you look at Silva’s last five opponents. Cote, Leites and Maia were overwhelmingly viewed by MMA fan and critic commentary as pathetic mismatches for Silva. Anderson beat them soundly but without taking risks or making an extra effort to finish.

    In Silva’s two forays into the light heavyweight division, he faced more confident opposition that declared its intention to be the aggressor in the cage. Irvin and Griffin came right at Anderson, which allowed him, even forced him, to take them out decisively.

    For years it has been widely known that Silva feels frustrated and underchallenged in the UFC 185 pound division. He has begged to fight at 205, to compete as boxer, and more recently, to take on fights from heavyweight through welterweight! He simply doesn’t live up to his potential in the face of subpar opposition.

    From the matchmakers’ perspective, why does it make sense to waste their proclaimed “#1 pound for pound fighter in the world” against smaller, weaker, one dimensional opponents? Isn’t it more exciting for fans, and therefore more potentially lucrative, to use Anderson in multidivisional superfights? And a boxing match along the way, for good measure.

    It seems the UFC brass’s calculations lead them to believe the supermatch route would be risky and eventually detrimental to their bottom line. I’m not sure that calculation is correct. These fights would generate massive fan interest that would offset any losses due to “damage” to a champion’s aura of invincibility.

    In any case, it’s a sad state of affairs if the UFC would rather put on Silva vs Maia and St-Pierre vs Hardy (another mismatch) than risk Silva vs St-Pierre, thereby condemning one of their marquee champions to a new loss.

    All of this is not to excuse Silva’s performance. I agree with the gist of the commentary out there. But I think it’s important not to overlook the element of match-making here because it will have repercussions beyond Anderson Silva.

    It seems GSP may find himself on a similar trajectory. He has begun putting away his opponents in a routine fashion by outwrestling them for five rounds. Of course, St-Pierre reacts to the situation with a different character than Silva. GSP comes off as more respectful, puts on a more heartfelt effort, and tries to finish his overmatched opponents. Nevertheless, unless he is more seriously challenged, he will inevitably begin to turn in boring, conservative performances.

    For the sake of the fans, the UFC needs to turn Anderson Silva loose. Allow him to take on champions or contenders in every division, starting with GSP, followed by Sonnen or Belfort, then Rua and topping it off with Brock Lesnar.

    If Anderson does not rise to one of these occasions, it would become clear that the problem is not one of matchmaking and that responsibility lies entirely on Silva’s shoulders. Then we could revert to what the hardliners are advocating and relegate a champion to the undercard for the first time! But something tells me these fights would bring out the best in the Anderson Silva we all love and fear.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      So Anderson Silva acts like a child, and your solution is to reward him with bigger fights in random divisions that could disrupt each of them, just to please his appetite.

      Sorry, but that is a stupid idea.

      You don’t reward him with those fights.

      If Silva wanted those fights, he should have put on good performances against Leitas, Cote, and Maia. He didn’t, so he doesn’t deserve them.

      And I’m not sure why people bring up GSP into the Silva conversation. GSP did not disrespect ihs fanbase. He fought conservatively, but was still actively fighting for 25 straight minutes and took the fight seriously.

      Silva literally had Maia going right at him and he was circling away refusing to engage…. And then taunting him….

      • Ultimo Santa says:

        Not just circling away, RUNNING away. At one point he was literally trying to hide behind the referee, and in the last round he was threatened with a point being taken away for inactivity.

        How does the “#1 pound for pound fighter on the planet” need to be cautioned for running away?!

        Absolutely ridiculous.

        • klown says:

          It’s not about rewarding or punishing Anderson Silva. It’s about setting up the best fights for the fans. That means giving people like Silva (and St-Pierre for that matter) challenging fights.

          Check out Mike Fagan’s piece “Lambs to the Slaughter” at Bloody Elbow where he makes the argument (and note how oddsmakers have perceived the level of Silva’s recent opposition).

      • Kalle says:

        So you don’t reward bad behaviour. Great. Instead you keep tossing Silva fights he has no interest in, in the hope that he’ll learn his lesson and behave?

        Somehow I don’t see that working out for the UFC. Either they give Silva what he wants, which seems to be some cmbination of a massive payday AND an actual challenge, or Silva is going to keep clowning around. I don’t see anything that is going to make him want to change his behaviour, short of actually losing a fight.

      • Mark says:

        I put the blame on management as much as I put it on Silva. And I don’t mean Ed Soares.

        Let’s say you have an employee at another line of work who has been asking for a transfer to another area of the business for 2 years when he sees other co-workers transferred. You tell him no then he gets so miserable he puts in a half-assed effort that affects business. You either fire him or transfer him to make it stop. And since Silva wouldn’t be fired because Strikeforce would sign him up and run a number of big fights then give him what he wants.

        I know the Danaites are going to say that’s giving in and would kill authori-tah, but how are you going to get him to stop stinking up the Octagon other than that? Hold his family hostage every fight? Threaten to throw paint on his chinchilla coat? He’s going to do the same thing to Belfort and/or Sonnen guaranteed.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          You have to be kidding me. You are joking right?

          Anderson Silva has publicly stated that he still wants to defend the Middleweight Title. So you are flat out wrong.

          And the UFC has already given him what he has wanted TWO TIMES. More so then any other champion they have. They have allowed him to fight at Light Heavyweight TWO TIMES. And they were already talking up him moving to Welterweight and Heavyweight.

          They have given this guy more weight class movement then any other major fighter they currently have.

          I know it makes it hard for you to accept that because you just wanted to bash Dana White in your post.

          And, if Anderson Silva did want to move to Light Heavyweight full time, all he has to do is put on a good performance at defending the Middleweight Title… And then in the post fight interview say he wants a new challenge, vacate the belt in front of a crowd who is on his side… And then make it official.

          That is SO SIMPLE it’s silly.

          Only hardcore Dana White haters would be supporting what Anderson Silva pulled. If Silva was in the NBA, NFL, MLB, or NHL and pulled something so obviously immature during competition, he would have been benches and the news print media would have bashed him so badly that he wouldn’t have a career again until he apologized and didn’t do it again for a few years….

          Mark, you have always been a bad poster, but this is even bad for you.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          I made another post but it got blocked for some reason. Very simple…

          1. Anderson Silva has been given more leeway for moving weight classes then any other champion.

          2. Anderson Silva has publicly stated he wants to stay the Middleweight Champion.

          3. Anderson Silva could easily put on a good performance and then state he is giving up the belt to move to a new weight class.

          4. If Anderson Silva pulled this sh!t in a major sports league, he would be benched and sh!t on by the media until he apologized.

  48. Mark says:

    I had Penn winning as well. But I won’t be pissed about it because that’s what happens when you don’t finish somebody, you leave it up to subjective judges. Nobody is going to take Edgar seriously as a champion. And if he really does headline against Gray Maynard that buyrate is going to hilarious. They need to run that fight on Versus or Spike because that’s about the most unexciting fight you can possibly dream up.

    As for Silva, yes he’s a douche for screwing over fans who paid to see a real fight. But as has been pointed out he did this two other times yet had great showings at 205. I don’t know how much clearer he has to make it that this is a protest that he wants out of Middleweight. And quite frankly it is the only way Dana would possibly consider it (although I’d wager he’s more likely to be vindictive and keep him there even longer.) GSP is perfectly happy with coasting, but Anderson Silva clearly wants a challenge.

    And what’s funny is if Machida-Shogun turns out to be another dull legkick contest, then that will be 4 uninspiring championship fights in a row. The world turns its bored eyes to you, Brock and Shane.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Anderson Silva has said he wants to still defend the Middleweight Title.

      If he wants to protest anything, he needs to just come out in interviews and say he wants to move weight classes. It would happen very quickly.

      People are dilussional to think this is some sort of protest.

      Anderson Silva has the mind of a child and acts like it. Nothing more, nothing less.

  49. Fluyid says:

    I was told by someone who saw both that the Holyfield vs. Botha PPV was better than this show. This was from a guy who is basically an equal fan of both sports. Holy crap if I ever thought I’d see the day that someone would make that kind of a statement with a straight face.

  50. Grape Knee High says:

    My only problem with the subjective nature within which we all judge fights is that I’m pretty sure that Penn outstruck Edgar.

    That is to say not including the subjective things like “octagon control” and “effective striking” and “footwork” and whatever else the judges (and the fans) use to score the fight.

    Only including the objective factor of the number of strikes landed, I wasn’t quantitatively counting, but I’m pretty sure Penn landed more (and harder) strikes throughout the fight.

    • Mark says:

      FightMetric gave it to Penn 49-47.

      And the fact that Iole gives it to Edgar makes me 100% sure BJ won.

      Either way the judge who scored it for Edgar 50-45 has to be related to him. There’s no way in hell either man won all 5 rounds.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        FightMetric should be banned from any sort of real discussion.

        They are not at the events cageside. From television, it is nearly impossible to tell which strikes landed and which didn’t. And it is even more impossible to see how the strikes effected each guy due to their power.

        Being live at event gives a very different feel for those sort of things. The same thing happened for Mosley vs. ODLH. Everybody watching at home had it for Oscar. Everybody live thought Mosley was the clear cut winner.

        It was a close fight from watching it on my television. Edgar outworked Penn. It is as simple as that.

        And if you look at them by the end of the fight, both of Penn’s eyes were busted up and he looked like a defeated man. That is a guy sign he knew he lost.

        • Mark says:

          Then why are some judges asking for monitors and complaining their singular view is sometimes having problems seeing through the cage is affecting their judging? Why were the instant replay rules put in place if live was always better?

          And since you watched it on television as well doesn’t that disqualify you from being so sure Edgar “outworked” Penn?

          And didn’t we hear the same old “See! His opponent looked worse so he really won!” crap from the Tito fanboys even though all logic and statistics had Griffin winning?

        • 45 Huddle says:

          What makes me so sure? 3 judges all had it for the same fighter. Penn looked like a beaten man. Edgar’s camp was saying he was the new World Champion. All signs pointed towards an Edgar victory.

          I’m not saying the octagon side view is perfect. It isn’t. But you can certainly pick up many things that you just can’t pick up on the television. There is a very different feel to it.

          And having a replay for something that ends a fight is different then watching a 25 minute fight and possibly missing 1 or 2 punches on whether they connect or not.

        • edub says:

          Penn had one black eye going into the fight. If you can watch the event again, you can see Penn warming up back stage with the black eye.

          Penn is always dead tired after 5 rounds. The only time ive seen him not dead tired after a long fight is when he’s finished a guy( ie. Sherk, or Diego).

          Edgar might have exuded more energy, but he didn’t land as many or the harder strikes in the fight. And the way he was dancing around like he won a lop sided decision at the ended the fight pissed me off. I hope Maynard gets the first shot and gives him another lesson in wrestling.

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