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UFN3: My Thoughts
By Rob Sayers | January 17, 2006
UFN3 was a good event, outof 8 fights, 1 went to the judges. I like that. Here’s a few of my thoughts on the fights we got to see.
Chris Leben vs Jorge Rivera
Leben came into this fight pretty much as an underdog and once again proved his critics wrong. He seems to get better with every fight, and I feel he has finally graduated from status of TUF fighter to being a real UFC fighter. I feel bad for Jorge, he’s a good solid fighter with some good wins, but I have my doubts he’ll recover from this loss.
Drew Fickett vs Josh Burkman
It’s time for Burkman to face a real make-or-break opponent. We’ve seen him blow through two fighters now in impressive fashion, we need to see him against someone who will really press the action and keep pressure on him. Fickett will be back, he’s got some great skill. With some work he could be in line for a title, but after last night that, I think it will be some time before that happens.
Stephan Bonnar vs James Irvin
Bonnar is a smart fighter. He seems to prefer standup, but knows when it’s best to use his ground skills. Impressive control and a slick submission. I think Bonnar is another fighter who has moved past the status of a TUF1 fighter last night. We didn’t get to see much of Irvin last night except for the fact that once again he’s in trouble on his back.
Jonathan Goulet vs Duane Ludwig
Someone on a forum I read this morning said “Never bet against a guy who trains with Bas Rutten”. And to be honest, that’s the reason I picked Ludwig as the favorite for this bout. Ludwig definately demonstrated the difference between the striking of a pro kickboxer and an mma fighter as he managed to KO Goulet with the first punch he threw. There are questions about his ground game, but I suspect we’ll see those answered in the future.
Tim Sylvia Vs. Assuerio Silva
Unfortunately, this was the least exciting fight of the night. Fortunately, the UFC finally brought in some decent heavyweight talent. While Silva didn’t look great last night, he is far above most of the other HW talent in the UFC. I was disapointed that Silva was reluctant to engage, although I can understand it. I’m sure that fighting someone 6’8″ is no easy task. Let’s get this guy in the ring with someone closer to his size and see how it goes. To his credit, he ate some decent shots and managed to keep Sylvia from landing any bombs. Going the distance in a standup fight with Tim Sylvia is a feat in itself.
So now we get to see the rematch between Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovski. I can’t say I’m extremely excited about this, and I can’t imagine the outcome will be much different than the first match.
Hughes vs Gracie announcement
Who else thinks this is the mismatch of the century? Unless Royce does some serious training, he’s in big trouble here. Matt Huges is a very complete fighter who as he said, can finish a fight in many different ways. Royce… not so well rounded.
Sure people will debate the fact that Hughes seems to be lacking in submission defence. Does anyone remember the last time Royce submitted a decent opponent? It was Dan Severn in 1994, and it took him 15 minutes to secure the triangle choke. In a modern UFC fight, the fight would have been over with Severn having the unanimous decision.
I’m just glad this is taking place in the UFC, where the rules are controlled by state athletic commissions so there won’t be any special rules as we’re so used to seeing with Royce.
Topics: All Topics, Rob Sayers, UFC | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
How dare you not classify Akebono as decent! 🙂
Agreed thats a future New Japan Tag Team Champion your talking about there. Plus the man who will carry Kenta Kobashi to the first 5 star match of his career.
Hey Rob. Great breakdown of the fight card. Silva looked like he was shking off a lot or ring rust. I think it’s a a different fight if Silva had at least one tune up before matching up against Sylvia. He always looked a step slow, nothing like the fighter that fought Alex Emealanko at the Inoki show. Without the rust I think he decsions Sylvia.
Nice. Keep up the good work.