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UFC 72

By Zach Arnold | June 16, 2007

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Event results: Observer | Sherdog | MMA on Tap | F4W Online | Fight Report | UFC Junkie | The Fanhouse | CBS Sportsline | NBC Sports | The Houston Chronicle | THC 2 | UFC HP | The Canadian Press | The Washington Post | The Sweet Science | Sam Caplan | The Long Beach Press-Telegram

The LA Times: Griffin, Franklin win title bouts

Luke Thomas has an audio recap of the UFC 72 event. Luke was critical of Kevin Iole on his radio show for pre-UFC 72 fight analysis on Spike TV. Kevin had a positive take on the 7,850 fans that showed up for UFC 72, even though other media reports (including quotes from Dana White) were anything but 100% positive in regards to the business the show did.

Meanwhile, Mike Swick is busy playing at the WSOP. Also, UFC is once again aiming to run in Montreal. Dana White calls Tito Ortiz a big sissy.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 26 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

26 Responses to “UFC 72”

  1. PizzaChef says:

    Great fights. I thought Clay was robbed. I’m tempted to do a bit of trolling and do the whole “HE WOULD OF WON IN PRIDE!” thing.

  2. 45 Huddle says:

    I’m not sure if the decision was horrible.

    First round was for Griffin. Second round for Guida. The third round was very hard to call. Griffin was on the bottom for a few minutes, but Guida did nearly nothing and Griffin hit him with a LOT of strikes. The announcers seemed a little biased in that regard. I can see how the judges gave it to Griffin.

  3. 45 Huddle says:

    So far the PPV has been very good. I am a MMA addict and would purchase this PPV anyways. But I had little expectations, and I have been very entertained.

  4. Scott White says:

    Guida got ROBBED!

  5. PizzaChef says:

    The other thing that got me concerned with that fight was I thought I saw Tyson tap. It looked like a clear tap.

  6. Body_Shots says:

    Guida got ROBBED!

    Close fight, wasn’t a robbery.

  7. 45 Huddle says:

    Watch the fight without commentary….

  8. Body_Shots says:

    I barely hear commentary when I watch fights – completely zone out.

    I thought Guida won, but it was a close fight all 3 rounds. The type of fight that should have more than 3 rounds.

  9. PizzaChef says:

    I think I’m convinced that the Forrest chants are piped, a-la WCW….

  10. 45 Huddle says:

    First 2 rounds of the main event weren’t fun to watch. The last round was. And it brings up a legit issue. The UFC needs to change its format, and I have said this for sometime.

    They need to have official #1 Contender fights. This Franklin/Okami fight was obviously to determine a contender. And those fights, like title fights, should really be 5 rounds. The 3 rounds to determine who fights for a belt just isn’t long enough.

  11. Body_Shots says:

    [They need to have official #1 Contender fights. This Franklin/Okami fight was obviously to determine a contender. And those fights, like title fights, should really be 5 rounds. The 3 rounds to determine who fights for a belt just isn’t long enough.]

    Agreed, but the fighters know it’s a 3 round bout. It was on Franklin and specifically Okami to be agressive.

  12. JThue says:

    I want to see Franklin win the belt now so we can get a rematch with five rounds. But I don’t think he stands a chance against Silva, as he showed nothig here. This was one of those fights where just three rounds felt like bait and switch. Having said that, Okami should have fought like it was 3R, not 5. Solid show, and nice to get the 74 and 75 fight confirmations.

    Guida 29-28 in my book(and I too score on my own, not by listening to anyone else), but either one makes a great contender, and hopefully that’s where T.Griffin is at now. Regardless, that fight was even better than the AWESOME I expected it to be, so hopefully the decision won’t blur people’s memory of a FOTY contender.

  13. 45 Huddle says:

    Body_Shots,

    I completely agree. It was more Okami who wasn’t bringing the fight until the 3rd. I don’t expect Franklin to just rush Okami and give up position to make an exciting fight.

    I guess my comments about it being 5 rounds has to do with a long history of top level “unofficial” #1 contender fights ending after 3 rounds when we really should of had the full 5.

    I actually think it is going to be Franklin vs. Marquardt. And Marquardt could beat him.

  14. Jarred says:

    UFC officially coming to Canada in the fall:

    http://www.tsn.ca/tsn/news_story/?ID=211006&hubname=

  15. Allen says:

    Anybody else spot Kazuhiro Nakamura sitting Octagon side? It was either him, or a dead-ringer in both looks and personal style.

  16. MoreThanUFC says:

    Naka is one of the few respectable Pride officials. Glad he was there.
    Guida got robbed, blows from the guard are to buy time, they almost never do any damage.
    Okami wins that fight if it were judged in Pride or Pancrase where the bout is judged as a whole and not boxing-style round by round. But it doesnt matter, the third should have been a 10-8 for Okami anyway. Rich got the last 20 secs of it after Okami gassed from mounting him and hammering away, locking in a momentary guillotine, cinching in one of the sickest half guard kimura’s I can remember not once but twice, and then switching to a straight armlock. Another poster boy wins.

  17. Jordan Breen says:

    “Okami wins that fight if it were judged in Pride or Pancrase where the bout is judged as a whole and not boxing-style round by round.”

    Pancrase use the ten point must system.

  18. Ivan Trembow says:

    White calling Ortiz “a big sissy” must be part of his efforts to be more respectful and less demeaning towards one of his top PPV draws. He previously called him “a big pussy,” and now he appears to have softened his stance to calling Ortiz “a big sissy.” Perhaps one day he’ll take it a step further and merely call Ortiz “a big loser” or something less offensive.

  19. MoreThanUFC says:

    “Pancrase use the ten point must system.”
    They do now I know, I show my age and harken back to when I used to watch Pancrase live. I hate the 10 point must system. It doesnt apply to MMA.

  20. chairibofjustice says:

    How exactly would it have helped Guida with judges by not having the 10 point must system? These judges don’t know what they are watching in the first place, using the Pride scoring system wouldn’t have helped.

    In fact, it probably would make suspect judgments more prevalent in the MMA world. With the 10 point must system a judge at least has to show some accountability in his/her scoring. With a system like Pride’s, the judge doesn’t have to show how he scored each round, not only that a judge really wouldn’t have to show anything but the winner basing their judgment on some kind of abstract and arbitrary notion that none one could quantify.

  21. Mike says:

    Not for nothing, but Iole was actually there in Belfast, whereas nearly everyone else was “reporting” from their office or their couch. I’ll take the word of the guy who was there, thanks.

  22. Tomer Chen says:

    Not for nothing, but Iole was actually there in Belfast, whereas nearly everyone else was “reporting” from their office or their couch. I’ll take the word of the guy who was there, thanks.

    Dana White wasn’t at the show…?

  23. Schlegel says:

    More than UFC, you suprise me with your analysis of the Franklin fight, because most of the comments I have seen from you are pretty intelligent. Franklin beat Okami no matter what scoring system you use. Last time I checked reversing submissions/position gets you points also, granted not as much as the submussion attempt, but still. Okami did absolutely nothing in the first two rounds. Every scoring system I have seen scores for aggression. I give it to Okami in the third, because that was a deep Kimura, but then don’t you have to give it up to Franklin for rolling with Okami to alleviate pressure and working his way out of the sub? I may be wrong, but I think Franklin won pretty much exactly how the judges had it. It was close, but Okami didn’t take that fight from Franklin.

  24. Jordan Breen says:

    “They do now I know, I show my age and harken back to when I used to watch Pancrase live. I hate the 10 point must system. It doesnt apply to MMA.”

    Pancrase never used PRIDE judging. They used to use a lost points system.

  25. Adam Morgan says:

    LOL. I just realized that the LA Times article says they won “title bouts.” Nice, we have new champions! Whoo!

  26. Ivan Trembow says:

    The Washington Post article said in multiple places that Franklin vs. Okami and Griffin vs. Ramirez were “light middleweight” bouts. It also said that Griffin vs. Ramirez was the main event of the evening.

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