« UFC 82 heat-up | Home | Preview of Jeremy Lappen interview »
UFC 82 (3/1/08 Columbus, Ohio)
By Zach Arnold | March 1, 2008
First, a breakdown of how users at MMA Predictions predicted the fights on today’s card:
- Dan Henderson (50%) vs. Anderson Silva (50%)
- Cheick Kongo (65%) vs. Heath Herring (35%)
- Yushin Okami (56%) vs. Evan Tanner (44%)
- Josh Koscheck (91%) vs. Dustin Hazelett (9%)
- Luke Cummo (59%) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (41%)
- Andrei Arlovski (85%) vs. Jake O’Brien (15%)
- Diego Sanchez (94%) vs. David Bielkheden (6%)
- Jon Fitch (98%) vs. Chris Wilson (2%)
- Jorge Gurgel (70%) vs. John Halverson (30%)
- Chris Leben (67%) vs. Alessio Sakara (33%)
Event results: Observer | Sherdog | MMA Junkie | MMA Mania
Winners: Gurgel, Sanchez, Koscheck, Fioravanti, Arlovski, Fitch, Okami, Leben, Herring, and Anderson Silva. 7-2-1 chalk.
Coleman vs. Lesnar could be interesting.
Audio recap: Luke Thomas w/ Adam Morgan
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 39 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I can understand the Fitch/Wilson predictions. 98% makes sense. However, I am a little uneasy, in a Serra/GSP 1 sense that Fitch might get beat.
The one that shocks me the most is Koscheck/Hazelett. I think Dustin has a decent chance of winning that fight.
Also, Okami should be favored more, and Arlovski should be favored less.
1. Fitch scared me in the first round. He looked like he could lose the fight. Glad he pulled it off. I hope Alves beats Parisyan (which I think he will) to give Fitch the next title shot without any controversy. On a side note that standup in the 1st round was one of the worst I have ever seen. Horrible ref.
2. Even with finishing a fight, Okami is still boring. But I think he will get the winner of the title fight.
3. The Leben fight was exciting. Sakara has absolutely no chin. I thought it was a good stoppage.
4. I am drunk by the time I scored Kongo/Herring, so I could be wrong… But I had it 2 rounds for Herring. To me, the first round was obviously for Kongo. The 3rd round was obviously for Herring. It all comes down to the second round. I just think Herring did more damage during that round. On a side note, he hit him with a bunch of illegal blows. Lastly, I think a fight like this shows how piss poor the Heavyweight Division is. And I’m not just talking about in the UFC. I’m talking about around the sport. It is a crap division. In no other division would you see so many 1 dimensional fighters advance so far. Guys like Kongo, Herring, and others.
5. I think Lesnar vs. Coleman is AWESOME matchmaking. This is a fight they can sell. Kudos to the UFC for getting this fight on. Coleman is old. I know this. But Lesnar is inexperienced. And I think it is a great fight to sell for the August PPV….. So right now we are looking at Liddell/Rua (June), Rampage/Griffin (July), & Lesnar/Coleman (August). The next 6 months are looking really good.
Ok, I ask again, where does Henderson go from here?
Is he really as head and shoulders above the rest of the middleweights as people tell me, while Silva is head and shoulders above him?
Does he go back to light heavy? Does he get an instant rematch against Silva?
I predicted Anderson Silva to win, but how he won was even shocking to me. I don’t think there is anybody who can debat that he is the best P4P fighter in the world. The guy is just a completely different fighter then he was in Pride.
As for Henderson, I think he needs a few wins. Doesn’t matter if they are at Light Heavyweight or Middleweight. He just needs to get in there and win.
To echo the sentiment of 45 huddle, where does Henderson go from here. Sure the UFC commentators call him a legend and all that, and he is, but he is also a fighter who is 0-2 in his last two UFC fights. He is also a fighter that is relatively unknown over here, and we do need to remember that the only reason he was the Pride 205 champ was because of one KO win against Wandy. It is not like he dominated EITHER weight division in Pride, with losses to Lil Nog and Ghono.
Henderson might want to have a DREAM to go back to Japan shortly.
Looks like Silva-Okami II is the only real matchup at the moment.
I agree that Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami is the only next logical fight.
Sadly, there seems to be nobody to contender with Silva, but that isn’t exactly the UFC’s fault. It is Silva’s fault. He is just too damn good.
A rematch with Nate Marquardt would be intresting. Bring in Robbie Lawler or Have Wanderlai Silva move to 185 and fight Anderson Silva. And of course there is Yushin Okami still around.
Lawler would get wrecked. Marquardt, who is a favorite of mine, would get wrecked again. Okami is the only natural contender at this point.
Both Silva & Rua are potential opponents down the line, but not soon enough at this point. And to me, both should be Middleweight Fighters….
Man, it is really really really easy to be uber impressed by Silva right now. The guy is simply dominating! I agree that a match between Wandy Silva and Spyder Silva would be truly awesome. The UFC could market the crap out of that fight.
On another note, Jon Fitch has won 8 fights in a row in the UFC, a record-tieing feat, albeit against unknown or sub-par opposition. Anderson Silva on the other hand has won six fights in a row against super top level opposition such as Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson. Just some food for thought
I agree that Henderson has been put into a very difficult position now. I don’t care who you are, when your last three fights have been wandy, rampage, and then anderson; you are gonna be a longshot to come out of that 3-0 or even 2-1. I can think of only a handful of fighters that have a chance at coming out of that 2-1 and one who could come out 3-0.(this includes heavyweights)
I can’t remember if it was Caplan or someone else that said the best case scenario for the UFC would be for this to be a close fight so they could set up a quick rematch (ala Sylvia/Arlovski 2 which led to 3). That obviously didn’t happen and now Anderson stands alone in a division while henderson is coming off of 2 straight losses.
I want to see Hendo vs Franklin.
It’s time for Lindland vs Silva.
I’m a Lindland fan, but what has that guy done to deserve a title shot at this point? Go look at his record. He hasn’t beaten a current Top 10 Middleweight (at the time of the fight) in over 3 years. I would say he kind of needs a big win in the Middleweight Divison first before his name should even be mentioned as a contender Silva.
I just got done watching Arlovski vs. O’Brien. Wow, I think Arlovski has lost the will to fight. Yes, he won, but it was such an unimpressive performance. He did basically nothing for 9 minuntes, and then got one takedown and then the mount and ended the fight. I do not think his mind is in fighting anymore.
Only draw for Middleweight at the moment in my mind is if Matt Hughes moves up to 185 to fight Anderson. And I don’t think Hughes can win that won.
So..I want to see Anderson vs. Fedor just for kicks. Even though it will never happen.
We know that GSP wants to move up to ensure a historic legacy. If he takes the undisputed title in April, could we see him come up to fight Silva by the end of the year, presuming that in the summer timeframe we see Okami and Silva?
Anderson vs. Wanderlei would be a good fight, actually, given that Wanderlei has talked about moving down in weight. Also, another guy at 205 that would be a great name (notice I said “name” and not “opposition”) who’s talked about dropping 20lbs is Bisping.
45 Huddle Says:
“I’m a Lindland fan, but what has that guy done to deserve a title shot at this point?”
You are missing the whole point 45. The UFC can’t afford to try and make someone “earn” a title shot when they don’t have a viable number 1 contender (e.g. Horn vs Liddell 2). At this point its more like Lindland is doing them a favor, not vice versa.
Everyone is talking about Okami as being next but that matchup doesn’t seem too intriguing to me. Since the UFC was unable to sign Kang and Lindland, I would think the next move for Silva is to move up a weight class.(that won’t happen for awhile though)
Silva address a move in weight class on his post fight interview (which is up on the ufc website). He said is more likely to drop down in weight then move up to Light Heavyweight.
I think if GSP can beat Serra & Fitch, then a showdown between the two would be amazing.
As for Silva’s next challenger… I think if the UFC put a good enough undercard with a Silva/Okami fight, they would be okay. Silva is just so good right now that even a Lindland fight might not be that close. He might just be that good.
Another thing I think should be noted is that both Henderson & Lindland are getting up there in age. They can still compete on a high level at 38, but who knows how much longer for. And if they do slow down, it won’t be like Couture who can get a redo on his career in a generally bad division full of slow and one dimensional fighters. When a lighter weight fighter goes down hill, a lot of times that is it. Have to think that time is coming sooner then later for both of those athletes. Which gives that division even less talent in the years to come.
I think the best hope for the UFC is to see Mauricio Rua come down in weight. And then just pray that both him and Michael Bisping get on some win streaks…. And those can be made into some big money fights… but not anytime soon.
These are some sensible future match-ups at Heavyweight on the basis of the following (linear) rankings.
1. Nogueira
2. Sylvia
3. Arlovski
4. Werdum
5. Gonzaga
6. Herring
7. Kongo
8. Mir
– Nogueira (#1) vs Arlovski (#3) for the title
– Werdum (#4) vs Mir (#8) for #1 contender
– Sylvia (#2) vs Kongo (#7)
– Gonzaga (#5) vs Herring (#6)
UFC needs knees to the head on the ground badly. The Arlovski, Fitch, & Herring fights wouldn’t have been half as boring if north south & turtle positions safe zones.
dice: it doesn’t matter in the slightest that Lindland is slightly higher ranked than Okami. Lindland is not popular enough, marketable enough, or a big enough threat to Anderson to make any difference in PPV buys over an Anderson/Okami matchup. At this point its the Anderson show, and who they match him up with is fairly immaterial unless the opponent is extremely marketable. Lindland is not.
Is Anderson Silva big enough now to sell a PPV based on his own name? I tend to think so. He isn’t the biggest draw for them, but his style has made a non-english speaker about as popular as they can get to a mainly American Audience.
As for the future Heavyweight fights….
1. Werdum vs. Vera is in June.
2. I completely agree on Sylvia vs. Kongo. That fight makes so much sense at this point.
3. Arlovski vs. Nogueira also makes a lot of sense. The only problem is that Arlovski has likely priced himself out. And he really doesn’t seem all that interested in fighting right now. His win over O’Brien was uninspiring. But in terms of marketable Heavyweight title fights, that’s the next big one.
In a perfect world, we would get Nogueira vs. Couture w/ the winner fighting Arlovski. Or in an even more perfect world, get Nogueira/Arlovski vs. Couture/Fedor.
I would assume Herring will now face Sylvia or Mir as a ‘reward’ for beating Kongo.
Michaelthebox Says:
“dice: it doesn’t matter in the slightest that Lindland is slightly higher ranked than Okami. Lindland is not popular enough, marketable enough, or a big enough threat to Anderson to make any difference in PPV buys over an Anderson/Okami matchup. At this point its the Anderson show, and who they match him up with is fairly immaterial unless the opponent is extremely marketable. Lindland is not.”
Mike buddy, what happens if Silva dismantles Okami? Here is a crazy idea, maybe silva could have faced both of them. You act like he could have only fought one or the other.
Whether a Lindland/silva fight is more marketable than silva/okami fight is something I have no intention of debating (since I don’t see the relevance in it). Although I disagree with your assertion that it is fairly immaterial who the UFC matches silva up with, in fact I think they and just about everybody else knows that the big challenge ahead of them right now is trying to get decent opponents for Silva so the fights aren’t blowouts (or perceived to be as such). But you seem to be thinking one fight at a time; having Lindland in the division would have been nothing but a positive for the UFC.
But yes Lindland vs Silva is more intriguing to ME than Okami vs Silva. Lindland, despite what you may think, is highly regarded among hardcore fans and is a former UFC middleweight champ who gave Rampage all he could handle a little while back. Having silva fight a guy who Franklin recently beat doesn’t seem all that compelling to me.
45 huddle, it remains to be seen if Arlovski “priced himself out”. If he can get someone else to pay him what he wants then he really hasn’t priced himself out. My guess is that he will end up getting what he wants from someone else if the UFC doesn’t want to resign him.
Before last night I would have passed on the idea of Silva vs. Lindland, but after last night was over I think the fight is pretty logical.
If you have the Okami fight next, we\’ll probably have to wait till the end of year at the earlist, before any sort of new contender emerges (where it be Wand, Shogun, Bisping, Hendo, or whom ever)
And I think the answer to question \”Is Anderson Silva big enough now to sell a PPV\” will be with this buyrate. If this last matchup doesnt sell, I can\’t imagine Lindland, Okami, Wand, Shogun, Bisping or anyone else doing much better.
“Lindland is not popular enough, marketable enough,”
Seriously? Lindland is an OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALIST who is one of the wittiest fighters in the game when it comes to smack talk. Do you not remember his complete ownage of Baroni? (not talking about the fights)
If you can’t market that guy, then you need to hire a new marketing team.
Not to mention the guy was just the conerman for his long-time friend, whom got beat down by the unstoppable foreigner. If the UFC is going to bring Lindland in it’s now or never.
Even if Dana wanted to he can’t sign Lindland anymore – he’s just signed a 3 fight contract with the rumoured Affliction backed promotion.
Does anyone watch the Olympics?
How can you sign a contract with something that’s a rumor? The promotion exists, or it does not. If it does not, then there is no contract.
Didn’t Lindland learn his lesson after signing with Bodog?
Heck, even M-1 isn’t putting on any events. If people for M-1, who Fedor already signed with, can’t come to terms with his management in order to put on an event… It makes it very clear that Zuffa had nothing to do with Fedor not signing with the organization.
“Lindland, despite what you may think, is highly regarded among hardcore fans and is a former UFC middleweight champ who gave Rampage all he could handle a little while back.”
Woogie is not a former MW champ. He lost to Bustamante twice (in one fight) and got KOed out of a title shot by Terrell.
Lindland has done nothing at 185 to warrant a title shot at this point. Bringing him in to face Silva would be a move along the lines of Liddell/Horn II in the sense that the challenger has no business challenging, despite what happened in the past.
Anderson Silva is a great fighter and I believe that the guy like him gives the champion belt a real meaning.
However, is he really the best 185 lb guy in the world like geek are talking everywhere on the internet? I DO NOT THINK SO. Before he signed with Zuffa, he flew to Hawaii where he participated in 8-Men tournament. Anderson was eliminated even before the finals.
1. Jake Shields
2. Carlos Condit
3. Yushin Okami
4. Frank Trigg
In Hawaii, new mecca for MMA, these guys are still ranked higher than the spider. Beating school teacher twice does not mean he already surpassed the rest.
Rampage said in a recent interview that Wandalei could’ve never won against him if it weren’t for PRIDE referees who favored the Brazilian. The same goes here in the octagon. Silva was losing in the fight with Lutter, but when he threw an illegal upright kick that landed in Lutter’s face, he was not even given a yellow card and they let the fight continue. And again in UFC 73, as soon as the challenger (Nate Mcquardt) took him down for G’n’P, Big John stood them up without any explanation. This time, Silva beat the top notch guy(Henderson) for the first time in the UFC.
I do not mean to take anything away from Anderson. He’s one of the best for sure and he’s one of the most complete strikers in MMA. But without testing him against Jake Shields, Yushin Okami, Paulo Filho, Ricardo Almeida, Yoshihiro Akiyama, it’s too early to say he’s the best fighter in the world. To me, he’s been taking advantage of UFC’s weakest division(185) and Zuffa’s favorism towards strikers.
rainrider,
I hope you are trolling, cause that is one of the funniest posts I have read in 2008.
1. Silva was DQ’d in that tournament. Not like Shields/Trigg/Condit and others all beat him.
2. That was not an illegal upkick by Silva. Lutter’s knees were off the ground when it landed.
I guess no matter how good a fighter is, there will always be haters.
Boy did they ever BURY Arlovski on commentary. That was one of the most blatantly disgusting acts I’ve ever heard from that front. They didn’t say much bad in the first round, but after that round it was obvious AA was likely to win, and they immediately started throwing out insult after insult. It sounded like a WWE show where Vince McMahon tells the commentators to put something over or down through the head sets. This was definitely not ok.
As for Henderson, he needs to fight someone who is not already close to being a contender(i.e. not Lutter, Okami, Coté or Almeida). Him against Leben, Herman, Leites, Marquardt or Eastman makes sense to me. Then you either get Hendo’s first win or someone is elevated one or two steps up by beating him. Hendo vs. Franklin would be a nice super fight, but the winner sure as hell can’t face Silva, so no thanks.
What were they saying about Arlovski? The curiosity is killing me!
—-In response to 36
> rainrider,
I hope you are trolling, cause that is one of the funniest posts I have read in 2008.
Thank you, but I’m not trolling.
> 1. Silva was DQ’d in that tournament. Not like Shields/Trigg/Condit and others all beat him.
Ok, it’s like you go to a local BJJ tournament, you poke in the eye of your 1st opponent and get DQ’d, then you say you could come on top of them. Can you get any more ridiculous than that?
Sherdog Fight Finder says: Anderson lost to Okami who lost to Jake Shields. The undeniable fact is that Anderson was eliminated before the finals not by the accident, but breaking the rule. In Hawaii, people still consider him a soft voiced brother of Shonie Carter.
> 2. That was not an illegal upkick by Silva. Lutter’s knees were off the ground when it landed.
The same kick handed Ricardo Almeida a DQ loss. Lutter did not complain because he knew Dana had been too angry to listen to him.
> I guess no matter how good a fighter is, there will always be haters.
I’m not a hater of Anderson. I do not hate anybody in MMA. I just think the way Scott Smith stare some people is a little weird.