MMAVu

UFC 93 is in the books, and here’s a quick run down:

Dan Henderson vs Rich Franklin
Hendo swarmed Franklin early, hurting him on the ground but Franklin was able to work his way back out. Franklin peppered Hendo with punches, while Hendo looked for that home run shot. The judge’s scorecards were clearly out to lunch, as one judge had it 30-27 for Franklin, while the other two gave the nod to Hendo. An errant eye poke nearly ended the bout with 37 seconds left, but Franklin was able to finish the fight.

Mauricio Rua vs Mark Coleman
This fight quickly turned into the battle of the blow up dolls. By that, I mean utterly gassed. You expect the muscle-bound, 44yr old Coleman to gas, but you expect more of the 27yr old Rua, the man once considered the best 205lb fighter on the planet. One thing is for sure, had this Rua showed up to fight Rashad Evans, Evans was knock him out in under a minute. Rua also inexplicably did nothing after slapping on a shoulder lock on Coleman, preferring to sit back and recover rather than sit up and finish the submission, which he had plenty of time to do. An unimpressive performance to say the least…but the UFC goes and hands him (Rua) a headlining slot vs Chuck Liddell at UFC 97 in Montreal. Go figure. Rua finally ends the pain of watching the plodding fight by stopping Coleman with punches near the end of the 3rd round.

Rousimar Palhares vs Jeremy Horn
Palhares looked good early but the wily veteran Horn weathered the storm and gave it right back as Palhares tired. Horn didn’t do enough though, and Palhares got the decision.

Alan Belcher vs Denis Kang
In a total shocker, muay thai specialist Alan Belcher choked out the decorated Kang via guillotine in the 2nd round after being dominated in all aspects; striking, grappling and wrestling. The look on Kang’s face, the “what the hell just happened?!” look, showed he was shocked too.

Marcus Davis vs Chris Lytle
Poor Lytle, always the bridsmaid. These guys stayed true to their word, and neither guy took the other down. Davis did just a hair more than Lytle in the eyes of the judges. However, on second viewing, it could have easily been Lytle’s win.

Undercard:
John Hathaway def. Tom Egan by TKO (Strikes) R1
Martin Kampmann def. Alexandre Barros TKO (Strikes) R2
Eric Schafer def Antonio Mendes by TKO (Strikes) R1
Thomasz Drwal def. Ivan Serati by KO R1
Denis Siver def. Nate Mohr by Referee TKO (Strikes) R3

It appears the UFC saved the knockouts for the un-aired portion of the broadcast. Bastards!!

Fight of the Night 1: Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle
No surprise here. The two stood and traded bombs for 15 minutes without tiring. Like two rock’em sock’em robots.

Fight of the Night 1A: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Mark “The Hammer” Coleman
This one was a bit of a surprise. It was indeed a back and forth bout, but both fighters gassed out four minutes into the opening round.

Submission of the Night: Alan Belcher
Like I said, Belcher was getting his ass handed to him, when he reached around back and pulled a guillotine out his arse.

Knockout of the Night: Denis Siver
This was the opening bout, and started off with a bang by Siver, who smashed Mohr and got the Irish fans ready for the rest of the night.

All of these fighters got $40,000 for their bonuses, on top of their regular pay.

Does UFC 93 appear to be the “forgotten” pay-per-view? Broadcast on tape-delay, in another country with little hype and with a lukewarm main event. Given the fact they’ve already aired a hype package for UFC 94, its clear to me that is the case. In any event, the fights should still be good.

RICH “ACE” FRANKLIN vs DAN “HENDO” HENDERSON

It appears to be a fight that was thrown together, like these were the two biggest names still “available” at the time. Add to the fact the winner of this fight, at 205lbs, will face Michael Bisping at 185lbs makes even less sense. Both Franklin and Henderson failed in their attempts at beating Anderson Silva, the 185lb king, pitting them against Bisping and possibly derailing Bisping’s road to Silva makes even less sense. In any event, Franklin’s crisper striking and sub-defense will be the difference maker, and he’ll eke out a decision.

MARK “THE HAMMER” COLEMAN vs MAURICIO “SHOGUN” RUA

I like Rua in this one. 17 years younger, way less mileage, better technique and he’s finally healthy. Look for Rua to make it a short night for Coleman, with a TKO in round 1.

ALAN “THE TALENT” BELCHER vs DENIS KANG

This is Kang’s big debut. He’s huge overseas, but an unknown to casual fans. Hopefully that changes after this fight. Kang is just one notch better at everything than Belcher, and I expect him to take the decision.

JEREMY “GUMBY” HORN vs ROUSIMAR “TOQUINO” PALHARES

Horn has been around forever, with over 100 fights, but he’s still younger than Rich Franklin. That adds up to a huge amount of wear and tear, and give Palhares the submission victory. Say, round 2.

MARCUS “THE IRISH HAND GRENADE” DAVIS vs CHRIS “LIGHTS OUT” LYTLE

Ok, so this one will be a stand-up war, with one of these guys getting knocked out. It just HAS to happen, with two good friends, both former boxers and a ton of friendly trash talk. I say Davis by TKO in the 2nd round. It really could go either way though.

MARTIN “THE HITMAN” KAMPMANN vs ALEXANDRE BARROS

I know nothing about Barros, but I know Kampmann is quite impressive, even fighting above his weight class. I say Kampmann by TKO, round 2.

ERIC “RAVISHING RED” SCHAFER vs ANTONIO “SUMURAY” MENDES

Hmm, Mendes by TKO, round 2. He looked really good in a losing effort to a Brazilian buzzsaw in Thiago Silva.