MMAVu

Jake Shields may be one of the best welterweights in the world, but he’s sure far from the most exciting one. He’s a welterweight version of Jake O’Brien, a smothering type of fighter who excels in one aspect of MMA, and unfortunately for us, it’s not fun to watch. The guy has 24 wins in his career, and 11 of them have come by way of decision. *yawn*

I recorded the card, and found myself fast-forwarding the middleweight TITLE fight, and I’m a big fan. I can’t imagine what some casual fan might think. Mayhem’s fans may be called monkeys, but Shields was the monkey on this night, clinging to Mayhem for dear life, and just smothering him.

I have no problem with ground fighting, Nick Diaz vs Diego Sanchez is a prime example. But Shields seems to excel in take-downs, little girly grade 3 love taps…and not much else. If he can do anything else, he sure as hell doesn’t show it. Call it a smart win all you want, he’s a boring, boring fighter. I don’t think it’s a coincidence the guy hasn’t been picked up by the UFC. With any luck, he never will.

Fedor’s camp must have had a huge scare, as Brett Rogers had a nice showing for himself, busting Fedor up and smashing his face a few times, before being buckled by a monstrous overhand right by Fedor.

I thought the Antonio Silva/Fabricio Werdum decision was off, as I gave the nod to Silva myself.

And what can you say about a guy whose name is pronounced, “Gay-Hard”?? Gegard Mousasi put a beating on Sokodjou, whose star is free-falling after bursting on the scene in 2007 with a pair of high-profile knockouts of Nogueira and Arona. Can you say African (Houston) Alexander?? I also found it funny tha Sokodjou’s trainer, Dan Henderson, was sponsoring Gegard Mousasi. Clinch Gear on the back of Mousasi’s shorts; brilliant. At least Dan is smart enough to bet on the right horse!!

It’s hard to imagine how far and hard the once feared Arlovski has fallen, in just a short period of time. On Saturday, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion was knocked senseless by the previously unknown Brett Rogers in 22 seconds. Arlovski is only 30 years old, not old by any stretch of the imagination, but his chin, like his psyche, is likely shattered. Previously, he was knocked senseless by Fedor Emelianenko, and one guy can only take so many knockouts before he can no longer take the shots anymore. See: Silva, Wanderlei.

It’s highly possible that Arlvoski took Rogers very lightly, as he had already accepted a boxing match for June 27, a mere 3 weeks after the Rogers fight. That is now out the window. Arlovski is in a strange spot, commanding a high salary, but unable to win the big fights against the big names. We’ll see what’s next for him, but at this point his options are somewhat limited. He will likely be offered an undercard fight next against a middle of the road heavyweight, but is it feasible to pay a guy main event dollars to fight in the middle of the card?