After UFC 77, it’s not just a forgone conclusion to me, it’s a fact everyone needs to latch on to: the lightweights are the structure that builds a UFC card – the best matches on the show.
UFC 76 and UFC 77 both saw $40,000 Fight of the Night bonuses go to the 155 pound fighters as they battled for two close decision wins in the octagon. Other weight classes have their highlights, but it’s the smaller guys that seem to be getting the crowds excited, and exhibited the most hotly contested matches.
During UFC 76, Tyson Griffin and Thiago Tavares proved to be one of the more stimulating fights on live television lately as both men battled back and forth on their feet and on the mat for the full 15 minutes. During the ensuing battle, there were flying knees, omoplatas, and judo throws. The stand up was there. The ground game was in play. Hold-reversal-counterhold-countermove. Griffin took the win and Tavares racked up his first loss. If I wanted to hook someone on MMA, this might be one of the newer fights I would show them.
UFC 77 had us at the edge of our seats as Matt Grice and Jason Black went toe to toe with multiple submission attempts and a hearty dose of Tito Ortiz’s favorite; ground and pound. It seems the Grice would start each round dominant and then Black would attempt to switch things away his away. The fight was initially called a draw because addition proved too difficult for the judges until Grice walked away with a decision win. Both fighters also took home a cool $40,000 for their show.
We also saw Jorge Gurgel and Alvin Robinson pummeling each other throughout three very exciting rounds – one in which a 10-8 score was given by one of the judges to Robinson after he nearly put Gurgel away for good. There was an insane amount of technical Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu throughout the 15 minutes – enough to keep the boo-happy crowd excited even though the fight was on the ground. There were more transitions than punches. Robinson beat hometown hero Gurgel for the deserved win, but it was a great fight none the less.
I wasn’t able to observe the UFC 75 lightweight fights as they were in the
UFC 74, however, was back in the U.S with some more well known fighters. Although the fight between Roger Huerta and Alberto Crane had some slow parts thanks to Crane’s cardio, or lack thereof, it was still more exciting than most of the other fights on the card. Huerta took the win via TKO as Crane was not able to stop his strikes in the final round. Also on UFC 74, Joe Stevenson and Kurt Pellegrino put on a show for the fans that ended in a decision win for Stevenson and a potential title shot, oh, maybe 3 years down the road in the stacked UFC division. Marcus Aurelio and Clay Guida also lasted all three rounds with Guida barely edging his Brazilian opponent for a split decision win.
Perhaps the UFC should keep these lightweight bouts in the beginning of each televised card. The crowd needs an electrifying fight to start the positive momentum throughout the show and the smaller guys seem to keep things moving. Let’s see what happens with the Spencer Fisher/Frank Edger bout during UFC 78 – I’m sure they wouldn’t mind each grabbing some extra cash for putting on a good show. Perhaps it will be the preliminary fights between Joe Lauzon and Jason Reinhardt or Marcus Aurelio and Luke Claudillo that take the “Fight of the Night†bonus.
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January 18th, 2008 at 3:03am
i watch ufc on fox all the time..