Press row at the Palms was packed, so I grabbed a seat in the invisible press box, right next to the great Hunter S. Thompson, who’s alter egos never quite left Las Vegas. He couldn’t get tickets down the street either, or so I imagine.
In reality, there was probably a seat for me in one of the cage side press rows, had I applied for a credential and they not seen “.com” at the end. Last night a real promotion job was done in Vegas, and most of the press went for closer observation. I won’t mention any names as to why there were empty seats in the Pearl, but suffice to say it wasn’t a Countdown to Liddell and Silva, but the gentlemen were there 24/7, even if their profession was rumored to be as dead as Mr. Thompson. Sad I can’t include the aforementioned men in such a great sell job, but Mr. White doesn’t like giving up control to those fine folks at HBO like Mayweather and Hatton do. Oops, I’ve said to much.
- Dorian Price lost to the guy who was in the house for a cup of coffee… by ankle lock in the first round?! A deer caught in headlights, I think he means well, but struggles to put it all together mentally. With all due respect to Mitichyan, who I believe trains with many talented fighters like Karo Parisyan, Price had a great boot camp with unlikable leader Matt Hughes, and then went off to train for a while before coming in for this fight. He should have had the experience to go further, and I wonder if we’ll see him in the IFL or an Elite XC feeder system show next year. I’d like to think the guy can progress from here, but that was pretty bad.
- George Sotiropoulos submitted and destroyed Billy Miles. With all due respect to Tommy Speer, it’s a shame George wasn’t in the final where he belonged. Fighters, take all the time you need when your hit in the back of the head, below the belt, or in the eyes. I know it seems like you’re making everyone wait, but they’re only staring at you because they paid to see you. Your the show and you dictate the pace, not the TV channel or the faces who cheer and boo.
-The War Machine and Jared Rollins. what a vast improvement from the show guys, especially you machine. Great heart, because if you don’t stick your feet out to push Rollins back at one point, they are waving off that fight. I expected this from the main event, but not these guys, and I hope it was enough to get them contracts. Them being on TV was a good sign of that. Get with the right camps, because you both grew up alot tonight, especially Jon Koppenhaver.
I saw Koppenhaver as a sweet but tragically flawed and mentally immature kid on the show, and while he obviously still carries some of that baggage, he’s empowered right now. Here’s hoping the guy believes in himself a little more after tonight. So much of fighting is a mental game. There’s a guy fighting on the 29th who had problems getting his head together and feeling confident. George St. Pierre. Reminds me of a great saying: “He believed he could, and so he did.”
- How depressing must it be for Dana White that the guy who won the 170 pound TUF finale had already said before the fight he was dropping down to 155? Probably not as much as I might think, considering that 170 has good depth as well, but it is the perfect finish to a disappointing and bizarre season of the show.
Mac Danzig defeated Tommy Speer by way of superior skill, and a submission. It was as flawless a performance I’ve seen from a guy who many gave the winner’s contract to the day the competition started. I guess we’ll never get that Danzig-Sotiropoulos fight after all. Danzig has a good future, even if I think that future is as a Ed Herman impersonator. Tommy Speer too, and he’ll be good. Probably at fighting, but I was thinking of him dying his hair to properly parody training partner Gray Maynard.
-Huetra knocks out Guida. The golden boy lives to fight another day. Perhaps Dana used voodoo to protect the twenty-four year old from ringside, but I’ve never been so happy to have picked the wrong guy in the third. I thought Guida would have the knockout in the third last night, but Huerta caught him with a furious knee that sent this one to the ground and out. Just a brilliant fight that was everything that I love about MMA and more. You lose yourself as a fan in those moments, yelling at your TV - I mean from the press box over Hunter’s attorney - and it was everything that I wanted Edgar-Fisher to have been and wasn’t last month.
Clay Guida is the tough luck kid, sporting a losing record in the UFC when he very well could be undefeated, but we all know exciting fights gets you more paid and better fights. Guida has a job for another 2-3 years based off his 2007 performances.
Huerta, after tonight, will be the source of even more speculation and media attention. It will never get easier beyond this point, and I think he knows that. His poise and calm under pressure blew me away tonight. He’s top ten in the UFC lightweight division now, I don’t think it can be argued (well), and let me be the first to throw out some opponent names. Matt Grice, Alvin Robinson, Tyson Griffin, Marcus Aurelio and below that perhaps Kurt Pellierino, Jason Black, or Thiago Tavares. I’ll watch ANY of those fights.
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