This is just as far as fights go, not the announcing or the production value as a whole. Affliction had a HD stream which provided better picture quality, but the UFC still has a better overall production value. Megadeth wasn’t too bad for Affliction as they didn’t go overboard with live music and allowed the fights to continue at a reasonable pace. I was expecting them to open with Symphony of Destruction, which they did.
Best
Andrei Arlovski showing his power against Ben Rothwell throughout three rounds of fighting. Even though Arlovski unloaded on Rothwell on multiple occasions, Big Ben didn’t give up until he collapsed.
Cain Valesquez didn’t let Jake O’Brien do anything in their short and one-sided UFC fight. Valesquez was quick to put on a crucifix and wail away at O’Brien until the fight was stopped in the first round. Valesquez is being hailed as the next big thing in the UFC heavyweight division and this fight only helped.
Josh Barnett dropped Pedro Rizzo lifeless with a shot that rocked the canvas and a lot of televisions. Barnett went on to land a hammerfist for good measure immediately following Rizzo’s fall as Herb Dean darted to halt the action. Barnett got the crowd going and said a few things to hype himself up. You can tell he wants to be on the next Affliction PPV and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s fighting someone bigger and better.
Props to C.B. Dollaway and his first round Peruvian necktie submission over Jesse Taylor! Also, who could forget Fedor Emelianenko’s lightening fast annihilation of Tim Sylvia. I expect to see video or since the fight was only 36 seconds long, an animated GIF of the entire fight.
Worst
Brandon Vera. Another boring fight and at light heavyweight against Reese Andy? The guy has potential, but he can’t seem to finish any fights…or provide much action inside the cage.
Two insanely fast main events. Not that we can blame Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko for demolishing the competition at a furious pace, but I’m sure many fans wanted to see a little more of James Irvin and Tim Sylvia. The combined time for both main events? One minute and 37 seconds.
But overall, who can complain about more than a dozen MMA fights in one night? Sure, it’s tedious to swtich back and forth even with a DVR/TiVo, but as long as the UFC has competition, they’ll step up to provide more fights. And more fights mean more chances for the sport to hit the headlines on ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and many other big publications.
Now we wait for next weekend to see if CBS can step up to provide another exciting night of MMA fighting.
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July 20th, 2008 at 4:58pm
One comment regarding Vera: He has had two UFC fights go to decision. I thought the fight was indeed lackluster, but do not understand your comment about him not being able to finish fights when all of his previous UFC wins have been sub of Ko, with the longest going midway through the second round.
Vera needs to improve his conditioning in regards to cutting weight. Once that is done, he will be just fine.
One thing I would put under wosrt: Matt Lindland’s days as a top MW appear to be over. I thought he looked awful last night. If we are going to go after Vera, then Lindland deserves more than a little heat.
AA and Barnett both showed that they are indeed near the top of the HW food chain.
I can’t wait to see both of them compete again.
Forget Lesnar, Cain looks like he might be the next great HW. Jake may not be an exciting fighter, but he is a good HW. Cain made him look like a guy that made a wrong turn and landed in the cage by mistake.
July 20th, 2008 at 5:38pm
Jeremy: I should have been more specific regarding his inability to finish fights lately. I would consider losing via KO an inability to finish, not just winning/losing via decision.
Matt Lindland didn’t make my “worst” list because even though he was gassed, it looked like he tried to stay active in his fight. Definitely not one of his best performances though.
I’m excited for Arlovski to continue this streak of domination. He did what Valesquez did to Jake O’Brien, but it just took him a bit longer. And yes, Cain Valesquez was a monster last night. I though O’Brien was going to tap from getting hammerfisted so many times per second…insane!