By: Mike Coughlin
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"UFC 58 thoughts and reflections"
Another UFC PPV has come and gone, and with it so to have challengers and hopes. As I sit in my comfortable swivel chair, I can't help by reflect a bit on the weekend that was.
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Mark Hominick is good, but, "world class striker," as Joe Rogan said? I don't know about that at all. Winning the ISKA super-welterweight championship of Canada isn't quite competing in the K1 MAX grand prix. Gotta give Hominick credit though. He was the smaller man and won the fight. Kind of funny to hear him openly asking for a 145 lb division only for Rogan to kind of give the, "Uh, yea, sure" response.
BTW, Joe: when your next fight is GSP v. Hughes, and you're trying to build St. Pierre up in the eyes of the fans, don't mention that his fight against Trigg feature an injured Trigg. All that does is water down one of the most impressive performances of the past year.
What was up with that crowd? They were bound and determined to hate this show. I'm glad the UFC tried the "USA v. Canada" theme as I've long thought it was a good idea. But it backfired a bit. I figured it would lead to a passionate crowd but it didn't for some reason. What's worse is that GSP, who was once a gigantic face, was booed out of the building at first. Patriotism is great and all that, and stoking those fires isn't the worst idea, but it doesn't work when the face is a Canadian. To his credit, St. Pierre "gets it" and did his best to turn himself - and he did. I hope the UFC gives him a big bonus because he's the reason people want to see him rematch Hughes. Those promos of his have probably added 50,000 buys.
Too bad Spencer Fisher lost. Extra too bad that the fight didn't air as it was apparently the fight of the night. I'm sure it'll be on Spike sooner or later. I really like Fisher as a fighter and fingers crossed that losing a fight on less than a weeks notice won't be held against him by the UFC brass.
Mike Swick is good. I'm not sure how good, but anyone who can win three times inside the octagon with a total fight time of 2:51 has talent.
Nathan Marquardt might be the biggest heel the UFC's got (ok, probably not) and it'll be awhile before the fans forgive him for that Salaverry fight. I kind of got the feeling that people blame him for the boredom and as a result genuinely want to see him get his ass kicked. He's very talented and makes as much sense to fight Franklin as anyone. But it appears Rich won't be ready for a while, breaking his hand and foot.
Speaking of. Rich Franklin looks to be the best champion the UFC has at the moment. He's well spoken, clean cut, educated, in tremendous shape, and uber talented. But, hell, so is Matt Hughes. So what makes Franklin different? Basically, he's got one whacky chin. Against Evan Tanner at UFC 53 he got dropped early on by a straight right hand. And then on Saturday "The Crow" caught him with a left hook, sending Franklin to the mat. In both cases he's shown the ability to recover and go on to thrash his foe. But from a drama standpoint it's great to watch. A champion who is unbeatable is kind of boring. I mean, does anyone expect Fedor to lose? Hell no! So when he fights it's almost a foregone conclusion that he'll get the "W." But with Rich, even though we all "know" he's a better fighter than whoever it is he's facing, because he can be hurt and potentially knocked out we'll be on the edge of our seat for the duration. Is Chris Leben in the same league as Franklin? Probably not. But with a granite chin and heavy hands he could very well end up champion. The same can be said of a Mike Swick or a Phil Baroni. The unstoppable champion who has a tiny chink in the armor - what fun!
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