|
UFC 103 Feedback
Thumbs Up
Best match: Rafaello Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz
Worst match:Martin Kampmann vs. Paul Daley
I thought Lentz and Oliveira made a really good name for themselves in constantly moving the fight, especially Lentz and his aggression from his back. Oliveira needs to work on learning how to finish but at least he has good tattoos.
I was disappointed to see Kampmann lose but Daley was impressive.
I'm not sure what's next for Cro Cop, but Couture or Noguera might be interesting fights. I'd have to think Dos Santos might be a good candidate to face the Couture-Carwin winner.
Belfort looked good, but I'm skeptical regarding putting him in a title fight at 185 given that he had a tough time making 195.
I think a good next fight for Franklin would be the winner of Ortiz-Coleman (ie, Ortiz).
Koshcheck was impressive as well.
Holy crap, Rick Story was awesome.
Dave Musgrave
Markham, Ontario
Thumbs up.
Best fight: Story vs. Foster
Worst fight: J. Miller vs. Lopez (just for the dislocated shoulder finish, wasn't a bad fight)
KO: (tie) Escudero, Griffin, Kos, Belfort
Sub: Story
Ended up being a good card with plenty of fireworks, and the 4 extra fights on the preshow sure didn't hurt. Drwal was impressive taking apart a confused looking McFedries in the one fight everybody THOUGHT wouldn't go to the 2nd round but did. Story vs. Foster had terrific back and forth action and an unusual sub finish with the Arm Triangle from full guard by Story, which I've never seen before. Cole Miller seemed to be outboxing Escudero easily when Escudero lowered the boom on him out of nowhere, and brother Jim Miller was looking very good before lopez dislocated his own shoulder throwing a punch.
On the PPV, Tyson Griffin had a career-best performance and a break from his usual decision endings, but Franca made it easy for him by being overweight and There But Not There from the opening bell.
Koscheck got rid of what's left of Trigg in short order, like he should have and needed to.
Kampmann made the mistake of trading with Daley, and screwed himself straight out of the WW title picture. Everybody else in the top 10 will beat Daley.
Dos Anjos showed some crippling Muay Thai in dominating Emerson for the clear UD.
Dos Santos outstruck and took apart the Ghost Of Cro Cop Past and made him quit in the 3rd round. I was surprised Mirko survived as long as he did. Junior was throwing and landing actual three-knee-strike combinations, which is some pretty advanced Muay Thai. Amazing to me that this does more to get him over than the quick KO over a legitimate top contender in Werdum.
And Vitor has been taking Karate from Machida, and it showed, as he unexpectedly hung back in a similar stance early and lured Franklin into opening himself up, took him off his feet with a flurry of strikes, and then landed the finisher to the downed opponent. And this looking in slightly sloppy shape and having taken 4 tries to make weight. He will be better at 85, and is a very interesting challenger for Anderson, though seems to me he oughtta win a fight AT 85 in UFC first, but it would spare us the Retread Of The Month Club. I don't care what they say, Franklin is also better at 185. Goldy and Rogan sure seem to be spinning a lot lately to cover up Dana's panic booking. Rich is noticeably slowed at 205, or should I say this stupid, senseless, 195 catch 'division', which needs to go away immediately. What's the point? Having a weight division every 10 pounds? Senseless.
Anyway, fun card with a lotta action.
Crimson Mask
I give UFC 103 a thumbs up
Best match: Foster vs. Story. Good match with a good finish to it.
Dos Anjos vs. Emerson was good as well with him working the leg the whole match.
It was a good show because a lot of the fights had endings and didn't go to the judges. I wasn't surprised with Franklin or Cro Cop losing, but both of these guys desperately need wins in their next fights. I think people underestimated Belfort going into this card. Hermes Franka looked like shit and I think Tyson should have been able to finish that fight way sooner than he did but I guess he was just being cautious. I don't think the Kampman fight was stopped early, he was beat, and I think Oliveria should have got the win over Lentz. Four hours is a long show to sit through especially when they air the same fight twice, airing the prelims live might be a better idea for a bigger card that had a title fight.
| Jason McNeil Thumbs Down Best: Lentz fight Worst: Franklin fight Rich dizzied with a punch on top of the head, then finished with punches in back. Mirko is done without the juice, and Dos Santos looked very mediocre. Mike Devlin
|
