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| Updated: Tuesday January 6th, 2009 01:20:18 AM PST |
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| Feedback to UFC Griffin vs. Jackson |
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Thumbs down. Maybe you had to be there to experience the atmosphere, but had you told me
Thumbs in the middle Best Fight: Griffin vs. Jackson Worst Fight: Almeida vs. Cote I was very surprised that the decision went to Forrest. I felt like Jackson won rounds 1, 4, and 5 and possibly round 3, with Forrest winning round 2. It just kind of bothers me that the title can change hands on such a close fight. The phrase, "to be the man, you've got to beat the man" comes to mind, and Forrest didn't do that. Quinton landed way more punches, with more power, and busted Forrest's face up. Yes, Forrest had the leg kicks but as the fight went on he used them less and less effectively. It just doesn't seem like he did enough to win. The other televised fights were mediocre. Koscheck had no will to finish the fight once he couldn't get the ref to stop it due to the bleeding and he just backed up and basically ran away from Lytle. I don't care to watch fighters who care more about points than they do about winning a fight. Definitely not the best show in the world, but the main event was certainly a good fight. There absolutely has to be a rematch with that controversial of a decison. - Chase Frye Duluth, MN
THUMBS UP BEST MATCH - QUINTON JACKSON VS FOREST GRIFFIN WORST MATCH - PATRICK COTE VS RICARDO ALMEIDA Tyson Griffin was arguably the most dominant fighter tonight. Aurelio showed nothing. Josh Koscheck's bloodied hair looked like an old Dusty Rhodes' blade job. Chris Lytle is one tough SOB. I really thought the fight should have been stopped in the third round but I cannot argue the fact that Lytle was intelligently defending himself and even dishing out punishment late. You gotta love the Road Warriors' "Iron Man" entrance by Gleison Tibau. It's crazy how Tibau was on his way to winning before Daddy Stevenson hit the monster guillotine. Patrick Cote vs Ricardo Almeida was a mess. Almeida really looked out of sorts in the early part of the third round and I found it strange that Cote didn't seize the opportunity for the kill. I expected a lot more from Cote. Quinton Jackson vs Forest Griffin was a great fight in front of a rabid crowd. I scored the fight a 47-47 draw but I could see the judges feeling that Forest did just enough to win. I clearly don't think Quinton got his ass kicked like he said he did, but that shows his classy side. That 10-8 second round for Forest was the key overall. Man did those kicks land hard or what? Jason Singh Vallejo, CA I thought Forrest definitely defeated Jackson, but the judge who called it 49-46 in Forrest's favor flattered him too much. I attended a combination UFC party and barbeque, so there were hardcore UFC/MMA fans there along with people who could not even be considered casual fans of UFC and MMA, although certainly sports fans in general. What I noted from their reactions vs. the reactions of MMA fans was that the non fans had little concept of how something like Forrest's kicks to Jackson's legs could even be considered credible offense (going as far as to mock them) and had effectively zero understanding of submission holds and how someone on the bottom could actually be in control. When fighters stood and traded punches, it was seen as "real fighting" along the lines of boxing or even a simple fist fight. Ground work was viewed as boring when no one was making any effort to strike. From this experience, I can say that MMA is growing in stature, but there is still a very lengthy gap to be filled with the general public as far as fight savvy is concerned. In a side note I shared a conversation with a long time wrestling fan whose interest has switched to MMA in recent years. We got to talking about last night's Smackdown, the first episode he had seen in a very long time. Someone overheard us and had no idea what we were discussing. When we explained it was pro wrestling and the WWE, which had a show called Smackdown, the person literally said "That's a show?!?". Clearly the WWE has a gap to bridge as well. Max Levy Thumb in the middle Best Fight: Griffin/Jackson Worst Fight: Cote/Almeida Not a great show as I had pretty high expectations for the 3 other PPV fights going into the show. Kos/Lytle did deliver some decent action, but Tyson Griffin seems to be fighting very cautiously the last couple of fights. I'm not sure why Griffin never seems to go for the finish, perhaps he felt that Aurelio's jits was too dangerous. I liked the Stevenson fight, but was really turned off by the last minute or 2 in rd 1. I understand what Joe was doing but it really killed my hype for that fight. Unfortunately, I lost the feed to the show right after the main event, so I didn't get to hear the decision, post-fighter interviews and if they showed any of the dark matches. I had didn't have a lot of hype going into the show, but felt like the PPV fights had the potential to be great, but none lived up to their potential. I have mixed emotions about the Cote fight b/c I was hoping he'd win, but thought that Almeida would win as I thought Almeida had a very good shot at beating Anderson Silva. I feel pretty stupid right about now for even thinking that considering the performance he just put on tonight as he appeared to have very little cardio. Honestly, I was expecting a destruction ala Kenny Florian vs Sam Stout in this fight. Lastly, the main event was a very good fight. I thought that Rampage was going to try to use his wrestling from rd 3 on (i.e. once he hurt his leg), but Forrest appeared to turn him off that with those sub attempts, including locking up that triangle. I had the fight as a draw, but the decision going to Forrest doesn't bother me at all as I can see how one of those rounds would be flipped as they were all (excl. rd 2) very close. Rishi Malhotra Toronto Word up. So ya, UFC 86 was like thumbs up, if only for the main event, which was beautiful Not beautiful in the technical masterpiece sort of way, but in the really wicked fight sort of way. I wanted Jackson all the way, but Forrest is sweet too. Much respect to both guys, and it was such an amazing match. I wish Rampage would've had the intensity he had in the last thirty seconds of round 5 for all of round five, as I think that would deffinently have done it for him. Great back and forth, and Griffin decimated him with those kicks. But man, every time Rampage hit him you could that Griffin felt it. Both guys class act after the match too. I want a rematch eventually. Love Liddell, but he couldn't take either of these guys down even if he beat Evans. Personally hated, well at least was immensely bored with the Cote / Almeida match. I'm Canadian and I didn't even care. Don't see why it was advertised as co-main event either as your average joe fan wouldn't care about either guy really, but maybe that's just my perception of things. Either way, I'm sure a hard core fan may have enjoyed the clashing styles more, and I love the matches when a Striker can ko a lazy wrestler or a BJJ master can tap an arrogant stiker, but this was just lame. Bah. For the Stevenson / Tibau bout, I was indifferent but I love the guillotine so it was cool. Stevenson is anywhere near title level though, as BJ quite clearly showed him a few months back. Man, the Koscheck / Lytle fight was freaking brutal. If you're a boxing fan, it was like Rocky 1 except there was no title and Rocky (Lytle) wasn't an impressive underdog and he didn't come near stealing it save for a few potentially lucky exchanges. If you're a wrestling fan, it was like a Delaney match with the amount of blood there would have been had Delaney been in the origianl ECW. Koscheck sucks, not as a fighter but rather as a person who sucks. Of all the people that booed for him, I was one of them and I was at home. And though I never was a Chris Lytle fan, he earned my respect tonight. He didn't give up and he was always coming back, and he still wanted it in the dying seconds. One word: manimal. Other Griffin fight was alright, nothing spectacular but still good. There was also a lot of good entrance music, save for the inevitable rap and hip hop pieces. Shipping up to Boston and the classic metal and hard rock pieces were good. So thumbs up for the main event and thumbs in the middle for the rest, fortunately the main event was so epic that it saved the rest for me. Colin Faucher Good show, thumbs up Best & Worst are obvious: Forrest-Rampage, and Cote-Almeida Scored the fight 48-47 Jackson myself giving Jackson rounds 1, 3, & 4 and not thinking Griffin did enough damage in round 2 to merit a 10-8 round. Almeida seemed to give away the fight after winning round 1, even without Cote making much of an effort to take it himself. Ed Branscomb UFC 86 Feedback Best Match: Quinton Jackson v. Forrest Griffin Worst Match: Patrick Cote v. Ricardo Almeida This show was quite good throughout all of the undercard with mostly solid matches. And then the main event came and it became spectacular. I think this would be this year's Randy Couture moment of watching magic happen before your eyes. Both Forrest and Quinton were phenomenal and I think any other fighter would have lost to either of them tonight. And the matches this opens up is mind-boggling, with Quinton-Vanderlei and Quinton-Chuck being able to be made with no consideration of whether it's a title fight. But seeing Forrest as champion was off the charts. By the way, during the Josh Koshcheck v. Chris Lytle fight I thought of debates I have about how MMA isn't just insanely savage and brutal. Fights like this would make me lose that debate. I couldn't believe seeing Lytle's bloody face dragged across the mat, making it look like someone had used a paint-roller. I couldn't believe they let him go out for the third round and found it quite disturbing. That being said, oh man was the third round fun to watch. All I could think of was Bret Hart writing about the use of blood for sympathy, and as I was thinking that the crowd suddenly started chanting "Lytle" during his babyface comeback. This show was beyond worthwhile based on the main event, even if the undercard had sucked which it didn't. Great stuff. Dave Musgrave Whitby, Ontario All I have to say is that the judging for the main event was horseshit. It was Rampage's fight but if you want to give it to Forrest, fine. 49-46 means you're unfit to judge and probably were enticed to judge for Forrest. Absolute bullshit. Fuck this company. Nick Fugitt
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