MMA's 3R’s 10.27.09: The UFC 104 Breakdown!

Posted by Larry Csonka on 10.27.2009

From the controversial continuation of the Machida Era and people missing weight to Cain Velasquez finally arriving and the glory of more free MMA on SPIKE TV, 411’s Larry Csonka breaks down the Right, wRong, and Ridiculous from the week in MMA!



* The Column Concept *
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of the column, here it is. The column will look at events and or happenings in the world of MMA. They will be broken down into the three categories, the Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right will be the good and great fights or positive news items of the week. Perhaps even big fight announcements. The wRong will be bad fights, bad booking decisions and the like. Finally, the Ridiculous are the things that were just the worst of the world of MMA. They get grouped in their categories, and for a show, they will get a score from 1-10, based on the 411 ratings scale.


* And now, the 3R's of…*




*UFC 104 RESULTS*
* PRELIM BOUT: Kyle Kingsbury def. Razak Al-Hassan via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
* PRELIM BOUT: Jorge Rivera def. Rob Kimmons via TKO (punches) - Round 3, 1:53

* SPIKE TV PRELIM: Patrick Barry defeats Antoni Hardonk via TKO at 2:30 of Round 2
* PRELIM BOUT (Added to SPIKE Broadcast): Stefan Struve def. Chase Gormley via submission (triangle choke) - Round 1, 4:04
* SPIKE TV PRELIM: Ryan Bader defeats Eric Schafer by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-26, 30-27)

* PPV BOUT: Anthony Johnson defeats Yoshiyuki Yoshida by KO at 0:41 of the first round
* PPV BOUT: Joe Stevenson defeats Spencer Fisher by TKO at 4:03 of Round 2
* PRELIM BOUT (Added to PPV Broadcast): Chael Sonnen def. Yushin Okami via unanimous decision (30-27 across the cards)
* PPV BOUT: Gleison Tibau defeats Josh Neer by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
* PPV BOUT: Cain Velasquez defeats Ben Rothwell by TKO at 0:43 of the second round
* PPV BOUT: Lyoto Machida defeats Mauricio "Shogun" Rua by unanimous decision (48-47 across)

THE RIGHT:

DANA WHITE VIDEO BLOGS RETURN!: I actually do not have a lot to say here, other than I really enjoy the Dana White video blogs. They are fun and a good distraction during the week to the event. I hope that they don't go away again, because Dana being Dana is always fun. Also, fatty (not Dana) needs to pony up for some ice cream, cheap bastard.

THE UFC 104 COUNTDOWN SPECIAL: I have said time and time again that I am a huge fan of the UFC Countdown specials. They almost always deliver, it is a simple yet effective formula, and it is something that has historically added PPV buys. I have to say that I absolutely LOVED the UFC 104 countdown special. The stuff on Machida and Shogun was good, as they worked on personalizing both fighters to us, and that is a good thing. Also, Machida training all Karate Kid II style ruled. But the build for Velasquez vs. Rothwell was AWESOME. They did a good job hyping Velasquez and his accomplishments, as well as the fact that he could be a Latino draw for the company. But they made a STAR out of Ben Rothwell. They took a guy that most "UFC" fans will not know, highlighted his career very well, but most importantly, they made you care about the guy. From his battle with Spinal Meningitis as a kid, to being picked on de to his weight, his getting into shape and becoming a bully, the car accident that took his friend's life and left him in a coma and his journey into MMA, this shit RULED and made me want to see this man fight and win!

SPIKE TV PRELIMS: Once again I feel that the SPIKE TV PRELIMS were a big success. I know that Dana has always felt that the prelims are an added bonus for the paying arena customer and the PPV customer on occasion, but I personally love the prelims on SPIKE. First of all, SPIKE and the UFC keep growing their relationship, hell SPIKE is basically the UFC network and that is a good thing. With the prelims, we got to see all but TWO fights, and as a PPV customer, this addition allows me to see almost the full card. The fights were also good fights again, not as good as last time, but good. Patrick Barry defeated Antoni Hardonk in a fun fight. Hardonk claiming to be the best striker in the HW division made me laugh, because I have never seen this great striking. He must have practiced the striking and not the defense, because Barry, who is shorted, weighs less and has less reach picked him apart and constantly punched right through Hardonk's "defense". Stefan Struve submitting Chase Gormley was fun, and Struve keeps getting better and bigger. He could be really scary if he grows into his body and potential. I also liked the Ryan Bader vs. Eric Schafer fight. Schafer shows that he has a lot of heart, and this was also a fight where Bader HAD to dig deep. He blew himself up in round one trying to finish him, and then had to use everything he had to complete the fight and survive. I think as a fighter that you need fights like that. Sure he has an impressive record, but you need to be tested, and he was here. This was a nice collection of free fights, and I appreciated them.

Joe Stevenson defeats Spencer Fisher: Since heading to Jackson's camp, Joe Stevenson is a new fighter, and that is a great thing. Stevenson was a good fighter won TUF, and had a run, but he never evolved, but his losses were to quality opponents. He now has rebounded against Diaz and Fisher, who was looking to get a title shot with the victory. His three wins in a row were impressive, but Stevenson dismantled him and took home a very good win here. Stevenson seems to be getting better and better, which could be scary for the other UFC lightweights. This was a fun fight.

Chael Sonnen def. Yushin Okami: Yushin Okami had put up a 7-1 record, and many felt he could be a contender and were wondering why he wasn't on SPIKE on the main card. Sonnen was thought to be a contender, and was silenced quickly by Maia, and was looking for back-to-back wins in the UFC. Sonnen looked like a new man here as he controlled Okami for three rounds, and took home the very unlikely, one-sided victory. I like Chael Sonnen and think he has a lot of upside, and to see him perform at this level, against a competitor like Okami was great to watch.

Cain Velasquez defeats Ben Rothwell: Cain Velasquez did numerous things at UFC 104. First of all he won a fight against a very good heavyweight in Ben Rothwell. Secondly he came off like a superstar in his domination. Thirdly he showed that even as an undersized heavyweight, he could overpower a bigger man. For all of the doubters, myself included, the man showed that he has the potential to be a true contender and a true top heavyweight. Velasquez was shorter, weighted less and was at a reach disadvantage, but he took a man with a ton of experience and made him look like an amateur. I never thought that Velasquez would dominate and finish Rothwell like he did, it was a truly impressive victory. I will agree that the stoppage was a bit soon, as Rothwell was getting up, but he was done anyway you look at it. I had my doubts about Cain, and I will discuss them below, but consider me silenced after that incredible performance.

THE puRgatoRy:

Anthony Johnson defeats Yoshiyuki Yoshida: Rumble Johnson continued his rise in the Welterweight division with a dominating performance over Yoshida. Johnson's performance was virtually flawless, but I cannot be as complimentary as I would like due to Johnson missing weight as he did. That also cost him 20% of his purse as well as the KO of the night.

Gleison Tibau defeats Josh Neer: Some people didn't really enjoy the Tibau vs. Neer bout, but I enjoyed it. Going into the fight, everyone was downplaying Neer's ground game, and while I cannot argue that he needs massive work on his takedown defense, his ground game is vastly underrated. While he was constantly owned when getting taken down, once he got down, he did phenomenal work on the ground to negate Tibau's offense. Tibau dominated well, but just could not do anything once he got down there. The takedowns were clearly enough to earn him the fight, but Neer gave him fits all night in the ground. I will not give this an all out right, due to the weight issues, whish I will discuss below.

THE WRONG:

My Apologies To Cain Velasquez: This is more of a personal wrong, nothing to do with the show score, but one I feel I should have to say. In this week's fact or fiction, when asked if I thought Velasquez would finish Rothwell, I stated…

"But if I am honest here, I do not have confidence that Velasquez will finish him. I think that he can win, but finish, not sure at all."

There was more to that, basically the Kongo fight didn't impress me and I thought that Cain could win, but I had NO confidence that he would finish. Obviously I was wrong, and I will freely admit that. I have no problem saying that I am wrong, I was here, and my apologies to Mr. Velasquez.

THE RIDICULOUS:

PEOPLE MISSING WEIGHT: I am REALLY sick about discussing people missing weight. Some people say that I should not care, but sorry, making weight is part of the fight game, and when guys miss it, I will bitch about it. I know I will get the usual "You never competed in MMMA and have no clue what it is like" and I don't care. At UFC 104 we had THREE GUYS with weight issues. First of all there is the case of Josh Neer vs. Gleison Tibau. They came in at 156.5 and 157, and did not even try to cut down to 156. They just agreed to fight as is. Hey, dumb asses, that's not the weight you were contracted to fight at. Bullshit. And then, then we come to a guy that I really like. Anthony RUMBLE Johnson came in at 176! FIVE pounds over the limit. Johnson failed to make weight and had already notified his opponent; the fight will be held at 176 pounds, which Yoshida agreed to because he is getting part of Johnson's purse. I have already heard the excuses, and I don't care if he was injured or sick, you should be working on shedding weight the whole camp, not just the few days before. Dude reportedly went into camp at 220 POUNDS. Ok son, you're obviously a growing boy, time to move to middleweight, because this is simply ridiculous and insulting to your opponent, the company and the fans. The bottom line is this: as a fighter, your job is to train, make weight, show up, put in your best effort and piss clean. I really hate when guys miss weight, do your damn job. Let's get some more serious punishments in here for missing weight, can we please? Once again, I beg that we have either same day weigh-ins, or a second day weigh-in to where you cannot re-hydrate more than 10-pounds. I am sick about hearing about the "science of cutting weight", guys need to fight closer to their walk around weight, because weight cutting is very dangerous. Ask Daniel Cormier.

SOMEONE CALL THE COPS…SHOGUN JUST GOT ROBBED…or something like that…: Machida was given a HUGE gift at UFC 104 as he escaped the event with the title in one of the worst decisions in recent memory. Shogun was back with a great game plan and he pressed the action without going crazy, and he CHOPPED down Machida. He brutalized him with leg kicks, making Machida stumble numerous times and changing stances because he was hurt. Machida lost his bounce, he lost his power and he could do NOTHING as he got chopped down. Also, his midsection was brutalized and Shogun simply was aiming for the biggest target, and Machida's rubs were almost as bad off as his legs. Shogun controlled the octagon, he was more aggressive and landed more damaging shots. That is a FACT, not an opinion and even Fight Metric backs that up. I am not a huge fan o that actually, but it helps illustrate that Rua picked Machida apart. On press row, NO ONE has Machida winning the fight. MMAJunkie, 411 and just about EVERY MMA site had Shogun the winner of the fight. Frank Tirgg and Jason High were on TWITTER and offering up their scores, and they both agreed that Shogun CLEARLY won the fight. According to High, when the winner was announced, High posted "WHAT!? Every fighter in this house is shitting themselves." This was a SHIT decision, and the ONLY good news out of this is that Shogun came off as a star, and the rematch, which Dana says has been agreed too, should do a good buy rate. Welcome to the fucking Machida error…

* The 411 *

At the end of the day, I feel that the event is hurt by the horrible decision in the main event and guys missing weight. Personally that took a lot of enjoyment away for me. There were some good fights, I loved the free prelims, the countdown special was also excellent, but I cannot give the whole deal as high a grade as I would have liked.

SHOW RATING: 7.0

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KYRA says goodbye…