My Take on MMA 4.03.08: Final UFC Fight Night XIII (4.02.08) Thoughts
Posted by Larry Csonka on 04.03.2008
Fight Night XIII has come and gone, how good was the show? How bad were my predictions? Come on in to see!
Introduction:
Yes I am back once again! It has been a busy week with WEC last Wednesday, Strikeforce on Saturday and Fight Night XIII tonight! If that wasn't enough, there is ShowXC on Saturday and YAMMA next Friday! What a time to be an MMA fan kids, it is just great. But the topic this time is Fight Night XIII, which saw great fights, some controversial stoppages, illegal elbows and horrendous predictions from your truly. Let's get to work!
Final UFC Fight Night XIII (4.02.08) Thoughts~!:
The Fight: Light Heavyweight Bout - James Irvin (13-4-1) vs. Houston Alexander (8-1) My Prediction: Alexander, RD1, STRIKES The Result: James Irvin, KO at 0:08 of Round One Final Thoughts: Is there any better way to start a show than to see a man get knocked the fuck out in under 10-seconds? Seriously, if there is I need to know. Alexander tried to say that he wasn't out, but he ate the superman punch and was done. The only reason he woke back up is because Irvin rained down with more punches after the one that knocked him out to wake him back up. I guess we can classify Alexander under E, for epic fail. Larry's Enjoyment Index: 7.0
(Winner: 0 for 1, Round: 1 for 1, Way of Victory: 1 for 1)
The Fight: Lightweight Bout - Kurt Pellegrino (17-3) vs. Nate Diaz (8-2) My Prediction: Diaz, RD2, SUB The Result: Nate Diaz, submission (triangle choke) at 3:06 of Round Two Final Thoughts: In the roundtable when discussing this fight I had said that Nate Diaz won't have an easy time with Pellegrino, simply due to the fact that Pelligrino has shown that he is a great fighter. I really thought that he could cause a lot of problems for Diaz, and in the first round he did. Pellegrino was dominant in the round, and the one flurry he got not only busted the eye and ear of Diaz, but I thought they were close to stopping the fight. I could have actually seen an argument for a 10-8 round for Pellegrino, but there was no doubt that he won the round. Round two saw more domination by Pellegrino, including a spinebuster style slam. Unfortunately for Pellegrino Diaz was still collected enough to get a triangle, and not only did he get it but he knew the fight was over. He would flip off Pellegrino, flex his biceps WHILE holding the triangle. Pellegrino tapped in what ended up being a very good technical match. For as much as I hate Nick Diaz, I love Nate Diaz. Larry's Enjoyment Index: 8.0
(Winner: 1 for 2, Round: 2 for 2, Way of Victory: 2 for 2)
The Fight: Light Heavyweight Bout - Matt Hamill (5-1) vs. Tim Boetsch (7-1) My Prediction: Matt Hamill, DEC The Result: Matt Hamill, TKO at 1:25 of Round Two Final Thoughts: As expected Hamill went for and got an early takedown, which was the smart move. Unfortunately he did nothing with it and they would get stood back up. This would be bad news for Hamill as Boetsch would dominate the stand up for the rest of the bout, including some great knees that gave Hamill a nasty split lip. Boetsch looked great and I had him taking the first round. While Boetsch was dominant with his stand up, I cannot say the same for his conditioning. He looked tired when he came out for round two, went for a takedown and looked like he had nothing. Hamill knew this was his chance and he just landed punch after punch until it was stopped. I thought Hamill looked good, and adapted well and took advantage when he had to. In his post fight promo he said he knew he couldn't let fights go to the judges, due to what happened with Bisping. He was also classy and put over Boetsch. A good fight overall, and Hamill continues to improve. Larry's Enjoyment Index: 7.0
(Winner: 2 for 3, Round: 2 for 3, Way of Victory: 2 for 3)
The Fight: Welterweight Bout - Thiago Alves (18-4) vs. Karo Parisyan (25-4) My Prediction: Parisyan, DEC The Result: Thiago Alves, TKO at 0:34 of Round Two Final Thoughts: Round one was what I expected. Alves tried to stand and use the low kicks, while Parisyan went for throws and takedowns. This was a decently energetic round, which I gave to Parisyan. Round two saw Alves get what he wanted, a solid shot standing that dropped Parisyan. It was a great looking knee, which Alves followed up with four solid and clean shots. Mazzigatti jumped in and stopped the fight at this point. I will agree with many that this stoppage was questionable. Karo did crumple to the ground, but he never looked out of it, more like he was recovering. Steve Mazzigatti seems to be the opposite of Herb Dean these days. Herb will let a guy take 34 shots if there are like 10-seconds left and he still appears to be breathing, while Mazzigatti sees a guy take 3 or 4 shots and wants to stop it. There needs to be a happy medium. So much for that title shot Karo. In the end, I guess Karo got ThiagOWNED~! Larry's Enjoyment Index: 6.5
(Winner: 2 for 4, Round: 2 for 4, Way of Victory: 2 for 4)
The Fight: Lightweight Bout - Anthony Johnson (4-1) vs. Tommy Speer (9-2) My Prediction: Speer, DEC The Result: Anthony Johnson, KO at 0:51 of Round One Final Thoughts: I knew nothing about young Anthony Johnson before this fight, and I think that Tommy Speer knows all he wants to know about young Anthony Johnson after that fight. This was the definition of BEING HUMBLED! Anthony Johnson just picked this man apart with a great left hook, a great knee, tons of clean shots and a devastating right that knocked out Speer, and left him laying against the cage, like he wanted to cuddle it. I am not going to say that Anthony Johnson is going to set the weight class on fire, but that was a very impressive victory. Just wow. Speers seemed to only want to take him down and appeared to have no stand up game. A rough night for him to be sure. Larry's Enjoyment Index: 8.0
(Winner: 2 for 5, Round: 2 for 5, Way of Victory: 2 for 5)
The Fight: Lightweight Bout - Gray Maynard (5-0-1) vs. Frankie Edgar (7-0) My Prediction: Maynard, DEC The Result: Gray Maynard via Unanimous Decision (30-27 across the cards.) Final Thoughts: For me this was the most difficult fight to decide on. I like both guys, and I think they have a ton of skills. The first round was a ton of boxing from the two. Maynard looked to have greatly improved his striking game, and bloodied the eye of Edgar. That was enough for me to give Maynard the round. Round two had more striking, which Edger got the better of as well as a takedown. Maynard got two takedowns, and made the fight harder to call but I went with Edgar to even things up going into the third round. Edgar got some good shots in on the stand up in round three, but was humbled by three takedowns and the fact that Maynard completely outwrestled him. Maynard easily took that round and the fight. All three judges scored the fight it 30-27 across the cards, which I do disagree with, but not a lot. Maynard looked like a beast here in that last round. Larry's Enjoyment Index: 7.5
(Winner: 3 for 6, Round: 3 for 6, Way of Victory: 3 for 6)
The Fight: Lightweight Bout - Kenny Florian (9-3)vs. Joe Lauzon (15-3) My Prediction: Lauzon, RD2, SUB The Result: Kenny Florian, TKO at 3:28 of Round Two Final Thoughts: Holy shit was the first round insane. It was back and forth and both guys were ready to go for this main event. Lauzon got a takedown, and while he was in the guard Florian got a ton of elbows, some of them illegal and Herb Dean stopped the action to warm Florian. Lauzon was busted open badly on the back of the head, making it clear that they were illegal elbows. Florian would get the advantage on top near the end of the round as Lauzon was working for a knee bar or heel hook. A very close round, I would have deducted a point from Florian, and I think that Lauzon took the round. Round two was all Florian as he got the mount and Lauzon couldn't escape. It was the longest mount, ground and pound I have ever seen. Lauzon kept trying to escape, but nothing he did helped and the fight was stopped. Lauzon was never the same after those illegal elbows I feel, it's a shame really. Great fight, but a bit tainted I feel. I would love to see a rematch. Larry's Enjoyment Index: 8.1
(Winner: 3 for 7, Round: 4 for 7, Way of Victory: 3 for 7)
The Overall: Best Fight(s): Lightweight Bout - Kenny Florian (9-3)vs. Joe Lauzon (15-3) 8.1 Worst Fight: Welterweight Bout - Thiago Alves (18-4) vs. Karo Parisyan (25-4) 6.5 Final Thoughts: Overall another really good show, which makes it three for three when you include WEC and Strikeforce. I will rate this one slightly below those shows, due to the stoppage controversy and illegal elbows in the main event. I felt that they took away from the event, for me anyway. Still a great card and make sure if you missed it you catch a replay. Show Score: 8.4
MY PICKS! Winners: 7 for 12 (58.3%) Rounds: 5 for 12 (41.7%) Ways of Victory: 4 for 12 (33.3%) OVERALL: 16 for 36 (44.4%) Verdict: Epic Fail for Larry
Ironic that Lauzon got taken out in the same way he took out Cole Miller on TUF (if the elbows did truly affect the outcome).
Posted By: highone (Registered) on April 03, 2008 at 11:02 AM
"For as much as I hate Nick Diaz, I love Nate Diaz." I couldn't have said it any better myself....
Posted By: Howard Lederman (Guest) on April 03, 2008 at 11:19 AM
That cut on the head of JLO was arguably the top of the head. When they showed the replays in slow mo I think that only one actuaklly landed in the brainstem/mid to lower back of the head region. Most were clean on the top. In much the same way as Mir and Lesnar the illegal blows were a result of JLO turning into them. It was worthy of a warning and Florian perhaps should have been more surgical with the elbows but I hardly think they tainted the fight. As good as Joe is I think Florian is the better fighter right now and would win 8 out of 10 fights with him. He will be a beast in the division though for a long time.
Posted By: lowe (Guest) on April 03, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Anyone remember the Lutter/Spider fight? It's not only blows to the back of the head, but straight up-and-down elbows to the crown of the skull are also illegal. Couture made a point to mention that during the Silva/Lutter fight , even though Silva's elbows were skipping across. Florian's were straight up illegal and probably should have had a point deducted for the amount that he landed.
That said, I don't think it played too much into the outcome of the fight. Lauzon could have taken more time to recover, but he seemed fine and they pressed on pretty quickly afterwards. Florian was just way better that night and J-Lau had no answers for the mount.
Posted By: Guest#6854 (Guest) on April 03, 2008 at 12:43 PM
I'm pretty the sure the rules basically say no pointed elbows to anywhere on the body, doesnt matter if its top or back of the head. Its just poorly enforced and its hard to distinguish b/w pointed elbows, forearms and everything in between.
Posted By: kev0 (Guest) on April 03, 2008 at 07:26 PM
