My Take On MMA 7.21.08: Final UFC Fight Night 14 (7.19.08) Thoughts

Posted by Larry Csonka on 07.21.2008

Alternate Title: Welcome to the Sport of Anderson Silva…



WELCOME~!:
Welcome back to another edition of My Take On MMA! We have had a huge weekend of MMA action with the debut of Affliction, which I will be watching soon on DVD. I had to be in the hospital with my little girl, who is fine thank God, and had to hand it over and instead cover this show. There was also a DREAM show, making this a truly great weekend to be a fan of the sport. But today we need to discuss UFC Fight Night 14, a show that gave us seven fights, a PERUVIAN NECKTIE, a sick high kick finish, a new heavyweight star defeating a proven UFC commodity and the debut of SILVA CLASS, weight 185-205. Let's break down the card!



Final UFC Fight Night 14 (7.19.08) Thoughts ~!:

The Fight: MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT - Jesse Taylor (6-2) vs. CB Dollaway (6-1)
My Pick: Jesse Taylor, SUB, RD1
The Result: CB Dollaway via RD1 (3:58) Submission
Final Thoughts: The night kicked off with a battle some felt that should have been fought on the Ultimate Fighter show, CB Dollaway vs. Jesse Taylor. Dollaway was coming off of two losses to the show's winner, via arm bar both times; he obviously was not happy about this. Taylor was brought back after his drunken limo bashing and sexual harassment I'M A UFC FIGHTER MOTHERFUCKERS spree, a move I was not supportive of. I am all for second chances, but make the guy earn it and work some low level shows, hell make him work WEC first, not the main card of a big show on SPIKE. But that's just my opinion. I haven't had a very high opinion of Dollaway. I thought that there was all of this hype on the show that I never saw, and then I saw him lose to Amir two times with arm bars and I still didn't see what the others saw. Dollaway came away with a convincing victory here, Taylor had some solid control but also didn't seem to know what to do with the advantage when he had it. Content for lay and pray it appeared. Dollaway was smart as he worked the up kicks and then locked in the PERUVIAN NECKTIE for the submission victory. I will still continue to watch Dollaway and see if he can impress me more than he has, but this was a very good victory for him, one he needed badly. Now he needs to get into a camp and just get to work and make the most of his next match.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 7.0

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The Fight: WELTERWEIGHT BOUT - Anthony Johnson (5-1) vs. Kevin Burns (7-1)
My Pick: Anthony Johnson, STRIKES, RD2
The Result: Kevin Burns via RD3 (3:35) TKO
Final Thoughts: Welterweights were on display in our second match, Anthony Johnson; the man that killed his last opponent was looking to impress again against a successful Kevin Burns. Johnson wasn't able to get the (T)KO, but he dominated the fight to be sure. He was landing power shots, flying knees and also getting takedowns; overall control. Burns, much to his credit weathered the storm, especially at the beginning of round 2 and kept himself in position to win. During the first two rounds Burns got warnings for possible eye pokes, which were noticeable and mentioned on commentary and unfortunately this would play into the decision. Round three was more of the same, Johnson controlling and looking to take home the decision victory. Burns then threw what appeared to be a jab and uppercut that dropped Johnson. He followed up with a couple of shots to a downed Johnson and that was that, a TKO victory for Burns. BUT WAIT, there's more to it than that! On the replay we see that the jab was an EYE POKE, a DEEP one that could have pulled the eye right out, sick. The uppercut never really hit and Johnson dropped and covered up his eye. What sucks for him is that he still lost the fight, even though he got illegally poked in the eye. With the warnings for earlier eye pokes, I really wish that there was a replay option here. But Johnson loses a fight that he was dominating, which is a shame. Burns then launched into some excuse that he has to throw open left hands because he has broken the left hand three times. I hate after fight excuse, you about blinded the guy and walked away with a win that you didn't deserve. I was really enjoying the fight too, which is a shame. One last thing, Johnson is great and explosive on the feet and has good takedowns, but he needs to work his ground game, because he never did anything to threaten Burns on the ground.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 5.0

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The Fight: HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT - Cain Velasquez (3-0) vs. Jake O'Brien (10-1)
My Pick: Cain Velasquez, STRIKES, RD1
The Result: Cain Velasquez via RD1 (2:02) TKO
Final Thoughts: While I thought Jake O'Brien had a chance here, because he is proven in UFC competition, I also knew he was brought into lose. But I have to say that I thought that Jake O'Brien would put up more of a fight that he did. Velasquez just came out an dominated him, a takedown, right into side control and then he just beat the hell out of the man until the ref finally stopped it. Velasquez is only 4-0 but I think we can all see why he is considered a big time heavyweight prospect for the company. Four first round TKO victories in under 10-minutes of time is very impressive, and he hasn't fought a bunch of low level shows. He fought BODOG, Strikeforce and UFC. Sure his first three opponents were a combined 18-10, but I think that the dominating win over O'Brien opened a lot of eyes on this night.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 7.5

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The Fight: LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT - Hermes Franca (19-6) vs. Frankie Edgar (8-1)
My Pick: Hermes Franca, Decision
The Result: Frankie Edgar via Unanimous Decision (30-27 Across the Cards)
Final Thoughts: The return to the UFC of Hermes Franca did not go as planned here, as the fight resembled his battle with Sean Sherk. The story of the fight was that Edgar would take down Franca, control him, work elbows and body shots while Franca was looking for an opening. He was close a few times, but Edgar constantly kept the control and easily took the decision victory. Edgar truly looked like a master wrestler taking down a novice at will. Franca did his best at the end, even cutting Edgar with a flurry, but it was way too little and way too late. You'd have to think that with another victory Edgar could move into title contention with his 9-1 record, which features sees him at 4-1 in the UFC, and wins over Franca, Fisher and Bocek, who are a combined 44-14. This was a fun fight, but really one sided.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 7.0

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The Fight: LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT - Brandon Vera (8-2) vs. Reese Andy (7-1)
My Pick: Brandon Vera, STRIKES, RD1
The Result: Brandon Vera via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Final Thoughts: This fight sucked. I really wanted to leave it at that, but I figure some explanation is in order. The first round was actually pretty good. I thought Vera looked good, getting a great takedown and the knockdown on the leg kick. He had control of the shorter Andy and took the round. But it went downhill from there. Vera controlled enough with a takedown, but it was a boring round and not very impressive. Round three was more of the same as Vera took it, but did nothing to impress the live crowd myself. He said afterwards that the weight cut hurt him, I can see that; but so far his return has done nothing to impress me. I hope it changes, but I don't have high hopes.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 3.0

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The Fight: LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT - Anderson Silva (21-4) vs. James Irvin (14-4-1NC)
My Pick: Anderson Silva, STRIKES, RD2
The Result: Anderson Silva via RD1 (1:01) TKO
Final Thoughts: What is there to say really? Anderson Silva is a BAD, BAD man and there is nothing anyone can do about it right now. I really thought that there would be more of a feeling out process, that Irvin and he would really try and feel each other out. But Silva said screw that, the man wants to fight every two months and you can do that if you DESTROY people and take no damage. They played a bit, both landed some solid shots and then Silva caught the body kick that Irvin threw, and that was the end. He obliterated him with the first shot, and then when he was down laid into him with EIGHT hard punches that basically knocked young Mr. Irvin the F*CK out. Irvin had a NASTY cut on his face, I mean it looked as if someone took a knife and cut the man's face. This was a scary performance, I mean, should we just make it Silva Weight; you know, 185-205? Machida should be thankful that he and Silva are boys, because otherwise I think he WOULD go for that title as well. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the sport of Anderson Silva.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 8.0

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The Fight: WELTERWEIGHT BOUT - Brodie Farber (13-3)vs. Rory Markham (15-4)
My Pick: Didn't make a pick
The Result: Rory Markham via RD1 (1:37) KO
Final Thoughts: I tend to enjoy the added matches on the shows. I love a full card, and usually they are short and provide a great KO or Submission. This was no different here. Brodie Farber was ready for action and he really controlled the pace of the fight. He was aggressive, landed good combos, leg kicks and had Markham on his heels. And just as it looked as if Farber was headed to go for the kill, Markham UNLOADED with a Mirko-Like head kick that knocked Farber the F*CK out. It was absolutely tremendous. Rory Markham now moves to 16-4 with his first UFC win. Markham is still unproven, but was 6-2 in the IFL, so he has seen some decent competition in guys like Mike Pyle and Keith Wisniewski. I think he could eventually be a player in the division, he can take a shot and came back when he was being controlled, those are good qualities. I'll be interested to see him again.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 8.5

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The Overall:
Best Fight(s): WELTERWEIGHT BOUT - Brodie Farber (13-3)vs. Rory Markham (15-4) 8.5
Worst Fight: LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT - Brandon Vera (8-2) vs. Reese Andy (7-1) 3.0
Final Thoughts: This was an overall really good show, especially since it was free. We got knockouts, submissions and controversy, which is the norm these days. Seven fights in three hours on free TV is a good thing, and a night well spent overall.

Show Score: 7.0