Eight Sides of Steel 8.10.08: It Was Fun While It Lasted
Posted by Wendell Mitchell on 08.10.2008
Seems like our endless summer of MMA is coming to an end. That's okay though, because we still have plenty of news, beautiful women, and brutal knockouts to keep you coming back. So sit back, relax and let me be your guide through land of wonder I like to call the Eight Sides of Steel
SHOW STOPPING, MAIN EVENTING AND THE HEADLINES
UFC 87: Seek and Destroy is in the books. As usual, 411 Don Csonka has the full break down here.
As a fan of Brock Lesnar, I'm glad he has momentarily quieted some of his critics with what sounds like a dominating decision victory over Heath Herring. And though I predicted victory for Huerta, I was happy to discover KenFlo pulled out the win. I had a feeling that if KenFlo won, he'd be next in line for a lightweight title shot, but seems like Dana and BJ have other plans.
Current Lightweight Champion BJ Penn has stated that his next fight will be at welterweight. His ideal scenario is to fight at welterweight to avenge his loss against current Welterweight Champ Georges St. Pierre, then drop back down to to defend his lightweight title.
Personally, I have no problem with it, but I'm a guy that just wants to see a good fight and don't spend too much time analysing the reprecussions of a champion fighting out of his weight class. Dana has essentially given his blessing for a match between the two champions and immediately after retaining his Welterweight crown, GSP agreed to a future confrontation.
After a seventy-two hour evaulation period, it has been determined that former Light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was suffering from delirium and has been determiend to be both mentally and physcially well.
Not that it excuses his actions, but at least we now understand what was going on inside his head a bit better. Now we just have to wait and see if the Huntington Beach D.A.'s office pursues legal recourse against him as it pertains to his involvement with a woman's miscarriage.
In Affliction news, Ben Rothwell looks to bounce back from his first loss in three years when he taps gloves with Pedro Rizzo at Affliction's October 11th event "Day Of Reckoning."
Well, it's like I said when they first announced his match up against Arlovski, he just wasn't ready for a former UFC champion. Not going to call Rizzo a gimme fight, but I think Ben matches up much better against him.
Female MMA pioneer Debi Purcell will make her television debut with ShoXC when she takes on Rosi Sexton on August 15th.
As reported by me back in May, Debi was to make her debut back then but her opponent tested positive for performance enhancers. After a two year lay off from active competition, Ms. Purcell gets to put her impressive array of skills and credentials to the test. If I had Showtime, this would be the fight that would draw me in.
During an UFC Q&A session, a crazed fan verbally sparred with Dana White.
Not the most newsworthy thing out there, but I thought it was funny that she dropped a few f-bombs and called Dana out as a jerk in more colorful language. There was no physical interaction, which disappointed me when I found out because I so wanted to hear that Dana had to choke somebody out. I'm still holding out hope someone shoves Joe Rogan and he goes all Anderson Silva on the guy and drops him with a knee to the jaw.
AND IN THIS CORNER
Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell
VS
Rashad Evans
The UFC is coming to my backyard next month and will be main evented by these two men.
Chuck Liddell is one of the most popular and well known fighers to come out of the UFC. A former Light Heavyweight Champion, he holds victories over such luminaries as Tito Ortiz, Wanderlei Silva, Renalto Sobral, and Randy Couture. One of the hardest punches in his division, he's racked up thirteen knockouts and is his take down defense is nothing short of remarkable.
Rashad Evans is an alumni of the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, where he won the Heavyweight competition. Given his relatively small stature for the Heavyweight division, he Immediately dropped down in weight and began racking up wins. Though most of his wins in the octagon have come by decision, he has shown knockout power in his fights with Jason Lambert and Sean Salmon.
Time to go to the video footage, shall we?
The Iceman
Evans
Going by records alone, Evan is not out of place headlining a card, especially one with title implications. Performance wise, I'm not sure. Sure, he wins, but is he as dominating as Liddell has been and still is? Chuck's been hit by some of the hardest hitters in the world and has only be dropped a handful of times. Does Evans pack that sort of power? Evans is decent on the mat, but there's no way he's going to muscle Chuck around. Perhaps Evans will step it up and show us something. Though, his draw with Tito still lingers in the back of many people's heads. Chuck has annihilated Tito on more than one ocassion and Rashad only managed to fight Tito to a draw, and then only because of a point deduction. Liddell just beat Wanderlei Silva and I don't see him letting Evans slow him down. Could prove to be a good fight though.
IN A DAZE
I didn't come across anything particularly head scratching or juicy, so I'm just going to put a picture of a fight I want to see.
Kyra Gracie - The legacy of Gracie jiu jitsu lives through her.
Gina Carano - Still trying to prove she's more than just a pretty face.
IN BETWEEN ROUNDS
RANDOM MUSING AND BRUISING
I love this song, so so very much.
British MMA Queen Rosi Sexton
SHOWING PROPS
Pound-For-Pound who is the greatest fighter in the world? The American Nightmare Dustin James has your answer.
Stephen Augustino talks about Fedor's little brother and asks the all important question: Who's your daddy? Contrary to prevailing data, I personally am well aware of the identity of my father.
Go for the Gold with Adam and another edition of the Fighting Stance.
A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS
OFF THE CHAIN AND OUT OF THE CAGE
Once again, I would like to thank everyone of you that took time out to stop by my corner of the internet. Come see me again next week within the confines of the Eight Sides of Steel.
