My Take On MMA 8.11.08: Final UFC 87 – Seek and Destroy (8.09.08) Thoughts

Posted by Larry Csonka on 08.11.2008

Kenny Florian defeats Roger Huerta, Georges St. Pierre successfully defends the UFC Welterweight Title, and Brock Lesnar brings the pain to Heath Herring in a dominant victory! But how was the overall event? Come on into see!



WELCOME~!:
Welcome back to another edition of My Take On MMA! We've had quite the summer of MMA, and this past Saturday it continued as UFC delivered their latest PPV offering Seek and Destroy! The card was highlighted by three big bouts. Florian vs. Huerta for a possible lightweight title shot, Lesnar vs. Herring and the Welterweight Title Bout that saw Georges St. Pierre battle Jon Fitch. Let's break it down.

A reminder, there is a SHOW XC event this Friday night. I'll have live coverage of that event, and a My Take On of the event likely on Monday.



Final UFC 87 – Seek and Destroy (8.09.08) Thoughts~!:

The Fight: MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT - Demian Maia (8-0) vs. Jason MacDonald (21-9):
My Pick: MAIA, SUB, RD2
The Result: Demian Maia via RD3 (2:44) Submission
Final Thoughts: The night kicked off with Middleweight action. Jason MacDonald with a world of experience facing Demian Maia, a man with a good bit of hype and a lot of potential for the UFC. The first round was excellent as both men went for and escaped some great submission tries. MacDonald was close with a guillotine, but Maia would escape and close the round with a RNC attempt. I got a lot of shit for giving MacDonald round one. I thought he had good control and did more noticeable damage than Maia. Lots of people will say that Maia had the submission at the end of the round, but like MacDonald he couldn't finish it. I certainly agree that it could be scored either way, it just depends on what you weigh as more important. Regardless, this was an excellent round. As far as round two goes there was NO question as to who won. Maia used some good knees and got MacDonald down, and kept him down and worked the ground and pound. He was never close to finishing him, but Maia certainly dominated him. I had it even going into round three, and I didn't expect us going that far into the fight. Round three showed continued groundwork by both, and it was a pleasure to watch because it was so clean. The counters by these guys the entire fight were excellent. Maia would finally lock in the choke and get the submission victory, midway through round three. This was an excellent bout as they proved that not all fights that stay primarily on the ground are lay and pray hump festivals. MacDonald is a guy that is a good fighter, but he just doesn't have what it takes to be the elite in the division and most would agree that he will likely be a good gatekeeper for the promotion. There is also the possibility of a move to WEC. Maia looked good, but some think that he is ready for a title shot, and I don't see it, not yet anyway.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 8.0

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The Fight: LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT - Kenny Florian (11-3) vs. Roger Huerta (22-1-1):
My Pick: HUERTA, STRIKES, RD3
The Result: Kenny Florian via Unanimous Decision (30-27 Across the Cards)
Final Thoughts: Like many I was a bit surprised when this came as the second bout of the night. I don't want to play conspiracy theorist, but I would imagine that this was slid down the card due to Huerta's latest tiff with management. Anyway, lets discuss the fight. As I mentioned in the roundtable I figured, that like most Huerta fights he would start slow, and he did. He looked better in his stand up and worked the leg kicks, but Florian got the takedown and easily controlled and took the first round. I expected Huerta to pick it up in the second but it just never happened as Florian got him down, controlled and did noticeable damage to take another round. Round three is where I figured Huerta would pick up his game, but since he was so far behind and got reckless. He pushed the action but Florian continued to dominate and made it look easy. Florian took the big win and now looks to get back into title contention. Huerta did himself no favors in his contract negotiation, and depending on how things go his stay in the UFC could be close to over. This was a fun fight overall.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 7.5

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The Fight: LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT - Manny Gamburyan (10-3) vs. Rob Emerson (9-6-1nc):
My Pick: MANNY, SUB, RD2
The Result: Rob Emerson via RD1 (0:12) TKO
Final Thoughts: Well, Emerson won via KTFO. Manny came out wild and sloppy, he got caught, dropped and then Emerson lit him up with a left that signaled the end. I, like many didn't think that highly of Emerson as a fighter. He'll battle, but I thought Manny would get him down to the ground and just own him. Instead he bull rushed him and forgot his skill, which cost him the bout. I was figuring for Manny to win, and if Diaz won at fight night that we could see a rematch there. I doubt that will happen now with Manny losing, as he'll have to go back to the bottom rung and start to work his way back to the top. I do love a quick KO, and on a night with so many long fights, this was a pleasant surprise. Well, not for my predictions.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 7.0

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The Fight: HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT: Cheick Kongo (21-4-1) vs. Dan Evensen (10-2):
My Pick: KONGO, STRIKES, RD1
The Result: Cheick Kongo via RD1 (4:55) TKO
Final Thoughts: With Emerson making quick work of Manny, we got a bonus bout from the prelims on the PPV broadcast. With two straight wins (one over MIRKO) Cheick Kongo was looking for a title shot, unfortunately for him he was derailed by Heath Herring at UFC 82. Kongo needed a win here to get back on track if he wanted that title shot, but the 10-2 Dan Evensen stood in his way. Evensen came in with four straight wins, mostly in BODOG, and wanted to make an impact in his UFC debut. Well he made two impacts, one on the mat and the other on people suffering from insomnia. A tediously boring fight for the most part as they got warned for lack of work and separated a few times. Kongo worked good leg kicks, which did a lot of damage on Evensen. He would be limping late in the round, which nullified a lot of his power. Late in round one Kongo dropped him, and the ground and pound was enough to stop the fight. Kongo was never in trouble here, but it was far from an impressive victory.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 5.0

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The Fight: HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT - Brock Lesnar (1-1) vs. Heath Herring (28-13-1nc):
My Pick: BROCK, STRIKES, RD1
The Result: Brock Lesnar via Unanimous Decision (30-26 Across The Cards)
Final Thoughts: Truth be told this was the fight I was looking forward to the most. Brock lost to Mir due to inexperience and was caught, plain and simple. But the man has so much potential, and that makes him a must see attraction. But Heath Herring is no tomato can, the man is a proven veteran of the sport and was a dangerous opponent. In the roundtable I said Brock would have to finish quick to make sure he didn't get caught again. He almost did. He ROCKED Herring's world early and just destroyed him for the entire first round. Herring's eye was a mess, and Brock looked dominating and much more composed than in his last bout. To me round one was a 10-8 round. The rest of the fight looked like a replay of round one as Brock would take him down at any time he wanted, and dominate with punches and some nasty knees. It looked like an easy win for Brock over a seasoned opponent. Of course I will not crown him the new man in the sport. He had chances to finish and couldn't. There were times when he looked around like he didn't know what to do next, but make no mistake, this was an excellent victory for him. There was a lot of shit on Brock for his post fight antics. Herring apparently was insulted that he had to face Brock, thinking he was above him. While some traditional MMA fans hate this, pure sport alone doesn't sell. Many traditionalists hate Brock and they will pay to see him lose, while others want to see him succeed in the world of MMA and pay to see that. In wrestling terms, he is a great heel. It wasn't as bad as some make it out to be either, mostly taunting and an early celebration. He's no Nick Diaz… The heavyweight division takes a lot of shit, but they have a lot of fights to work with. Nog and Mir is booked, you still have Brock vs. Coleman, Velasquez vs. Gonzaga, and can build to a Velasquez vs. Brock bout later in the year if both stay successful. If booed properly, the UFC Heavyweight Division could slowly get back on the rise.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 6.0

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The Fight: UFC Welterweight Title Bout: Georges St. Pierre © (16-2) vs. Jon Fitch (21-2-1nc):
My Pick: GSP, STRIKES, RD2
The Result: Georges St. Pierre via Unanimous Decision (50-43, 50-44, 50-44)
Final Thoughts: And now we come to the main event of the evening. Georges St. Pierre had a lot to prove, sure he dominated Koscheck and destroyed Hughes in back to back fights. And yes he avenged the loss to Serra in a dominating fashion to take the Welterweight Title. But he had NEVER defended the title successfully and he didn't have an easy bout here with Fitch who was going for the all time UFC record for victories. Round one was an amazing domination for St. Pierre as he was close to finishing a few times and made Fitch look like a beginner. St. Pierre took the round 10-8 and I thought that round two would signal the end of the bout. But Fitch regrouped for the second round and in my opinion did better in the stand up game. I took some shit for it, and most disagree, but I thought Fitch was able to edge out St. Pierre and take round two. But after that it was all St. Pierre. His jab is now officially amazing as he peppered Fitch repeatedly with it, snapping his head back. St. Pierre was close to finishing in round three (a debatable 10-8 round there) and simply controlled the final two rounds for an impressive victory. I give Fitch all the credit in the world for surviving the onslaught, but other than the second round, he had NOTHING to answer St. Pierre. We now should look for St. Pierre vs. Penn as they all but announced it after the bout. A great showing for St. Pierre, who is looking as dominant as anyone in MMA right now.
Larry's Enjoyment Index: 8.0

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The Overall:
Best Fight(s): MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT - Demian Maia (8-0) vs. Jason MacDonald (21-9) AND UFC Welterweight Title Bout: Georges St. Pierre © (16-2) vs. Jon Fitch (21-2-1nc) 8.0
Worst Fight: HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT: Cheick Kongo (21-4-1) vs. Dan Evensen (10-2) 5.0
Final Thoughts: Overall a very satisfying event. Some were down on the show due to so many fights going long, but they were not boring fights. Brock comes out with a huge win as does Florian. Maia begins his rise in the Middleweight division and St. Pierre looked awesome as we head to a potential big money match with Penn. The only "bad" fight shown was the Kongo win, and it wasn't so much horrible as it was boring. A good PPV overall with no real complaints from me. Also I finally got some game back on my predictions, going 7-3 overall. Not what I wanted, but way better than my last two events.

Show Score: 7.5

A reminder, there is a SHOW XC event this Friday night. I'll have live coverage of that event, and a My Take On of the event likely on Monday.