The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 10.02.08: DREAM 6 Middleweight Grand Prix Finals
Posted by Scott Kuczkowski on 10.02.2008
We travel to the Saitama Super Arena for the final round of the 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix! Who came away the winner? Did Crocop manage to defeat Overeem? When are we going to see Kurt Angle in the UFC? Will Anderson Silva call it quits soon? We’ll cover all these topics and more…
I wanted to get this cranked out earlier in the week, but I suck. Sorry to all of you out there who have been waiting for this with bated breath.
The event comes to us from the Saitama Super Arena. The place looks packed. Bas say there are around 25,000 people in attendance. I have no idea how anyone sees anything from the nose-bleed seats. I should also mention that this is the replay, which means some of the fights were cut out in an attempt shorten the original 6 hour (holy shit!) event.
We get right to the fights…
Good/Bad/Ugly
Andrews Nakahara vs. Don Sik Yoon: Nakahara is a karate guy while Yoon prefers Judo. Yoon is also sporting a gi, which always seems strange given the progression of the sport.
The Good: Nakahara had some great strikes in the first round. He really tried to keep the fight standing as long as he could. Yoon scored a takedown and eventually mounted Nakahara. Nakahara escaped and scored a TKO victory in round 2.
The Bad: Yoon had Nakahara fully mounted for 3 to 4 minutes but couldn't manage to capitalize at all. I found this incredible since Nakahara wasn't much of a ground fighter. I could probably classify it as ugly.
The Ugly: None. Well, Yoon's inability to finish.
Mousasi vs. Manhoef: Manhoef of course looks like an animal while Mousasi looks like he ready for a normal day at the office.
The Good: Allegedly Mousasi was telling the press that he was going to stand and trade with Manhoef, which Manhoef believed for some reason. Mousasi immediately clinches and gets a takedown. A triangle later and Mousasi has a first round submission victory.
The Bad: Mahoef was in the triangle and he picked up Mousasi and tried to slam him off. Unfortunately, he gave Mousasi the opportunity to cinch in the hold and withstand the slam instead of just continuing to hold him up in the air and working his way out.
The Ugly: None.
Galesic vs. Souza: I like Souza, but the alligator dance gets a little old after a while.
The Good: Souza shoots in for the takedown and eventually gets the mount. Galesic gets a reversal and Souza locks in a pretty cool armbar for a first round submission victory. Good stuff.
The Bad: None.
The Ugly: None.
Yamamoto vs. Tokoro: Tokoro had a great fight that last time I saw him (DREAM 4?), so I expect the same here.
The Good: Tokora started off aggressive with his strikes, but Yamamoto started landing his punches and really put a hurting on Tokoro. Yamamoto knocked Tokoro on his ass at one point and looked close to finishing, but Tokoro wouldn't quit. Tokoro threw a couple of somersault kicks while jumping into Yamamoto's guard that looked pretty impressive. Tokoro tried for a last ditch effort armbar at the end of the second round, but just couldn't get the arm straightened out. Yamamoto walked away with the decision victory. Excellent action throughout the entire fight.
The Bad: None.
The Ugly: None.
Sakurai vs. Hironaka: Kenny makes it a point to mention Sakurai's "running back-like" legs. I guess he's a leg man.
The Good: Sakurai made the entire bout a workout of kicking and punching Hironaka. Hironaka was tough and fired back here and there, but he was outmatched throughout the majority of the fight. Sakurai scored a nice knockdown towards the end of the fight and probably would have had a TKO stoppage given an additional 30 seconds.
The Bad: While Sakurai was active, the fight was uneventful for the most part.
The Ugly: None.
Tonooka vs. Akiyama: Akiyama wore his trade-mark gi, which of course is meant to conceal the fact that he slathers his body with a combination of pork grease and Vaseline prior to any fight.
The Good: Tonooka, though clearly outmatched, kept the fight standing for as long as possible and even landed a few strikes. Akiyama eventually took the fight to the ground and toyed with Akiyama from the mounted position. Akiyama eventually earned a first round submission victory with an armbar.
The Bad: I laughed when Kenny Rice mentioned people either loved or hated Akiyama. It sounded like most people just hate him.
The Ugly: None.
Moore vs. Aoki: I have no idea where Todd Moore came from or what he was supposed to do against Aoki. I guess this is part of Aoki's rehabilitation for the crushing loss to Hansen; beat some unknown/inexperienced fighter.
The Good: Aoki jumped on Moore's back and finished him with a neck crank.
The Bad: This was one of those fights that Aoki stupidly celebrated afterwards because he was so impressed he could beat a guy with a 9-2 record. He challenged Akiyama to a fight afterwards because calling out the last guy to beat him (Hansen) would mean he actually has the balls to be challenged.
The Ugly: None.
Overeem vs. Crocop: Overeem looks like a monster next to Crocop. Crocop also looks like age is catching up to him.
The Good: Overeem owned this fight from the get-go. Crocop tried to throw some of his kicks here and there, but he had nothing for Overeem. Overeem had every trick of Crocop's scouted and he was able to neutralize any bit of offense Crocop attempted.
The Bad: Overeem hit Crocop in the nuts twice with knees. I don't think it helped much that Crocop was already eating knees to the body on a constant basis; I imagine the nut shots were just too much.
The Ugly: No contest. I hate no contest finishes. Maybe the right decision would have been to disqualify Overeem, but a no contest is a major let down. Overeem later said he thought Crocop wanted out of the fight. I tend to agree with this. Overeem was overpowering Crocop in every clinch and I didn't see anything out of Mirko that made me think he had a game plan to pull out a victory.
Mousasi vs. Souza: Here we go with the Middleweight Grand Prix finals. Both guys have had about four hours (!) between fights, so they should be well refreshed.
The Good: Souza gets a takedown and is trying to pass Maousasi's guard. Souza attempts an overhand right while falling into the guard and catches an up-kick to the right side of his face from Mousasi's right foot. Souza is out like a light and Mousasi is the Middleweight Grand Prix Champion. Very cool finish.
The Bad: None.
The Ugly: None.
Over all I thought this wasn't a bad show. Of course, I watched the replay and therefore didn't sit through an intermission or have to wait six hours between the start and the finish. Plus, I could fast forward through the meaningless, between fight, minutia.
I thought the finish was very good and I like that Mousasi won but wasn't necessarily picked from the beginning to take it all. There weren't many "ugly" moments during the event, so I chalk it up as being successful.
Reportedly, this event didn't draw the television ratings TBS had hoped and future televised DREAM events could be in jeopardy. I guess only time will tell.
Unrelated Musings
Anderson Silva is quoted as saying he may retire after another year of fighting. His management team was quick to say "No, you're not", so I guess we'll have to see how that plays out in the future. Personally, I doubt we will see Silva's last fight anytime in the next two or three years. He is probably one of the most dominant fighters in the world, and while his popularity in the US is still questionable amongst the casual MMA fans, I'd expect to see the UFC give him more opportunities to get his personality across to the masses. A stint on The Ultimate Fighter would probably serve that purpose pretty well.
Andrei Arlovski and Roy Nelson have been added to this Saturday's EliteXC card. I think this will be a great fight in that I hope Andrei takes Nelson's head right off. I don't just mean knock him out, I want Arlovski to hit Nelson so hard that his head lands in the third row and the crowd is left in a bloody terror. Well, maybe not that hard, but I expect Arlovski to give "Big Country" his first taste of some real competition.
Gilbert Melendez is about to be a free agent and may be shopping around for a new promotion. I think Melendez would be a great addition to the UFC lightweight stable, but he would also be a good acquisition for any promotion that has a deep lightweight division (DREAM). I hope he chooses that UFC as I think that is where he will gain the most fame/notoriety.
Kurt Angle has gotten desperate enough again to mention he will be involving himself with MMA in the near future. I'm going to say this once and for all for anyone who is listening: Kurt Angle is full if shit. Kurt turns 40 this December, and while I'm certain he is a skilled wrestler, he would be painfully out of his league if he ever stepped into the cage with anyone of skill. Kurt needs to pursue an acting career and quit claiming that MMA is next on his horizon when the rest of the world knows better.
The Wrap
Well, that's all for now. Hopefully next week's edition doesn't come out just as late.
Leave me some words of wisdom at the bottom if you are so inclined.
