The Triangle Choke 10.26.08: Thoughts on UFC 90
Posted by Scott Dryden on 10.26.2008
When did UFC develop an inferiority complex and how did it happen? When did the Anderson Silva we thought we knew, the guy who is known for being respectful to the sport and his opponent, turn into Muhammad Ali? Somehow I missed that transformation.
THE TRIANGLE CHOKE
UFC 90
WHAT I LIKED:
Sean Sherk and Tyson Griffin put on a great show. This is a matchup the hardcore MMA fans were excited to see. Both fighters are extremely talented on the ground. However, in this fight, they threw leather for the vast majority of the fight. It was a thrilling show. Sherk's hand speed was very impressive and it resulted in victory by unanimous decision.
Thiago Alves defeated Josh Koschek by a unanimous decision. Alves is on the fast track to a match up with Georges St. Pierre for the Middleweight Title. Alves' stand up game was incredible. He connected some big shots to Koschek's head and landed several vicious leg kicks. Alves continues to get better. His takedown defense was remarkable against a NCAA Champion Wrestler in Koschek. Koschek was noble in defeat surviving several potential knock out blows to only lose by a decision.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
Overall the event was sluggish, lacked flow and the broadcast seemed forced. Rogan's comments during the Gray Maynard vs. Rich Clementi bout were nonsensical. The truth is, the fight was boring and the boos from the crowd were well deserved. Rogan reminded me of Dick Vitale commentating on North East Valley School for the deaf at John Jones Western Agriculture and Mechanics. Vitale would use his typical high strung meaningless banter, on a game that is boring and meaningless. Rogan tried to do the same on a fight that had insomniacs across the nation dozing. Maynard was impressive in taking Clementi down but did nothing with it. He didn't improve his position or really land any strikes. I would love to see the compustats from that fight.
I'm guessing it would look something like this:
Maynard 4 punches thrown, 1 connection 25%, 3 takedowns attempted 100%
Clementi 0 punches thrown, 4 leg kicks attempted 2 connected 50%, 0 takedowns
There was more action in Game 3 of the World Series rain delay than this fight.
THE WORST OF ALL:
When did UFC develop an inferiority complex and how did it happen? Over and over again Rogan and Goldberg stated"The World's best pound for pound fighter", when referring to Anderson Silva, are you kidding me? Dana White stated something to the affect, "Anyone who says otherwise is ridiculous" regarding Silva being the best fighter in the world. Well sir, there are plenty including me who are very confident in stating, Fedor Emelianenko is the greatest fighter in the world. In my opinion, the greatest fighter ever. You do not have to be a trained Psychologist to read Dana's inner most thoughts on this subject. The fact that the best fighter on the planet is not controlled by White, eats at him, consumes him. To top it off, Fedor has defeated UFC's current Heavyweight Champion (or is he interim?) Nogueira not once, but twice, both in dominating fashion. Fedor recently pummeled former UFC Champ Tim Sylvia in embarrassing fashion. In the new year, Fedor will do the same to another former champion Andrei Arlovski. Enough with the constant bombardment of Silva being the best pound for pound fighter. He is no doubt one of the best, end of story.
Silva vs. Cote:
Easily the worst fight of the night. When did the Anderson Silva we thought we knew, the guy who is known for being respectful to the sport and his opponent, turn into Muhammad Ali? Somehow I missed that transformation. Silva danced and paraded around the octagon for almost the entire first round. He mocked Cote, bowed to him at the end of the round, then brashly put his hand out in mocking fashion to help Cote up, DURING THE FIGHT!!!
The crowd starting reacting to the fiasco by reigning down boos. Then in the 3rd round Cote suffered a non-contact knee injury. It appeared to be very serious, possibly torn ligaments. The boos grew even louder when the fight was stopped. The fact is this fight did not have the makings of a competitive event. It was pro wrestling at its finest. The comments after the fight only echo that sentiment. Cote was thrilled to make it to the third round and Silva only stated he wanted to give the crowd a show. If those comments happened after a Kimbo Slice fight an investigation would be launched. Cote has no business being in the ring with Cote. Everyone knew that prior to the fight. Both Anderson Silva and Joe Rogan misinterpreted the crowd's reaction; they were not only showing displeasure with the stoppage, they were very disappointed with the entire fight.
During the post fight interviews, Rogan stated several times what a shame it was the fight was stopped, how exciting the fight was and that Cote deserved another shot. Maybe it's the beard affecting Rogan's brain or maybe it is jet lag from having UFC 89 and UFC 90 in back to back weeks. Either way, on this night, Joe Rogan was pound for pound the worst commentator in the business.
UFC has certainly built up enough equity to have a bad event from time to time, rest assured thy will bounce back in UFC 91 when Couture battles Lesnar.
Whoa EASY there!
Silva is under contract with the UFC so it is only natural that they would hype him so much. Plus you're making it sound like it's absolutely ridiculous to think that he's the best P4P. Don't get me wrong, it's very debatable, but it's not like they were claiming Forrest Griffin was the best.. Plus you check out all the rankings, they all have Silva as the number 1, and while that doesn't mean that it's true, it does mean that some people are buying the hype, or actually believe he is, either way, mission accomplished as far as the UFC is concerned..
As far as Rogan, again, i wouldn't go that far.. I usually like him, and it seemed to me that in the Maynard-Clementi fight, he was mostly complaining about the ref yelling "come on guys we gotta work" all the time.. And you know what? He's right. Again, the fight was boring, but the ref was annoying as hell, give them at least a few seconds before starting to yell over and over again.. Plus if you really look at it, Clementi has a fantastic guard and he was the one who prevented Maynard from doing any damage. In which case the Ref could have just stood them up instead of yelling like a drunken retard.. The fight was indeed boring though..
I agree that Anderson's antics were excessive and it was disappointing, but i just think your criticism should be more constructive and less angry.. I really mean it in a good way, no offense..
Posted By: Samer (Guest) on October 26, 2008 at 04:16 PM
Forgive me if I disagree with you assessment of Anderson Silva. He did nothing that struck me as disrespectful. He bowed after the first round, it wasn't mocking but seemed to be respectful, and Cote returned the gesture. If Silva had been mocking, I doubt Cote would have taken it with such good humor. As for offering his hand to help Cote up, I think Rogan hit the nail on the head, he meant it. They both knew the fight was going to be standing again, and Silva offered his help. Mirko Filipovic has done the same thing before, most notably to Mark Hunt.
And yes, I think Cote has a case for a rematch. He came out and fought, had a pretty good game plan, and for whatever reason seemed to have Silva a little off his game.
My question to you about the commentary during the Maynard/Clementi fight would simply be, what would you prefer? Both guys simply acknowledge to a paying audience, "Yeah, this fight is boring as hell"? They did the best they could with what the fighters were doing and still trying to support the company and product.
And your comments about Silva and Fedor on the mythical-high-and-mighty pound for pound rankings, really it strikes me as irrelevant. I'm with you personally in that I think Fedor is better, but pound 4 pound rankings are, by their very nature, an exercise in futility. The two will never fight, so the dispute can't be settled. Naturally Dana White isn't going to devote his time and energy to promoting a fighter who doesn't fight for him, all that does is create more of a buzz about someone who he doesn't benefit from promoting. Fedor is still something of an unproven draw in the States, and realistically many people may not have heard of him at present time. If then, Dana White at a UFC press conference says "Yeah, Anderson Silva is the best fighter, except for Fedor Emelianenko" people will notice and start looking him up. Then Affliction gets more press around their fighter. Dana White would be an idiot to hype Fedor while someone else makes money off him.
Posted By: Last_Rider (Guest) on October 26, 2008 at 06:10 PM
kudos to Samer and Last Rider. This article may have been better had it been preceeded by 10 breaths and happy thoughts before being typed.
Posted By: guest guest (Guest) on October 26, 2008 at 08:05 PM
Good article, and I have to agree with a certain amount of anger towards Silva. I love the guy and think he IS pound for pound one of the best fighters but if you know you can finish a fight, then do it. And he could have a few times in the both the first and second rounds thus saving Cote from firstly being able to brag that he lasted three rounds when really he wasnt attacked more than three or four times and secondly that he was keeping up and would have done 'really well' has he not been insured. Silva should have fought how he can fight and showed that respect of being aware and onpoint rather than casual and nonchalant.
Sorry, but thats just not in the spirit of the game and yes, he is that good and for the life of me, I am still struggling to see WHY the UFC put Cote of all people against him, but at the very least finish it quickly and with some honour. I know he wants to be a superhero and probably had a plan to finish the fight in a particular way, but man, that sucked!
And all props to Koscheck. I dont like the guy but he took some HARD shots and hung in there. For THAT fight to make it to a desicion was impressive in itself!
And Gray vs Clementi . . what can I say. . . I didnt even think that could be classified as a fight. Its very rare that people get paid to lie on someone for 15 minutes and do nothing . . you can see where I could go with this. Didn't like Gray before, still don't. . .
Posted By: gchild (Registered) on October 26, 2008 at 08:46 PM
Thiago Alves defeated Josh Koschek by a unanimous decision. Alves is on the fast track to a match up with Georges St. Pierre for the Middleweight Title.
No one else caught this!
Posted By: FDF (Guest) on October 26, 2008 at 08:55 PM
My comment was filtered.
Posted By: Adam (Guest) on October 26, 2008 at 09:51 PM
WAR ROGAN!
Posted By: Guest#5622 (Guest) on October 27, 2008 at 12:17 AM
Maynard wins again. And I'm just not sure what anyone imagines would be a solution for him. When YOU decided it was boring, was he supposed to stand up off of Clementi and give up his hard earned position becuase YOU didn't think there was enough action? Spare me.
Posted By: AdamS (Guest) on October 27, 2008 at 05:38 AM
"Thiago Alves defeated Josh Koschek by a unanimous decision. Alves is on the fast track to a match up with Georges St. Pierre for the Middleweight Title.
No one else caught this!"
Meh i'm sure it was just a typo.. And it can't be worse than that time Alex Mattis said that for Mayweather to prove that he is the best welterweight fighter in the world (as opposed to just being the best boxer) he should fight and beat GSP.. If you don't know about boxing, it might go over your head..
Posted By: Samer (Guest) on October 27, 2008 at 08:57 AM
Totally agree with the article. If he was being respectful then why didnt he do that in all his previous fights in and out of the UFC. What did he just become respectful now or something? In MY opinion Fedor would eat him up. Pound for pound lets us compare fighters in different weight classes without bringing weight in on it. So seriously does anyone else think that Fedor wouldnt have pounded Cote in less than 1 min??
Posted By: Jones (Guest) on October 28, 2008 at 12:32 AM
