The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 10.28.08: UFC 90: Silva vs. Cote.

Posted by Scott Kuczkowski on 10.28.2008

Was The Spider able to escape the clutches of The Predator? How did the crowd in Chicago embrace the UFC? Who came out on top in a battle of lightweight wrestlers? Was Koscheck able to get by Alves? We’ll answer these questions and more…

The event comes to us live from Chicago. Joe Rogan continues to sport the Just For Men beard, which appears to have grown at an accelerated rate. He should come out at UFC 91 in a red flannel shirt with an axe and a blue ox. If he's gonna sport that look, he should at least go all the way.

On a serious note, I guess it is supposed to be a tribute to the late Evan Tanner. You go Rogan; you go boy.

I should also mention this event was viewed from the Buffalo Wild Wings in Abilene, TX. The bartender there did his best to get me too intoxicated to take notes. I showed him though and came home with a bunch of scribbled on bar napkins.

Let's get started!

Good/Bad/Ugly

Sean Sherk vs. Tyson Griffin: Tyson comes out to Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, which gave his entrance a nice Wrestlemania feel. I'll say this for Sherk; juice or no juice, he's still a pretty big dude.

The Good: Round 1 saw Sherk get one of the only takedowns for the night (thankfully). I was worried the entire bout would be a wrestling stalemate, but they thankfully kept things on the feet for the most part. Griffin got the better of the strikes in the beginning of the first round, but he slowed quickly and Sherk started putting together better combinations. Rounds 2 and 3 saw both guys stand and trade but Sherk still got the better shots in. Sherk took home the decision victory pretty handily. (Ha…get it? He used his hands…he was boxing...never mind.)

The Bad: Tyson looked like he started slowing down in the Round 2. This was strange considering he is one of those guys that can almost always bring it pull speed for 3 rounds. Maybe it was an off night for him.

The Ugly: None.



Fabricio Werdum vs. Junior dos Santos: Werdum looked pretty out of shape. I guess he took Junior pretty lightly. Maybe he knows something we don't. Dos Santos looked like he planned to give Fabricio a fight.

The Good: They both came out and exchanged shots for a moment. Then dos Santos caught Werdum with an uppercut that knocked him out. Good win for dos Santos.

The Bad: Werdum wasn't in shape for this fight nor did he look ready for dos Santos. He earned this loss.

The Ugly: None.



Rich Clementi vs. Gray Maynard: I was slightly baffled as to why this made it on the main card, but oh well, what do I know?

The Good: Both guys stood and traded to start, but I guess that was a little too even for Maynard's liking, as he quickly took Clementi to the ground and held him there. Celemnti tried to work his jiu-jitsu throughout the entire fight, but Maynard's ground control was too much. Maynard controlled all three rounds on the ground and walked away with the decision victory.

The Bad: Maynard racked up another win against a quality opponent, but can he finish anyone? The lightweight division already has a number of strong wrestlers, so I'm not sure he brings anything new to the table.

The Ugly: This fight was boring as shit for the majority. I like a ground battle as much as anyone else, but this fight just didn't do it for me.



Thiago Alves vs. Josh Koscheck: Thiago looks like the cocky bully in one of those 1980's pre-teen movies set in a high school atmosphere. Josh looks like he would be the protagonist's metro-sexual brother.

The Good: The first round saw both guys stand and trade. Alves looked more confident in his standup and also looked to have more power. Alves scored a knockdown in the first round off a left hand that caught Koscheck behind the ear. Koscheck came on strong in the second round, but the tide changed as time went on and Alves actually finished stronger. The third round saw Alves work his leg kicks and almost kick Koscheck's legs out from under him. Alves took home the unanimous decision.

The Bad: Koscheck couldn't take the fight to the ground, and I think that ultimately screwed him. Koscheck has great hands, but he was getting battered by Alves and his inability to take Alves down looked like it really hurt his confidence.

The Ugly: None. Good fight.



Anderson Silva vs. Patrick: Here we go. The main event. The Predator looks confident, but he hasn't been hit yet. Silva looks like this is just another day at the office.

The Good: Silva scored some good knees and punches in the first round, but he didn't look like he was ready to engage that much. Cote threw a ton of weak leg kicks and I thought he was going to try and out point Silva. The second round saw Silva using foot work and head movement, but not much in the way of offense. Cote for his part looked like he was trying to press the action, but he didn't show much offense either. Cote threw himself to the ground in the third round claiming a leg injury. The referee believed him and he was saved the disgrace of being put to sleep. O.K., O.K., maybe that last part isn't exactly accurate, but it's more interesting than the truth. The truth is Silva kicked Cote in the head so hard that it ruptured Cote's meniscus. Well, maybe that's not 100% accurate either, but you get the point. Silva retains the title on a TKO victory.

The Bad: Cote didn't really show me anything that lead me to believe he would have won this fight. Aside from a lucky punch, I didn't see him do anything that that made me think he had an edge.

The Ugly: This entire fight was slow. This was also the worst possible outcome for a main event involving someone claimed to be the most dominant Muay Thai striker in MMA.



Thales Leites vs. Drew McFedries: I'd predicted this would be a quick bout, so I wasn't surprised to see this after the main event.

The Good: McFedries came out with his typical quick hands and Leites didn't even bother screwing around on the feet. Leites took it to the ground and secured the rear naked choke for the submission victory.

The Bad: McFedires still doesn't have much of a ground game, but I already knew that.

The Ugly: None.

Winners and Losers

Let's see who comes out ahead and who might need to look for employment:

Sean Sherk: Winner. Sherk showed that he still belongs in the lightweight top 10 rankings. He also took home Fight of the Night honors. I don't know if he'd defeat BJ Penn in a rematch, but I expect him to get his chance if Penn keeps the lightweight title.

Tyson Griffin: Loser. This was a tough loss for Tyson. He was out-struck on the feet and he wasn't able to capitalize on his wrestling. This was also the second wrestler he's lost to. Hopefully he can get a break before he has to fight Gray Maynard.

Junior dos Santos: Winner. Junior exploded into the cage and made a nice statement by taking out the heir-apparent to the #1 contender slot. Now he just needs to string together some wins and he can start making headway in division that is quickly filling up with new blood.

Fabricio Werdum: Loser. Werdum lost a fight he didn't show up in shape for against the worst possible opponent – someone no one has heard of. I don't know how this figures into his contract or anything, since a title shot was allegedly in writing, but I'm guessing he is a few more wins away now.

Gray Maynard: Loser. Maynard won his fight, but he was also booed throughout the whole thing. I understand he is still somewhat new and has room to grow, but he needs to understand that the label "boring" can stay with him longer than he likes once it is applied. Maynard could be the next Sherk if he can't figure out how to finish.

Thiago Alves: Winner. This was a huge win for Thiago and I think he has finally cemented his place as a top 5 welterweight. I'd expect him to have to fight Diego Sanchez or even Jon Fitch again before he gets a shot at GSP.

Josh Koscheck: Loser. This loss hurts Koscheck. A win would have meant a title shot while a loss puts him three fights away. I'd expect to see him have to fight Sanchez again or maybe Fitch. A newly signed Jake Shields would also be a good opponent.

Patrick Cote: Loser. Patrick had a shot at the gold and he blew it. It doesn't matter that his knee bothered him or whatever the issue was, the plain truth is there will be a new list of contenders by the time his knee is healed up, which probably makes this his only chance at the title. On top of that, he didn't do anything in the fight to make it seem like he could win. I'd expect to see him have to beat Marquardt or Henderson before he gets another shot at the strap.

Anderson Silva: Loser. Anderson is supposed to be a world beater with knockout power in his lands, knees, and kicks. Instead we were treated to him dancing around the octagon and practicing his Tae Bo. This isn't what I'd expect from someone touted to be the pound for pound best fighter in the world. Maybe was trying to make it exciting or maybe he was giving too much respect to Cote, but the bottom line is people expect to see Silva finish opponents on Cote's level.

Unrelated Musings

Apparently both DREAM and Sengoku are both interested in signing Tim Sylvia. I guess those are the only promotions that haven't seen his Blind Date video. Good luck Tim. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out of America.

Luke Cummo was arrested for DUI. The only reason I care about this is because Luke drinks his own piss and is proud of it. He also had a strange blog entry the week prior to his arrest where he basically implied most every other fighter other than himself was on the juice. He didn't bother to try and substantiate anything; he just threw it out there. He also implied the reason he pulled out of his last fight was because he didn't have time to train. In a blog entry after his arrest, he credited his arrest to being subjected to a bunch of second-hand marijuana smoke at a party and that he ate meat (chicken wings) for the first time in months, which impaired his driving. I can't make this stuff up. He was driving while intoxicated from meat. I've never heard that defense.

Affliction co-founder Todd Beard had some choice words for Dana White and the boys in an obscenity-laced tirade he went off on while on "The Scott Ferrell Show." The gist of his allegations was that the UFC is in dire financial straits due to some $5 billion worth of debt amassed by the Station Club Casino. Beard claimed the debt would force the closure of the casino and the end of the UFC. I don't know if any of that is 100% accurate, but apparently there has been some rumblings about Station's debts and their ability to cover them. More to come.

The Wrap

And that's a wrap for UFC 90. Overall the show wasn't bad, but the main event was disappointing and left me leaving drunk and a little dissatisfied. Here's hoping Anderson Silva can get his groove back and return to knocking people out.

That's a all I have for this week. Leave me something below.


I am the push that makes you move.