The Tap Out! 02.06.07

Posted by Caleb Newby on 02.06.2007

Check out the latest analysis and opinion from UFC 67. Also the IFL gets a new TV deal and details on why Anderson Silva was so easy to take down. It's all in the latest edition of The Tap Out!

Welcome back, we've got news, rumors, and analysis. Let's dive right in.


UFC 67 post event thoughts

- As would be a recurring theme throughout the night, the UFC crowds can't stop booing any lull in the action. I've always been annoyed by it, but last night was worse than ever. I was watching the PPV out at a Buffalo Wild Wings, so I wasn't able to hear all commentary or booing, but I heard enough. It's sickening. Give the fighters a few minutes to get warmed up and feel each other out. The average American MMA fan has a long way to go. It'll be interesting to listen to the crowd for the Pride event later this month in Vegas.

- During the prefight hype, I swore I heard Rogan name drop Fedor and Big Nog as the "best of the best" that Cro Cop's lost too. Interesting. It seemed before that Fedor was the name which is not to be mentioned.

- Cote, Cote, Cote… way to win a dull decision. Sure, it wasn't boring at first, but by the time it was obvious that his entire strategy was going to be fire off a combo then backpedal or clinch it got a wee bit old. Now it's hard to entirely blame him, after all he was desperate to win his first UFC fight, and this was a must win. Entertaining the fans comes at a distant 2nd to staying employed. Fortunately for Smith, he'll keep some name value due to his wicked knockout in the Sell fight.

- Rampage vs. Eastman came much earlier in the show than I expected and I have to admit, I was rolling during Rampage's entrance. What an entertaining cat. Eastman was actually an interesting fight and bound to be more competitive than Sanchez for Cro Cop. Considering Rampage's long hiatus from regular fighting and quality of opposition, Quinton did well for himself. In particular Rampage's uppercuts in the clinch were accurate and crisp. Sherdog has a post fight interview up where Rampage complained about the American fans booing. Good for him.

- At first I thought Huerta's knee was to the head like everyone else. After the replay I wasn't so sure, but it wasn't clear cut at all. Not much to say about this other than the chance that it gets turned into a NC or something. Doubtful though.

- Cro Cop, how I love thee. This fight was interesting. Cro Cop comes out stone faced like a serial killer to the Pride theme song of all things. Apparently Dana White told Cro Cop, "Whatever fires you up, man. If it's the Pride theme, go for it." Smart move by Dana. It's really not that big of a deal, it keeps Cro Cop happy and fired up for his fight. From Dana's viewpoint Mirko coming out jacked and ready to take someone's head off to Pride's music is a much better scenario than Mirko coming out feeling a bit off and potentially more vulnerable for an upset loss.

The fight itself was about as lopsided as everyone expected. If you watch a replay of the fight, you can pretty much read Eddie's mind…

Moments before the fight begins "Ok Eddie… this is your chance stud. Remember the gameplan… keep the right arm up to block the kick… you can do this! It's your time to shine!"

Fight begins "What did I get myself into. Arm up!"

Eddie charges Mirko "THIS IS FOR THE GLORY!! TAKE THI… he moved… FUC..." Eddie's inner monologue is interrupted by a left jab to the face

Durring Eddie's backpeddling "SCREW THIS! Arm up, keep moving, don't let him target me…"

After Mirko as let a few kicks go "… I'm dead."

At least that's what I heard coming from him.

In all seriousness though, Eddie lasted longer than most predicted, kept moving to better avoid any kicks, and didn't get KOed in a highlight reel fashion. Good for him, he was just terribly outmatched and outclassed. It was never a fair fight but he'll have more chances down the road to make a splash in the heavyweight division.

- Lutter couldn't make weight and kills the only reason of this show being anything other than an advertisement for future PPVs. Good work slick. Lutter came to the cage looking like he was going to jump off a roof afterwards.
The fight was interesting as we got to see another side of Silva in the UFC. People were harping his takedown defense but turns out there's a good reason for it lacking (that's a teaser to get you to keep reading). I'm just glad Silva won on the ground with Lutter in a triangle. That should end the talk about Silva having no skills off his back… beating someone like Lindland or Marquardt though? That might be a different story where Silva could very well lose.

- Tyson Griffin vs. Frank Edgar… fight of the night. Those two gave everything they had. Edgar impressed immensely in a fight he was picked to lose soundly. It's just too bad it came down to an accidental groin shot and a poor ref decision. Fight may have ended up going the same way with Edgar winning, but there's no way you can say the low blow didn't affect Griffin and take the wind out of his sails. Regardless Griffin and particularly Edgar were impressive and should be fixtures in the lightweight division for awhile.

- Welcome to the middleweight division Terry Martin. What else can you say about a 14 second fight?

And for all of you 3 people who want to know how I did in my picks, I went 8-1, getting Tyson's fight wrong. Of course, I didn't end up winning since Huckaby did me one better in picking the ending to Cote/Smith correctly to steal away my title.

News and Rumors


- While Silva won it was shocking at how easy he was to take down. Word has it that Silva actually came into this fight recovering from surgery. Insight courtesy of Joe Rogan on the Underground:

"Anderson Silva had knee surgery on both knees just 11 weeks ago. That was why he was so easy to take down, and that was why he couldn't squeeze 100% when he had Lutter in the triangle. I ran into his manager after the show and he told me the whole deal. His knees were still very sore. Later that night I ran into Anderson in the hotel, and he was limping like he was just double knee barred.

Crazy shit. If Travis ever had a chance, last night was it. Great fight, either way."

- Maybe it's just me, but Cro Cop's really got me wondering about his motivation for coming to the UFC. Between interviews and his Pride theme song, it seems at least plausible to believe Cro Cop is just making a tour through the UFC with the goal of becoming champion to then return to Pride and fight Fedor. There's no concrete evidence for this what so ever, but there are enough small signs that can get the conspiracy theory gears turning. If that somehow turns out to be the case, brilliant move by Pride.

And while we're speaking of Cro Cop, here's a few quotes from an interview he did back in Croatia after the fight via Nova TV.

"I trained hard for this fight, so hard that I felt pain in every part of my body. I injured lower leg, foot cam, and I had big problems with my cranks. All this deconcecrate me. I must admit that in one moment I was thinking about canceling the fight versus Sanchez."

Regarding the octagon: "The cage is big and opponent can run as much as he wants. Beside that, nice experience. Rules are different and public is louder which is not a bad thing."

Regarding the UFC's rules: "To be honest I remembered in last moment when I overturn him to the ground that I must not hit him with knees"


- The IFL announced on February 1 a new TV deal. The highlights:

"… the new IFL program will debut on over-the-air broadcast television on March 13 on MyNetworkTV, and will be known as "International Fight League's Total Impact." The program will air on 22 Mondays from 8-10 p.m. local time on all of MNTV's affiliates, which reach more than 95% of U.S. television homes."

"IFL cameras will cover the stories of each of the athletes both in and out of the ring, bringing fans all of the event and behind the scenes action. Segments will take viewers up close during the competition and also into the locker rooms, training routines, and home lives of this diverse set of athletes who are a part of the world's fastest growing professional and recreational sport."

You can find what station will be carrying the IFL programming here.


Pride 33

Pride is inching closer to their second U.S. show. As of right now the card looks as follows:

Wanderlei Silva (c) vs. Dan Henderson
Takanori Gomi vs. Nick Diaz
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Alistair Overeem
Hayato Sakurai vs. Mac Danzig
Kazuo Misaki vs. Frank Trigg
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Travis Wiuff

We'll be going over the card in depth in the next couple weeks.


Feedback

From Tim (regarding my statements in the roundtable):

Hey you said the Dustin Hazelett/Diego Saraiva fight was debatable. Here's my thoughts I can't say much about Hazelett, as I have never saw him fight. I have saw Diego fight 2 times, and the guy is sick on the ground, proven by his record 9-4-1 8 wins by submission 1 by KO. He trains with guys in Atlanta who all excel at different aspects of MMA. He will be ready. I say Diego by sub round 2

The Rampage/Eastman fight is far from one sided in my opinion it is an even match up. Both fighters like to slam and both are not afraid to strike. What do you base the one sided comment off of? Have you saw any of Eastman's fights besides the 2 UFC losses? if you have only saw those 2 fights I will gladly send a list of recommendations.

Unfortunately we were not able to see the Saraiva/Hazelett fight so the best I've to go off this fight was play by play reports online. It didn't sound like a one sided domination, but Hazelett ended up winning unanimous decision, largely for his better standup. Thanks for the notes on Diego as you are more familiar with him than I.

While I am writing this post fight, I'll still try to clarify what I meant by Rampage/Eastman being a one sided bout. Eastman wasn't expected to roll over and be a push over at all, but most evidence pointed to Rampage getting the win one way or another. I wasn't convinced that Rampage was going to finish Eastman, but I was fairly certain he'd take home a victory.


Larry should be previewing the Elite XC show later this week. See you next week.