First of all, the Amir Sadollah vs. Johnny Hendricks fight was a dissapointment. I think it was stopped too quickly. Dan Miragliotta jumped in a little too fast to end the fight. It was a judgement call on his part, but I think a few more seconds would have been appropriate. And, is it just me, or did anyone else think that Hendricks was totally punching the back of Amir's head while he was down on all fours? Amir is a very talented kid and could be a very exciting fighter in the future. He is still young and relatively inexperienced. He deserves another shot in the limelight I think.
Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffen. Anderson is amazing to me. There is no one else in MMA that fights like he does.He pulls thngs out of the hat that just blow me away. His hands were hanging at his and he shoots off a straight punch like lightning. Wow. On the other hand, Forrest didn't seem quite right to me. He looked a little off and kind of sluggish. Not too take anything way from Anderson, he is incredible.
Forrest is one of my favorite fighters. I love his attitude, humor and humility. He is refreshing in an MMA universe that is full of predictably oversize egos. I'm hoping that he hasn't been in one too many wars. The knockout seemed to come a tad too easily. We all saw the same type of thing happen with Chuck Liddell. While the all-out battles are exciting, they tend to shorten a fighter's career. Silva and Machida are two of the only fighters that are savvy enough to remember that smart fighting is all about hitting the other guy effectively and taking as little damage as possible while doing it. Most fans aren't so savvy about that either. Anyway, my hope is that Forrest can regroup and still have a successful career.
B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian. As I have said before, in spite of his ability, I don't like B.J. Penn. I think he's a dick. But he is a very talented dick. And he seemed a little better in this outing. A little. Maybe, just maybe, the beatdown from GSP taught him a little humility and maybe, just maybe, he'll be a better person because of it.
The fight itself was not all that exciting, mostly due to Florian's strategy of charging Penn and pressing him up against the ropes. He just wouldn't give up on that. It seemed smart for the first two rounds -- try to wear Penn down and gas him in the later rounds. But, he would't listen to his corner and give up on that to concentrate on his kicks. I think Florian should have kicked the crap out of Penns legs and then worked in the takedowns later when Penn's legs were too tired to fight them off.
The Aaron Riley vs. Shane Nelson fight was boring. Sorry.
The two best fights, as far as I'm concerned, were Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino and George Soritopoulos vs. George Roop. Neer is a jerk and I was glad to see Pellegrino handle him for the most part of three rounds. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. This Soritopoulos guy will be something to watch in the future. He put on a tutorial in groundighting. Excellent.
So, other than that, the evening was a bit of a letdown for me and I can't get very excited about the upcoming events. Except for the return of Randy Couture, there are no standout fights coming, espescially after the stacked cards that we have seen recently. And, jeez Dana, give us a break, two pay-per-views in a month is a bit of a burden on my pocketbook.
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