Last week was pretty rough for Ultimate Fighting Championship. The company was coming off of a huge high from UFC 57, and the great hype machine had fans in anticipation for UFC 58. Just days before the event, things started to go wrong. Very wrong.
Diego Sanchez was pulled from the card on Tuesday, leaving the card one bout short. That normally wouldn’t be a big deal, except UFC was banking on Sanchez being a draw for the pay-per-view. On Wednesday, Kenny Folrian needed to be replaced with Spencer Fisher. Then on Thursday, Christopher Midoux had to be replaced with Icho Larenas.
While UFC 58 was plagued with problems, they still managed to pull off a decent show. I imagine that any card that followed Liddell vs. Couture 3 was going to feel a little disappointing to most fans. I think the most disappointing thing for me was being wrong in every one of my predictions. Okay, I got three of them half-right, but that doesn’t count for shit. And now, my thoughts on UFC 58, in the order in which they aired.
UFC 58: USA VS. CANADA
- Mark Hominick defeated Yves Edwards by triangle choke at 1:53 of round 2
I do believe that I have some crow to feast upon. I suppose I’m not the only one, however, that didn’t see this one coming. Not only was Yves Edwards considered the favorite for this fight, he was considered by many to be the uncrowned Lightweight Champion.
Mark Hominick was looked at by many, including myself, as a stepping stone for Edwards (check my comments in last week’s UFC 58 preview). Hominick has more skills than anyone, except maybe Dana White, gave him credit for. This was a very exciting fight, and a hell of a nice surprise. We just might be looking at the future of 155 in Mark Hominick.
- Nathan Marquardt defeated Joe Doerksen by unanimous decision
Joe Doerksen promised the fans an exciting fight, and that’s exactly what we got. This fight had the kind of back-and-forth drama you would expect in a WrestleMania main event. I was really impressed with both of these guys. Doerksen hasn’t had a win in UFC since UFC 52, but he shows a lot of heart. This was only Marquardt’s second fight for UFC, but he could find himself as a contender for the Light Heavyweight title some day.
- Georges St. Pierre defeated BJ Penn by split decision
There was a lot of hype going into this fight. As I’ve mentioned before, Georges St. Pierre had already earned his spot as the number one contender for Matt Hughes’ Welterweight title. He was not pleased that he had to face BJ Penn before facing Hughes, but still considered the fight an honor. Early in the fight Penn caught St. Pierre with a finger in the eye, and things looked grim. The possibility of doctor stoppage due to a cut seemed imminent, but the fight continued. Penn then grazed St. Pierre’s nose with an uppercut, causing even more bloodshed.
Remarkably the fight kept going, and after three rounds of absolute mayhem, Georges St. Pierre walked away victorious. Honestly, this fight had to be a bitch to judge. I think it could have gone either way. As a matter of fact, I actually thought BJ Penn had won the fight. This is definitely an early fight of the year candidate.
- Mike Swick defeated Steve Vigneault by guillotine choke at 2:09 of round 1
Mike Swick is currently one of the best up-and-coming 185 pounders the UFC has. He’s won all three of his UFC fights, and ended all of them in the first round. Steve Vigneault looked like he wasn’t even in the fight. I figured Swick would go for the KO, but Vigneault got him up in the air, and Swick saw the opportunity to go for the guillotine, and had it locked in on the way to the ground. Great fight, even greater finish. I just hope that UFC learned their lesson with Quarry and doesn’t rush Swick into a title shot.
- Rich Franklin defeated David Loiseau by unanimous decision
I have mixed feelings about this fight. It was nowhere near as exciting as it was expected it to be, but there were mitigating circumstances. Rich Franklin broke his left hand during the second round, and apparently injured his left ankle as well. Most people are calling Franklin’s performance “dominating,” but I have to disagree. If Ace hadn’t been injured, perhaps we would have seen a truly dominating performance, like his fights against Ken Shamrock and Nate Quarry. Instead we saw an injured Middleweight Champion facing a man that didn’t seem to have much interest in fighting.
David Loiseau barely put up any offense through the five rounds, and his defense was terrible (just look at his face). To his credit, he was able to withstand the attack of Franklin for five rounds; injuries be damned. The fact that Loiseau didn’t get KO’d in the first round was impressive enough, but to last the entire fight with a face that looks like Quatto from Total Recall says a lot about Loiseau’s heart. Overall this wasn’t what I would call a great fight, but it certainly had its moments.
Photos courtesy Sherdog.com and UFC.com.
