Sometimes as an MMA enthusiast/self proclaimed expert, you lose sight of why you watch the fights. You may spend so much time predicting, analyzing, and picking apart the match ups that you forget how much fun it is not to know. You may forget how great it is to be surprised. The unknown is the entire reason anyone watches sports.
On to UFC 92. Chalk-full-o-surprises! Well many surprises for one self proclaimed expert anyway.
To start off with, in the third episode of the Rampage-Silva trilogy, Rampage knocked Silva out cold. Silva, having won the first two fights in extremely decisive fashion over in Pride, fell victim to a sharp, and strangely calm Rampage. We are used to seeing Rampage make his way to the ring, howling, staring, stopping to look mean. Apparently time spent at the Wolfs Lair in England, has calmed the beast some. It has shown a rededicated Rampage that may show a new look moving forward.
When Rampage entered the ring, we saw no howling, no antics, just a calm cold stare. At first glance, he looked scared. With all that has happened for him outside of the octagon lately, there were a lot of question marks surrounding the once UFC LHW champion and his mental state. On second glance once the action started, he looked focused and determined, and on a mission. Mission accomplished. After all was said and done, Silva laid on the floor of the octagon rigid, stiff, and unconscious. This makes the score 2-1 Silva. Could we see part four, does it matter, could that lead to a tie breaker? Time will tell.
Moving on to Mir-Big Nog. This writer is convinced that when hurt, Nog falls to his back and baits his opponent into falling into his guard. He likes to work from his back, and even after a ruthless beating from Fedor, he was still trying to slip subs from that position. He is comfortable there. It has happened too many times in his career to deny this tactic. While many times it has worked, Mir is no fool.
Frank Mir, armed with an improved and sharp stand up game, picked Big Nog apart and won the TKO victory. He knocked Nog down multiple times, only to stand the fight back up. Mir, after suffering a devastating motorcycle accident has finally gotten his training up to full speed, due to full rehabilitation of his leg. Finally he can train to his max potential and hopefully put himself at the top, where surely he feels he belongs. No one ever took his belt from him, and now he has a shot to chase it again. It seems the cycle has come full circle for Mir, and he has regained half of the belt he never lost in the first place.
As for Griffin and Evans, this one really was a surprise. Griffin started the fight by keeping Evans at bay with the jab, and a great sequence of leg kicks that looked to chop Evans down. Evans was noticeably effected by the kicks and even switched stances at one point. Griffin looked to be winning the fight if it went to the judges. No such luck Forrest. Alas, a nice powerful right hand (Rashad’s new weapon of choice) put Forrest on skates and a ground and pound stoppage followed.
While Forrest was my pick, it is becoming more and more difficult to call Rashad lucky. He may prove very hard to beat if he keeps fighting as he has of late. His stand up is ever improving and his wrestling game goes without saying. If this guy can get some Jitz under his belt, he may be a force for some time to come.
The results of this card now call for a bit of mixing of opponents to keep the line moving. Look for Rashad to fight Rampage, and maybe Silva to fight Griffin. After Saturday night, I’m not making any predictions for awhile. Apparently my crystal ball is out of order. Well, until the next fights in a couple weeks anyway.
All in all, a great card. I had many picks, and even some predictions on how fights would end. None of them were accurate. In my disappointment I learned something though. It really was fun to not know, to be surprised, to be a fan. Although none of my picks prevailed, I had a great night watching some electric fights, as well as seeing the entire LHW and HW divisions reshaped.
