1. After a fairly boring set of Facebook preliminary fights in which 4 of 5 fights went to decision, I was hopeful when the Spike prelims began. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good match. I am not the kind who only likes to watch a bloody fight or a scrap. I like to be entertained. I don’t care how it happens and the Facebook prelims were free, yes, but the only decision of the prelims worth mentioning was replayed after the main event of the card (Paulo Thaigo vs. David Mitchell) and when Erick Silva’s TKO of Luis Ramos is replayed two other times over the course of the evening, that says something about the other fights.
2. In what might be considered that best UFC PPV of all-time, I have to say that whomever gave Rousimar Palhares at 30-25 decision victory over Dan Miller is just cruel. We certainly need to see those scorecards so please hook me up with one.
3. Kenny Florian and Mike Goldberg look super professional in their suits tonight. We all knew that changes were coming after the UFC on Fox announcement especially after we saw Joe Rogan dressed up at the official announcement a few weeks back. Tonight proved it: the UFC are acting like the sports league that they want to be.
4. “Who am I speaking with?” “Spencer Fisher.” Poor dude’s been cursed ever since.
5. Luiz Cane had a major height and reach advantage against Stanislav Nedkov. That didn’t seem to bother the Bulgarian as he stayed with Cane, got into the pocket and was able to stun his opponent just enough to get him to the mat and rain down blows that got him a solid stoppage.
6. Without Joe Rogan present, something doesn’t feel “right.” It’s not that Kenny Florian didn’t do a great job (he’s obviously knowledgeable and likable) but Joe has this energy about him. How different would the top fights have come off with his voice? We’ll never know.
7. The fight between Minotauro Nogueira and Brendan Schaub was a perfect example of how Joe Rogan would be able to break down WHY that fight was big. Nog lost to Frank Mir, got TKO’d for the first time, before beating Randy Couture via decision in what everyone saw as a career renaissance. In his last fight, which was 16 months ago, he was knocked out for the very first time by now-UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. He was at a crossroads coming into this fight with Schaub. Tonight, he was able to battle through a solid attack from “The Hybrid” and knocked him out in just over half a round. Like Tito Ortiz’ win at UFC 132, Joe could have conveyed the emotions that Minotauro felt and how that arena was rocking at the Nogueira twins sat atop the cage post-fight.
7a. Not sure how the Nog-Schaub match went on before the Edson Barboza-Ross Pearson fight, but that’s an odd choice. Barboza and Pearson put on a show, but that seems like a major slight.
8. After a week of talking about how he felt like he wasn’t getting better, about how he sounded like he was one step away from retiring, Forrest Griffin proved both of those statements are worth examining. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua looked like the man that most recently had bested him and removed the Light Heavyweight title from around his waist, Jon Jones, moving in and out with speed against a plodding Griffin. His win was deserved, but seeing Griffin floundering on his back (as he once did against Rashad Evans and Anderson Silva) was sad. Still, if the man truly wants out, he should be remembered as the man that helped put this sport on the map. We might have been trading Griffin tapes and fights online, but if not for that finale on The Ultimate Fighter, UFC would most certainly not be where it is now.
9. Yushin Okami is the last challenge for Anderson Silva. There’s no question. Do we get our superfight now or are we waiting until next year? Georges St. Pierre is fighting Nick Diaz in October. If he successfully defends his belt then, are Silva and St. Pierre willing to fight in the most anticipated match in MMA history?
10. In the mean time, who the hell says that we can’t see UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva vs. Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson at UFC on Fox on November 12th? If we yell loud enough, we’ll get what we want. Silva needs something to do to stay active while he waits for GSP and it makes sense to have the “greatest of all-time” on the most important show you’ll ever put together.
