Normally I would post on here how fucking wrong I was in my picks, but not this time.
UFC 73 was such an abortion for the UFC, it's not even funny anymore. If they couldn't get that card right, they never will.
Officiating:
Does it get any worse than what we say last night? You can look at any two fights and see a complete lack of consistency in how the bouts were reffed. Big Nog should be 2-1 vs Herring if the fight was judged the way the Silva v Marquardt bout was, or vice versa. Sherk mighta been KOed by a fifth knee if he was stood up the same way Nate was after every 21 sec lull in action. Yes Sherk was active, but if the criteria is standup after 21 seconds, then we probably wouldn't have seen 23 mins on the ground. And who the fuck was checking fingernails at the door before the Tito v Rashad match?
Action:
How active was Sherk really? Franca never looked rocked in that whole match. Was Sherk really active as in trying to finish the match? Hardly.
Tito and Rashad was another match that saw a lot of hugging and kissing. Where are the warnings for stalling and lack of engaging that the Unified Rules call for? Has there ever been a clearer card begging for a yellow card system that this one? Probably, this is the UFC after all, but since it was called Stacked we chould have seen a bit more action.
Jiu Jitsu:
It really is dead. At least for UFC fighters claiming black belts in it. This card just clearly showed BJJ is useless without a wrestling pedigree to back it up. Without solid body control and a learnt understand of balance, BJJ just isnt as effective in MMA as it once was. Franca and Bocek looked like novices on the ground versus good wrestlers, Marquardt got nothing going, and Florian has become a Muay Thai striker. This domination of wrestling equating to boring action yearns for knees to a grounded opponent. Lets see Tito drop to a knee to avoid the MT then.
Goldberg and Rogan:
How bad was Goldberg last nite? I started muting my television to avoid listening to that hack speak. "And the amazing, incredible thing is that he puts his undefeated record on the line..." What the fuck does that mean? He was play by playing six seconds late all night. And I know their job is to hype, but after 2 decisions and a draw do you have to saw that it's an incredible night of fights, and that it doesnt get any better than this? I suppose I hate to be patronized, and that just insulted my intelligence.
Crowd and PPV:
Why no sellout? You could clearly see empty seats on the fly-by cam. I dont remember seeing that many empty chairs during the EliteXC/Strikeforce card just two weeks ago. Judging from the blogs, a lot of ppl who frequent the blogoshere were getting their info online and not watching at home or elsewhere. If the UFC cant sell this card to the more than casual fan, what can they sell? Better start having Chuck Liddell fight monthly.
The Future:
If the UFC lost as many casual fans after 71 as some pundits claim, then they lost another boatload last night. The card was sheer boredom with the exception of Big Nog almost getting KOed and Florian showing he really is getting better with each fight and new mental toughness we haven't seen before. Money on him moving to 145 in the near future.
As for my future, I can no longer consider myself a UFC fan. Will I watch? Sure, at a bar. They are never getting my money from me again. I'll buy the next EliteXC card and continue to watch Pancrase, Shooto, and bodog. I just can't stomach another letdown like last night.
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10 comments:
Your are the only person i have seen even remotely mention the inconsistency in the nate stand up and sherk not once bein stood up. total b.s. And about the fans its true everybody i watched the fight with alls they knew was, "when is tito fighting that black dude?" and "chuck is better than tito" only one person knew who big nog was
and as far as goldberg goes it is very bad. did you catch cole vs wang in the tuf finale , after the fight he said it was one of the best head kicks the ufc has ever seen. COME ON NOW. it didnt even knock the wang warrior out.
Most of the other MMA bloggers seem satisfied with the show last night, but I have to say I agree with your analysis (albeit not to the same extent)...
Your postings are informative and enjoyable...I know I'm not the only one who hopes you change your mind and continue watching UFC, even if you go to a Sports bar to avoid paying for it.
You use the failure of Marquardt, a wrestler, to do anything on the ground against Silva, a BJJ fighter, as evidence that BJJ is dead?
What the hell are you talking about?
One difference between Sherk being allowed to work and Marqhardt being stood up was that Nate was not doing anything. He did not try to pass guard and was not posturing up to throw punches or elbows. He kept his head down and was peppering a few shots at silva.
Sherk on the other hand was always improving position. He would go to full mount, side mount, north/south, back to side or full, at least making it look like he was trying to find a way to mount some damaging offense.
I think sherk was too conservative and would not open up to really attack Hermes on the ground. It was obvious he did not want any part of Hermes on the feet, as he would not listen to his corner and just shot at first chance.
Sounds like you are a more of a bitter Pride fan than an MMA fan.
Why bitch and moan about the yellow cards when it is not ever going to happen? No commission in the US will ever allow the fighters purse to be docked.
Completely agree about no longer being a UFC fan. My biggest gripe has to do with the undercard.
I am absolutely disgusted with the complete and total disregard the UFC has for the hardcore MMA fans out there.
First, Edgar-Bocek was highly anticipated by most fans in the know. Didn't bother to show it.
Gurgel/Saraiva won fight of the night, and Lytle got submission of the night. Nope.
Bonnar finished Nickels in two minutes. Here, it's especially puzzling, because it's Reality TV Star Stephan Bonnar from their smash first season of exciting Ultimate Fighting reality program, The Ultimate Fighter. I can only assume they punished him for the 'roiding.
Yup, not a single one of these fights was shown (as I'm sure you're all aware).
The PPV ended with 11 minutes left, completely unused. They could have fight all 3 of the finished undercard fights in that time frame. This of course also ignores the fact the PPV has massive, ungodly amounts of downtime. The first fight didn't start until 20 minutes in. The 2nd fight didn't start until 55 minutes in. There was a 20 minute buildup for the god-awful, all-hype Ortiz/Evans fight. After Robinson/Florian, they showed a god damn movie trailer that could have been a fight.
I'm writing a letter to the UFC, and I'm never buying a UFC again until they start showing as many of the undercards as possible, ESPECIALLY exciting fights with finishes. For the love of god, after the stink of Sherk/Franca and Ortiz/Evans, you'd think they would want to put in a few exciting fights. But no.
I thought Ultimate Finale 5 was a taste of things to come, but in fact UFC has gone the exact opposite direction, basically working hard to NOT show all the fights. Random sports bar playing UFC, here I come.
There's no hope for a "fan" who wants to complain about this card. It was a great card, and the fights were good. Comparing the Silva/Marquardt ground action to Sherk/Franca is ridiculous. Sherk was able to improve his position a number of times (side control), and came close to finishing the fight. Marquardt stayed mostly in Silva's guard. When Marquardt passed to half-guard, he didn't go for subs and his GNP was completely ineffective. THAT'S why that fight got stood up.
Anyone who wants to watch another org. should feel free to do so. Zuffa can't please everyone. Seriously, anyone who had major problems with the result from UFC 73 ought to quit watching MMA, because you're going to be disappointed by every card from every promotion.
I'm not sayin that the nate standup was without reason, i'm just sayin there was AT LEAST three or four times sherk was doing the EXACT same thing. if they would of stood him up like two of those times it woulda been a stoppage due to sherks broken face from franca's knee. i hope he fights Bj next espesially if penn stays in shape, cuz sherk wont be be able to lay on him for 5 rounds.
Hey mate,
completely agree with your post. If a fighter is as dominant in bodycontrol as Sherk is, he should either be able to knockout the opponent or sub him. After the 3rd or 4th round the judge clearly could have seen that this is going nowhere and decide to let the boys stand up more often.
Ortiz-Rashad was horrible and neither looked good, althou Tito did suprised me with his kick, before he gassed or his back injury came to fruition, whatever it was. A.Silva looked good against a Nate Marquardt who clearly did not lived up to all the expectations and hype that was caused to promote this event.
Like how you paraphrased Rich Franklin btw ;)
Oh, before I forget: Mirko invited Ricco Rodriguez and Sergei Kharitonov as training partners - might be the right move. Gomi is going to HERO's most likely and Liddell-Silva does down at UFC76 - as expected. Maybe then the UFC can fill the seats for once again.
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