UFC 118 was more sizzle than steak. It is interesting to look back at what made the previous two shows so compelling. UFC 116 and 117 created so much buzz based on how great the stories and fights were with seemingly invincible champions having to come back to defend their titles. UFC 118 tried to create that spectacle by having James Toney fight Randy Couture, rather than letting it happen naturally with a competitive fight that fans wanted to see.

Now, UFC 116 and 117 aren’t the norm. There was definitely some luck in how the fights played out to make those shows so special. But they didn’t feel forced like this one.

I’m not sure anyone hated this show as much as Duan did. Here’s what we thought about UFC 118:

Duan
4 Thumbs Down
Best Fight: The Resident Evil Afterlife commercial
Worst Fight: Everything else

A truly horrid show all things considered. You will be hard pressed to find two more boring fights back to back than Maynard/Florian and Maia/Miranda. I promised I would say no more on Couture/Toney, and that’s probably for the best really. The main event, while impressive on Edgar’s behalf, was a pretty dull, drama-less spectacle. Good luck trying to sell Edgar/Maynard as a main event; that one sure has barn burner written all over it.

At this point, I think Penn really needs to consider where he wants to go from here. He’s now met his match at 155. BJ Penn’s whole character has always been about being the very best. I’m sure he can still beat most guys at either lightweight or welterweight, but not either champion. I don’t know that it’s worth his while fighting on as just another guy in the division. And I don’t know that BJ Penn can be just another guy in the division. Does he add anything to his legacy by knocking off contenders? If he’s made his money this might be the time for him to get out. But with that being said, if Maynard beats Edgar the door swings back open for him.

Alan
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar
Worst Fight: Mario Miranda vs. Demian Maia
Continue Reading »

In this episode, we take a look back at Ward vs. Green, and then say goodbye for now to Mikkel Kessler. It’s Fight Camp 360; you already know it’s going to be good.

If the player is not accessible in your region **Click Here**

I thought it was odd when Dana White said before Saturday night’s UFC 118 that Kenny Florian chokes in big fights. It was interesting because you rarely see him say that about anyone, especially someone who is one of the better fighters in the lightweight division. Telling one of your fighters through the media that he’s a choke artist isn’t necessarily a shot of confidence.

But when he said it again at the post fight press conference after the show ended (and Florian lost when he couldn’t pull the trigger), I wondered if it was meant as a message or statement that he wanted Florian to hear since he had to know that people would start asking Florian about it. I tried to ask Florian through his Twitter, but never expected a response and didn’t get one.

The next day, he did tweet out a response to everyone, though it didn’t have to do with Dana’s claims. He said:

Thanks for the support everyone. Before I knew it, the fight was over. Wasn’t my night. Congrats to Maynard on a well fought match.

Then yesterday, he tweeted out another message which didn’t reference the choking claims, but mentioned him letting his hometown down.

Lucky to have fans like u guys. I trained hard but need to train harder. Making plans now so I can take my game to where it needs to be. I really appreciate the support. Feel like I let a city down tho. I know what I need to fix & won’t stop till it’s fixed properly. Thank u.

Florian did talk about the claims to Dan Duggan from the Boston Herald. He said in reference to White’s claims:

I don’t think that really makes any sense. For me, it’s someone who is just looking at the big picture and not looking at the actual fight game. It’s someone who isn’t actually that familiar with the full technique of the game. I didn’t crumble. I was outwrestled. Gray fought a smarter fight. That was it.

He also went on to say that he doesn’t think Dana looks at the fight as technically as he should all the time.

Maybe the most interesting part of this is that Florian is also an analyst on ESPN’s MMA Live. Host of the show Jon Anik replied to a question about White’s choking claims on his Twitter account and said that White’s words were, “Too harsh & inaccurate.”

If ESPN thinks of the show as a true MMA news show, Florian will be asked about the comments and allowed to answer them. Where it gets tricky is that if he’s truthful, he’ll be refuting the words of the guy who promotes him. It’s definitely an odd situation.

I haven’t logged a WWE non-PPV in a while and since I’m more interested in this “special” Raw mostly because I expect there to be a lot of history, I figured I might as well pull out the old timely recap.

It should also only take them about 25 months to get to the 1000th episode.

6:03PM – Bret is back! Wait, I thought the General Manager never wanted Bret on WWE TV again?

6:06PM – Hart says that he and the Undertaker were the only two guys who were on the first Raw and who are still with the company. Kane’s music plays and he walks out. Talk about a bait and switch.

6:09PM – Kane brings up Shawn MIchaels and how Bret must’ve loved watching the Undertaker retire him. Jeez, the writers must hate us tonight. Isn’t is supposed to be a celebration?

6:12PM – Kane attacks Bret, the Hart Dynasty come in, and the Undertaker appears and sends Kane walking away. My iPod Touch notification sounds, I mean, the GM e-mails Michael Cole and says that Bret Hart will face Taker. Sigh.

6:13PM – They only thing I remember about the very first raw is Bobby Heenan trying to get inside the building.

6:18PM – Dream nerd tag match – Kaval and Daniel Bryan vs. Michael McGillicuddy and Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz and Alex Riley. Ok, maybe only a dream nerd tag team.

6:22PM – Miz had to skull crush poor Kaval for the finale. Then he had to clip Bryan with his briefcase. I wonder if this was their way of trying to get people to vote for Alex Riley for tomorrow’s NXT season finale?

6:31PM – Melina pinned Layla in a tag match with Melina and Eve vs. LayCool. Eve didn’t even get in the match. Maybe they’re running low on time. LayCool challenged Melina to a title unification match. I’m guessing this is at Night Of Champions. I say they keep the Diva belt over the women’s title. Melina accepted as long as it’s a Lumberjack match. King or Cole made sure to use the term Lumberjills. Melina must’ve messed up.

6:40PM – So far, out of four of the historic packages they’ve shown, two have been from the last two years. What an utter fail. No one wants to see that stuff. We want to see Austin, Rock, Foley, and HBK. Well, it’s better than the HHH hype that I expect to be coming shortly.
Continue Reading »

HBO are pushing Yuriorkis Gamboa hard a head of his headlining bout with Orlando Salido on the September 11th edition of Boxing After Dark.

Gamboa 18-0 (15 KOs) is one of the most exciting guys in the sport right now. If you haven’t been following his career up to this point, I definitely recommend you catch this show.