Goossen Tutor put up videos of interviews with the two fighters.

We’ll be there live covering it for the site.

This is the first part of a new audio documentary on Manny Pacquiao from the BBC world service. Mike Costello of the BBC visits the Philippines ahead of the fight with Margarito to meet Manny and some of the people who know him best.

This is the first WWE PPV that more than one of us watched since SummerSlam, so there was definitely some intrigue in the John Cena Freed Or Fired angle. If you love in ring action, you got some of your money’s worth in the first half of the show. With Daniel Bryan and Kaval on a PPV, it’s akin to WEC fights being on UFC PPVs. The match level is going to be much higher than if they weren’t on the show.

But the second half of the show was mind boggling. The action was bad, the matches were long, and the main events weren’t anything to write home about.

Here’s what we thought of Survivor Series:

Duan
Thumbs Up
Best Match: Elimination Tag Match
Worst Match: Edge vs. Kane

The first half of this show had some of the best wrestling I have seen in WWE in quite some time. It’s just a shame that it seemed to be lost on the crowd for the most part. Nothing was truly dreadful with the exception of Kane/Edge. And as much as the double pin was a cop out finish; I’m just thankful they didn’t do a restart.

I had no major problem with the main event. It was solid if a bit flat, but what do you expect when the whole angles is based on the referee? Cena promised an epic beating of Wade Barrett one way or another and he didn’t deliver on it. I was looking forward to a shellacking the likes of which we haven’t seen since Orton first turned on Legacy, but it wasn’t to be. I understand the reasoning behind delaying the pay off, but they sold the match on that premise so I still feel slighted.

I won’t dwell on the negatives though because there was a lot of good to be taken from this show. The traditional survivor series tag was fantastic. It was supremely well booked with everyone involved was motivated and on the same page. That’s a good reflection on the mindset in the company right now. Hopefully they can build on that momentum as we inch closer to WWE’s busy season.

Alan
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Match: Elimination Tag Match
Worst Match: Edge vs. Kane
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UFC 123 was the show before the show. With all their eggs in the Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck basket, UFC 123 was bound to be an overlooked show. Sometimes, when that happens, the show can overdeliver as well. This wasn’t really that case.

If you are wondering if you should go out of your way to watch it, it wasn’t one of the UFC’s better offerings.

Here’s what we thought of UFC 123:

Duan
Thumbs Down
Best Fight: Joe Lauzon vs. George Sotiropoulos
Worst Fight: Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Falcao

The show got off to a brilliant start with Lauzon/Sotiropoulos. George is a real star in that division, and the sooner he’s elevated into the title mix the better. Unfortunately it became a case of the age old problem of setting the bar too high, too early. Nothing on this card was ever going to follow the opener.

Davis vs. Boetsch was nothing to write home about, Harris and Falcao died in front of that crowd, and the Penn/Hughes fight was over before it ever even got started.

Jackson and Machida’s styles just didn’t mesh well together which made for a pretty flat main event. Personally I felt Machida should have won based on the strength of his third round, but the first two sessions were essentially a stalemate so you couldn’t really complain too much either way. It’s definitely not one I want to see rematched. And to be honest, I’m not particularly enthusiastic about seeing either guy again at all right now. People didn’t get their money’s worth on this one.

Alan
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Joe Lauzon vs. George Sotiropoulos
Worst Fight: Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Falcao
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At the conference call for Andre Ward vs. Sakio Bika, Ward answered the question about why his fight with Andre Dirrell didn’t go down as planned.

Why aren’t you fighting Andre Dirrell on Saturday night?

“I think Andre Dirrell’s team has already said why we’re not fighting Saturday night. Apparently, Andre’s got some neurological issues and I’ll leave it at that. I think with the writers and the media it’s their job to be able to figure out what’s true and not true and I just have to take whatever comes. I take Dirrell at his word and I hope he gets better soon and that we can see him back in the ring.

When you sign a contract it’s a binding agreement and we were legally bound to fight Dirrell in our third fight. Personally, it’s not something you want to do; that’s a friend of yours, your family knows one another. It’s not really an ideal situation. But at the end of the day I’ve been fighting for a long time and I was prepared to do what I agreed to do. I think some of the fans blew things out of proportion. A lot of people weren’t talking and there really wasn’t much to say and it would have probably just made things worse.

I think it’s unfortunate people think Dirrell and I were trying to take the fight off the table and that we were working together. That’s personally not who I am. I was always going to do what I had to do.

I’m just as hungry as any opponent I’m fighting. I’m just as desperate as any opponent I’m fighting. I take this game very, very seriously. Having a championship and defending it means the world to me. I’m sure Sakio thinks this is a huge opportunity for him but this is a huge opportunity for Andre Ward as well.
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Don’t get in that cage with GSP.