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
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We’ll conclude our UFC 117 coverage (for the most part) with our usual Aftermath post which sums up our remaining thoughts about the show after digesting it and all of the coverage after the fact.

Here’s what we thought about UFC 117:

Duan
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Stefan Struve vs. Christian Morecraft
Worst Fight: Thiago Alves vs. Jon Fitch

This is a show I really expected very little of, and in that sense it probably turned out a lot better in practice than on paper.

If conservative ground and pound is your thing, you probably loved the main event. Loved it. I may be bitter and jaded, but I think that style of fighting sucks. There was an element of drama with the potential upset on the cards, but to me Silva’s late submission was what made that fight. On a related note, I think there is something missing in Anderson at 185. His string of lackluster performances started after his first jump to 205, and the only time he has looked himself since was in his other trip to light heavy against Forrest Griffin. Give that a moments thought. His movement doesn’t quite have the same fluidity, his reflexes not quite as sharp. The Anderson Silva of 2007 would not have been touched by shots from the likes of Maia and Sonnen.

If I was training Junior Dos Santos, I would have him working nothing but footwork. Footwork, footwork, footwork. This is where the title is won and lost for him. The kid has the ability to school any of those heavyweight Goliaths in the stand up, but he MUST stay out of range for takedowns. That’s not a game he can win.

Hughes showed that he still has something left. I’m not sure how much yet, but it was enough to handle Almeida convincingly. The Guida and Fitch fights were horrid.

Alan
Thumbs Up (but with tears in my eyes)
Best Fight: Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva
Worst Fight: Thiago Alves vs. Jon Fitch
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This will probably conclude our UFC 116 coverage unless something else comes out about the show. In short, it was fantastic and as you’ll see, the entire FGB crew enjoyed it.

Here’s what we thought:

Duan
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Worst Fight: Goran Reljic vs. Kendall Grove
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I was able to watch UFC 115 on the big screen in a movie theater. There were maybe 10 of us watching in one of the larger theaters, so I’m guessing it was a big failure for the UFC. But it was cool to watch the show this way and if you get the opportunity, go out of your way to check it out. Just hope that there’s more people than the 10 that were with me watching UFC 115.

For the most part, we at FGB were positive about the show. Here’s what we thought:

Duan
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald
Worst Fight: Ben Rothwell vs. Gilberty Yvel
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Well, after what was labeled as the biggest grudge match in the history of the UFC, Rampage and Rashad Evans didn’t necessarily put on the slam bangingest fight of all time. I actually thought it was better than I expected, but when you sell a fight so hard, and it’s a one-fight card, the main event has to deliver. And according to most of the FGB crew, it didn’t deliver.

Here’s what we thought about the show:

Duan
Thumbs In The MIddle
Best Fight: Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway
Worst Fight: Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow
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Some have called it the worst WWE PPV of the year so far and while not bad, it’d be hard to disagree. Part of the reason this show was as average as it was had nothing to do with the matches. Some of it was just bad luck.

Here’s what we thought about the show:

Duan
Thumbs Down (leaning)
Best Match: The Hart Dynasty vs. Chris Jericho and The Miz
Worst Match: Randy Orton vs. Edge

Usually WWE deliver good main event matches, and thus no matter how bad the show has been up to that point, you go away feeling somewhat content. This was quite the opposite. I really enjoyed a lot of the early stuff. It was nice to see Kofi getting the big PPV win. Punk/Mysterio was enjoyable; even if it wasn’t some of their better work. And the tag title match was the highlight of the show for me.

Now, the second half of this show was an unmitigated disaster. Orton went down with the injury just as things were beginning to get going, and his match with Edge was waved off. Then Swagger/Show made it two non-finishes in a row. We had our usual worthless divas segment, and then a disappointing headliner. I have loved the Cena/Batista feud, but for me this was the worst match they have had. Not awful, just disappointing. I can’t say Over The Limit was a complete waste of time because of the 2 or 3 good early bouts, but if you didn’t see it you weren’t missing much.

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