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

Main event was really enjoyable even if it was totally one-sided. I nodded off during Kenny/Maynard so I missed most of what was arguably the worst thing on the show, thankfully.

Don
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Marcus Davis vs. Nate Diaz
Worst Fight: Mario Miranda vs. Demian Maia

This was the first live UFC card I’ve watched since Cro Cop got his head kicked in by Gonzaga, but the build-up had me curious. So I went to the local pub to check the show out.

Nate Diaz (winner via submission) vs. Marcus Davis
Since I don’t watch Ultimate Fighter, I didn’t know what kind of emotional weight Diaz was carrying. But he came out in this fight showing how cocky he could be, and ended up giving Davis some nice pink shorts. Fight of the night for me, and a great opener. And the question of if/when the blood is washed off the mat was answered as well. After the fight, Davis looked like Mask from that Cher movie. And yes, it was classy of Diaz to check on Davis after the fight.

Gray Maynard (winner via decision) vs. Kenny Florian
I saw a lot of folks picking Florian as he was the better fighter, so of course I had to go for the underdog. But question — does Florian ALWAYS look worried? He’s got the puppy dog eyes in the pre-fight video, and right before the fight. By the way, I’d pick Adrian Brody to play him in the movie. Florian got a nice pop from the crowd in the pub. But then… wait… were both guys waiting for a bell? A full minute went by and there was only one touch, and that was at the 55 second mark. Geez, Flo has a great reach. Surprised he didn’t use it to his advantage this fight. However, Maynard controlled the ground, and I gave it to him via 30-27.

Demian Maia (winner via decision) vs. Mario Miranda
Gotta say, Miranda has a great kick. Sounded like a gunshot going off. First round was odd, as Maia had Miranda down on the mat, and it looked like Miranda was either taking a nap to conserve energy or had fainted. However, by the time the second round got underway I was contemplating taking a nap or fainting. It took a lot of effort to stay awake for this fight. In fact, I just wrote “Boring”. I was looking for either 3-Minute Warning or The Nexus to run in and beat down both guys. By the way, the ring mics really pick up the glove shots well. Whenever Maia was getting his shots in, it sounded like a wrestler when he stomped his foot while punching. By the third round I was cheering on the clock. Maia did have a great reversal in the third, but it was too little too late. I gave this one 30-27 for Maia… bad mix of styles.

Randy Couture (winner via submission) vs. James Toney
Big pop for Couture in the bar… casual fans abound. Gotta say, nice flip-flops, Randy. Although he’s really looking his age. And the sun still rises in the morning. Guy next to me said Randy was going to wear Toney down, and take him out in the second or third. I said he would probably choke him out, or Toney would get in a lucky shot. Guy said Randy would start the fight with a quick take-down. He was right. A few seconds later and it was over… not too surprising. Some cheers in the pub for the “James Phoney” sign.

Resident Evil trailer — big thumbs up!

Frankie Edgar (champ, winner via decision) vs. BJ Penn
BJ Penn is one scary looking little dude. He’s the little guy who, in a fight, is going to do something awesome. Unfortunately it wasn’t going to happen tonight. Very loud mixed reactions for him from the pub. No reaction at all for Edgar. To get my score out of the way early, Edgar wins this one 50-45. I was begging for Penn to try and throw some punches. When he did, he actually connected. By the third rolled around there was a sense of desperation from Penn as he tried but couldn’t hook anything. Edgar just dominated this one, which made for a pretty boring main event. Little to no drama.

Overall, not a great show, but it being the first big UFC show I saw live, it’s one I’ll remember and wouldn’t mind watching again. It had a little bit of everything.

Cactus Jim
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Marcus Davis vs. Nate Diaz
Worst Fight: Gray Maynard vs. Kenny Florian if you can look past the boxing vs. MMA debacle

This card was better on paper than the fights bore out. There were a couple mediocre fights and a couple stinkers. This seems to be a developing trend in the UFC. Maynard didn’t create any excitement for me in his upcoming title match. I think it will be a tough sell for UFC and will get even tougher if he is able to beat Edgar again. Had I actually bought this fight instead of watching with friends I would have felt like I didn’t get my money’s worth of entertainment. There is nothing here for anyone to go out of their way for in my opinion.

GG
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Marcus Davis vs. Nate Diaz
Worst Fight: Mario Miranda vs. Demian Maia

I know that hindsight is 20/20, but after UFC 118 was done, I was scratching my head at the booking. Knowing that there would be more boxing fans who aren’t big MMA fans watching than ever, Dana White and Joe Silva chose to stack the card with wrestlers and boring jiu-jitsu fighters? I understand that Mario Miranda was a late replacement, but he was definitely an odd choice if what you wanted was an exciting fight with Demian Maia. Other than the first fight between Marcus Davis and Nate Diaz, nothing else was even compelling. Gray Maynard lived up to his rep in not finishing fights, and Kenny Florian lived up to his by coming up short in a big fight. Randy Couture easily defeated James Toney so there was zero suspense there, and in the main event, we saw a repeat of UFC 112, with Frankie Edgar using wrestling, and some decent boxing to control BJ Penn. I’m still scratching my head.

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

I haven’t been this devastated by a sporting event since Newcastle threw away the title in 1996.

I HATE Anderson Silva. I really think he’s a crappy person. His post fight interview where he shoe-horned in excuses and then said “I don’t want to make excuses” was outright disgusting. This guy makes my stomach turn and I want to see somebody beat him up and take his title. Chael Sonnen did part 1 of that on Saturday night. He beat that man up for 23 minutes and was a hair away from taking his belt. I hope to God he gets a rematch but unfortunately I think a repeat of that incredible performance may be even harder the second time. However maybe he’s just exposed weaknesses in Silva’s game that will be there every time. Maybe the only thing different about a rematch is that Chael will be extra cautious when he’s approaching the finish line and he’ll close the deal. I really hope so.

The rest of the show was decent. No complaints.

Cactus Jim
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva
Worst Fight: Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Hughes

Overall a good show for those that are fans of the ground game. Sonnen made a good name for himself and created a money rematch if they get it done quickly. Fitch isn’t doing himself any favors by not finishing his opponents. I may be a masochist or something because I generally enjoy watching him work, but I think I’m in the minority. Maybe it’s the fact that I so impressed with his girlfriend that I cut the guy a break. I was actually also really impressed with Roy Nelson. For a few minutes in the 2nd round I thought he was going to out condition JDS. In the end, the better man won. Nelson needs to drop a few lbs (or kilos) and go train with a proper camp for a while. By the end of the show I felt that I had gotten my money’s worth of entertainment and suggest that people go out of their way to see the main event if nothing else.

GG
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva
Worst Fight: Thiago Alves vs. Jon Fitch

I almost didn’t pick Sonnen/Silva as fight of the night because I really didn’t think it was all that great. There have been many fights this year that I’ve seen that have had more action and a better pace. But it was definitely the most dramatic, which I think is why people think it’s the best. In fact, it might be the most dramatic fight in UFC history. I enjoyed the rest of the card, but in no way do I think this was better than UFC 117, not with Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves on the card. I have to say that as a long time Matt Hughes fan, I did smile when he manhandled Ricardo Almeida the way that he did. The dude is still strong.

Here’s what we thought:

Duan
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Worst Fight: Goran Reljic vs. Kendall Grove

A brilliant night’s action, and hands down UFC’s best card all year.

The first round of the main event was exactly what I expected it to be. Anyone with the smallest amount of cop on could tell that Brock had huge deficiencies in his stand up game, and we saw that exploited. Huge credit goes to him for digging in and seeing out the round. Carwin broke as soon as Brock survived the barrage. There was essentially no point in his corner even sending him out for round 2. You could already see from his expression that he was a beaten man.

Leben/Akiyama is the UFC fight of the year so far, and it will take some beating. Some of the exchanges in the second round were absolutely unbelievable. My hat goes off to Chris Leben for two incredible performances in a two week stretch. The man just loves to fight. I hope Akiyama’s standing in the middleweight division won’t be damaged by this because he put on a hell of a show after coming off an extended lay off.

We need a George Sotiropoulous title fight In Australia. That is an absolute must at this point. The guy has six straight UFC wins, he is one of the most entertaining guys on the roster, and the atmosphere will be electric. Somebody book it.

Alan
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Worst Fight: Goran Reljic vs. Kendall Grove

Biggest thing to come from this is Brock looking vulnerable for an extended period for the first time ever. That said, he did a fantastic job weathering the storm and I don’t think many folks would have survived that pounding from Carwin.

Did Brock look so vulnerable that I now think Cain Velasquez has the chance beating of him? I’m not sure, but I’m definitely considering the possibility more than I was. Cain’s a better wrestler than Carwin but he’s smaller. Cain’s a better striker than Carwin, but he doesn’t have the insane power. Cain however will definitely not be out BJJ’d by Brock. It’s a VERY interesting fight. Most interesting of Brock’s career so far.

Great show overall, not a bad fight on the card. The Leben and Bonner fights were incredible.

Cactus Jim
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Worst Fight: Goran Reljic vs. Kendall Grove

This card had a lot of great fights. Leben and Sexiyama tore it up. Bonnar and Soszynski brawled with reckless abandon. And then there was the main event that put the icing on the cake. While I certainly wouldn’t consider it the best fight on the card, it did deliver a ton of drama and literally had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. We now have a unified Heavyweight belt and a new #1 ranked heavyweight. Some may say the fight should have been stopped in the first, but the result proved otherwise. I’m looking forward to seeing Lesnar versus Velasquez and would love to see Leben and Marquardt go at each other. UFC 116 is worth going out of your way to see.

GG
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Worst Fight: Goran Reljic vs. Kendall Grove

There’s not much else to be said as the guys said it well. While this show gave you a cornucopia of what MMA should be with two tremendous slugfests (Leben/Sexiyama and Bonnar/Soszynski), a strategic battle to start off the show (Sotiropoulous/Pellegrino), and a great submission as well (Lytle/Brown), what I’ll remember most is Brock Lesnar outlasting Shane Carwin. There was so much drama in that fight and it was after the rest of the show which was just fantastic already. If the UFC releases this one on Blu-ray, I’m buying it.

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

OK, I tore this show the shreds before it even happened, and in retrospect I was wrong. This was a way better PPV than it had any right to be, and without doubt UFC’s best offering in some time.
Yvel vs. Rothwell was appallingly bad. It will be thrown into the worst fight of the year pool with Russow / Duffee from 114. Everything outside of that however was fantastic. When you put guys like Condit and Kampmann in fights where they aren’t going to get spoiled, you are guaranteed good fights. Both guys are true warriors. Crocop/Barry was far more entertaining than I had anticipated. It was Crocop’s best UFC performance. Although I’m not sure that this signifies that Mirko is back. I think it was more a case of him fighting smarter than any physical improvements. Perhaps He has been plagued by self doubt, and this win could go a long to alleviate that.

The main event was entertaining while it lasted. I have always maintained that once a fighter is gone, he’s not coming back, and Liddell is quite definitely gone. Franklin hasn’t exactly been knocking people cold lately, so that really wasn’t a good sign. I wasn’t particularly impressed with Rich’s performance either. He has looked really vulnerable any time he gets hit lately, and that may be a sign of things to come for him. Overall: a show worth your three hours.

Alan
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald
Worst Fight: None (he missed Yvel vs. Rothwell, so didn’t want to give any other fight worst fight)

Condit/MacDonald was great and I’m really excited about MacDonald as he’s the first of the new new new breed of fighters who were fairly young teens when UFC got big and just started training MMA. Not kickboxing, not BJJ, not wrestling – MMA, everything. It’ll be guys like him that are going to have to wage the war against the huge influx of amateur wrestlers that will continue to join the sport. All that said, he lost here but I think it was a fantastic learning experience and will make him a better fighter.

Main event was great and Cro Cop was a charisma machine in his fight!

Cactus Jim
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Rich Franklin vs. Chuck Liddell
Worst Fight: Ben Rothwell vs. Gilberty Yvel

Aside from the Rothwell versus Yvel fight, there wasn’t anything bad on the card. That fight made both men look like they should be fighting for a spot on a treadmill at the gym not on the televised portion of a PPV by the largest MMA org in the world. Franklin versus Liddell had good action while it lasted, but about 30 seconds into the fight the writing was on the wall. Chuck was moving slowly, getting hit a lot and throwing with reckless abandon. After the fight I actually felt a little sad for Chuck. Let’s hope he stays out of the ring and takes on an ambassador role for the UFC. No real complaints about the match quality, but again, no title fight and no real meaningful matches as they relate to the title picture. The biggest thing this card had to offer was the top two fights to determine whether or not Chuck and Cro Cop should continue their careers. If that’s the best your PPV has to offer you should rethink your PPV strategy.

GG
Thumbs Up (slightly)
Best Fight: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Pat Barry
Worst Fight: Ben Rothwell vs. Gilberty Yvel

This show made me sad because Chuck lost. I’d rather him lost a three round decision and get out of there in one piece, but no, he has to get knocked out yet again, and get up wondering what just happened. Please retire Chuck. That fight was pretty good for the first round too, but I was so worried about seeing where he was actually going to get knocked out, because you knew it was coming. My favorite fight of the night, though not the technically best fight of the night, was Mirko Cro Cop outwitting Pat Barry and then taking it to him in round three. Pat respected him too much, probably like when Georges St. Pierre lost the first time to Matt Hughes. Condit and MacDonald was a fun fight to open the show, but jeez, Rothwell and Yvel killed the crowd dead. I wasn’t too keen on Paulo Thiago vs. Martin Kampmann because it was so technical that you just knew there was no way it was ending without a decision. Overall, a pretty decent offering, though it lacked a big fight feel and PPVs should never lack that.

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

This show was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be: mediocre. Most of the fight were passable, but there was a real lack on tension through out the broadcast. You just never got that feeling that everything could change in the blink of an eye. In most of the bouts a pattern emerged early and continued for the three round duration. Ultimately it was another forgettable UFC PPV, and things don’t look set to improve with the dismal Liddell vs. Franklin card scheduled for June.

Credit does have to go to John Hathaway for a sensational performance which moves him into contention at welterweight. Talk of a robbery in the Nogueira / Brillz fight is completely overblown. It was a super close fight. You really couldn’t have complained no matter who the judges favoured.

Alan
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Jason Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Worst Fight: Todd Duffy vs. Mike Russow

Pretty enjoyable show top to bottom. Not a classic, but better than most UFC efforts in recent months. Main event went as I kinda thought, seemed like Jackson’s lay-off hurt him, but that said, I don’t think the outcome would be too different in a rematch.

Big D
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway
Worst Fight: Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow

Disappointing show. I don’t care that Rampage lost, but the fact that there were a total of 3 exciting minutes out of 15 made that fight complete pleh. It was built up as a war between both and we only saw glimpses of it. Rampage is still just as one-dimensional as he was before, despite the BS from the countdown specials – he’s like the black Tito. In addition to that, the rest of the show had a bunch of fights that weren’t finished other than a fat guy knocking out a buff guy, which is good for fat people, but left me desiring more finishes. The undercard stuff they showed was awesome. On the bright side, they made stars out of Brilz, Mike Russow, and John Hathaway.

Cactus Jim
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Jason Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Worst Fight: Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow

Another forgettable UFC card that didn’t have half the excitement of the DREAM 14 show that happened the night before in Japan. There was no way the main event could live up to the hype and it fell far short. The two most memorable moments of the show for me were a highlight reel KO from a guy that was outclassed for 2 ½ rounds by another guy that was gassed 3 minutes into the fight. The knockout didn’t make me want to see Russow in another fight, it just proved to me that anything can, and does, happen in MMA. The other highlight was my fight of the night in which I think the wrong man came out on top. Last time I checked, UFC scoring was based on effective striking, grappling, aggression, and octagon control. Nowhere in there did I see fighter popularity. I would like to see Brilz fight on another card soon. With a proper training camp perhaps he’ll have the gas to go hard all three rounds and take it out of the hands of the judges. Or maybe he’ll get his ass handed to him, but let’s hope he gets a fair deal either way. There was one other bright spot on the card and that was watching Hathaway hand Weirdass Sanchez another loss. Maybe Diego didn’t do enough YES! Cartwheels in training…. If a friend has the card recorded, go ahead and watch. If it’s going to cost you $45 to watch the replay, I say skip it.

GG
Thumbs In The MIddle
Best Fight: Jason Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Worst Fight: Dong Hyun Kim vs. Amir Sadollah

I have a slightly different perspective than the rest of the guys because I was there live, but most of what they said about the TV version of the show was similar to how I saw it live at the MGM. Diego Sanchez needs to go back down to 155. He may not be able to beat B.J. Penn, but he’d give Frankie Edgar a great fight. Bad timing for Diego. I thought Jason Brilz beat Lil’ Nog, but I don’t think it was a crooked decision. It was a close enough fight. Duffee is one-dimensional and if he’s the real deal, he’ll bounce back. Michael Bisping looked great, but the fact that he couldn’t put Dan Miller away shows that even at 185, he doesn’t have a lot of power. As for the main, it went pretty much as I expected, except that Rashad took him down far more than I thought he’d be able to. It wasn’t a fantastic fight, but the way it ended was pretty exciting. The crowd was on their feet at the end and you could feel the energy in the crowd. For the most part, the live crowd seemed satisfied.

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.

Alan
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Match: Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
Worst Match: Randy Orton vs. Edge

Really weird PPV. I literally don’t know what I think about it. I do know that I thought it had ALOT more potential. Rey vs. Punk was probably the best match of the show, but it wasn’t the best match of their series and it needed to be. Edge vs. Orton was the only match I didn’t enjoy (women’s is too short to count). Main event was enjoyable but it wasn’t like it was a great wrestling match.

GG
Thumbs In The MIddle
Best Match: The Hart Dynasty vs. Chris Jericho and The Miz
Worst Match: Randy Orton vs. Edge

It’s unfortunate that Randy Orton was injured and that CM Punk was busted open. But when those kinds of things happen, you’d kind of hope that WWE management would make some changes on the fly to make things more enjoyable. They have to do something about that blood rule. Since Christian wasn’t on the show, couldn’t he have interfered in the Orton/Edge match? Couldn’t they have made Jack Swagger vs. The Big Show more than it was? Well, they didn’t. The only two things I really liked on the show were Rey vs. Punk as I thought Punk improvised well and they picked up the speed of the match greatly knowing that they were in trouble. I also thought that everyone in tag title match worked their ass off to make the crowd react. If the crowd reacts to that match, it would’ve been really great. Cena and Batista was too gimmicky, like their last match, for it to have been truly enjoyable for me.

Here’s what the FGB crew has to say:

Duan
Thumbs In The MIddle
Best Fight: Alan Belcher vs. Patrick Cote
Worst Fight: Paul Daley vs. Josh Koscheck

A definite improvement on UFC’s recent offerings, if not a mind blowing show. I think Machida was over eager to impress after the first fight. There was a recklessness to his work which is usually not there, and it cost him his title. Kimbo’s performance was disappointing, but if he can’t beat a guy like Mitrione, he really doesn’t have much future in MMA. Daley was in the wrong, and deserves to be punished, but in my opinion firing him was far too severe. Koscheck should also be reprimanded for his antics in the opening round. Belcher his career best performed, but is still a long way off a shot at Anderson Silva.

Alan
Thumbs In The Middle (leaning up)
Best Fight: Alan Belcher vs. Patrick Cote
Worst Fight: Paul Daley vs. Josh Koscheck

I enjoyed this show. A nice mix of good fights, memorable incidents and a great KO in the main event. Koscheck and Shogun came out of this as the biggest heel and babyface ever, haha!

Cactus Jim
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Alan Belcher vs. Patrick Cote
Worst Fight: Paul Daley vs. Josh Koscheck

I thought this was better than the last few UFC shows, but that’s not really saying much. The Koscheck fight was a worse than a Karo Parisyan fight, and the Kimbo versus Mitrione fight was hard to watch. Mitrione seems to be making progress, but has a long way to go before he should be put in with anyone talented. Aside from those two fights I enjoyed the rest of the card, in particular the battle between Cote/Belcher and the Lawlor/Doerksen fight. Let’s hope the upcoming cards continue to improve in quality.

GG
Thumbs In The MIddle
Best Fight: Jeremy Stephens vs. Sam Stout
Worst Fight: Paul Daley vs. Josh Koscheck

I’m one of the few who liked the Stephens/Stout stand-up fight. It was very technical and neither guy was really in trouble, but I enjoyed watching them box. I also didn’t hate the Daley/Koscheck fight even though I picked it as the worst. Because of Daley’s striking ability, there was always this fear that he could put Koscheck out. I was mostly disappointed in the main event because of how quickly it ended, but you can’t blame Shogun. He took it to Machida.

Alan
Thumbs way up
Best Match: Rey Mysterio Vs. CM Punk
Worst Match: Beth Phoenix Vs. Michelle McCool

AWESOME PPV! 2 great matches, a handful of decent-good matches and really nothing overly bad. Oh and the crowd was great for pretty much the whole show.

Rey vs. Punk was just a masterpiece of a match, right up there with the Rey/Jericho matches from 09. The Joey Matthews run-in was done perfectly and trust me that’s only going to be the tip of the iceberg as far as that situation goes!

Duan
Thumbs leaning down
Best Match: John Cena vs. Dave Batista
Worst Match: JTG Vs. Shad Gaspard

We had arguably the best Boxing and MMA shows of the year this weekend, and this card fell well short of that level. It was about on par with your average second tier WWE PPV; a couple of decent matches but ultimately a forgettable experience.

Cena/Batista was an excellent match only hindered by a ridiculously lame finish. Punk/Mysterio was also really good. I hated everything about the tag gauntlet. Shad vs. JTG may have been the least over match on PPV in the last five years, and I have never liked the strap match gimmick anyway.

I also didn’t particularly care for the Edge/Jericho cage match. I absolutely abhor when the face takes on the role of vindictive bully. Edge is the worst babyface in the history of humanity. I can’t believe that some people have the audacity to criticize Orton’s run after what we have seen with Edge from Wrestlemania through to now. Utterly dreadful.

GG
Thumbs down
Best Match: Chris Jericho vs. Edge
Worst Match: Shad Gaspard vs. JTG

I just found this show so boring, and it was magnified coming a day after the fantastic WEC show. But what I didn’t think of until now is that the last WWE show I saw was WrestleMania, and I saw that in person. In person, WrestleMania was an awe-inspiring production and the show didn’t have a lot of shenanigans. This show was all shenanigans. It also started off on the wrong foot for me with the Triple H/Sheamus stuff. If Triple H is going away to shoot a movie, why did he have to get beat up before the match? He put over Sheamus fine, but it seems like there always has to be an excuse. And jeez that match was boring in the middle. And I guess that was the story of the show for me. Other than Rey vs. Punk (and that’s because it was shorter), every long match had a boring middle. Nothing kept up from bell to bell. The main event was a fun match, but after all this time putting over Batista’s character, he loses because of duct tape? Hmmmm.

Next up on WWE’s PPV calender is “Over the Limit” on May 23rd.

You’re going to see nothing but love from the FGB crew in our feedback about this show.

Duan
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung
Worst Fight: Donald Cerrone vs. Ben Henderson

This was the best mixed martial arts show so far this year by quite some way. I find the UFC’s presentation style has become really jaded, and this show seemed like a real breath of fresh air because of that. It also went to demonstrate just how much time is wasted on the average UFC PPV. They broadcast nearly every match on the card, and there wasn’t a bad one in the lot. The only real let down on the show was that the Henderson/Cerrone match didn’t live up to their first bout, but rematches rarely ever do. The Korean Zombie vs. Leonard Garcia was an incredibly fun shoot out, and my favourite MMA fight of this year or last. Those two guys should fight each other on every card from now on. I would never tire of watching it. Aldo proved his dominance over Faber, and I can’t imagine anyone wanting to see a rematch. Aldo is just a superior fighter, and Faber was never even in the fight. It was like watching a cat toying with a mouse. I firmly believe he could have finished it at anytime he wanted to, but he just chose not to out of respect.

Alan
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung
Worst Fight: Urijah Faber vs. Jose Aldo

Two great fights, loads of good finishes and a main event which may not have been great, but WAS high drama for 4 of the 5 rounds.

Cactus Jim
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung
Worst Fight: Brad Pickett vs. Demetrious Johnson

This was one of the best cards I’ve seen in a looooong time. All the fights were entertaining, no controversy in the finishes, and we had two champions retain their titles. For a debut PPV show, WEC couldn’t have done any better in terms of fights. I thought they could have done a better job of branding the PPV so that any randoms walking into a Hooters or some other place showing the fight would know what they were seeing. Truly a stellar event.

GG
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung
Worst Fight: Donald Cerrone vs. Ben Henderson

What more can I say? If not for Garcia vs. The Korean Zombie, Anthony Banuelos vs. Scott Jorgensen would’ve been the best fight of the night, but because of it, you didn’t hear a lot about how good that fight was. The only negative to me was that Cerrone looked like an amateur in his submission defense, considering it’s a similar move that Henderson put on Jamie Varner in his last fight. I figured Cerrone would’ve been better prepared for that. But really, that’s picking nits.

Here’s what we had to say about the show:

Duan
Thumbs Down
Best Fight: N/A
Worst Fight: Every fight

I find that when UFC put two title fights on a show it just doesn’t really work, so I really questioned the logic behind Strikeforce going ahead with three on a CBS broadcast. It was a huge risk to take, and for me it came of as a complete disaster. Three dull fights, all going to five round decisions, with one round usually indistinguishable from the next. I found it difficult to sit through, so it must have killed most of the casual fans.

The end of show brawl was a complete embarrassment. Anyone who thinks that was good for business is an idiot. It just confirmed all the stereotypes people have about MMA, and made the Strikeforce’s stars look like a bunch of hooligans.

Alan
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Shinya Aoki vs. Gilbert Melendez
Worst Fight: King Mo vs. Gegard Mousasi (although all three were pretty even to me as far as my enjoyment)

I think I’m the only person on earth that enjoyed those three fights. I must have just been in good spirits yesterday. And I thought the ending was hilarious. Those damn Diaz’s – they never cease to deliver a new level of crazy.

Cactus Jim
Thumbs Down
Best Fight: N/A
Worst Fight: Every fight

I didn’t enjoy any of the fights and thought the show was absolute shit. My DVR cut off a couple minutes into round 5 of the Shields/Henderson fight so I missed the brawl. Based on what I read the brawl made the show an even bigger disgrace than the utterly boring fights made it in and of themselves. I’ve been a long time fan of Nick Diaz’s fights, but this being the second in ring brawl he’s been involved in really makes me wonder why anyone would let him near a ring. Great way to rep the company that gave you a second chance and made you a champion. It’s an organized fight organization not some bullshit Stockton toughman contest. The guy is as big an idiot as he sounds in his interviews.

GG
Thumbs Down
Best Fight: None
Worst Fight: None

All three fights were so similar I don’t think my enjoyment (or discontent) flickered one way or another. I didn’t hate anything too severely, nor did I love anything either. The show was noteworthy for a few things, but the way those things were attained were all wrong. King Mo beating Gegard Mousasi is a huge deal. On an exciting show, we’re talking about how King Mo persevered and had huge heart in beating someone people thought was unbeatable. Most folks I talked to thought Dan Henderson was going to beat Jake Shields. It should’ve been a big deal for Shields, but because of how he won, and because of how boring this show was, it wasn’t. It was just a weird night capped off by Mayhem Miller getting jumped in the cage and people being angry with Miller. That made it more weird.