UFC 92 might not have been the greatest show UFC has put on this year, but it definitely set up 2009 nearly perfect. All of us at Fight Game Blog gave the show a thumbs up.

Let’s get to the feedback.

Big D

Show overall rating: Thumbs Up

Best Fight: Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans
Worst Fight: Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy

It was a show that featured a handful of shocking finishes and twists that few MMA experts, much less fans, expected. Frank Mir became the first man to STOP Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro Noguiera (something even Fedor Emelianenko couldn’t do) and captured the Interim Heavyweight Title in dominating fashion. Rampage, FOUR YEARS LATER, finally got his redemption over PRIDE rival Wanderlei Silva with a nasty 1st round left hook KO. Revenge was sweet for the Memphis native. Then the main event featured the first undefeated champion in modern UFC history being crowned, as Rashad Evans won the Light Heavyweight Title from Forrest Griffin in a third round TKO. Overall, it was an odd, but fun show, and one that won’t be forgotten.

Alan

Show overall rating: Thumbs Up

Best Fight: Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans
Worst Fight: Antoni Hardonk vs. Mike Wessel

Felt like a real eventful show. The main event was a HELL of a fight.

The biggest thing I took out of this and I know Duan feels the same, is that maaaan did Nog and Wand ever seem done. Both of them (especially Nog) need to think about hanging it up.

Duan

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The FGB Crew put together a UFC 92 preview on Wednesday. We’ll have live play by play when the show starts.

1. Cheick Kongo vs. Mostapha Al-Turk

Lots of clinching against the cage early on. Al-Turk kneed Kongo low and about a minute later, Kongo gave it back to him. Kongo caught him with a punch that might’ve been an eye poke. Al-Turk went down and Kongo unleashed elbows and punches to the face before the stoppage. It was a pretty late stoppage. Al-Turk wasn’t getting up and was just taking punishment.

Winner: Cheick Kongo by way of 1st round TKO

2. Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson

There was a lot of boxing going on early though Silva was able to get the same leg kicks that helped Forrest Griffin beat Rampage. Silva came in and Rampage knocked him out cold with a left hook. Silva was out cold but Rampage followed up with two shots while the ref was trying to pull him off.

Winner: Rampage Jackson by way of 1st round TKO.

3. Dan Evensen vs. Patrick Barry

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The weigh-in results are courtesy of MMA Junkie.

MAIN CARD

Forrest Griffin (205) vs. Rashad Evans (203)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (246) vs. Frank Mir (251)
Quinton Jackson (206) vs. Wanderlei Silva (203)
Mustafa Al-Turk (237) vs. Cheick Kongo (233)
C.B. Dollaway (186) vs. Mike Massenzio (184)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Dean Lister (186) vs. Yushin Okami (185)
Antoni Hardonk (246) vs. Mike Wessel (260)
Reese Andy (206) vs. Matt Hamill (205)
Brad Blackburn (170) vs. Ryo Chonan (171)
Patrick Barry (233) vs. Dan Evensen (242)

UFC’s year end show looks very strong on paper. But unlike their last show, the main event isn’t what is going to sell the show. In fact, even with weeks and weeks of hype, in my opinion, Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira isn’t all that strong. Neither is Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans. The strongest match they have is the third meeting between Wanderlei Silva and Rampage Jackson. But if you watched the hype special this week, the best match they have is most definitely placed third on the card.

If the three matches deliver, we could see another great show. But Griffin vs. Evans could become a wrestling match and that doesn’t necessarily bode well for a five round title fight. And other than catching Brock Lesnar in a knee bar, we’re not even sure if Frank Mir is as good as he used to be. But I have a feeling Rampage and Silva will deliver again.

The FGB squad has predictions on the top three matches. As has been the case for the last several shows, Stevie J from Angry Marks is also going to give his thoughts. Also, Peachmachine and Ed in San Antonio who host Drunkcast are gracing us with their presence.

Rampage Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva

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They tease that Junie goes on another freak out and Dana has to decide whether to let him fight or kick him out.

The first fight is Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Vinny Magalhaes. Krzysztof says that you punch a black belt in the face, he becomes a brown belt.

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Vinny Magalhaes

After getting hit in the face, Vinny pulled guard and pulled Soszynski down with him. Then he pulled his foot behind his head and trapped him there while laying in elbows. Soszynski threw about 5 unanswered leg kicks. Vinny was trying to go to the ground at every opportunity and pull guard. Vinny caught him and arm barred him quick for the victory.

Winner: Vinny Magalhaes by way of 1st round submission

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The first fight is Ryan Bader vs. Eliot Marshall.

Big Nog says that he thinks Bader is going to win the season and also be a champion some day.

Eliot admits that Bader is probably the favorite to win the show. Frank Mir says Bader won’t take him down because Eliot is a jiu-jitsu black belt.

Bader says he controls where the fight goes. Eliot says he just gets to control where he gets to lose.

Eliot Marshall vs. Ryan Bader

Eliot is so lanky. But he’s also decently built. About half way through the round, Bader took Marshall down and they just stayed there for the rest of the round. Marshall didn’t try to pull anything off from the bottom. And Bader just threw some punches, but nothing happened.

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Shane Prim says that John Polakowski is legally insane. He’s John “The Hugger”.

George Roop says that even though John is nice, he’s going in there with bad intentions and is going to make him bleed. He hurt his hand sparring. Mir says he hyper extended his finger at the knuckle. He can’t make a fist.

Someone stole the marshmallows from John’s box of Lucky Charms and he’s no longer John “The Hugger”. He’s pissed.

Mir says Roop’s hand is a dead fish. Dana White says John “The Hugger” is goofy, but he can go toe to toe. Mir says it should be an easy win for Roop, but because of that hand, the fight is harder.

Big Nog likes Roop and plays around with him.

John Polakowski vs. George Roop

Roop had the upper hand for more than half the round, but “The Hugger” got on top with about 1:30 left in the round. But Roop was doing just as much from the bottom as John was.

John was throwing the better punches and seemed to have hurt Roop in the second. Then Roop took over and controlled him for the rest of the round and then got his back, but couldn’t get the choke in.

Winner: George Roop by way of unanimous decision

Dana White says bad judging killed the fight because “The Hugger” won the second round.

Junie blew up again because the guys were messing with him and throwing eggs at him while he was at the pool. Not sure why it was even necessary to show it.

They are picking the semi-final matches.

The semi-finals are:

Ryan Bader vs. Eliot Marshall

Philipe Nover vs. George Roop

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Vinny Magalhaes

Junie Browning vs. Efrain Escudero

Next week, we get two fights and they are the first on the list.

I really need to start watching this show on Wednesdays. It’s actually getting pretty good.

The preview says that a fighter gets knocked out in the house. Uh oh.

They recap the fight from last week and Team Nog chants, “Assassin Phillipe!”

Krzysztof Soszynski is in the last light heavyweight fight and his thumb is jacked.

Tom Lawlor and the just defeated Dave Kaplan are drinking and Kaplan is getting ripped. Kaplan says he’s never been knocked out. Shane says that Kaplan and Lawlor only brought speedos to the house because that’s all they wear. Shane talks exactly like BJ Penn.

Junie is all for the drinking because it takes the attention away from him. A drunken Kaplan begs Lawlor to hit him and he finally does and Kaplan just goes out. Kaplan says he wasn’t knocked out. But he really was. He couldn’t stand up straight. Kaplan says he wasn’t unconscious. He must watch the tape of himself.

Vinnie says Krzysztof has good stand up, but can’t stop takedowns. He faces Kyle Kingsbury in the fight. Team Nog pranks Krzysztof by putting any movable object in the house into his room. Dan Henderson comes in and train with Krzysztof, but it’s a short segment. They don’t really put him over like they put over Silva.

Krzysztof enjoys the prank, but his team doesn’t look like they’re going to help him clean up his room.

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I wrote a piece on Hard For The Yard today about the upcoming UFC Heavyweight Tournament which starts this Saturday with the Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture fight. The second match up is scheduled to be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria vs. Frank Mir at UFC 92 with the winners of each match unifying the UFC heavyweight title.

Check it out on Hard For The Yard.

MMA Mania reported earlier today that Fabricio Werdum is no longer with UFC.

Fabricio Werdum was unable to come to terms with UFC officials on a new contract after his surprising 81-second knockout loss to Octagon newcomer Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos at UFC 90: “Silva vs. Cote” on October 15, forcing the Brazilian and the promotion to go their separate ways.

Werdum leaves the UFC with a 2-2 record, losing to Andrei Arlovski and Junior Dos Santos while beating Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon Vera. It seemed like he was going to get a title fight after beating Vera, but with Randy Couture’s comeback, he was placed on the on the back burner. And his lack of being a name draw obviously hurt him. Had he faced either current champion (Couture or Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera), those fights wouldn’t really have done great business. Add that to the fact that Brock Lesnar is a great draw already and Frank Mir, who they’ve already given weeks and weeks of TV exposure to, is being built for Nogueira, Werdum was lost in the shuffle.

This is not a great market for fighters right now as Affliction would seem to be the main possible US destination for Werdum. But there’s also the possibility of fighting in Japan again, but it’s not like the Japanese MMA market is full of luxuries.