BIG SHOW REVIEW WEEK OF 5/2

UFC 129:

Pablo Garza looks to be in an entirely different weight class than Yves Jabouin. Pencil legs or not, it seems like this should be a walk in the park. Garza can't check kicks at all though. It doesn't matter here because he pulls into a flying triangle and eventually locks that in to win by submission, but against a bigger, stronger guy, it will be relevant and it will matter.

Makdessi was on a season of TUF that I should have recapped and didn't and now I don't remember anything about it. Oops. So here he fights Kyle Watson and basically dismantles him. Joe Rogan in this fight (along with the Rory MacDonald fight) did a very good job breaking down not only what Makdessi was doing well but why it was working well on Watson, who's chin was vertical and head unmoving. Even dropped Bill Superfoot Wallace's name. Makdessi does very impressive looking kicks, no doubt about it, but he still has a tendency to shuffle straight back when someone comes forward at him, no doubt something that is ingrained from years of point karate. He's also a small guy. No reason to lie about that. People who are that undersized have a tough time competing in a sport filled with powerful, skilled wrestlers.

Daniel Roberts is a top control grappler who throws a lot of arm punches or shots across his body. Against Claude Patrick, he was in deep against a guy who is as skilled a takedown artist, a better striker, and better at submissions. End results: Roberts loses a decision, gets hit in the face a few times, is on his back more than on top, and eats low kicks. Patrick is a skilled all around fighter who doesn't give a star vibe but has consistently strung together wins, sometimes struggling, but still getting Ws against largely an equivalent level of competition. When does he step up?

Ellenberger/Pierson went not entirely as expected. I expected Pierson to be good enough to hang with Ellenberger for a little while. Instead he walked into left hook twice, the second time causing his body to shut off and he sorta topples to the mat.

Menjivar/Valencia was possibly the fight I was most excited for off the main card. Hell, even among fights on the main card I was most excited for it. Instead, it had a cool finish but not much else. Menjivar and Valencia were in the clinch and Menjivar cracks him with a tight thai elbow that blows up Valencia's face. Nothing super fancy, nothing innovative. All effective. All technique.

When we get to Nate Diaz's fight against Rory McDonald, man, how have I ignored that Diaz has a sub .667 record all this time? Seems like he has been more successful given the fight with Gray Maynard and stuff like that. In this fight, I thought McDonald would have a significant disadvantage with Diaz's wild boxing style and grappling. Bzzz. Wrong. What Rory did was nullify Nate's attack by closing the distance and clinching (forcing Diaz to rely on very poor wrestling) any time the bout got to boxing range. Otherwise, it was low kicks, low kicks, low kicks. By the third, Nate had been ground down enough that McDonald, the stronger of the two men, started throwing him around like a rag doll and was on top without fear of submission. Very smart plan. To Nate Diaz's credit, he got some separation and landed blows in the second round, but McDonald stayed composed and would immediately clinch after being hit.

What was Ryan Jensen's gameplan with Jason MacDonald? I have no idea after seeing that. Looks like he thought he'd just bomb him out with wide looping shots. Instead MacDonald shoots, takes him down, and runs a clinic on him en route to an easy triangle win. Jensen needs to get a pink slip. That simple.

Randy Couture: Please stay away from the Octagon. Its not a thing of hatred. You just don't have it anymore. And against Machida, you probably never would have had "it" to begin with. The athleticism is gone and now guys have much superior technique too. Couture was treated like a moving punching bag. All the talk about the brilliant Randy gameplan flew in the face of flatfooted, following Randy Couture of the last two Liddell fights. That's who we got here.

Want to see two overrated lightweights fight one another? Ben Henderson's win against Mark Bocek is your fight. I guess that's not fair because no one that meant anything ranked Bocek, but you have a couple guys with OK wrestling kickboxing and occasionally pummelling and sometimes being on the mat. Henderson's a better athlete with better standup and even though his takedown defense is so-so, that's enough of a combination to prevent Bocek being on top for more than two minutes in the fight. In the interim, Henderson lands better shots and wins rounds or forces the fight down with his strength to having top position. I dunno, I'm not sold on Henderson and until he frequently beats top guys, I never will be.

Jose Aldo's performance in defending his title is not easy to sum up in a single sentence. Was it disappointing? I guess. Its what I expected though. He got hit a lot more in this fight after fighting super busy and fast in the first, and gassed out, even losing the 5th round to the Elephant Man. But my expectations are naturally a low lower than most, who see Aldo as top 3 pound for pound. Aldo got takedowns and had dominant positions on the mat against a guy who has repeatedly been exposed as being lousy off his back or defending submissions. Aldo should have tapped him in the first. Instead, he went for GnP and not even to really pass. Hominick is a known quantity, and beating him for four rounds and then losing the fifth is OK and whatever else, but you gotta take him out to show that you're world class, and he didn't do that. The right hands he landed were fine and hurt Hominick; OK. The elbow caused what should have been a fight ending hematoma. Alright. I don't care. Aldo should have won by armbar 4 minutes in after his takedown midway through the round. He didn't. He even lost the final round and got beat up in doing so. Exposed.

Finally, we arrive at the main event. George St. Pierre's gameplan I understand. Makes sense. Meant that he was so far ahead after 3 that he could coast (as he had to) and win the fight with only one eye against the guy who was argurably the best contender for a world title in two weight classes. But still, I'm bothered that he didn't show another gear and start stringing together combinations and demolishing Shields. Jake never would have had the chance to poke him like that in the 3rd if Shields had taken him out in the second, and it wouldn't have taken much more than throwing a second jab followed by a straight right or uppercut and working the body to drop Shields' hands. Jake did nothing round after round and smiled because, presumably, he won a round and did better therefor than most everyone else GSP has fought since the first Serra fight. I dunno, whatever. No one is gonna care 20 years from now that Shields did incrementally better than Dan Hardy or Thiago Alves.

INSERT NUMETAL INTRO HERE TUF 13

Lew Polley goes home, some jobbers got hurt, and WOW. Who cares.

Tony Ferguson and Justin Edwards kick it off and they went at it. Ferguson throws some solid punches - tighter stuff, good hooks and uppercuts. Edwards wants takedowns and Ferguson keeps busy on his back and gets up. But when Edwards stands out of the guard and looks to try and pass, and he's hit with a heel upkick and Edwards is out. Dana is so stoked at a 4 minute fight. OK, I guess? Ferguson has some of the best creds on the show.

Zach Davis fights Chuck O'Neil in the second fight of the episode. Another fight Dana loved for reasons I cannot ascertain. Davis gets a takedown early and lands some okay shots, gets up to pass, does so, gets swept while going for a kimura, and then locks in a triangle. Apparently Chuck O'Neil is some sort of warrior because he's a grappling warrior. I dunno. He gets picked along with Torres for the wildcard. Hoofuckingray.

PREDICTIONS PREDICTIONS PREDICTIONS:

Last week: 7-3

Overall for 2011: 32-15

Bellator 43:

Rick Hawn shouldn't beat Jay Hieron. I've said it before. He might though given how mediocre Hieron looked in his last fight. I think Hieron has a bad wheel but even with an injury that he's keeping quiet, he should still have good enough striking to outland Hawn on the feet and good enough grappling to keep the fight from going down in any fashion other than Hieron on top.

Joe Riggs is fighting Bryan Baker? Seriously? Baker has lost twice - once was to Chael Sonnen in Magic Juice Sonnen phase. The other is to Alexander Shlemenko, who is a worthy adversary and a long time vet. He's beaten a lot of other solid fighters though - Jeremy Horn, Art Santore, Matt Horwich, Rory Singer, Eric Schambari, Sean Loeffler, Reggie Orr, Jesse Forbes. Some of those guys were never weres, some were pretty OK fighters, but most were well past their best. I can say that confidently about at least 5 of those names. Joe Riggs is a guy past his best. He was stopped on punches in January in a show no one has seen against a guy no one has heard of, and Louis Taylor aside, he hasn't had a win of any real profile since beating Phil Baroni 2 years ago. He hasn't beaten a contending fighter since 2006. Bryan Baker is KOing Riggs back to the little leagues.

Neil Grove should KO Zak Jensen. Much bigger, Jensen can't wrestle, and they'll bang. And it could be terrible.

ULTIMATE FIGHTER 9: THE POST

Want to know what happened at Ultimate Fighter? NOW YOU WILL. Minus the shit where they threw feces at each other, of course. IN ORDER OF TELEVISION....UH...TELEVISING:

UK PRELIMS:

1) Gary Kelly/Andre Winner: Clinch, Winner overpowers Kelly with strikes, takes him out inside 2 minutes. Kelly completely overmatched.

2) Jeff Lawson/James Bryan: Lawson with judo throw, GNP, pass to half guard/side control, eventually transitions to armbar. No challenge.

3) Che Mills/James Wilks: Mills drops Wilks with punches, but gets his leg caught in a heel hook. Mills was favored to win the whole show!

4) Martin Stapelton/Dan James: Stapleton is better standing than James and on the mat. Mount, GNP, James gives the back, and its RNC time.

5) AJ Wenn/Ross Pearson: Clinch early, Pearson with the takedown, but Wenn gets back to his feet. He throws some knees in the clinch, but gets slammed back down. Wenn is good at getting up though. And then being slammed again. Pearson is just flat out stronger. Wenn is hurt by a knee to the body at the end of the round. Second round starts with a 1-2 from Pearson and Wenn drops. He's pounded out.

6)Tommy Maguire/Nick Osipczak: Maguire with the takedown, pass to half guard, and Osipczak is out the back door. Maguire goes for the guillotine and pulls guard, but Nick is out and throwing elbows. He stands out of the guard, and then proceeds to pick apart Maguire standing with good boxing. Actually my favorite performance.

7) Alex Reid/Dean Amasinger: All three rounds are not shown, but Amasinger gets a decision.

8) James Bateman/David Faulkner: Bateman with an early takedown, but Falkner is back up quickly and is throwing knees. He shoots for a single and is successful with th takedown. He throws some punches, forces Bateman to try and shift out and ends up grabbing a leg for a submission.

US PRELIMS:

9) Mark Miller/Kevin Knabjian: Miller has better hands, Knabjian is off balance the entire time. Maybe that is what they call "unorthodox striking" now? He's bleeding from the mouth too. Second round Knabjian throws a right hand that drops Miller and follows him down, then goes for a leglock. Miller escapes and starts throwing wildly. Its effective though, because Knabjian is terrible, and he lands an uppercut that stuns his opponent and leads to a wild flurry and stoppage.

10) Richie Whitson/Paul Bird: No idea who these dudes are. Richie is hella redheaded. Bird grabs the takedown, Whitson gives the back, but escapes, throws a release german, Bird returns with a head kick, and ITS ON. Bird is cut, panicking, and getting tired. He can't get the takedown midway through the first, and Whitson is in the drivers seat. Bird tries an armbar in desperation, and eats nothing but shots as a result. Whitson wins by rear naked.

11) Waylon Rowe/Santino DeFranco: DeFranco had a brain injury that kept him off TUF 2. Usually, brain injuries mean you don't get a license for boxing, but Nevada feels different about MMA, it seems. Rowe with a takedown, lots of shots, and DeFranco is lucky for once that its Mazzagatti allowing him to get bombed on. This is because the entire final 3 minutes is him defenselessly taking shots. He lands a desperation knee on a shooting Rowe at the start of the second, hurts him, takes the back and gets a rear naked choke.

12) Steve Berger/Jason Pierce: Berger is a well known journeyman. He is also terrible.

We only see clips, and Pierce wins after apparently being dominated by the clips. Huh?

13) Cameron Dollar/Tom Hayden: Dollar is indicative of every hypermacho douche that participates in this sport. He wins with a rear naked choke after getting his ass beat for a round and a half.

14) Damarques Johnson/Ray Elbe: Ray Elbe and Johnson are respected journeymen. That is as much as can be said. Johnson gets a takedown after some uncomfortable standup, eventually stops it with strikes from that position.

EPISODE 3:

15) Kiel Reid/Frank Lester: Lester is dropped early with a right hook, gets pinned against the cage in half guard. He is nearly caught in a guillotine and fights out to his feet. Reid tries to slam Lester and Lester holds the arm and...oops, Reid knocked himself out. Frank Lester, ladies and gentlemen.

16) Jason Dent/Rob Browning: When I heard Jason Dent was on this show, I knew he would A) succeed B) discredit it by being there. I was right about both. Browning expends a lot of energy early because he is a testosterone driven imbecile and eats an uppercut shooting. He turtles up and takes way too many punches. He does tell Dana he'll be ready at 135. Scintillating.

EPISODE 4:

17) Nick Osipczak/Mark Miller: Sloppy show from both with Miller gassed after 5 minutes. Osipczak switches stances a lot and gets caught early in the fight, but Miller isn't able to repeat it again when it counts. It looks like Miller even taps in the first to a guillotine. Doesn't matter: His face meets Osipczak's shin and he's asleep in the second.

EPISODE 5:

18) Andre Winner/Santino DeFranco: Lots of low kicks. DeFranco's shots are stuffed, Winner throws the jab, even if its the cardinal mistake of one at a time. DeFranco finally pulls guard, Winner defends the armbar, and he hurts DeFranco with a single right hand. You think a dude who's brain needed surgery might have some chin issues? At least they gave Barrera a steel plate.

19) Demarcus Johnson/Dean Amasinger: Amasinger knows he is overmatched, but throws the low kick anyhow. Johnson returns. Amasinger with a bad takedown attempt, Johnson with an epically slow triangle attempt that elicits memories of the second season's heavyweights, and we have a winner.

EPISODE 6:

20) Martin Stapleton/Cameron Dollar: Bad standup by dudes who can't stand, Dollar with a takedown, back control, a body triangle, and a rear naked.

21) James Wilks/Frank Lester: Wilks gets a easy fight after beating Mills. Lester just runs the whole time, but drops Wilks with a left hook. Wilks goes for the leg and that forces Lester back on the defensive. Lester immediately with a takedown after escaping; another leg lock attempt (this one sloppier) also fails by Wilks. Lester then thinks he might have a submission game, but he doesn't. No shock there. Trading! Lester is winning! Wilks pushes him to the cage and then down on the mat. Lester loses teeth. I guess there was a bet about this or something. Wilks is much more intelligent in the second, using the jab to set distance and eventually clinches to put Lester onto the back foot again. Some dirty boxing sets up a takedown, but he lets Lester up. He throws him down again a short time later, goes to mount, and armbars the poor guy.

EPISODE 7:

22) Ross Pearson/Ritchie Whitson: Clinch early on, and Whitson holds his own. Key moment of the fight is a knee to the head on the mat that cuts Whitson: he never really recovers after restarting, and gets taken down and choked out.

EPISODE 8:

23) Jason Dent/Jeff Lawson: Maybe the two best lightweights in the house? How sad. Tenative standup leads to Lawson jumping in, giving the back and rolling for a kneebar. Dent escapes but its basically a sweep with Lawson on top. Dent keeps the guard closed looking to stand. The ref doesn't help: Lawson does just enough, passes to mount (and gets put back in full guard), landing shots here and there. He's tired by the end of the first.

Dent comes forward in round two, and Lawson shoots. He's way slow now though, and Dent is shrugging them off. Dent gets clipped with a few bad low kicks, catches Lawson coming in, and wins with a head and arm choke. Sad.

EPISODE 9:

24) Frank Lester/David Faulkner: Lester is back after someone dropped out. I forget who and don't care. Its slow to start with jabs and low kicks. Then there is trading and trading and more trading and its KOTC level at best. Faulkner eventually loses because he gasses and won't get up for the third. Lester is all beaten up and looks like shit but gets to move on and lose again.

EPISODE 10:

25) Nick Osipczak/Damarques Johnson: The winner for "fight that happened way too early in a guy's career" award for this season. Osipczak was ready to drop after the first round. He showed nothing but heart against a more experienced fighter who looked like he had a modicum of talent, being beaten up the entire last 2 rounds on the mat and standing. The corner should have stopped it. No reason to do this to a kid.

EPISODE 11:

26) Cameron Dollar/Andre Winner: Dollar is swinging early and getting countered huge. He shoots and Winner has none of it. Ends up getting tapped from a topside triangle. Yikes.

27) Jason Dent/Ross Pearson: Pearson is bigger and faster, better standing too. Dent does make a good punching bag and ends up doing so repeatedly in the round. He'll make his comebacks here and there but not much beyond that. Good pace to the fight too. Dent lands but can't hurt Pearson; big problem. Pearson then is able to do what he wants throughout the fight; takedowns, dominating the standup, forcing forwards, taking dominant position, so on, so forth. He wins every round en route to a unanimous decision.

EPISODE 12:

28) James Wilks/Frank Lester: Wilks has to fight Lester AGAIN. Oh jeez. Wilks is more methodical this time around and Lester isn't exactly rushing to engage either. Lester is looking to time Wilks and has pockets of success. His best weapon is the left hook and it happens to be the only thing he throws the whole round. Wilks is circling the right way now away from the hook of Lester and it starts to get ugly as the second progresses. Knees, punches, dirty boxing, eventually Lester drops in the third and the ref stops it.

Fight of the Season: Dent/Pearson

KO Of the Season: Osipczak/Miller

Submission of the Season: Winner/Dollar

Overall: No score. Easily the worst season of Ultimate Fighter yet, right up there with Season 6.