UFC Eulogy - 128: Shogun v Bones Jones

Well what can I say?I'll just get this out of the way: Bones Jones is a freak.

OK,I'll come back to this point in a second. First I will write the review of the rest of the PPV similar to how I watched. Impatient and anxious about the main event.

It wasn't a terrible PPV. The main event was a spectacle and there was some good action beforehand, but I did find myself a little disengaged with the earlier fights. It may have just been an off day for me - tired, beers, footy on the adjacent screen - but I can barely remember the specifics of the other fights.

Cro Cop v Brendan Schaub was an entertaining fight. He did what he does best. He brought the fight to his opponent and threatened with an all round solid game but he still couldn't do what he used to do best...knock guys outSchaub landed a right hook that seemed to catch Mirko behind the ear and he dropped awkwardly and it was followed by a series of cringe-inducing replays

Marquardt v Dan Miller was a snooze fest. Sucked momentum out of the PPV and in the end Marquardt won but who cares. He is slipping down PPV ladder and might be headlining fight nights in the future.

Jim Miller v Kamal Shalorus was an entertaining fight. I haven't seen these two much if at all and Jim proved he is one to watch. I really can't get over the depth and variety of the Lightweight division. Good luck to whoever runs the ranking system for it.

My first Bantamweight bout. This would be interesting, more so because apart from the more committed MMA fans there will be plenty of UFC fans who don't recognise or buy PPVs based on the new WEC guys. So that means these guys are at a pivotal point of their careers in the octagon and how they market themselves outside of it. Faber came with plenty of hype but struggled through the first round. He did adjust and fought with plenty of flair that the little guys offer and in the end it was a decent decision bout. So I'm gonna stick to the fence before I commit to my maiden favourite Bantamweight.

So now to the big one. I was tipping and hoping for a Shogun victory beforehand but just the visual size difference alone would have been warning enough for most fans, but for me it was the first takedown that filled me with a sense of dread. Jones manhandled Shogun and then imposed himself on top and did some damage while draining Shogun of significant energy - by the first round bell he looked gassed. The stand up was a similar story. Jones' reach nullified anything Shogun could throw at him and on the not so rare occasion when Jones made a mistake, Shogun looked powerless to capitalise. At one point he had his back and dropped down to try take a leg but seemed to slide off weakly. Another was an attempted sweep or reversal that barely made Jones budge. Eventually an exhausted Rua was felled by a piercing body blow and a knee on the way down, tapping the mat as Bones Jones strode away to take in his victory.

So where do we go from here? Every sport has eras of domination; as do the weight divisions within the UFC: Silva, GSP, BJ Penn, Ortiz, Matt Hughes. When someone brings a game that is naturally a cut above the rest. Whether it is natural ability, work ethic, technique, etc. it is usually good enough to require years of training to develop a fighter to overcome it.

But one thing more common than dominant eras is making the call too early. Brock Lesnar wasn't meant to be the man atop the mountain. He was the Mountain. But in his two title defences he was rocked by Carwin and then destroyed by Cain Velasquez. Now people, myself included, are unable to see who could beat Cain but he hasn't made one defence yet either. The Light Heavyweight division for sometime now has been like hot potato with title belt; before Shogun we had Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, and Rampage Jackson who were all convincing champs. But the cream of this even playing field seemed to have risen to the top with Shogun. A man of ample potential finally exuding it in a demolition of Machida.

But now we have to ask: Who will beat Bones Jones? Is anyone physically capable? Rashad Evans is next up and good luck to him because I love him but a cynical side of me suggested that his statements about moving to the Middleweight division if Jones became champ had less to do with friendship and more to do with inside info on the next big thing. At the moment Bones Jones is a marketing dream but Dana White may be worried of Anderson Silva syndrome where the competition are so far below that the fights are tougher to market. Admittedly he is American and much more aggressive tactically, and the more I think about it the more I want to see Rashad or Rampage or Shogun rematch or Machida or even the lovable Forrest Griffin have a go. It does seem like it will be 5 easy title defences but with UFC you really never know so in the end, after the devastation, I am pretty excited about Jones' next fight.

- Eden

UFC Eulogy: UFC 127 Penn v Fitch

One of the more disappointing shows of the last few months, UFC 127 featured a hometown hero frustratingly trapped in a struggle against a different style of fighter, a completely uncalled for show of disrespect from Michael Bisping and a disappointing decision in the main event. But there were a few fun moments, especially from a veteran who came in with little chance and put on the best show of the night (I heard from someone who attended the show that this was the feeling in the building as well).

George Sotiropolous' problem was not that he fought horribly, he just simply couldn't take Denis Sever down. Going in to the fight, we knew that Georgie would want the fight on the ground and Sever would want the exact opposite. We heard that Sever's stand up was very good, but we weren't prepared for how good he really was, and neither was the gollywog. There was a kick in the first round by Sever that didn't land but was still insanely impressive to see. But probably more than just how much he was beating Sotiropolous up, and he was, was his takedown defense. Not one point in the fight did it look as though Denis Sever was going to down, even when George had him by one leg, also in the first round. The Australian did come back from being knocked down twice, and took it to a decision, but really he had nothing. Hopefully Sotiropolous works on a few things, because I don't feel that this ruins too much momentum, as he could still be champ. (Me hopes.)

Michael Bisping is a child. I find him very entertaining, but he is not acting like a professional athlete. I wouldn't mind at all, in fact I was loving the Bisping Show until he kneed Jorge Rivera in the head while the American was on the ground. It wasn't a bad fight actually, with the heavy underdog Rivera actually knocking him down midway through the fight. Bisping came away with the TKO, but he didn't come away with the respect of many people, especially Dana White, who whispered something to Bisping right before the brit apologized in his post fight interview. One can only imagine what 'Mr White' said, probably something to the effect of, "you realise your not the world champ and you don't sell that many PPV's, if I fired you tomorrow, I don't lose shit."

BJ Penn versus John Fitch was not horrible but was not a good fight. The fight was mostly even until Fitch, in the final round, started his light ground and pound that looks like it annoys more than it kills, and looked like he was going to win. We ended up with a draw. It's baffling really, because Fitch won. BJ Penn was not getting up any time soon, Fitch was in control at the end and won the fight. But it was a draw. Penn seemed disillusioned by the decision, and in a pretty awesome show of respect, also said he felt he lost the fight.

The most fun fight was Chris Lytle v Roger Ebersole. Ebersole was an underdog, an old man with not much chance. He came in with so much charisma, ability and experience, and he won the crowd and the match. I'll call him Lil Randy for now because he reminds me so much of Couture.

It was a poor show, but we move on, as next month is the big Light Heavyweight fight!

- Lee

UFC Eulogy - 126: Silva v Belfort

There was strong possibility going into this PPV that I was going to miss out because it snuck up on me. But after reading the card and seeing some hype footage I was hooked in. It was a strong PPV overall though not up to the standard of late -we have been blessed with some high quality events lately. As I watched the fights I got to thinking (slightly annoying now that I have started writing about each PPV I have fallen into the reviewer’s trap of sacrificing the moment for a thought) that the word freak is no longer a compliment or hype building adjective in UFC, it is almost a requirement. You have Cain Velasquez with his freakish cardio, BJ Penn and his freaky elastic joints, Chris Leben and the freakish look on his face after taking a KO punch and coming back even harder, GSP’s freaky accent, the freaky skills of some of the lightweights and of course Brock Lesnar who is a freak of nature. The sport is in constant evolution, such that the freak tag is always there being justifiably thrown around. It doesn’t just sell PPVs it is often the only way to describe some of the things that happen in UFC.

126 had its fair share of freaks. The love hate relationship that fighting fans have with Anderson Silva continues (love finding a way this round); New star on the block Jon Bones Jones displayed another exhibition of sheer athleticism and power; and even Carlos Rocha was being lauded for his freakish Ju Jitsu ability which looked like poetry in the first round (so tragically absent from the next two). Anderson’s jaw dropping kick was a special thing to see (for those who didn’t blink) and he holds onto his records and number one pound for pound tag until that awesome day when Chael is allowed back in the Octagon. Bones Jones made Darth Bader look like he was wishing he could use the force (too much?) and his natural flair inside the Octagon has won him a legion of new fans to add to the other new legion and, belive it or not a title shot in the light heavyweight division.

UFC Eulogy: 125 - Frankie Edgar v Gray Maynard

It may have seemed tough for a PPV to follow UFC 124 and still be considered a great one, but UFC 125, opened the new year with a bang, managing to deliver plenty of excitement itself. When writing about 124 I mentioned the UFC’s inventory of fighters generating a name for themselves by becoming more of a character in the eyes of the viewers. Well once you have great characters you can develop some great stories. I have a friend who has tried, on numerous occasions, to get me into Pro Wrestling. He explained that besides the fake fakey fakeness, the wrestlers were telling a story with their fight. Well it seems the UFC has become somewhat of life imitating art in this respect.

Beyond the crushing KOs, and cringe-worthy submissions, 125 had some international flavours, big name comebacks, budding superstars and of course the rematch of the undefeated challenger aiming to take the belt off the champion whose only loss is against none other than the challenger! So just as a good documentary can induce tears better than the most tragically scripted drama, UFC 125 had that uncanny knack to tell a tale or two that noone could predict.

UFC Eulogy: 124 - GSP v Koscheck

Sometimes UFC can be a bore. Slow rounds with no action until a decision. Sometimes it can be amazing. Fights with stories and a climactic finish. A PPV is given a good 5 fights give or take to accommodate this and we usually land somewhere in the middle for a general average. But UFC 124 was one of those special PPVs that managed to have basically no boring fights. Thiago Alves stood toe to toe with John Howard and put on a striking clinic; Matt Danzig had a first round standing KO of Joe Stephenson; Jim Miller spent 2 minutes defending submissions from Brazilian rubber band, Charles Oliveira, before reversing one into a kneebar/ankle lock to make him tap; Stefan Struve proved that he is growing into a better and better – and invariably exciting – fighter, beating down Sean McCorkle; And of course, the reason why we all paid for the PPV in the first place, the GSP v Koscheck fight gave us another look at the undeniable talent and finesse of the greatest pound for pounder in the business. UFC 124 certainly lived up to the hype.

But the hype became one of the stories for this PPV. The UFC is an insanely well run business. It’s growth since being taken over by Zuffa and presided over by Dana White has seen it transformed from a money drain to a multi million dollar enterprise conquering the US and the rest of the world at the same time. I think the key to this success hasn’t just been the roster of elite fighters but more so the profile that each fighter carries. Each fighter, even in The Ultimate Fighter, seems capable of talking smack – or at least trying to. I got to thinking that maybe the fighters are trained to talk big in order to hype up the fights – probably not. But I am certain that they are encouraged to. They are definitely rewarded for it as well.

Josh Koscheck is the perfect example. In the build up videos Josh even says straight out that he started training hard for his striking because that’s what people want to see. And it was a good choice. He has a highlight reel to die for and one that earns him title shots while Jon Fitch remains patiently winning. The fact is that wrestling is boring and BJJ that can’t finish isn’t much better. UFC crowds are infamous for booing after barely 30 seconds of inaction.

But good fights with big finishes don’t always cut it. Koscheck figured this part out as well. He plays the heel so well that Vince McMahon would be impressed. The talking in The Ultimate Fighter - though lacking in wit a lot of the time – was enough to sell countless more PPVs. But alternatively, he motivated GSP more than any title belt or child on death bed could. GSP went out with his game face and game plan firm. He executed and Koscheck saw the effects – with poor depth perception, I imagine.

It wasn’t just Koscheck either. John Howard and Thiago Alves were both promising nothing but stand up in their bout. Big swinging and no chance of the boring technical ground game. Sean McCorkle spent had a pre fight training regime of cardio, striking and twitter updates about Stefan Struve’s inferior bone structure. In the pre-PPV fights Mark Bocek performed a sweet Triangle Choke before telling Joe Rogan and anyone who would listen that he has the best BJJ in the lightweight division and that he will take on George Sotiropoulus any day.

In the end we need to remember the night belonged to GSP. The hero picked apart the villain and the reason he is the hero is because his fight game and mentality is beyond any trash talk. GSP also had the last word. It would be very professional if I could find it and quote it but instead I will have to paraphrase: something along the lines of you guys can boo Josh but he did the talking to make this event what it was. And it was a great event.

- Eden

UFC Eulogy – 121: Lesnar v Cain

I have to say that this card promised a mouth watering pay per view: aggressive welterweights, big bopping heavyweights, big name transfer from Strikeforce, Tito Ortiz vs a deaf guy, Big John McCarthy and of course one of the most anticipated heavyweight title fights in UFC history.

But then we should remember that big hype and big expectation can usually lead to big disappointed and though I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was let down by the PPV, I would prefer a higher finish/decision ration. This one being 4-1 (with the best saved to last!). So let’s get into it.