Comments on: UFC 81 Thoughts & Commentary

By: MMA Kamander

MMA Kamander — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 02:28:54 +0000

This was a great card. Eight out of the nine fights were televised, and most of those fights were solid. Overall the fights were relevant and exciting.

MMA Kamander gives this card 4 stars.

4 stars for Tim Sylvia vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
4 stars for Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar
3 stars for Nathan Marquardt vs. Jeremy Horn
4 stars for Ricardo Almeida vs. Rob Yundt
4 stars for Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau
4 stars for Chris Lytle vs. Kyle Bradley
2 stars for David Heath vs. Tim Boetsch
2 stars for Rob Emerson vs. Keita Nakamura

Events and fights are rated from 1-5 stars based on:
- action and excitement
- skill and technique
- significance and interest

By: JacRabbit

JacRabbit — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:39:52 +0000

And post #6 by Buddah was very well put… and quite likely the case (if you consider that politics didn’t play any role in this fight).

How about another possible scenario? Is it possible that the UFC wanted the fight to go the way it did? We all know the UFC doesn’t like for its champions to look inferior to fighters from other organizations. Did the UFC really want the WWE wrestler to win this debut? After all, win or loose, Brock’s name will not tarnish from a debut against a former champ. This could have been a simple means of showing UFC fighter dominance, and still achieving the increase in PPV buys and opportunity to add a new beast to the HW roster. Maybe Mazzagati knew this…? The hits were clearly not intentional, and the hits were clearly a result of Mir rolling to avoid punishment. The stoppage was awkward to say the least.

Personally I didn’t think Mir was a good match up for a wrestler with no MMA experience. With little GnP and BJJ experience, theres no way you could have expected Brock to be experience enough to maintain correct position against someone that skilled in submissions. Brock seemed destined to loose. A 1 min. 40 sec. defeat is far from what you would expect to see–even a mildly experienced UFC fighter (given they had a body type like Brock). All in all, YES Brock has loads of potential… but did he do a good job? NO… we expect to see spectacular takedowns from a NCAA champion wrestler… we expect to see power from any beast this size… aside from what we knew would happen before the fight started, there was nothing impressive in Brocks game. His lack of “respect” for Mir’s BJJ as he stated in his interview lost him the match. With proper experience, I think Brock definitely has what it takes to be one of the best HWs in history–but he needs to start by changing his attitude quickly above all.

By: Derek B.

Derek B. — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:30:00 +0000

I was waiting for Stone Cold to come running out of the stands to open up a can of whoop ass.

That would have been the highlight of the night for me!

By: JacRabbit

JacRabbit — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:18:24 +0000

Sam, ok let me rephrase… yes he was “knocked down” though it was due to a lack of balance… but far from “almost knocked out on his feet”. He was not dazed… in fact the hit was more of a push.

By: JacRabbit

JacRabbit — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:16:10 +0000

“Best TV money can buy”?

This shit was funny as hell! so out of curiosity… what type of TV is this?

By: Sam Caplan

Sam Caplan — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:52:22 +0000

Jac, he got knocked on his ass. I’m not sure how you can spin it any other way.

By: JacRabbit

JacRabbit — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:49:53 +0000

“…he almost knocked Mir out on the feet…”

Cant agree… I recorded the fight and it was definitely a slip. Mir threw a high kick, as his right foot landed–before he could correctly position, he eats a fist from Brock.

By: Márcio

Márcio — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:12:51 +0000

Hey Adam,
Why should Sylvia deserve a rematch? He was winning the fight but couldn’t finish Nogueira while Nogueira finished Sylvia on his first opportunity, that’s the mark of a champion.
This isn’t Ice Skating, merit points dont count… if he wants a rematch he must get back in tittle contention by winning a few more fights.

By: Derek B.

Derek B. — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:09:35 +0000

Lesnar is garbage that’s just the final answer to the questions everyone has been asking.

He got Mir in a good position on the ground and instead of throwing good solid punches…he sits there and thinks that his rabbit punches are going to knock him out.

He doesn’t have the experience to be in the UFC. They need to release him and pick someone else up to take his place.

By: mike wolfe

mike wolfe — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:09:02 +0000

Where the hell is Jiu-Jitsu Guy? I thought there’d be a post from him about BJJ given the submission wins in the top two events.

Also, somebody please explain to me why Tyson Griffin was booed after the decision. He won a striking battle with a good fighter who had significant height and weight advantages. Sure he was taken down, but he always fought back up without taking any serious damage. Did something happen that wasn’t on the telecast?

The stand up and point deduction in the Mir/Lesnar fight was a BIG deal. Mir was in a bad spot and was taking punishment. Letting him stand up allowed him to collect his wits and mentally prepare himself for the next takedown. The strike wasn’t an intentional blow to the back of the head. It happened because Mir was moving his head to avoid the strikes. The stand up happened very quickly and Mazagatti seemed angry. Is it possible he got caught up in the “Lesnar’s a pro wrestler and not one of us MMA fighters” controversy?

By: Rich

Rich — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:53:23 +0000

that’s ridiculous cyphron…

we all know why randy left…

and we all know it wasn’t that..

plus, randy sure had no problems w/ gonzaga… and he sub’s people…

so, your logic’s kinda muffed up..

By: Kogepan

Kogepan — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:43:42 +0000

I think you give WAY to much credit to Lesnar. The guy lasted less than 2 minutes in the Octagon and allowed Mir to attempt 4-5 submissions in that short amount of time. Even though he has tremendous physical tools, he showed no MMA skills whatsoever. He just stood for at least 3-4 seconds without moving and allowed Mir to make the easiest kneebar ever.

Lesnar needs to go to the WEC for 5-6 fights to work on his skills before challenging again. He’s a one dimensional fighter at best right now.

By: cyphron

cyphron — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:57:04 +0000

Randy left the UFC specifically because he doesn’t want to fight Nogueira. I mean, he can’t hold Nogueira down like he did Tim “I don’t want to be on my back” Sylvia.

By: Adam Morgan

Adam Morgan — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:08:06 +0000

Tanner,

You mean Handy Couture?

By: Tommy

Tommy — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:55:45 +0000

Forget all this banter with Bunion. How come no ones mentioning Big Nogs request and rightful claim to fight Randy? People too scared to step on the naturals toes or something?

By: platypus

platypus — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:38:25 +0000

the elbow rule came from old ufc rule makers watching tma’ers break bricks using the downward elbow, thats why its banned. why cant they overturn taht already?

By: Tommy

Tommy — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:31:51 +0000

Paul I made mention of wind, not you. Cause that’s all that Brock could have knocked Mir down with. Maybe he is just that strong? Look this is the way I see it. Brock caught him with the first punch, Mir went to throw another leg kick and Brock went to throw another punch. Mir, moving to avoid the second punch, reels backwards while one of his legs was still off the mat, throwing him off balence too far to stay on his feet. My point was the second strike never touched or rocked Mir as Goldberg and many watchers believed. As far as being funny, I should be, I learned from your mother.

By: Paul Balsom

Paul Balsom — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 21:57:04 +0000

Tommy, I don’t think I made any mention of wind knocking down Mir. That was just not funny. All I said was, it was not a slip from kicking, like you said. I also paid money for the PPV, but you are so awesome for having a DVR. Awesome AND funny.

By: Tanner

Tanner — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 21:35:06 +0000

Garth, there was a post on fightlinker where John McCarthy talked about his interpretation of the elbows. It seemed illegal to me but i don’t know.

http://fightlinker.com/blog/?p=1154

By: Adam Morgan

Adam Morgan — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 21:20:24 +0000

Garth,

Here’s the deal with the elbow situation. You can’t bring them down from top position at a ninety degree angle but you can use them from the bottom because it’s a “lateral” movement and you’re not bringing them down from the top. Silly rule, I know, but that’s how it is.