Yesterday was my birthday and I turned the ripe old age of 30...by the way, 30 is the new 15 in case you guys didn't know :). So my wife decided to take me out to dinner and lo and behold I forgot to set my DVR to record the fights. So I missed the first two fights and I'm still mad at myself for not setting my DVR to record...maybe it's my age catching up on me? However, I have managed to watch the fights now and this is what I took from the show

• Bye Bye Houston Alexander...it seems he did improve his takedown defense somewhat, but is still pretty clueless on the ground. Were those knees illegal? The fight went just as I thought it would...I just thought Houston would be able to finish once he hurt "Red", and props to "Red" for surviving and coming out on top. I knew once it went to the ground it was a wrap.


• I picked Herman to win by decision...and I thought he did enough to win the decision. The dude just can't catch a break(I thought he won the finale fight against Kendall Grove also). That's 4 losses for him in the UFC now, and I don't know if they will keep him around at this point.


• The Guida/Danzig fight was mad disappointing in my personal opinion. Everybody talks about how relentless Guida is and yada yada yada, but he did absolutely nothing to try and finish that fight. All he did was hold Danzig for the most part and throw little pitty pat punches every once in a while. Danzig must improve his takedown defense if he ever wants to climb up the ladder in the LW division...because it BLOWED last night.


• Diaz/Neer was a GREAT fight...I really enjoyed it. I picked Neer to win, but Diaz finally showed more facets of his game. Had he stuck to the script he had been using(subs from his back)...he would have gotten smashed. He fought eerily similar to how his brother fights...in that he threw strikes but none of them are power shots. However, I would venture to say that his transition game may be better than Nick's. Neer tried for the omoplata multiple times, and the little step over move Diaz used to escape was dope. Also, Diaz on the microphone is magic...I could listen to that dude talk all night...lol

All in all I thought is was a good show considering the card...however, I thought the show going over the allotted time slot was busch. Although, that could have been a good thing considering that the fights were a lead in show for the season premiere of TUF 8. I still can't believe I went 0-4 on the picks...although my fight analysis was pretty much spot on. I suppose that's the beauty and unpredictability of MMA.

*Edit-I almost forgot...whichever judge gave Neer the fight 29-28 is an idiot...no way that fight should have been a split decision. It was clearly 2 rounds to 1 for Diaz...with Neer winning the second round.