UFC 107: Thoughts And Analysis

- Struve showed he can get gritty with it once again, but he’ll get demolished against the top of the divsion at this juncture of his career. They need to build him up carefully – maybe they can find some HW outside of the organization with good BJJ and decent hands so he’ll be forced to work on his hands. Stefan Struve, despite the surprising amount of fights he has under his belt can’t go the Brock or Velasquez-path, he needs to be given time to mature (and grow into his body lol). If they don’t cut him immediately, all that’s left for Buentello is to get fed to some other prospect or fighter in need of a bonceback fight (Kongo?).

- Kenny Florian did what I expected him to do: prove that it doesn’t matter how much energy you have if you really have no other offence than to take people down and pepper them with annoying but harmless shots. He took his time to get Guida’s rhythm (or lack thereof) down and then geared up for the kill and did so in calm, collected and deadly fashion. I liked that we got to see that there’s no such thing as an invincible chin (no matter if your Guida, Mark Hunt, Chris Leben, Jon Fitch or Diego Sanchez). Diego Sanchez is likely next for Florian, it’s a very sellable fight especially if it’s a Boston card.

- Jon Fitch grinds out another decision but he did get hurt in the 3rd. Nothing against Fitch, but I was hoping for an upset to stir the WW division which is becoming more stagnant by the day due to a couple of fighters occupying the top spots but having already got their ass readily handed to them by the champ. Fitch did what he does and I was impressed with Pierce actually, but also a little underwhelmed by Fitch to tell you the truth. They might as well make Fitch/Alves 2 to eliminate one of the top contenders because I don’t think anyone is interested in seeing GSP rematch both.

- Frank Mir… nothing worse than a dude who talks alot of shit and then backs it up! Kongo got absolutely tooled and what impressed me the most was how much lean muscle Mir had added while still being able to move fluently – Mir is probably one win away from a rubber match with Brock – it’s a match that will be easy to sell and it will do huge numbers. I think he needs to fight Carwin next what with Lesnar being out. Kongo was officially demoted to gatekeeper for the duration of his fighting career.

- BJ Penn looked like a MONSTAH and I honestly don’t see any challenge at LW for him in the UFC… I think he murders Maynard and Edgar and that he could probably do it in the same night. UFC needs to recruit a couple of the LW fighters outside of the organization, but honestly I’m ready to proclaim Penn unfickwitable at LW. The problem is how readily tooled he got against GSP and me not seeing much changing on that front, so what you do with Penn is a question I don’t have an answer for — maybe he could fight Fitch? Sanchez looked like a helpless child, and he did display some glaring holes in his striking which I think is what he should concentrate on tightening up for now. A match with Florian probably makes the most sense right now.

Welcome to the site….where you from?

But dope ass reffing all night long.

1. Penn is the truth. I know that some may want him to go up in weight but I’d let the guy spend awhile seeing how many consecutive defenses he can put together. You only have so much time in this sport and if I’m him I would spend it daring someone in my own weight class to beat me. Having said that and knowing how Penn likes to challenge himself, expect the announcement of him going up to light heavyweight any day now.

2. Wicked combination by Florian. I’ll always enjoy seeing that guy fight because he brings it everytime.

3. I don’t care too much for Frank Mir, but that was a very nice performance, no question.

4. I disagree with Belcher vs. Gouveia for Fight of the Night. But if there was an award for “Best Corn-Rowed Arkansas Native With Pink Shorts and a Fat Albert Tatto On His Arm”, Belcher would win it hands-down.

5. Great show in my opinion. I usually walk away from events that Zuffa producing feeling as if I’ve gotten my money’s worth (although there will always be occasions I don’t). But this was a really entertaining show, in my opinion and in the opinions of the roomful of folks I watched with.

Stefan Struve and Paul Buentello went at it. That was a good fight to open up the PPV IMO. It was sloppy at times, but both guys showed a lot of heart, considering they are heavyweights and they had a pretty high pace in that fight. Struve is a warrior point blank period. He needs to tighten up his striking game though, because he drops his left hand every time he throws a leg kick. Buentello capitalized on it a couple of times, but faded towards the end.

Although I certainly think that it was a great fight to open up the PPV, saying that Buentello had heart, as well as him capitalizing on anything is something I don’t jive with. The guy looked downright scared coming out for the fight, and if the man actually HAD capitalized on the one moment he had Struve down, I may have actually hit the pick (and not be #5 overall in the MMA Playground standings). Was it because of his being removed from AKA? Is it because he didn’t have crazy Bob to psych him up before the fight? Is it because he just doesn’t want to stick it to dudes and put them away (see Kirill Sidelnikov at Affliction 2)? I think it’s a combination of everything, in addition to his not wanting to get sucked into Struve’s guard.

I’m curious if the guy gets a second fight in his return-run to the UFC; even though he didn’t necesarily wash out, it isn’t as if Struve is a premier fighter, not to mention Buentello is getting up there in age (relatively speaking). One thing I do know is that I’ll be a little more careful picking him next time.. someone with a good chin, decent reach, and some aggression will probably beat him.

It was a pretty good show last night. I was never totally sure if Penn was just toying with Sanchez all night, but from the way he finished things, it would appear that he was. I think he just wanted to beat on him for a while and then finish him off. Humiliate him. If that was really what went down, then I’d have to agree with Joe Rogan that it was Penn’s most dominant performance ever. But, if in fact he was having trouble putting Sanchez away last night, despite Sanchez being totally outclassed by him, I don’t think it was that impressive. The exchanges were a bit boring at times. If Penn had finished him off in the first round when he had him hurt, then I would have really been impressed. Still though, Sanchez last night looked like he was moving in slow motion compared to Penn. Not even in the same league.

UFC now has, for the most part, champs that appear to be unbeatable in almost every division, with hardly a legitimate contender to be found. It’s hard to imagine what the future may hold.

Struve looks as if he has loads of potential, but he definitely looked awkward at times, like not knowing how far away he could be and still actually strike Buentello. He really needs to learn to keep his hands up and not to go in head first looking to clinch and get takedowns. He was lucky not to have been KOed last night. That was a weird, sloppy fight.

As for Buentello, 35 is old for a fighter, or for just about any athlete for that matter. Buentello has always been a bit of a one trick pony to me – if he doesn’t land his upper cuts, then most of the time he’s not going to win the fight. Getting older and stepping up in competition isn’t going to make anything easier for him. I’d be surprised if UFC keeps him around for very long. He’s a very good fighter, he’s just not elite.

Got to agree with pretty much everything you said, good job man. Only think I would disagree with is the Clay Guida jumping about, man the dude was pumped and it got me pumped. That’s what he is all about, I actually loved his entrance, maybe took a little too long, but you could see how much it meant to him and it got the crowd on it’s feet. It was absolutely electric during his entrance. He is probably my fave MMA guy so probably a bit biased, but I loved it, thought it was an awesome entrance.

if Guida showed as much enthusiasm for learning the arts in mixed martial arts as he does for bouncing around (like he just went off his game) he might actually go places in the division… he remains a hyperactive hugger for the moment

Mir and Florian impressed me the most.

BJ did what he all expected him to. Perhaps we were overrating Diego slightly. Although Kenny got tooled by BJ as well, I thought his performance was better than Diego’s. BJ made Diego look almost impotent. He could do absolutely nothing to BJ. And whats more, BJ looked incredibly fresh after a fight that pretty much went the distance. BJ is dangerous enough when he’s pudgy. A BJ with cardio is ridiculous!

Mir looked relaxed, nimble on his feet and sent Kongo to the mat with a clean strike….the same Kongo who was hailed as the best HW striker. I never really saw anything special in Kongo (apart from the fact that he looks like a Roman gladiator carved out of ebony). Can’t believe he was being mentioned as a contender. Mir made him look like a fool. That neck crank was brutal. He’s going to have to wear a neck brace for a month. I’m happy for Mir. For all the criticism and hate that comes his way, he is one of the most intelligent fighters out there. If he gets past his next opponent, I’d love to see the Lesnar rematch.

Florian…all I can say is… THANK YOU KENNY. Thank you for beating up that overhyped caveman. I hated EVERY moment of Guida’s entrance. His singing, his jumping around… you know what..fuck you. I kept hoping Kenny tears him a new one and he did! A nice lil goat’s vagina and a KO to make things even sweeter. Loved it. Kenny looked very impressive. After the first 2 minutes, he looked fluid and an complete control. Those elbows are vicious.

Great event. Fuck you Edgar Garcia for costing me my parlay.

Kongo cost me my parlay….smh.

lol… Kongo.