Well, the last UFC of 2006 is in the books and I think overall the PPV was a very good card. The coming year should provide some of the best MMA fight cards we have ever seen, and UFC 66 was a nice way to cap off 2006.
Here are my thoughts on a few of the fights:
- Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz - I said in my preview that I just wanted this fight to make it to at least the third round so we could see a little bit of action. Overall, this fight went pretty much as I thought it would. I didn’t think we would see Tito swinging wild overhand right punches, but the ending was much like many people thought it would be.
- Forest Griffin vs. Keith Jardine - Well, for all of you who said I was stupid for picking Jardine in this fight…. guess I was right. Jardine doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves, and Griffin gets far to much credit in my mind. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think Jardine is a top level contender in the Light Heavyweight division, but I do think he is better than Griffin. Guess I was right.
- Andre Arlovski vs Marcio Cruz - this is one of only 2 fights that I predicted incorrectly, and I may be the only one, but I’m somewhat unhappy with the way the fight ended. Herb Dean normally is constantly criticized for what some MMA fans consider his numerous “early stoppages.” Well, in this fight I feel Dean made another move that changed the flow of the fight. When Dean moved in on both fighters on the ground after Arlovski had kicked to the face while on the ground, he stopped the fight and instructed both fighters to standup.
Go back and watch the tape and you will see Dean step in and tell both fighters to stand; Cruz argued because he felt he was in a good position with a leg lock, and Arlovksi acted as if he had never heard English before. After several attempts to communicate to the fighters to stand, Dean just ended up letting them keep fighting from the position they were at. However, by this time, Cruz’s gripped had loosened on Arlovski’s leg, and Arlovksi had time to regroup and setup some strikes.
In a situation like this Herb Dean, has to make the fighters stand no matter what it takes. If a ref gives a command to stand up, its his job to make them stand and restart from the standing position; not to let the fighters tell him what to do and remain on the ground. Of course, the ground is where Cruz wanted to be and standing them up didn’t play into his favor, but I still don’t like how the situation unfolded.
- Chris Leben vs. Jason MacDonald - Let me be the first one to put my vote in for moving Chris Leben to the WEC. Leben honestly brings nothing to the table of any value. As far as Jason MacDonald, while I did pick him to win, he impressed me less in this fight than he did in his win over Ed Herman. If he keeps ducking his head sloppily during his takedown attempts, he’s going to get knocked out by any decent fighter.
Overall, a decent card and know we can all sit and wait patiently for UFC 67. Oh yeah, Cro Cop, Rampage, Anderson Silva, and GSP all on one card. The UFC is getting better and better. What were you thoughts on UFC 66? Any surprises, or thoughts? Leave some comments.
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One thing you didnt mention Dr.J about another of Herb Deans Short comings, after the punch in the face, cruz went into the turtle position but he still had arlovskis leg, if you go back an see it again, he tried to roll arlovski with that leg, but arlovski was holding the fence. In that position andre was WAY off balance, and he would have been swept, he was holding the fence for like a good 10 seconds! I said it before, ill say it again.. Herb dean is the worst ref in the UFC.
Also i was impressed with cruz performance in that fight! he really took it to arlovski, i still think he would have lost no matter what, but he still kinda got cheated by Herbie.
You really know your stuff man. I’ve sent all my friends (who love MMA) a link to your website. I was one of the people who disagreed with you picking Jardine over Griffin. But what can I say…you got it. Although I DO THINK Forrest is at the top of the food chain at the 205’s. I thought he was doing a great job in the fight, but he can’s just slug it out with guys that hit harder than him. He’s got a better ground game than Jardine. He should have tryed to take it to the ground. I think we’ll see a lot better Forrest Griffin after this lose. His “bloody wars” might be over. I think he’ll start fighting to WIN instead of just put on a show. I’m going out on a limb here and many of you will disagree, but Forrest would win 2 out of 3.
Arlovski and Cro Crop will meet soon. I’m predicting it. Cro Crop will whop him and them he’ll run through the Maniac Tim Syliva. That will be great. I’m not a Sylvia fan. He coasts.
I was impressed with Tito Ortiz. He’s my all time favorite fighter. I hated to see him loose, but the Ice Man’s in a league of his own. Chuck is going to go down as one of the best MMA fighters of all time. He’s 37 years old, so he’ll start slowing down over the next couple of years. No telling who will take his place in the light heavyweight division. Bottom line…anyone who wants a shot at him will have to go through Tito first. Cause Tito and Rampage ARE the #2 #3 contenders in the division.
As for Chris Leban. I agree, he ain’t nothing but a stepping stone for the complete MMA fighters. Did anyone notice that McDonald always looks suprised when he wins?? Kinda funny…
2007 will be the best year yet for the UFC. Can’t wait until UFC 67! Go Cro Crop!
i dont know how cruz got cheated he was the one telling herb to keep it on the cuz he didnt have a chance on his feet i think that was a stupid fight for him to take and that the ufc knew he was going to lose and forrest griffin crying like a little ***** come on guy maybe tears but straight out ***** crying i have to admit i lost a little respect for him some people get knocked out but to straight up cry WOW
Ok, nevermind what I said about (Richard) being a smart guy, in one of my other comments. “Cryed like a *****”?? I bet he’d “***** slap” you just for thinking that. Anyone who knows anything about a fight or MMA knows it’s an emotional kind-of-thing. Heck Ortiz himself said he crys during sad movies. When you put as much into something as these guys do, it’s only natural for emotions to run wild when it’s over. Winning or loosing…
You must be hungover, cause your comment was hard to read.
I thought the UFC 66 card was one of the best of the year. Good fights and a couple of good upsets (although, I’m not sure you can consider the Leben-MacDonald fight an upset).
Did anybody catch Dana White calling Chuck a “******* *******” a couple of times before putting his belt on? When I saw it live, I thought he was saying “that guy’s a ******* *******” in regards to an interaction with Tito off camera. However, after reviewing it on my MythTV box a few times, I’m pretty sure he was saying “You’re a ******* *******” to Chuck.
I still think Chuck v. Wanderlei could be one of the best fights ever.
Arlovski fought dirty. Not only did he hold the cage with his left hand, but his right hand was repeatedly punching Cruz in the back of the head. The ref was warning Arlovski several times, and when he broke them up, I thought Arlovski was being DQ’ed. Of course Cruz was knocked out silly - that many unprotected blows to the back of the head will knock anyone silly.
I consider myself a fan of Arlovski, but that win was very dirty. BOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
yea Arlovski did fight a little dirty, but who can really blame him? he came to win in this fight. In reality there are no significant penalties for breaking the rules in the ufc, unless its flagrantly intentional. That is something i think they SERIOUSLY need to improve on, like in pride, when fouls happen, intentional or not, they get called and every foul called, also comes with a 10% reduction in your fight prize after 3 its a DQ. So you need to be AWARE of fouls and try very hard not to let it happen, where as in the ufc, Arlovski kicked him in the face and its like… oops sorry heheh. If you think about it that way, its probably a good idea to drop a knee in someones groin as long as your a good actor. For anyone thats been hit in the stones before, you know how it affects your legs.
Its not cool man, they put way too much to the discretion of the ref in the UFC, an as you can see, bad things happen. Maybe they should start fining the refs for bad calls? lol either way, they gotta light a fire under someones azz so we can get some cleaner fights in the UFC.. cuz really almost every fight, guys are throwing illegal blows, and continue to until they are warned about it.
brian again ur on my *** come on hey when i watched a walk to remember i cryed a little to and when ortiz lost he crys a little to but come on u tell me that forrest didnt cry a little weird i mean like he did some kind of moan that just weirded me out watch it again and ull see it its crazy i understand getting emotional but come on watch it agian if u can and u can see what im talking about oh and what surprised me also was that chuck didnt call out rampage and to me it seemed like when joe said rampages name chuck really didnt know what to say maybe he was scared?
This was a pretty good card to end the year. The Tito vs Chuck rematch went pretty much as expected. Forest did over do it a little bit. I know these guys run high with emotion but they also need to be gratious in defeet. Did anyone watch the Pride fights? I was amazed at the way Fedor keeps his composure. Mark had the key lock on tight two times and Fedor didn’t even flintch. I’m glad the UFC finally confirmed the Crocop signing and end all the speculation. UFC 67 will be great even with Mat Serra being the main event. Chuck did look a little uncomfortable when Quinton was mentioned maybe he is still a little unsure of his ability to take him out. This will be a great year for MMA and the fans. Finally we have a true heavy and some new matchups coming our way.
PEOPLE COME ON HE DID COME TO WIN… AND HE DID ANYTHING HE COULD OTHER PEOPLE HAVE COMPETED WAY MORE DIRTY BUT HE DID WHAT HE HAD TO DO AND KNOCKED HIM OUT LIKE I TOUGHT!!!
Obviously Richard you don’t know what it means to put everything you have into something. To invest yourself so completely into an objective and then have it all taken away in flash. Those fighters are so high on adrenaline. You mix a mild concusion in with all that emotion of losing, all coming at you in the few seconds after reagining conciousness. The way he cried just tells me he put it all int he ring that night, everything he had was there on display.
Right on mightymaxx. I agree that Forest put it all on the line, but I was still a little weirded out and embarressed for him when I first saw it.
Also, I heard GSP is out with an injury. Will not fight UFC 67. Sucks for Serra.
yea, its hard for people to understand how much they work and sacrifice just for that 15 min or 25 min man. Look at tito, we was training for 10 months at big bear, 10 months man! training everyday twice a day. Imagine the last 10 months of your life, if you spent every waking moment of that time thinking about your fight. I can guarantee you, although tito didnt cry on camera, he definately broke down sometime that night.
I do understand how it can make people uncomfortable tho, like after coleman lost to fedor, when his kids came into the ring and were crying with their dad all beat up. It was a pitiful sight, it made me feel bad after the fight, and i dont think they want the fans to feel bad like that, they shouldnt have let his kids get in the ring. Although it doesnt affect my opinion of coleman as a fighter, or as a man.
Ok, mightymaxx you have a good point, kinda, I mean putting everything on the line? That’s the name of the game. It’s a fight, anything can happen. Personally I think Forrest Griffin cried like a little girl. I mean, he was balling man, and it looked like a little kid trying to run and hide. Sorry forrest, I love ya man, but you really shouldn’t have cried.
read wat i put rich
In my opinion, I doubt that forest really had any control over whether he was going to cry or not. It probably just came out whether he wanted it to or not… afterwards I’m sure that a little embarassment had a little to do with why his comments to Joe Rogan were so short and he ran to the back. He put up a good fight, got clocked, and he lost. He’ll be back. Like him or not, he’s a good fighter. I think we’ll see a lot more of him in the coming years. As for the pit bull and cruz, I agree that cruz got a little screwed by herb dean. And while it’s no excuse for herb’s actions, I firmly believe that cruz would have lost regardless.
Just my 2 cents.
Good point, BVRASP.
What i learned from ufc 66!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
…. Chuck Liddell is a mma god without a doubt.
…. a strong grappler cannot beat chuck liddell!!!!!
(coutoure twice/ ortiz twice/ babalu twice/ destroyed horn/beat monson)
…. keith jardine is the real dean of mean and very underated!!!!!!
…. forrest griffin is very overated on the ground. look at the ortiz and jardine fight and pay attention to how bad griffin gets pounded in gaurd.
…. Bisping is the next big thing at lh.
…. and the last thing i learned is that mirko cro cop is gonna woop
eddie sanchez/arlovski/sylvia or anyone else in the ufc now that he is signed. We might actually have a descent ufc heavyweight title fight in the near future
BRANDON VERA VS. MIRKO CRO COP
good fight but cro cop 3rd round head kick new champ for 5 years!!!!
GENTLEMEN PLEASE CRO COP AINT PERFECT I MEAN HE LOST TO KEVIN RANDLEMAN AND MARK HUNT NO FIGHTER IS PERFECT EXCEPT FOR FEDOR …. I WOULDNT BE GIVING CRO COP SO MUCH PRAISE
Cro-Cop WILL dominate the division. I know about the huge debate between who has the better fighters UFC or Pride. Even though I am a true UFC fan, I have to admit that the Pride fighters mainly from the Eastern Bloc (Emilanenko, Cro-Cop, that other russian dude etc.) these guys are relentless animals and Pride is by far more brutal than the UFC with what it allows, not even mentioning guys like Shogun and the other Brazilians. The UFC is just all about marketing the right personalities. Regardless,
Silva will absolutely destroy this Lutter guy, I can’t believe anyone even gives him a chance.
GSP vs. Serra—I think is not worth the PPV money, even though I’ve bought many PPV’s, mainly cause of Serra’s excrutiantingly boring fighting style, great guy though.
Maybe they should settle the score with a pride vrs ufc card someday….. But yea its going to take a very strong striker to beat liddel. GSP will slaughter serra in the early rounds.. never count out diego sanchez getting a shot at the title with an impressive knockout of a decent striker in joe riggs
Well everyone has a good point when it comes to the heavyweight division. Pride by far has the best heavyweight division in MMA hands down. Now that ufc has cro cop that will shine a little light onto the ufc heavyweight division. But unless fedor comes to ufc cro cop and arlovski should run the table or even Vera, he looks unstoppable as well. But you have and argument with cro cop because now cro cop dont have a big ol wwe wrestling ring to run around in. Im pretty sure he would have a lot more losses on his record if pride had a octagon rather than a wrestling ring. But he might just adapt and just come off the bat with the head kicks and waist no time in knocking fighters out. As far as light heavyweight i dont see any one beating chuck right now and after chuck i think bisbing will take the reins and ride it for a while as champ. And lutter is in for a rude awakening when he fights the spider, be ready for a REAL quick knock out due to severe knees to the head or spiders awsome striking. As for Forest he is a good fighter but jardine is VERY underrated and he proved that he can beat a real tuff guy standing up. I never really liked forest stand up game thouhg. He lookes like he can be a potential knock out artist in standing up because he throws some really good punches it just seems like he has not found that range yet. Because i believe he couldave knocked jardine out in the fight but like i said he just hasnt found that range yet. But i think he is a good fighter but jardine right now has the eye of the tiger and wanted to win.
Lets sum it all up, shall we:
Pitbull cheated but the blame is on Dean. Cro Cop will make it right when he knocks him out.
Serra has no chance against GSP, but Matt will regain the title.
Leben is tough and has allot of heart, but lacks the skills to be a champion.
Richard doesn’t have a clue.
Jardine is the Dean of Mean and will continue to impress us all.
No shame for Forrest. Many TUF guys cried, and so did Tito when Chuck smashed his face …. over & over & over & over.
Dana did call somebody an *******. I saw it too!
2006 is the year of the ICEMAN, who by the way, fears no man, and I bet Chuck will knock out Rampage in the first round……any takers?