UFC 77 is in the books and overall the whole night felt pretty lackluster. There were some good fights but nothing too exciting.
- Rich Franklin vs Anderson Silva looked pretty much like their first fight did; Anderson dominating the standup with his speed and precision striking with Franklin looking in effective while his looping overhand strikes. I don’t care what Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg said, Rich Franklin had the same look in his eyes that he did in their first matchup: a look of fear and desperation. Frankling was mentally defeated before he even entered the cage, and with good reason. At the end of the night Silva was still easily champion and Rich Franklin’s nose was once again pointed more towards his ear than it was towards his chin.
- Tim Sylvia vs Brandon Vera was one of the more boring fights of the night to watch, but this time not because of Tim Sylvia. Sylvia looked good, aggressive and quick with his striking, and instead it was Brandon Vera who chose to clinch and make the fight extremely boring to watch. Tim Sylvia showed once again that his size and reach are going to be very tough for any of the “smaller” heavyweight fighters to handle. Add in Tim’s newfound hand-speed and striking accuracy and we could be looking at another title run for Tim.
- Jorge Gurgel vs Alvin Robinson was an exciting fight to watch. Gurgel easily controlled the opening round and then was completely dominated in rounds two and three by Robinson. I know that Gurgel was on the main card for this event because it was in Ohio, but can we know put Gurgel to pasture or at least relegate him to the undercard?
- Stephan Bonnar easily won the fight that he was supposed to easily win. I still don’t know what if any plans the UFC has for Bonnar as there is not much you can do with him in a heavily stacked Light Heavyweight division.
- Alan Belcher vs Kalib Starnes was one of the most awkward fights of the night. For the first two minutes both fighters looked like this was their first time actually fighting. Belcher eventually settled down and worked a pretty nice Muay Thai game on Starnes. Starnes is another fighter I’m sick of seeing on main event cards. I don’t care what kind of “promise” Starnes showed before his appearance on the ultimate fighter, but he hasn’t lived up to any of it. In fact, Starnes seems to be pushing David Terrell for the UFC injury record; however, at least Starnes actually gets injured in the actual fight and not in practice.
- Brock Lesnar is the newest UFC heavyweight signing. His first appearance will most likely be in February on the Super Bowl weekend show.
- Wanderlei Silva did not have his first opponent “officially” announced like we were all expecting. I’m sick of talking about this subject, so I’m just going to move on.
- Anderson Silva just looks untouchable at this point in the Middleweight division. There really is no one that the UFC currently has under contract currently at middleweight that could come close to giving Silva a tough fight. The only guys who could challenge Silva are Paulo Filho who is the WEC champ and therefore can’t fight him and Dan Henderson who has consistently said he wants to remain at light heavyweight. Other than Denis Kang (K-1), Matt Lindland (UFC hates him) or possibly Robbie Lawler (EliteXC).
- Tim Sylvia made a very smart move, in my opinion, by calling out Cheick Kongo. Sylvia has made it his trademark to call out his opponents after each fight and I think Tim made a good move by not trying to voice his desire for another title-shot already. A fight with Kongo would give Tim another bout to make sure his back is fine and also allow him to matchup with another guy that he thinks he can easily defeat.
Congrats to the top 3 from our MMA HQ fight camp at MMAPlayground.com. Amir finished in first place for UFC 77 with 56 points, Drehog was second with 53 points, and I finished in third with 50 points.
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[...] Second round of links: Cincinnati Enquirer | CE II | CE III | Dann Stupp | Washington Post | NBC Sports | Hamilton Journal-News | MMA HQ [...]
[...] Original post by MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis [...]
@Dr. J
I have to disagree with you about Franklin, i dont think he was defeated before he stepped into the octagon. He looked great to me, i think he definately was getting the better of the striking in the first half of the 1st round. Then Silva started to do some damage with those knees to the body and forcing the clinch, thats when i started to see that look in Franklins eye like you mentioned. He was still fighting tough tho, he managed to get a takedown which he wasnt able to capitalize on, which was a pity, because we might have seen a more competative fight if Rich managed to soften him up a bit on the ground. Then ofcourse Anderson pretty much knocked out Franklin at the end of the 1st, man.. i knew it was over after that, and so did Franklin. I was very disappointed to see that, but then in the 2nd, Silva showed why hes the champ, especially, with that crazy combo he landed that finished Rich off. Great job by Anderson! Hes the man, no doubt about that!
HEY wheres that little punk that was saying he would come back and laugh in my face after Vera KOed Sylvia? seems like he pulled a bit of a disappearing act didnt he? LOL
Tim did a great job! call it boring if you want, but Vera forced the clinch early to avoid Tims hans, then Tim just overpowered him in the clinch and controlled him. You cant blame Timmy for that, he took Veras best shots unphased, he completely wore out Veras arms in the 1st round and secured the first round for himself as Tim always likes to do, to be ahead early. 2nd round i gave to Vera, good job in that round, and i must admit i got a little nervous the way Tim was just walking forward with no regard and Vera was teeing off with those kicks. 3rd round ALL TIM BABY!! his shots might look slow and clumsy (and they are hehe) but the guy is like 300lbs man, what do you expect? bruce lee speed? even small shots he was landing have ALOT of power behind them man, plus he cut veras dome.
AND YET!!!!
People will still hate tim..
2:1 underdog my fkn azzz….
@Kansas
what happened man?? i thought you were betting the farm on Tim? i cleaned up bigtime!
MMAHQ FIGHT CAMP
Earnings Leaders
1. $10,330 Drehog
2. $4,245 bvrasp
3. $3,138 Amir
4. $3,095 The_Frog
5. $2,580 zzzak
6. $2,459 MikeD
7. $2,284 MMAKansas
8. $1,950 jasongatties
9. $1,345 littlenurselaura
10. $1,245 gus
Like BVRASP, I think Rich was fine until about halfway through the first round. Once Anderson landed his first combination, you could see Rich wanted no business being there. He was looking for the clock w/ 2+ minutes left. I don’t think he wanted to come back out for the 2nd round at all after the way the 1st ended. Even though Tim Sylvia is not my favorite fighter, I saw it the same way. Tim completely controlled Vera except for the nice takedown in the 2nd round, and he was the one who pushed the pace for most of the fight. Overall, not a WOW card, but pretty good night of fights.
I should have just bet it all on Sylvia @ +200. A couple of those other lines were just too good to not put a little cheddar on. I cleaned up pretty well on the Belcher/Starnes fight though. #55 out of 11007 overall for the season isn’t bad though.
Ya i see your doing good Dre, this was actually my first money wager on the playground, so im 1 for 1.. ill definately be betting from now on, its just another game to play with.
I mean, did you agree with the odds they gave for Sylvia?? i mean, out of respect for Vera, i would say even money AT BEST.. but to make the ex champ a 2:1 dog? just because of the hype.. no man, that was just wrong..
Exactly. I’m not a big Sylvia fan, but for him to be a 2-1 dog against a guy who hadn’t fought in almost a year???? C’mon. Tim’s hungry and he had Vera outsized and outclassed. Vera will be back, but that was just too good of a betting opportunity to pass up. Sylvia at +200 and Belcher at +180 were about as close to sure things as you can get.
[quote comment="10444"]@Kansas
what happened man?? i thought you were betting the farm on Tim? i cleaned up bigtime![/quote]
I DID BRO! DOUBLED MY MONEY! THIS WAS ONLY THE SECOND TIME I EVER BET.
Kansas.. its funny because we had almost the same cash from what i remember $1335 or something, and i ended up with $2000 more than you? kind of strange..
[quote comment="10445"]MMAHQ FIGHT CAMP
Earnings Leaders
1. $10,330 Drehog
2. $4,245 bvrasp
3. $3,138 Amir
4. $3,095 The_Frog
5. $2,580 zzzak
6. $2,459 MikeD
7. $2,284 MMAKansas
8. $1,950 jasongatties
9. $1,345 littlenurselaura
10. $1,245 gus[/quote]
By the way. Where’s MMAHQ on this list? looks like the nurse is beating the Doctor at this point!
@Dre
Hey, I could care less about the wagers. I admit I can’t bet worth crap. Its all about the picks for me, the wagering is for those who can’t pick fights on the card… Like yourself.
ya doc, im about the picks too, though i didnt do so well this card.. about the only thing that saved me was picking Tim by decision, cuz it was the x2 bout.
This was my first bet, so im just starting to get into it.. mostly cuz i was just pissed off that they lowballed Tim on the odds, i just couldnt help but bet.
[quote comment="10452"]Kansas.. its funny because we had almost the same cash from what i remember $1335 or something, and i ended up with $2000 more than you? kind of strange..[/quote]
Well bro.. you bet your entire stack of chips, like you bet the farm, the tractors, all the animals, the barn, heck you bet the freakin’ farmhands.. I just bet $500, I was a little cautious… but that was a jump for a guy who NEVER bets, I mean I did okay, I doubled my funds, you are a freaking all or nothing better man… LOL! I wouldn’t let you near my wallet for my life… kidding…. good though, good that you made out on that one wager
@BV
This was you’re fifth time to bet on a UFC event though, you have more experience I guess than me, it was only my second and I am selective, I don’t bet on fight nights…
[quote comment="10454"]@Dre
Hey, I could care less about the wagers. I admit I can’t bet worth crap. Its all about the picks for me, the wagering is for those who can’t pick fights on the card… Like yourself.[/quote]
@ Doc
Last time I checked, I’ve beaten you in points for the last 3 events. Looks like you’re slipping there, too!
@Kansas
Ya bro, when i say im betting the farm, means im all-in holdem style heheh, ofcourse it works everytime except for the last where you bust out. But dont expect me to bet like that on every event hehe, its just that im a Big Sylvia fan, and the odds were so horribly off skew..
Seriously, this WAS my FIRST EVER bet on the playground, theres some other amounts in my wager history, but theyre prediction bonuses, i think its like if you predict the winner, round and method all right you get a little money bonus.
this is my wager history link, check it out.
http://mmaplayground.com/financial_history.aspx?U=14264
Yeah you get a small amount of money added to your bankroll for each correct prediction you make.
[quote comment="10458"][quote comment="10454"]@Dre
Hey, I could care less about the wagers. I admit I can’t bet worth crap. Its all about the picks for me, the wagering is for those who can’t pick fights on the card… Like yourself.[/quote]
@ Doc
Last time I checked, I’ve beaten you in points for the last 3 events. Looks like you’re slipping there, too![/quote]
Funny, cuz I just checked and overall you are only 24-21 for a 53% winning percentage while I am 44-17 for a 72% winning percentage.
This last event hurt me a bit.. but im still at 64% win percentage..
[quote comment="10461"]
Funny, cuz I just checked and overall you are only 24-21 for a 53% winning percentage while I am 44-17 for a 72% winning percentage.[/quote]
If we’re gonna be fair about this, the first 2 events don’t count since I didn’t make events so it drops your record to 29-16 for a 64%. My first 2 events were awful, but I’ve out preformed you since then.
Last 3 events:
You: 16-11
Me: 17-10
But your 15-1 record in the first 2 events of season 2 is still pretty awesome.
YAY SYLVIA WAY TO BEAT THAT PUNKS ***…GO SILVA.. DAMM WHAT AN ANIMAL… THE AMERICAN PHYSCO USED TO SUCK *** BUT HES GOOD ****….LOOKS LIKE TIMMY BOY IS GETTING HIS BELT BACK… AND WELL SEE ARLOVSKI SYLVIA 4 LOL…. JUST KIDDING FELLAS
DOC…. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GONNA HAPPEN WITH FRANKLIN NOW?
i had tim winning by unanimous decision i did good points wise but i to suck at betting
I think Franklin is at a crossroad now. It’s pretty obvious he can’t beat Anderson now so while he’s the champ Rich will have to be the gatekeeper. Rich already beat the other top 185ers so there’s not much left for him right now. Okami and McDonald don’t have what it’s going to take to beat him either. I agree with what you said Hendo or Filho have the best chance right now. I hope Hendo drops down and puts his Pride middleweight title on the line in another unification bout. This is the only competitive fight for Anderson right now.