As of Saturday night, one thing is certain: everybody at Zuffa is thanking their lucky stars that UFC 59 was not on the same level as Ultimate Fight Night 4.
Aside from the Joe Stevenson (Pictures)-Josh Neer (Pictures) battle, which was moderately entertaining, the card was as dull as one of those plastic knives you get with a can of Play-Doh.
Like UFC 59, however, season three of The Ultimate Fighter doesn’t seem to be terrible either. After two episodes, I am hooked deeper into this season than to the inaugural version.
The fighters have personality, nobody is trying to be the next Chris Leben (Pictures) (yet), Tito and Ken’s animosity is actually not stale like I figured it would be, and no longer do we, the viewers, have to endure a string of endless dopey and uninspired challenges.
The only thing I can say about TUF 3, however, is towards Ed Herman (Pictures). Who does this sound like, with tears in his eyes: “Waaaahhhhh! Tito didn’t pick me! Waaaaahhhhh.” If you guessed “Short Fuse” Herman, you are correct.
But enough of UFN and TUF and onto the real aspect of this column: UFC 59.
I expected great things from UFC 59 “Reality Check.”
I expected to watch at least six fights. I expected to watch the best UFC in what seems like eons. And I expected a corny, lame event title. It looks like I hit on all three pre-event musings.
Come on: “Reality Check”? It appears Zuffa is running out of extreme, trendy subtitles. It’s time to just keep the events numbered. There is no longer a need to attach some hokey moniker to the event anymore.
What’s next? “UFC 66: Puttin’ on the Hits” or “UFC 70: If You Can’t Stand the Heat, Get Out of the Kitchen” or “UFC 89: What Happens in the Octagon … Stays in the Octagon” or even “UFC 81: I’m Gonna Get You Sucka”?
Let’s leave it at UFC 59 and call it a day.
Aside from that minor gripe, which really isn’t a gripe, I was thoroughly entertained by UFC 59. Sure, the Jeff Monson (Pictures)-Marcio Cruz (Pictures) bout was a total bore, but at least one of those fights is going to happen on every card no matter who the promoter or matchmaker is. Joe Silva made the best match he could and it wound up being the cure for insomnia.
It happens.
However, once UFC 59 concluded, many questions were answered from various fighters and many new questions were raised for others. The event was to be a showcase for the return of Tito Ortiz (Pictures), still the most marketable man in North American mixed martial arts. It also was supposed to prove to casual fans that Andrei Arlovski (Pictures) is the second coming of the T-1000. And Karo Parisyan (Pictures), I might add, should be next in line for a shot at Matt Hughes (Pictures)’ welterweight title.
Sylvia Stops Arlovski
This fight somehow allowed my arch nemesis, Greg Savage, to score his fifth straight victory over me in our “Great Sherdog Debates.” But it really proved four things.
Sylvia was able to avenge one of his two career losses and it was moving to see the big lug tearing up when that belt was wrapped around his waist. He trained harder than ever for this fight and it’s fitting that a good guy like Sylvia was able to regain his championship.
But like I said, Andrei Arlovski (Pictures) versus Sylvia was revealing.
For starters, the stunning and exciting victory showed that Arlovski isn’t nearly as good as everybody said he was. “The Pitbull” was being touted as the best heavyweight in the world heading into the battle and once the fight was over, he wasn’t even the best heavyweight in the UFC.
Sure, Arlovski was shredding his opposition in highlight-reel fashion, but the warrior from Belarus was, in my opinion, grossly overrated and essentially unproven.
His rematch with Sylvia proved me right. It looks like that showdown between Arlovski and the best heavyweight on Earth, PRIDE’s Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures), will now certainly never happen with both titles on the line. Looking on the bright side, though, it’s safe to say that the UFC saved itself an embarrassing loss to their Japanese rival.
Second, the fight showed that Sylvia isn’t as crummy as everybody said he was. After having his arm snapped like a twig against the underachieving Frank Mir (Pictures) and then being knocked down and submitted by Arlovski when they first met, most insiders and fans jumped on the anti-Tim Sylvia (Pictures) bandwagon. Most figured he’d be cannon fodder in the rematch and after he was dropped by a crushing right hand, most figured that the pre-fight criticism of Sylvia was just. That was until Arlovski ran into a right uppercut.
Sylvia showed resilience and poise after being badly wobbled by getting back to his feet and ending the fight with one punch. So much for “The Maine-Iac” being some flash in the pan chump.
The third thing learned from this fight is that no matter what goes on during the heat of battle, as long as you can punch, you have a chance. Everybody knows how brutal Sylvia’s right hand is when he lands it and Arlovski was a bit too reckless when he gunned for the finish. Sylvia can punch. He punched Arlovski and the fight ended.
Fourth, and most critical, in MMA anything can happen. That is what makes our beloved sport so exceptional. Sylvia was a gross underdog coming in and he stopped the champ only a few minutes into the opening round. Hardly any other sport can boast this truth.
Ortiz is Back
Tito Ortiz (Pictures)’s split decision win over Forrest Griffin (Pictures) was a close fight with both men giving as much as they took. Ortiz said afterwards that he entered the cage with a possible torn ACL and MCL, yet he fought on anyway. Griffin allegedly had a bad ankle before the bell started, yet he did the same as Tito.
The fight was exciting, it was close and both fighters actually won.
What shocked me was how Griffin was able to defend the Tito ground-n-pound enough to escape. He was pummeled, cut and on the verge of possibly being rescued by the referee, yet he hung tough and waited for the perfect moment to spring back onto his feet.
Ortiz also shocked me with how solid his stand-up attack was. His left jab was working beautifully and he landed arguably the best punches of his entire career in the third round of this memorable encounter.
The decision was correct, too. Ortiz won the fight but it was close. Even Griffin acknowledged that after the fight. Both men were honest and Tito didn’t fail to market himself further. The man is a genius when it comes to promoting himself. Love him or hate him, he is an integral part of American MMA.
Misc. Debris
The only gripe I had with the telecast was that the broadcast team of Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan wasted too much time bantering back and forth about upcoming UFC events and other nonsense. They could have done it during some of the fights (like Monson-Cruz) and Zuffa could have easily shown the other three off-TV bouts.
Two ended in the first round and the other was halted early in the second. At least 30 minutes of precious airtime was wasted when these three fights could have been delivered to the paying public.
Nick Diaz (Pictures) deserved to lose because he didn’t really do too much against Sean Sherk (Pictures). Maybe it’s time for Diaz to switch teams? He hasn’t looked anywhere near as explosive lately as he has throughout his career. He’s lost three in a row and it’s doubtful that he’ll be welcomed back inside the Octagon for his next fight or two. He has unlimited potential. I just hope it’s not going to go to waste.
Evan Tanner (Pictures) will fight for the middleweight title by the end of the year. If he can lay waste to another victim like he did Justin Levens (Pictures), Rich Franklin (Pictures) will have his work cut out for him when they meet a third time. Franklin has nobody else to fight in the UFC and a third fight with Tanner makes sense, provided Tanner dominates another foe.
So in closing, UFC 59 was stellar. While it wasn’t the best UFC in history, it certainly was better than the last few events Zuffa threw our way. Hopefully the full card of UFC 60 will be stacked because to be honest, I could not care less about Hughes-Gracie. What a farce that fight will be!