UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2

[jmt225]

Main card

• Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Lyoto Machida (c) vs. Mauricio Rua
• Welterweight bout: Josh Koscheck vs. Paul Daley
• Lightweight bout: Sam Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens
• Heavyweight bout: Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione
• Middleweight bout: Patrick Côté vs. Alan Belcher

Preliminary card

• Welterweight bout: Marcus Davis vs. Jonathan Goulet
• Welterweight bout: TJ Grant vs. Johny Hendricks
• Welterweight bout: Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Mike Guymon
• Middleweight bout: David Loiseau vs. John Salter
• Middleweight bout: Tom Lawlor vs. Joe Doerksen
• Heavyweight bout: Joey Beltran vs. Tim Hague

......................................................................................​

Man, I am so fucking stoked for this card. It is stacked beyond words. Very, very much looking forward to it.

The Machida/Shogun rematch of course is something we all have been looking forward to since October. The first fight was a technical masterpiece that ended in a highly controversial decision. I'm really interested in seeing how both fighters will enter this fight. Will Shogun have the same game plan as last time? If so, will Machida be able to counter it this time? I cannot wait to find out. I'm abstaining from making a prediction from this fight, however. I like both guys a lot, and in my opinion... this is an impossible fight to call. It really could go either way. The only thing that's for certain is that we'll be in for 25 more minutes of great, great action.

Josh Koscheck vs. Paul Daley is going to be fucking FUN. I'm really, really curious to see if Kos will stand and trade with Daley. If he does, it will be a HUGE mistake. However, if Kos is smart, he'll immediately take Daley down and put him a way. But, I just have a gut feeling that Kos will test his striking and go balls out in this fight on the feet, thus getting KTFO. But if he were somehow able to actually knock Daley out, that's when I'll become a firm believer in his stand-up. Regardless, should be a fun, interesting fight, and even the countdown show segment for these two should be hilarious since they're both arrogant as shit.

Sam Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens.... should be an easy win for that pretty boy Sam Stout. He really impressed me in his last fight against Joe Lauzon, and I think he'll continue rolling until he gets to some tougher competition.

Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione... ahh, this one's going to be fun, too. Matt Mitrione's not going to puss out of striking like Houston Alexander did. No way, he's going to stand and bang with Kimbo Slice, and someone's getting knocked the fuck out, most likely in the first round. Who? Well, your guess is as good as mine. I'll be rooting for Kimbo. I really want to see him be a little successful in the UFC, especially against guys like Mitrione, who really has no future. So, yeah... going to be a great fight, and hopefully Kimbo can put the guy away early on and get his hype train going again.

I'm also very much looking forward to Patrick Cote's return to the octagon as well. I'm a fan of his, and I'm glad to see he's now at full health and able to fight again. His first opponent Alan Belcher is a tough test, but if Cote is still as good as he was before the injury, then he should be able to win a decision or knock Belcher out. Definitely looking forward to seeing it regardless.

And the prelims... meh. Looking forward to Marcus Davis vs. Jonathan Goulet (hopefully Davis can get back to his winning ways), but nothing else really interests me. Tim Creduer was supposed to fight Tom Lawler, and that was going to be a great one, but unfortunately Creduer had to pull out and now Lawler gets a scrub. So, that limits my interest to just the Davis fight, and as I said... I'm really pulling for Marcus Davis in that one. He's a great guy, and a very exciting fighter; it's impossible not to root for him.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

I cant wait getting closer and closer. Can't wait for the rematch between Machida and Rua. I was very surprised in the outcome of their first fight as was everyone else. Got a feeling this fight will not go the distance this time someone is winning via KO TKO, as for who not sure.

Kos vs. Daley, should be entertaining as hell. Daley has looked great in his first two fights in the UFC. I agree with you JMT saying that if Kos trys and stands up with him he can be in trouble and he should just stick to his wrestling and take it to him with that plus 5 out of 8 losses have came from submission for Daley, but Kos has been showing us his stand up is forever improving.

Kimbo vs. Meathead another good fight for Kimbo someone to BANG with him as Kimbo likes to say. I was loving during the WEC ppv when they were talking to Kimbo about the fight and he gave us a new word with commitmentship then he gave us his prediction that he has for every fight that someone will get KO'd, with this fight I believe it. I see Kimbo getting an early KO probably in the mid 1st round.

Cote vs. Belcher should be another great fight. Happy to see Cote back after his long injury, lets hope he doesn't have to much ring rust, Belcher is definitely gonna push him to be at the top of his game. I could see this fight getting submission of the night honors or possibly fight of the night, which Belcher has 2 of those in a row.

Stout vs. Stephens Should be a good fight, both fighters coming off good wins with Stouts decision over Lauzon and Stephens for getting the TKO against Buchholz for that nasty cut on his forehead. Stout should win here, but if Buchholz comes out blazing with those strikes like the last fight Stout can be in trouble.

Pretty excited for the prelims too. Im really starting to like Johny Hendricks, his fights are always good to watch. Then we got Marcus Davis and Tom Lawor to watch too. Kinda mad no prelims will be on Spike.

 

[SalvIsWin]

I will discuss the three match-ups people seem to be most interested about:

Lyoto Machida vs Mauricio Rua

I really feel that Shogun will take this fight definitively. I was picking Shogun last fight, not because I necessarily thought he would beat Machida, but because I knew it would be much more competitive. Many fans only saw the Griffin, Coleman, and Liddell fights, but you could tell that in his fight with Chuck he was healthy and focused.

Shogun also purposely toned down the pressure for the last two rounds because he thought he was clearly winning (as did I). Machida on the other hand I believe is lying when he says he feels he was winning the fight. It's obviously speculation, but I feel that his face, solemn expression, and then outrageous surprise says more than his words after the fact. I really don't feel that Machida can do any thing different than he did last time, whereas I believe not only did Shogun win that fight, but he has even more tools to rely on if need be.

Mauricio Rua - Third Round TKO

Paul Daley vs Josh Koscheck

Daley is going the route of Dan Hardy, he has always had a weak ground game and weak takedown defense, but has had favourable match-ups recently where those weaknesses were not exploited, and thus he looks like he is going to be competitive. Josh Koscheck is cocky, but he isn't an idiot. After his knock-out loss to Paulo Thiago, and feeling the power of Anthony Johnson, he will do the right thing and take Daley down immediately, and often from that point forward. I also think Josh wants to put an exclamation point on this fight, so don't be surprised to see a submission or TKO victory.

Koscheck via Submission - Round III

Kimbo Slice vs Matt Mitrione

Kimbo Slice has seemingly bamboozled a lot of the casual MMA fans, and even some of the hardcore fans in to believing that he has actually been developing as a MMArtist. I was thoroughly disgusted with the commentary of Rogan and Goldberg at UFC: The Ultimate Finale 10. Kimbo fell in to full mount more than once, and it was called technique, as if he had passed from open guard to side control, and then from side to mount. Kimbo is also known for his powerful hands, despite the fact that James Thompson, a terrible fighter with a weak chin, ate punches for three rounds, and still didn't fall, despite losing. Overall, Kimbo is outrageously over-rated, and he isn't even rated highly, which is saying something.

That isn't going to matter however as Mitrione is the best possible fight for Kimbo Slice. Mitrione has less hand skill, and most likely has equal power, but lacks the exact things that Kimbo does. Mitrione however has far less stamina (and Kimbo's stamina is bad as well), and has a tendency to throw power shots in situations where they have little chance of landing, which just further tires him out.

This is the perfect fight for Kimbo, and I think he will win this one by TKO in the second round after a feeling out process. After this fight though, the UFC is going to have to convince him to drop to 205 because he has no chance versus legitimate heavyweights.

Kimbo via TKO - Round II

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I am so, so excited for this card, and I've been looking forward to it for such a long time now. I'm psyched that it's finally here, and I think this could be a contender for the UFC card of the year. Each fight should be a lot of fun, even the fight I'm least looking forward to (Stout/Stephens) should still be an exciting fight.

I think that if Shogun changes his gameplan enough, but still has the basic idea of the first fight in, he'll take it. Machida has a comfort level where he's not going to want to change it up too much. His one Achilles Heel, which is going to probably hurt him again, is his lack of aggression and his backpedaling/counterpunching bread and butter which Shogun did an excellent job exploiting the last time they fought. Of course, we know Machida has the ability to be aggressive, but the question is: Will he? If he doesn't, he's going to be eating leg kicks and shots to the body again, limiting what he likes to do. If Shogun keeps to his strategy from the first fight, as well as using some brutal knees from the clinch, and even attempting to take him down late in the fight and utilizing some of that brutal ground and pound we all know him for from PRIDE, I think he'll take it here. All he really needs to do is not get overaggressive with Machida and make him pay for his lack of aggression, like the first fight. I'm a huge fan of both, especially Machida, but the fact of the matter is that Shogun deserves to be champion right now, and if he performs like he did the first fight, he'll be on his way to being champion. I think it will be another close decision with Shogun winning this time.

Josh Koscheck vs. Paul "Semtex" Daley is a fight I've been looking forward to as well. I hate Koscheck and have become a huge fan of Semtex since his UFC debut. This is a fight with major implications for the division as this is a fight not only for #1 Contendership, but a fight to decide who will coach TUF against Georges St. Pierre. Koscheck is a dick, but he's also one of the most well-rounded and underrated fighters in the entire UFC. He has 12 wins with the company, which puts him in pretty elite standing. He's an extremely good wrestler, and he has serious knockout power. And with how well rounded he is, next to Jake Shields, he's the most significant threat to GSP. The only issue is, will he be smart enough to take down Daley and work his way to a decision or a submission, or will he be arrogant enough and stand with Daley (like he's suggested he might do to prove a point). If he does that, Semtex will blast him into next week. I think Koscheck is not going to be stupid enough to stand with him and he'll utilize some of that world-class wrestling. British fighters, no matter who they are, can't handle being on their back. Koscheck will take this by submission in the second round. I think Daley is just a better version of Anthony Johnson. Explosive power, exciting knockouts, but one-dimensional.

I'm a huge fan of Kimbo Slice. How can't you love him? He's shown a willingness to be a mixed martial artist and try to earn a spot in the UFC after he got everything handed to him on a silver platter by EliteXC. In the Houston Alexander fight, he showed that he can score takedowns (THE KIMBOPLEX!!!) and although his ground game is hilarious, he at least showed that he wanted to try to finish Houston on the ground. He also showed that he can actually go three rounds. If this wound up going 15 minutes, like the Houston Alexander fight... you can't say it wasn't awesome and entertaining. I think Kimbo will win via strikes in the second round. Mitrione doesn't have much of a gas tank, and I think Kimbo will do enough to let Mitrione tire himself out and then by the second round, he'll go for the kill.

I'm really looking forward to Patrick Cote vs. Alan Belcher. Belcher has been very entertaining in his last couple of fights, and that ridiculous Johnny Cash tattoo still makes me laugh. Patrick Cote is coming back from the injury he suffered in the Anderson Silva fight, but he should be back in top form. I've always been a fan of his, and I'm glad he made it back. It should be an exciting fight and Cote will have the crowd on his side and have some added momentum. I think Cote will do his best to keep it on the ground, where Belcher isn't particularly strong as shown in the Sexyama fight. Both guys are very well-rounded, and I'm looking forward to this. Cote takes it by decision.

The fight I'm least looking forward to could be very well be Fight of the Night... that's how strong this card is. Sam "Hands of Pumice" Stout and Jeremy Stephens are two lightweights who differ from what most of the division does... they stand and bang. Both guys are hard to finish, and this could be a slugfest reminiscent of that awesome fight Stout had with Spencer Fisher a couple years ago. Again, I think the home-field advantage will be a huge factor here, and I think Stout will have the crowd so behind him that he'll pull off the decision.

I wish we were getting some Spike TV prelims. Marcus Davis/Jonathan Goulet should be a good fight, and I'm mad we're getting deprived, yet again, of a Tom Lawlor entrance.

Either way, this should be a great card, and I can't wait for it.

 

[INDYjon22]

This should be a very good show. It has a ton of potential fireworks surrounding it. Machida/Rua 2 will be intense as hell, especially coming off the heels of the incredibly controversial first fight. Mitrione/Kimbo has knockout of the night written all over it. Then again so does Kos/Daley and Cote/Belcher. Shit, now I am making myself think I should order this bad boy asap, if only I could.....

Anyways, on to my predictions.

Rua versus Machida 2 should be a really exciting fight. Rua definitely has a chip on his shoulder seeing as he is the rightful champion right now, yet he doesn't have the belt. It truly should be the Rua era currently and on Saturday night we have the opportunity to see it start for real. That being said, I don't think it will happen. Machida is way to smart and knows he has to change his gameplan against Rua. I think Rua will put up a valiant effort but Machida will be to much for him come Saturday. I truly hope I am wrong but Rua has a tough road ahead of him.

Kos versus Daley will be an explosion. If the fight stays standing, which I think it probably will, Daley should win this fight with relative ease. If Kos uses his wrestling then he will certainly be the victor. I think Kos wants to prove something to the world and will try to stand and bang with Daley, therefore the logical choice should be Daley, but I am way to much of an AKA and a Kos fan to go against him. Josh Koscheck via rear naked choke.

Sam Stout versus Jeremy Stephens. This will be a fun little filler fight. Both men are very talented. I have to give the edge to Stout though. He looked awesome in his most recent fight and is on a bit of a winning streak if my memory serves me right. I think Stout will knock Stevens out in the first or second and continue his rise up the ranks.

Matt Mitrione versus Kimbo Slice is kind of tough to call. Everyone knows Kimbo has great hands but people tend to look past Mitrione because he was such a pussy on TUF. However, he also has some great hands that could knock out Kimbo in one shot. As tough of a decision as this is I will have to pick Kimbo "check out my greasy beard" Slice. I think he will be inside Mitrione's head way before this fight begins and will have already mentally beat the headcase known as Matt Mitrione.

Patrick Cote versus Alan "The Overrated Talent" Belcher. Glad to see Cote finally back in the ring. He was gone for far to long and it will be nice to see him back. That being said, Cote has been gone for far to long and the ring rust will show in this fight. Belcher will win by KO in the first.

The undercard doesn't interest me very much, but lets take a look. Marcus Davis should pick up a KO victory. I'll take T.J. Grant and Mike Guymon. I really hope David Loiseau gets a win, his family and countrymen need it. Tom Lawler is a fucking fantastic fighter and should higher up on the card, look for him to choke out his opponent. And, Joey Beltran.

 

[JohnnyDrama]

I cant wait for this ppv, Shogun is gonna win and get the title he should have won last year. Shogun found a great strategy to counter Machida's style, and i have no idea why the judges gave the fight to Machida. so this time i see Shogun trying not to leave the fight in the judges hands, he'll try to finish machida, but not over engage so that machida will counter him.

as for the others...Kos - semtex will be awesome, but i think semtex will beat Kos by TKO and go on to coach against GSP.

matt will beat kimbo, i think 2nd round TKO

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

Here's my review of the PPV

Kote Vs Belcher: VERY entertaining fight In My Opinion. The rear naked choke from Belcher was kick ass. I have to give it to Kote though from having a long layoff.

Kimbo vs Shittrione.... I mean Mitrione: Kimbo should have easily knocked this idiot out. However he showed his inexperience in MMA in general and Shitrione knocked him out. If Kimbo doesn't improve in America's Top Team he's going to get cut. End of story.

Stout vs Stevens: This was one of the best fights of the night. These two ALWAYS deliver.

Koshcheck vs Daily: What else can I say about this fight that wasn't already said. Koshcheck is an actor. there's NO way a toe could've hit him. NONE. As world class a wrestler as he is he's a shitty human being. As for Daily? There was no excuse for punching someone AFTER the fight. This isn't the WWE. I hope GSP breaks a bone in koscheck's body.

Machida vs Shogun: VERY impressive TKO from SHogun. I loved when he punched Machida as he went down. The look on Machida's face after the fight was priceless.

last fight of the night was Marcus Davis vs Johnathan Goulet. This was a good fight to air after the Shogun Machida fight. Good job by the match-maker.

Overall this card delievered in every which way albit the two nut shots and Koscheck's acting and Daily's post-match punch. I'd give this card an A-

 

[jmt225]

Great, great, great night of fights. The show definitely lived up to the hype.

Patrick Cote, unfortunately, had some ring rust and it cost him deeply. Maybe throwing him in there with a talent like Alan Belcher for his first fight back wasn't such a good idea. But oh well... it was a great fight nevertheless. Belcher looked better than ever, but this will most likely be the high point of his career. This guy isn't beating any real contenders in the future. And as far as Cote... he'll be back I'm sure. But yeah... that RNC by Blecher was fucking sick. Awesome move. Awesome fight.

Kimbo vs. Meathead I thought was the disappointment of the night, but I say that as a huge fan of Kimbo. Kimbo showed up in what looked like great shape, but looks can be deceiving, as we found out last night. The guy just does not have the cardio to do well in this sport. It's unfortunate, but it's true. His takedowns looked pretty damn good, but that's the only improvement he seemed to make since his last fight. As far as Meathead... good showing from him. I don't think he sucks as much as a lot of people think, but like Belcher... I believe tonight will end up being the high point of his career.

Sam Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens... nice little technical bout, but I thought Stout handed the fight to Stephens. Every time Stephens came in he would drop his left hand; that right cross for Stout was there for him the entire fight, but he never took it. Blew my mind. Still a decent enough fight, just disappointed in Spout. He'll be kicking himself for weeks after he watches the replay of it.

Good to see my man Marcus Davis get back to his winning ways. That dude is just plain awesome.

Not good to see Josh Koscheck pick up another win, though. Man, I fucking hate that guy. Earlier last year it looked like he was finally making a turning point for the better personality wise (dude was fantastic after the Alves fight at the Tribute to the Troops show), but the guy is who he is... and that's a phony, no-good douchebag. The fact he sold that "low blow" like he did is proof that in his last fight against Anthony Johnson he was indeed faking with the eye poke. He is a fucking disgrace, but at the same time... the prick is one hell of a fighter. Man, he did the right thing and came into this fight with a smart gameplan and performed it to a T. As much as I can't stand him, there's no doubt that this guy, talent wise, is in the top 5 of best Welterweights in the World. However, he will get his ass beatdown against GSP just like last time, and I absolutely cannot wait to see it.

As far as the Daley sucker punch... meh, it was wrong of him to do, but I won't lie... I wish Daley could have gotten a better shot at the motherfucker. Fuck Koscheck. But yeah... Dana White's doing the right thing in cutting Daley. You can't have that occur on your card, especially when leading up to this show all you did as UFC president was say how much of a disgrace Strikeforce was for letting happened what happened at their show.

And the main event.... Wow, what to say, huh? That was unbelievable. At first glance Shogun looked out of shape, and it was rumored he had a bad wheel going into this fight. When the fight started I thought for sure Machida was about to cruise to victory, but boy oh boy was I wrong. What a fucking performance from Shogun. He was fantastic, and I think there's a strong chance he will hold on to that title for quite sometime. He will be a tremendous champion; I cannot wait for his first title defense. As far as Machida... he'll bounce back, no doubt about it. He was too aggressive in this fight, and it cost. He'll get back to his elusive ways and climb right back up that Light Heavyweight Ladder.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I was expecting a little better from this card, but it was still very solid and I enjoyed it for the most part.

Cote/Belcher... Belcher again is showing that he's really improving as a fighter, and at only 26 years old, he's going to be a major contender in the Middleweight Division. He's still not exactly a top contender just yet, but he's going to continue to grow as a fighter and it's really not crazy to think he'll be in a title fight in a couple years. I don't think a lot of people take him seriously based off of the Johnny Cash tattoo which really looks like a mix between Fat Elvis and Rosie O'Donnell. He's putting the pieces together. Cote showed that ring rust is a bitch, and even though he was coming on strong in the second round, Belcher scored the faceplant at the right time, and then immediately scored the choke and the victory. Very impressive win by Alan Belcher, and I want to see what's next for both him and Cote. Cote will probably be fine for his next fight.

Kimbo/Mitrione was just sad to watch. Kimbo's takedowns for the first minute and a half were awesome and me and my brother were marking out over them. Then Mitrione took control of the fight, and those leg kicks Kimbo wasn't checking were brutal. Remember, Kimbo was told by a doctor on TUF that he has no cartilage in one of his knees. This was just a bad fight overall by two fighters who don't really belong in the UFC. Mitrione's ground and pound was hilariously bad. Whatever huge popularity Kimbo had left is probably gone now, and I think Dana cut him for a few reasons:

1.) He really couldn't have two joke fighters with Kimbo and James Toney on the roster.
2.) For Kimbo's own well-being. His knees are real screwed up and I don't think Dana wants Kimbo having major serious injuries where he has difficulty walking on his conscience.

I don't think Kimbo is going to quit fighting because the UFC is cutting him. I think he'll wind up going to Japan and doing the sideshow attraction fights like taking on Bob Sapp, Jose Canseco, and the like. I think pro wrestling's also an option, but it would probably be something short term because of how bad his knees are. Maybe he can be the big Wrestlemania celebrity match.

Stout/Stephens was a pretty entertaining fight that was real close. Both guys are very good lightweight prospects and Stephens took the next step tonight.

Koscheck/Daley... I hate Josh Koscheck, and this is the second fight in a row now where he's said he's been hit by an illegal hit, only for the replays to show the opposite where he not only doesn't get hit by something illegal, but he doesn't get hit period. And not only did it stop there, he started acting, had the doctor "check him out", and I even read that at one point he asked the doctor, "My name's Josh?" Faking an injury like that fucks with a guy's momentum. Daley got out of the RNC, and if he started landing some shots, Koscheck would have been in major trouble. For the rest of the fight, Koscheck took a page out of Fitch's playbook and just stayed on top of Daley, which is really all he had to do to earn a victory. A lot of people shit on that strategy, but if it's going to work and help you win a fight, why take unnecessary risks?

If I were Daley, I would have been frustrated as well, especially when on MMA Live, Koscheck admitted he was trash-talking Daley throughout the third round. Did Koscheck deserve to get hit like that? Absolutely. You can't be doing shit like that though, and Daley's going to pay the price for it now with his release from the UFC.

And with Koscheck's Brock Lesnar impression after the fight last night, I can't wait for GSP to beat the everloving shit out of him. Between the hair and his antics, Koscheck is undeniably the troll of MMA.

Shogun vs. Machida II... throughout the first round, it looked like the fight literally picked right up where the first fight left off. It was just as exciting as the first fight was, and this time, Shogun hit Machida with the punch he never saw coming, and then blasted Machida in the face repeatedly. He also gave Machida the chance to recover, but Shogun's onslaught was just too much, and he rightfully became the champion. I think you have to consider Shogun one of the top pound for pound fighters right now. He's beaten Lyoto Machida twice.

 

[Via Armbar]

Shogun's win alone for me was worth the price of the show. I'll get back to that.

Cote/Belcher was a great start. You have a former contender against someone who has a new found confidence and technicality that have taken him from laughing matter to legitimate threat. Belcher seems to have finally roped together all of his natural talent and has polished almost every area. His kicks looked amazing and I'm sure if he could have gotten his knees in the pocket it would have ended faster. Belcher seems like a cool guy and has certainly changed some opinions, but calling out Silva can't end well. I don't like Silva but there is no doubt in my mind that Silva would pick him apart. I know you should never say never but....yeah. Belcher can't match Silva in any area. At least Sonnen has the wrestling ability to keep him down. Besides, I don't see Silva sticking around at MW much longer after Sonnen. Maybe a fight with Belfort but after that he's moving up. As for Cote, that's tough. I like Cote and wanted to see him pick up a win after such a long absence but that weight cut might have been too much. They had him walking around at about 215 lbs which is a monster cut if it's true. They'll give him another fight.

Fucking Mitrione. Sure he looked much better than I thought he would, but the bigger story is Kimbo looking much worse than I thought he would. Up until TUF I never liked Kimbo. Just rubbed me the wrong way. After seeing him on the show though he definitely changed my mind and I grew to like him. I saw his improvements and couldn't wait to see how far he could go with the proper training. I guess the answer to that is les than five minutes. He gassed....fast. Even without the attack on knees, he was already spent. Some awesome takedowns were the only real offense he got in the whole fight. Apparently Kimbo is gone so. They may or may not give Meathead another fight. It wouldn't matter either way.

Stout/Stephens was a hell of a fight. Good showing from both men and the decision could have gone either way, though I agreed with Stephens getting the nod. What's a shame about a really good fight like this is that I don't see either men climbing that far up the ladder. Of course I could always be wrong, but I don't see either getting past guys like Penn or Florian.

Fuck Josh Koscheck for all of the same reasons that Guy listed. He's a fucking idiot. He took the Jon Fitch approach and showed no desire to finish the fight at all and ride it out on points. Don't start with the ''you just don't like ground fighting'' because that's bullshit. I like watching Sonnen, GSP, Lesnar and others because they work once they're on the ground. Koscheck and Fitch are both clock watchers. Dana and Silva should just take back everything they said about the next seasons of TUF and the title shot and give it to someone else. I know that's incredibly unfair but don't underestimate my hatred for Koscheck. For all of his talents, he has managed to be the biggest tool in the history of mma.

wrestling? check
striking? check
conditioning? check
faking an injury? koscheck

Now on to my favorite mma moment of the year so far. I wish I had a time machine to go back and not fuck that hooker see my reaction to the first fight. I was fucking livid. Besides the fact that Shogun is an all time favorite of mine second only to Fedor, it was a bullshit decision in almost everyone's eyes. I honestly was getting a little nervous after the weigh in because I noticed like many others that Shogun seemed a little flabby in the midsection and thought it could have been an injury that hindered his workouts. He revealed later that night that he had an appendectomy so that would explain some of the fat. I loved it right out of the gate. You could tell both men were looking to finish and were sniping for the big shots. I caught the big knee that Machida threw and was immediately worried, followed by immediate screaming as Shogun knocked him unconscience. Not that I dislike Machida, but I have been waiting for this moment for 3 damn years. Short but awesome fight if for the ending alone. War Shogun.

 

[INDYjon22]

I haven't had the opportunity to see this show yet, but I have read the results and this card sounds fantastic. It seems as though I missed a very entertaining card and for that I am sad. However, I will still make some comments on my readings.

If you didn't know , then let me inform you, I HATE Alan "The Overrated Talent" Belcher. I find him to be a pompous asshole who thinks his shit don't stink. He is a good fighter but not as good as he would like the world to believe. I am still thoroughly unimpressed with him defeating a man who has been out of the sport for well over a year with a bad leg. If Belcher gets a tough opponent like Okami or Marquardt and can beat them then maybe, just maybe, he will get a little respect from me, but until then I will remain uninterested in him.

On the flip side, it is nice to see Patrick Cote fighting again, it really is, however it is a shame that he has spent a year on the bench nursing a bad knee. I hope he gets one more chance since he has spent such a long time away from the cage.

Mitrione, while an idiot, is actually a decent fighter. He has some solid hands and some other decent abilities. Kimbo on the other hand is still rather green and one dimensional, it doesn't surprise me at all he lost. I hope Kimbo does get another shot in the UFC, but we all had a feeling he wouldn't be a main stay.

I actually find Sam Stout and Jeremy Stevens to be very good fighters. They both usually entertain me and this fight looked like it could be good. I will reserve judgment until I actually see it.

Koscheck versus Daley had slobberknocker written all over it. I had Kos winning by rear naked choke and from what I hear I was almost right. I love Josh Koscheck and am very happy to hear he won. As for Paul Daley, what a fucking idiot. You can say what you want about Kos, but he doesn't take cheap shots at fighters after the fight is over. Daley fully deserves the Renato Sobral treatment. The UFC cannot condone their fighters taking cheap shots at one other.

Finally, I am glad to see Mauricio Rua as the new Light Heavyweight champion of the world. I truly believe the man deserves it. He has had a terrific career thus far and is an elite fighter, now the whole world knows that, well at least the fight world. Lyoto Machida will be back, regardless of if he lost badly or not. He is a great fighter and great fighters learn from their loses.

Moral of the story is, I want to see these fights even more now, then I did before.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Firstly, Paul Daley, LULZ

I see why everyone hates Koscheck now. Loved seeing Daley say "fucking bitch" clearly into the camera post fight though. Noice.

The fight between Stout and Stevens was pretty fuckin sick, although I was really hoping for a KO. That, and Stevens totally stole my back tattoo. Cept mine is bigger, and less cliche, but still. Awesome, fun fight, that made me a fan of both guys.

Kimbo he got utterly fucking destroyed. Like pathetically. I was deeply saddened. he got his legs whipped worse than Rick James. Also, I sorta really fucking hated Mitrione, but then he said the thing about teh troops, which brought me to a state of ambivelance towards him.

Shogun and Machida was rockin, for how short it was. Kind of amazing that they had such an intense, long, even match last time, ad Rua fucking destroyed him. Hmph. Dig it though, good show, good times, really enjoyed myself on my first foray into MMA.