UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn II

[Turd Ferguson]

[YOUTUBE]bsHxOWMtZxY[/YOUTUBE]

Main card

• Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (c) vs BJ Penn
• Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs. James Toney
• Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda
• Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard
• Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis

Spike TV Card

• Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger
• Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs. Nik Lentz

Preliminary Card (Non-televised)

• Middleweight bout: Gerald Harris vs. Joe Vedepo
• Middleweight bout: Dan Miller vs. John Salter
• Welterweight bout: Mike Pierce vs. Amilcar Alves
• Welterweight bout: Nick Osipczak vs. Greg Soto

This is a card I'm particularly excited for, because it will be the first UFC card in Boston, and I'll be going to it. The only disappointment is that the undercard has been affected and ravaged by injuries, and as a result, some potentially exciting matches have been reshuffled.

Taking it from the top, the Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn rematch should be a lot of fun. The first fight was extremely entertaining, and had the really awesome upset victory where Edgar defeated Penn. However, it wasn't really a decisive victory (despite one idiot judge scoring it 50-45), and it should be really interesting to see how the rematch plays out. Edgar is basically going to need a better performance than what he put on the first fight, because BJ is going to come into this more motivated than he was the first time, and I'm sure he doesn't want to lose to Edgar again. When BJ Penn is motivated, he's one of the best fighters on the planet, and all indications are that he is for this fight. I expect BJ to be very aggressive this time, and I expect a TKO victory for him. I can't see Edgar running around for 25 minutes working again... especially when the first fight was very close in the first place.

Randy Couture vs. James Toney is going to wind up being hilarious, no matter what the result. Part of me is really afraid that Randy will get Sylvia'ed. However, Randy is too smart for that, and I expect he'll immediately shoot for a takedown. From there, I fully expect him to ground and pound James Toney out, and who knows, maybe he'll try to submit him. I think the only question is whether or not Randy beats him in the first round, or if he decides to wrestle and ground and pound him out for three rounds. James Toney of course has the literal "puncher's chance" in this fight, but I can't see that actually happening. I don't care if he's submitted King Mo in training, and I doubt it's even true that he did.

Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda is a late addition to this card, and was added because Alan Belcher was forced out of his fight against Maia on the UFN card next month. The matchup I was really looking forward to, Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares, was taken off this card, and shifted to that one. Maia got shifted to this card. I still like Demian Maia, so I'm not too torn up over him getting added to this card. Either way, Miranda, a middleweight prospect, provides a very interesting matchup for Maia, because he's a striker, and Maia struggles with strikers (as seen in the Marquardt and Silva fights). Half of Miranda's wins have been via knockout. I'm sure Maia will win, but it should be a good fight regardless. JMT brought up an interesting point as well, saying that Miranda is a BJJ black belt, and won't be afraid to go to the ground with Maia. I think this has serious fight of the night potential, and it has serious implications for both fighters, where they'll leave it all out on the line for 15 minutes.

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard is going to be a fight that is going to be for #1 contendership for the Lightweight Title. I really hope that Kenny has been working on submitting people off his back, because you know that Maynard is going to try to take him down and wrestle him for three rounds. The difference between Sonnen/Fitch and Gray Maynard is that Sonnen and Fitch work and stay active. Maynard has no problem taking guys down and doing absolutely nothing. I hope Kenny's been working on his takedown defense, but you know that he's going to wind up on his back at some point throughout the fight. Either way, the atmosphere should be electric for this fight, as Kenny is from Boston, and he's going to have the crowd firmly behind him.

I'm really looking forward to Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis. I'm becoming more of a fan of the Diaz brothers, and I really don't like Marcus Davis at all. For a guy who plays up this persona of being Irish, I think I remember reading that his nationality is only like a quarter Irish, or something ridiculously low like that. Either way, the crowd will be behind him because he's from the New England area, and they'll probably think he's 100% Irish . I think Nate can win this fight. If he outpoints Marcus in the standup game, and wears him down, I think he can take him down and submit him. I think Davis is just done, period. That Ben Saunders knockout was just plain brutal.

I'm bummed out we lost the Lauzon/Etim fight on this card, it had potential to be a lot of fun. Either way, Lauzon should have no problem with late replacement Gabe Ruediger, who will probably be one and done with this UFC run, considering Dana said he'd never fight in the UFC due to his TUF weight problems.

The other Spike prelim went from being a potentially awesome slugfest between Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara, to a fight that had even more potential to be great between Gerald Harris and Sakara, to what should be a one sided pounding between Harris and Joe Vedepo. Harris is quickly making a name for himself, and the only memory I have of Joe Vedepo is when Sakara destroyed him not too long ago.

The prelims should be good as well. Dan Miller should get back in the win column, as he hopefully destroys John Salter. If you don't know who John Salter is, he celebrated like he won the World Title back when he fought Jason McDonald, winning the fight due to a leg injury. Miller has been through a lot in his personal life, and I'll be rooting hard for him to pick up the win. He absolutely needs to win here though, as Dana can't justify keeping him around if he has four straight losses. It's one thing to lose to Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia, and Michael Bisping... they're the class of the division. It would be another to lose to John Salter.

Mike Pierce vs. Amilcar Alves is a fight I'm interested in seeing as well. Mike Pierce has a lot of potential, and he took it to Jon Fitch back when they fought. Amilcar Alves is a training partner of Jose Aldo, and even though I haven't seen any of his fights, and I hate judging off Sherdog's Fightfinder, he looks like he could make some serious waves.

 

[Big Sexy]

This card has a lot of potential. I was one of the few people who actually gave Frankie Edgar a chance in his first fight against BJ but this time he will have a tougher fight on his hands. Edgar fought possibly his best fight ever in their first encounter and the same cannot be said for BJ Penn. I expect BJ to take the fight in round 3 by TKO.

James Toney vs Randy Couture will be entertaining as I expect Toney to swing for the fences but Couture should handle him pretty easily. The trash talking from Toney leading up to the fight, however, will be hilarious.

I expect Gray Maynard to get booed out of the building during his fight with Florian, especially during the fight if he's able to take Florian down. Maynard has to be one of the most boring fighters in the UFC when he is able to take guys down. I still expect Florian to get the win probably in the second round by submission.

The Spike portion of the ppv has one thing that I really want to see and that is Gerald Harris. I have been a fan of the guy since he was on TUF and he has had a very impressive run thus far in the UFC. I was hoping he'd get a better opponent but injuries screwed that up. He should have another impressive performance and hopefully his next fight will be on a main ppv card or a Fight Night card.

 

[jmt225]

This is going to be a great show.

I fully expect BJ Penn to destroy Frankie Edgar. Not only did Edgar need bad judging to win the last fight, but he also was facing, I feel, a non-motivated BJ Penn, who was also having a problem fighting outside. However, this time around it will be completely different. There won't be any judging... BJ Penn will finish this fight. BJ Penn will no doubt be as motivated as he's ever been. And the fight's taking place in an American arena. Frankie does not stand a chance. I would bet everything I own on BJ. Literally, everything. That's how confident I am. If BJ Penn does not win this fight, then I will reevaluate everything I know about MMA.

Randy Couture... I am a huge fan of his; however, if he loses to James Toney, all my respect for him will be lost. Why? Simple... for him to lose to Toney, he would have to be the biggest moron on Earth. If Couture does not come in, shoot, take that motherfucker down, and then submit him... he's an embarrassment to the sport of MMA. It will make MMA look so bad for him to lose at UFC 118 that I don't want to even think about it. Let's just hope Couture does the right thing in this fight and teaches James Toney a lesson he'll never forget.

Kenny Florian should have no problem tooling Gray Maynard for 3 Rounds straight. Florian right now is talent-wise the 2nd best Lightweight in the World at this point in time, and there's no doubt in my mind he'll come up with a solid game plan to beat someone as one-dimensional at Gray Maynard. Definitely looking forward to it, since I think that Maynard's a prick anyway (I'm not a big fan of Florian either to be honest with you, but I certainly like him way more so than I do Maynard).

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis should be awesome. I completely expect Diaz to come in, win the battle on the fight, eventually take the fight to the ground and submit him. However, I cannot fully count Davis out. He perhaps has some the hardest hands in the Welterweight Division and all it takes is one of those bad boys perfectly landing on the chin for the fight to be over. However, regardless, I think Diaz will fight smart and use his reach to keep that from happening. Definitely, definitely looking forward to this fight though.

Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda should be a great fight on the ground, if Maia can get it there. If Maia can't though... then he might be in for a long night. But I'm rooting for Maia. I like the guy a lot and want to see him climb back up that Middleweight ladder.

And the Spike prelims, I fully expect Joe Lauzon and Gerald Harris to win decisively. Nothing else more to say.

Overall, it's going to be a great show I think. The main card is loaded with intriguing fights. I don't think it'll end up rivaling UFC 116 for Show of the Year, but it could end up in the top 3-5 for sure.

 

[INDYjon22]

UFC 118 should be a lot of fun. Edgar/Penn 1 was an awesome fight and I can't wait to see Randy Couture beat up James Toney. The rest of the card is packed with some really good fighters as well.

Edgar/Penn 2 should be an all out war. I like Franie Edgar a lot and was very happy to see him become champion but I also think he lit a fire under BJ Penn's ass. Penn is a great fighter and learns from his mistakes. I can see Penn coming out and bringing all sorts of hell with him when this fight goes down. Edgar will have to bring the same intensity and more to the rematch if he expects to come out with a win.

Couture should run through Toney with no issues but he will need to use his superior wrestling. If he tries to stand and bang with Toney I see Randy getting knocked out. Toney should not be slept on when it comes to striking, he is a former boxing champion after all. However, Couture is a legend and a master of the sport, I really don't see him making himself vulnerable in this fight.

Maia and Miranda will be interesting, but I give Maia the edge. Miranda will have to out strike Maia if he wants to win because Maia has the advantage on the ground.

Florian vs. Maynard should be decent. Maynard loves to use his wrestling but that style is kind of a non-factor when you're dealing with someone who is as good on the ground as he is on his feat. Florian is far superior on his feet and on the ground. Florian should win this fight and end the Maynard hype train.

Davis vs. Diaz should be fun. It is a very hard fight to call because of how good both men are. I have to give Diaz the advantage though. Diaz's striking is so awkward that it gives him a bit of an advantage, even though Davis is a former boxer. And, Diaz clearly has the advantage on the ground. I see Diaz controlling the fight in all areas en route to a decision win.

The only other fight that really interests me is Gerald Harris. Harris is a fucking monster and could be a huge force to be fucked with in the future. His domination should continue on this card and I can't wait to see it.

 

[Fizzy]

Great card, and should be a fantastic night of fights. The main event is very interesting for me because I am a huge BJ fan. I really think that the last fight was an absolute fluke. That was not the BJ Penn that we saw against Diego Sanchez or the BJ that has ruled the division for so long. I believe in this rematch BJ will come out and totally break Edgar. Don't get me wrong Edgar is a good fighter, but BJ is on another fucking planet. I really hope we see a motivated BJ Penn because when he is motivated he is top three P4P in the world.

Randy vs Toney is a very intriguing matchup. It's a complete contrast in styles. You have a world class boxer against a world class wrestler. Very rarely do you see something like this. I have to take Randy for multiple reasons. First this is an MMA fight. Totally different world than boxing. Toney has been training for nine months. You think he'll be able to stop a takedown from a man who has been wrestling his whole life? Absolutely not. Randy has much more ways to win than Toney. Toney can only win by knocking Randy out. Randy can win by Submission or TKO after getting a takedown. Randy has taken Brock Lesnar down who is much heavier and stronger than Toney and has been training wrestling for YEARS. I've heard people say that boxing has a clinch as well so Toney won't be completely out of his element. That is wrong. In boxing the clinch is used more as a move to rest, and it gets broken up in a matter of seconds. When your in the clinch against a wrestler who has gone to the Olympics in clinch based wrestling it is much different than being in there against a boxer. In my opinion Toney stands very little chance in this fight. Randy is a strategist. He already stated he knows it would be stupid for him to stand with Toney, and has his gameplan already setup. He isn't stupid.

The rest of the card is very fun as well. I really want to see Florian destroy Maynard. I hate Maynard and think he is the absolute most boring fighter in the UFC. I have grown to really like Florian, and think he is a brilliant fighter. He is really much more well rounded than Maynard, and really hope he wins this one and gets a title shot. Always great to see a Diaz fight, and this should not disappoint. Hopefully this will be an exciting fight.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

As just about every other UFC card I'm gonna say the same thing, man I'm excited for this one.

Penn vs. Edgar I can't wait to see, I missed the first time they fought because an asshole friend decided to text me results from the show. So I figured no sense in ordering it might as well just wait till its online. I fully expect to see the Penn we saw versus Ken Flo and Sanchez. Penn claims he lost because of a sinus infection and being on antibiotics whether or not that is true, he almost still beat Edgar with that excuse, so now with him healthy he should win convincingly this time around.

Couture vs. Toney is gonna be one of those edge of your seat fights for me. I will be anticipating Couture to take him down and dominant Toney with some GnP or a submission. I would love to see Randy get a stoppage by KO or TKO in would be the first time in Toney's career having been stopped by strikes. In his 83 pro boxing fights he never was, so I would get a kick out of him losing his first MMA fight by them. Another reason I want to see Toney lose so bad is I'm sick of him talking out his ass. Last Friday he was on MMA live saying Randy did nothing but beat a coulpe of bums and hes a Hall of Famer for that. Something tells me that if (when) he does lose he will still be an asshole about it. I just never liked the guy, not taking away that he is a good boxer or anything I just don't like him.

Maia vs. Miranda - If it goes ground Maia has the definite edge, stays standing Miranda does. But each guy still can hold their own in the others strong points. Which is why I think this fight will be pretty good.

Florian vs. Maynard could end up being fight of the night. I think we will see Florian look as good as ever since he's fighting in front of his hometown. Plus he is a hell of alot better than Maynard. I think Florian will be giving Maynard his first official loss. Dana has said that winner out of this fight will get a title shot.

Diaz vs. Davis will look more like a boxing match for the most part. Davis as we know was a former pro boxer, and Diaz isn't to bad in boxing himself, has those nice jabs to keep his opponents away. Diaz should win this fight if he plays it right, just not rush anything and don't try to go toe to toe with him. The only way I can see Davis winning is by strikes, even though he does have more submission wins than knockouts, Diaz is just to good on his back to lose by submission.

I'm disappointed that the Gerald Harris fight is off. That dude has been nothing but impressive in his UFC run.

Well Guy hope you have fun at the event. Should be a great time. I long for the days that MMA gets sanctioned in New York again.

 

[xAsianRejectx]

That was sad... As a big BJ mark as I am, I have no words as to what happened. BJ didn't even look like he wanted to be in the fucking octagon. WTF BJ? I was hoping he would of gone for the takedownd early, but no. I mean, he came in the octagon looking in moderate shape. I really hope BJ thinks about everything as to what happend tonight. That was not the BJ Penn I was hoping to see. I really think something has been wrong with him for awhile and his corner. I hope to see a better BJ Penn in his next fight because this was pitiful. I am dissapointed.

Couture making Toney look like a bitch.
Only thing that made me happy tonight.
Lulz, at Couture getting a blackbelt after submitting freakin' Toney.

Impressive wins for Lauzon and Miller. Good for them.

Diaz does his thing by making Davis fall asleep. Diaz has one great triangle.

 

[Final Form Snyper.]

I just finished watching the PPV.

Did you notice the lack of advice given to BJ Penn by his corner, consisting of "make it a brawl, etc" that was unprofessional of them given they are his eyes during the fight and should have been able to simulate a game plan. but no they seemed to really only bad mouth Edgar through the rounds and gave BJ no adivce at all. If I were BJ I'd be sacking the lot of them and bringing in a much better corner.

I'd also like to give props to Frank Edgar. He absolutely brought it today and I was very impressed with his hand speed and amazing footwork, I much like most the board thought that bad judgiing gave him the title, but after this fight I have no doubt that Edgar dominated the fight from round one picking up BJ at will and dumping him (which is something that doesn't happen to Penn that much, even Sherk couldn't take him down) to his boxing skills through the whole fight. I was very impressed and didn't see this coming. I actually predicted BJ Penn to come out abit more aggressive in the wrestling aspect because he is the bigger and stronger of the 2 and could hold him down but the longer he took to do it the harder it would be to hold him down. Edgar had a great game plan to sucker in Penn with short punches and throw as Penn came in.

Good work Frank and can't wait for you to defend your title against Gray Maynard.

Speaking of Gray Maynard I was also impressed with his win against Kenny Florian, I was in 2 minds about this fight while I knew he wouldn't finish Florian I knew his boxing and great wrestling would be able to grind out a win and get him to the show and that will be against Frank Edgar. Gray is a monster for a 155 pounder and a handful for anyone to handle and even someone with the skill of Kenny (who I really am always impressed with regardless of the outcome) couldn't stop him. This next fight for Gray is for the Light Heavyweight Championship and gives Edgar a big problem to deal with. Gray is in my opinion a much better wrestler who will out weigh Edgar by 15-20 pounds on fight night with hand skills to match.

 

[INDYjon22]

Penn was unimpressive and just seemed like a deer that was looking into the headlights of an oncoming semi. He was just not ready and had no interest in this fight. You could tell he wasn't himself by his body language and his piss poor takedown defense. On the flip side, Edgar came ready to fight again. He was on target tonight and took it to Penn. He made Penn look worse then GSP did as far as I am concerned. My hat is off to Edgar and the performance he turned in again tonight.

Toney got beat down and it was great to watch as a UFC fan. After all of his shit talk it was so awesome to see him get spanked by Couture. Toney was completely out of his element and it showed, however that also makes me take this fight with a grain of salt. MMA is not Toney's specialty by any means and it shouldn't be surprising to people that the fight turned out the way it did. You put an MMA guy in a boxing ring and I believe the same thing would happen to the MMA guy.

Maia looked impressive in his win over Miranda. His punching and takedowns looked better. However, Mirandas takedown escapes were nice. Maia just needs to work on his striking and maybe he could find himself in another title fight some day.

I feel bad for Kenny Florian but Maynard worked for that win. Florian just didn't seem right in his fight tonight. He wasn't as aggressive as usual and he seemed to lack that killer instinct. Maynard out wrestled Florian and that was really all it was. He imposed his game plan and it worked. Maynard will now fight Edgar for the title and I will probably not go out of my way to watch it. The Lightweight division is in a bad situation right now, but it is correctable.

Davis vs. Diaz was awesome. That fight was so much fun. Diaz's striking has improved with every fight. He is getting as good as his brother, but not quiet. Davis looked good in the beginning but after his eye got messed up he was in a bad situation. I like Davis a lot but with his last couple fights it has become apparent that he has lost a step or two. He may need to consider retiring.

Dan Miller and Joe Lauzon also looked good in their fights. The Lauzon/Ruediger fight was really fun to watch and Lauzon looked top notch in it. He may be gearing up for a run at the title, but only time will tell.

 

[Fizzy]

Fucking BJ man lol really fucking made me lose all faith in him. He looked like a lost fucking puppy from the entrance to the end of the fight. It was embarrassing to see someone so talented, and not using that talent. Not taking away from Edgar. He fought a FANTASTIC fight, and really deserves the win, and the title. He made me a fan of him tonight, and proved to me he is the real deal. That being said while I am a fan of him, no fucking way am I looking forward to him vs Maynard. I just REALLY don't want Maynard to hold the belt. I have no idea what's next for BJ. I don't think him vs Gomi is a good fight just because BJ would most likely destroy him. Maybe moving up to WW because he looked drained tonight. I don't know but I lost a lot of faith in him after tonight.

Now onto the highlight of my fucking night Randy destroying Toney. Can't say I was surprised by this, but just having Randy fighting, and hearing the crowd getting so into it (the crowd was amazing tonight) really hyped me. I really can't wait for Randy to fight again just because I love watching him fight. Whether it's against a scrub MMA fighter in Toney to Brock Lesnar. My favorite fighter of all time, and I love watching him compete.

Really disappointed in Kenny tonight. I thought he would have an answer for Maynard, but he really didn't. Props to Maynard who I hate. He fought a good fight, and actually stood for most of the fight, and really beat Florian up. Hopefully he doesn't beat Frankie.

Really happy for Joe as I am a big fan of the kid, and have always liked him. He looked like a savage tonight, and it was fucking great to see. Also i'm very happy to see Nate Diaz getting so much better. His striking is improving so much to accompany his excellent BJJ. Really can't wait to see him again, and I hope Dana keeps him at WW because he just keeps getting better and better, and he is still very young.

Good card tonight. A few let downs, but some really exciting fights. Really looking forward to seeing whats next for BJ, and Nate because I don't know who they are going to give either man.

 

[The Encore]

Last night was a let down of a PPV in the eyes of someone who competes and practices different genres in the MMA category. BJ Penn easily looked like he did not want to be there last night. Either someone was wrong with him not physically, but mentally. Who knows Dana could have said that it was time for him to finally leave the title scene and perhaps just retire. Obviously that is off by a long stretch one would hope but something didn't look right.

And what the hell was with his corner? They gave him no advice at all on how to control and/or deal with the speed and tactics of Edgar. I was upset with the fact that these men were doing nothing but telling him to brawl, when that was his ultimate downfall. When BJ took him now both times I felt an urgency of hope because BJ was great at takedowns last night. If he went for them earlier this would have been a different fight.
Easily.

Other than that good job to edgar who looks like a REAL Champion now. On the other note the Diaz fight was entertaining for the most part. Congrats to him on the win and for just brutally defeating Marcus in terms of his eye. The Florian vs Maynard fight was boring but good job to my boy Maynard on winning another boring fight. See Maynard is so tough that he puts on boring fights cause he won't go down and he can't really get taken down. So it's standing up and banging but with a chin like his, nobodies going to even step to him in the octagon.

Toney vs Couture - Toney lasted longer than I expect by about a minute, He was the first ever boxer to step into the octagon. Thing is... He's not even one of the top 15 heavyweights in the world for boxing. He's out of his prime. way far out of it by at least 6 years. But kudo's to my man Couture for taking him down and poppin' fat albert in the head a couple times.

 

[jmt225]

First off, let me say that BJ Penn is one of my top 3 favorite fighters of all time, and he'll most likely ALWAYS be that, no matter what.

That said, I would rather see the guy retire than fight a fight like he did last night.

The BJ Penn I watched in his last two fights is not the BJ Penn I've grown to respect and admire so much as a fighter. He looked lost and like he didn't even want to be there. You can give Frankie Edgar credit, but fuck that... I refuse.

BJ could take Edgar down at will. That's a fact, as he showed last night going 2-3 in Takedowns, while keeping Edgar 3-9 in his takedown attempts (1-13 in the first fight for Edgar, while BJ went 0-0). So, for anyone to believe that BJ could not defeat this dude, you're out of your fucking mind. BJ could easily lay and pray his way to victory against this chump. And fuck.. BJ could win the battle on the fight (as he CLEARLY did in the first fight), but last night... I just don't know what was wrong with him. He hardly threw anything. He wasn't even trying it seemed. It was such a disappointment.

I personally put the blame on BJ's corner. They're just terrible for him. All they do is kiss his ass, and offer ******ed advice such as "Make it a brawl!" I mean, seriously... what kind of corner does that?

So, yeah... I'm sure there lies a future thread that will ask about BJ Penn's future, so I'll wait to go further into it once that thread pops up. Until then... let me get into the rest of the show.

I already went into Couture/Toney in the "sad" thread, so I'll get to Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard now, which was another huge disappointment. Kenny fought like a bitch, plain and simple.

Did you guys see in the Premins how Joe Lauzon showed up to fight? That should have been Kenny Florian's performance as well, and it would have been had he showed some balls out there. Instead, he was hesitant and gave us perhaps the shittiest performance of his career, in his own fucking hometown no less. It's something he'll most likely carry with him for the rest of his life, and it's also something that shows that no, this guy is not a top 2 or 3 Lightweight in MMA. Quite honestly... I won't be surprised if he never rebounds from this. It was THAT kind of loss, in my opinion.

As far as Gray Maynard... fuck him, that boring piece of shit. Nate Diaz destroyed Maynard the first time they fought, and got screwed in a decision the 2nd time. I am not impressed by this motherfucker. None of his wins impress me, and I am not looking forward to what will surely be the borefest him and Edgar will put on. Hopefully Takanori Gomi will save the division soon after that piece of shit fight goes down.

Speaking of Nate Diaz though... great fight against Marcus Davis and easily the best fight of the night, as everyone came to expect. Diaz looks great at 170, but I'm not sure whether or not I'd like to see him stay there or go back down to 155. It'll be interesting to see what he does though. And Marcus Davis... warrior. His eye was fucked up, but he never gave up in there. I really, really hope the UFC doesn't cut him and gives him at least one more shot to prove himself.

And Joe Lauzon... fucking BEAST. Oh man it was so great to see him back to the Lauzon we saw on TUF 5, and I cannot wait to see him fight again and start that climb up the Lightweight ladder. There are definitely big things awaiting for him.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I'm just going to give a quick rundown of the Fan Expo... I took my brother to the fan expo and the event itself. My brother has the camera and I'm not sure if I'm going to upload pictures. I might in a future post.

The Fan Expo was packed... beyond belief. Lines were ridiculous... and that's really what me and my brother did, waited in lines to meet some of the guys. The first line we waited in was Jon Jones'. Jon Jones is beyond nice and is really friendly. He's also HUGE in person. We saw Forrest Griffin in the line next to us and he looked extremely hungover and absolutely miserable. He was a complete dick... more on that later. Did some walking around after, got some free stuff, checked out some of the stuff going on. Lines for anything were real bad. We then waited in line for a long time for the opportunity to meet Forrest Griffin and Shogun Rua. Shogun was doing a signing at the Stubhub booth earlier, but the line for that was beyond ridiculous. We figured we would wait in line for a long time to get their autographs, plus I needed to get Forrest's newest book which I bought the other night, signed by him.

During this time, I went to go grab lunch, so I had my brother hold our spot in line while I did so. They were giving free samples of Tequila Casadores, which was TERRIBLE, and the size of the samples were the size of thimbles. After spending $14 on a water, a Pepsi, and a chicken finger basket, I returned to line. Bud Lights were $6.25 for an aluminum bottle, by the way. So, we waited in line, and finally it was time to see Forrest and Shogun. Forrest was even more miserable at this point. My brother gets a picture signed, and then asks him if he could take a picture, and he hands me the camera. At this point, I'm horrified. Forrest looked pissed he had to take the picture, and I knew the flash was about to go off. As I prepared the camera, he looked beyond ripshit, and I felt like he was staring into my soul. The look of pure hatred... my god. So my hands are shaking, because I had to go up there next and ask him to sign his book. I take the picture, the flash goes off, and he immediately puts his head down. I then had to go up there and ask him to sign the book, which he did, and it just said, "To (My Name), Forrest." I thanked him, he goes, "What, you don't want anything else?" "Umm, well, would you want to take a picture?" "Ughhh, okay."

Then we got our autographs and pictures from Shogun... who was really nice and genuinely happy to be there, but it was hard to communicate with him. The belt is beautiful in person, by the way.

From there, we did more walking around, got some more free stuff, and then we checked out Dana White's keynote speech. It was a mobscene at the front of the stage afterwards as people wanted wanted to take pictures and get stuff signed. My brother managed to get our fan expo programs signed by him, and he shook our hands. Immediately after, Stephan Bonnar did a terrible gameshow with The Octagon girls.

After that, we tried waiting in line for Anderson Silva, but the way Silverstar Clothing (who sponsored the signing) put together the signing was so unorganized that we gave up.

After this, we checked out a couple other things going on, watched the end of the grappling tournament, and took the T back to my car which was parked by the TD Banknorth. Hung out in there for a few minutes, charged our phones, and walked to the event.

On our way into the event, my brother stepped in some gum and he was really trying like hell to get it off. I heard a bunch of people behind me talking about Herb Dean, which I thought was really random. He finally got the most of what he had on his shoe off, and as we started walking, my mouth was agape as Herb Dean was walking right next to him. I quietly told him to look to his left, and he looks over and sees it's Herb Dean, carrying a brown bag with grease bleeding through. Here's the conversation that ensued:

"Hey Herb!"
"Oh hi guys. Quick question, do you think I'll be able to get in this way?"
"Yeah, you should be able to. You don't have a private way of getting in?"

Someone else:
"You should be able to get your own special entrance!"

"No, the referees have to go in the same way the spectators do."

My brother:
"Herb, can I get a quick picture?"

"Believe me, I would. But I have to go to work and if I stop for pictures, everyone's going to want to take one. Sorry guys."

We were completely understanding of it and he seemed appreciative of it. From there, we waited for what seemed like forever to get in, but we finally made our way up to our seats, which were in the first row of the balcony. The seats were incredible, by the way. We noticed the MMA Live setup about two sections over, and Bonnar was making his way under to what looked like the concourse. We decided to get food and see if we could catch Bonnar. We didn't see him, and as I got in line, my brother realizes that Rashad Evans was right in front of me as he had just finished getting a hot dog and a drink. Immediately, I'm in shock, and my brother asks him for a picture, along with a couple others. He asks us to wait a second so he can put his condiments on his hot dog. He does this, and as soon as he picks his head up, he was in shock as a small crowd had formed around him. He apologized to the crowd and said he had only promised pictures for a few people as he had to get back to do the MMA Live broadcast. He took a picture with us and the other people he promised to do pictures with, and he made his way back. My brother then had the urge to tell everyone walking by us and sitting around us that we met Rashad.

After a long wait, the first fight, which was Mike Pierce vs. Amilcar Alves started. Pierce dominated and finished with an armbar. Really disappointing performance from Amilcar Alves, who I thought was going to give Pierce a tough fight... his record was real impressive looking. Not really a good fight, Pierce looked really sloppy for the most part.

Greg Soto vs. Nick Oscipzak was a really good fight and a lot of fun to watch. A nice back and forth fight for the first round and a half and from there, Soto took over completely and had the crowd firmly behind him with a pretty big "USA" chant going. Soto took the decision very decisively as Oscipzak was virtually knocked out at the end of the fight. I became a Greg Soto fan last night.

Dan Miller vs. John Salter was also a real good fight. Miller had the crowd behind him as well, and as soon as Salter shot for the takedown in the second round, what I had a feeling was going to happen happened. Miller stuffed it and locked on that absolutely sick choke. I was really, really glad to see Dan Miller win as he deserved it so badly.

Andre Winner vs. Nik Lentz was an embarrassment of a fight.

Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger... my god. The atmosphere for that fight was unbelievable and Lauzon's domination was incredible in person. What a great performance by Joe Lauzon and now, hopefully, he'll gain some much needed momentum off of that fight and become a contender in the division.

I haven't watched the PPV broadcast itself yet, so I'm just going to give a quick rundown on how I viewed each fight, and I might chime in with a more detailed analysis later.

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis was AWESOME. The place was electric for this fight and I was rooting hard for Diaz. The first round had the crowd beyond excited. As Diaz gained control of the fight, people were let down, and at the end, there was some concern over how Marcus took a LONG time getting up. The crowd hated Nate, and only me and some Asian kid in my row were rooting for him. By the way, that is now two very impressive wins for Nate Diaz at Welterweight. He's definitely showing some improved standup as well, and I hope he starts making some waves in the division.

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard... I had really hoped Kenny had worked on his BJJ, because what I had a feeling was going to happen happened. The crowd was really electric for Kenny, and they hated Gray. I really felt bad for Kenny, especially when he was trying to pull some hail mary submissions out of his ass in the last minute. Kenny choked, and now at this point, I was really hoping BJ would win as I really did not want to see Edgar and Maynard have a fight for the title. And after reading through the LD, I just want to call Crashin out. No, we weren't booing because the fight was boring, we were booing because Kenny, the hometown boy and the biggest fighter from Boston had lost.

It was like a funeral had occurred during Maia and Miranda. The crowd was really let down by Kenny losing, and this fight itself really wasn't that exciting. During this time, I was really pissed that Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares could have happened in this spot instead. Miranda had nothing for Maia.

The atmosphere really was electric for Couture vs. Toney though. Everyone was firmly against Toney and firmly behind Randy as this hysterical fight unfolded. I don't think I've ever been part of a crowd cheering so wildly during the Lauzon fight and during this fight when Randy took Toney down and started firing away with that brutal ground and pound. Sure, the fight was a joke, and it never should have happened, but fuck, it was fun to be in person to watch and experience the fight.

The Boston crowd was firmly behind BJ. I hate BJ and even I was rooting for him because I was expecting a motivated BJ to tear Edgar apart. I thought the look on his face was one of pure intensity, and I thought we were going to see the same BJ who demolished Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk, and Diego Sanchez. Instead, it was an even worse BJ from the first Edgar fight. We wound up leaving with one minute left in the fifth round, because we knew BJ just had (really, no pun intended here) no answer for Edgar, and to beat traffic for both getting out of the arena, but out of Boston, was more important to me and my brother, and that's exactly what we did. We were home by 1:15... leaving one minute before the fight ended probably saved us at least 30-45 minutes.

It was a great experience. The card itself was probably above average, with two or three clunkers, and the main event was a definite letdown, as was Kenny vs. Gray.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

Pretty good card last night, nothing to write home about, but some solid fights. First off of course, was the shocking performance that BJ gave us last night, BJ has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and I've never seen him fight like that before. As much as I hate to say it, Edgar kicked his ass in every fucking round, truly a dissapointing fight. It'll be interesting to see where both of these men go from here. The Florian/Maynard fight was boring as fuck, Maynard is such an uninmpressive fucktard (with a dumbass tramp-stamp) and I do hope Nate Diaz drops down to 155 just to kick his ass. Speaking of Diaz, he looked sharp last night, I was a bit suprised to see Diaz stand and throw with Davis(even with his reach), considering he's a boxer. But Diaz kept it standing (for the most part) and picked him apart, giving him a nasty gash, and then tapping him out. And Joe Lauzon immpressed the shit outta me last night, he was landing some bombs, and slamming Ruedigar out of his fucking shorts man, he gave him the fucking buisness.