UFC 88: Breakthrough

[Slim Pickns]

So the next UFC event is titled breakthrough, as Matt Hammil and Rashad Evans will attempt to Breakthrough and reach the upper tier of the light heavyweight division. Fitting title, good though, but would a title match really kill you?

The Card

Chuck Liddell vs Rashad Evans
The problem with the UFC is that every once in a while, they put on a main event that is not main event quality. That is the case for the next TWO cards, though this one gets more criticism from me because its a PPV and not on free TV. Chuck Liddell is still a draw, but he's not nearly as good as he was (and he was overrated to begin with). Rashad has yet to lose, but he has also yet to face a challenge as big as The Iceman. This is the UFC trying as hard as they can to push Chuck back into a title shot. Machida even stated he thinks Rampage should have won the decision against Forrest, but the UFC have Forrest the win because they want the belt on someone Chuck can beat. Say what you want, but the guy has been on the inside and has obviously seen some of the Chuck bias we have been hearing about. I hope for an Evans victory, but it probably won't happen.

Rich Franklin vs Matt Hammil
Rich moves back up to Light Heavy to take on The Hammer, who should still be recognized as unbeaten. Both have very contrasting styles and should make for a good fight. Hammil is a great fighter, but its hard to picture anything but a Franklin TKO.

Karo Paryisan vs Yoshiyuki Yoshida
The Heat is coming off a loss to Thiago Alves and was pulled from the UFC 87 card due to his opponent being injured. He gets a tough draw here in Yoshida, who proved he belonged when his UFC 84 matchup didn't make it to the minute mark.

Dan Henderson vs Rousimar Palhares
Hendo tries to rebound after two straight UFC Titles losses. The bright side is that he fought two of the UFC's best champions, one whom is recognized as the best pound for pound fighter in the world. I think this is Dana's way of shitting on Henderson by giving him a tough up and comer on the midcard, hoping he loses so he can say another PRIDE champ was dominated in the UFC.

Martin Kampmann vs Nate Marquardt
Kampan was suppose to fight Franklin at UFC 72 and have a huge coming out if his showing was superb. He was pulled due to injury and has been under the radar ever since. His win over Thalies Laites has to be recognized, but you have to wonder how well he would be doing had the Franklin fight brought on tougher challenges. Marquardt is boring to watch at times, but is a good fighter. His only losses are to top fighters and he may be on his way back up. He has to avoid a knockout loss here or he will be fighting TUF rejects before you know it.

Prelim
Thiago Tavares vs Kurt Pelligrino
Tim Boetsch vs James Lee
Dong Hyun Kim vs Matt Brown
Roan Carniero vs Ryo Chonan
Jason Lambert vs Jason Day

Decent card lacking only a true main event. Hopefully we get the solid action the card presents.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I think every Liddell match, no matter who his opponent is can make a main event. Not a good one. But his name is big enough that the show should draw at least typical numbers. And Evans has name value, even if he's the definition of average.

The main event is the reason I didn't get tickets to the O2 show a couple of months ago, I have no intrest in the fight at all. Alas it didn't happen, and the main event looked a hell of a lot better to me. But by then it was too late.

Dan Henderson is one of my personal favourites, it comes from me buying very expensive Pride DVDs years ago. Mark Hammil fights always have a curiosity factor too.

 

[Marquis]

Im not very happy with this card at all. I really wish evans wins but i see chuck winning probably by tko. Also i agree i wouldnt be surprised if they did give the belt to forest just for liddlel to knock him out i clearly saw the fight going to rampage but alas its no surprise seeing how tight dana and chuck are. Franklin vs matt hammil looks like a good fight to me hopeing frank wins. For hendo vs rousimar cant say much since im not to familiar with rousimar. Also ufc 89 has a way better card then this i think personally ufc 89 should have been on ppv and 88 on spike but usually when ufc has their out of the country ppv they dont sell well since its not live and people see the spoilers(except canada).

 

[Frank the Frowner]

A lot of people think this card is shit due to the lack of a title fight. Personally, from top to bottom, I think this is one of the most solid cards that you're going to see the UFC put out this year.

The main event is Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans. This card is going to probably do huge buyrates just because Chuck is in the main event, and right there that appeals to the more casual fan. Chuck Liddell might be the most well-known fighter in the world. And the fact that he is taking on an undefeated Rashad Evans makes it a worthy main event. Chuck has this won, though. A lot of people give Rashad credit for his wrestling ability, but he also amassed a 48-34 record wrestling at Michigan State. This fight is designed to give Chuck a pretty major win and continue his momentum to a fight against Forrest Griffin for the Light Heavyweight Title, which could take place on the December card.

The fight that intrigues me more than anything on the card is Matt Hamill vs. Rich Franklin. I personally think Hamill should be 5-0. I still think that he beat Bisping, but the biased English judges ruled in his favor. Rich Franklin is making the move up to the light-heavyweight division, and this fight should be one of the best of the night, especially when both guys are such tremendous fighters... and I have a hard time envisioning either one of them losing in this one. Franklin is superior in the standup game, but I would give the nod to Hamill, who I think will rely on his excellent wrestling ability in this one.

Parisyan vs. Yoshida should be very interesting. Parisyan has the experience... and the only fight I've seen from Yoshida was where he submitted Koppenhaver in the first minute of their fight at UFC 84. I would give Parisyan the nod, and I think he'll re-establish himself as a top 10 fighter in the Welterweight division.

Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares is pretty much designed to remind people that Henderson is one of the best all-around fighters in the UFC, and the only reason why he lost his last two fights was because he was facing superior competition. Let's not forget that in PRIDE, he defeated Wanderlei Silva for the Middleweight Title. He just got a bad deal so far in the UFC in terms of opponents. It's not like Rampage dominated Henderson... their fight was an excellent one that went to the judges. Anderson Silva again is pound for pound the best fighter in the UFC. Rousimar Palhares is someone who hasn't fought anyone near the competition that Dan Henderson has. Hendo should get the win easily here as he makes a statement in the Middleweight Division.

The other fight on the main card is Nate Marquadt vs. Martin Kampmann, and then the rest of the preliminary card is filled with UFC veterans that could usually find a place on the main card.

 

[jmt225]

I think the only reason Rashad vs. Liddell was made is because Dana desperately wants Liddell to be Forrest's next opponent. And when you look at this fight, Rashad is a guy with a good reputation with fans and someone who is undefeated. However, his weaknesses completely play to Liddell's strengths. Other then Liddell/Couture 1, I don't think Chuck had ever lost to a wrestler, and that's exactly what Rashad is. A below average stand-up fighter who is known for his wrestling. This should be a very easy win for Liddell, and I think Dana knows that, otherwise he wouldn't have put this back on after Liddell's injury a couple of months ago when these two were originally suppose to fight in June.

Rich Franklin vs Matt Hammil is the fight I'm most interested in. Hammil's is one of my favorite fighters to come from TUF, and I'm very interested to see how he'll do against a good fighter like Franklin. I, personally, think Hammil will be able to control him the majority of the fight, but I won't be shock either if Franklin connects with something and puts Hammil out.

I'm not too interested in Karo Paryisan vs Yoshiyuki Yoshida. I don't like Karo at all, and I don't know too much about Yoshida, other then his impressive victory at UFC 84.

And lastly, I hope Dan Henderson is able to put on a good showing. I really would like to see him get back to where he was before the Jackson fight.

 

[imdamiz]

Spoiler: UFC 88 Results

wow so to me this card wasn't very impressive, it was ncie to see hendo get a win over palhares after dropping two straight to anderson silva and rampage jackson and I was quite suprised at franklin/ hamill as hamill should have kept trying to take ace down and it proved to be his downfall as ace ended up with the tko.....
Now onto the main event Chuck The Iceman Liddell vs Sugar Rashad Evans.
now pretty much everyone counted rashad out and saw this as dana white's way of getting liddell a quick title shot. Well, that didn't exactly go as planned as liddell took round 1 by being more aggressive but rashad had some nice punches and kicks in there and enough to bust chuck open a little bit all though chuck won the round 10-9. Round two saw a more aggressive evans as him and chuck began trading and just as chuck was starting for a big uppercut, BOOM! Rashad came across with the hook and knocked chuck the fuck out. Me and my buddies literally thought Chuck was dead when he hit the mat thats how brutal it was, def a canidate for knockout of the year haha

Overall this card turned out to be pretty decent nothing to top notch, we got to see marquhardt continue his quest to get another shot at the MW Title, Hendo got his first victory back in the ufc, franklin proved he can fight at 205, and Rashad proved he's a top 10 maybe even Top 5? LHW out there right now and possibly deserving a title shot

 

[jmt225]

Rashad is a guy with a good reputation with fans and someone who is undefeated. However, his weaknesses completely play to Liddell's strengths. Other then Liddell/Couture 1, I don't think Chuck had ever lost to a wrestler, and that's exactly what Rashad is. A below average stand-up fighter who is known for his wrestling. This should be a very easy win for Liddell.

Rich Franklin vs Matt Hammil is the fight I'm most interested in. Hammil's is one of my favorite fighters to come from TUF, and I'm very interested to see how he'll do against a good fighter like Franklin. I, personally, think Hammil will be able to control him the majority of the fight, but I won't be shock either if Franklin connects with something and puts Hammil out.

Wow... could I have been more wrong? Rashad fucking knocked Liddell silly last night. I still can’t believe it. Also, Franklin from the sounds of it put on a hell of a showing as well. It goes to show just how impressive Anderson Silva is to have dominated Franklin both times they fought.

But yeah... still shocked about Evans. Dana apparently announced at the press conference afterwards that Rashad was now next in line to get a shot at Forrest. Even with his impressive victory, there’s still no way I’m picking Rashad in that fight. And personally, I hope Forrest beats his ass. I’m a huge Forrest fan and to be quite honest, I’ve never liked Evans. Moreover, in my opinion, I don’t think he deserves a title shot. His fight with Tito was only a draw because Tito got deducted a point for holding on to the fence, and I thought his fight with Bisping could’ve gone either way, but it was by no means a good showing for Evans.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

WOW. JUST WOW.

Spoiler: Evans vs Liddell

Rashad Evans absolutely BITCH-SLAPPED the Ice Man. Total upset, and a HUGE win for Evans in dramatic fashion. Correct me if I am wrong, but when Evans faces Griffin for the Light Heavyweight Title, it'll be the first time in UFC history a title match has taken place between two former "TUF" cast members...

Liddel went down like a heap after that right hook. The replays were CRAZY. Chuck's head went one way, his shoulder went the other way. THe only thing worse tan waking up and being told you just got knocked out is waking up and being told you're still in Atlanta.

SIG IT!

 

[Mexican Geek]

WOW! I just saw the video of the KO.... BRUTAL!!

i guess the next step is Evans vs Griffin..?

i just hope to see Rampage get himself together asap. Once he returns, i can see a rematch vs griffin regardless if he's still the champ.

 

[Minor League Brian]

Rampages got Jail time comin'...

Seriously though...I was in shock at the end of that fight. I was at a restaurant watchin' it, and literally the place went quite. I don't know why, but I can't stand Evans. I hope Griffin takes his ass down.