When MMAs Compete, The Fans Win
by Eric Durkin
Love of Sports Correspondent
It’s not often that a pissing match between two grown men is televised.
On Saturday night the world got to see just that take place. The same night Fedor Emelianenko made his return to the ring for the newly founded Affliction organization, the UFC held their biggest Fight Night Live event ever with Anderson Silva making his UFC debut in the light heavyweight (205lb) division. When all the dust settled the night was a huge success for both organizations.
It was clear both organizations were trying to one-up the each other. The Affliction show was named “Banned,” an obvious jab at UFC President, Dana White, who banned his fighters from wearing Affliction clothing. The UFC matched that by making a point of stating that it was only at the UFC where you got to see the true pound for pound best fighter in the world. It was their way of undercutting Fedor, who many believe is the greatest pound for pound fighter.
Who the true best MMA fighter is in the world is a whole different debate. Fighters like George St. Pierre, BJ Penn and Urijah Faber would need to be mentioned. But, one thing that can’t be debated is who the real winner of the night was: the fans of MMA. Both Silva and Fedor not only won their fights, they flat out dominated them. Fedor beat Tim Sylvia in just 36 seconds with a rear naked choke and Silva beat James Irvin by way of knockout with a barrage of punches in just over one minute.
Affliction took bragging rights for the night by selling 13,988 tickets for their first pay-per-view event. The number itself isn’t so staggering, but when you consider that in the three events the UFC has hosted at the Honda Center in Anaheim the most they’ve drawn was 13,814, it puts things in perspective.
Despite some early delays, which eventually caused a fight to be scratched from the card, Banned went pretty smoothly. Nothing can kill an event faster than boring fights. This is especially true when most of the fights are in the heavyweight division because that normally means there is a lot weak jabs and dancing without much action. But with only two of the PPV televised fights going to the judges, many would say the card did live up to the hype.
I have a hunch that Dana White is going to attribute it to picking one-sided fights as a means of getting knockouts, but when most of your audience is only looking for knockouts maybe that isn’t a terrible idea. The UFC had no reason to hang their head though. Their card was equally exciting, with the exception of Brandon Vera’s entrance into the light heavyweight division, which was simply a terrible fight. Vera admitted he didn’t cut weight the right way and gassed, in my opinion, his opponent, Reese Andy, who seemed to suffer from octagon hypnosis in his first UFC fight. He looked a little shell shocked on the big stage.
After watching both events I’d have to give both submission of the night and knockout of the night to the UFC. C.B. Dollaway pulled off a “Peruvian Necktie,” which honestly I can’t even explain.
In that same fight the unintentional comedic moment of the night was given to us by Jesse Taylor and one of his sponsors.
Taylor is best known for being kicked off The Ultimate Fighter and, more importantly, the championship fight, after the show was done filming. This stemmed from a outing in Vegas the night after he got out of the house that included him kicking a window out of a limo and harassing women inside a hotel. He convinced Dana White he had cleaned up his life, he gave up drinking and is even going to alcoholic’s anonymous meetings. While that part wasn’t very funny, the fact that UV Vodka was displayed across his backside was.
Knockout of the night honors go without question to Rory Markham for his KO of Brodie Farber. Markham had spent most of the round being beat around and back peddling from Farber. When it looked like he was ready to crumble he delivered a head kick that instantly flattened Farber. Check it out ......
There really can’t be a clear cut “winner” for the night amongst the organizations. Affliction proved they belong as a legitimate organization and the UFC only proved further that they are the unquestionable leader of the pack when it comes to MMA. If we’re lucky, these two will continue to one up each other. Like I said before, it’ll be the fans that win if they do.
OTHER TOP STORIES
--Love It or Hate It? - Oklahoma City’s New Nickname
--The Huddle - The Nation’s Eight Fastest Players
--The A.L. Second Half Preview
--N.L.’s Top Cy Young Candidates
--Who’s Lovin’ Life ... in the N.L. Central?
--The Rock Files - What Did YOU Do With Your Dark Wednesday?
--What Happens in Mankato Stays in Mankato
(There’s nothing better to watch a pay-per-view MMA event with than a frosty adult beverage. Check out our sister site, The Love of Beer, to see what flavor we’re recommending today!)
Comments
Post a Comment