UFC 106 Ortiz VS Griffin 2 review

now with gif animations

- Tito Ortiz VS Forrest Griffin

- Josh Koscheck VS Anthony Johnson

Though many may consider men who enter an mma proving ground little more than hired human pitbulls ripping each other apart for massive money and radical amusement, I tend to reject this view via a yawn of black hole, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for but the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself. The reaction of one's opponent is the reaction to whatever one could offer as offense.

Notice that the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, pure respect spirit and related (?) intelligence may come upon, the limitless respect each fighter deserves simply by making an attempt of expressing themselves thoroughly, honestly on the proving grounds. The biggest respect one could give is the assumption that one needs every skills- and wits to neutralize the rival. A fight is nothing less than the expression of these skill sets, put though to the test utterly and completely, instead of infinitely theorizing about them. The most glorious moment of the bout emerges in the form of the ensuing peace between the fighters, a legit, palpable sensation, unifying the former enemies and the grateful audience once the collision reached its conclusion.

This is a review of the latest UFC event to date, UFC 106 - Ortiz VS Griffin 2.



Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

UFC 106 marks the return of the Huntington Beach Bad Boy, as former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz comes back to the Octagon, leaving casual gallons of highly irrelevant bad blood between UFC President Dana White and him behind, so these metaphoric constructions of spoiled marketing elements and ultraviolent stylistic abuse can safely be-, AND remain what they are, namely, remnants of some massively flawed hive-memory cultivated in but the deepest bowels of cosmic amnesia, as it truly is of no further relevance if Tito Ortiz and Dana White have sported actual hatred towards each other or not.

What is important, is that The Ortiz is back, and, more importantly: The Ortiz is back with a NEW back and he surely does bring a rigorously crafted spirit and body to the table. To be honest with you, I wanted to express in this introductory section that I demand the right to be immensely, even: emencely bored by Tito and his fighting style, but I came to the conclusion that it would be an utterly degenerate and prejudiced thing to say before observing his current performance - and, to top it all off, THIS Tito, in my perception, shows a degree of inner maturity which he did not seem to possess so far. Tito Ortiz managed to start off with a blank page in my book - I can imagine his tremendous relief regarding this fruitful fact - and I am utterly curious of what he has to offer for the man who summarizes himself as follows:

I can be beaten, but I can not be broken.
- Forrest Griffin.

The frightening part about Griffin is this: I believe him. Tito will face off against him for a second time, though Forrest comes back to the proving ground following a devastating, I mean - deeeevastating loss against Anderson Silva. How can a loss be devastating? Easy: if the one you fight against did not start to fight yet, and have beaten you anyway. This is what happened to Forrest in the Anderson fight, but, as Dana White quite sanely points out, that match revolved around how good Silva really is and not about how Forrest have lost that collision. Silva played, Forrest fought. Playfulness likes flexibility. Let us remind ourselves of these classic retina stigma, here is how Anderson "The Spider" Silva lured Forrest into his spider web via 111% playfulness and related, radical form of beautiful fun:

Through scientific observation, notice this: Anderson "The Spider" Silva PLAYS here, he is NOT in a fight yet. This exceptional ability of transmitting the radical beauty of fighting via the playful declaration of current-, evident superiority as an artist of deconstruction, is nothing less than larger than life drama which is a true privilege to see. This is why Forrest Griffin could not FIGHT Anderson Silva that day, in my opinion. Because Forrest wanted to fight. And Silva showed him that Forrest was not quite ready yet to FIGHT against him. So he played with him instead and knocked him out in the process. Now for the event at hand, since, Forrest states that the event perpetuated on this awe defining gif animation, have made him to be more motivated than ever, and, as a fan of Forrest Griffin, I truly look forward to see if it really is so. Putting Ortiz against Griffin for a second time is a continuation that seems to be the epitome of a promise with infinitely elegant curves to it, and I will express why. Or at least make an attempt at that.

Forrest and Tito have fought before already, delivering a great collision with some relatively well placed-, intact Tito antics in it, as he refused to give Forrest respect by not touching gloves at the beginning of the bout and some similar affairs. Despite an especially strong start and the related-, vicious ground and pound sequence by Ortiz, Griffin remained in the fight and managed to give a solid challenge to The Huntington Beach Bad Boy throughout the second and third round, yet The Ortiz walked away with a decision victory. As further conclusion, Tito gave respect for Griffin, who deserves all of that and then some for stepping up against Top Dog Tito and being a totally relevant threat in the match. Now the two Collide Again, and, fortunately enough: both men have something to prove. Especially:

Themselves.

Phil Baroni VS Amir Sadollah

Phil Baroni is a prestigious notability of the sport, as the former, friendly bodybuilder indeed is around since the dawn of mixed martial arts. Baroni has all my respect and related awe for defining-, and presenting what a Man's Confidence Truly is, as The New York Badass does not seem to be particularly influenced by temporary nuances like getting his ass beat to death and beyond from time to time. The point is that no one beats the New York Badass, because he can not be beaten.

Baroni starts out passionately and efficiently, manages to keep this pace up for like 45 seconds, and then becomes an embarrassment to watch against Ultimate Fighter winner, talented prospect Amir Sadollah. Then, it is even better: he becomes an embarrassment to have your fun of. This Mike Goldberg comment is fantastic:

"Now Baroni shows us how tough he is!"

Yes, indeed. Baroni came here to be beaten to a piteous pulp of random shades of pink and red. The New York Badass started out as a friendly bodybuilder, you can see videos of him at YouTube. What have happened to the guy that made such a seemingly evident demeanor change in him, is beyond me. The New York Badass also has one of the most vicious knockouts EVER, which I will make a gif animation of as soon as we see the man winning a fight again.

As of this moment, Baroni is not a top level mma fighter. Once again, for good measure, and he does not know my address, anyway: As of this moment, Baroni is not a top level mma fighter.


He is a lazy gun for rent, ready to getting beat for lucky money. This is not so bad of a deal, if you think about it. As a former Legend, you go in there, you get your ass kicked around a bit and walk away with the excuse plan intact, corrupting your innermost self with probably ridiculous lamentations about how ultimately tremendous the promise in you is. Is Baroni special? Abso!BEEP!BEEP!lutely! Two or three losses like this and he will be one of the most special fighters of all time, believe you me!

As result of some surreal decision, and/or, probably as result of a random meeting with Dana White, Baroni came back to the UFC and he performed as I feared he would: got beat utterly in every area of the game I am able to exhibit suspected awareness of, yet he got enough funds in return to have some quality time to spend before coming back to the proving ground so he could be beaten to a piteous pile of random shades of pink and red again for yet another chunk of lazily-fought-for blood money. I have no intention to show disrespect to this man, quite the contrary. But, seriously: with a record of 13-12, one should invest some energy into massive soulseeking, no? Maybe something useful would come up. Anyway, here are some more gif animations of Baroni getting his ass piteously handed to him by prospect Amir Sadollah:










Can you spot the Leg Kick?

Phil Baroni is generous enough to demonstrate a 0.5 dimensional gameplan, entirely gravitating around a hope of vague vanity, a hope invented of shallow luck and similar affairs of fragile relevancy. The nature of this hope is constant and its name is pure persistency, indeed. This is the Inspiration. This is the Inner Voice. This is the Assuring Recognition Baroni cultivates, telling him-, promising him that 1 out of the 50 punch attempts he is eligible for per match at average - MIGHT actually connect! It is all it takes! ONE punch, Phil! Some day, who knows - some day you may score that punch, Phil! Also notice that Phil Baroni is kind enough to let Amir Sadollah kick his leg, so he - Baroni - can show his rival - and to YOU, of course - how tough he really is. Very! He is very tough! He is Badass! He is here to make a Statement, and the Statement is this:

I'm Badass!

My conscience asks me why am I trying to make fun of Phil Baroni? And my reply is: it is Phil Baroni who is making fun of himself. I remain ready to see a Phil Baroni with a more serious approach to fighting.

Minotouro Nougeira VS Luiz Cane

Monitauro's twin brother, Minotouro makes his UFC debut against fellow Brazilian Luiz Cane. Little Nog performs spectacularly tonight, negating, then conquering the threat presented by his rival of versatile talents. Here is a gif animation on this explicit knockout delivery, radically resonated in the first round:














Ben Saunders Vs Marcus Davis

Saunders is quick and efficient to forge layered benefits of his taller frame and longer reach, expressing these attributes throughout precise attacks administered from the clinch. Though Davis' aggressive style is a successful line of defense on its own sometimes, tonight The Irish Handgrenade finds himself overwhelmed by the accurately executed offensive offerings utilized by Saunders. Being cut up early in the match, Davis is squeezed to the fence from the clinch and the Knee of Final Verdict connects on the veteran's jaw. The match is pretty much all Ben Saunders, finding constantly relevant success with knees of which this one proves to be solid enough to seal the W for the up and coming prospect.

Josh Koscheck VS Anthony Johnson

A standup war with a balanced feel to it, in which both contestants show bold readiness to engage. Johnson seems to gain the momentary upper hand by rocking his opponent, yet a wounded Koscheck answers with a relentless urge to invite the rival to the ground. This is where half of the story of this collision ensues, as Johnson abuses Octagon rules by landing an illegal knee on a downed opponent, putting a pause to the contest. Fortunately, following a recovery period of weighty minutes of doubtful desperation, Koscheck is able to continue, then it is him performing inadvertent acts of illegality via two pokes in the eye - the second one seems quite harsh, and, with considerable relief one witnesses that Johnson himself is able to recover, as well.

The second round shows similarly passionate characteristics as the first period did, yet, Koscheck is even more successive in his attempts to score a takedown, this time in the vicinity of the fence. This talented wrestler has an outstanding background as a wrestler, thus it is of little surprise to the everyday average mma chairmolester that Koscheck manages to keep Johnson constrained to the ground via strict body control and efficient ground and pound fun. After softening the talented knockout prospect up a bit, Josh is able to sink the hooks in and force a tapout out of Anthony via a rear naked choke coming to lethal life via masterful realization of textbook efficiency. He did not sink the second arm in - but this fact, in my opinion, adds to the rampant relevancy of the maneuver as opposed of taking away from it.

Tito Ortiz VS Forrest Griffin

Tito looks monstrous with his ability to command Forrest to the ground whenever he seeks to do so. This initial efficiency is significantly decreased later on by a more alert Griffin who has the opportunity to experience the not too bright - meaning: dark - aspect of De Ja Vu, as he finds himself with Ortiz on top of him on numerous occasions, with this reinvented mma Legend looking to repeat history via the persistent ground and pound delivery he is prime administer of. Forrest seems to have much more developed defensive lines than he had in the first meeting, though.

Griffin prefers to stuck to the standup game, finding relevant success with his trademark legkicks and some seemingly sloppily placed-, not too strong punches, though the more complex attacks he tries to introduce, do not remain unanswered. As a continuation of a balanced collision taking place on the feet, the second round ultimately is characterized by yet another impressive Tito takedown.

The Huntington Beach Bad Boy rains down almost-proper hell from up above, cutting Forrest's head via elbows and abusing him on the ground for a pretty prolonged amount of time. A time long enough to make Griffin look quite stuck in a situation he definitely does not want to be stuck in.

Does Forrest come to the third round with rampancy, or does Tito come to the third round exhaustedly? I tend to think that Griffin remains consistent in the final sequence and succeeds decently at delivering the performance level he offered in the previous two rounds. Ortiz, on the other hand, seems to be pretty passive in the third-, and final sequence of conclusion. He eats in a whole lot of strikes and kicks and fails to answer in a convincing fashion. One must wonder though if Forrest Griffin has punching power at all, since he landed all the punches in the world and then some and Ortiz was not noticeably affected by those. A split decision victory goes for Forrest, who expresses his honest wish to make the collision between Tito and him a Trilogy. My interest in a third bout between the two is limited for the time being.

Infinity Combo by The Tito Ortiz:












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UFC 105 Couture VS Vera review

now with awe defining gif animations

- Randy Couture VS Brandon Vera

- Michael Bisping VS Denis Kang

- Dan Hardy VS Michael Swick

Though many may consider men who enter an mma proving ground little more than hired human pitbulls ripping each other apart for massive money and radical amusement, I tend to reject this view via a yawn of black hole, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for but the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself. The reaction of one's opponent is the reaction to whatever one could offer as offense.

Notice that the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, pure respect spirit and related (?) intelligence may come upon, the limitless respect each fighter deserves simply by making an attempt of expressing themselves thoroughly, honestly on the proving grounds. The biggest respect one could give is the assumption that one needs every skills- and wits to neutralize the rival. A fight is nothing less than the expression of these skill sets, put though to the test utterly and completely, instead of infinitely theorizing about them. The most glorious moment of the bout emerges in the form of the ensuing peace between the fighters, a legit, palpable sensation, unifying the former enemies and the grateful audience once the collision reached its conclusion.

This is a review of the latest UFC event to date, UFC 105 - Couture VS Vera.



Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

UFC 105 invites mma institution Randy Couture to showcase his skills against Brandon Vera. The Natural - who has a particular sentence to resonate for every question he is confronted with and this sentence is this: "I think I am the best fighter I have ever been so far" - comes back to the Octagon after suffering two losses against top tier opposition. He gave the best challenges to Brock Lesnar so far, yet, in my opinion he looked pretty shallow against Minotauro Nougeira. Criticizing Couture's age is getting older than the man itself is though and The Natural silenced those critics on numerous occasions already, yet everyone knows that he will never be able to do that for good, because it is the nature of the sport to question The Natural. And he likes to be questioned, too, as this is the mere condition his love of competition forms fuel from. Randy Couture is about to collide with Brandon Vera, evident-, but not necessarily justified underdog of the bout. Couture needs a spectacular win to evidentiate the legitimacy of his action of moving down a weight class, while Vera truly needs nothing "much more" to do than to hand Couture a loss, as beating Legends is what make you one in the sport.

Michael "The Count" Bisping rebounds, following his epic loss against Dan Henderson. UFC 105 is coming to you from Manchester, so there are chances that the audience will take the place apart if Bisping loses - especially so if he wins. Charismatic Bisping faces off against solid mma presence Denis Kang, who already is a well established mma force as result of the impressive wins he delivered in Asia, primarily. Many do say that a loss shows more of who the fighter really is than a win does. The particular performance following a devastating defeat is absolutely crucial. This is Bisping's first "after-the-first-decent-loss" fight, and, as such, the collision enjoys pretty much unified attention.

Hard and rather passionate hitter Dan Hardy puts everything on the line against Michael Swick, who - Swick - thinks of himself as a fighter that deserves this win more than Hardy. It is easy to underestimate Hardy as he would be little more than a random idiot/bully on a punk concert, but truth is that his game is getting quite mature and what you see in his eyes is not what you see in those of the random idiot/bully at the punk concert. It should be another interesting match and it also worth mentioning that the fighter walking away with the W is likely to step up against UFC Welterweight Champion George St. Pierre.

Ross Pearson VS Aaron Riley

Ultimate Fighter winner Ross Pearson takes apart veteran Aaron Riley in this impressive display of surprisingly steep technical dominance, one which forces out a doctor stoppage in the second round, courtesy of the doctor, offering his opinion on the cut on Riley's face, all this invitation courtesy of the Referee. Here is a gif animation of Pearson evading a dangerous high kick with ease and related, lazy elegance:










And here is the flying knee that crushed the nose of the mma veteran, resulting in a doctor stoppage:










Matt Brown VS James Wilks

Former Ultimate Fighter contestants in the Octagon. Matt Brown is quick and efficient at taking the role of the aggressor, luring Wilks into territories the Brit needs to survive on. Though Brown ascends as evident aggressor even in the second round, - check this gif animation of a flying knee he connects with -

Wilks remains in the fight and exhibits relative efficiency, despite being notably dazed by The Immortal. The conclusion of the second round saves Wilks from a triangle wrapped around his neck, yet The Brit comes back with a strong and efficient willingness to deliver colorful submission attempts of his own in the third and final round. These fail to come to fruition though, as Brown manages to muscle himself out from a kimura attempt, fueled with the imminent intention of pounding out a stoppage on the Brit. Following a full mount, he accomplishes this via ground and pound and here is the gif animation of it:










Michael Bisping VS Denis Kang

Kang greets Bisping with a right hand that sends the Brit hometown favorite to the canvas, yet The Count demonstrates a very involved level of the ground game against the black belt jiu-jitsu practitioner, who is, naturally enough, is swift to engage Bisping on the ground, looking for any accepted means necessary to emerge victorious. Here is a nice moment performed by Bisping. Notice how he uses his hips to escape from the initial position in which Kang enjoys side control. At the end of this amazing gif animation, you will see that The Count finds himself in full guard. Now, for the gif animation:

Also notice the gif animation below, which, as result of editing the flow of recorded time, displays the right hand that rocked the Brit, and, of which The Count had no recollection of after the round. Also notice Kang's attempt to connect with an air to ground missile. Plan: solid, realization: piteous. Take heed and bear witness on how the mma veteran falls on Bisping, losing all the momentum required to call the action a proper attack.


In the second period, a cautious Bisping decides to feel out the opposition in order to score a takedown. The Count finds great success at deconstructing the grounded rival, who is unable to invite Bisping to close quarters jiu-jitsu this time. The Brit maintains the role of air-to-ground molester, sticking to this method even after Kang manages to escape and invite Bisping to the standup. As hinted, The Count succeeds at pulling off yet another takedown, this one is even more beautifully executed than the first was. Bisping effectively takes the defense of Kang apart as the round is closing to its end, therefore the Referee puts a well decided stop to the contest by the moment Kang is being harmed beyond necessity. Bisping came back and he came back hard, rendering a tremendous performance when he needed it the most, and, fortunately, he accomplished this against an opponent of relevance, not against a random chunk of animated meat. Here is a gif animation on how Bisping owned Kang tonight.










Above: Bisping giving the hurtrealbad.

Dan Hardy VS Mike Swick

When engaged, Hardy is quick to greet Swick with a solid left counter punch, inviting Mike to have a go at a takedown attempt instead. The story of the round revolves around Swick's relentless-, yet virtually wasted effort to command Hardy to the ground. In the opening round, Swick is coming short in the striking game as well, as Hardy administers more damage via more accurate connections, even better/worse: the round itself comes to a conclusion with the local favorite landing some rather solid shots on a Swick who shows good aggressiveness, yet finds nothing but punishment as reward. In the second period, Hardy rocks Swick with a highly successful combo formed out of two elegant strikes, of which I deliver a gif animation with ruthless efficiency. Here it is:

Though wobbly, Swick is granted the chance of grateful recovery as result of Hardy's puzzling eagerness to take The Quick to the ground as opposed of punching/kicking the casual sobriety out from the talented American for the sake of a memorable (?!) moment or two. Pronounced and prolonged clinch sequence at the fence to follow up, in which Hardy finds success at delivering relatively limited amount of punishment, except for the decent body shots he lands on the opposition. The Referee eventually breaks them apart and the round has a chance of concluding itself with the fighters striking it out on their - respective - feet. Swick finds more success in this sequence, performing elegant and precise counter strikes when Hardy is about to engage him via sheer-, skillfully directed aggression. Skillfully, yet, this time, not efficiently directed aggression.

The third and final round invites hands to ignite. Swick shows increased amount of initial willingness to engage his rival on the feet, yet he is about to pay for it in this final round, as Hardy manages to daze The Quick once again. Following some nice and precise shots to soften The Quick up a bit, Hardy finds himself in the clinch of his rival and remains content with it - accepting the invitation to the close quarters onslaught. This time, Hardy manages to take down Swick by lifting him up into the air, then, some brief-, yet successful ground and pound work ensues, in which Swick gets a cut on the side of the head, which was not present before the match, by the way. Since no action of subsequent relevancy is occurring, the Referee commands the contestants to stand up, thus this memorable collision finds its conclusion with its participants battling out the remaining seconds on the feet. A well deserved decision victory goes for Dan Hardy, who will be the first Brit to step up against current UFC Welterweight Champion George St. Pierre, who is in attendance tonight. He expresses his admiration towards Hardy's current performance and states that he will be ready-, and honored to defend his belt against Dan. As for Mike Swick, who thought he should be able to win against Dan Hardy easily: I thought that, too. That makes AT LEAST two of us. A tremendous victory for Hardy for a tremendous performance.

Randy Couture VS Brandon Vera

Randy Couture is notorious of being able to force his gameplan on the opposition. Now the gameplan is to muscle Vera up to the fence and push him into it, looking for the takedown while at that. The largest chunk of the story of this match revolves around this particular intention exhibited by The Natural. The other parts of relevance are praising Vera's standup skills, that which with the Philippine manages to punish Couture up to the point of a knockdown, courtesy of a nice body kick, followed up by a solid flying knee to the body that forces Couture to escape desperately from his momentary position. Randy does not break though, manages to regain his composure each time he is subjected to danger, and, remains capable to enforce his clinching ways and will in the Octagon. Notice nevertheless this nice action by Brandon "The Truth" Vera:

This was Vera's big chance of stopping the Legend, in my opinion, yet he came short in the ground and pound department. A couple of decent bombs instead of these friendly caresses might have had done the work. If it is up to Randy though, The Hall of Famer satisfies with being able to push Vera into the fence all night long, looking for the takedown without remorse, failing utterly at finding it. Vera lands some accidental punches of piteously limited convince power from the clinch while being pressed against the fence, but the talented Philippine shows no cunningness to improve on his position dramatically with the Legend on him. Ironically enough, late into the match it is Vera who takes Couture down, but, by that time, each fighter is exhausted beyond mercy and truly keeps on fighting as result of the momentary approval granted by some mysterious hidden force of the universe, and you truly wish that the match would reach the end.

Since Randy dictated strict control of the Octagon and forced the game he wanted to play while Vera failed at doing that, The Natural goes home with a W. Brandon's actions of true relevance are the effective midsection molestations and a bitterly accomplished takedown, but, apart from these solid accomplishments, the story of the fight was Couture's control of the positions, and, as such: his control of the match. The Truth tastes a whole new level of disappointment. This match, in my opinion, was not about who won it, it was about who have lost it. I expected a little more, cite that I, herein: a LITTLE more form both men. Not much more, but a little more. I expected Couture to be able to state a Final Verdict of Radical Stopping Power once muscled his rival to do his bidding via keeping him at the fence seemingly at will, while I expected Brandon Vera to be able to offer relevant resistance once Randy pushed him to the side of the cage for such prolonged sequences of time. By the way, this gif animation shows you The Unspeakable:

A match with mild-, yet characteristic entertainment value to it, as Couture was super-fervent at closing the distance whenever he had the chance, but he managed to deliver a solid challenge for Vera even when the two were boxing it out on the feet. These sequences may seem as non-existent though, simply because the majority of the fight is about Couture muscling Vera around, controlling the position and negating all offenses The Truth may have in mind. From a certain point of view, the Natural's intent to seal a victory with minimal risks taken, is understandable, as he sure would have been looked like yesterday's attraction if to lose a third consecutive time. This match though, regardless of who have won and who have lost it, does not cast the most fruitful light on its participants, in my opinion. You are of course free-, even encouraged to oppose this view and state your own via leaving a nice comment or two. It is all good, all good.










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Strikeforce & M1 Global: Fedor VS Rogers

now with gif animations

- Fedor Emelianenko VS Brett Rogers

Though many may consider men who enter an mma proving ground little more than hired human pitbulls ripping each other apart for massive money and radical amusement, I tend to reject this view via a yawn of black hole, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for but the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself. The reaction of one's opponent is the reaction to whatever one could offer as offense.

Notice that the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, pure respect spirit and related (?) intelligence may come upon, the limitless respect each fighter deserves simply by making an attempt of expressing themselves thoroughly, honestly on the proving grounds. The biggest respect one could give is the assumption that one needs every skills- and wits to neutralize the rival. A fight is nothing less than the expression of these skill sets, put though to the test utterly and completely, instead of infinitely theorizing about them. The most glorious moment of the bout emerges in the form of the ensuing peace between the fighters, a legit, palpable sensation, unifying the former enemies and the grateful audience once the collision reached its conclusion.

This is a review of the mma event Strikeforce & M1 Global: Fedor VS Rogers



Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

As result of the UFC's recent inability to get its hands on the tremendous attraction factor represented by Fedor Emelianenko, the enigmatic Russian mixed martial artist finds himself in the position of fulfilling his contract with M1 Global - an organization he is shareholder of - by rendering the three matches he has commitment for under the label. The first of these three collisions is co-promoted with Strikeforce, putting the Last Emperor against Strikeforce notability-, unbeaten knockout artist Brett Rogers, who scored quite an upset when he stopped Andrei Arlovski by knockout, short after Fedor Emelianenko did the same thing to the same man. Not on the same night though, which probably is a fruity turn of events for the Belarusian mma veteran.

Brett Rogers thinks he has a solid chance of stopping the man who is widely regarded as the absolute best the sport has seen so far, though it is worth mentioning that Fedor himself does not think of himself as a complete fighter, let alone as the best there is. What can we anticipate? We can anticipate what we dare to.

Fabrizio Werdum VS Antonio Silva

(Unfortunate) Strikeforce acquirement Fabrizio Werdum (unfortunately) manages to take this match to (an unfortunate) decision, regardless of the good old fashioned beating that gets unleashed upon him in the first round, and, in certain portions of the second. Werdum deserves solid credit for not getting too excited and desperate-, and, for being able to turn this match around by exhibiting convincing cage presence in the third-and-final round. His ability to offer significant resistance power when in the direst of moments, is also of note. Silva is hanging in there by the third round, though with a pretty much empty gas tank. Big Foot loses a decision in a bout he was initial-, successful aggressor of, thus Fabrizio "Boooring" Werdum gets another victory to his record. I start to get impatient regarding my anticipation factor about seeing this - in my opinion - highly overrated fighter being eaten alive by a random cosmic horror from outer space. Joking, of course. I would be content if I were to see Werdum compete against top level opposition, against which he would be utterly crushed, in my current opinion. Nothing against Werdum - except he currently is boring to watch and his style lacks all forms of beauty I am able to pick up on.

Gegard Mousasi VS Sokoudjou

Sokoudjou looks quite efficient in the first round, managing to turn down the volume knob of the cage confidence Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi handles himself with on the proving ground. A talent of steep and solid promises, no doubt, Mousasi finds the antidote against The African Assassin in the second round, ground and pounding a stoppage on him, as result of negating the defenses of the talented Judo practitioner. Observation: Sokoudjou seems to find relatively scare success in top level mixed martial arts.

Jake Shields VS Jason Miller

In this match of bitterly/lazily/miserably balanced canvas molestation, Jake Shields wins a decision victory to gain the Champions' Belt of I Can't Be Bothered to Look Up Which Division. Not a match to please the crowd, but it sure was suitable at giving you the time of preparing yourself for the main event of the evening: Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko VS Brett "The Grim" Rogers.

Fedor Emelianenko VS Brett Rogers

In the very first exchange, Rogers lands a shot that cuts the nose of Fedor, forcing the Last Emperor to breath through the mouth. This act - the breathing through the mouth - always delivers the impression that the one with the damaged nose is exhausted and it is the same with the Last Emperor. Fedor though remains patient in the clinch the two end up in, landing a solid left hook midway in the first round, a strike that invites The Grim to territories he was scarcely seen it so far: the territories of desperate defense. One must admit, Rogers seemed pretty efficient at absorbing punishment. When the two end up on the ground, - courtesy of the subsequent maneuvers The Last Emperor coats his impressive left hook into - Rogers seems to be more competent on the ground than consensus regarded him to be. He defends a kimura attempt from - naturally - Fedor, and finds success at landing some solid shots on his opponent of enigmatic stature, just in time Fedor seems to invite him to a little more less intense period for the time being.

The Last Emperor is quick and efficient at improving on his position before consecutive shots would connect. An armbar attempt from Fedor is about to say hello for fruition, yet the stand up period finds an exhausted Rogers. Since Brett does not show too much eagerness to stand up, Fedor engages him on the ground. In the ensuing - logically - ground game, Fedor goes for another submission attempt, then tries something spectacular, releasing an air to ground missile from above, which Rogers JUST defends. Let's hack reality though and let us scrutinize moments of action packed efficiency, performed by The Grim. Here are the solid ground and pound shots Rogers greeted Fedor with:











The second round witnesses a more aggressive Fedor, finding success at introducing Russian Polar Bear ethics to The Grim, who, one must admit, proves to be quite efficient at withstanding the blows, though shows minimal success at not being emotionally affected by the reigning bombs he was subjected to. Here is the gif animation on how this nice sequence went down:











The fight remains faithful to the idea of the clinch, up to the point from which Rogers shows readiness to cultivate the stand-up with the engaging process included. He backpedals, getting himself ready to encounter The Last Emperor, who is about to state his radical verdict on The Grim and here is how it went down:
























Fedor reigns supreme, Brett Rogers tastes defeat for the first time and it is obvious that he is not liking it. What other challenge the Strikeforce organization will deliver to Fedor Emelianenko via the two subsequent matches The Last Emperor has his current contract for - remains to be seen. There are rumors about Dan Henderson joining the Strikeforce roster in the near future. Fedor VS Henderson? That would be a good pick, no doubt.

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(a good old fashioned beating on) Wall-E

Math of Emotion

Wall-E is 111% professionalism, THEN some more. This is the animation that has a perfect understanding of a consensus stock-psyche, thus the installment pulls you through a series of mathematics spontaneity, each coming to you via masterful calculations, eager to - effectively - toll your strictly expected reactions for the precise outlines of complex emotions. Emotions presented with all the risk free tones of a pink ink, spilled with pinpoint accuracy on a risk free pink canvas.


Wall-E offers no minutes, seconds, not even stolen nanoseconds to any form of freedom you could longing for as an appreciator of this solid CG accomplishment. You are not granted the fluidity to interpret the happenings on the screen in any other way than the way they ARE happening by indeed. Each movement and/or vibe you see or feel on the canvas is placed in front of you because of crystal clear intent. Yet, in reality, Wall-E offers but a harshly limited set of the usual, radical CG emotions, making sure though to squeeze and present the holy pink frick out of them, THEN some more. (For your amusement, by the way.)

The vibes Wall-E collides you with are already declared rigorously, you are but the mirror that will justify how precisely the intended emotions are sought for, how precisely they are provoked out of you. Remember, you are the viewer and you will be tolled for your empathy. Surely, you will laugh when you are wanted to submit to laugh. Surely, you will feel pity when you are wanted to submit to feel pity. This all should be normal. Causing emotions is crucial aspect of art. Wall-E though, I think, does little more than overkills, rapes the usual CG emotions via a perfect understanding of them. And you, as viewer, end up as living justification of how flawless of an understanding of superficial emotional channels the creators do possess.

You will render the emotions, as will the other viewers in the audience. You will endure the same dramaturgical fabric you have seen a 642387462384 times before. While this extremely strait field of interpretation could be viewed as the narrative strength of this animation, in total, Wall-E does not yet aspire, and, as such: naturally does not succeed at presenting more complex emotions than what you already have seen being delivered by the genre on numerous occasions.

At the end of the day, Wall-E is a reasonably solid CG beast taking you by the neck, forcing you to lick up all the foam of risk free, pre-calculated fun and risk free, pre-calculated melancholy it brings to the - presumably - risk free table. It makes sure that the color of your memory of it, and that of the secret inner puke you will deny it caused to eject out of you in a weak moment of escapist realization - will conform nicely to the commanding shade of this installment. Math of Emotion, baby. Pink math of pink emotion to be specific.

Oh, and in case you have wondered, Wall-E is a masterfully calculated and carefully synthesized torpedo of risk free fun for the Whole Family. No irony here at all. And this is the problem, too.

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UFC 104 Machida VS Shogun

now with gif animations

- Lyoto Machida VS Shogun Rua

- Cain Velasquez VS Ben Rothwell

Though many may consider men who enter an mma proving ground little more than hired human pitbulls ripping each other apart for massive money and radical amusement, I tend to reject this view via a yawn of black hole, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for but the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself. The reaction of one's opponent is the reaction to whatever one could offer as offense.

Notice that the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, pure respect spirit and related (?) intelligence may come upon, the limitless respect each fighter deserves simply by making an attempt of expressing themselves thoroughly, honestly on the proving grounds. The biggest respect one could give is the assumption that one needs every skills- and wits to neutralize the rival. A fight is nothing less than the expression of these skill sets, put though to the test utterly and completely, instead of infinitely theorizing about them. The most glorious moment of the bout emerges in the form of the ensuing peace between the fighters, a legit, palpable sensation, unifying the former enemies and the grateful audience once the collision reached its conclusion.

This is a review of the latest UFC event to date, UFC 104 - Shogun VS Machida.



Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida states that getting the belt is the easier part of being a Champion - the harder part is to defend the title via colliding against the top tier challenging forces the UFC has to offer. Machida, as devoted follower of ancient samurai traditions, prefers not to be hit at all, since if a samurai got hit in medieval Japan, then there were chances that the limb the strike landed on, got a truly precise sense - oxymoron? - of the term: separation.

As one of his trainers so precisely stated: to hit Lyoto, you have to find Lyoto. We are yet to see The Dragon surprised-, let alone being chased around in the octagon. As a result of this, Machida gets hit super-rarely and this latter term is a blatant exaggeration, seeing how The Dragon have performed against former Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. Machida seemed to be more aggressive in the cage than his usual (former?) self and showed willingness to take and maintain the initiative, while he remained steps ahead of the rival during the match. The Dragon expresses that once a fighter attacks: holes in the defense are necessarily formed and/or revealed. Machida is a master at spotting these openings and he always seems to occupy the spot the enemy least likes him to be at. With a focus cultivated through hard work and a crystal clear mind, Lyoto Machida's spiritual stance towards fighting reminds me of that of Fedor Emelianenko. These fighters do not enter the proving ground to fight the opponent. They enter to neutralize them.

Lyoto Machida delivers his first title defense and it will be against former Pride! veteran Shogun Rua, a super-aggressive fighter who exhibited pronounced ring rust when debuted in the UFC, yet looked better in his next match that went down against one of the most illustrious faces of mma, Chuck Liddell. Some regard this new form of Shogun the old form of Shogun. You get the idea, right? I think he indeed looked much better than he did in his piteous struggle and subsequent sour victory over mma relic Mark Coleman, yet I can't wait to see what Shogun has to deliver once finds himself in desperation. And, if Lyoto Machida fails to offer him desperation: then I am convinced that Shogun is The Champion. Luckily enough, Rua and his manager believe that now is the time to capitalize on a great opportunity.

An interesting note: Lyoto Machida states that after five successful title defenses, he wants to fight current Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar.

Illustrious mma meat-mountain Ben Rothwell also looks forward to reveal his skill set tonight, rendering his much anticipated UFC debut against exceptional mma prospect Cain Velasquez. This Mexican favorite is widely regarded as the prototype of what is to come in mma, brings nuclear stamina and an extremely sharp skill set to the octagon. These notions are solidified by how Velasquez ate two huge strikes from Cheik Kongo and remained in the game soberly enough to command the opponent to the ground, even better: he manhandled his epically proportioned opponent in a way that looked easy to do.

Ben Rothwell promises that Velasquez is about to have the toughest fight of his career, and, if he - Rothwell - connects with those huge fists via the way Kongo did, then THIS Cain will be yesterday's news.


Anthony Johnson VS Yoshiyuki Yoshida

Anthony Johsnon outclasses- and subsequently grinds down Yoshida with a much more aggressive approach to the standup battle. This stupendous gif animation with paranormal slow motion effect in it shows you how Johnson KTFO the talented Japanese prospect well before the culmination of the first minute.

The meaning of KTFO is what you think it is.











Joe Stevenson VS Spencer Fisher

In the first round, Stevenson opens a cut on Fisher and manages to dictate the pace of the action without finding himself in the vicinity of situations characterized by notable desperation. Stevenson goes for the takedown in the second round and re-opens the cut on Fisher's head with relentless ground and pound work. Fisher can not offer resistance, Joe Daddy passes the guard, locks the limbs of The King and elbows his way to the stoppage via brutal efficiency and here is the gif animation on how this act of helping a fellow fighter out spiritually - well - went down:











Josh Neer VS Gleison Tibau

If Gleison Tibau would not have been able to take down Josh Neer at will, then this match would have had the promise of turning into a friendly training session the audience had the fruity chance of passionately scrutinizing. With Tibau's relentless- and totally successful takedown all over the three finished rounds though, the match radiates an excitement factor that promises good old fashioned intensity, yet sorrowfully fails to get beyond the average caliber which it sinks into. Here is the first of the 1 000 000 + - 1 takedowns Gleison Tibau utilized on Josh Neer:











The story of the fight really boils down to Tibau's inability to deliver punishment once commanded the opposition to the ground, which of course is a result of Neer's highly sophisticated defense skills. Well, if this would have been a defense contest, then Neer surely would have walked away with the W. Yet, his inability to escape Tibau's takedows, costs him the fight tonight.

Ben Rothwell VS Cain Velasquez

Total domination by Velasquez. The Mexican talent has zero problem imposing his will on the opposition, effectively taking apart Rothwell before the veteran fighter would have the chance of noticing the depth of the danger he already is in. Velasquez commands his rival to the canvas on multiple occasions, manhandling Big Ben at the fence between efficient sequences of solid ground and pound work. At the end of the first round, a massively exhausted Rothwell remains in the cage and it is this same Rothwell who answers the bell that greets the second period.

Velasquez is fervent and fresh, has no problem imposing his will on. The Mexican muscles Rothwell to the fence and starts to administer solid shots on the head, but the strikes do not devastate the resistance of the experienced veteran. This though is of little relevance to Referee Mario Yamasaki who decides to end the contest, probably seeing Rothwell as a warrior who lacks all chance to turn this match around tonight. Why embrace unnecessary damage when it reveals itself to you in a palpable fashion? Indeed Rothwell was standing up while he was assaulted, his fighting spirit was intact. Velasquez outclassed him tonight nevertheless and it did not look like Rothwell were about to offer more than what he already have left in the octagon at the time of the stoppage. Consult this stupendous gif animation on how Cain Velasquez expresses his radical verdict on Ben Rothwell's radar:











Lyoto Machida VS Shogun Rua

The championship match has gone into the distance and it saw the most competitive collision The Dragon was subjected to to this day. Shogun looked great against Machida and my personal opinion is that he managed to utterly destruct the invulnerability aura that surrounded Lyoto. During the bout, Shogun finds persistent success with his leg kicks and drags Machida into sequences of desperation from which the challenger is able to offer quite elegant and efficient surprises. Lyoto remains faithful to his style, but Shogun came to this collision knowing the focal elements of this fighting method. Now it is the first time we see someone offering relevant challenge to The Dragon by borrowing-, and skillfully applying elements from the approach The Dragon is master of. Patience, primarily. For the most part, Shogun is the aggressor of the match that has an even-, balanced feel to it.

Yet, to be the man, you have to beat the man, as conventional wisdom tells us. In the UFC, it is no different. In fact, the number of the places that do tell more about the relevance of this truth than the octagon does, is harshly limited. That includes zero, as a possibility. Though Lyoto Machida DID NOT win this fight at all, he did win a decision, as Shogun could not stop him. The Dragon, humble in victory, did not gain any new fans tonight and he expresses his apologies for not being able to deliver a more convincing performance. Lyoto did good, in my opinion. It is Shogun who did GREAT, though. Joe Rogan is wise enough to ask Machida about a rematch against Shogun, for which the reply is positive from the reigning Champion. As of today, it indeed is a match that promises top level mma thrills. Shogun has all my respect for his performance against Machida and I just became a Shogun fan. Being a fan of Machida and Shogun, the factorial of my impatience regarding the rematch between the two is: maximal. Check these slick moves Shogun greets The Dragon with. Also notice the facial expression of angered disbelief, courtesy of Lyoto Machida.











This review of UFC 104 was not brought to you by Budlight, but the difference is drinkability, nevertheless. Thank you for reading this and see you next time.

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UFC 103 Franklin VS Belfort

now with amazing gif animations

- Rich Franklin VS Vitor Belfort

- Mirko CroCop VS Junior Dos Santos

Though many may consider men who enter an mma proving ground little more than hired human pitbulls ripping each other apart for massive money and radical amusement, I tend to reject this view via a yawn of black hole, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for but the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself. The reaction of one's opponent is the reaction to whatever one could offer as offense.

Notice that the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, pure respect spirit and related (?) intelligence may come upon, the limitless respect each fighter deserves simply by making an attempt of expressing themselves thoroughly, honestly on the proving grounds. The biggest respect one could give is the assumption that one needs every skills- and wits to neutralize the rival. A fight is nothing less than the expression of these skill sets, put though to the test utterly and completely, instead of infinitely theorizing about them. The most glorious moment of the bout emerges in the form of the ensuing peace between the fighters, a legit, palpable sensation, unifying the former enemies and the grateful audience once the collision reached its conclusion.

This is a review of the latest UFC event to date, UFC 103 - Franklin VS Belfort.



Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

UFC 103 brings you illustrious mma sensation Vitor Belfort taking on Rich Franklin, who - as UFC commentator Mike Goldberg sanely observes - does not exactly have a hard time taking on steep challenges. Coming off from recent fights against top of the food chain mma legends like Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva, The Ace resonates pure professionalism in the prefight interviews, pointing out how he is aware of Belfort's exceptional abilities, - speed and accuracy, particularly - yet it is not the first time the former math teacher steps up against world class competition. In fact, you could hardly see Franklin in anything else than world class collisions. Only Anderson Silva could crush him so far, but we are yet to see someone who confronted The Spider and avoided getting crushed or getting utterly outclassed.

Mirko CroCop states that he does not know if he will capture the UFC Heavyweight Title, but he knows he will die trying. This is a statement of epic proportions, no doubt and the night will answer a casual-, yet integrally related question about the seriousness of it, as well. Can Mirko CroCop stop talented Brazilian mma promise Junior Dos Santos? He surely should if he is to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with in the octagon, as Mirko's performances in the UFC were well below expectation levels.

Tyson Griffin VS Hermes Franca

An even-, relatively uneventful first round unfolds with short, yet passionate exchanges whenever the warriors show readiness to engage one another beyond the consensus feeling out boundaries. This tempo exhibits keen willingness to characterize the match further on in the second period, yet Tyson manages to land a decent right hand to knock his pink haired rival down. A short and effective ground and pound assault enters and entertains consensus in the octagon. Hermes Franca - pink paint comes in separate package - shows initial readiness to escape, but crazy little thing/mental construct called destiny eventually seals the role of the defeated for him, well defined courtesy of Griffin's accurate air to ground missiles. Check this vulgar display of power in this amazing gif animation.












Paul Daley VS Martin Kampmann

Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann is a fighter the UFC is fond of giving matches to and understandably so. Firts of all, Martin Kampmann has a charisma-, a face, primarily. And has the mad skills, too. Even the

m4d0r skillz0rz, br4d4!

The Danish warrior prefers a standup battle and is never afraid to engage and exchange. Though Kampmann has tasted the feeling of being utterly steamrolled before and he obtained this metaspiritual - metaphysical - experience by the ruthless fists of none other than Nate "The Great" Marquardt in UFC 88 Breakthrough, many maintain the belief that repetition is among the sweetest mates of remembrance. Therefore, The Hitman gets his ass handed to him once again by an extremely technical Paul Daley who manages to surprise both the Danish talent and the audience by his high level showcase of quality standup skills.

The Hitman expresses his dissatisfaction of the stoppage, but, paranormal experience Joe Rogan speaks the truth this time: Referee Yves Lavigne protected Kampmann from being unnecessarily hurt. Like: being knocked unconscious. Sure, Kampmann remained on his feet. But the fact that he he had little if any knowledge of this, is closer to certain than tree jackpots in a row is, one must suspect. No, I was joking. At least, it was my attempt at that. Maybe Lavigne should have had let Daley land some more bombs on The Hitman to see if the Danish talent is able to recover - yet the impressions is rather strong that he was seriously hurt and why take risks that are - I won't escape from this - very risky?












Mirko CroCop VS Junior Dos Santos

CroCop lets Dos Santos take the initiative. Both fighters find success in the introductory exchanges, then, when the pace takes on the calmer rhythm that it seemingly was aiming for from the start, the fighters deliver a tactical battle. Not of the tic-tac-toe, though! It is of the toe-to-toe! Hey, thank you for sticking around. You are hardcore, baby. Though CroCop lets Dos Santos to be the aggressor, the Pride! veteran expresses strict control by answering the attacks of the Brazilian Promise with more efficient replies.

In the second round, Mirko spends his time in pretty much constant defensive stance, probably charging up his left leg. Dos Santos attacks, CroCop grabs him and shakes him off. This happens about ten times in a row. Both fighters manage to land some solid shots in the round, though one has to have the impression that Dos Santos was more efficient due to his readiness to take the initiative. Mirko lands an accidental low blow.

In the third and final round, CroCop comes out with much more aggressiveness but eventually finds himself massively rebounded by knees to the body and even to the head. Though Dos Santos' counters are pretty effective, CroCop tries to summon the wits to make a comeback - interrupted though by an uppercut that causes interference in the veteran's vision. Fortunately, Mirko seems to see on after the match. Which, due to a verbal submission by the Pride! veteran: comes to a conclusion in the final round. A remarkable victory for Dos Santos, no doubt. As for Mirko, it remains more questionable than ever if we will be able to see him throwing a highlight reel head kick in the octagon.












Rich Franklin VS Vitor Belfort

Belfort is known for the unique speed he possesses and the most convincing method of assuring the audience that the speed is intact-, accessible-, AND ready to be unleashed, is to: unleash it. Rich Franklin is one of the most mature mixed martial artists on planet Earth and one has to have and cultivate the impression that even he is surprised by the speed Vitor explodes into a flurry of ruthless efficiency with when the split second is right to introduce the assault. This match turned out as it was predicted by Randy Couture, since, what Randy Couture predicted is depicted below and it sure as hell correlates with what Randy Couture predicted. Cool, hu'!

Can you spot the insane speed variant?






















Frank Trigg VS Josh Koscheck

Mma veteran Frank Trigg expresses that the fighter who he is stepping up against now, is reminding him of his - Trigg's - former self. Koscheck rejects the idea and states that he does not like to be compared to anyone. Yet, once he is confronted with Trigg's words of how the veteran regards Koscheck as a younger version of himself, - still Trigg's - Josh expresses: "Well, then this younger version of THAT fighter probably will kick the shit out of the older." As for the result - the Referee puts an end to the contest 3:36 in the first round. Technical knockout victory for Josh Koscheck.












A decent night of fights with Mirko CroCop's trademark head kick nowhere to be found in it. So Opinion Onion gives you one via an amazing gif animation. This gif animation shows off how Mirko CroCop demolishes an opponent utilizing his total brutal left kick of laser beam accuracy and related epic awesomeness. Thank you, come again!










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UFC 102 Couture VS Nogueira review

now with amazing gif animations

- Randy Couture VS Antonio Nogueira

- Keith Jardine VS Thiago Silva

Though many may consider men who enter an mma proving ground little more than hired human pitbulls ripping each other apart for massive money and radical amusement, I tend to reject this view via a yawn of black hole, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for but the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself. The reaction of one's opponent is the reaction to whatever one could offer as offense.

Notice that the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, pure respect spirit and related (?) intelligence may come upon, the limitless respect each fighter deserves simply by making an attempt of expressing themselves thoroughly, honestly on the proving grounds. The biggest respect one could give is the assumption that one needs every skills- and wits to neutralize the rival. A fight is nothing less than the expression of these skill sets, put though to the test utterly and completely, instead of infinitely theorizing about them. The most glorious moment of the bout emerges in the form of the ensuing peace between the fighters, a legit, palpable sensation, unifying the former enemies and the grateful audience once the collision reached its conclusion.

This is a review of the latest UFC event to date, UFC 102 - Couture VS Nogueira.



Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

There is no doubt that Randy Couture has solidified himself as a navigational beacon of mixed martial arts and citing his age starts to become a household cliche. Couture silenced critics on numerous occasions already, triumphing over stronger- younger opposition in matches where many have considered him to be the epitome of underdog. The Natural's strong wrestling background, trademark dirty boxing style and charismatic, disciplined personality define a veteran warrior with a competitive spirit that seems to exhibit intact desire to collide with opposition.

Randy, coming off an eventual defeat against current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, delivered a disciplined and quite competent performance against the much bigger and considerably younger man, an accomplishment Couture hopes to bring to victorious fruition this time around. His current opponent, Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira, as legendary of a mixed martial artist as Couture is, needs to offer a spectacular performance against Randy, as the Brazilian suffered a memorable defeat by his previous opponent, Frank Mir. Mir managed to take Minotauro apart without the Brazilian finding chance to offer notable resistance, leading many to ask if the wars "Big Nog" have fought have finally caught up with him.

There was a time when a collision between Randy Couture and Antonio Nogueira was considered to be the most exquisite match the sport could have produce, as Couture and Nogueira were delivering exceptional performances on opposite ends of the globe.
Though many do claim that the match should have been organized when both warriors seemed to be unstoppable, their recent defeats may serve as motivation to take extra risks for a memorable victory.

UFC 102 brings rather strong co-main events as additions to the central showdown. Efficient knockout artist Thiago Silva comes to claim relief for the recent loss he have suffered against Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida. With only this particular loss under his belt, Silva promises to stop "The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine, who is one of the most unorthodox fighters of present day mma. Though Keith is notorious of his ability to cause upsets, he seems to have a problem to remain consistent, often suffering a devastating defeat after a significant victory.

Fluent muscle machine Nate "The Great" Marquardt is back to collide against Jiu-Jitsu notability Demian Maia. Coming to this bout with his exceptional talent on the ground, it is no secret that Maia wants to take this fight downstairs as soon as possible, while Nate will be content on keeping it on the feet.

Brandon Vera VS Krzysztof Soszynski

Vera was a rising star for a certain period, yet this star lost significant amount of its brightness via the recent performances it brought to the Octagon. As result of a less rigorous training regime and a lifestyle centering around myriad variations of fun, talented Brandon had a hard time pulling the trigger. Vera states that he is aware of his unsatisfactory performances and now he is ready to prove himself against steep competition. His opponent, Krysztof Soszynski is a perfect candidate for this. As a fresh addition to the rankings, Ultimate Fighter prospect Soszynski had cut through initial opposition as knife through butter, now he needs to evidentiate if he is able to give a fight-, let alone a loss for a fighter of Vera's caliber.

It is clear that he is not yet able to do so. Brandon Vera commands the fight with intact technical superiority right from the start, giving no opportunity to Soszynski to connect with those heavy hands. The meeting showcases Vera's ability of remaining steadily consistent as the superior technician, while the night serves a great opportunity for Soszynski to evaluate what areas he needs to work on, as he has been clearly outclassed tonight by a fighter who plays the game on a more involved level already.

Demian Maia VS Nate Marquardt

One punch of stopping power put an end to this contest before the first minute of the meeting could have a chance to slip by. Marquardt catches Maia as the
Jiu-Jitsu master tries to throw a kick. Though the impact is tremendous, Maia shows spectacular tenaciousness, recovering in seconds. These seconds of recovery were given to him by none other than his opponent, though. Nate "The Great" Marquardt reveals beautiful sportsmanship, showing mercy to Maia by not assaulting him during the brief period when he - Maia - is unable to defend himself after the stunning blow that knocked him down.



Chris Leben VS Jake Rosholt

Jake Rosholt does a decent job at frustrating heavy hitter hometown favorite Chris Leben by giving solid competition in the standup, even claiming dominant ground positions throughout the first two rounds. Though the standup exchanges do deliver more and more excitement as Leben tries to turn the heat on, Rosholt proves to be skilled enough on the feet to remain in the game throughout an intense second round with increased level of passion present in it. This trademark passion of the hometown favorite does not arrive to victorious fruition this time around, as Chris finds himself getting choked out in the final segment of this memorable meeting.

Todd Duffee VS Tim Hague

Todd Duffee sets a new UFC record, knocking out Tim Hague in no more than seven seconds.

Keith Jardine VS Thiago Silva

UFC 102 delivers yet another rapid showdown, as Thiago Silva knocks Jardine out at 1:35 of the first round.

Randy Couture VS Antonio Nogueira

Following his devastating defeat to Frank Mir, Minotauro comes back to the Octagon as a resurrected warrior, ready to showcase- and even to redefine the qualities that made him an illustrious notability of the sport. Nogueira is more than ready to slug it out with Couture on the feet, getting the better of the exchanges each time the collision invites fists to ignite.

The Brazilian drops Couture on multiple occasions during the bout, even coming close to finishing the legendary hometown favorite off with solid ground and pound work in the second segment of the meeting. Nogueria takes every opportunity to offer a submission attempt on the ground. Though Randy is able to survive downstairs, the only moments he shows offensive success by, are some accurate punches landing on Rodrigo, who comes forward after these precise, powerful strikes like nothing would have happened. At the end of the third round, with a desperate Couture trying to improve on a temporary dominant position, it is clear that the Minotauro the audience hoped to see have came back and he proved to be way too much for Randy Couture this time. A spectacular performance from Nogueira, revealing the results of top level human discipline and spiritual maturity. This is a match chronicling the comeback- the resurrection of the Minotauro. The Minotauro rivals do fear of, the Minotauro who eyes Brock Lesnar now.











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