UFC 85 Bedlam

Introduction

Mixed martial arts clearly became a significant form of both mass entertainment and - as Bruce Lee put it - an expression of the human body, the latter being, no doubt, the original field of operation of these ancient traditions, now living and breathing through competitive events around the world. Though many may consider men who enter the proving grounds little more than hired human pitbulls to rip each other apart for hard cash and radical amusement, I tend to utterly reject this rudimentary view, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for 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.

Japanese people compete to gain an insight of their own current abilities through the collision process of their skills with that of other's. To me, 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, uncompromised, pure respect each fighter deserves simply by stating themselves on the proving grounds, regardless of the results. The ensuing peace between fighters after a good collision is such a palpable, legit sensation that it never got old so far - and won't ever will.

This here is a review of the UFC event UFC 85 Bedlam, time to punch that Read more button, baby!

Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

This here tender London night gives you a main event of above average anticipation factor, while the undercard gives co-main attractions that have both a British favorite and a good amount of colossal heavyweights to them. British UFC warrior Michael "The Count" Bisping is not someone you can do a UFC event without AND held it the UK at the sane time, and the night of Bedlam is - amazingly 'nuff, now that we do know that it was held in London - such an event, indeed. Therefore you have the charismatic Bisping getting himself ready to prove himself before a home friendly (sic!) environment, while his opponent is none other than rising star Jason "Dooms" Day who plans to deliver decent sitorgan molestation via legs against the hometown favorite.

The aforementioned event is but the co-main event, though. A collision between Brandon "The Truth" Vera and Fabricio Werdum is a bout of significant anticipation, too. The focal match gives us future UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes, who comes to reestablish himself both as a factor against a force of three letters that dominated his butt twice before - delicate hint: G, P, S, reorder - and as a warrior who is more than ready to reveal all limits for the younger fighters whom happen to be lucky/unlucky enough to do battle with him. Thiago "Pitbull" Alves is such a fighter. This young warrior exhibits furious aggressivity and a seemingly ever-increasing degree of precision. He knocked out Karo Parisyan with a knee, not something you see on a regular basis. (The Karo KO, not the knee). Now the pitbull coming to the octagon being aware that whoever leaves as the victor, shall face the GPS again! Uhm, sorry. Shall face GSP again.

Nate Marquardt vs Thales Leites

UFC 85 Bedlam did not lack good old controversies, this lineup delivered one of those. The organization considered up and comer Thales Leites good enough of a fighter to put against top level resistance, a degree which Nate "The Great" Marquardt is a firm representative of. Leites indeed catches Nate with a nice right hand in the first round, yet the collapsing veteran exhibits a superb ground defense skill set and manages not just to escape, he even gains the upper hand from a position many would consider a safe moment to form firm defense on. A stable uppercut puts Leites to the fence where Marquardt follows up with a - logically - consecutive series of attacks. The round wraps up with The Great assaulting a Leites who is definitely in the game, yet he has a definite hard time playing it, as well.

In the second round, following a takedown, Marquardt unleashes an illegal knee on his opponent. No knees on grounded opponent, but a grounded opponent it was indeed, whom The Great released his knee on. One point is abducted. Though Leites is allowed to spend some time to recover, - some time is five minute in this case, by the way - Marquardt forces out quite some wits and quite some blood out of his rival via a relentless ground and pound sequence which is to follow up the takedown Nate greets his opponent with. Marquardt even administers hilariously effective air-ro ground shots, these are not some things you see every day, as delivering bombs between the legs is not too easy, - except if you are allowed to and your partner is not necessarily a man, but choice is free - yet this is masterfully accomplished here by The Great. By the end of the round, the young talent Thailes looks decently battered (oxymoron?) and exhausted, yet manages to flow through to the third, final round.

The period to conclude this match gives us three interesting focal moments: Referee Herb Dean abducts yet another point from The Great because of elbows to the back of the head, though the replay shows that it seems as a controversial decision. As Herb Dean informs Marquardt, he (Herb[ert?]) already warned him once about elbows to the back of the head, and how those are nonos. Thus yet another point is abducted from the veteran. The remaining portion of the round has a massive ground character to it, with either fighter being sort of OK with wrapping this up without magnificent moments to conclude this collision. Or, are they? By the time of the 10-sec horn, The Great picks up Thailes and performs a pretty decent pile driver ! ! on him. First time I ever saw such thing in an mma bout. Surely, looks superb and all - but I wonder if it's - well - "safe." What I mean is this: if one headplants opposition through an angle, chances seem quite big to cause neck injury, no?

With the two points abducted, it is Thailes Leites who goes away as the vitror, regardless of the thorough beating Marquardt unleashed on him. Nice show of class and respect for each other after the bout nevertheless, and let me tell you this: Marquardt never looked bad in the cage before and he looked very good in it by the night of the Bedlam. He states he wants another chance against Anderson "The Spider" Silva. Silva beat The Great before, nevertheless such an integral Marquardt as this probably should be given another chance.

Brandon Vera vs Fabricio Verdum

This was both a nice and an unfortunate one, little doubt about that. Brandon Vera is a very talented and efficient heavyweight with significant wins on his record, for example, he took and won battle against former UFC Champion Frank Mir and even against Robert Downey Senior from the idiotic Iron Man movie. (One is lie.) Brandon also performs a crazy ritual dance to celebrate his victories with, so there is not much to dislike about the dude. As of the night of the Bedlam, Vera's only loss in the UFC is to Tim Sylvia, whom he put a superbly, massively and desperately boring fight with in UFC 77 Hostile Territory. Let us hope that they will never meet again, or that both of them will possess a handkerchief with chloroform. I am ready to ask for one, truly.

Fabricio Verdum comes to the UFC from Pride!. His debut was sort of sleepytime, though, rendering very moderate excitement of boxing character with Andrei Arlovski in UFC 70 Nations Collide. He was more convincing by the time of UFC 80 Rapid Fire, there he could TKO Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga, and, judging from the size and efficiency of the Big Nose - this is what "Napao" means - not many can do that. Remember, it is mainly Gonzaga who eradicated CroCop's UFC career. Oh, interestingly, he KO-d CroCop by the time Werdum lost to Arlovski.

This match reaches an unfortunate stoppage before it could start or it could reach a satisfactory conclusion. I think Dan Miragliotta stopped the Kimbo vs Colossus fight soberly and correctly, but now I think he committed a mistake. But is is allowed to commit one, even two, isn't it right? Just make sure it is not in the same year if you are a pro mma Referee. It is just so unfortunate to see a probable mistake being committed under such intense circumstances. But we absolutely must understand, I think, that fighter's safety is first. No reason to cause permanent damage. Suffice it to say that after a very nice, cautious back-and forth period that characterized the first portion of the first round, Werdum manages to soak in a full mount and unleashes bombs on Vera from this dominant position with 15-10 seconds left from the round. Dan Miragliotta stops the contest and it is arguable if he had the proper reason to do so. Though I am not in position to judge HIS judgment, please check the replay and ask yourself this: wouldn't you agree that one more punch should have been allowed? As Brandon might got hit from the one that caused the stoppage indeed, yet he surely tried to defend it, too. Something tells me that Werdum and Vera 2 will be arranged and it is safe to say that we had chance to watch less interesting lineups before. Can't help but think that it would be funny to see Dan Miragliotta putting a controversial stoppage to Werdum vs Vera 2 with Vera mounted and pounding on a defending Werdum with 10 seconds remaining from the frist round.

Jason Lambert vs Luiz Cane

Jason "The Punisher" Lambert was amazing in UFC 80 Rapid Fire where he dictated relentless pace and exhibited senseless aggression, just to be knocked out silly by the opposition he probably thought of as being an entity that has no will nor desire left to offer any resistance. Results of this approach: Wilson Gouveia knocked out Lambert silly. So, senseless aggression was the aggression of The Punisher, indeed. A nice notion arouse from this night, offered by Ultimate Fighter veteran Mike "Quick" Swick in his pre-fight interview: Swick states that thinking you can not be knocked out is one of the greatest disadvantages you can enter the proving ground with.

Now let me tell you this: I'm getting somewhat baffled by Jason Lambert's fighting stlye, as he is not fighting anymore, he goes there reckless, semi-silly, wanting to crush opposition with a series of haymakers, thank you, come again. Reckless, crude, lacking all elegance. Not to mention the little mind game that occurs to me. Imagine how long - that is: 0.5 or 1 seconds - could Lambert survive for if to exhibit this senseless gameplay against such a subtle fighter as Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida, for example. Bah! Also let me confess that I ended up satisfied seeing how this awkward, I dare say this: unintelligent way of deconstruction had to be payed for by it's exhibitor. UFC debutant Luiz Cane spots and exploits the huge holes in Lambert's defense who does absolutely nothing save throwing his bigass, faceless punches in the air. Cane nicely, cleanly, precisely connects through these holes on numerous occasions, leaving The Punisher as a caught man. Little time is needed prior Cane wrapping this up with some consecutive shots at the fence, affecting a Jason Lambert who is not necessarily in the octagon, anymore. He is totally at some place else, wondering what, how, any why went wrong. Here is what, how, and why went wrong, Jason:

As for the "what": you thought you can not be knocked out silly. Wrong.
As for the "how": you played the game accordingly. Superwrong.
As for the "why": because you wanted to showcase your amazing skill set, ending up a reckless, semi-silly fighter for the time being. Hyperwrong, though totally cool with the audience, have no doubt about that.

Jason Lambert remains a fighter of promising qualities nevertheless, yet he needs to decide wheteher he wants to remain "just that" or will choose instead to evolve on fruity paths as a fighter. Right now he goes along the darkest, stupidest path I am afraid, but it is never too late to turn back, no? Not until there is light to see where you came from, that is. Lambert needs to exhibit a way more significant degree of caution and defense. I understand that his nickname The Punisher demans something, but let me ask you this: is The Punisher punishes himself? If this is the case, then I must admit that this Lambert was the best, even BESTEST Lambert I EVER seen to date. If The Punisher wants to punish others, though: then he damn better start reading my UFC reviews, OR start listening to his coach OR both, as I am pretty sure neither his coach or I will advice Lambert to go out there with the intention to destruct the other man by 1 punch and forget about the concepts of caution, defense, efficiency. Bah, bah, and a triplebah!

Marcus Davis vs Mike Swick

Marcus "The Irish Handgrenade" Davis is on a winning streak composed of 11 victories, thus the former professional boxer and knower of very effective punches - see this amazing UFC 80 Rapid Fire review - comes confident and well prepared to claim a veteran trophy for himself. Mike "Quick" Swick does NOT prove to be the ideal candidate, though. Intelligently utilizing his considerable height and reach advantage, I think it is safe to say that Swick virtually does with-and to Marcus what he wants to. This means takedowns, mostly, and consecutive ground and pound sequences of mild excitement-, yet significant efficiency factor. Marcus Davis is a veeery very hard nut to crack - if you can crack him at all, that is - so you can not say that he would be absent from the fight, not for one second. Yet he is simply: outplayed, outfought, overplayed, overfought - please choose your option - this night. Swick redeems his relentless attacks to cuts that are slowly yet certainly do form on Davis's face to the point where both the existent scars are opened up and new additions are keenly offered. A well deserved decision goes for Swick as a result of keeping it steady while on the feet, and being slowly, surely efficient and persistent on the ground. The ground, where this match boiled down to it's bloody conclusion, indeed. Credit for The Irish Handgrenade for putting up a decent fight and a firm defensive gameplay that allowed him to keep wits and reputation intact, and credit for Mark Swick for defusing The Irish Handgrenade and still throwing it away.

Michael Bisping vs Jason Day

Boy, I LUV these fights in which - as Joe Rogan precisely puts it - one man does not even have the chance to start. This is an exact case of such occasions. Local favorite and recognized face of present day mma Michael Bisping tears through Jason Day as knife through butter, truly not much else to say about this. "Bad" is something that Bisping never was, instead he starts to be very good, and now it is superhard to fail noticing this. I hope the UFC stops putting him against casual resistance - remember his match with Charles McCarthy in UFC 83 Serra vs St. Pierre 2? - and we will see him compete against top level contenders.

Matt Hughes vs Thiago Alves

Though Thiago Alves was unable to fulfill the weight requirements for the match, Matt Hughes accepted the fight nevertheless. Notice that Hughes indeed looks quite a bit slimmer compared to his "usual"? composure. The bout naturally delivers a Matt Hughes determined to take Alves to the ground, the future Hall of Famer shared these plans even in the pre-fight interview and acts accordingly, indeed. In the first period it is actually Alves who takes Hughes down after Matt proves to be persistent of closing the gap between and fight either from the clinch at the fence or on the ground. Alves manages to connect with a significant air-to ground bomb in the ensuing, brief ground period that ends by Hughes's very quickly utilized and very quickly resisted armbar attempt. The remaining period of the round then pretty much clones and maintains the intentions that ensued by the start, then the competitors once again go to the ground after Alves lands a knee on the former Champion. A rather eventless ground period the round ends as and with, though some air-to ground missiles from Alves save - ironically, save indeed - some of the day in the final seonds. Now we are but moments away from the shocking, even mildly and even properly emotional developments that are about to take place in the second round. And, as I noticed this: those will happen regardless how many times you rewind the stuff!

Hughes' persistence to take Alves down claims yet another knee to be placed firmly and intact on the former Champion's head. This one was a nasty, too that opened a cut on Matt's face and forced him to a defensive game on the ground where Alves forces him to via dominant position kept intact. Alves proves to be both viciously effective, and effectively vicious: you can see how he tries to worsen the wound by pushing his head to it in a rapid but mild fashion that could not be regarded as headbutts, but probably had the chance to make the cut worse. Hughes manages to escape from the ground by effectively muscling Alves and himself up to the fence, though impressive move it is, also the last he makes in this bout. He fails to get a hold of the opposition and takes a brief moment to recover with the just-escaped Alves being relatively absent. Thiago though chooses to charge: a huge flying knee connects on Matt that results both in a very dangerously bent left knee as result of collapsing and surely there are effects too that are better left alone unless you are pro level mma fighter. And, if you are: then they are better left alone even more, probably.

Alves wraps this collision up by a finishing punch on the grounded Hughes and emerges victorious over the future Hall of Famer. An impressive accomplishment. Alves publicly asks UFC President Dana White to give him a title shot. Matt Hughes was particularly cool in the post-fight interview: he assures all that there is at least one fight left in him and clarifies that he even has ideas about whom to fight it with. Indeed, Matt Serra and Matt Hughes effectively owe that fight for many. Not just for the fans. For themselves, too. Matt Hughes was very humane and sympathetic in this here post-fight. He was never as bitter of a loser as you would anticipate him to be, or he just never shown and never shows that publicly, I do not know. But he handles losses very professionally when observed and querried, that is not a matter to debate about. He voices how his kids are watching the event at home, and that he is disappointed for them, not for himself. This adds emotional content of proper registers to the night, in my opinion.

Antoni Hardonk vs Eddie Sanchez

UFC 85 Bedlam gives a very nice heavyweight collision that did have potential to go to the distance, and indeed chose to put the first period behind itself. Antoni Hardonk - mind the k, please mind the k - is a massive heavyweight with a strong chin and unleasher of his trademark legkicks of blatant power. Eddie Sanchez similarly is a heavyweight factor you better start count with seriously as he has the tendency to put up helluva' fights against all placed in front of him. This collision had a nice back and forth character as Eddie Sanchez caught his rival even on two occasions, though had problems finding and unleashing efficient solutions against the taller competitor when they ended up on the ground or in the clinch. The bout also had the fortunate tendency to deliver fighters who prefer to wrap confrontations up in the standing position if option to do so is affordable, thus the match brings considerable peek moments of the standing character, spiced briefly by segments of a ground based warfare. When such leg kicks and punches do fly around though, sooner or later someone WILL refuse to go down, and someone will be quite keen to do JUST that, if you grasp my hopefully delicate meaning here. This nice heavyweight collision gives you a Hardonk - now truly mind the k, please! - in the end who bangs out a TKO over Eddie Sanchez at the fence whom hardly could be accused of not having the fighting spirit or the decent chin.

Of the remaining bouts I had not bear much interest, therefore I wrap this up, having the definite focal points of the night accounted on. Hope you had a fine evening and found the review useful - thank you for reading it, and see you next time.

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