UFC 101 Declaration review

now with amazing gif animations

- BJ Penn VS Kenny Florian

- Anderson Silva VS Forrest Griffin

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 101 - Declaration.



Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

This particular night brings you a championship collision between BJ "The Prodigy" Penn and Kenny "KenFlo" Florian. The Challenger surely have come a long way to be at the point where he is at by the night, yet, after watching the Countdown to UFC 101 Show - the show every hardened mma fan despises passionately, in fact, so much that they will watch it multiple times so they could hate it more and more - I have the impression that Kenny Florian has no actual faith in himself. This is a risky sentence to write down, I know. Especially if Kenny is your neighbor. I checked, he is NOT my neighbor currently, or he is a Master of Deceiving - so I resonate that once again, this time though, I will make an attempt to solidify my claim.

There is no doubt that Kenny have demolished the recent title contention roster in an impressive fashion, - meaning the actions, not the gear - yet, in my opinion, that particular opposition was not too steep by the time Florian made a run through it. Following his loss to former Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk, the

Oh My God, They Killed Kenny!

have returned to the drawing board to reinvent himself as a ma... as a Ronin capable to obtain yet another shot at the title. In the meantime though, BJ Penn obtained that particular title by demolishing Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk via lethal playfulness and here is how it went down:



Explanation: on this particular gif animation, BJ "The Prodigy" Penn connects with a couple of precise strikes on Sean Sherk, then he unleashes a Flying Knee of Diddchu-Ceetath-Chit on the rival who is forced to end up at the fence as result of the accumulative impact of these integral, accurate assaults. The Little Buddha came to make a radical verdict - and it is so that Penn drops some bombs on Sherk to - watch this highly illegal line: - to ... dot all the "I"-s and cross all the "T"-s. By the way: this "dot all the "I"-s and cross all the "T"- s stuff is from Kenny. He resonated this when he was asked about his preparation against BJ.

Though the Champion have changed, the determination of Kenny Florian, if anything, have grown even bigger, knowing that the current title holder is none other than one of the most legendary figure of the sport: BJ Penn. You see - you would think that there is no better way of becoming a Legend than to erase one. But this is not so. The way I see it now - if Kenny demolishes someone - he still has no faith in himself. This is my personal impression. Watch the Countdown to UFC 101 show. The way Kenny states those lines - there is not a word he says that sounds honest to me. Do not misunderstand me, or at least not constantly, please. I have respect for Kenny. But I think he has no respect for himself. This is not the proper word. He has no conviction in himself. I have the impression that Kenny is a damaged warrior currently and he will not become Champion even if he becomes Champion.

These are just impressions and there are infinite of those. Mines are not more- or not less proper or legit than that of other observer. I want to write honest reviews and my honest, current impression of the current Kenny Floarin is that no matter how good a fight Kenny fights, it is a fight resonating a denial of weakness and not the expression of greatness. These are introductory thoughts, mind you I, herein.

Anyway. Roger Huerta is a passionate fighter and stuff - and stuff, mainly - but he made the mistake of not regarding Florian as a top level mma fighter, stating that spending time with Kenny in the octagon will be a piece of cake. What an absurd, ridiculous statement. I'm glad and relatively satisfied that Huerta's ass got outplayed by Florian in UFC 87 Seek and Destroy. Then the collision against Joe "Daddy" Stevenson. Ouch. You kidding me?? Stopping Joe Stevenson? You sure? Stopping Joe "Daddy" Stevenson is no news. When Joe "Daddy" Stevenson stops someone instead - THAT is news.

As of today, he is a "statementmaker" mma fighter and here is how it goes: you use Joe Daddy to state that you are ready to deconstruct even more talented fighters than he is. You want to get into title contention, you defeat Stevenson, who still has some mysterious, nevertheless, seemingly firm belief that he is the Champ, but circumstances were not appropriate enough to state-, to manifest this inner verdict so far. The most tenacious of all these circumstances is called: Joe Stevenson, I'm afraid.

Joe Daddy is a decent gatekeeper and a - watch this! - "good average fighter". But projecting that fighter as a potential candidate for a Champion bores me immensely as he currently clearly lacks the qualities possessed by the elite. Projecting him as candidate for Champion became pointless by the moment he actually cried after his loss to BJ Penn. There is nothing wrong with emotions. In fact, I love them, I am so emotional about them. But a Champion controls the emotions. This, among other things, is a focal quality of a Champion, you see. As long as you cry after a loss in the octagon, you can have my evil laugh but not my sympathy, sorry. I am not laughing at you because I am evil. I am laughing at the fact that how miserably - and metaphorically - lost you are and I am 101% ready to pour life and sobriety to you if you let me.

As cited, in reality, currently Stevenson clearly lacks the qualities of a Champion, so, the fact that Kenny have beaten him, fills me with the same excitement factor I feel when I witness a washing powder advertisement falling out of a mailbox. Okay, one of them fills me with more excitement. But the one that fills me with more excitement, does not involve Stevenson < - hint!, hint! Let's be honest and relatively pseudo-scientific here, ladies and gentlemen dressed as ladies: BJ Penn gave Joe Stevenson the definite hurt-real-baaad to emerge as Champion, thank you Joe, please come again. Stevenson scores a submission victory over talented Jiu-Jitsu contender Wilson Gouveia in UFC 86 Jackson VS Griffin and escapes the horrific clutch of the double loss. Thank you Joe, deliver yet another victory and I will believe that BJ did not swallow a part of your fighting spirit.

UFC 91 Couture VS Lesnar: Stevenson gets submitted by Kenny "I Finish Fights!" Florian, a bout to determine the warrior to step up against BJ "The Prodigy" Penn by the night of the Declaration. < - No point in clicking on this link. It points here. Question arises: what do I want with all this? Easy: I wanted to state that beating down Joe Stevenson or submitting him is surely a solid accomplishment, but I don't think that it means that you automatically have the readiness to face BJ Penn. But, what the hell - the whole point of this particular night is to address this particular question. Kenny delivers - in my opinion - staggeringly cheesy lines in his pre-fight interviews, making his Legendary exclamation of "BJ is the Master and I want to KILL that Master!" look pale. Kenny is after a rigorous training regime, no doubt. I am sure he mastered all these implausible, better-bite-your-tongue lines he delivers in the pre-fight interviews, as well. It's like a ninja B movie from the '80s, involving a Destiny, a Determination, the Honor of a Ronin - oxymoron? - and other vague matters like that. I like the part in the Countdown show in which BJ laughs out, asking: "Did he really say that sh*t?" Anyway. I expect BJ Penn to blow Kenny Florian away as a tornado, yet, I am eager to see if Florian can offer something that the Little Buddha will be surprised by. The other nice attraction of the night is Anderson Silva taking on Forrest Griffin. The Spider moves up a weight class to deliver a match against a man who likes to come out and brawl. My amazement of how Silva's latest two matches is blamed as being but pure boredom, is: considerable. UFC President Dana White states how bored he was with the Thales Leites fight. But, look what Leites did: little suspiciouscheese Leites hurries to the ground each time Silva molests his body or face. Phah! And the audience blames Silva for sticking to the standup? A special announcement, brother: every fight starts in the standup position. I understand if Leites, as a Jiu-Jitsu wiz', wants to wage the war on the ground. Then invite the Spider to the ground with force and ruthless efficiency! Don't expect him to go there with you. Truly laughable octagon behavior and now Silva has to hold his back for it. This is not right. In my opinion, Leites was a big p-word for lying around in the octagon, discrediting himself and the Spider with this ridiculous approach to fighting. Would he do that in a real life situation, as well? In a bar fight? Lie on his back? Wow! Oh, I can imagine Thalis Leites's joy when someone Bas Ruttens his shifty/shady, sneaky/cheeky, tactical/analytical, strategic, lie-around Jiu-Jitsu ass with a casual chair in the vicinity. Pfff. Ah, Bah and a Krach! I defend the Spider herein and I defend both of his recent performances that he was accused of immense boredom for. I enjoyed every second of the Cote fight in UFC 90 Cote VS Silva as well and I do not say this because I enjoy cultivating a different opinion than that of other people or outer intelligences from deep space. I say this because it is totally clear that Silva played two very intelligent- and very focused matches against both fighters. But - I know this will be harsh, haha - do not throw pearls to the pigs, as they will stomp on it.

No rigorous, scientific mma chairguru would regard Silva's latest performances as boring. Cote damaged his own knee, how that is Silva's fault? The Spider was connecting with brutal shots all the time and Cote demonstrated true warrior spirit by dragging the Champion to the third round. Still, some - I dare to state this - seemingly ignorant persons regard the match as a lackluster. You kidding me? Silva comes to the UFC and demolishes everyone. Then he plays around for a bit. Playing around is no longer good for you. You want to see - metaphorical: included - blood. You are acting immensely, even emencely ignorant my friend and you do not currently understand the complex beauty of deconstruction. I enjoyed the Leites fight, too, and Leites has my contemporary minor despise for exhibiting the ring behavior he cultivated. Running to the ground on every single occasion he gets assaulted by? Next time he does that: Bas Rutten him with the chair, say I.

Now, back to the Silva VS Griffin collision. The idea is to deliver a fighter to Silva who likes to close the distance swiftly, who likes to come out and deconstruct opposition. Forrest Griffin already have made some upsets. Defeating Silva would be the biggest, even biggestest of those so far. Hey, and this is not bad for a dream, neither, right? You got to love Forrest because he transforms the underestimation to energy. He remains completely faithful to his philosophy of not quitting on himself, which is a much more serious- and epic inner stance than what it may sound like at first.

Forrest was not happy being the Champion. Forrest is happy when he has the chance to deliver upsets. And here is the difference I feel between Kenny Florian and Forrest Griffin. Griffin says he can be beaten, but he can not be broken. You know what? The frightening thing is that I believe him. Kenny Florian? No matter how good he fights, as cited, according to my impression, he fights to deny a weakness and not to praise a quality like an unbreakable spirit. With that look in your eyes - Kenny's, haha! - you are not yet ready to be the Champion, I would say. But let's see if consensus reality agrees with me on that one.

Josh Neer VS Kurt Pellegrino

Pellegrino grabs Neer and slams him, right after the initial exchanges. The round unfolds as a long ground sequence with relatively little action to it, as Neer exhibits tight defense, though demonstrates no will- or related readiness to offer resistance from his back, except for an unsuccessful armbar.

In the second round, an agitated Neer comes out, yet his attempts at reigning as aggressor collides with solid counter-action stated by raconteur Pellegrino. Following some nice combination of mild molestation factor, Pellegrino gets Neer down and ends up on top again. Neer is frustrated on his back, expressing it clearly towards the ceiling by moving his head side to side. My relation to this unfortunate condition is virtually non-existent, saved the sentence I just delivered. Pellegrino remains tenacious in the round, keeping Neer on the grounded position. This rigorous control earns him a full mount, yet Neer is able to improve his position. Pellegrino keeps control of the back, maintaining the strong clutch of desperation on your throat that you will bore your sitorgan off during this particular collision.

The third round finds Josh Neer in the proper mood to throw some semi-convincing kicks around. Convincing enough so the recent history could repeat itself: you see Pellegrino on top once again, right after countering the initial kicks with a takedown.

Neer talks some stuff, Pellegrino bitchslaps him. You can't help but state: MAN! Neer spreads his arms apart, metacommunicating that Pellegrino delivers no punishment. I spread my arms apart, thinking Neer should do just a little more to impress the audience. Neer continues to express frustration, then manages to escape from his dire position. The last moments of the bout do catch Neer raining down solid elbows on Pellegrino at the fence. An amazingly boring match, no doubt, in which Pellegrino executed a gameplan quite soberly and integrally, earning him a decision victory.

Ricardo Almeida VS Kendall Grove

Ricardo Almeida comes out spazzing like mad - but soon you will realize that he tries to confuse the enemy! And the audience! And he succeeds masterfully! Check this here gif animation out of how Ricardo Almeida comes out spazzing like mad!



Almeida - right - surely knows how to confuse the enemy with this here nice spazz session of his!

The meeting intensifies, THEN collides with the fence, witnessing the warriors in the clinch. Having a hard time pulling the trigger in this position, the opposing forces exhibit consensus willingness to get back to the more opened variant of the standup. Almeida capitalizes on a nice opportunity, slamming Kendall to the ground. Canvas resonates: wtf??

In the second round, Almeida commands Grove downstairs once again, yet, Ricardo almost gets submitted by a cunning armbar attempt. Enthusiastic ground action to follow up, as Almeida manages to connect with some solid punches and - logically/subsequently - administers some decent ground and pound. Kendall Grove could not be more enthusiastic to get back on his feet - and so he seeks the will to do that and manages to accomplish this via one particular miracle plus a half for good measure. Good for him, as he finds success connecting on Almeida with a strict uppercut and a good knee. Almeida expresses increased willingness to go to the ground again, a will which realized shortly, yet the time that remains is too scarce to administer further punishment.

In the third and final round, Almeida does not have much problem taking the fight to the ground again, though they end up in the clinch at the fence. Grove greets Almeida with some knees and they end up in the standup again. Though Grove shortly has the opportunity to molest Almeida on the ground, he chooses to let him up and wage the war on the feet. Guess what! Clinch sequence again. Grove lands a knee again, then Almeida takes down his rival. Ending up on top, Ricardo seemingly makes a bigger effort at taking a rest then he does at delivering punishment. Kendall shrugs off Almeida. Ricardo - staggeringly enough - goes for the takedown again. Quite a boring match, but hey, you got to have some of these, otherwise, how could you ever identify a collision of epic proportions? Integral boredom with a risk free decision win going for Ricardo Almeida.

Amir Sadollah VS Johny Hendricks

Johny Hendricks likes hitting people in the face and he is ready to make his UFC debut against winner of the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter Reality TV Show, Amir Sadollah. Nice standup sequence. Sadollah connects with a jab, moves in for the killing process and gets caught on the way by the epicly proportioned opposition. Spotting the momentary weakness in Sadollah's defense, Hendricks steps in and administers some solid uppercuts on the TUF winner. Sadollah suddenly feels the uncontrollable urge to inspect canvas quality via massive zoom, thus he goes down, dragging Hendricks with him. This drag is metaphorical, mind you I, herein. The debutant punches out a stoppage on Sadollah, a stoppage UFC commentator, standup comedian, veteran weed deconstructer and generally funny man Joe Rogan regards as: early.

During the replay, it is clear that Joe is right. Hendricks hardly connects, or, even if he does, the punches lack damage potentiality and Sadollah seems to be back in the game when Miragliotta steps in. But, that's the way it went this time. The fact that Sadollah does not give you the drama queen act, complaining about an early stoppage, implies to me that he himself was dissatisfied with his current performance. Hendricks did well, can't wait to see if I will remember him the next time I see him. Right now I have my doubts, but doubts are there to be eliminated. Or to be hardened. Amir Sadollah loses tonight, Johny Hendricks celebrates his fruity UFC debut.

Aaron Riley VS Shane Nelson

This here is the usual match in which commentators exchange thoughts and ideas about the present state and the general beauty of mixed martial arts, letting you run out for 667 extra pieces of popcorn. How big of a bucket you think 667 pieces of popcorn would fill?

Anderson Silva VS Forrest Griffin

Forrest Griffin stated in the Countdown show that Anderson Silva makes very good fighter look bad. With 1:42 remaining in the first round, Griffin, one must admit, joins the fighters who have fought against Anderson Silva AND looked PROFOUNDLY bad against him. The story of the fight is truly nothing less than Silva's ability to make Forrest look pretty much - I like Forrest, but that is the case here - miserable. This is not an exaggeration. For Heaven and Hell's sake, Anderson Silva clearly shows to Forrest that he - Forrest - can not touch him if he - Silva, that is - does not want to be touched. The Spider gives in the face with his arms lowered, evading the punches solely by elegant head movements, driven by top notch reflexes and the related awareness of what the attacker's chances- and possibilities of opposition are.

This particular friendly humiliation happens on multiple segments of the first round. Forrest can not hit Silva. Forrest can not hit him, not with Anderson's arms lowered, not with his face given in pleasant range. Clearly, the UFC Middleweight Champion, who now moves up a weight class to deliver entertainment, makes respectful fun of Forrest, offering thorough glimpses on the levels the fighting game could be played on. If your name is Anderson Silva, that is. Anderson, having his movement showcased, knocks Forrest down. When Griffin regains his composure, Anderson invites him in a respectful fashion to push the pedal to the metal - evades Forrest's shots via sheer head movement again and knocks Griffin down once more. Instead of ground and pounding, Silva lets Forrest up. And then, suddenly: recent history once again repeats itself.

Check how Silva evades the shots with his hands lowered, counter-connecting with that laaazy, lazy, yet pixel precise punch on Forrest. This is not just your everyday average normal domination, this is a clear expression of Silva's truly exceptional approach/style towards the Art of Fighting. Almost, I mean. You know why "almost"? Here is why: Silva DID NOT EVEN FOUGHT, that is why! He did not, because he was not asked to. He was just playing around! And knocked Forrest's ass out while at that, since the objective of the match was to knock Forrest's ass out, after all. Amazing display of an amazing mindset and the related, truly top notch fighting skills. These are the moments in which you got to exclaim: MAN! As of today, I think only Fedor Emelianenko or Lyoto Machida could offer a fight for Anderson Silva. Check this stupendous gif animation of the brilliant finish The Spider delivered.



Forrest runs back to the locker rooms, - excellent timing - probably too bitter/hazy - maybe both - at the moment to give a post-fight interview. I remain a fan of Forrest and I am mad curious of the Griffin we will see coming back after this particular loss.

BJ Penn VS Kenny Florian

Kenny comes in with the strange-, nevertheless relatively effective strategy of moving BJ up to the fence and pressing his head into The Prodigy's ribcage. This is pretty much the whole story of the first three rounds, whenever they do not spend quality time at the fence with Florian's head deep into BJ's ribs, the defendant manages to control the standup and score the more effective shots. In the fourth round, probably getting fed up with Florian's urge of sinking the head into the ribs, BJ takes the Challenger down, and, following a brief period of iron control on the ground, the defendant administers the rear naked choke to Kenny, a truly nice submission which you can check out on this here gif animation.



UFC 101 - Declaration was a great event. Thank you for reading this review of it and see you next time.

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