UFC 110 Nogueira VS Velasquez review

now with GIF animations

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 reaches its conclusion.

This is a review of the latest UFC event to date, UFC 110 - Nogueira VS Velasquez.



Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

UFC 110 marks the moment of the contender collision, as exceptional heavy weight talent Cain Velasquez steps up against Minotauro Nogueira to compete for the privilige of being the replacement fighter for an upcoming superbout. This latest sentence requires evident clarification, so here it goes: Frank Mir and undefeated Shane Carwin will collide in the near future to earn the right to face UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar. The hulkian Defendant comes back to the Octagon following his fortunate and miraculous recovery from a - logically - previous illnes. The UFC wanted to make sure that the organization will be able to deliver a decent challenge for Brock AND a decent matchup for the fans, so, if the worst case scenario would be in effect and the winner of the Mir VS Carwin bout is unable to compete at the time of the Championship Collision, then the winner of Nogueira VS Velasquez should earn the privilige of facing Belt Defendant Lesnar.

The co-main event gives you Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva, on the hunt for none less of a prey than Brit mma gem Michael "The Count" Bisping, who has significantly less than zero intention of being a notable trophy in the collection of the former Pride! legend. Bisping comes to the Octagon after an impressive comeback victory he recently delivered, planning to assuage the memory of the radical knockout he suffered - oxymoron? - from the fist of Dan Henderson. A win over Wanderlei Silva would be highly relevant for the Brit, regardless of the fact that The Axe Murderer is a more calmer-, more strategic fighter now and has a solid, strict control of the ultraviolence he was - IS? - prime expresser of in the Pride! era.

Anthony Perosh VS Mirko Crocop

Local prospect Anthony Perosh takes this fight on short notice to face legendary Mirko Filipovic who had little success in the UFC so far. Crocop dominates both the first and second round via sheer control of the standup position, up to the point from which Perosh's resistance shallows down into the repetitive, constant urge of propelling himself forward with desperate hopes of taking down the opposition in the process. The Aussie always finds himself in Cropop's grasp though, and finally a position change costs him a short-, yet very efficient elbow strike to the head. Perosh shows respectable fighting spirit by completing the second round, but fortunately the doctors prevent him from entering the third round. This time, Crocop delivered the kill he promised he would when he joined the UFC, but he is yet to prove himself against a game opponent the organization puts in front of him.

Ryan Bader VS Keith Jardine

Keith Jardine states that being undefeated in this sport - as Bader is - means that you did not fight the right guys yet. In the first round Bader is able to command Jardine to the ground, but remains unable to subject his opponent to notable damage on the canvas. The second period gravitates around Jardine's unique standup style and unorthodox timing, which seems capable to confuse Bader on quite a few occasions. After a strong first round going for Bader and a second one to Jardine, the third-, and final round shows a well balanced pace with Jardine inviting his rival to engage. Bader accepts the invitation, landing a solid right on The Dean of Mean which is enough to stun him for a brief moment. Though Jardine is quick to recover, he finds himself in front of a Ryan Bader who flies through the air to state a final verdict. A flying knee connects on the chest, followed with a combination of which one element is pixel perfect, and that is more than enough to seal a victory for the talented prospect. This is how it is going with Keith Jardine, really: either he wins, or he is getting put away utterly and thoroughly.



Joe Stevenson VS George Sotiropoulos

Local favotire George Sotiropoulos greets Stevenson with strict readiness and effectiveness on the feet, having no problem at keeping Joe Daddy outside the danger zone. The match is quick to reveal its primal characteristic though, when the two fighters reach ground level to entertain the crowd with high level Jiu-Jitsu. Though Sotiropoulous' skill set is much more versatily in that department, Stevenson does a nice job of defending the constant, continuous submission attempts George is throwing at him. Finding no antidote in the standup position and being unable to break out of the role of the stalked when on the ground, Joe Daddy eventually fails to come up with a desperation move that which with he could steal a win tonight. George Sotiropoulos scores an unanimous decision victory in this quality third round ground grinder by outclassing his rival by efficient use of a more intricate level of Jiu-Jitsu than what Stevenson brought to the Octagon tonight.

Wanderlei Silva VS Michael Bisping

This collision of great promises validates all of those and then some more. Both warriors bring an intelligent fight, thus the bout is quick-, and persistent to reveal its balanced character. Bisping forms clever and efficient initial advantage on the judges' scorecard by delivering a couple of sound takedowns, while Wanderlei seems to be gaining a sear upper hand in the standup exchanges by relying on leg kicks, also scoring the more solid and more inventive of the shots. The Axe Murderer remains truthful to his notoriety in the culmination of the first round, as he initiates a flurry of moderately successful attacks, neverhtheless solidifying his position as the aggressor of the opening sequence. The second round shows similar characteristics, with an increased level of urgency on Bisping's part to build an advantage out of the takedowns. As result of this intention and a consorting, successful ground invitation, The Count finds himself in Wanderlei's guillotine choke, yet is saved by the bell. In the third and final round, some unintentional moves cause little spikes of interruptions, then, right after the final ten second is underway, The Axe Murderer switches into Axe Murderer mode. Silva is coming forward like a proper maniac, evidently without any concerns about his defense or safety. This vulgar-, nevertheless epical display of relentless aggression manages to catch Bisping pretty much defenseless against it tonight: Wanderlei connects with a huge haymaker and drops the Brit, who, though is about to recover, has no chance to offer subsequent actions, as the third and final round reaches its conclusion: Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva by decision.





Minotauro Nougeira VS Cain Velasquez

Cain Velasquez displays economical/optimal destruction, as he lands around eight-nine consecutive bombs of laser precision on Minotauro. Nogueira's punishment resistance truly is unrivaled, as even this series of successive strikes were not enough to invite him for a nap. Complete domination by Velasquez, and, the fact that he accomplishes this against someone of Minotauro's caliber, clearly shows that this heavyweight prospect is indeed forged of unique talents. In the prefight intverviews, UFC President Dana White states that if Cain Velasquez will able to stop Minotauro Nogueira, then he - Cain - is ready to face anyone in the heavyweight division. Who do you give for a guy who destructs Nogueira this way? Surely, you give him a challenge - but this gives YOU a challenge.



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Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Pure Chrome Musculature

Order the Skynet Edition of a Cybernetic Organism from Amazon

to Steve

Some movies age sadly, some with style, and some do not at all. James Cameron, as director of the first two cinematic installments of the Terminator franchise, admits how the focal ideas of this tale are gravitating towards the works of author Harlan Ellison, who delivered numerous stories for the sci-fi series Outer Limits, back in 1963. James Cameron was 13 then, and this television program surely must have given him quite a few retina stigmas and a lot of quality fiction to chew on. After all, quality science-fiction really should be able to offer you a fictional language and a collection of ideas you find intriguing and entertaining at the same time, and this exactly is what the Terminator movie was doing, - in fact, does still - back in-, and from- 1984.

Prior to that date, popculture robots were good fellers, cute sidekicks, friendly household appliances, or similar mechanical constructs of the sort that are seeking your bidding and amusement, ready to carry out your commands without hesitation. The Terminator movie rejected this view utterly, creating the then-fresh idea of sophisticated machinery that gets conscious of itself and recognizes its creator as something the world would be more easily manageable without. Machine sends a cyborg assassin back through time with the agenda of eliminating the current leader of the human Resistance. Though the ancient tale of the Golem may come into mind, the idea of intricate and "evil" machinery is unknown to the popular culture of the early 80's.



"Evil?" Why would The Terminator be "evil?" It is not. It is carrying out a Command, which is to eliminate the future leader of The Resistance. Yet, from a human point of view, - did you have any other sort of view than that so far? - evil is the capacity to harm without remorse. Since The Terminator has no awareness of such a vague concept as remorse, because remorse has no function nor relevance in spite of carrying out its mission with efficiency, the titular character indeed becomes the worst nightmare human can face: a nightmare that knows no mercy, simply because it does not know mercy, indeed.

Fortunately, it was Arnold Schwarzenegger who could cement the extremely rare Popculture-Demigod status with his paradigmatic portrayal of the cyborg assassin, the T800 Terminator, as originally Cameron wanted a Terminator figure that blends in more easily. He wanted Lars Henriksen, among others - this concept became realized in the Aliens, two years after The Terminator.

If one wants to be honest AND a Terminator geek at the same time - and let us want that, for a moment - then it is safe to state that a Terminator movie simply is not a Terminator movie without Schwarzenegger, since the heart and soul of the entire franchise is Schwarzenegger, as he is methodically-, thoroughly clears out an entire police station with a shotgun, wearing cheap sunglasses, T800 haircut and a black leather jacket.

The Terminator movie gains a pure-musculature continuation via its 1991 sequel Judgment Day, as director James Cameron has a masterful sense of what to offer-, what to show to deliver an installment that has no other agenda than to entertain with fresh and inventive elements he found, as result of going on with the story. This time, the T800 model becomes a good guy, while the main baddie is coming for you through the introduction of the state of the art T1000 model, the perfected cybernetic organism. As of now, the T800's assignment is to protect the leader of the Resistance from the death clutch of an even more efficient cyborg assassin, a construct Cameron uses to deliver inventive, state of the art special effects, revealing narrative brilliance and related playfulness at the core.

The T2 movie is a cybernetic rat race really, orchestrated-, and operated by the simple conflict of the urge of Termination and the confronting urge of Termination-Prevention: the idea is as grateful as it is elegantly simplistic, and Cameron has a whole lot to tell about how good of a time he has with all the significant elements he brings to the fray. The T2 movie does everything with the largely abused term: action packed-, and THEN does some more with it. The reason the movie remains an accomplishment of truly slick qualities, is the accumulated result of Cameron's sense of how to give an extremely sharp character to a scene "simply by" throwing in masterful elements that can't help but support a set via their mere presence and their slickly chosen functionalities.

In the exceptionally memorable chase sequence, for example, Arnold rides a good, old fashioned Harley Davidson bikebeast, removing the obstacles in his way via his favorite good, old fashioned shotgun, reloading it in a way that gives male viewers an immediate extra layer of hair to the chest via every buckshot implemented. Meanwhile, the state of the art T1000 model bids in radical proportions when the moment whispers lies about a second of peace, just to be shattered utterly-, and quite literally. Not to mention how Edward Furlong invents the "Emo" subculture without having any knowledge about that.

T2 delivers decently from a storytelling point of view as well, as the primal portrayal of the bond between the exceptionally strong mother figure and her son eventually invites the narrative to a satisfactory emotional culmination the whole franchise could settle idle upon, with - spoiler warning - Arnold giving you the thumbs.

- spoiler ends -

The Terminator tale goes on of course, to entertain its fans further on, but the franchise is yet to see an actor and related character who surpasses-, or even approximates the gravitational pull of the so far unrivaled canvas presence Arnold Schwarzenegger stigmatized the Terminator mythology with.

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UFC 109 Relentless

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 reaches its conclusion.

This is a review of the latest UFC event to date, UFC 109 - Relentless.



Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

UFC 109 Relentless brings you the spectactle you were wishing for to see since the earlier days of the most prestigious MMA organization, as two veteran Hall of Famers are now ready to face each other in the Octagon for the very first time. Despite the age factor, - or, as "mere" result of that - Mark "The Hammer" Coleman showcased unblemished willigness to compete both on the Octagon floor-, and, on the consorting professional level. The veteran Hall of Famer - who holds the privilige of being the very first UFC Heavyweight Champion, back in the middle '90s - scored a recent, significant victory over The American Psyho Stephan Bonnar and solidified himself as a warrior who - as UFC President Dana White simply, yet efficiently puts it - comes to FIGHT. At the Day of the Relentless Marketingmachine, Coleman has the most momumental task in front of him in form of fellow UFC Hall of Famer Randy "The Natural" Couture, who also is more than ready to give the fans what they were hoping to see ever since these two warriors have establsiedh themselves as forces all atheletes of the sport should count with. In the Main Event, two veteran fighters do collide to see how two disciplined, mature human spirits are matching up to each other. Even better: it goes deeper this time than the everyday average eyeball contest.

The co-main event gives you Nate "The Great" Marquardt who is taking on lethal prospect Chael Sonnen in a match that goes for the direct title shot: whoever wins this match, will have the chance of facing Anderson "The Spider" Silva, granted the Reigning Champion - Silva - is able to deconstruct Vitor Belfort's hopes of capturing the belt in their upcoming collision taking place in Abu-Dhabi. Sonnen states that on paper, Nate wins this match. Yet, they won't be fighting on paper, they will fight on a blood stained canvas with a big UFC logo on it, and Nate can bring his superios striking and his superior grappling, and everyone will have the chance to see who the better FIGHTER is. Sonnen thinks that the match will boil down to the durability of the two opposing warriors. Nate thinks - with a 1.000.000 dollar microexpression on his face - that he will crush Chael.

Matt Serra VS Frank Trigg

Matt Serra still is a charismatic showman outside the Octagon, and a top level mixed martial artist when on its canvas. Serra states that he would smack a guy like Frank Trigger for nothing - if you are serious about paying him for doing so, you can be sure that you won't have to deal with recejtions from the former UFC Welterweight Champion.

Frank Trigg had his share of memorable declarations on the Octagon canvas, but he wasn't yet able to capture - and, logically: defend - a UFC belt. This kind of dream still lives on in Trigg and invites its bearer to make the efforts to live the dream as opposed of keeping it. If Frank Trigg manages to stop Matt Serra tonight, then the dream lives on and might come to fruition at a later day.

Not today, though. Matt Serra knocks Trigg down in the second portion of the very first round, following a stable sequence in which the former Champion maintains the role of sober aggressor, giving no chance to Frank to express his will-, or even his plans in the standup position. As the man coming to the Octagon with the clearly superior boxing techniques, Serra emerges victorious via the 3-4 clean air to ground missiles he introduces Frank to. A proper mode to start the night off.

Demian Maia VS Dan Miller

Extraordinary Jiu-Jitsu talent Demian Maia comes back to the Octagon to claim a relatively bitterly-, yet decisively earned standup victory over former ILF spectacle-, now promising UFC prospect Dan Miller. Not a particularly interesting fight to watch, but it showcases Maia's determination to improve his fighting styles at areas he previously exhibited holes in. Remember his knockout loss against Nate Marquardt? Because Demian does not.

Phil Davis VS Brian Stann

In this here memorable, three round canvasmolester, UFC debutant Phil Davis imposes an exceptional level of control over his experienced opponent, pretty much spending the majority of the fight with Brian Stann being mounted and abused under him. As result of Stann's pure discipline and remarkable tenaciousness as a mixed martial artist, the former marine is able to escape the immiment phantom clutches of the lurking stoppage, yet, Phil Davis' athleticism and explosive wrestling base proves to be way too much to handle tonight. A ground and pound clinic, orchestrated from the mount position, performed by a newly added prospect who already has the promise of a Champion in him. Better watch out for this Phil Davis character, as it seems he comes from the same planet George "Rush" St. Pierre is fervent storyteller of.


Mike Swick VS Paulo Thiago

A match starting out as a standup war with fluent kickbox characteristics to it, in which Paulo Thiago is quick to claim momentary control by landing a solid left kick on the head of Swick. Mike stays in the game, but shows constant difficulties at rendering himself as the evident aggressor of the opening round, deciding then to take the fight to the ground with the probable hope of planting a good impression in the judges. The second round shows similar initial characteristics than the first period did, though now Swick is more fervent at coming forward with his notoriously swift punches and combinations. One of these strikes do find a home on the Brazilian's chin and an - perhaps overly - exchited Swick moves in for the palpable kill. Not a
good idea, not this time: Paulo answers and quickly commands Swick to the canvas to introduces a D'Arce choke on the former Ultimate Fighter winner. As result of this supertight grip, Swick takes a momentary ride in the spirit world, while the Brazilian prospect goes home with a highly relevant submission victory over a highly relevant opponent.

Nate Marquardt VS Chale Sonnen

As he promised, Chale Sonnen comes out aggressively, showing zero fear of exchanging with Marquardt on the feet. The bout is quick to reveal its primal characteristics though, when the super-fervent, former greco-roman wrestler commands Mardquard to the ground and manages to exhibit a degree of control MMA fans hardly have seen Nate subjected to so far. As unlikely as it might sound, Chale Sonnen spends the first two rounds on top of Marquardt, administering a good old fashioned beating on The Great who simply finds no antidote for the hostile superglue Sonnen renders himself as in the Octagon. Though Nate shows no particular readiness to prevent the takedowns from happening in the second round, either, he finds a momentary opening in the guard of his relentless adversary, landing an elbow that cuts Chale, turning the bout into a gorefeast. The third-, and final round tells all the same story, yet resonates on slightly different channels, as Nate manages to sink in a guillotine choke which sure seems as a radical verdict, but Sonnen eventually escapes. Though Marquardt delivered more damage in the final round than Sonnen did in the period in question, the pure-, surprising level of wresting/ground and pound dominance Sonnen subjected Marquardt to in the first two rounds, earns Chale a well deserved victory AND a brand new fan in me, along with the casual millions who had the privilige of watching this extraordinary, highly remarkable performance. I wouldn't have think that someone can do that to Nate Marquardt. As of UFC 109 Relentless: Chale Sonnen just did.

Randy Couture VS Mark Coleman

The feeling out process is quick to fade tonight, as Randy Couture exhibits precise, crisp striking and remarkable uppercuts that are efficient enought to force Coleman up to the fence. Here Couture utilizes his trademark dirty boxing, softening up the first UFC Champion who finds and offers no noticeable answers to Couture. In the second round, more of the same to follow: Coleman looks unable to render himself as a competent opponent tonight, he is forced to the fence once again and gets taked down by The Natural. Following a brief, yet efficient ground and pound sequence, Coleman gives the back and gets choked out by Randy Couture.

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