UFC 96

[spykelee]

some descent fights tonight.

I loved the Brandon Vera fight. Watching a guy dominate with leg kicks is one of my favourite ways to watch a guy win. It's such an underutilized aspect of MMA. Having said that, the level of competition for Vera definetely needs to be taken into account. Even still though, definetely looks reinvigerated after dropping down and he seems to have been humbled which he had addressed in some interviews leading up to this fight.

I was sad to see my main man Keith Jardine lose. He did it to himself though. He was getting beaten in the standup game but was willing to stand there and trade with Quinton and that's what cost him this fight. Quinton's a virtual one trick pony and Jardine allowed him to execute. I'm not sure the knockdown at the end of the 3rd round was the "decisive" blow as Mr. Rogan alluded too... even without it I'm confident that Quinton wins this fight. Should be a good battle with him and Rashad.

Shane Carwin was impressive also. I liked how he was able to absorb a couple of shots and a take down to get back up and still deliver the knockout shot. I'm not sure that he's ready for lesnar yet, but really who is? Atleast Carwin's got some of the bigger size in the heavyweight division and that can't hurt moving forward. Whatever the case, solid win over a legit heavyweight. So I guess him and Kongo fight for #1 contendor post mir/lesnar?

[Cammo101]

A lot of guys looked really impressive tonight. Rampage grinded out a win against an awkward fighter. It was funny listening to Rashad talking about the fight like Jardine's leg kicks should count for more than Rampage's knockdowns.

Carwin is a monster, but Gonzaga showed he can be hurt.

Hamill continues to improve. His standup is getting better at a Josh Koscheck like pace right now. Give him a few more fights and he may make some noise at 205.

Matt Brown was downright dominate. He ran through Pete Sell like he was a bum, and Pete Sell is a tough guy. It took Scott Smith a couple rounds to end Sell. Grove, McCrory, Vera, and Maynard all looked really good too.

Boetsch looked downright awful. Aside from that first fight he had in the UFC, he has been downright mediorce.

[Cammo101]

They aired the Tamdan vs Madigan fight before the Vera fight??? What does McCrory have on the UFC that gets him this billing?

I think the UFC sees Tamden as one of their up and coming young guys with star potential. He is a fun guy to watch fight, is still very young, and is an engaging personality. The UFC stands to gain more from showing him off than from showing a known quantity like Vera beating up some balding fat guy who doesn't even try to punch him. Vera looked great, but we already knew he had that bum he was fighting outclassed.

[cowboyronnie]

He's ugly and has the worst tattoos in the sport, FWIW.

[CPT]

Better show than I expected for what the card looked like on paper.

Maynard looked really good against a tough opponent in Miller. Maybe the best I've seen him. Certainly the most entertaining.

Hamill dominated, and should get KO of the night. It was gross how Munoz' head hit his knee when he went down. I hope he's okay. In typical UFC fashion they didn't show any shots of him afterward, but I saw a stretcher when Hammill was jumping around.

Matt Brown. Holy ****. That half stoppage was weird though. I kinda thought it would have been an early stoppage, but if you jump in to break up the action, the fight is done. If somehow Sell had been able to recover and win, it would have been a travesty.

Carwin showed he can hang with real competition...I guess. I thought Gonzaga was completely handling him until he got caught, but if you can put down a huge guy like GG with a shot like that, maybe it doesn't matter. I wonder what will be next for Carwin. I know they are saving Kongo to be fed to one of Carwin, Velasquez, or Lesnar...the timing could be right for Carwin to win the Kongo sweepstakes.

The main event was a lot better and more competitive than I thought. Jardine is good and everything, but sometimes watching him fight really bothers me. When he beats a guy I like, I can't handle it, and there were times I thought he might be able to do enough to take the decision from Rampage. Thankfully Page scored that knockdown at the end of the 3rd to seal the deal. Looking forward to Rampage vs. Rashad. I'm not sure who to pick, but I'm leaning toward Rashad right now.

Grove looked good, McCrory looked good, Vera looked great, and Boetsch should probably be out of the UFC.

[Chach]

I think they aired all the prelims except for the Nelson/Riley fight. They had a few on after the main event.

Carwin is dangerous, period. Gonzaga was definitely winning that fight up until that punch and that's where Carwin is going to beat most guys. He's similar to Lesnar in that he's crazy strong and he can hurt you with something like a short right.

It's somewhat fitting that we saw probably the best leg kick KO in the UFC since the Crocop decapitation and GG got knocked out as well on the same card. Hammill has most definitely improved, I never expected a leg kick from him. We are also seeing how weak some of the WEC talent is. That punk that was excited because he finally broke someone's arm during the Fight For the Troops show was good but that's been it as far as I can remember. Starting to look like a smart move focusing on those lightweights and not having a second tier middleweight division.

Matt Brown is slowly creeping up there as one of my favorite new fighters. Kid's tough and has had some decent fights. I find it funny that he has fought in the UFC 3 times and Amir has been hurt and hasn't gone once. Yves was garbage tonight, I think he was drinking before the show started. He's usually a much better ref. Bring back Big John! mahalo
~Chach~

[Cammo101]

Juding the WEC by how Munoz looked last night is unfair. Munoz only fought in the WEC twice and was only 5-0. He clearly was not ready for prime time and needed to be brough along slowly, like the WEC was doing it. Feeding a guy with 5 fights to Matt Hamill is not bringing someone along slowly.

Stann, Cantwell, Condit, Varner, Cerone are all UFC caliber fighters. There is a difference between proven WEC guys and guys who made a pitstop there. It is like Bader going to Pride, losing to Overeem, and then people saying those UFC guys are overrated.

[jTF2]

tons of scrubs (aka midlevel fighters.. no disrespect) but surprisingly every single fight was entertaining.

Rampage n Rashad trash talking was the cherry on top. I was lolling all the way through the whole thing. Rashad sucks at it though.

[damo[23]]

Really good event, thoroughly enjoyed it, always glad to see that when people moan about the quality of a card, like I say, its the fights not the fighters alot of the time.

I was impressed with Brown and Hamil - both were intense, and wow at Hamil rocking that head kick, did not expect that in the least.Rampage vs Jardine was a great fight, close first round, but then openned up in favour of Rampage, but Jardine kept that possibility of him turn the tides always there, leg kicks and the punchs. Gray was a guy I wanted to see win, and I thought he was extremely controlled.

I think the only fight I was disappointed with was GG vs Carwin, it was a great KO, but I really wanted to see a bit of a battle, at least for a few mins lol. I thought for a second it was over by GG, then when it got back up bang, lights out.

Hopefully we do see that Rampage vs Jackson fight at 98, though I have to say with Rampage talking about how he misses his family and having a big fight at 92, then 96 actually coming up so quickly aswell ... but I cant see him being one to turn down a title shot. And good on the UFC getting a title fight in to replace the title fight.

[cowboyronnie]

Rampage is at a real disadvantage, though. He's had half the rest Rashad has and he just fought one of Rashad's teammates.

[Cammo101]

Rampage is at a real disadvantage, though. He's had half the rest Rashad has and he just fought one of Rashad's teammates.

It is a bit odd that Rashad seems to keep fighting guys right after Jardine has. Bonnar, Griffin, Liddell, and soon to be Rampage.

[2009NBAChamps]

Awesome event. Really entertaining stuff, from the knockouts to the post fight interviews and the back and forth of Rampage and Rashad.

There were some serious asskickings tonight though, I don't think I've ever seen a UFC card with so many knockouts. Matt Brown beat the **** out of Pete Sell, I don't know if he'll be able to fight again on UFC after yet another beatdown. And wow Munoz looked lost out there he was definitely not the same guy, and Hamill had his way with him. Typically strange post-fight interview as I really couldn't understand half what he said but must've been great for him to do it in Ohio. Also, Grove is so damn cocky his celebration after he won was too much really. As for Carwin, can't really say it was lucky, cuz that's his style, but he really was taking some blows by Gonzaga, but I guess what they said about him having a weak chin is true after all, even though Carwin sure as hell does pack a punch. Finally, the Rampage win I thought was a good one. Not a lot of ppl give Jardine enough credit but despite his unorthodox style he sure is effective. Anyways, Rampage vs Evans should be a good one with right now the edge on Evans style.

Btw despite his bias for Jardine I enjoyed his commentary, thought he added a lot to the table.

[cowboyronnie]

The LHW division had a lone two bright lights, Rashad and Boetsch, among a see of brawling. It lost the latter but gained Vera at least.

I'm happy to see kicking become effective again, aside from inside/outside leg kicks to set-up punches. Brown threw 4-5 straight head kicks in a matter of seconds and totally had Sell on his heals. And Vera was not just throwing leg kicks from the pocket. He was using range really effectively and throwing a nice variety.

Hottest upperbodies in MMA: Chris Leben, Brandon Vera

[Cammo101]

Munoz got fed a terrible fight for him. He is an elite wrestler with good ground and pound and little else at this point. To put him in with an equal wrestler but more rounded fighter was a recipe for Munoz to look awful.

If Munoz had fought Boetsch for example, it is pretty likely that he would have put Boetsch on his back and punched him in the face over and over. And we may be talking about Munoz as a big time up and comer right now.

Styles make a lot of fights.