Monday, August 9, 2010

UFC 117 - Monday Morning Cornerman

I love the shake-up following any MMA event, but especially the UFC. The adage that "you are only as good as your last fight" is too true. No fighter is allowed to have an off night. In order to be a champion or contender you have to win and the more spectacular the victory, the better. Lose one fight, and you are a bum.
The biggest shake-up for the weekend was seeing Anderson Silva as mortal. Sonnen pretty much backed-up his words and was well on his way to grinding out a decision, when he fell into a triangle. That's exactly the result I expected, but not with 2 mins left in a 25 minute fight.
Fans are calling for a re-match. I have a problem with re-matches in general. I don't like them. So much is made of #1 contender status, careers are built around it. The loser of a title fight should be dropped down the contender mountain, and have to win a few fights to get another crack at it. Yet, if the popular guy that was "suppposed" to win doesn't get it done, he now gets a re-match? Since when? Didn't Florian have to wait 2-years to get another crack at the belt?
The UFC has set a bad precident lately. I think it started with Machida vs Hua. Hua lost via "controversial" decision, so he got a re-match. I saw that fight live and thought it was close, but I gave it to Machida. So, basically Dana White and Co are allowed to question a judges decision and make a re-match. Talk about not giving the judges any merit. What about Penn vs Edgar? Granted, BJ has been champ for awhile and should be given certain courtesys. I like BJ. But I still think he is required to have at least one fight before getting a title shot. I don't think Chael should get a re-match. He lost without question, not a bad decision. The only bad decision was to fall into a triangle the last minutes of the fight. I love Shane Carwin. It's relatively controversial that the fight wasn't stopped, after repeated warnings by the ref, but only warnings. I don't think Shane deserves an immediate re-match and it wasn't even discussed. Why? Because the popular guy won.
Fans run the sport because Dana White has an ear to the ground about what fights the "fans" want to see. Apparently, I am not a fan. 'Cause I don't like re-matches. Take the loss for what it is. Not that it was close, so give him a do-over.

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