UFC 74 thoughts

Well, we had a legend continue, an upset, and a controversy.

The legend was Randy Couture doing what he does best, which is defy expectations. He did it in grand fashion by beating the tar out of a big, strong, hard-hitting Gabriel Gonzaga, with dirty boxing and slams and every other weapon he had, including his incredibly hard head. He ate a couple massive head kicks, like the ones that knocked out Cro Cop (tho RC checked them with his forearm), and one of 'em broke a bone in his arm. A particular slam brought up his hard head as well...many folks say Randy busted Gonzaga's nose open with an inadvertant headbutt during the slam, while others saw it as Gonzaga's leg coming up and hitting him in his own Napao. I saw numerous angles, and it looked like his knee did the damage. During the actual event I didn't see a headbutt, but Randy said he felt his head doing the damage. Of course, in a fight, things aren't always as they appear, and Joe Rogan lead him into that assumption during the interview. My take: The knee did the damage, and Randy would have wasted him anyways. Napao had a bit of controversy in that fight because he looked at the ref and told him he couldn't see. Herb Dean stopped the fight and told him "Either you fight or you quit" or something like, and a doctor took a cursory look at it. All was declared well, and many fans felt it was a cheap way to get a rest. Didn't help.
The upset came when Patrick Cote defied expectations and beat Kendall Grove, with a viscious punch to the temple that landed him in TKOville. Cote looked like the guy who fought Tito Ortiz to a near-standstill, and gaveme one of two wrong picks on the whole card. Damn I hate that. Good for Cote, though, he put up a hell of a fight, and earned the win for sure. Grove will likely be back, he's an impressive fighter. Maybe he'll opt not to stand with the striker next time...
The controversy came when Renato "Babalu" Sobral opted to hang onto an anaconda choke for about 4 seconds after David heath, bloodied and beaten, had tapped out. Steve Mazzagatti had jumped in to stop the fight, and Sobral looked up at him and held the choke for a few beats before letting go. In the post-fight interview, he told Rogan he wanted to "teach him a lesson", apparently for trashtalk at the weigh-in. I heard somewhere Heath wore a shirt with Sobral's recent mug shot on it as well, but haven't found confirmation of that. In the intervening days a lot of talk has gone on, the Nevada State Athletic Comission has held up his win bonus ($25,000) but not announced his fine, Dana White has announced he'll be released from his UFC contract (I thought he was on his last fight, but what do I know), and the NSAC has announced he won't be suspended, but will likely be fined. My take: Good riddance. It was a despicable move, and it breaks all the bargains you make in stepping in the cage. You agree that you'll let go when the ref tells you to let go. He broke the deal. Hopefully he faces that same situation some day. Someone on another blog commented that it's bad because some other organization will sign him and compete with the UFC. 1) Good, go away Babalu. B) Good, competition will force the UFC to be better. If another org having Babalu, a guy who's maybe a top 15 heavyweight, gives UFC the shakeys, tough shit for them. Work harder.
Oh yeah: Everyone who says "BJ Penn held his choke too long on Jens!" is a complete idiot. So if someone came up and kicked you in the nuts and runs off, then your friend says "Well, this other guy I saw kicked someone in the nuts too, and got away with it, so tough luck", you'd be cool with it because someone got away with it? Bullshit. If you want streetfighting, go outside and watch it. If you want a sport, you can't tolerate that garbage. If BJ looks at the ref yelling at him to release the hold with a "Me no speako english" face (as if the ref would be saying ANYTHING ELSE) while choking someone unconscious, then he deserves to be run outta town. I'm sure ICON would crown him King of the Entire Universe and hand him a golden pineapple. But Babalu broke the deal.
Overall it was an above-average event. I'd give it a solid B. They showed the four bouts set to be televised, and the Thales Leites/Ryan Jensen fight, which was a solid win for Leites. The room I was in at my brother's house was a solid ROAR, with about twenty people, during the Couture fight. It was invigorating. I hope the upcoming event (on stinking tape delay) matches up. There's an Art of War event on tomorrow night, with Jeff Monson taking on Pedro Rizzo, that I may purchase and enjoy. I'd recommend visiting UFC Daily, good site. They have some cool stuff coming, too.