UFC 112 Invincible (post-fight rant)

The one at the bottom seems to be the official UFC 112 Invincible poster. But I somehow like the one above better because there seems to be like an old-school feel to it.

Pardon me for my geographic stupidity, but is the UAE (United Arab Emirates) in Asia (or in Asia Minor or somethin’)? As far as my stock knowledge goes, that’s a yes. So I could very well then say that UFC 112 was the 1^st event ever held by the MMA promotion juggernaut In Asia. And that’s a huge and successful step for me because the UFC events are creeping towards the Philippines closer than ever!

I only called 2 of the 5 main card fights correctly. Well technically, I had a change of heart last Friday and thought that Matt Hughes would win via UD. So that should’ve been 3 out of 5. too bad I initially picked Gracie.

The 1^st main card bout was al good because I really was rooting for the Filipino Wrecking Machine to wreak havoc on Kendall “The Spyder” Grove. What I expected was right on the button because the fight ended via brutal ground-and-pound! Though Mark Munoz almost got caught by a choke, courtesy of The Spyder (he was even caught flush on the chin with a SPyder uppercut) in the 1^st, he calmly gathered his wits and used his wrestling skills to employ some barbaric GNP that got him the W in the 2^nd round.

Next on tap was the Terry Etim-Rafael Dos Anjos fight. I was expecting Etim to win via superior striking, but sometimes my expectations turn sour too. I’m only human after all. Dos Anjos I believe won submission of the night (that’s what I head Goldberg say before the PPV came to a close) by slapping an arm bar on Etim. But I think the anaconda choke executed by that “Mr. Wonderful” guy in one of the undercard fights was more impressive than Dos Anjos’ arm bar and should’ve won sub of the night.

The Hughes-Gracie fight was a bit entertaining too, though it took some time for it to pick up some heat. I originally picked Gracie (who I should say looks like a darker version of Karo Parisyan and mind you, Renzo’s a Judo black belt too!) because based on his fights that I’ve watched, he seems to have the heavier hands, and better striking overall IMHO. I couldn’t be more wrong.

As I was saying earlier, I had a change of heart the other day, and thought instead that Hughes would win via UD. That’s exactly what I answered when I joined this online contest wherein I would get to win this Tokyo Five t-shirt if I correctly guessed who would win and how the fight would be won. If it was a decision, I had to indicate the scores on the judges’ score cards. Country boy Hughes proved almost all of us wrong by winning via TKO! He virtually used none of his wrestling. He just peppered Gracie with leg kicks till his left leg gave out.

I believe the Frankie Edgar-BJ Penn title fight is the upset of the year so far. I couldn’t imagine this happening at all ‘till I saw it with my own eyes. The Answer had all the answers for The Prodigy. He was lightning-quick at sticking and moving that I actually dubbed him Mighty Mouse right then and there. And he actually took BJ down in one of ‘em championship rounds. And take note, no lightweight has taken BJ down in 6 years! The great wrestler Sean Sherk couldn’t take BJ down. Heck even Matt Hughes at welterweight couldn’t take him down! But this li’l blurry dude Edgar did it. The Amazing Might Mouse!

Now the last fight was a disgrace. If Anderson Silva’s fight against Patrick Cote and Thales Leites lookes bad, this looked waaaaay worse! Anderson was content with just toying Demian Maia around. He literally clowned his fellow Brazilian. He’s that good! But in the process, he lost a lot of respect from a lot of fans, including this one right here.

The Spider could’ve finished Maia back in the 2^nd round. He was already doing his thing which I call “The Death Dance” wherein he begins flicking his hands in a Jeet-Kune-Do style ala Bruce Lee, then switches fighting stances, from muay thai to boxing, to karate, to whatever. He’s just outta’ this world really. He even got Maia runnin’ away, terrified for dear life! But midway thru the 3^rd round, Anderson looked like he lost steam and seemed content to run circles around Demian ‘till the championship rounds.

A great night of fights once again, but an anti-climactic main event.