Fighters Only

Issue 032

December 2007

October 20th 2007, U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio

The American Midwest hasn’t recently taken to MMA – they’ve been supporting it for years, boasting countless regional-level shows and producing some of the best fighters in the country.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to the state of Ohio to give the ravenous fans their fill of full-on mixed martial arts (MMA) action, and they got it all right with the dismantling of a former champion and the news that the UFC had picked up a huge signing (quite literally).

“I finally made the big time baby!” That’s what Brock Lesnar said as he was announced as having signed with the UFC. “For me, my amateur roots and everything, I always wanted to participate in it [the UFC],” the mammoth former professional wrestler said. With the physical prowess of a legitimate amateur wrestling champion and a natural aggression level that saw him reprimanded more than once during his brief NFL career, he could be a serious threat to any heavyweight in the UFC.

On to the action, and though the card suffered slightly from lacking marquee names outside of the main event (the level of hate directed at Tim Sylvia by fans has seen the former heavyweight champion’s stock plummet), the event was solid from top to bottom with a sublime and decisive victory from possibly the most secure champion in the UFC, Anderson Silva.

Franklin to Silva: “Don’t KO me, bro!”

Anderson Silva looks untouchable. He blew Franklin out of the water in their first fight, and though the American put up a spirited performance in this second encounter, Silva handled him with ease and punished him with his trademark surgical striking. Franklin may well have pleaded with the champ, “Don’t taze me bro!”

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Franklin may have lost something as a fighter, but that’s not necessarily the case. He is skilled, athletic and tough. His abilities are not exaggerated, even if he never had too tough as time as title-holder (Tanner, Quarry and Loiseau were never real competition for him during his 16-month reign). He is a good all-rounder and it is worth remembering that he had lost only once before meeting Silva in the Octagon (a light heavyweight contest in Japan against Lyoto Machida). But the fact of the matter is that Silva is badass, plain and simple. He is one mean mofo and all anyone can do when they get in the cage with him is hope they don’t come out of it hurt too badly.

The Brazilian Muay Thai specialist has this habit of making everything he does look so effortless, whether it is walking to the Octagon or pounding someone’s face in. When Franklin finally managed a scrappy takedown in the first round, Silva popped back up with ease and calmly defended a single leg takedown like he was in a Sunday training session. As Franklin urgently avoided the dangerous Thai-style ‘plum’ clinch, flashbacks certainly running through his head as to what happened the last time he found himself there, Silva bided his time and let him work his energy out.

When Silva opened up late in the first, it was in answer to a flurry from Franklin. Both southpaws, it was the American who landed the better punches first, a quick left-right, left-right that focussed Silva. ‘The Spider’ got down to work, throwing everything at Franklin including a spinning backfist, a flying knee, a high kick and an electrically charged right hook that dropped Franklin in a heap almost on the buzzer. The former high school teacher barely made it back to his corner.

Franklin looked weary and frightened at the beginning of the second, whereas Silva had hardly broken a sweat. He threw nothing for the first thirty seconds, letting Franklin clear his head. When he opened up, Franklin crumbled under the pressure – Silva’s strikes came from all angles, high and low. Once again Franklin sank down against the fence, his hopes of recapturing his old title vanished.

The middleweight division is now left very top-heavy. Silva rules the roost head and shoulders above everyone else, and it is unclear who could even pose a challenge to him. He wants Yushin Okami badly, desperate to avenge a disqualification loss from January 2006 in which Silva, fighting under poorly explained rules on an event in Hawaii, KO’d Okami with illegal kicks to the head. He calls Okami “a samurai without honour”, but if Okami only managed a lacklustre decision win over Jason McDonald, what chance does he have against The Spider?

Sylvia shows he can handle the ‘Truth’

Lumbering to another decision win, Tim Sylvia almost managed to bore Brandon Vera to submission midway through the first round and consequently pissed off a huge portion of American MMA fans at the same time. Five times – that’s how many times Sylvia won the heavyweight title, believe it or not.

Brandon Vera was often touted as one of the new breed of heavyweight fighters, one to erase the old guard and bring a much-needed breath of fresh air to things. He certainly seemed promising, obliterating a chubby Frank Mir and spectacularly KO’ing a bunch of no-namers on his way to recognition.

Sylvia, for all his faults (and he has plenty, namely an aversion to taking risks, no footwork, no submissions, and possibly soon no fans) is actually quite a capable fighter. On a good day he’ll give anyone a tough time, as he proved in this fight. He won the first round, lost the second but impressed enough in the final round to take the nod from the judges.

With Randy Couture leaving the UFC and possibly relinquishing his title, the UFC heavyweight division is left in a state of array. Where this leaves Sylvia is unsure – he says he wants a crack at Frenchman Cheick Kongo, but it is more likely he will face Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira. How long it will be before someone gets the bright idea of making a fight between new signing Brock Lesnar and Sylvia?

Gurgel gets Alvinised

Rich Franklin’s best buddy Jorge Gurgel is a pretty good lightweight, but never pulls off quite what he is capable of in the Octagon. His lacklustre performance back on series two of TUF pretty much sums up what Gurgel is about – he makes all the right noises, has flashes of brilliance but ultimately never produces the goods and leaves you slightly disappointed that you rooted for him.

Gurgel impressed in the first round, out-grappling Robinson but not even attempting to ground and pound. Though he finally got his guard passed at the end of the first round, Alvin Robinson is a terrier of a fighter and he took it up a gear in the second. He went to work with a ferociousness that left Gurgel bloodied, dazed and thoroughly dominated. The third round was much of the same, and Robinson pounded Gurgel’s eyes closed in front of the Brazilian’s adopted home-city crowd to take the decision. Credit to him though, he came back out later on to corner Franklin, showing he really does have heart, if not the ability to pull it out in the ring to match.

Bonnar looks ordinary against boring Schafer

It has become apparent that to perform well, Stephan Bonnar needs someone who will give him a fight. Against mediocre opposition (such as Nichols, Irvin or Hoger) he looks positively average. Stick him in with someone with guts (Griffin) he will produce fights that get you on the edge of your seat.

Eric Schafer is plainly not the kind of fighter who would set the Octagon alight with a rip-roaring display of striking prowess. He is a legitimately dangerous grappler with moments of excellence but aside from that, he lacks the heart to make it as a decent fighter. Michael Bisping showed that he hates taking punches on the ground, and that’s what Bonnar did to win the fight, simply posture up and avoid any sweeps or submissions and chop away. Before long, Schafer had turned away and given up, exposing his fragile nature. Bonnar will not take much away from this fight.

Round Up

Alan Belcher and Kalib Starnes put on a great display of contrasting striking styles, with Belcher using a very orthodox Muay Thai game and Starnes employing traditional boxing. The clinch was the deciding factor, and Belcher managed to land hefty knees and elbows upon the taller man, opening up a huge gash over the Canadian’s right eye.

Yushin Okami cruised to a typically uninspiring decision over Jason MacDonald and took one step closer to Anderson Silva at the same time. The middleweight division is struggling if a fighter who is 1-1 in his last two is being considered as the next challenger for the title.

Jiu-jitsu phenomenon Demian Maia unsurprisingly submitted the tough Ryan Jensen with a slick first round rear naked choke, while welterweight Josh Burkman, most famously known as having his arm broken in TUF 2 and having gone out with ring girl Arianny Celeste, squeezed a split decision out over Forrest Petz, and Jason Black suffered another bout of the Octagon-jitters as he slipped up again by losing to Matt Grice.