UFC 134 - Rio

[D. S. Veteran]

And here we go. Since UFC 129 was pretty much a Canada vs USA, here is UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami or UFC Rio. Where it's Brazil vs USA. Here's the card:

Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami - Needs no introduction. The GSP super-fight hype has cooled down after his lukewarm performance against Jake Shields and now Silva has to fight (destroy) Okami in his home country. If Okami ends up winning (maybe by DQ like the first time he "won") I can see the rematch selling like the cure for cancer at UFC Japan.

Mauricio Rua vs. Forrest Griffin - Another "grudge" match. Has no relevance to the LWH title picture because they can't really sell Forrest against Jones... or will they? Since Jones keeps ducking Rashad, if Forrest wins maybe we'll have Jones vs Forrest.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Brendan Schaub - Nogueira is only 34 but looks 50. He says he's healthy but I don't believe it much. Schaub can really make a huge push in his HW career with this fight.

Ross Pearson vs. Edson Barboza

Yuri Alcantara vs. Mackens Semerzier

Spencer Fisher vs. Thiago Tavares

Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell

Tom Lawlor vs. TBA

Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov

Rousimar Palhares vs. Alexandre Ferreira

[D. S. Veteran]

http://vimeo.com/25912995 Brazil trailer.

Latest info on the card:

Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami

Mauricio Rua vs. Forrest Griffin

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Brendan Schaub

Ross Pearson vs. Edson Barboza

Yuri Alcantara vs. Antonio Carvalho

Spencer Fisher vs. Thiago Tavares

Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell

Erick Silva vs. Mike Swick

Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov

Rousimar Palhares vs. Dan Miller

Yves Jabouin vs. Ian Loveland

[D. S. Veteran]

Tomorrow!

[Colin.B]

What a card!

I called a few of the fights but the one upset for me was Griffin being KO'd. I wasn't convinced he'd win but I was hopeful. Shogun looked good though!

I called Barboza, Silva and Big Nog. I had a feeling that Big Nog would show he still has something left in the tank. We'll see how much though. Silva of course proved that he's the best fighter around. Dana White mentioned at the press conference he's thinking about that super fight again but we'll see how GSP does against Diaz first. With both fighters running out of contenders in their divisions, it's something that might finally happen. The timing is perfect with GSP fighting in October but we've heard talk of it becoming a reality before. I won't hold my breath.

Aside from Griffin, I was wrong on the Cane/Nedkov fight. I really expected to see Cane pull off a win.

[D. S. Veteran]

This was a great, great card. Comments in bold as usual.

Yves Jabouin vs. Ian Loveland: BW class continues to provide impressive fights. Crazy striking exchanges, cardio for miles. If Loveland decided to lay and pray, he could have won that fight. Glad he didn't. The power strikes delivered by Yves tipped the scales in his favor. Both of them are still a bit far removed from the BW title scene.

Yuri Alcantara vs. Felipe Arantes: Didn't watch.

Erick Silva vs. Luis Ramos: Silva makes a great debut in the UFC smashing Luis Ramos to bits. One punch and GnP for the win. Nothing wrong with the stoppage there, when Ramos stood up he was wobbled as hell. Welcome to the shark tank that is the WW division.

Raphael Assun??o vs. Johnny Eduardo: Didn't watch.

Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell: Thiago looked impressive. His striking was good, his wrestling was good, everything about his performance was pretty good. Still needs to win a couple more fights before getting into title hunting. David Mitchell ends up in a dire situation. He come into the UFC 11-0 from the small leagues and is now 0-2. Next fight is a must win fight (if he lasts that long).

Rousimar Palhares vs. Dan Miller: Paul Harris put a beating on Miller for 2 rounds and in the third he ran out of gas. That premature celebration in the first round didn't help. He's HUGE for a MW, built like a brick wall. But there is nowhere else for him to go. He's too short for LHW so MW it is. Will continue is run in the middle of the pack. Miller always had trouble with grapplers, not being blessed with the magical BJJ skills his brother has (who ironically was also beaten by a huge wrestlebeast, Ben Henderson). This fight was like a replay of his previous losses. He won't be cut but he's going nowhere in the MW division.

Thiago Tavares vs. Spencer Fisher: Like Paul Harris, Tavares is built like a beast for his weightclass. He dominated Fisher in every aspect of the game but kind of spoiled his victory because most of the strikes in the finish where delivered to the back of the head. Not one, not two, but 6-8 strikes to the back of the head. Bad boy.

Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov: What was Banha doing there? The finish was ridiculous, he just started running away, ran into the cage and into some more punches. He was KO'ed perhaps 3 times in a row between the standing punches and the GnP. The problem with Cane is that he isn't self-aware. Like at UFC 128 where he said he wanted to become LHW champion. Didn't he see what Bones did to a much superior fighter with some ease? He's stuck being bottom-rung in the LHW division and probably only fought at this event because he's from Brazil. As for Stanislav Nedkov, I see Vladimir Matyushenko in his future.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Brendan Schaub: Wow, did Nogueira prove me wrong. He looked very good but probably needs some more fights to recover from ring rust. Schaub once again falls victim to his lack of boxing sense to put his hands up to defend. It's pretty much the same thing that happened against Roy Nelson, he tries to box himself out of a disadvantegeous position and ends up eating a big punch. Several big punches in this case. Let's see what Nogueira does from here. Schaub's title run gets derailled. Will probably fight the winner of Kongo vs Mitrione or Barry vs Struve.

Ross Pearson vs. Edson Barboza: This was a very odd fight. Barboza, a muay thai expert, leg kick monster, threw almost no leg kicks. Pearson had the correct gameplan but lacked to power to finish the fight. He was clearly angling for a decision, with those takedowns at the end of the round. Barboza could have been more agressive but did what was necessary to win the fight, landing some very good punches and rarely moving in for a possible finish. The LW title scene continues to be a mess until the Edgar vs Maynard rematch, so no predictions here.

Mauricio Rua vs. Forrest Griffin : Classic Shogun, only fights well in 2nd fight after the surgery. Forrest looked sluggish, awkward as all hell and just wasn't up to snuff. Then again the UFC has been keeping him around, fighting also dwindling opposition because he has name value. His last fights were Rich Franklin and Tito Ortiz. Unless he does a full 180? in his training and starts improving, his career will be over sooner rather than later. Shogun showed why he's still a Top 10 LHW despite his loss to Bones. Is probably 2 wins away from another title shot, unless the UFC decides to dick over Rashad again.

Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami: Did anyone doubt? Did anyone even think that Okami could win? Silva demolished Okami, who looked pretty much retarded. So you train with Chael Sonnen, the only guy who came close to defeating Silva, and what do you do? You try to strike with Silva? Really? When he starts doing his Ali thing, GO FOR A TAKEDOWN. In the first 10 seconds of the round, GO FOR THE TAKEDOWN. Had he done that, he maybe would have lasted a few more rounds. This was like Jake Shields trying to outstrike GSP all over again. Fight using your best attributes you dummy. The winner of Stann vs Sonnen better learn from this (it will be Sonnen so he already knows).

[Colin.B]

Classic Shogun, only fights well in 2nd fight after the surgery. Forrest looked sluggish, awkward as all hell and just wasn't up to snuff. Then again the UFC has been keeping him around, fighting also dwindling opposition because he has name value. His last fights were Rich Franklin and Tito Ortiz. Unless he does a full 180? in his training and starts improving, his career will be over sooner rather than later. Shogun showed why he's still a Top 10 LHW despite his loss to Bones. Is probably 2 wins away from another title shot, unless the UFC decides to dick over Rashad again.

Griffin has been saying he sees the UFC as a job now, fighting for money to pay for his parents house, put his on the way kid through college and that he doesn't feel he's learning as a fighter. I just don't think his heart is in it anymore. If your heart isn't in it, you won't be a top performer. He's lost 3 of his last 5 now I think :/.