UFC 53 - Great Fight Night!
What a great night of fighting. Overall I was 4-4 on my picks but I am happy to say that 2 of those losses were people I wanted to win but didn't pick (some fan I am huh?). At any rate it breaks down like this....
Paul Buentello vs. Kevin Jordan (I picked Jordan)
I saw Kevin jordan at a tournament in February, he wasn't fighting but he looked shredded and in great condition. Unfortunately he looked to be in better shape back then, not that he looked terribly out of shape. They came out both swinging for the fences and rocked each other with a couple of big blows. I thought Jordan had it for a minute but he couldn't hold out, Buentello was just to much for him and took the victory.
Nate "rock" Quarry vs. Shonie Carter (Picked Carter)
I picked Carter on experience although Quarry fights out of Team Quest which I typically route for. It's amazing that Carter has been in a ton of fights and I've never seen him win, should have learned something by now. Quarry looked bigger and stronger than normal, came out swinging and didn't take long until he landed the big one. He was able to knock Carter out early.
David Loiseau vs. Charles McCarthy (Loiseau)
Finally one of my picks wins, I was getting worried. This was actually kind of an easy pick. Loiseau fights with a group of Canadians who have been very impressive as of late. He trains a lot with George St Pierre who should be up for a title fight soon. Loiseau easily controlled the fight.
Koji Oishe vs. Nick Diaz (Diaz)
Diaz looked like he was fighting a little kid in this one, Koji shouldn't have shown up to this one.
Alright!!!! Enough of the undercard lets get to the good stuff.
Karo Parisyan vs. Matt Serra (Serra)
Should have stuck with who I wanted to win in this one. Karo came out, took a big punch and the fight was almost called. He was able to protect himself and shake out the cobb webs. He showed incredible recovery skills and the pretty much dominated the fight. Serra really couldn't seem to get anything going which was surprizing to me. Parisyan won the fight.
Evan Tanner (Middle weight champ) vs. Rich Franklin (Tanner)
Evan Tanner has looked unstoppable lately. He came out slow in the first round but landed a big right hand late in the 1st to win that round and almost the fight, Franklin was barely able to get his guard so the ref could allow him to continue. Rich Franklin, who is coming of an impressive victory against superstar Ken Shamrock, was winning the 1st in my opinioin before the near knockout punch. After the punch it was as if Franklin was a new man, or maybe just woke up. For the next 3 rounds he demolished Tanner's face, swelling up both eyes and opening up cut after cut, it was messy. The doctors called a stop to the fight making Franklin the new Champ. My hats off to him. Shamrock had slipped in their fight and I thought maybe he landed a "lucky punch". Although I will say that all lucky punches come from relfex and opportunity so that's a bit of a false statement. He showed what a great fighter he was and stopped the one who looked unstopable. Franklin also had the quote of the night when Joe Rogan interviewed him and asked if he was hurt from the big punch in the first round. He replied by saying that he didn't remember the punch so he didn't know!
Forrest Griffin vs. Bill Mahood (Forrest)
Forrest is one of the most recognizable faces in MMA after winning "The Ultimate Fighter", Spike TV and UFC's collabiration on a reality show. He is known to be a stiker and came into the ring looking for a brawl like he did in the reality show finals. An opportunity arose for a little grappling and he took it, something we're not used to seeing from Forrest. He gained Mahood's back and finished him with a rear naked choke.
Andre "the pit bull" Arlovsky vs. Justin Eilers (Arlovsky)
Arlovsky is another one of my favorite fighters, at 6 foot 4 and 235 (245?) he is a monster. Eilers was coming off a dissapointing loss but still has knock out power in both hands and is no one to wrestle with either. He's a touch Iowa boy who ran into a frieght train named Andre. Arlovsky controlled every moment of the fight, took some pretty big punches with ease and landed bomb after bomb rocking Eilers and hurting him early and often. Just as I was thinking the big one was coming Justin's right knee blew out, looked incredibly nasty on the replay. What an unfortunate event. I don't think anyone would say that Eilers would have made it out of the 1st round without getting knocked out but I know that had to hurt losing a championship match like that!
Paul Buentello vs. Kevin Jordan (I picked Jordan)
I saw Kevin jordan at a tournament in February, he wasn't fighting but he looked shredded and in great condition. Unfortunately he looked to be in better shape back then, not that he looked terribly out of shape. They came out both swinging for the fences and rocked each other with a couple of big blows. I thought Jordan had it for a minute but he couldn't hold out, Buentello was just to much for him and took the victory.
Nate "rock" Quarry vs. Shonie Carter (Picked Carter)
I picked Carter on experience although Quarry fights out of Team Quest which I typically route for. It's amazing that Carter has been in a ton of fights and I've never seen him win, should have learned something by now. Quarry looked bigger and stronger than normal, came out swinging and didn't take long until he landed the big one. He was able to knock Carter out early.
David Loiseau vs. Charles McCarthy (Loiseau)
Finally one of my picks wins, I was getting worried. This was actually kind of an easy pick. Loiseau fights with a group of Canadians who have been very impressive as of late. He trains a lot with George St Pierre who should be up for a title fight soon. Loiseau easily controlled the fight.
Koji Oishe vs. Nick Diaz (Diaz)
Diaz looked like he was fighting a little kid in this one, Koji shouldn't have shown up to this one.
Alright!!!! Enough of the undercard lets get to the good stuff.
Karo Parisyan vs. Matt Serra (Serra)
Should have stuck with who I wanted to win in this one. Karo came out, took a big punch and the fight was almost called. He was able to protect himself and shake out the cobb webs. He showed incredible recovery skills and the pretty much dominated the fight. Serra really couldn't seem to get anything going which was surprizing to me. Parisyan won the fight.
Evan Tanner (Middle weight champ) vs. Rich Franklin (Tanner)
Evan Tanner has looked unstoppable lately. He came out slow in the first round but landed a big right hand late in the 1st to win that round and almost the fight, Franklin was barely able to get his guard so the ref could allow him to continue. Rich Franklin, who is coming of an impressive victory against superstar Ken Shamrock, was winning the 1st in my opinioin before the near knockout punch. After the punch it was as if Franklin was a new man, or maybe just woke up. For the next 3 rounds he demolished Tanner's face, swelling up both eyes and opening up cut after cut, it was messy. The doctors called a stop to the fight making Franklin the new Champ. My hats off to him. Shamrock had slipped in their fight and I thought maybe he landed a "lucky punch". Although I will say that all lucky punches come from relfex and opportunity so that's a bit of a false statement. He showed what a great fighter he was and stopped the one who looked unstopable. Franklin also had the quote of the night when Joe Rogan interviewed him and asked if he was hurt from the big punch in the first round. He replied by saying that he didn't remember the punch so he didn't know!
Forrest Griffin vs. Bill Mahood (Forrest)
Forrest is one of the most recognizable faces in MMA after winning "The Ultimate Fighter", Spike TV and UFC's collabiration on a reality show. He is known to be a stiker and came into the ring looking for a brawl like he did in the reality show finals. An opportunity arose for a little grappling and he took it, something we're not used to seeing from Forrest. He gained Mahood's back and finished him with a rear naked choke.
Andre "the pit bull" Arlovsky vs. Justin Eilers (Arlovsky)
Arlovsky is another one of my favorite fighters, at 6 foot 4 and 235 (245?) he is a monster. Eilers was coming off a dissapointing loss but still has knock out power in both hands and is no one to wrestle with either. He's a touch Iowa boy who ran into a frieght train named Andre. Arlovsky controlled every moment of the fight, took some pretty big punches with ease and landed bomb after bomb rocking Eilers and hurting him early and often. Just as I was thinking the big one was coming Justin's right knee blew out, looked incredibly nasty on the replay. What an unfortunate event. I don't think anyone would say that Eilers would have made it out of the 1st round without getting knocked out but I know that had to hurt losing a championship match like that!
posted by Bruceleeroy at 7:39 PM
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