Sunday, August 07, 2005

The UFC on SPIKE TV

So it finally happened, live MMA fights on cable television featuring up and comers from the recent hit show The Ultimate Fighter against fighters who have already been in the UFC. I must say that the talent on the show must have been good because they went undefeated against guys with experience.

Kenny Florian over Alex Karalexis (I think)
This was an undercard fight that was not aired but I'm almost positive I heard Joe Rogan mention that Florian won.

Mike Swick over Gideon Ray
This was also and undercard fight but they did have a chance to play it between fights. Swick came out swinging and took no time at all knocking Ray out. This is the second fight in a row that Swick has completely dominated.

Josh Koscheck over Pete Spratt
Kos has come a long way, as a wrestler moving to MMA you have to reprogram yourself. While the skills a wrestler brings are vital the way in which you use them to control your opponent are different. Koscheck seemed much more comfortable, he used his wrestling skills to get on top and was able to stay very active forcing Spratt to make a mistake in which Koscheck capitalized and took his back. Koscheck won by rear naked choke early in the 1st round.

Nate Quarry over Pete Sell
I stand corrected, I thought if Baroni could not knock out Sell nobody could. Quarry won with a 1 punch knock out, he followed it up with another punch but the ref was already on his way to stopping the fight. I will say that Sell, along with the fans, protested the stoppage as early. At full speed I thought the stop was early also, the ref was a little out of position when the knockout happened. Quarry landed a huge blow that sent Sell to the ground, at this point the ref was behind Quarry and only could see Sell falling. When hitting the ground Sell appeared to snap out of it and was bringing his hands up to defend himself but the ref could not see this. It is an imperfect system but it is not fair to fault the ref, could you imagine if he didn't stop the fight and another big punch was landed ending his life instead of just the fight! When things like this happen the refs take a lot of crap but their #1 responsibility is to the safety of the fighters, Sell can probably get a rematch if he'd like.

Stephan Bonnar over Sam Hogar
Bonnar just seems to get into wars! These to went toe to toe for 3 rounds just like Bonnar did with Forrest in the TUF finale. I thought he won the decision and so did the judges. I don't know if Bonnar just lacks power or if these have just truly been 2 great fights. Bonnar seemed to have Hogar rocked a couple of times and just couldn't put him away. Something we will have to watch out for in his upcoming fights.

Chris Leben over Patrick Cote
This was another great fight. Leben came out and barely won the 1st round. These two men jockeyed back and forth for position the whole fight. the went toe to toe and traded punches pretty even and consistent. I thought Leben had a slight edge in the stand up game. Leben also ahd an edge in takedowns, when he completed the takedown he was never really able to get out of Cote's guard but the takedowns themselves do earn credit towards a decision. In the end the judges saw it as a split decision for Leben.

Nathan Marquardt over Ivan Salaverry
This fight turned into a yawner! Marquardt definately won the stand up battle and the ground battle but really wasn't able to inflict any damage whatsoever on Salaverry. Both these fighters have been around the block and both have excellent defense. Marquardt did everything he needed to obtain the judges vote for the victory but all in all it was an unimpressive fight to watch. It was like watching a football game that ends 3-0 in overtime. Great job by the defense's but you'd better wake up grandpa, he's been alseep since the 1st quarter!

All in all I love the fact that I can now watch fights on SPIKE TV. Looking forward to next week. Also don't forget to catch unleashed after WWE on SPIKE TV Monday nights.

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