Okay, I've finally gotten over the shock and bullshit that followed this event, so let's just get to the recap. Just to warn you, most of this will consist of a rant about the main event.
Fabricio Werdum def. Fedor Emelianenko vis Submission (Triangle Choke), Rd 1
Wow. Just....wow. Of all the fighters I thought Fedor might fall to, I never imagined it'd actually be Fabricio Werdum. Not that I take anything away from Werdum, I thought he had a much better chance than everyone gave him. I knew that if the fight went to the ground Fedor wouldn't be able to just blast through him. By all means I thought Fedor would just destroy him on the feet and avoid spending too much time on the ground. Well he didn't. The fight started off just as most of us thought, with Fedor blitzing Werdum with punches until he went down. When Werdum dropped I didn't think he was hit cleanly enough by any of the punches to be put down, and this proved to be key. While I'm sure a loss of balance had something to do with it, I'm also sure Werdum went down the way he did to lure Fedor in. Now I imagined Fedor, being the savvy veteran with a near perfect record through 10 years of competition, would either a) cautiously test the waters before committing, or b) opt not to go to the ground at all. Well he didn't. He dove, guns a-blazin', into the guard of perhaps the best BJJ guy in the division. This wasn't the key mistake. Once he dove in there, Werdum immediately went for an armbar, which Fedor defended. Okay, lesson learned, get out of there. Right? Wrong. He stays in Werdum's guard chasing the finish. Now as soon as this happened, I say out loud "What the hell are you doing?" And just as fast as I say this, Werdum locks in a triangle (alternating with an armbar as well....nice). Which Fedor hesitates before trying to escape. Fedor taps at the 1:09 mark of round 1. It was a rookie mistake committed by the man who doesn't make mistakes. It's hard to swallow, but these things happen. The loss didn't seem to affect Fedor at all, and an ecstatic Werdum showed a lot of humility by not claiming to be the best now that he beat the best, even going so far as to say that Fedor is still the best in the world.
What got under my skin was the aftermath. Now that Fedor improbably lost this match, not only does it throw the whole division into chaos, but it brings out all the haters. Those who discredit Fedor's past achievements, call him a can who never fought anyone, claim to have known he would lose and be exposed. It's pretty ridiculous. I'm not really a fan nor a hater of Dana White, but the childish grudges he holds and stances he takes on certain issues really leans me in the hater direction. Of course he would use this opportunity to claim Fedor was never that great, and that Werdum couldn't hack it in the UFC and was supposed to be an easy fight for him. Of course Dana would say these things....after he tried his damnedest, on multiple occasions, to get Fedor into the UFC. After he himself admitted that Fedor was great before talks between the two parties went south. Now he parades around with his chest out, no better than the idiotic haters who think this one loss proves that Fedor is garbage. Anderson Silva, one of Dana's golden boys, had two embarrassing losses AFTER he was touted as a big deal after dominating Hayato Sakurai (who was widely considered the #1 welterweight at the time). Look where he is now. Dana White is an idiot. And don't get me started on Tito Ortiz, as he and Dana are clearly butt buddies in this issue. I was not in favor of a rematch because Werdum earned his title shot fair and square, but after all this annoying talk I actually want a rematch now, just so Fedor can do what he was supposed to do the first time: knock out Werdum. I really like Werdum (and always have since his PRIDE days), but they both want the rematch so why not have it? Fedor would prove that the first fight was an anomaly, bet on it. Okay, enough of that.
Cung Le def Scott Smith via TKO (Body Kick and Punches), Rd 2
For this one, I kept hearing that the outcome was going to be the same as their first fight: Le dominates until he gets tired, and Smith capitalizes to score the improbably comeback KO/TKO. For whatever reason I didn't buy it. Le seemed angry and motivated after his first loss, so I saw no reason why he'd slack off this time around, contrary to other predictions. Smith has a lot of heart, but a careful and accurate fighter can pick him apart without suffering his comeback flurry if they pace themselves or just get rid of him early. Le chose the latter strategy. Smith came in with a seemingly sound strategy: pressuring Le so he doesn't have the openings to throw his flashy kicks. At first it seemed to work, but just forced Le to use weapons he's clearly worked on since the last fight: his fists. He actually showed some sound and accurate boxing in this fight, which just exposed Smith's lack of defense. In time, Smith could no longer keep that pressure up while getting punched in the face, and Le let the kicks loose. After getting rocked and dropped a few times, a body kick took the fight out of Smith and he went down for good. Now anyone who knows me (MMA-wise) knows that I can' stand Cung Le. Guys with undeserving hype usually don't get on my good side. His finishing skills are lacking, and he only finished Smith this time because Scott has the defense of a Rock-em Sock-em Robot (see: none). He's a highly touted superstar despite the fact that his best win was against an over the hill Frank Shamrock who had too much bravado to take the fight to the ground where he could win. Even then, the fight was only stopped because Frank blocked too many kicks and broke his arm in the 4th rd. As for Smith, I've always liked him for his exciting ways and comebacks, but seriously....he needs to learn how to fight. Or rather, to be a mixed martial artist. You can't get far anymore with just heavy hands and a lot of heart. He never uses kicks, has no wrestlig, and no BJJ. If that wasn't bad enough, his takedown defense isn't great either. He could AT LEAST have that if he's gonna be a one dimensional boxer. I really want him to get some skills, so he won't have to take such a beating whether he wins or loses, but he probably won't. I still look forward to his fights, but I'd also like him not to be brain-scrambled by the time hes 35. I want to see Le in the Middleweight tourney just so he can prove himself worthy of his popularity (or not). Smith vs. Manhoef sounds like a sadistic matchup, but I'd like to see if Smith could pull off yet another come from behind victory (and it's kind of sad that I already know that this is the only outcome in which Smith would win).
Christiane "Cyborg" Santos def Jan Finney via TKO (Knees to the Body), Rd 2
I feel bad for Strikeforce regarding their 145 lb division. Cyborg is ahead of her time and is simply too dominant a champion. A lot of women don't want to fight her, and the ones that do have no business being in the cage with her. Cyborg already ousted one of the two prominent women anywhere near her level in Gina Carano, and all that's left is Erin Toughill (and who knows when or if that fight will happen). So Finney was one of those women who had no business in there with Cyborg. She fought valiantly, showed an great chin and heart, but she got straight-up murdered in there. I am of the group that believes the fight should have been stopped after the first round, because nothing was going to change but the landscaping of Finney's face, which already had a number done on it. Please make Cyborg vs Toughill happen. Enough of these undersized women fighting a monster like Cyborg; it's kind of cruel.
Josh Thomson def. Pat Healy via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 3
I won't spend too much time here. This was a very solid fight, where Healy gave Thomson more fight than a lot of people thought. I'll pretty much just reiterate what Sherdog said: this fight could've been much easier for Thomson if he ever utilized a gameplan instead of relying on his talent alone. Add strong planning to Thomsons arsenal and he can once again rise up as a significant force in the lightweight division. Thomson wants JZ Cavalcante and Kawajiri, and I say both those matches would be great, even though they are currently occupied. Healy looked pretty solid, and is a good gatekeeper for the division.
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