The vast majority of fans thought UFC 115 would be a garbage night
of fights. Instead we got a night full of tension, drama and
violence that made picking just five moments worthy of recognition
near impossible.
Here comes my best shot.
Franklin Starches Liddell … with a Broken
Arm
Chuck
Liddell was starting to come alive, and Rich
Franklin was not enjoying the punches crashing into his
notoriously fragile chin.
Further complicating matters for Franklin was his left arm, which
he later revealed to be broken and was severely altering his
offensive output. As he has so many times in his career, Liddell
smelled blood and wasn’t about to let Franklin make it to the
second round.
Liddell’s trademark blitzkrieg ended with Franklin landing a
crunching, compact right on his chin and putting “The Iceman” down
and out in gut-wrenching fashion. It was a moment that perfectly
synthesized the athletic brilliance of mixed martial artists and
the brutal consequences that come with their job description.
Cro Cop Brings Back the Cemetery
Patrick
Barry dropped Mirko
Filipovic twice in the first round and was on the verge of
turning his lead leg into mush. Even the most fervent “Cro Cop” fan
had to know that this might be his last stand.
Then something happened that I never thought I would get to see
again: Filipovic threw his left high kick of doom, and it changed
the fight without even landing. Shades of the Filipovic of old
followed, as he started using his underrated boxing skills all the
while whipping that left leg with the reckless abandon his fans
have been begging for.
“Right leg, hospital. Left leg, cemetery.” It’s the greatest
tagline in MMA history for a reason, folks. Read more
When the UFC’s hype engine fails to deliver any real, palpable
anticipation for a fight -- as in the case of Saturday’s Tito
Ortiz/Forrest
Griffin rematch, which is fine but far from the Epic Super
Rematch of Mega Titans some clever editing and music are presenting
it as -- you can make up your own narrative.
In this instance, UFC
106’s four light heavyweights might potentially be
participating in a four-man tournament for a chance at the title
without knowing it. In addition to Ortiz/Griffin, a debuting
Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira will face Luis Arthur
Cane; the respective winners would have time to meet before May
1’s Lyoto
Machida/Mauricio Rua
rematch. It may be all that you need to sit a little closer to the
television. Read more