A lot to catch up on. Haven't been around here in a while. First and foremost, after the Edgar fight, I have given up the argument that Penn is better than GSP pound for pound. Penn fought Edgar like Edgar weighed 20 pounds more than him when Penn really had the weight advantage. Edgar is naturally a featherweight. He fights up at lightweight since UFC doesn't have a featherweight division. Penn was very timid, staying on his feet and trying to stand up with Edgar even though he was far too fast and completely unpredictable. Every combination Frankie threw was unique. Constantly switching things up and really just beating on BJ.
If Penn would have attempted a take down or even just kept Frankie in his guard when he was taken down (first time he's been taken down in a lightweight fight in probably 6 years), he could have used his far superior jiu jitsu and worked a submission, if not just using his weight to ground and pound him. Standing up with a lighter, faster Edgar was a terrible strategic move, and the result showed that. Although Penn was timid and slower, you could still see that he's a better fighter. His lightning quick stand-up after he was taken down both times, and the size he had on him shows me he should beat Edgar. I think Penn lost that fight due to terrible strategy, so props to Edgar for beating him at his weak spot. He fought hard, mixed things up, and got the better of the best lightweight champion of all time. I wouldn't expect him to hold the belt long though.
I think Joe Stevenson and Diego Sanchez would be probably the top contenders in taking out Edgars particular style. Both guys are prepared for a war, and they like to take down, ground and pound, and use their speed and athletic skills to take out their opponents will to live. Relentless fighters are going to be Edgars weakness because he's lighter and he's unproven against a real brawler. Penn tried using technique, and technique failed. I think Florian would make the same mistake by trying to focus on his Muay Thai, but Edgar is too unpredictable. Right now it looks like the title shot will be given to either Penn if he wants it, or to Gray Maynard, who has beaten Edgar before because of his ability to outwork Edgar and use his weight and strength to just beat him. Maynard and Edgar would be a good fight, but I don't think it's a fight between the two best lightweights in the world by any means.
I brought up Edgar and Penn first, because that is by far the most important fight of the last UFC. Silva and Maia was one of the most ridiculous fights I've ever seen, if not the most. I'm pretty happy my neighbor bought the Pay Per View and not me, otherwise I'd be livid. Silva said his reasoning for dancing around like a jackass was because Maia had pissed him off with his comment that said something to the effect of they call him the spider and say he has all these legs, so hopefully I can take one home with me. How Silva took more offense to this than to any other shit fighters have talked to him is beyond me, but what is really surprising is that Silva didn't retaliate by beating the piss out of him. He said instead of kicking Maia's ass, he wanted Maia to do something. He said he was just standing there waiting on Maia to make a move.
I don't know how many of you saw the fight, but at about the start of the 3rd round, Silva danced away from Maia every time he made a move. There was no contact between the two men at all. He won by decision because of his decisive victories in round 1 and 2, but for the last 3 rounds, he was quite obviously trying to rest on the work he had done and just wait out the rest of the fight. It was bullshit. Halfway through the 4th round, Dana White THREW the title belt at Silvas manager and said here, fucking take it. He wouldn't even present it to him at the end of the match. Dana White said two things of importance during the press conference after the fights.
1. Silva isn't worthy of GSP. Coming into the fight, White had said that if Silva won, then he would get a fight against GSP. St. Pierre had asked for a fight with Silva before, but Silva had refused. It's interesting how Silva refused to fight GSP, and when told if he won his next fight, he would fight GSP, he made a complete ass of himself and had far from a convincing victory. To me, that raises the question of is Silva scared? I can't see anything else that would have motivated him to act the way he did. Ridiculous.
2. Silva will be the first champion to fight on an undercard. Now whether or not Dana will stick to this statement remains to be seen, but if you've ever seen the Ultimate Fighter or heard the man speak, nothing pisses him off more than pussies pretending to be fighters. Silva looked like a pussy in this last fight, and I wouldn't doubt Dana's threats. If he goes through with it, Silvas next event won't even be a headline fight, let alone a main event. For those of you who don't know what that means, Silvas next fight won't even be on the commercials for the next Pay Per View event he's on. That would obviously be a first championship bout to be on the undercard, and a HUGE slap in the face to Silva.
We'll have to see if he decides to get his shit together. Right now, I see him dominating as much as he physically can without being dominant enough to get asked to fight GSP.
Lastly was Hughes/Gracie. No surprise here. Hughes was dropping leg kicks like Pedro Rizzo and Gracie buckled under it after about 2 of them. Old man, old knees (which is why the Kimbo fight on the next card will probably be a big disappointment to his fans). Can't say enough about Gracies character though. When Rogan asked him if he thought he should have slotted a warm up fight with someone a little easier than Matt Hughes, Gracie said "What kind of fighter would I be if I answered yes to that?" It'll be interesting to see if he returns to the Octagon. As for Hughes, he showed he's still in the upper echelon of Welterweight fighters. I'd like to see him get a bigger fight here sometime soon.
Next card: The main fights are the Shogun/Machida rematch, Koscheck/Daley, and Kimbo/Mitrione. The last fight between Machida and Shogun was the most ass-backward decision of all time. Even Dana White was pissed about it. He paid Shogun the win bonus and not Lyoto. It was absolute bullshit. I'm expecting Shogun to come out and get what is his once and for all. I predict a knockout from Shogun. Koscheck over Daley via decision. And Mitrione over Slice. Kimbo was dropped repeatedly because of kicks to the knee against Houston Alexanders punk ass. It doesn't take a fucking rocket scientist to figure out the strategy for this one.
I expect to see Mitrione keeping his distance and kicking the fuck out of his front knee, and Kimbo dropping like a tree at least once in the first round. Probably several times in the second. If he plays it right, Mitrione will never give him the chance to drop any of his famous bombs. I think it will either be a medical stoppage or submission.
