UFC 123 Review

UFC 123 is in the books... And I know that Rich has been chomping at the bit to get these results...

It's been quite an interesting month, from the standpoint of MMA and Boxing(nope, apparently it wasn't completely dead) in the land of the interchange.

This time around, the spectacle that is UFC was not viewed at the Compound near Bear Creek known as the FP( It's not even in Bearcreek...) Which I am sure was a heart breaking turn of events for Burt...He loves his UFC viewing parties, catered by Jimmy Johns of course. Hopefully this won't be another of the lightning rod postings that Burt cries in his pillow about, but Burt finally had one of his own, so hats off to you for finally covering something that actually evoked emotion and passion... You are still a terrible study when it comes to playing odds in Football...

Not the most in-depth coverage, but I do this because I know, like stated previously, Rich wants it..

First match, went two rounds in a fight that had potential fight of the night written all over it. And for PPV purposes, it was the curtain jerker. George Sotiropolous, was getting out done in this fight by his opponent, Joe Lauzon, we are not disputing that. However, Lauzon wore himself out, plain and simple. The 2nd round theme was Lauzon being blown-up and Georgie Porgie waiting for his chance to exploit it. After a clinch which would see both fighters fall to the mat, Sotiropolours began to go to work and try to go from pole to pole(directionaly speaking) to get the W. After a failed armbar, Geroge was able to clinch in a kimura for the win @ the 2:42 mark of the 2nd round.

Fight number 2 saw Phil Davis dismantle and dominate Tim Boestch, in yet another match that would end in the 2nd round via Kimura. It was all Phil Davis as he executed exactly what he wanted and when he wanted to.

The 3rd fight was the one in which you would designate as the one in which it was ok to stretch it out, take a leak or strike up a meaningless conversation with any other patron who happened to be around. I imagine the Beer Lines at the arena did their best business during this one. In a match that started off very slowly, and wound up being a set up for yet another dominating performance like that of the last match, and quite frankly was very boring and it got that reaction from the crowd and Joe Rogan at the broadcast table. Maiquel Falcao won this snoozer in a 3 round unanimous decision over Gerald Harris. Should be noted here that Harris seemingly tapped to a choke in the 1st, but the ref didn't call it as such, Falcao even cranked up the pressure on the hold, while the bell was ringing and had to be told to break the hold after the round was over... He didn't hear the bell he said... They should have done something with this abomination of a fight after the first, but it went 3 rounds.

Penn-Hughes 3. A lot of people don't like BJ Penn, at one time thought to be the best pound for pounder in the world. a lot of people don't like Matt Hughes. Penn has displayed a piss poor attitude and laziness. Hughes has bitched and cried fowl several times and likes to make excuses. I like Penn. The match was a flury by Penn. He came out and went full force at Hughes and landed a very nice combo early, played the defense card by catching a Hughes kick attempt and pushing him back, then charging at him once more and catches Hughes with a big right. That's all the ref needed to see in this one. TKO 1st round for BJ Penn. Ain't gonna be no rematch...

The Main Event, Lyoto Machida, Cobra Kai himself, the man who drinks his own piss. The man who comes to the cage at times dressed like a character from Street Fighter 3 against Quinton Rampage Jackson. THe chain welding, moon barking, Ba Baracus, Junkyard Dog himself. Rampage is a personal favorite. So is Machida. Both really needed this win to get closer to a title fight. Maybe more so Rampage. To be honest, Machida was the better figther in this one. He absolutely punished Jackson at times, and to Jackson's credit, he kept fighting back. There was some excitement in the closing moments of this one, Machida goes for an armbar, Jackson man-handles him up to go for a slam...and after that tease, we got nothing as Machida, smartly, let go of the arm to negate the slam. After a clinch by Machida to force Rampage to the mat, Jackson managed to gain the top and the fight ended with Jackson being on top in the guard ...Maybe it was unfair to say that Machida was clearly the better fighter, as Rampage was very aggressive and came full bore... but I still think that Machida performed better....so with that, they left it to the judges... and they sided with Rampage... Depending on your allegiances is obviously gonna sway your view of how controversial this decision was or wasn't.

So that's it.... another UFC Rasslin' show in the books... No Undertaker stare down this time... But I did hear that Lanny Poffo was picking fights in the bathroom....