For all the speculation about UFC 116 not pulling in as many viewers as expected, this was one HELL of an event. An undercard w/ mostly unheralded fights (at least to the general public) delivered big, and the main event gave fight fans something to remember for a long time.
I'll get to Brock/Carwin in a minute. (FYI, I was tempted to refer to him as Shane, like he was suddenly a household name after that fight. Which he should be. But that's neither here nor there.) The opener was as expected, w/ George Sotiropolous pulling out the decision over Kurt Pellegrino but MAN, did Kurt come within an eyelash of stealing that fight.
Chris Lytle gave us something we don't see everyday, in submitting Matt Brown w/ a "reverse triangle/crucifix". (I'm going to need pie charts and an easel to figure that one out.) The Bonnar/Kyrstof rematch was epic, if only for "the pose" post-match from a victorious Stephan Bonnar. (BTW I think I found my new avatar for the next six months.) The war that preceded it wasn't bad either.
And of course...there's Leben/Sexiyama. Like a lot of fight fans, I was legit bummed that Wanderlei couldn't compete against the Japanese/Korean fighter. But when the UFC threw in Chris Leben as a replacement, I immediately thought, 'Has he even had a chance to take his gloves off from the last fight?! WTF.'
And then last night happened...
Un. Freaking. Believable.
Despite being noticeably gassed by the middle of Round 2, Sexiyama manage to level some damaging shots against the Crippler right up until the bitter end. But the Legend of Leben was too much for him to overcome, and we saw just what makes Chris...Chris. Two weeks removed from stopping Aaron Simpson at the TUF finale, the Crippler turned in another heroic performance in tapping Sexiyama w/ a triangle and instantly, became one of my favorite fighters. BRAH. VO.
And now...the piece de resistance... the main event. Brock. Shane. Fisticuffs.
If I had a nickel for every time I heard and/or screamed the phrase, "HOLY SH*T, BROCK'S DONE" in that first round, well...I would have a lot of freaking nickels. Watching it live (at a Hooters no less), the crowd, myself included, was IN-CREDULOUS that referee Josh Rosenthal seemingly turned a blind eye to the shellacking Big Bad Brock was enduring. And it's not as if I wasn't expecting the long leash. I even went through the trouble of explaining to my girlfriend that the referees usually back off in championship fights. But with that said, even she couldn't believe the fight was going on.
Now, having been 24 hours removed from the fight, my feelings on the non-stoppage have waned a bit. However, I am still comfortable saying there have been scores of big fights stopped under circumstances much less dire than the one Brock Lesnar faced last night... with that circumstance being a 270 lb. monster raining down cinder-block fists and pick-axe elbows in rapid succession. Take into account that we've never seen anyone (Frank Mir included) put Brock in that much trouble in the Octagon. That alone should have signaled he was on the eve of destruction.
Ultimately, while it was far from pretty, Brock weathered the storm, shook off some of the ring rust and displayed his mettle by enduring the most legitimate threat to his title reign yet. Seriously, who had 'arm triangle' or anything other a fist to the face in their pool as the finish to this melee?
In then end, I think we all feel richer for having seen this performance from the Next Big Thing. However, the same can't be said for Shane Carwin. And that's probably why this whole deal doesn't sit well with me, the fact that Shane got hosed on this fight. Given that he was getting paid peanuts to take on Brock (see 'TEN TO ONE RATIO'), it was ostensibly a no-win situation, in that, not only did he have to win to make any significant coin, he had to do it impressively to boot. And to his credit, he did just that; Shane did exactly what he had done in his 12 previous fights, which was annihilate his opponent for three minutes plus. Only this time, that opponent was the undisputed heavyweight champ/UFC cash cow. You do the math.
I will trust Josh Rosenthal heard and saw more than we did from Brock last night in the midst of that first round 'exchange'. Just try telling that to Shane Carwin right now.
In spite of that slight unpleasantness, this was a strong show for Dana and co. Given the string of duds that have plagued several recent UFC events (Rashad, 'Page, I'm lookin' at you), this was a nice turnaround. Hopefully, there were a great many fight fans who were able to pay witness. Now, if only we could be certain this goodwill lingers for Spider Silva at UFC 117...
On second thought, that might be pushing it.
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