Rashad talked shit, danced confidently and arrogantly in the ring, frustrated Chuck, and then KO'd the Iceman in one of the most brutal highlight reel KO's in history. Rashad Evans is officially the #1 contender, and will face Forrest Griffin (maybe in December) for the Light Heavyweight title! Chuck Liddell seemed frustrated early as Rashad used his counter and stay away strategy while beating the veteran with faster and more accurate punches. It seemed Evans could land 3 shots to every 1 of Chucks. Then in the 2nd, Liddell backed Evans into the cage and cocked his hand ready to explode. The difference was the other gun slinger got off 1st and Chuck was out before he hit the canvas as his face skidded across the mat in a macabre scene. Though I doubted everything he said, Rashad backed it all up! Amazing performance you have to hand it to the guy, and now Forrest awaits the undefeated fighter as Chuck may never get another title shot in his career, but said he is still not ready to retire. In the future, shut up that screaming banshee of a wife Rashad, it was like listening to a mourning mother at a funeral. Rich "Ace" Franklin got a nasty cut early in his fight with Matt Hamill. I mean nasty. Rich won the round in which he suffered the injury and with leg kicks, better striking, and beautiful sprawls, he school'd the deaf wrestling phenom. Then came my predicted future as Matt's cardio again failed him and you could see him withering under the leg and body kicks as Rich got more comfortable and dominant. Finally in the 3rd with Hamill tired, and looking for a way out, took a vicious liver kick that sent him to the floor and ended the fight. Brilliant performance for Franklin as he successfully returns to the Light Heavyweight division.
Nate "The Great" Marquardt took Martin Kampmann apart so brutally I had to watch the fight twice to believe the devastation. Nate landed a Cro Cop style head kick that wobbled the Dutchman and then swarmed him with dirty boxing uppercuts, body shots, and knee's that just wilted the kickboxer. Wow, Marquardt looked good as Team Jackson (along with Rashad Evans) dominated UFC 88.
Dan Henderson outsmarted Rousimar Palhares en route to a decisive decision victory. Palhares is so feared for his Brazilian Jui-Jitsu that rumors of him tapping Antonio Nogueira and Paulo Filho kept Dan from wanting any type of fight on the floor. Instead he employed near perfect takedown defense and repeatedly landed that sledgehammer right hand hurting and knocking down his opponent though Rousimar showed a great chin never being finished. All the creative kicks Rousimar threw were for naught as Hendo cruised to the decision win in style.
Now for my pet peeve, ignorant crowds. Fuck you Georgia! This moron filled crowd of drunken fools not only boo'd every single goddamn fight anytime there was a second of inaction, or just action they obviously didn't understand, but they did the USA bullshit chant when Dong Hyun Kim fought and defeated Matt Brown by split-decision. The showering of boo's came down as the Donger was announced the winner and the normally intelligent Joe Rogan told Brown he also thought he won. What the fuck were you watching? Kim had Matt's back the entire 1st round, and almost choked him unconscious. The 2nd, Brown took control as Hyun seemed to have gassed out. The final round saw Kim gain numerous takedowns of Matt and cut him wide open with a vicious elbow from the top position where he worked until the bell. Easy call, Kim wins. If you want to agree with Cecil Peoples, the worst judge of all time and the only one who gave the fight to Brown, well go ahead and be a jackass. You'll fit in just fine in Georgia. The American doesn't win just because he is American, and I am sick and tired of the blinders people wear when humble foreign fighter defeats an arrogant redneck from a TV show. Did I mention, fuck Georgia. May a hurricane visit you with the force of 3 Katrina's.
Ok now that I feel better, Jason MacDonald defeated Jason Lambert in style with a great choke while Batman Pelligrino shut down Thiago Tavares with a bloody decision win. Roan Carneiro lost his bid to avenge an earlier loss to Ryo Chonan by split decision and the Barbarian Tim Boetsch took apart Mike Patt as expected.
Afterthoughts:
It may be time for Chuck to leave the training home of the "Pit" and change things up with perhaps old friend Randy Couture at Xtreme Couture. I just don't see the same old thing working for Chuck anymore as the competition seems to have caught up, and he isn't getting younger. Rashad vs Forrest becomes interesting and you can't call Evans boring anymore. Where is Rich's place and what are interesting fights in the future for him and Dan Henderson is kinda in the same boat. What do you do with these big popular draws who are out of the title scene because of missed previous opportunities? I still think Marquardt can hang with Anderson Silva (though he failed in his 1st attempt) and is the man to watch at Middleweight. Finally, UFC, please do not return to Georgia unless you are sporting an all American roster with only stand up fighters the caliber of Butterbean and Phil Baroni. That seems about all they can understand down south. Kampmann needs to become a Welterweight and Jason Lambert may be looking for new employment as MacDonald survives to another day.
FightOfTheNight-Kurt Pelligrino vs Thiago Tavares
KnockoutOfTheNight-Rashad Evans
SubmissionOfTheNight-Jason MacDonald
BestEntranceMusic-Rasad Evans: Immortal Technique "Point Of No Return"
FightPicks-7 correct, 2 wrong
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