UFC 93: Cardio Collapse In Ireland

Dan Henderson defeated Rich Franklin via split decision in the UFC 93 "Main Event" in Ireland. Dan got a lot of takedowns to his credit, but it was Rich who seemed to outpoint the Team Quest founder in the stand up game. An accidental headbutt and eye poke from Dan didn't help matters much for "Ace," but he gassed Hendo (which would become a theme at this PPV) and seemed to dominate the 3rd for the victory. The judges saw it another way and give a close win to Henderson who now leaves to coach on the newest season of TUF against Micheal Bisping and a future bout. Rich no doubt continues to plug along at Light Heavyweight but must be shaking his head at this outcome.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua defeated Mark Coleman via TKO in Round 3 to win their rematch. Coleman lasted a full minute into the fight before he was sucking wind but Shogun took his time striking slowly and getting taken down over and over only to almost submit the "Hammer." The 2nd saw the same action with Rua winning easily and Mark looking about 140 years old. Finally in the 3rd, Coleman just stood there, leaning against the cage, hands down, and breathing so heavily you thought he would collapse from lack of oxygen before strikes. To add to the excitement, the "reborn" Rua completely gassed as well pitter patter punching until Coleman finally fell and Shogun was awarded the victory. This fight was just plain ugly with Mark having no business fighting and Shogun looking like shit against a can. Chuck Liddell has already been tapped to fight Mauricio for the "Main Event" at UFC 97, yet another PPV nobody should order.
Rousimar Palhares defeated Jeremy Horn via unanimous decision as expected but not in dramatic fashion of any sort.
Alan Belcher defeated Denis Kang by submission (guillotine choke). Kang was winning the fight and just fell into Belcher's guard and a choke the quickly tapped the vaunted prospect. Shockingly, it seemed as if Denis gassed as well a bit but mainly just keeps the "Pride Curse" alive.
Marcus Davis bests Chris Lytle by Split-Decision in a decent fight that was hyped up waaaay too much. Pretty good throwdown but Davis has more technical striking and guess what, Chris got exhausted toward the end of the fight. Davis was definitely better, but if Chris ever joined a real camp like ATT or AKA he could tighten up that sloppy striking and focus on becoming a legit threat in the Welterweight division.
John Hathway defeats Tom Egan who had no business being there.
Martin Kampmann destroys Alexandre Barros via TKO in his Welterweight debut looking the most impressive out of anyone on this card.
Eric Schafer schools Antonio Mendes via TKO ruining my "Upset Pick" but congrats to the ginger anyway.
Thomasz Drwal punches out Ivan Serati as expected in 1 round while Dennis Siver took it to the 3rd before stopping Nate Mohr with strikes.

So what have we learned here kids? Hendo will go on to TUF while Rich kinda mulls around the Light Heavyweight scene trying to stay relevant. Shogun is not back and in fact looks as if he will be crushed by the "Iceman" in their once dream match. Jeremy Horn should retire along with Mark Coleman and he can join him in the UFC "Hall of Fame." The "Talent" will continue to do not much in the Middleweight division and Kang needs to check his heart if he is going to fight in the UFC at any sort of high level. Kampmann will be a force though probably not a champion and the Eric is a mid-level guy. Perhaps training cardio should be on every one's New Year's resolutions this year, and the UFC needs to trim their roster and put together some decent PPV's. The coming storm is gonna suck. 8-2 on the picks which is about par for the course. Bet.