MMA Fight Opinion

An interesting, if not disappointing, UFC Fight Night. Some big upsets, KO's, and head scratching fights.

Rashaad Evans foung himself losing to relative unknown Sean Salmon after the first round. Sean was able to push the action, and land a few more shots, as well as execute some takedowns. Then in the 2nd, a patient Rashaad waited for an unprotected Salmon to lower his head in an exposing situation, and landed one of the most devastating high kick KO's in recent years. Salmon was on the canvas for quite some time, but is alright, and was released from the hospital the next day. Evans is now 15-0 and improving with every single fight.

The build up to the introduction of Heath Herring to UFC fans, turned out to be a big disappointment. Heath, suffering from a torn mcl, was taken down time after time in the three round bout. Heath initiated all the action from the ground every time, and got up over and over again. Still, the wrestling skill of O'Brien got him the takedown constantly, though once on the ground, Jake did little but the classic lay and pray. The crowd boo'd and the ref did not stand them up very often. Knowing he was behind on the cards, Heath came out as a blitzkrieg in the end, and got his second knockdown of Jake, but Jake would again get the top position on the ground and lay until the unanimous victory. Herring wanted a fight, but lost a wrestling match.

Hermes Franca must have solidified himself as the #1 Lightweight contender, after a brilliant TKO victory over the tough as hell, Spencer Fisher. Franca's wild punching style seemed to confuse Fisher. Franca got takedowns where the action stale mated. Then on the feet again, Franca unloaded a barrage of awkward looping punches, that forced the ref to halt the action and save the battered Fisher.

Nathan Marquardt defeated Dean Lister by decision after a rough and tumble fight. Marquardt seemed to have Lister hurt badly a couple of times, but Dean held on to lose a lopsided decision. Marquardt moves on to be one of the top 3 Middleweights currently in the UFC game.

Din Thomas outlasted an always game Clay Guida in an exciting tough fight. Though more marked up by the fight, Din got the judges decision. Din moves up the Lightweight rankings and continues as a legit title threat.

Ed Herman got back on track with a beautiful submission win over the overweight Chris Price. Price could not make the 185 limit, but Ed chose to fight him anyway.

Rich Clementi defeated Ross Pointon, with guess what, a submission. The gladiator just can't hang with the well rounded MMA guys. Ross we love ya, but maybe boxing is the way to go.

Josh Burkman beat Chad Reiner by decision and nobody cared.

The best Fight Night to date, though I still don't understand why O'Brien was allowed to just lay on top of Herring for three rounds without being stood up, but hey. Franca's the man to beat, Rashaad is getting scary good, Marquardt deserves a title shot, Clay must be brought back, and Ed isn't finished yet. Good fight, and good night.