UFC 99: Cain, Hardy, Cro Cop, & Franklin? All Victorious

The fact that all 3 judges had the Rich Franklin Wanderlei Silva fight for "Ace" still baffles me. The 1st round was all Franklin, but Silva actually dropped Rich to the canvas with a right hand and came ever so close to putting the fight away. That and the fact 2 judges scored the fight 30-27 is just plain ridiculous. In the final round Wanderlei presses the action attacking Rich the whole time as "Ace" retreats. Then the judges do their screw job and now Wand wants a rematch which isn't a bad idea. "The Axe Murderer" is so beloved by fans that they want to see him fight again. Rich doesn't have the power to put Silva out and the controversy over the decision leads to another payday for both fighters and hopefully some meaningful criticism and explanations from the judges.

Mirko Cro Cop took apart Mustapha Al-Turk with a 1st round TKO. Mirko shrugged off Turks takedown attempt and began landing with ease as Al retreated. The end was nigh when an inadvertent eye poke left Mustapha exposed and then put away. The eye thing was accidental and meaningless as Turk was on his way out. More controversy on Mirko Cro Cop vs Dana White upcoming.

Cain Velasquez gets rocked early and badly by Cheick Kongo, but recovered and took the big man to the floor where he just abused him as predicted. Sure Cain didn't have enough power to take out the big fella, but his ground game bloodied up the sturdy Frenchmen who had no answer to this continuing floor riddle he faces. Cain moves up the rankings and I hear Shane Carwin is calling.

A nice little bit of closed guard trash talking from Mike Swick and Ben Saunders who fought to a stalemate. That is until Swick unloads a 5 punch combo followed by some ground punches and Killa-B's night is ova! Damn Swick, he's still a frat boy bitch.

Spencer Fisher did what he could against Caol Uno, but the crowd did not appreciate the effort as 1 of the more boring fights I've seen in a while sets the German crowd off booing like they are watching the credits of Schindler's List. Look, "The King" tried to fight but had to defend the non-stop takedown attempts from Caol who couldn't do much else. Not a good debut for Uno by any stretch and Fisher will probably be punished by moving to undercard status for a while.

Marcus Davis fought smart but could not withstand the elbows and knees of Dan Hardy who score the Split Decision. In the 1st round of the grudge match of the century, Davis landed more strikes and took a confused Hardy to the mat where G&P ensues. In the 2nd, things get real close with both men landing until Dan's high knee taps the "Irish Hand Grenade's" chin and he goes down. "The Outlaw" follows things up with brutal G&P and almost secures an armbar but cannot finish the American Irishman. The final round and Dan lands a nasty elbow the bloodies the face of Davis who's eye is swelling very quickly. Marcus wobbles a bit and we go to the cards as Hardy is awarded the Split Decision though I'm not sure how 1 judge gave the fight to the upset and injured Davis. Marcus sporting a humongous completely swollen shut eye said after the fight, "We went back and forth on the stand-up, Hardy dropped me with a knee, I think, but I knocked him down with a hook. I also scored more takedowns, more submission attempts and out powered him the whole fight. Hardy came into my dressing room to talk after and I said I won. He said it was close. And he wouldn't argue. That took something. I guess he's not apologized for going too far with the talking. I won the fight."

John Hathaway got a decision win upping his record to 11-0 while "Skyscraper" Stefan Struve got the RNC "W." Pauls Kelly and Taylor got decision wins for Britian as Terry Etim also repped England with a "Brabo choke." Denis Siver was the only German to get a win in the homeland.

A huge 10-2 on the fight predictions and chiggidy check the eye of Marcus Davis in the pic.