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It was billed The Ultimate 2008, and it certainly lived up to the hype. 2 title changes, some outstanding performances, and one highlight reel knockout helped close out an extremely successful 2008 for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. On Saturday night, “Sugar” Rashad Evans became the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Frank Mir captured the UFC Interim Heavyweight strap and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson finally got his revenge on an old foe.
Lets start with Evans, who defeated Forrest Griffin via TKO in the 3rd round. Plain and simple, Evans used his power and explosiveness to gain the win. Forrest was clearly ahead on points through 2 rounds, doing a nice job pushing forward and working nice combo’s to the body. He’d even caught Sugar with a few good cross shots, and at one time got Evans to grin, which almost always means you’ve hurt the guy. When the 3rd round began, both men looked fresh and both were still bouncing. Evans got Griffin with a nice right that put him down on the mat, but while trying to follow up, Rashad ended up in Forrest’s guard. But credit Evans, he was able to move around, keep Forrest working on his back, and eventually caught him with a nice shot while escaping wrist control…he finished the fight from there. So, Evans is the new 205 champ and is STILL undefeated inside The Octagon…but who will he face in his first title defence?
You could see a number of possibilities, including Rampage who we’ll get to in just a bit. Also floating around out there are Mauricio “Shogun” Rua who fights in January, maybe Lyoto Machida, but right now the possibilities are pretty wide open. It’s interesting to think about who fights Forrest next though. He was classy as always in defeat, and my buddy turned to me and said “you know he’s fighting Chuck Liddell next.” That got me thinking…it’s certainly something to consider, but there’s also that rumour The Iceman is next up against Anderson Silva. It would do massive PPV buys, with 2 of the most popular guys in the biz going at it, but I can’t help but wonder if a rematch with Keith Jardine would be next up for Griffin. Lots to consider coming out of this fight.
Also at 205, we saw a first round KO for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson over Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva. These 2 have a loooooong history, dating back to Pride when Silva KO’ed Jackson on 2 seperate occasions. Neither like eachother and that was evident with the pre-fight banter, including a shoving match at the weigh-in’s. For Jackson, it’s a big win on so many fronts. First, he finally has that win over his arch-nemesis and can have bragging rights for now, as it was a devestating 1 punch knockout. Second, it gets Quinton back in the win column inside The Octagon…remember, he lost his Light Heavyweight belt to Griffin in his last fight, so he needed a good showing to stay near the top of the division. Finally, it’s good to see Rampage bounce back after his problems outside of the sport. He had some well documented legal battles, and it looks like he’s got his head right.
And how about the showing for Frank Mir, winning the Interim Heavyweight Championship with a second round TKO over Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira. In what can only be considered a massive upset, Mir not only finished Nog for the first time ever, but did so in dominating fashion. The stand up game displayed by Mir was incredible, seemingly landing his jab and uppercut with ease throughout a likely 10-8 first round. He put Nogueir on the canvas in the second round with another shot, and finished from there, shocking even himself. In my interview with Mir earlier this week, Frank told me how hard this fight was going to be, and how important it would be to execute a perfect gameplan. Consider the gameplan executed, and let the hype machine begin for the Brock Lesnar-Frank Mir rematch to unify the UFC Heavyweight belt.
Also impressive on the card was Chieck Kongo, who has to be moving closer and closer to the elite ranks in the Heavyweight division. No more is he a one-dimensional kick boxer, he showed great takedown defence in his fight, and devestating ground-and-pound leading to a 1st round TKO over Mostapha Al Turk. Ultimate Fighter alumnus CB Dolloway also came away victorious, with a resilient 1st round TKO win over Mike Massenzio.
Next up…UFC 93 in Dublin, January 17th 2009 headlined by Rich “Ace”Franklin and Dan Henderson. Also on the card will be the return of Shogun as he takes on UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman. UFC 94 is back in Vegas January 31st with the dream fight…BJ Penn And Georges St. Pierre. Can it be the new year already?
Excellent summary of the fights Pat. I was unable to watch it due to Holiday commitments, so your inside view is appreciated. I hope that Kongo continues to improve as the heavyweight division is in dire need of some quality talent. Keeping Mir focussed for his next fight would help the division as well.
PS: No problem Darren. Kongo looked like a monster, but he hasn’t had a quality opponent since Cro-Cop. So the UFC has got to step up and give him someone so we can get a real guage on how he’s progressing. No offence to his last opponents…but the term “piece of meat” comes to mind. So Kongo needs a good opponent next. As for Mir, he better be focused, he’s got a motivated, and much improved, monster next in Brock Lesnar. As good as Mir looked, he’ll need to look a whole lot better to withstand Brock Lesnar’s onslaught.
- Darrenhey Pat – Mir’s defeat over Nog was a huge upset. I know Mir’s cardio has been suspect in the past. You think it has improved? This sets up nicely for the rematch between Brock and Frank – Do you think Brock has improved enough to not get caught in a submission like the last time these 2 met?
I know Evans won and is still undefeated, but Pat why am I still not sold on this guy? Am I crazy?! I see potential fights with him against Machida, Thiago Silva and/or Jackson and I don’t think Evans can win any of those. How does UFC market a guy who has beaten 2 of its more marketable names (Forrest and Chuck) and is undefeated BUT still remains suspect when you think if he’s truly ready? Also, I kinda saw it a little different Pat – I thought evans looked a little gassed leading up to the finish. Maybe it was just me though.
You got my mind jogging about potential suitors for Forrest. What about Jackson? You KNOW Rampage wants another crack at him. Or what about Silva? That would be a great fight.
I was a little upset at the outcome of the silva/jackson match. As I had mentioned before, I was hoping for Wanderlei to come out on top. That left was devastating nonetheless. I can’t help but wonder if Silva’s health is coming into question here. He’s had some tremendous bouts against Chuck and now Rampage. And before that even, he was knocked out by Henderson and CroCop – you think his heads right still? That’s alot of blows to deal with.
Announced today was Cro Cop’s plans to retire in 2009 although he still wants one more fight in the UFC. Where do you see him fitting in?
Hopefully you don’t erase this post. I don’t know if I can remember this twice. haha
PS: I got it this time Ty, so we’re all good…your comments are always appreciated man! Mir to me looked like a whole new fighter, a total reinvention. His standup has NEVER looked that good, and he pushed the pace the entire time and never once looked the worse for wear. His cardio was outstanding man, and I think that was a huge part of this fight, he just kept pushing forward. As for Evans, I know you’re not the only one not sold on him…and I wasn’t either until his last 3 fights. He’s finishing guys and he’s proving he’s well rounded…is his standup world class yet? No, but it improves every time. His wrestling is top notch, and his ground game devestating as we saw with a TKO from the guard. You never see that…I’m on the Rashad train, and I think he comes out victorious in those potential matchups you threw out. Forrest is wide open…I think we will certainly see a rematch with Jackson down the road, but I think they’ll put one more fight in between. I could see a fight with Wanderlei certainly, and the prospect of a Machida matchup is interesting too. Finally…I really do agree with you on Wanderlei, he just hasn’t seem to be all there the last little while. He got the KO on Jardine, but in a lot of ways, Keith basically gave that to him. His fight with Chuck was outstanding, but I had him behind on points all 3 rounds. And now this…I don’t know, maybe he is coming to the end of the road. Cro Cop bores me…he can do what he likes, I’d rather not see him back in The Octagon, but it’ll probably happen! Sigh.
- tyHey Pat. I don’t remember exactly what I asked last time, but it was something to effect of….Do you think Mir will want take the fight to the ground if (and when) Mir fights Lesnar again?? I still contend that Lesnar’s ground game will have to be better because I don’t think Mir is going to want to get into a boxing match with him. I thought Lesnar was confused on the ground against Couture. It wasn’t until Lesnar caught him with a punch while standing up that he finally put Couture away. I’m pretty sure Lesnar isn’t the only one who learned something from their first bout.
PS: Thanks for writing again Darren, I didn’t delete it this time! Man, I just don’t know HOW Mir can get Lesnar to the ground. To me, he’s impossible to take down at this point, he’s like a massive moving tree. I guess the way I see it is this…Lesnar will be working his BJJ and submission defence to a very high degree the next number of months, and he’ll continue to work hard at his standup game. I wouldn’t want to box with Brock right now, and you know he’s going to be able to take Mir down at will. Mir will be ready, but will he be able to catch Lesnar with a rookie mistake? Probably not, so it’s on Frank to work some sweeps from the guard and half guard to tire Brock out on the ground. And if he can be elusive enough on his feet, again tiring him out, he might be able to get Lesnar in a submission in the later rounds. Maybe I’m not giving Mir enough credit, but that’s the only way he wins this fight. Then again…I had him losing to Nog too!
- DarrenOh ya, I also stated in my last response that I thought the heavyweight division needed some new (quality) fighters because Kongo (as you said) is not what I would call a strong fighter and I don’t see anyone else who could contend. Thx.
PS: You’re not into Kongo hey? I think he’s got a ways to go, but he’s the only real new addition I can think of to the elite heavyweight mix right now. He can match anyone standing up, it’s what he does on his back that will determine whether or not he can get by the likes of Nog, Randy, etc. But I think he’s close to contending for the upper echelon of that division.
- DarrenIf we are talking heavyweights here, why not throw this name in the mix…
The latest rumor has UFC in talks with Alistair Overeem. Don’t know where those negotiations stand but, this would be a great addition to UFC’s stable. Overeem has a kickboxing pedigree and is a veteran of Pride and Dream. He’s a ripped 250 pounds and his stand-up game is SICK. Pat, do you know anything else about this guy?
PS: I’ve only seen him fight once, against Cro Cop, and it was a comedy of errors. Alistair got him in the junk like 4 times, it was painful to watch. I know Overeem is a solid kickboxer though, he fought K1 this weekend I believe. I wonder how he’d stack up against the better UFC heavyweights, if he’d be able to keep it standing long enough to work his game, or if guys like Randy, Brock, Mir, etc would be able to take him down and work him from there.
- TyPat,
I know you are big fight fan. Do you prefer the stand up, ground game or both? I am asking as there are some great Muay Thai (stand up) fights coming to Calgary Jan 24th at the Convention Center. We are regular advertisers now with the Fan. If you are interested….drop me a line..its a great night out of non-stop stand up action!
PS: Hey Robin, I emailed you back, I’m a huge fan of all aspects of the fight game!
- Robin