It was one hell of a main event on Saturday afternoon, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship present UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany. Rich Franklin outlasted Wanderlei Silva and took a unanimous decision in what was 15 minutes of pure action. The bout answered some questions and raised some others.
It certainly answered some questions regarding Rich Franklin. Is he a new fighter since his 2 losses to Anderson Silva? Yes. Is he better suited at a higher weight? Yes. Is he going to make some potential waves in the Light Heavyweight division? I would say yes as well. The fight took place at a catch-weight of 195 pounds, which suited both fighters well. For Franklin, I thought he looked calm and composed yet he also displayed an impressive amount of aggression and Octagon control to take the fight. His power has always been one of his best assets, but it was really impressive on Saturday, as he knocked down Silva on numerous occasions.
Franklin has always been known as a cerebral type of fighter, and that helped him dominate at 185 pounds for a long period of time. But his losses to Anderson Silva made him realize how much higher a level he has to take his game. With impressive performances in his last 4 bouts (3-1), he’s shown a ton of versatility and resiliency and makes his pending move to 205 very interesting. Franklin has all the tools to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua, and has the skill set to challenge current Champ Lyoto Machida. I think Franklin is one of the most interesting guys to watch in the coming months.
As for Wanderlei, eek. He’s lost 5 of his last 6 fights and has gone from being one of the most feared strikers in the history of the sport to a guy who is plodding and predictable. Was he entertaining on Saturday? Yeah, absoloutely, and that’s why he’s not going anywhere. But his approach to fights have got to change if he’s going to have any prolonged success at 185 pounds (his pending destination). His striking has become predictable, as he’s far too fond of the overhand right. He’s leaving himself open for easy jabs and his cardio is certainly suspect as of late. Silva still has all kinds of KO power in his hands, but he needs to mix up his attack if he’s going to have any success moving forward.
Was I impressed with Cain Velasquez on Saturday? How can you not be. But I was a little confused with his inablity to finish Cheick Kongo, clearly a fish out of water on his back. The number of times Velasquez had Kongo in full mount, he should have been able to finish him off. But in the long run, he looked dominant and showed his All American wrestling skill while also showing off an impressive ability to take a punch. Kongo, not so much. Was he great on his feet? For sure, but he didn’t do enough to make sure the fight was kept standing, and showed some real holes in his game while on the ground. He’s got a lot of work to do if he wants a shot at the Heavyweight belt.
Mirko Cro Cop looked awesome…too bad he screwed over the UFC and decided to sign with DREAM in Japan. Watch out for Mike Swick, he’s now put himself in the upper echelon of the 170 pound division; I’ve been damn impressed with him and really want to see him against the cream of the crop. Was very disappointed with the performance of Marcus Davis. I’m a huge fan of his, but I thought he was far too slow in the striking game and could have done a lot more to guarantee a win, instead of a split decision loss.
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I was extremely disappointed with the Kongo match. His right hand obviously packs some dynamite, but I cannot understand how he is SO bad on the ground. The one good takedown he did have in the 3rd round was quickly reversed by Cain. I question Kongo and Wolfslair’s strategy, I don’t know what he was trying to do. His inability to maintain space and create distance, proved to be less of a progression in his game and more of a regression perhaps. As I have seen no real addition of a ground game to his skill set, with only minimal spurts, I fear this may be the Kongo we’ll see. He’s not exactly a spring chicken. He’s not even close to the elite in the division. If he can’t withstand Cain’s ground game, he’s sure not going to withstand Brock’s or Mir’s BJJ. As for Cain, he looked good, but his performance may have been magnified more by the weak performance of Kongo then his extremely superior game. His ineffective power and lack of a finishing game was surprising. He controlled almost the entire 2nd round without being able to finish or submit Kongo. He has some more growing to do too before competing with the division’s elite.
Disappointed with the Davis match as well. I thought Davis had won this fight actually. The judges scored the bout on appearance I feel. Outside of the 3 big shots that Hardy landed, Davis controlled most of the fight. He had a couple great shots followed by impressive takedowns at in both the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Davis may have had almost TOO MUCH emotion for this bout as he continually left himself open for big shots that did land. It eventually cost him the bout as his face showed the scars of those hits.
I LOVED when they showed the close up of Swick and Saunders on the ground in the 1st. Did you catch the trash talk? You definitely don’t see much of that. haha
- Ty