UFC 101

UFC made its debut in Philadelphia this past weekend with its highly anticipated pay-per-view UFC 101: Declaration. Fortunately, I was able to be in attendance. This was my first live UFC show and I was more than satisfied. First off, for a live pay-per-view, the event starts at 7:00 pm. Any UFC follower knows if you order a UFC event it starts at 10:00pm. So, basically the live audience gets an extra three hours of action…Can’t really beat that.

On to the fights…

The card headlined two big fights: Anderson “Spider” Silva vs. Forest Griffin and BJ “Prodigy” Penn vs. Kenny “Kenflo” Florian. One fight humbled an over confident fighter and the other sent a fighter running out of the octagon after a loss. These fights were hyped as much as possible, but in the end both were one sided. Don’t get me wrong, both fights were worth the price of admission. You can’t really complain when you get to see BJ Penn and Anderson Silva fight in the same night.

The majority of the fights on the card went the distance, leaving the Philly crowd satisfied. We were able to see George Sotiropoulos submit George Roop with a kimora. Also, I happened to be sitting in a section that was full of Dan Cramer’s friends and family. You can imagine how pissed they were to see him get beat up by Matthew Riddle for 15 minutes. I found it hilarious…Angry drunk people are always good for a laugh.

Another intriguing undercard matchup was the 6’4, 170 lb Tamdan McCrory vs. the 5’7, 170 lb John Howard. From the start, this fight was full of laughs. McCrory looked like a scrawny lab scientist and Howard had a haircut that was a design of flames. Initially we all thought the flames were a very bad tattoo. But we were eventually relieved to find out that it was just a bad haircut. Regardless of the flame-head, the fight actually ended up being one of the more entertaining of the night. Both men were pretty athletic and didn’t mind standing or taking it to the ground. It was pretty cool to see the 5’7 Howard throw his much taller opponent on his shoulders and then slam him to the ground. In the end, Howard was named the victor by split decision.

In addition to the six hours of live UFC matches, we were granted an unexpected additional fight. Apparently, a few people had too much to drink and the ending result was a woman beating up a man in front of 17,400 people. The fight in the stands that lasted about 45 seconds completely overshadowed Shane Nelson and Aaron Reiley’s 15 minute big yawn of a match.

UFC also has a most-hated referee now…well at least in Philly. Referee Dan Miragliotta was showered with boos after it appeared he stopped the Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks fight prematurely. After about 30 seconds of action the fight was stopped, even though Sadollah was about to get up. Also, Philly fans don’t have short memories. Miragliotta refereed a later fight and was showered with “boo’s” again for his stoppage earlier…Poor guy.

Ok, back to the two fights everyone cared about. First I’ll talk about the BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian fight. This fight, while action packed, was all BJ Penn. He pretty much put on a clinic. I found this interesting considering all the trash Florian talked before the bout. It appeared that all the confidence Florian built up prior to the fight disappeared with Forest Griffin just minutes before the fight.

BJ, on the other hand, had all the confidence in the world. He appeared to be well prepared and back to his old self. It was very clear that he had intentions of knocking Florian out. Luckily for Florian, BJ never landed one of his heavy haymakers. The majority of the fight was spent against the cage, which was the only thing Florian had control of. I assume that his intentions were to wear Penn down and sneak in a few lethal elbows. Unfortunately for him, it seemed like for every elbow he landed, Penn landed two or three punches of his own. By the time the fourth round came, it was obvious that Florian was the one that was worn down.

The fight ended up on the ground, where BJ was able to land a few punishing elbows to the left side of Florian’s face. Soon after, Florian gave his back up and BJ finished him with a rear naked choke. I think it is safe to say, the prodigy is back!

The Anderson Silva vs. Forest Griffin fight was one of the best UFC matches I’ve ever seen. The funniest part about that is it only lasted for about three minutes. From the very minute Forest Griffin’s entrance music came on and the lights went dim, the crowd erupted. I knew that Forest was a huge fan-favorite, but sheesh, seeing the crowd’s reaction to him and hearing people sitting in my section praise him was unbelievable. What was even more unbelievable was the crowd’s reaction to Anderson during his entrance. You would have thought the New York Giants were in the house. So many “boos,” it was crazy. I know Silva doesn’t speak English and may not be the most lovable (pause) fighter UFC has, but you have to respect him at least. The “boos” didn’t seem to bother Silva. I recall him looking around at the crowd with a smile, then taking a huge calm breath as if he were inhaling the Philly atmosphere.

Anyway, on to the fight…This fight distinguished the difference in skill from the good and the best in the UFC. The men circled around each other in the beginning as they built up the anticipation of the first strike. Finally, Griffin attacked, just as we all expected him to. This attack only led to a right hook that dropped Griffin. He quickly recovered, but then found himself on the defensive and back peddling. Each back step built more and more confidence in Silva. At one point, Silva stopped and padded his chest as if to say “Fight Me!”

After that, the fight was pretty much over, as I’m not sure if Forest landed another punch. Silva toyed with him, putting on a vintage Muhammad Ali-like show with his bob and weave. He dropped Griffin two more times before the fight was stopped. In the final seconds, Silva landed a right punch that sent the charging Griffin to the canvas. I was told this punch dislocated Forest’s jaw…Ouch! The fight was called when Griffin put his hand up while lying on the ground, giving up. Seconds later Griffin ran out of the arena and backstage somewhere, before they formally announced the winner. The tides turned that fast. The fans “booed” Forest and praised Silva for the show he put on.

After that fight, I had to rethink if I thought GSP was still the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. I’m still not sure. I’d pay serious money to see GSP and Silva settle who the best is in the near future.

So, that’s my coverage of UFC 101. It was quite an experience. I can’t wait until the next time I get to see UFC live. I’ll be posting my photos up from the event very soon.

If you have not seen the Anderson silva vs. Forest Griffin fight, please click this link. Enjoy!

http://www.mmaroot.com/anderson-silva-vs-forrest-griffin-fight-video-ufc-101/