UFC 88 Recap
By Guest Blogger “MMA LEONARD”
The beauty of MMA is how unpredictable it can be. While odds makers gave Rashad Evans just a 25% chance of winning (and fans, media, and UFC employees gave him even less), he paid no attention and proceeded to hand Chuck Liddell the worst knockout loss of his career.
What’s the old saying about best laid plans? A potential LHW title fight with Forrest Griffin in December in Las Vegas disappeared as quickly as Rashad’s overhand right put The Iceman to sleep. At the post fight press conference UFC President Dana White said Evans would get the next LHW title shot, but he wouldn’t commit to a date (probably because he was still in shock). I noticed a slight case of failed smile as he congratulated Rashad, while Chuck was being assisted out of the cage by John Hackleman. Chuck vs Forrest would’ve been a huge money maker for the UFC.
Rich Franklin looked really solid at 205 lbs. I’m sure Bas Rutten was fist pumping after his liver kick finish of Hamill … great stuff. A loss would’ve been devastating since he doesn’t really have anywhere to go at 185 lbs right now. I’m really surprised that Hamill didn’t go for more takedowns. Probably a poor gameplan on his part. Maybe he didn’t listen to his coaches? (I couldn’t resist) Hamill’s stand-up isn’t as good as he thinks it is, but he’ll continue to improve and will always be a tough fight for anybody he faces in the future.
“Dangerous” Dan “Hendo / Hollywood” Henderson got a much needed win against a very tough and dangerous Rousimar Palhares. It wasn’t pretty but he did what he had to do to get the win against the submission guru. I’m not sure how much Dan has left in the tank, but he should still be in the mix at 185 lbs at least.
Martin Kampmann is MUCH better than what we saw last night. The shot behind the ear is probably the worst place to get hit and he just couldn’t recover from it. It’s probably the right time for him to move to WW. Great win for Nate “The Gatekeeper” Marquardt.
Highly touted WW Dong Hyun Kim came out strong against Matt Brown but appeared to use up most of his energy by hanging on Brown’s back and not being able to finish the rear naked choke. Brown dominated the 2nd round and probably would’ve taken the 3rd round (and the fight) if it weren’t for the last 45 seconds where he was punished and sliced up with elbows. The fans didn’t agree with the decision but I felt it was correct (1st and 3rd to Kim, 2nd to Brown). The last minute and the big cut under Brown’s left eye left enough of an impression on judges to give Kim the split decision.
Jason MacDonald showed once again that he’s one of the tougher middleweights to submit by surviving Jason Lambert’s tight guillotine choke at the end of rd 1. Lambert showed once again that he has a hard time putting it all together on fight night when he was submitted with a RNC in the 2nd round. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lambert gets cut after his 3rd straight loss and 4 in 5 in the last 2 years. The win earned MacDonald “Submission of the Night” honors and an extra $60k in his pocket.
Tim Boetsch got back on track with a win against Michael Patt, who looked like a typical last minute fill-in.
Un-aired prelims (stop reading here if you don’t want to know results) …
Kurt Pellegrino won a unanimous decision over Thiago Tavares in what was awarded Fight of the Night ($60k bonus to each). I’m not sure why they showed Boetsch vs Patt after the main event when they had plenty of time to show this fight. It was a bloody back and forth affair with near TKO’s and submissions, an accidental eye poke, and a controversial “did he tap” moment. You can watch this fight for free at ufc.com … definitely check it out.
Ryo “the last man to truly beat Anderson Silva” Chonan won a split decision over Roan Carneiro in a fairly uneventful fight. Chonan used a typical Team Quest gameplan of staying on top as much as possible and working ground and pound. I thought Carneiro did enough to take 2 rounds and get the win but the judges saw it the other way.
