In the early days of the UFC, Tank’s heavy hands were legendary for being able to KO almost any opponent. In this recent Rage Cage event, Tank hits Gary Turner with all that he has. In typical fatso Tank fashion, he gasses after his minute long fury.
Here is your 361 word recap of last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV.
During training, Wayne Weems of Team Pulver is exposed for being the weakest fighter on the team. His stand-up and ground games are far below the other competitors. Gabe of Team Penn asks BJ if he can fight Weems. Rob Emerson catches wind of this and calls Gabe out in the house saying it was a shady move on his behalf.
Brandon Melendez nurses a sore ankle and Jens will have nothing to do with it and pushed Brandon to pick up his training. Bandon is also 15lbs over weight. Brandon steps up and loses his 15lbs and chooses to fight Andy Wang.
Meanwhile back in the house, Marlon Sims claims that he has had over 300 street fights. Most of the other fighters call bullshit on him. He also claims to have taken on 7 guys at one time, a la Steven Segal.
Come fight day Melendez looks noticeable bigger than his opponent in the ring. That 15lbs he shed look to have been put right back on. Before the fight, Andy Wang (black belt in Jiu-Jitsu) tells BJ that he will obey his advice and try to take the fight to the ground. In the ring it is a different story. Melendez foreshadows the match with an early left punch that temporarily puts Andy on his ass. Melendez looks sharp on his feet connecting with many of his strikes. Wang tries to stand with Brandon but Brandon repeatedly beats him to the punch and is more accurate. Melendez could have probably been more aggressive and gotten the KO, but dominates and scores the unanimous decision. Wang only attempted one takedown and wasn’t able to bring Brandon down. Wang felt he had to KO Brandon in order to get the win. Bad strategy as he should have listened to BJ who was screaming “take him down” the entire fight. After the fight Wang cries, a lot. I haven’t seen a fighter cry for as long and so loud. I was embarrassed for him. Wang says he is sad for letting everyone down. Penn Has no sympathy because Wang didn’t try to use his superior ground skills to win the fight.
We were treated to six UFC fights live on Spike TV, but what about the other four non-televised fights? They all ended via strikes of submissions. This might make for a good DVD purchase.
Paul Taylor def. Edilberto de Oliveira TKO (Strikes) 3rd Round
Jess Liaudin def. Dennis Siver Submission (Armbar) 1st Round
Alessio Sakara def. Victor Valimaki TKO (Strikes) 1st Round
Junior Assuncao def. David Lee Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 2nd Round
Televised
Terry Etim def. Donald Matthew Grice Submission (Guillotine Choke) 1st Round
Cheick Kongo def. Assuerio Silva Decision
Ryoto Machida def. David Heath Decision
Michael Bisping def. Elvis Sinosic TKO (Strikes) 2nd Round
Andrei Arlovski def. Fabricio Werdum Decision
Gabriel Gonzaga def. Mirko Filipovic KO (Kick Upside The Head) 1st Round
UFC 70 from England is in the record books and yet another UFC upset. Who would have thought that Gonzaga would knock out Cro Cop? And more amazingly, he did it with a kick to the head. To KO a guy with his own signature move makes a major statement, he’s the real deal. From the opening bell Gonzaga seemed to control the fight with a perfect game plan. Gonzaga is a big, fast, and intelligent fighter who will be making some major waves in the heavyweight division. I think Randy Couture is going to have his hands full if Gabreil can pull out a duplicate performance. Randy, you’re in trouble. Arlowski, you’re in trouble. This Gonzaga kid is for real.
On the last episode of The Ulitmate Fighter, Dan White said of the Nate Diaz / Rob Emerson fight “That’s probably the best fight we’ve ever had.” What am I missing? The first round was pretty good, but nothing amazing. Round two Diaz dominated. There wasn’t one time in that round where it looked like Emerson was going to turn the tide. If this was the best fight in The Ultimate Fighter then that isn’t say much for the calibur of MMA fights in TUF. A great fight is a fight where the fighters go toe-to-toe, attempt submissions, escape submissions, back and forth. This was a good fight, but was not the kind of fight to be ranked as one of the best fights ever.
What chance does Gonzaga have of beating Cro Cop at UFC 70? And if so, by KO or Submission?
