UFC 144: 'Edgar vs Henderson' Thread

[JNLister]

Did Akiyama get confused and do his weight cutting in the tanning room rather than the sauna?

[Kaz Hayashi]

Did Akiyama get confused and do his weight cutting in the tanning room rather than the sauna?

 

 

Its a fair point like, what a glow!

 

Also, some very interesting post match interviews... Hunts in particular springs to mind, couldn't shut him up.

[Bus Surfer]

Boetsch's comeback was amazing, I've wondered how long before we'd see an enziguri attempt in the UFC too. Well done Pettis for that, he made Lauzon look like a rookie.

 

Great show overall. I had Bendo edging it but wouldn't have complained with Edgar getting the nod. Rampage/Bader was dissapointing though.

[wandshogun09]

Also, some very interesting post match interviews... Hunts in particular springs to mind, couldn't shut him up.

 

Haha yeah Hunt's not the most talkative chap is he. I love Hunt though, he doesn't give a fuck. Him almost knocking the bleach off Chris Tuchscherer's hair and just casually walking off is still one of my favourite KO's ever.

 

I did get to watch this in the end I was in Canada with the girlfriend to see my aunt and cousins and my cousin took me to a bar to watch it. Brilliant show, the best this year for me so far although 142 in Brazil is right up there aswell. The bar went mental when GSP came on screen.

 

Prelims

I didn't see the prelims until this morning but fuck me Gomi vs Mitsuoka was great stuff. Gomi looked well fired up for the first time in his UFC run. Chuffed to see him win and I'm glad he'll be sticking around for a bit. I know he's been hit and miss in the UFC but he showed here he can still bring the excitement.

 

Vaughan Lee's win over KID was nice to see aswell. Great to see Lee get a big win like that, especially after seeing him lose his UFC debut in Birmingham in November. I think KID's gonna be gone now.

 

I liked Fukuda vs Cantwell on the prelims too. And Issei Tamura's KO was nasty.

 

The main card was excellent. Apart from about 14 and a half minutes of Bader vs Rampage.

 

Pettis vs Lauzon

Pettis' headkick on Lauzon was cool, nice way to open up the PPV. I'm not sure if Pettis should be next in line just yet though. As awesome as Pettis vs Bendo was and as much as I'd love to see it again, I don't think he should leap over Nate Diaz (if Diaz beats Miller). Pettis vs Barboza would be a good fight to make I reckon.

 

Hioki vs Palaszewski

Hioki looked good, much better than he did against Roop. Rogan going on that Hioki is number 2 at 145 was a bit much though imo. I think Hioki's a great fighter but let's be honest, going to a razor close decision with Roop and dominating Bartimus doesn't put him at #2. Bart's a good fighter but he's not exactly top of the division, still an impressive win but I'll reserve the right to proclaim him #2 until I see him beat one of the top 3 or 4 at FW. Good fight though and round 1 especially was fantastic.

 

Okami vs Boetsch

What a shock this was. Okami was breezing through it the first 2 rounds. He even hurt Boetsch a couple of times and round 2 was probably 10-8. Looked like a very one sided decision was ahead and then Boetsch went beserker mode in round 3. One of the best comeback KO's in MMA history no doubt. Still think Russow vs Duffee was more shocking though and Kongo vs Barry. Boetsch is a beast, dunno where the fuck Okami goes from here. Boetsch vs Palhares could be fun.

 

Shields vs Akiyama

Rogan bias rears it's head again. What was up with him the first 2 rounds? I thought Shields was winning rounds 1 and 2 and all Rogan was on about was the one throw Akiyama did. He was going on as if Akiyama was running away with it and Shields was desperate when I had Shields taking the first 2 rounds fairly comfortably to be honest. Glad the judges got it right although I did think Akiyama looked good for his first time at 170. Especially facing someone like Shields as his first fight at the weight.

 

Hunt vs Kongo

Tremendous. Hunt seems like a new fighter. When he came to the UFC and lost to McCorkle in about 30 seconds or whatever I didn't think he'd be around long. To see the little run he's gone on since has been one of the most pleasantly surprising surprises in MMA in recent times for me.

 

Wonder who he'll fight next. Pat Barry (if he beats Lavar)? Struve maybe?

 

Rampage vs Bader

This was a bit depressing to watch. I'd missed all the pre-fight stuff so the first I knew of Rampage missing weight was when the Tale of the Tape came on screen. Reading online today I see Rampage says he was injured. I believe him. He didn't look right from the off to me. Never seen him look so sloppy with his punches, so slow on his feet and physically to me he looked soft and pretty out of shape. And his takedown defence is usually much better aswell. Yeah Bader's a great wrestler but look how Rampage stuffed Hamill's attempts a year ago. Or how he dealt with Hendo in the clinch. Or Randleman in Pride. Then look at the Bader fight.

 

Japan or not, I'd rather he'd have pulled out than lost this fight cos all credit to Bader, I don't think he'd have beat Rampage at 100% and it's a loss on Rampage's record that shouldn't be there imo. Call it excuses if you like but I don't think anyone can objectively look at Rampage in that fight and say he was healthy.

 

Like I say though, fair play to Bader. He can only beat the Rampage that's in front of him. It wasn't fun but it got him the win and it was the biggest win of his career.

 

When the final buzzer went, seeing Rampage lying there was a sad moment for me. He looked like an old man who's fell on his bathroom floor and can't get up.

 

 

On the bright side though at least we got this...

 

 

That reminds me of another bit of annoying commentary from Rogan when that slam happened. Look at the gif, look at how Bader's head spikes into the canvas, look how his neck folds up. Now what the fuck was Rogan going on about Bader's arm for? For ages after, even after Bader used the arm and it was clearly fine, even after replays and even in the fucking post fight interview with Bader he was still on about the arm.

 

Rampage will be back. I've got no doubts we'll see a better Rampage next time. It's clear to me this was about fighting in Japan more than anything. He probably doesn't have a lot of fights left but I'd love to see him go on one last run at the title. Fights with Rich Franklin (just seen Rampage was pissed at Franklin for something he said on the pre-fight show on FUEL), Little Nog/Gustafsson, Forrest Griffin again, Shogun again, maybe Hendo again. Lots of great fights to make.

 

But this was the one grey cloud on the PPV for me.

 

Edgar vs Henderson

Fantastic fight. Exactly what I expected. I'll have to watch it again because watching it in a bar I wasn't exactly scoring it carefully but by the end I felt like Bendo won no questions asked. Not just on damage but it just felt like he had an answer for everything Frankie did and he seemed to come out on top in most situations I thought. I'll watch it again though cos there's obviously a lot of divided opinion on the result.

 

Think I've got that at number 2 behind Sanchez vs Ellenberger for FOTY so far but I'll see on the re-watch.

 

A fucking amazing PPV.

[jimufctna24]

I dont usually mind Rogan but the past 2 PPV's he has been fucking annoying.

 

Edgar vs Bendo was another Condit vs Diaz, it was a matter of opinion rather than a clear cut judgement, and a case of what you value more in terms of volume of strikes (Edgar) or damage (Bendo)

 

Rampage looked like shit except from that slam. He looked old out there and it was more him looking bad rather than Bader looking good. I hope it was the injury and how it prevented him from training, if that was not a factor I would be calling for Rampage to call it a day.

 

I actually had Akiyma winning the first two rounds against Shields. Shields landed more but his striking is some of the most weakest in terms of power I have ever seen in MMA or Boxing, Akiyma not only controlled the first two rounds he also landed the more meaninful shots in my opinion.

 

Hunt suprised me I thought Kongo was a lock. Okami looked brilliant before Botesh came back, Rogan was over the top to the point of being overwelming during that.

 

Hioki was very impressive also.

[wandshogun09]

Hendo/Rampage on twitter

 

Hendo

Good round for Bader. Rampage has never been the smartest fighter.

 

@danhendo I was smart enough 2 take your belt

 

I'd love to see a rematch of them 2. The first fight was great.

[Dai]

I actually had Akiyma winning the first two rounds against Shields. Shields landed more but his striking is some of the most weakest in terms of power I have ever seen in MMA or Boxing, Akiyma not only controlled the first two rounds he also landed the more meaninful shots in my opinion.

 

I havent re-watched it, but this sounds far off the mark? From what I remember, there was no way Akiyama was controlling the first two rounds. Shields was easily the much busier puncher in the first two rounds. Actually, I dont think Akiyama landed any punch of note in those first two rounds. All he did was the trips. Miles more punches + attempting takedowns is always going to win rounds.

[wandshogun09]

It was a belter of a show, I'd never have expected Boetsch to get the win, one hell of comeback. Only disappointment was the Rampage/Bader fight, I was half expecting the big beast of his Pride days, but apart from that one slam he looked out of it. Me and a mate were still giiggling like an idiot whenver Rogan said Mark Hunt's name. I also recognised the jap translators gonk she had on the end of her pen.

He does get everywhere dosn't he.

 

Ha, just seen this on BloodyElbow

 

 

UFC 144 Tweet of the Day: Japanese Translator, @the_mizutama shows a photo of her rainbow afro pen with this message: "Let me introduce my partner, Fluffy."

 

I actually had Akiyma winning the first two rounds against Shields. Shields landed more but his striking is some of the most weakest in terms of power I have ever seen in MMA or Boxing, Akiyma not only controlled the first two rounds he also landed the more meaninful shots in my opinion.

 

I havent re-watched it, but this sounds far off the mark? From what I remember, there was no way Akiyama was controlling the first two rounds. Shields was easily the much busier puncher in the first two rounds. Actually, I dont think Akiyama landed any punch of note in those first two rounds. All he did was the trips. Miles more punches + attempting takedowns is always going to win rounds.

 

Yeah that's how I saw it aswell to be honest. I thought there were positives on Akiyama's side (his takedown defence was excellent, his throws were great especially on a grappler like Shields and he didn't gas like he usually does) but aside from that I thought Shields took all 3 rounds. He might not have done a ton of damage but I thought it was clear he was landing much more with his punches and body kicks and was pressing the action more with takedown attempts throughout.

[jimufctna24]

I actually had Akiyma winning the first two rounds against Shields. Shields landed more but his striking is some of the most weakest in terms of power I have ever seen in MMA or Boxing, Akiyma not only controlled the first two rounds he also landed the more meaninful shots in my opinion.

 

I havent re-watched it, but this sounds far off the mark? From what I remember, there was no way Akiyama was controlling the first two rounds. Shields was easily the much busier puncher in the first two rounds. Actually, I dont think Akiyama landed any punch of note in those first two rounds. All he did was the trips. Miles more punches + attempting takedowns is always going to win rounds.

I also would have to rewatch.

 

I noticed Shields was landing much more in terms of quantity but with little power, Akiyama controlled Shields by defending the takedowns and landing more powerful punches from what I remember.

 

For whats its worth Sherdog Play by Play all three analyists thought Akiyama won the first 2 rounds. Maybe more of a question of what you like yet again.

[Rey_Piste]

The Gracie Breakdown for this show was another interesting one, I'm going to have to try the arm in guillotine defence myself on Thursday.

[mikey]

Did Akiyama get confused and do his weight cutting in the tanning room rather than the sauna?

 

When he came out to the cage, I honestly did a double take, thinking he was wearing blackface.

[Kenny McBride]

Getting outlanded 3-1 for three rounds is not winning the fight, fancy-dan takedowns or no. Takedown defence is all well and good and I'd say it was important as far as dictating where the fight took place (it pisses me off that defending a takedown usually doesn't matter to judges, but a takedown with no control can win you a round) but if you keep the fight standing and STILL get punched and kicked at will, that just marks you out as being comprehensively worse than the other guy. It's not like Akiyama's handful of shots were smashing Shields' face up. He didn't seem to be hurt at any point in the fight. He was always pressing forward, always throwing, taking no shots and no damage and even when he got taken down, he got back up reasonably quickly without suffering any serious damage on the ground. I can only assume Rogan was trying desperately to get a new lease of life for a guy they hoped would be a star and has been completely tooled in every UFC fight he's had. Or he was really fucking high.

 

The Rampage fight was kinda sad. I thought he was doing really well standing, but when he got taken down he was lost. I know he hates jiu jitsu and all that, but he had so little to offer and he was too blown up to even hold a tight guard and get the stand up. If he was a bit fitter, I'd be interested in a rematch. There was clearly something not right about him because even at his worst, I don't think I've ever seen him so completely spent after a fight.

 

Bendo/Edgar was a funny one too. On first viewing, I was convinced Edgar won 1 and 5 and thought he probably edged 2, even allowing for the up kick. To me, it looked like Frankie was landing combinations and Bendo was landing the odd counter. Fight Metric tells me I was horrendously wrong about that. It seems like Frankie's shots weren't landing and Bendo's were. It's an odd one, though. I think I'll need to watch it again. And again. And again. Any way you slice it, that up kick was fucking EVIL.

[mikey]

Edgar somehow gets people thinking he's doing more than he is. I still don't know how he got a draw in the first fight against Maynard.

[Egg Shen]

ive had a lack of net since the weekend so i aint been able to post my thoughts, but here's a couple...

 

a Mate of mine messaged me saying Edgar was robbed?? i just don't see it. I think it was a fairly close fight in terms of strikes-landed but when things are close you have to consider the damage being done, and i think it's safe to say that Edgar didn't do any damage to Benson over the course of 5 rounds. Frankie was very close to being stopped on two occasions and was getting busted up the whole night.

 

I watched an old episode of TUF last night where Dana complains of a decision in which a guy lost depsite doing the most damage over the course of a fight, Dana says the most significant factor the judges must score is damage...ironically Dana came out and said he thought Frankie won on Saturday night, haha.

 

I'll watch again, but i scored it 48-47 Benson on first viewing, and that was being kinda generous to Frankie, coulda been 49-46 (i gave him round 5).

 

On the subject of the takedowns, they obviously score for Frankie but they were fairly irrelevant, Benson popped back up instantly every time. Benson proved in the Guida fight that he's got great takedown defence, i think in this fight it was more a case of Benson allowing Frankie to take him down safe in the knowledge that he could get straight back up, it was interesting to watch, but he didn't fight any of them takedowns.

 

No controversy for me.

[Chest Rockwell]

I think the crux of it for me is this - to look at it and say "who do you reckon won that fight?", I would definitely say Benson. At the time of watching it, I thought Frankie was winning the fight. This, however, was coloured by my expectations of the judges' scoring based on past form.

 

So I'm happy Benson won, and also I think maybe the judging is getting better..? Or at least they made the right call this time.

 

It was odd at the time though, because I was so sure Frankie was winning, as were the guys I was watching the fight with. Yet the whole time, Rogan and Goldberg were convinced Benson was winning.