Shane O' Mac Version 2 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Well done, Jim! Â I thought this was a very good card. It's a shame that referee stoppages will overshadow some fine performances in the case of a couple of fights there. I didn't think there was too much wrong with them, but Rogan and the crowd weren't happy. Being a MMA referee is very difficult, I think a point that often gets lost is that the refs don't have the same luxury as everyone else watching. The commentators have monitors, I'm assuming, or at least are able to look at a screen, because they often make calls based on that. The crowd is able to look at the big screen, and the home viewers have the TV feed. Referees just have their own vision, which can be misleading from certain angles in real time fight situations. Pyle vs. Waldburger was seen as a late stoppage, but that can be attributed to seeing the eyes roll, which Herb may have not seen. Waldburger was flailing at certain points which could be construed as movement and attempts at defense. Then, the Rousey main event, Herb went the other way with a seemingly quick stoppage, but McMann was clearly badly hurt and still taking punches to the face when Herb stopped it. Â Other stuff... Â Obviously disappointed in the PPV opener. After Wand and I analysed based on fight styles, attributes, and history, sometimes it just takes one well-placed shot, and Thompson scored a beauty there. Considering Whittaker took some bombs from Court McGee, this was a big deal. Excellent foot work and accuracy from Thompson. Would have liked a longer fight, really felt like it didn't get started. Â MacDonald vs Maia was a huge surprise. I wasn't keen on this fight at all going in, I thought it'll either be a boring Rory decision or a quick Maia submission with great ground control, and the first round certainly made it seem like it would be the latter. Then Rory flipped a switch in the second and fought his arse off. Probably the first time I've really enjoyed a Rory fight, save for Lawler pounding his face in. Great job, and firmly established Psycho Rory as a top contender. Â Cormier fucked Cummins up. Plain and simple. This really shows nothing about where Cormier stands at 205, but I liked the aggression. Hopefully he can maintain some of that against the division's elite. Â Main event- Rousey showing diversity! Crazy swinging strikes and finishing with brutal knees in the clinch... maybe we have a female Wanderlei on our hands- or at least, one who can make 135 and wasn't done for roids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted February 23, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted February 23, 2014 Come on Shane, yes I agree refs have a tough job, but they have the best seat in the house. No cage obstructions and no one standing in the way. Â The call to finish the main event was poor. You have to give the opponent chance to show some recovery. Dean didn't do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane O' Mac Version 2 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 All it takes is a bad angle to make the difference on these judgement calls though- there's been plenty of examples over the years of referees going back to watch the replays and then admitted afterwards, "yeah, I fucked up." The most prominent one in my head is Josh Rosenthal making a public statement after the finish to Weidman vs. Munoz IIRC. Â I don't have all that much in the way of defense for the main event call, it wasn't the worst I've seen but definitely a bit quick on the trigger. I can only imagine someone had a word to Herb after the Pyle vs. Waldburger fight, and he over-corrected by being too cautious. Â Although, a side point on that... women's MMA is still in its infancy, at least on the global stage in the UFC. Have we seen a woman get hurt in the Octagon and given sufficient chance to recover? I'm thinking of Tate/Zingano where there was a bit of controversy around that stoppage too. Perhaps there's still a bit of a stigma there as far as women and violence. It's idiotic but there's definitely people out there who would cause an uproar if a female MMA fighter was badly hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 23, 2014 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 23, 2014 A pretty enjoyable show all in all I thought.  Rousey vs McMann - yeah, bit of an early stoppage there. There's no question McMann was in trouble but I'm with lamby, Herb didn't give McMann the opportunity to fight out of it at all. I think lamby hit the nail on the head - after the criticism following the Barao vs Faber stoppage I think maybe Herb is second guessing himself a bit on when to step in. It's the only logical explanation I can think of because he's been very consistent the last few years and now he's made three questionable calls in the space of a few weeks. It's undeniably a tough as fuck job but he's having a rough patch no question about it.  I feel bad for McMann. I hope they fight again at some point. It's not like I thought she got robbed or anything, but I'd have liked to have seen how it'd have played out. I thought she was getting the better of the punching exchanges. Ronda is clearly improving though and maybe she was right when she said she performs better when she's more active. She's fearless in the striking exchanges. I can see that being her undoing down the line but you have to admire her relentlessness.  Bas Rutten tweet OK, I had an insane amount of tweets, haha, I knew a "liver" was involved, can't wait to see it when I'm home!  Ideally I'd like to see Rousey vs Zingano in the summer now. And I'd do McMann vs Alexis Davis for the #1 contendership. I think McMann could be right back in there with an impressive win over someone like Davis.  Glad to see Cormier get the stoppage. That was really how it should've gone really. Cummins will get another shot with a full camp. Cormier looked really good though, physically and in his performance. Liked his post-fight interview, and his pre-fight handshake with Stone Cold.  Probably the first time I've really enjoyed a Rory fight  Have you seen his fight with Condit? If not... http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&a...p;v=m40DZKndiM4  Awesome fight. Yeah he loses but so what? The Nate Diaz fight is good as well. Rory has developed a rep as a bit of a timid fighter recently with his Ellenberger and Lawler fights but he's had his moments. He looked like a beast against BJ Penn as well.  He looked good tonight. Survived a disastrous first round and showed resolve many probably doubted he had. And bossed the majority of the last 10 minutes. I'm a big Maia fan and I really don't like Rory but credit where it's due, Rory did very well tonight. Maia is a beast at 170 and Rory took pretty much the worst he could dish out and came through to win pretty decisively.  He'll need another big win I think to be in the title shot talk. I'd imagine the Condit vs Woodley winner will be ahead of him. But maybe pair him with the winner of Lombard vs Shields, if he wins that then he's got to be in the conversation.  Pyle vs Waldburger was my FOTN. Really enjoyed that one. Action in all areas. Two of the most overlooked fighters in the 170 division and they matched up really well. Thought Herb was slightly late stopping it to be honest. Waldburger was clearly limp and not defending after those elbows. Really fun fight though.  Wonderboy Thompson looked fantastic. Looked sharper than ever against arguably his toughest oppponent yet. Whittaker landed some good shots but Thompson just got off stronger and was beating him to the punch. He just seemed the faster fighter and that seemed to make all the difference. You can see why Longo brought him in to mimic Anderson Silva to prep Weidman.  Aljamain Sterling took a while to warm up but I like what I saw overall. He really turned it on in the 3rd and looked good. Davis vs Eye was a good fight. Could argue Eye took rounds 1 & 3 maybe but I agreed with Davis winning.  Zach Makovsky continues to impress in the UFC. Looking at the Flyweight landscape, really Mighty Mouse vs Makovsky is about the most intriguing match up available IMO currently. Considering Mouse has already beat Benavidez and Dodson. I think Makovsky gives Mouse a run for his money.  Decent show. Just felt a tad anti-climatic seeing the main and co-main end so quick. Especially Rousey vs McMann. I think McMann could've survived that knee to be honest. Ronda might well have put her away anyway but we'll never know now I suppose.  I'd give the bonuses as;  FOTN - Pyle vs Waldburger Performance of the Night - Rory and Wonderboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 23, 2014 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 23, 2014 Official bonuses;  FOTN - Rory vs Maia Performance of the Night - Rousey and Thompson  Pyle and Waldburger got a raw deal there IMO.  Also, Ronda set two records tonight apparently;  1) First body shot finish in a UFC title fight. 2) First knockdown in a womens UFC fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dopper Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 That body shot stat is a bit misleading. First knockdown from a body shot leading to a TKO maybe, but GSP tko'd Serra with knees to the body and Anderson did the same to Sonnnen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane O' Mac Version 2 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 EDIT: Never mind, I can't read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 23, 2014 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 23, 2014 Yeah I thought there might be one or two more. Just saw it on twitter and couldn't be arsed to use my brain with the lack of sleep. Â Anyone else chuckle at Rogan at the end? "I looked over at CM Punk and he said 'good stoppage' and I agree." Cased closed then. When did Wolverine with AIDS become the man with the final say on the validity of stoppages in MMA? Â I forgot as well - Â Pyle - "The Fishing Network. Let's go fishing." Rogan looks into camera - "Somebody take Mike Pyle fishing please." Â Haha, what the fuck? Â Also, were my eyes playing tricks or does Matt Serra look not quite as fat lately? I thought it at 169 and last night. He's still rather rotund but not as bad as he was a few months back. Longo however, has ballooned like a motherfucker. He's huge. Â Oh and... Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathrey Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Hah, yeah I wondered what the hell that was about, I'm sure The Fishing channel could use the publicity... Â I haven't really got anything to add that hadn't already been said. D.C looked great, he made it all look very easy. I think the Rousey stoppage was a little quick, Mcmann want given a chance to recover, I would have liked to have seen what would have happened next. Â Leave Punk alone Wand, you're just jealous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dopper Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Another WWE note (in addition to Austin & Punk there): Mike Pyle's entrance music was the current Raw theme song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Cheers Shane O Â - Rory whether you like him or not, you have to be impressed. That was a masterful comeback, you could argue he lost round 1 10-8, but I would also say if that is true round 2 was a 10-8 round in his favor. To be mounted by Maia and be out-grappled and then comeback and show off superb striking skills is vastly impressive. I think the judges should have had it 28-27 in Rory's favor if we include the 2 10-8 rounds each way, but the judges got the right winner, which is good enough for me. Â - I have decided I like D.C, he seems quite likable and I loved how he legged it to the cage. My favorite moment of the night was a subtle one, when Cormier won Javier Mendez entered the cage and gave the slightest nod of approval with a beaming look on his face (Mendez knows he has something special there). Â - The Pyle stoppage was brutal, Dean should have been a bit quicker like Rogan said. It was a decent fight, but I was more invested in Rory vs Maia. Thompson looked brilliant, lot of upside there. Â - Glad Rousey won. I think it is a case of the women still being overly-protected, hence the early stoppage. Give it a few more years and I think they will get a bit more leeway. I do think Rousey would have stopped McMann after anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted February 23, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted February 23, 2014 I do think Rousey would have stopped McCann after anyway. Â She'd have done a better job than the Portuguese police did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 She'd have done a better job than the Portuguese police did Whoops, typo  But that joke was shocking, almost as bad as Wand's one about Punk being on AIDS. Work on your material lads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rey_Piste Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Nothing much to say that hasn't been said. McDonald looked a lot better in the last 2 rounds and he did well to survive that first round. DC battered Cummins just as I expected. Mcann was pretty much finished, but I do have to agree it was finished early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 23, 2014 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 23, 2014 Ha I'm not even joking, Jim. Punk always looks fucking ill to me. Get that bloke some Lemsip and Nurofen. Fuck being straight edge, he needs some meds quick. And some sleep and a good wash too, by the look of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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