Ok, so we know which Couture showed up — the bad ass Greco-Roman kingpin who comes in with the gameplan. Gonzaga just was never…NEVER…able to impose his will in the fight. Gonzo landed some shots standing, kept throwing vicious high kicks into the final round even, but Randy just decided where the fight would take place. Standing. In the clinch. Where greco-roman Randy lives. Brutal display of dirty boxing.
I’ve got to say, it’s hard to see Big Nog or Cro Cop beating Randy right now. The UFC will have to sign Fedor to dislodge Couture.
And how bout my boy GSP? He tooled Kos. Like Luke and I predicted, St. Pierre got the take down and took Koscheck well out of his comfort zone. Koscheck’s “surprise game plan” turned out to be throwing the overhand right that Serra landed over and over again. He came close with it a couple of times, but GSP was clearly dominant on the feet, in the clinch and on the ground. Too bad GSP didn’t finish with the heel hook at the end. Next stop, getting his belt back. Serra is actually a tougher matchup for GSP than anyone else in the division — dangerous standup and good off his back.
As far as the other fights, Huerta continues to look good, but lets see him against a contender. Tavares, Griffen, Edgar, Stevenson, Fisher, Thomas, Florian, Bocek…somebody with some Octagon experience.
Not much to say about Kendall Grove.
As far as Joe “Daddy”…he exceeded expectations — Pellegrino proved to be a tough challenge as I expected, but just didn’t have the conditioning to hang with Stevenson into the final round. Oh well. Next stop for Joe Daddy? A painful lesson at the hands of B.J. Penn. B.J. wins that fight whereever he wants to, however he wants to.
And as for Babalu Sobral? I’d say he’s back. And judging by the blood stains all over the Octagon and the rumors of a refusal to release the choke hold, he had something to prove. Looking forward to seeing him back on the main card next time. Maybe a rematch against Shogun?
Re: Clay Guida vs Marcus Aurelio. Sometimes good fighters make for bad fights. BJJ guys with weak standup and so-so wrestling are in a predicament against a good wrestler with so-so standup — recipe for a stalemate. Hope we get to see Marcus on a fight night or something.
And Frank Mir gets one more chance by subbing out Hardonk.
WAR MMA! WAR UFC!
Great night of fights.
Update [2007-8-26 2:28:22 by Kid Nate]:
The Nevada Athletic Commission will withold half of Babalu Sobral’s purse for his refusal to release the choke after the tap. Good for them. Bad Babalu.
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