Any show would have had trouble following the incredible card that was UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen.  It was an action packed event that played right into the interests of almost every breed of fan; in short, it was the people’s card.  At UFC 118, Dana White and the Zuffa crew followed the same elephant in the living room theme they did at UFC 117.  The card was filled with loose ends that needed to be tied up.  Unfortunately for Dana and the boys, UFC 118, while a solid and entertaining card, has a lame duck follow up to the bonanza that was UFC 117.  The night started on Spike TV with a fight that functioned very well as a sedative between Andre Winner (12-4-1) and “The Canary” Nik Lentz (16-3-2).  Lentz took lay and pray to a whole new level in his decision victory over Winner and served to set a less that enthusiastic outlook for the rest of the night.  The main card started with the one sided drumming that earned Nate Diaz (12-6) and “The Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis (17-7) fight of the night honors, followed by another of “The Bully” Gray Maynard’s (10-0) classic lead blanket NCAA wrestling matches against “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (13-5) and an active but uneventful ground battle between Demian Maia (12-2) and Mario Miranda (10-2).  The co-main event resulted in the expected “I told you so” first round obliteration of “Lights Out” James Toney (0-1) by “The Natural” Randy Couture (19-10) and provided a brief moment of entertainment before “The Answer” Frankie Edgar (13-1) defended his belt in a relatively dull five round tilt with “The Prodigy” BJ Penn (15-7-1).  Like all cards, several fighters came out ahead, some came out behind, and some came out looking like they didn’t belong in the cage.  

At UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2 “The Answer” Frankie Edgar (12-1) will defend his belt against the man many felt should have retained it in their first match, “The Prodigy” BJ Penn (15-6-1) in front of a sold out crowd in Dana White’s hometown of Boston.  This bout is one of the most bizarre in recent memory, not because of the fight itself, but due to the circumstances surrounding it.  Edgar won the belt in a decision win that was far more questionable than many others in the past few years, yet for some reason there wasn’t the massive public outcry usually associated with bad judging.  This is mainly due to the state of shock everyone was in as a result of Penn’s incredibly lackluster performance against an opponent he was supposed to destroy. This fight has also been all but overshadowed by the hype surrounding the co-main event fight between “The Natural” Randy Couture (18-10) and “Lights Out” James Toney (0-0).  In fact, this fight may be the least talked about title fight, and certainly the least talked about title rematch, in UFC history.  Never the less it remains an interesting contest between a man widely regarded as one of the most skilled fighters in MMA history and a young champion striving to prove that the belt around his waist belongs there.   

The UFC comes to Boston on Saturday, August 28 at the TD Banknorth Garden the continuation of “The Answer” Frankie Edgar (12-1) vs. “The Prodigy” BJ Penn (15-6-1) at UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2.  Dana White and the crew have provided the fans with a card filled with interesting fights featuring top ten fighters like Demian Maia (11-2), “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (13-4), and “The Bully” Gray Maynard (9-0), but perhaps the most interesting bout on the card is the heavyweight tilt between “Lights Out” James Toney (0-0) and ”The Natural” Randy Couture (18-10).  This bout has all but stolen the limelight from the main event lightweight title fight for a number of reasons.  The first is that this marks the first time a current major boxing title holder has stepped into the Octagon under the unified rules.  The second reason is the parallels between the two men’s careers.  Toney is a four division boxing champion and is the current IBA heavyweight champion, Couture is a former heavyweight and light-heavyweight UFC champion.  Both men have won five major titles (though Toney has also won a multitude of lesser boxing titles as well) and both men have participated in at least 15 major title bouts, and both have won three of their last five fights.  The third and perhaps most intriguing reason is that both men are at very similar places in their careers.  At 42 and 47 years of age, both fighters have proven ageless but most certainly feel fangs of time snapping at their heels, and it has shown in their most recent performances.  While this fight is certainly not the top pound for pound boxer vs. the top pound for pound MMA fighter, it is also far from the failing fighter switching sports to get a few more novelty fight pay days.  Here we have two fighters who may be facing the twilight of their careers, but are still very relevant in their respective sports.

Saturday, August 28 the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston will host the lightweight title rematch between “The Answer” Frankie Edgar (12-1) and “The Prodigy” BJ Penn (15-6-1) at UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2. The card features an all star cast including boxing legend “Lights Out” James Toney (0-0), UFC Hall of Fame member and five time multi-divisional UFC champion “The Natural” Randy Couture (18-10), middleweight BJJ ace Demian Maia (11-2), and a lightweight bout between one-time title challenger “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (13-4) and undefeated decision machine “The Bully” Gray Maynard (9-0). Maynard has been campaigning for a title shot for some time now and supports his request with a seven fight win streak that includes names like “El Matador” Roger Huerta (21-4-1), “The Mongoose” Jim Miller (17-2), TUF season five winner Nate Diaz (11-6), and current lightweight belt holder Frankie Edgar. To earn the shot he’s after, he will have to get past “KenFlo”, a man who has finished all but one of the opponents he has faced in his 12 UFC victories. The two men have both maintained active schedules, fighting at least three times a year since 2007, and both men have proven very dominate over fighters of every style and background.

Gino DiGiulio get his hand raised following a unanimous decision victory over Shane Camp at G2 Fight Night 3 (Photo: Mallory Mejia/MMA Gospel)

On Saturday, August 21, 2010 staff photographer Mallory Mejia and I attended G2 Fight Nights: “Fight Night 3” in Tinley Park Illinois.  G2 promoter Breea Gilbert provided a 12 fight card that was both efficiently run and well matched.  They provided the estimated 700 people in attendance a professional quality show with a party atmosphere, but the promotion wasn’t without its failings.  Gilbert Grappling (G2) provided the majority of the blue corner bracket, and that’s usually a big issue.  When the promoter’s own camp provides the majority of the fighters it’s hard to believe they’re impartial. However, G2 had the good sense to use an outside matchmaker to book their fights which allowed them to book their own fighters without being open to accusations of favoritism.  They also lack the validation of an outside sanctioning and officiating body and, though they went to great lengths to ensure that they provided impartial officiating for every bout, there were some judging mishaps which could have been avoided with the use of an outside sanctioning body. The show itself was a bit overdone, with money spent on dance platforms for go-go dancers, projection screens, and a film crew that had the sole purpose of feeding the fights directly to the projection screens. While the whole of the production was centered on bringing attention to the fighters (exactly how an amateur show should be focused) these elements could have been scaled down to provide funds that were lacking in more important areas.  G2 provided pre-recorded video interviews with each fighter at the weigh-ins that played on the large projection screens prior to the fighters walk out music hitting the speakers and ensured that ring girls, vendors, and other members of the production were ghosts during walk outs, interviews, and more importantly, fights.  I simply believe that they could have done just as well with half as many dancers and one projection screen.  We know that the fans had nothing but good things to say about G2, but what does MOMMIE have to say?

We face two major predicaments in the MMA world today.  Both of these problems reared their ugly heads during the action packed WEC 50 fight card and, luckily, did no damage.  Yet the what ifs of WEC 50 brought to light again the two things that keep fighters up at night in a cold sweat: bad judging and bad refereeing.  On WEC 50, everyone who should have won, won but ask this: What if judge Nelson Hamilton, who scored the main event between champ Dominick Cruz (15-1) and Joseph Benavidez (9-2) a 48-47 for the challenger, had passed whatever he had smoked prior to the bout to his fellow judges?  Even the judge who scored the bout 48-47 Cruz was far from on point as Cruz clearly won no less than four of the five rounds with the only round in question being realistically more a draw than a round for Benavidez.  The second issue, involving the officiating of the bouts themselves, came in the form of Steve Mazzagatti’s stoppage of the Zachary Micklewright (10-2) “Bartimus” Bart Palaszewski (34-13) fight.  This stoppage was a good stoppage, Micklewright was done; but even with Zach mechanically working his guard against an imaginary opponent while ordering a happy meal from the ring doctor, some people in the MMA community still felt the need to cry foul about the fight being stopped early.  Had Micklewright still been coherent, this stoppage would have been a disaster.   Unfortunately, it is more likely that this stoppage was a just one by luck rather than design.  Let’s explore these issues one at a time.

Meisha Tate Tournament Champion (Photo: Strikeforce)

“UFC Heavyweight Champion of the World….!” When Bruce Buffer says these words, every fan in the arena as well as those watching around the world knows that the best heavyweight fighter in the world is being introduced. There is never a doubt that the man who holds a UFC title is the best because the UFC ensures that this is the case, ordering instant rematches when there is an argument about who won a title bout and placing their champions at the top of the most prestigious UFC Pay-Per-View cards. If Jesus himself were slated to appear on a UFC card, he would co-main for the champ at best. Also, belt or not, you would never see Brock Lesnar (5-1) on a Fight Night. This is because the UFC understands the importance of proper promotion. Dana White and company follow the two most sacred of promotional laws: never devalue your own company’s titles and if you have a unique attraction, maximize it. These rules not only carried the UFC through the ban era of the mid to late nineties, but built the UFC into the financial powerhouse it is today. Following these rules cost a promotion nothing and even the smallest of amateur promotions follow them. Why can’t Strikeforce seem to get on board?

“This isn’t going to be a war. This is going to be a one-sided pounding and I’m swinging the hammer.”  Chael Sonnen (24-11-1) spoke these words and many others in the weeks leading up to a bout he built almost single handedly into a super fight with pound for pound kingpin “The Spider” Anderson Silva (27-4).  For these words, he was almost universally mocked across the MMA blogosphere.  Those same MMA bloggers and pundits were struck completely speechless on August 7, 2010 at UFC 117 when Sonnen made good on his promises.  In this edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, we examine the fallout from UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen from the 12 lbs of gold that so narrowly evaded Chael Sonnen to what may be the last hoorah for “Pitbull” Thiago Alves (16-7) in the welterweight division.  Who were the real winners of UFC 117 and who did more damage to their careers than the most one-sided of losses and what lies in store for the men who entered the Octagon in Oakland, California last Saturday night?