I guess I'll start it . . . who watched UFC 102?

The Game Room
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There seems to have been a little more interest than usual in the last couple UFC threads, so I figure it’s worth starting one.

My thoughts: A pretty good card. There weren’t a ton of superstars on it, but pretty much every fight delivered.

The televised bouts:

Vera Vs. However you spell his messed up name

Not very impressive, but I think Vera knew he couldn’t lose to this guy so he was playing it a little safe, and “the Polish experiment” does seem, so far, to be legit. He was clearly stronger than Vera, but not as technical.

Leben Vs. Rosholt

I’m not surprised Rosholt won (he is a legitimately phenomenal wrestler), but I’m pretty surprised he won by submission, and an arm triangle no less. Leben was going to tap, and then decided he couldn’t in front of his home town and went to sleep.

Marquardt Vs. Maia

I was really disappointed in this. I like Maia a lot. The guy is a total class act, and out of pretty much everybody’s league on the ground. He’s as good on the ground as Anderson Silva is on the feet. I’m really sad that we didn’t get a chance to see his skills against Nate.

Tim Hague Vs. Todd Duffee

Wow. Seven seconds. New UFC record. Todd Duffee is one to watch, but I agree with him that this didn’t tell us much. I can’t wait to see him fight again.

Jardine Vs. T. Silva

Man, what is up with Jardine’s movements? They probably served him well when he was up-and-coming but all of his UFC opponents at this point are going to be analyzing the hell out of hours and hours of his tapes, and he doesn’t change. The guy has becoming predictable in his unpredictability. I’m still not fully sold on Thiago Silva, because we’ve seen b-level fighters do that to Jardine before.

Marcus Aurelio Vs. Evan Dunham

Aurelio has really stumbled in the UFC. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets cut after this. Anyone who takes a fight on short notice is a warrior, though.

Couture Vs. Nogueira

This was a total barn burner! Better than I could’ve hoped for. There were flashes of Don Frye Vs. Takayama in there. At the end of the day, though, Handy was just outmatched. He came out looking great, and I was surprised by his speed, but once he got rocked in the 1st round he slowed down a lot and I knew he wasn’t going to stop Nog. His only chance was to control the pace and win the decision, but it was clear going into the 3rd round that that wasn’t going to happen. Couture signed a new 6-fight deal, but I’m afraid to say that I don’t think he’s got that many left in him, and depending on his competition, he might not win many of his remaining fights. There are some absolute beasts of the field coming up in the heavyweight division, and lightheavy is full of devastating strikers with lightning reflexes. I’ve always been a believer in Couture but his head movement looked terrible last night, his legendary gameplanning failed, and he was completely outclassed on the ground. I’m sad to say that he will never, ever, ever win a rematch with Brock Lesnar-- something I didn’t believe a few months ago.

Unaired prelims:
Gabe Gonzaga Vs. Chris Tuchscherer

Holy ^&*%! Tuchscherer got kicked in the balls so hard he puked, and then he kept fighting. Bad idea, but big heart. Gonzaga has some of the best offense in the heavyweight division, but seems to consistently buckle under pressure.

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I really wanted Soszynski to win, even though I knew it was an uphill battle. Was sorry to see him lose, and agree that Vera seemed content to play it safe and take a decision, which always leads to a boring fight.

This was the biggest disappointment of the night for me. This fight was the reason I decided to order the card, and I really wanted to see what Maia could do. Unfortunately, he got caught right away, so we really didn’t get to see this fight develop. All credit to Marquardt, but I feel like his early ko deprived us of what could have developed into a really interesting fight.

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By the way, how tough is Ed Herman? I can’t believe he answered the bell and tried to fight on that knee.

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If you’re gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough . . .

Why the hell would he walk out on that knee and immediately throw a kick?

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I wonder if he just wanted to test it to see how weak it was–and found out.

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Ed Herman’s corner screwed him. It was a horrible decision to send him back out there. If the fighter is too proud to quit you need to do it for him for his own safety.

I thought the Vera fight was pretty boring.

I was actually surprised to see Rosholt win. I thought that Leben would be a major challenge for a man with a 5-1 record. I was also surprised Rosholt didn’t try to go to the ground more often. Leben is a dangerous guy to test your standup skills against. Was worried when it appeared Leben was having a seizure but he seemed to be ok.

That Dufee knockout appeared to be a gimme to me. It looked like Hague went to fake a right then threw a looping left. Both of his arms were way out and he was leaning foward.

Couture Vs. Nog was a very nice fight. Nog looked in shape and meant business. I don’t know how Randy survived those chokes. I commented to my brother that evidently Randy’s brain doesn’t need blood to function. That was a lot of action and movement on the ground for heavyweights.

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I can’t believe Herman tried to kick a sideways swinging kick with his good leg. That left his full body weight on his bad leg in a twisting motion. I guess I really can’t blame him for not thinking it fully through in the heat of them moment…but I think that was the worst thing he could have done. A front/push type kick would have been much better.

I was super pissed at the Marquardt/Maia fight because it was such a fluke. If they fought 10 more times, there’s no way that would happen again (not that I’m saying Maia would win, but at least we’d see a fight).

Couture/Big Nog was a good fight to watch, but I don’t think it really mattered in the big picture. There’s no way either guy has any chance against Lesner. I say that as someone who would love see anyone beat Lesner.