September 23rd, 2007 by Jemaleddin Cole
It’s a good thing I didn’t get around to posting any picks for this event because I was wrong about every single fight on the main card. After the first three fights, I turned to my buddy and said, “I feel bad for Shogun Rua and Chuck Liddel.” And lo, their asses were kicked.
Forest Griffin impressed with his first big win over a top contender, and Keith Jardine proved what everyone has been saying since the Rampage fight: Chuck is a good kick-boxer who can eat whatever wrestler Dana White spoon-feeds him alive, but he doesn’t like getting punched in the face, and his odd (to be kind) fighting style is easily picked apart by anyone with a technical striking game. Evolve or retire Chuck, for your own good. I mean, aren’t you glad that he found this out before Wanderlai Silva had a chance to make him each knees for 15 minutes?
The one thing I think I can add to the internet clamor about the fights is that I wasn’t really impressed by John Fitch or Tyson Griffin. They won their fights, by the traditional measures, but mostly they just seemed to stay out of trouble without working to finish the fight. Griffin’s fight was great to watch, but mostly because of the BJJ clinic that Thiago Tavares was putting on. Fitch did a great job escaping from Diego Sanchez’s many submission attempts while delivering the occasional “monkey punch,” but it was the submissions that made the fight great.
They both won on the basis of superior wrestling, but never really put their opponents in any real danger. I’m not saying that Sanchez or Tavares won those fights, just that they did more to win them. Call it “Sprawl and Stall,” call it “Lay and Pray,” I don’t care: I don’t like watching wrestling, and I certainly don’t want to watch it when I’m paying to watch a fight.
Again, they were clearly more athletic than their opponents, and clearly had great hip control, but let’s seem some fighting. Is that too much to ask?