UFC 108 Parting Shots

Against all odds, UFC 108 delivered a great night of fights, even without some of the star power that would usually accompany the usual New Year’s weekend offerings by the UFC. Rashad did what he had to do to get the “W”, and several highlight reel worthy knockouts and submissions littered the card, as well. Here are some parting shots on the first UFC card of 2010.

Rashad’s Job: To Win, Period

The relationship between MMA fighters and fans has always been a bit unique, and quite dissimilar in many ways to the relationships between fans and athletes of other sports. I’m not just speaking about the accessibility of the fighters (though you’d be hard-pressed to find another high-profile sport with such friendly athletes), but also what the fans expect and the fighters try to deliver.

I’m talking about excitement. NFL players don’t apologize to fans when their win wasn’t exciting enough, or because they win 13-7 instead of 42-3. Baseball fans want their teams to win, regardless of the presence of diving catches or the number of crowd-pleasing strikeouts. It would seem that, in other sports, fans have different priorities, and their number one priority is to see their teams win. Perhaps this is the nature of our sport because fans feel less connected to individual fighters than they do to teams…I don’t know.

What I do know is that Rashad Evans fought a hard (and smart) fight for two rounds and knew he had the decision won. In the third round, Thiago Silva showed him up with his gestures and taunts, but why wasn’t he throwing punches instead of taunting? Why is it Rashad’s fault that Silva gassed after putting Rashad in trouble with a 30-second burst of strikes? Evans is supposed to get into a slugfest with this guy when he’s trying to work back towards a title shot because the fans might be disappointed otherwise?

I have a lot more to say about this topic, and I will later this week, but in the meantime, consider this: the sport is entertaining by nature, but a fighter’s number one job is to win. Doing so in an entertaining way is just a nice bonus, when it’s possible. Evans did nothing wrong on Saturday night. Perhaps if Silva had better takedown defense, Evans would have been forced to bring the fight to him in the third round.

Not-So Average Striker vs. Grappler Matchups

In my preview of UFC 108, I mentioned that I’m not usually a big fan of “striker vs. grappler” matchups. However, there were some intriguing fights in that mold on Saturday night, with results that you don’t usually see in those types of fights.

If you had told me that Jim Miller was going to stand and fight with “Bang” Ludwig until one of them was knocked down, I would have said that it was going to be a painful night for Miller. Imagine my surprise when Miller looked completely comfortable standing with such a dangerous striker, and even managed to put him down without the use of a takedown to get him to the mat. The finish was a bit predictable once the fight hit the mat, but the way that it got there certainly wasn’t. Perhaps this, and the Frank Mir-Cheick Kongo fight, are compelling evidence that “striker vs. grappler” matchups are not so predictable, after all- or perhaps, they’re evidence that they rarely truly exist anymore.

Quick Shots

–Color me shocked that Gilbert Yvel was able to deal with what he thought to be an errant stoppage without either a)assaulting referee Herb Dean, b)charging his opponent and continuing the fight on his own terms or c)simply biting the nearest person to him. Shocked, and…okay, I’ll admit it…maybe a bit disappointed. Come on- it’s Gilbert Yvel!

–Was I impressed with Paul Daley’s performance? Absolutely. However, everyone who’s said that we won’t know what he’s got until we see him against one of the division’s many talented wrestlers is absolutely right. When the fighter on top of the division is considering wrestling in the Olympics, Daley’s outlook as champion material is not so good. Maybe GSP will disappear for 18 months, though, and we can see Daley-Thiago Alves for the title in his absence? That’d be nice.

–I approve of the newest Octagon Girl.

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Tags: Duane Ludwig, Frank Mir, Georges St. Pierre, Gilbert Yvel, Jim Miller, Paul Daley, Rashad Evans, Thiago Alves, Thiago Silva, UFC 108