UFC 86
Firstly, before I talk about the card itself, a giant “please die in a grease fire” to Setanta, firstly for purchasing UFC rights from Bravo, denying us the card on free TV, albeit on a tape delay (but at a much more reasonable 9pm rather than 3am), secondly for not advertising said purchase one iota, so that nobody actually subscribes to you. Literally the first I heard of it was yesterday afternoon, and I’m not going to impulse purchase them for this, I’d rather just find a stream (especially when they charge an obscene £15 as a setup fee, which probably involves someone phoning Sky and telling them to press a couple of buttons).
Speaking of the stream, while it is great that the internet allows us all to watch things like this, it’s still an emerging technology to some degree, and relying on other people for the upload (and not having a lightning-fast download speed as well) can cause frustration. My first feed went down about a minute into the final round of the Cote fight, and the second was choppy in the main event, losing key moments of the fourth round and less important parts of the fifth. Still, onto the card itself:
Tyson Griffin – Marcus Aurelio: Pretty much one-way traffic, and I don’t know how anyone can disagree with the 30-27 scorecard. Griffin won all three rounds comfortably enough. The idiots booing in the first round after they go a minute or so with dull standup all need to be shot imo, but eventually Tyson is able to take the fight to the ground and put down some decent gnp, which is defended well enough, especially with Aurelio dangerous enough with his BJJ to threaten subs even from the bottom. Second round saw Griffin again having the better of a standup exchange, utilising kicks more than in the first and somewhat surprisingly overcoming a reach advantage. Aurelio eventually gets the fight into the clinch but can’t really do much, and eventually it is Griffin that gets the takedown. Aurelio is then able to get Tyson’s back, and briefly threatens a triangle which comes to nothing. Final round sees Aurelio looking somewhat gassed, and Griffin is able to defend Aurelio’s takedown attempts comfortably enough. It is Griffin who takes the fight to the floor, a somewhat unnecessary risk at that stag in the fight imo, but Aurelio’s sub attempts are easily repelled.
Koscheck – Lytle: 30-26 for me, with second round being a 10-8 round. I really don’t know why the fight wasn’t stopped at the end of the second round. Story of the fight is basically “trade some standup, Lytle not able to land much, Koscheck able to take it to the ground, is disgustingly dominant with ground and pound, Lytle is defending but offering nothing back”. Lytle is cut up badly in the second, which reopens in the third easily, and the only surprise apart from Lytle being able to make it to a decision is how the judges scored it, the only time Lytle threatened was landing a couple of shots with about 15 seconds left in the fight after being pummelled for the previous 4:45 of the round, but somehow one scored it 30-28 (a 10-10, what?) and one, even worse, gave it 29-27 (did they decide to deduct Koscheck a point for getting his hair messy or something?)
Stevenson – Tibau was entertaining for the most part. Tibau looked to have a noticable size advantage, but it was Stevenson who was able to score the first knockdown, and attempted a choke but couldn’t lock it in. Tibau then looked to work from the bottom after Joe took him down again, failing with an omaplata and looked to have some kind of armbar but was unable to develop it into anything more than an uncomfortable decision. 10-9 Tibau for me. Second round sees Stevenson coming out swinging and getting into the clinch but not going anywhere. Tibau now takes down Stevenson and managed to pass from side control into the mount, but Stevenson escaped when he tried to get his back. Tibau then tried for another takedown, but Stevenson was able to lock in a guillotine on the way down and secured the tapout.
Cote-Almeida was the first of two close fights to round out the main card. The first round I scored to Almeida, with Cote being taken down a few times but defending very well, not allowing Almeida to really do too much damage. The second round I scored dead even, I couldn’t separate them in what was a duller, more tactical round, with Cote looking a bit more dangerous in standup and Almeida not defending as well, the bright spot for him being an attempted guillotine late which failed. I can’t really score the third round, as mentioned earlier my feed died after a minute and a half, although Almeida looked more tired and by all accounts Cote seemed to win the round, So, er, draw?
And then the main event. Jackson vs Griffin for the title. Early exchanges in the first round are fairly even, with Rampage landing the more telling shots, and Griffin utilising kicks more. Griffin is the first to take the fight into the clinch, but it is Jackson that takes him down. Forrest manages to recover, but is rocked by a late uppercut which is enough to swing a high-octane close first round to Rampage, 10-9.
Second round is completely different. Jackson is visibly rocked by an early leg kick, and Griffin is quick to capitalise, moving in and shooting for a guillotine. Griffin takes it to the ground and has Rampage in half guard. Jackson’s defense was not great and Forrest could easily have transitioned to the mount but declined to do so for a while, opting to stay in side control. Griffin lands effecting ground and pound with punches and short elbows, and then continues to apply that after moving to the mount. 10-9 Griffin, although it is arguable that this was a 10-8 round, I personally felt that although Rampage offered nothing, Griffin wasn’t able to hurt him that much compared to, say, Koscheck earlier.
Third round saw Rampage’s leg look dodgy when first coming out, and Griffin looked to attack that with kicks throughout the round. In a close round that stayed on the feet throughout, Rampage looked to deal the more telling shots, so I give him that one 10-9.
Fourth round as mentioned before was choppy. Rampage looked to have the better of frenetic early exchanges an took the fight to the ground and is able to cut Griffin from his guard. Griffin is then able to look for a triangle, but Rampage counters with a slam (apparently, it’s right here where my feed died). Next I see is Griffin trying and failing to get an omaplata, and he gets caught as he gets up by a shot from Rampage. 10-9 to Rampage again.
Fifth round saw an even trade on the feed for the first half, they tee off more, and for this round it is Forrest that is having the better of the exchanges. 10-9 Griffin for a 48-47 decision overall.
Obviously the judges disagreed. Even if you scored the second round 10-8, I don’t know how Forrest gets away with more than a draw for the fight. Perhaps he nicked it by one. But to give it to him by three rounds with Jackson only taking the fourth as one judge did? Jesus. The only round they all agreed was Jackson’s was the fourth, which in my eyes is unbelievable. What this does to the LHW division now is unclear, rumours are abound that the winner of Liddell-Evans will get a shot, if true I’d be somewhat irritated if I was Lyoto Machida, but we’ll see what Dana does.
Quick couple of beers:
16 – Hornbeam Lemon Blossom (3.7%) – 7, I don’t normally go for this sort of beer, a somewhat sweet and citrusy (no way) pale ale, but this is a decent example.
17 – Boggart Brew (4.3%) – 6.5, this can only be described as unusual. It has a continual odd taste that I can’t put my finger on. I thought it was OK, but it could divide easily.
