Beer festival was quite fun, apart from the rubbish weather for a large chunk of it. Having an extra day was somewhat worrying, but holding some of the ale back until the Saturday (to the annoyance of some claiming that it basically goes against the whole first come first served point of a beer festival) and having Sunday as a designated cider day (which I ignored as moron Wednesday fans were breaking anything that moves, enjoy Rochdale away) ensured a good selection throughout, even of some of the stronger stuff. So the beer:

256 – Brewdog Physics (5.0%) – 8, typically robust

257 – Kelham Island Night Moves (4.0%) – 7, advertised itself as a “chocolate orange mild”. Mild – yes. Chocolate/orange – not really

258 – Green Jack Mahseer (5.0%) – 8, sharp and somewhat fruity IPA

259 – Orkney Red MacGregor (4.0%) – 8, ruby bitter that doesn’t disguise that it’s only 4%, still good

260 – Funfair Chaos (5.0%) – 7, pale and fruity, but seemed weak for the strength of it

261 – Cathedral Magna Carta (5.0%) – 9, very rich and warming golden ale, best thing I had all weekend

262 – Brew Company Brewers Gold (4.0%) – 7, more or less standard, perfectly drinkable

263 – Allgates Weapons of Mass Destruction (5.7%) – 8, good beer to get you drunk, hints of old ale about it

264 – Thornbridge Brother Rabbit (3.7%) – 8, a ronseal beer, said it was a crisp golden ale and did exactly what it said on the tin

265 – Dunham Massey Choc Cherry Mild (3.8%) – 8, had this before, didn’t seem particularly well kept in contrast to other beers available

266 – Saltaire Dark Dragon (4.0%) – 7, good maltiness to this darker bitter

267 – Abbeydale Restoration (4.2%) – 8, not sure if I’ve drunk this before like I have with everything else they do, had a good refreshing flavour to it

268 – Acorn Darkness (4.2%) – 8, nice mild with fruity hints

269 – Burton Bridge Maschine Man (4.5%) – 7, very dark for a supposed amber ale, with almost barley wine hints

270 – White Horse Village Idiot (4.1%) – 8, good solid beer with lager hints

271 – Funfair Big Wheel (3.9%) – 8, good standard bitter

272 – Brew Company Hop Ripper IPA (4.3%) – 8, more golden and varied than your typical IPA

273 – Williams Brothers Fraoch (4.1%) – 9, lovely clean crisp heather beer that needs to be tried if you’ve never had it

Some beers I’ve briefly had which I don’t have a quick review of that I can recommend are Moorhouse’s Amber Rambler and Everard’s Flourish, two very different beers but both worth a try if you see them (particularly given that I tried them at a Spoons and they normally keep crap beer). Other beers that I’ve been on whilst out and about:

274 – Slaters Why Knot (3.6%) – 7.5, pleasant golden ale, slightly light but not so much given the strength

275 – Titanic First Class (3.8%) – 5.5, somewhat irritating and nondescript bitter

276 – TSA Golden Heather (4.2%) – 8, nice light ale with strong lemony citrus flavours

277 – Williams Bros Gold (3.9%) – 7, nice light beer with interesting kick to it

278 – Elgoods Cambridge Bitter (3.8%) – 7.5, darker beer with good malty taste

279 – Millstone Tiger Rut (4.0%) – 7.5, nice lighter ale, slight lemony flavour

280 – Blue Monkey Evolution (4.3%) – 7.5, very good golden ale, nice strength to it, initial spicy hints

281 – Cottage Hurricane Jack (3.9%) – 7, agreeable lighter golden ale, touch hoppy

Aaron Riley – Ross Pearson: After a tentative feeling out period early, Pearson aggresses more, has better strikes, and good knees in the clinch. 10-9 Pearson. Second saw Riley look to aggress more and takedown, but it wasn’t really working. Pearson just looked a better, more technical striker with a decent muay thai clinch game. Riley was cut very badly late in the round via a knee causing a technical stoppage, likely down two and needing a miracle at that stage anyway.

Matt Brown – James Wilks: Some nice early clinching, Wilks jumping on back, and Brown later angling for chokes. Brown with good combos, forcing Wilks to clinch. Wilks lands a nice kick following a break but can’t follow up. Wilks walks into a standing guillotine, which looked dangerous until he took Brown down. 10-9 Wilks. Brown hurt Wilks with a flying knee early in the second, and looks to pressure. Wilks nearly counters with a leglock. Fight returns to feet, Wilks is slowing. After a split, Brown drops him, but can’t quite finish. Brown somehow allows a gassed Wilks to get to side control. 10-9 Brown. Round 3 was mundane early until a position arises where Wilks looks for a kimura. Doesn’t quite work and Brown survives, falling into mount and ground and pounding his way to a stoppage.

Andre Winner – Rolando Delgado: Winner tags Delgado early, knocking him down. Can’t do much on the ground though. Standup is mundane until Winner connects with a one-hit KO.

Michael Bisping – Denis Kang: Cagey early. Kang catches Bisping with a good counter punch as Bisping came in. Passes to side control, but Bisping defends to half guard. Kang is looking to pass, gets to mount but Bisping shows a much improved bottom game, regaining guard. Kang mounts again later, but Bisping escapes again and almost got an armbar from the bottom. 10-9 Kang despite him doing no damage from a dominant position. Second round saw Bisping takedown Kang following more cagey standup. Lands some good shots. Takes him back down later. Kang gets busted open. One more takedown and Kang looks to turtle, Bisping stopping him soon after to get back on track.

Alex Gustaffson – Jared Hamman: Basically a very good 40 second striking cameo, Gustaffson getting the TKO. Quick but worth watching.

Mike Swick – Dan Hardy: Round 1 is tight with lots of clinching. Swick is the one trying to take it to the ground more. 10-10. Round 2 sees Hardy catch Swick early, who is able to clinch and relieve pressure. Clinch goes on for a good couple of minutes, Hardy being unable to take him down. Strikes in the clinch were fairly even. After a break, neither was able to land too much of note, 10-9 Hardy. The striking is more effective from both in the third, and somewhat wild. Hardy is able to hurt Swick, clinches again looking for a takedown, which this time he makes. Elbows from the guard by Hardy are useful, and Swick’s attempts to sub from the bottom are nowhere near. They get stood up and the last two minutes wind down without much of note. 10-9 and 30-28 Hardy, who will now get owned by GSP.

Randy Couture – Brandon Vera: Vera hits a nice shot early. Couture is able to clinch but does nothing. Manages to take him down from the clinch following a separation, but cannot keep Vera down. 10-9 to Couture, basically just on octagon control, in an instantly forgettable first. Vera tries to keep outside more in the second. Couture is still able to work inside and clinch. They are separated (too slowly), and Vera lands a great kick, knocking down Couture, who pulls to guard. Neither look to do much from there, it’s stood up and following that they clinch with little happening. 10-9 Vera. Third sees Couture looking to clinch again, except this time with better striking leading upto it and whilst in the clinch. They are separated again, and Vera lands good body kicks. Couture takes it to the clinch again, but Vera takes Couture down and mounts him. Couture holds him so he cannot do much from the mount, and after giving up his back rolls to his feet. Wild exchanges late. Vera looks to have done enough to win 10-9 and 29-28, but the judges all score it 29-28 Couture. But for that questionable decision, the fight isn’t worth viewing again.

104 then. Barry – Hardonk just looked like a K-1 match. Hardonk looked better in the first, Barry looked decent on the ground but couldn’t break Hardonk’s defence, Hardonk won the first, but Barry’s striking was that much better in the second, resulting in him first rocking Hardonk, then knocking him down and getting a stoppage.

Stefan Struve against Chase Gormley was OK, Gormley put on early pressure with good GNP after a takedown, followed by an intriguing leglock duel. Struve gained top position, but needed to take him down again in order to continue with effective hammerfists. Could have been stopped but wasn’t, but Struve was able to mount and finish with a triangle.

Ryan Bader vs Eric Schafer was an odd match, the first two minutes were mediocre until Bader exploded and dominated, nearly finishing Schafer, but he held on and tried a kimura and omaplata. Bader won the round clearly, but looked to lack the same explosiveness in the second. Schafer looked better standing in a mundane second round, easily stuffing cheap Bader takedown attempts, and I gave it to Schafer. In round three, Bader caught Eric easily, who pulled guard and slowed the pace down. Schafer is cut, but the fight continues at a more subdued pace, Bader takes him down with about a minute left and he just ran down the clock to get the round without either fighter looking to finish it. 10-9 and 29-28 Bader on my card, which was tighter than what the actual judges gave.

Yoshida – Johnson was at a catchweight and it looked like a horrible mismatch with Johnson being so much bigger. Funnily enough, a KO quickly ensued.

Spencer Fisher and Joe Stevenson fought a close first round, good early standup followed by Fisher stuffing an extended Stevenson takedown attempt. Fisher is cut early and it looks like it might cause trouble. Joe gets back very late, getting in good shots to win the round. In the second, Stevenson shows better control, getting top position but not being able to mount. He applies good elbows, not overly exciting but effective, as it caused a stoppage.

Okami – Sonnen was somewhat surprising. Sonnen brought the early pressure with takedowns, but Okami showed good strength to keep getting it back to standing. That was how the first round continued, quite close but 10-9 Sonnen. Okami’s striking was better in the second frame, Sonnen was able to get his back in the clinch though and just nicked the second round as well. Third round had fairly even striking, Okami appearing to lack any sort of game plan in order to get back into the fight. Sonnen takes Okami down, landing in a very good position and does some damage, Okami got it back to the feet but Sonnen was still on his back. Okami was unable to work any miracles and lost 30-27 which everyone in the world, Cecil Peoples included, agreed with.

Josh Neer against Gleison Tibau was a big clash of styles. In the first, Tibau was able to continually hit big takedowns, but Neer had enough on the ground to prevent him from capitalising once there. Neer had an obvious striking advantage, but not as big as advertised, and he wasn’t on the feet enough to use it. 10-9 Tibau. Second was similar, except this time Tibau was actually able to mount Neer, and Neer gave up his back at one stage but again Tibau couldn’t break through solid Neer defence. Close, but still 10-9 Tibau. Third round saw Tibau trying more takedowns, but Neer looked better, starting to stuff them and was able to land some damage with striking, and also from the bottom whilst on the ground. He won it for a 29-28 Tibau points decision.

Velasquez – Rothwell looked on paper to be interesting. Don’t know why the crowd were booing Rothwell. Cain looked solid early with good takedowns and control. He was able to find spots to ground and pount, and mount. The last 1:20 of the round were just nasty with Ben looking completely ineffective. 10-8 Velasquez. Early in the second Cain took him down easily, it could have been stopped very quickly, but when it was looked to be a touch early, but I don’t see a way that Rothwell could have got back into the fight at that stage, barring some lucky punch which didn’t look like being in his arsenal at that stage.

And oh boy did someone fuck up the main event. First round Rua had an edge. He looked to clinch and take down, had some success, was fairly even and passive but 10-9 Rua. Second had Machida looking more aggressive in the standup. Machida stuffed a takedown attempt. Rua is managing to get past Machida’s elusiveness somewhat. Very even, 10-10 for me, Rua did enough with knees in the clinch late to level it. Third saw Rua making a solid start with kicks. Isn’t much to separate them. Shogun had an edge in the second half, the action picked up, Machida pushed on a bit more but took enough in return for Rua to win it 10-9. Round 4 was quiet early, Machida landing a nice kick. Rua attempted a takedown early following a Machida slip but it went nowhere. Rua continued to push on but Machida’s striking was a lot better and more noticable. Rua had the fight swing to him more in the latter stages but not enough to prevent Machida winning the round. Could have gone either way though. Fifth had plenty of good shots and countershots, Rua pushed early, Machida landed good knees, looked decent in spots but Rua was more consistent, 10-9 and 49-47 Rua. Some rounds were very close, and I think you can make arguments that Machida won three of them, but I’m not sure how all the judges were able to come to the same 48-47 Machida decision. There’s a rematch due but I wonder if Rua’s chance has passed him by.

Beer fest finally!

239 – Oakham Baja 1000 (4.3%) – 8, has the appearance of a lager, has a slightly dry bitter aftertaste, refreshing with subtle citrus aromas

240 – Quartz Crystal (4.2%) – 8, light brown ale, slight fruity taste and a decent subtle hoppy finish

241 – Phoenix Arizona (4.1%) – 6, very light, touch hoppy, way too dry

242 – Salopian Symphony (4.3%) – 6.5, ever so slightly dry golden ale, actually hilariously bittersweet, perhaps slight hints of grapefruit

243 – Phoenix Earthquake (7.5%) – 7.5, slightly dark, hence light given the strength, which is noticable. Warm flavours, but fairly thin. Almost a barley wine/whisky taste

244 – Hoskin Brothers Hob Best Mild (3.5%) – 6.5, fairly standard darkish mild with slight ruby hints

245 – Old Swan Dark Swan (4.2%) – 6.5, dark mild, not overly smoky, slight liquorice notes

246 – Blue Monkey BG Sips (4.0%) – 6.5, hoppy refreshing ale, slight sour bitter aftertaste. Had this elsewhere shortly afterwards and gave it a 7 for what it’s worth

247 – Houston Warlock Stout (4.7%) – 6.5, decent stout, touch dry and smoky, fairly rich

248 – Hoskin Brothers White Dolphin (4.0%) – 6, meh wheat beer, straw coloured and obvious taste

249 – High House Farm Nel’s Best (4.2%) – 7, golden ale, nicely balanced if slightly hoppy, touch dry

And a few other beers:

250 – Titanic Last Porter Call (4.9%) – 6.5, more of a stout than a porter

251 – Rudgate Cuckoo (4.1%) – 6.5, notably hoppy, slightly sour but not unpleasantly so

252 – Storm Downpour (4.3%) – 7, light ale, touch hoppy, strong fruity tastes

253 – Blue Monkey Guerrilla (4.9%) – 7.5, a good stout with fruity flavours

254 – Blue Monkey 99 Red Baboons (4.2%) – 8, great dark and full fruity ale

255 – Summer Wine Joker (4.1%) – 3.5, truly awful bitter that tasted like a bad keg beer, bad enough that it couldn’t be finished

222 – Kelburn Red Smiddy (4.1%) – 7, nice enough slightly darker ale, not as ruby as the name indicates

223 – Fyne Ale Innishail (3.6%) – 7, lightish ale with grapefruit overtones

224 – Wadworth Stronginthearm (4.0%) – 6.5, fairly middle of the road bitter, slightly hoppy aftertaste

225 – Slaters Premium (4.4%) – 7,  quite pleasant neutral best bitter style beer

226 – Bollington Long Hop (3.9%) – 7, pretty solid beer, leaning towards the hoppy side oddly enough

227 – Hornbeam Dark and Divine (4.0%) – 6, slightly malty and smoky dark ale, fairly standard

228 – Northumberland Wor Bobby (4.0%) – 7.5, fullish and smooth textured ale, slightly malty

229 – Northumberland Legends of the Tyne (4.0%) – 6.5, noticably malty, surprising given the lightish brown colour

230 – Anglo Dutch Kletzwater (4.0%) – 8, good tasting slightly brown dryish session ale

231 – Skinners Figgy’s Brew (4.5%) – 7, fullish darker ale with pleasant malty smoothness

232 – Titanic Lifeboat (4.0%) – 6, ok darker ale, bit heavy and touch smoky, but not that malty

233 – Marston Moor Game Bird (4.1%) – 7, darker ale with toffee notes

234 – Houston Festival Ale (4.0%) – 8, light and well balanced session beer

235 – Titanic Iceberg (4.1%) – 5, very dry and slightly hoppy light beer, almost too dry

236 – Triple F Stairway (4.6%) – 8, slightly sweet balanced light ale, hint of bitterness, very drinkable

237 – Oldershaw Regal Blonde (4.4%) – 8.5, light lager style beer, subtle almost heathery touches, slightly citrusy

238 – Inveralmond Independence (3.8%) – 6, typical warming, malty Scottish ale

- Audley Harrison wins Prizefighters. And hilariously thinks that he’d have been a world champion but for crap promoting by Warren. Now, I don’t know about you, but I think his lack of world title is correlated to the fact that he sucks and is unmarketable. His fights are boring apart from the odd occasion when he gets knocked out. If he was to get a title shot against, say, Valuev, that might be the worst fight in the history of professional boxing.

- Floyd Mayweather beats Marquez. Thank god for that, bring on Pacquiao. Post-bout interview was hilariously bad, sure Mosley is good but he’s not seriously going to get a shot at Mayweather as he’s only back to make cash money, and that fight, while it makes sense, wouldn’t really cut it.

- UFC 103 didn’t look that great a card so I passed on it. Return of Belfort and dos Santos knocking Mirko into retirement. 104 looks a lot better, even the undercard looks exciting.

- LOL Kimbo.

Beer festival then. Was a lot better than last years, due to it not being freezing, actually having the second marquee up, solid conditions underfoot and a great selection of beers. Was a bit windy on the Saturday, but oh well. The beer:

206 – Fyfe Lemon Twist (4.2%) – 5.5, is noticably lemony, light and thin, beyond the citrusness is a bland, unimaginative ale

207 – Tring Mansion Mild (3.7%) – 8, slightly fruity nose, hints of cherry and raspberry, not overly heavy either

208 – Great Heck Dave (3.8%) – 7, dark ale with smoky roasted taste, while not being too malty

209 – Cairngorm Sheepshaggers’ Gold (4.5%) – 8, slight ginger hints, a lot fuller and stronger than previous beers, very drinkable golden premium beer

210 – Brass Monkey Tamarind Mild (3.6%) – 6.5, looks like a reddish bitter rather than a mild, is ok, barely tastes like a mild either

211 – Naylor’s Roaring Ruby (4.1%) – 7, calling it ruby would be wrong, just looks and tastes like a solid golden bitter

212 – Sheffield Crucible Best (3.8%) – 6.5, a decent bitter that seems stronger than the ABV would suggest

213 – Isle of Purbeck Studland Bay (4.5%) – 7, a rich, punchy bitter

214 – Wilkins Cider (6.0%) – 6.5, on the sweet side, decent enough to drink, a bit cloudy

215 – Bradfield Sheffield Tigers (4.8%) – 7.5, recommended stronger ale

216 – Brew Company Hop Ripper (4.3%) – 6.5, light, hoppy, dry, bad to start with but improves quickly

217 – Kelham Island Best Bitter (3.8%) – 6, looks like a bitter, tastes like a bitter, is ok but a bit dull and a touch on the dry side

218 – Tryst Bla’tham (4.0%) – 7.5, seems hoppy in the nose, is slightly tangy and sour but in a good way, slightly citrusy, improves a lot down the pint

219 – Acorn Sovereign (4.4%) – 6, darker ale, malty smell, strong bodied but with a dull malty taste

220 – Daleside Old Leg Over (3.9%) – 7, good bitter, touch on the dark side with ruby hints

221 – Crown Smokin Oktoberfest (5.7%) – 8, pleasant colour, strength is noticable, nice subtlety with flavours

Brandon Vera and Krystof Soszynski was dull, to put it mildly. I had Vera winning it 30-28, chopping the second. Vera’s striking was better in the first, landing more kicks and punches, but without any real power, second was closer and Soszynski was able to control with the clinch more, but the third was clearly Vera’s as the Polish Experiment looked to be gassing somewhat in the latter half of the round. No need to catch up on this one if you missed it.

Marquardt – Maia was one I was looking forward to a lot. Quite a few writers I respect had Marquardt as a solid bet even at the -170 or so that he was at, which I didn’t really get, thought Maia would at least be a live dog. Of course, this was dependent on Maia getting it to the ground, and he got to the ground via Marquardt’s first punch. Oh dear. It’s a shame when you’ve got two contrasting styles and what should turn out to be a really interesting ground battle, and it’s over in 20 seconds.

Leben – Rosholt was decent, I don’t care for either fighter much really. I gave the first to Rosholt, Leben didn’t do a huge deal with strikes, and while they were level in number of takedowns, Rosholt did a little bit more with his. Can understand that being given either way, but the second was obviously Leben’s round, his striking was much better and more consistent. A potentially pivotal third round resulted in Leben just getting subbed very quickly.

Hague and Duffee is worth watching, because it was over faster than a Usain Bolt 100m.

Jardine – Silva was also pretty quick, seemed like somewhat of a flash knockout by Silva, somewhat unexpected but it was always going to be fairly close.

Herman – Simpson is another fight worth watching, Simpson ran Herman over like a train in a very impressive first round, with Herman looking like he injured his knee badly late on. If there was doubt before, it was confirmed early in the second when it went ping. Don’t think he should have come out for it really.

Couture – Nogueira is one that you have to see if you haven’t done so already. Possibly one of the best obvious 30-27 fights I’ve ever seen, this was back to vintage Big Nog after the farce that was the Mir fight, it was only Randy being Randy that prevented this being stopped, which Minotauro had plenty of chances to do but couldn’t quite manage it. I wasn’t overly interested in this fight prior to it, but it surpassed expectations by a long way. Nog should get the next shot at Lesnar, which is going to be in 2010 at some point seeing how Carwin is lined up for him first. As for Couture? Don’t know, personally I like him moving down to 205 (again) as he’s clearly never going to beat Lesnar, and I don’t see how he beats Nogueira either in a rematch. Only trouble is is that division is extremely crowded. A somewhat logical fight would be against Forrest Griffin, that’d definitely sell tickets and I think it makes sense for both fighters, neither is anywhere near a title shot right now, but could angle towards a contenders’ fight with a win.

The bonus Aurelio – Dunham fight saw Marcus get screwed in my opinion. First round was Dunham’s, this is obvious. Stayed on the feet, he outstruck him. Final round was Aurelio’s, this is obvious, got the takedown early, threatened to finish, Dunham offered nothing after escaping. The second round is debatable, but the striking was a lot closer and Aurelio got the takedown, controlling a decent chunk of the round. Can understand a 29-28 either way (I obviously had it to Aurelio), but how the hell did one judge give it 30-27? That’s just insane.

Some quick beers:

203 – Leeds Midnight Bell (4.8%) – 8, very nice dark beer, with hints of treacle and fruit amongst other things

204 – Rudgate Brewski (4.1%) – 6.5, light ale, initially mundane, but improves, slightly floral with a dry aftertaste

205 – Williams Brothers 80/- (4.2%) – 7.5, more or less what you expect from an 80/-, and it does it well

Then we had the whole Fedor to UFC cocktease bullshit, the deal that was reportedly offered by Zuffa was insane, and M-1 are daft to turn it down, and equally crazy if they think that they can actually build up a decent promotion based around Fedor and, er, er, help please?

UFC 101 – Penn/Florian was pretty sucky, KenFlo never really threatened to do anything, Penn didn’t gas, did enough to win all of the first three rounds and finished nicely in the fourth. Silva/Griffin was awesome, mainly because Silva just owned from the minute he stepped into the arena. Sadollah/Hendricks was finished way too early, and as a result we managed to see Aaron Riley be simply too big for Shane Nelson, who needs to get himself to the WEC ASAP. I thought Kendall Grove did enough to win the second round against Ricardo Almeida, but still lost the fight, and if Pellegrino/Neer had been aborted after 30 seconds I don’t think anyone would have cared. An undercard bout between some Australian and some other guy was entertaining enough I guess.

UFC has a few problems in creating meaningful competitive fights right now. Lesnar is well above anyone else at heavyweight, and apart from Big Nog if he can bounce back against Couture in a few weeks, or Carwin/Velasquez down the road, there’s nobody that can really challenge. GSP and Anderson Silva are streets ahead of anyone at 170 and 185 respectively, and Penn looks to be too good for anyone at 155 as well. There could be some decent action at 205, but I don’t know who can obviously beat Machida right now. At least there there is a lot of competition between good fighters who could legitimately have a shot. I don’t know what they can do about it, other than have Silva move to 205 permanently (which isn’t going to happen, and he wouldn’t fight Lyoto anyway), and we don’t need to see GSP fight Silva either. If they can’t get Fedor despite throwing everything at him, I don’t see what’ll happen. Still, I’m excited about 102, the main event does nothing for me, but Jardine/Thiago Silva should be fun, I do like Jardine’s fights even though he somewhat sucks when fighting top-5 calibre at the weight, Maia/Marquardt should be awesome, and hopefully Brandon Vera will get owned again.

Quite a lot of beers to mention, not done any festivals of late, there’s some coming up in October, including Sheffield and one at my local. Without further ado:

177 – Three B’s Bobbins Bitter (3.8%) – 6.5, full flavoured, slightly dry and fruity

178 – TSA Ben Nevis (4.0%) – 7, full, slightly fruity and malty

179 – Holden’s Lambswool (4.5%) – 6.5, not bad, has an odd slightly malty taste

180 – Cottage Box Tunnel (4.3%) – 6, slightly malty, unchallenging bland ale

181 – Cottage Metropolitan (4.7%) – 7, well balanced, touches of fruit and malt

182 – Boggart Bog Eyed (4.0%) – 6.5, bit dry and hoppy, better than other beers they make.

183 – Phoenix St George’s Flag (4.3%) – 7, moderately dry, hoppy and refreshing

184 – Betwixt Skyline (3.5%) – 5, mundane, dull and heavy

185 – Derventio Et Tu Brutus (4.5%) – 6, unimaginative and slightly heavy

186 – Three Rivers Old Disreputable (5.2%) – 7.5, dark, sweet and liquoricey, almost like a dark mild

187 – Rudgate Brandt (3.9%) – 6.5, decent if a touch too malty

188 – Wentworth Small Copper (4.1%) – 6.5, tastes full to start, but weak aftertaste, ok, rich enough

189 – Phoenix Hopsack (3.8%) – 7.5, very drinkable, dry hoppy ale

190 – Slaters Howzat (3.8%) – 6.5, dark, malty and earthy, a bit better than similar beers

191 – Slaters Top Totty (4.0%) – 8, light ale, well balanced and drinkable

192 – Ossett Pale Ale (3.6%) – 7.5, pleasant light and hoppy session ale

193 – Cairngorm Nessie’s Monster Mash (4.4%) – 7, decent darker ale, bit malty and treacley, overrated

194 – Acorn Ginger Nuts (4.2%) – 7, decent lighter ale, ginger noticable but not dominant

195 – Lancaster Amber (3.7%) – 6, slightly dark amber ale, ok but not spectacular

196 – Northumberland Northumbria Ale (4.5%) – 6.5, slightly tangy golden ale on the hoppy side

197 – Springhead Liberty (3.8%) – 6.5, standard pale ale

198 – The Brew Co Dev Cat Brewers Gold (3.8%) – 6.5, light hoppy session ale with dry aftertaste

199 – Victoria Bitter (4.8%) – 7, an almost lager-bitter hybrid that’s on the malty side

200 – Thornbridge Lord Marples (4.0%) – 6, rather malty and a bit heavy

201 – Rudgate Flaxen Dane (4.2%) – 7.5, mildly hoppy, slight dry finish

202 – Northumberland Jolly Rogers (4.0%) – 5, darkish ale with awful aftertaste

Rich Franklin def. Wanderlei Silva (points) – what a tough fight to score. Much like the Henderson fight, this really should have been a five-rounder. I had Franklin taking the first, only just, I thought Silva did more early but Franklin’s pressure following that failed guillotine allowed him to take it late. The second, I really don’t know. Wandy had him rocked, but Rich might have done enough to edge things his way again, after looking better early again. The third I was probably scoring to Silva again until Franklin took him down. Another two rounds might have seen things more decisively towards Franklin, but I don’t know, if it was it’d be due to Silva gassing, as he didn’t look to cut brilliantly. Would watch again though.

Cain Velasquez def. Cheick Kongo (points) – yeah, clear 30-27. Of course Velasquez looked good, Kongo has no takedown defense and no ground game. It’s basically a perfect matchup. This fight raised a ton of questions, Kongo had no business taking that to a decision, and it only did because Velasquez had no power. On the other hand, if Kongo had more power and was able to keep the fight on the feet for more than 15 seconds per round, he’d have knocked him out. There’s no way that Cain could hang with someone like Lesnar who does everything that he does, only a lot better.

Mirko Cro Cop def. Mostapha Al-Turk (TKO 1) – eye pokes are fun. Don’t think it made a difference, once Filipovic connected it looked to be one-way traffic.

Mike Swick def. Ben Saunders (TKO 2) – boring contest, punctuated only by interesting trash talking in the first and a decent finish in the second. Don’t bother looking this one up if you missed it, Swick always looked to be a winner and the TKO thankfully terminated this abortion of a contest.

Spencer Fisher def. Caol Uno (points) – bad decision imo, Uno won it by an odd round, Fisher taking the first. Fairly close throughout so I’m not overly surprised at the decision, but if I was Uno I’d be disappointed. Not a hugely interesting fight again.

Dan Hardy def. Marcus Davis (points) – scored correctly, I had Hardy taking it 29-28, one of the better fights of the night, Hardy just did much more in the last two frames and busted Davis open.

Overall, not a brilliant fight, nothing technically fantastic, no really pleasing KO’s, the better fights were basically trainwrecks of slugfests. For once, a mediocre looking card turns out to be exactly that.

Turbo beer reporting!

162 – Howard Town Wren’s Nest (4.2%) – 7.5, slightly dry, hoppy light ale..

163 – Houston Blonde Bombshell (4.0%) – 7, slightly malty and citrusy light ale, with a mildly dry aftertaste.

164 – Bollington Bollington Best (4.2%) – 6, rather dull bitter, hints of both malt and hops but nothing overpowering, little dry

165 – Ulverston Harvest Moon (3.9%) – 6, slightly floral nose, initially a touch sour. Odd aftertaste. Improves down the pint.

166 – Newby Wyke Kingston Topaz (4.2%) – 4.5, odd grapefruity nose, rather sour and unpleasant and cloudy.

167 – Elland Beyond the Pale (4.2%) – 6, another blandish, hoppy dry-tasting pale beer.

168 – Bazen May Bee Mild (4.4%) – 8, not really a mild, has a golden light colour and rich, old ale-esque taste, with hints of honey.

169 – Durham Evensong Co (5.0%) – 7.5, full, malty dark ale, not ruby as advertised, very solid though.

170 – Pictish OT Special (4.2%) – 7.5, notably dry, light ale, almost tasting like a lager.

171 – Pennine Floral Dance (3.6%) – 7.5, light, slightly thin, but drinkable and a touch fruity.

172 – Fullers/Gales Seafarer (3.6%) – 8, slightly sweet, hints of malt early but hoppier later, well balanced.

173 – Facers Landslide (4.9%) – 7, rich, golden ale, a bit zesty.

174 – Spitting Feathers Thirst Quencher (3.9%) – 6, golden with a slightly spicy aftertaste.

175 – Dunham Massey Cheshire IPA (4.7%) – 6.5, noticable strong initial hoppy taste, otherwise decent bodied albeit bland.

176 – Leeds Gold (4.2%) – 6.5, solid balanced bitter, tasting darker than colour suggests.

Frankie Edgar 30 – 28 Sean Sherk – I have no idea what Sherk’s game plan was here. I guess like many other fighters he was overvaluing his striking, and then just got picked apart by someone who had cleaner, crisper striking and a noticable reach advantage. I think both of the first two rounds were close, and scored the third round a draw, which I’d have given to Sherk until the guillotine attempt at the death which levelled things in my eyes, but I don’t see how Sherk thought he could win the fight with how he went about it. I’m not a fan of his, so don’t mind him getting pushed down the hierarchy a bit, but I’m not sure Edgar can take it to the next level against a Penn, Florian or someone similar.

Chael Sonnen 30 – 27 Dan Miller – What a dull fight. After Miller tried and failed to get a very quick submission, he just got ground and pounded for fifteen minutes. Sonnen never tried to finish the fight and hence never looked like doing so. Sure, it’s professional and he fought the thing in a way where he was never going to lose, but jesus it was boring.

Drew McFedries KO 1 vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam – For some reason I should know Foupa-Pokam having been a veteran of Cage Rage, but I didn’t recognise him, and he got crushed by an early onslaught which might have been stopped prematurely depending on your viewpoint, but the guy looked outclassed, which seemed odd given how the line started with McFedries being a solid favourite and being quickly backed the other way. Just hoped people arbed some of their holding.

Krzysztof Soszynski KO 1 vs. Andre Gusmao – another entertaining early finish, Gusmao looked decent early until he got nailed by some good shots which were enough. I’d like to see Soszynski face someone like Steve Cantwell, Brandon Vera or Luis Cane, something that’s a bit of a step up in class.

Matt Serra 29-28 Matt Hughes – Judges disagreed with me. Bastards. Anyway, I thought Hughes clearly took the second but Serra took the others – in the last round Serra clearly did more after his takedown than Hughes did, and Serra looked closer to finishing the fight in the first part of the opening round than Hughes did in the latter. Oh well, I can understand the scoring, even if I don’t agree with it, Serra’s rounds were at least close.

Lyoto Machida KO 2 vs. Rashad Evans – wow. First round was basically a non-event until the last minute where Machida took control enough to take it. Second round was more interesting, and then Machida took control and got the KO. He was basically a terrible matchup style-wise for Evans, he does everything Evans does except that little bit better. The rumoured first defence against Rampage should, if Jackson is on the ball, be a different kettle of fish altogether.

Elsewhere on the bits of the undercard that got televised, Tim Hague got a nice submission in round 1 against Patrick Barry, who looked good on the feet but sloppy on the ground. Brock Larson’s submission over Mike Pyle was mors of a surprise, given than Pyle spent most of the round prior to the submission trying to score the same result except in the opposite direction.

Overall, worth a look. There’s nothing massively epic, some fights weren’t great, but there’s enough there on those that got stopped to make it worth a look.