First of all, thank you Dana White or should I say Sir White for making this fight night free to all UFC fans because of the time delay from Manchester England.
The fight couldn’t have started out any better because I wasn’t having to pay the PPV charge of $39.95 to see the UFC event live. It was in England so there was a six hour delay due to those pesky world time zones. Maybe the UFC 72 in Ireland will also be free?
Anyways, the Bisping fight was great with Bisping tying up the fight with his mad skills, but ohh what this? The MMA twist? He got caught with a knee from Sinocic and almost got tapped out by Sinocic. Sinocic was so tired from being beated the entire fight that he couldnt execute the submission once on the ground. Bisping gained control again and rained down pain, match over.
Well, THE fight was of course as Bruce Buffer would say, ” Its time!…. for the main event of the nighhhhhhhht!!!” was Gonzaga vs. Cro cop. In the NEW typical MMA fashion, the under dog got backed into a corner with pre-fight press and came into the Octagon like a rabid Pitt Bull. Gonzaga seemed to have the entire fight in his head as he executed every move. Then it happened, Gonzaga launched a kick and Cro cop seemed to bring his hands down to his ribs to guard the body kick, but only one problem with that. Gonzagas kick was coming at Cro cop’s head like a MAC truck. POW! Crop cop fell like a sack of potatoes. At first I thought, isn’t Cro cop supposed to be doing the knockout head kick to Gonzaga’s head? Isn’t that Cro cops signature move he perfected in PRIDE? Well I hope he didnt mind, but Gonzaga borrowed the move for the night and executed it perfectly. So good in fact, Cro cop fell and twisted his leg while he made is unconsious decent to the mat. BLAM!
Not bad for a freebee! Thanks again Dana.
Just when you think you have this MMA sport figured out it turns on you like a trusted dog. I am having a hard time swallowing the fight results as of last night so I will start out easy with the weigh in the day before.
The Weigh-In
It was a beautiful day by the Hilton Americas and the recently new Toyota center. The traffic was not bad and there was a high testosterone per capita in the air as soon as we opened the door to the car. I walked down to the Toyota center just to see an autograph line wrapping the Toyota center. Hmmm just who is in there signing autographs? I saw Matt Hughs, Sean Sherk and Rashad Evans.
The actual weigh-in was an outside tent area with cameras and promo people buzzing around. There were several UFC fight club fan members getting the cream of the crop in seating, while cheap UFC fans like me had to hover around the border of it hoping to catch a glimpse of someone more famous than me.
The crowd around this place was excited to have the UFC in Houston and it was reflected in the mob like motions every time a fighter came into the tent from the Hilton. My friend was also there and called me on my cell phone and said Diego Sanchez is signing in the back! Before I knew it, I too was caught up in the pandemonium running towards the area where Diego was. He was by far the best autograph fighter that was there that day at the weight in. He must have signed and taken phots with fans for hours. No other fighter came close that day. Forrest Griffen was probally the close second.
Being one of my favorite fighters I had tunnel vision and had only one photo opportunity on my mind and was able to squeeze in there and take one with Diego. My day was complete as far as I was concerned. I could have topped it off with a George St. Pierre photo, but he headed to the tent in a quick strut. Then he stopped quick for a girl fan and then went in. Thanks GSP.
UFC 69 Fight Night at the Toyota Center
The UFC 69 started at 6:30 pm and after some ticket confusion we decide to get there as early as we could to see the fight at the Toyota center. As soon as we got there going up the escalators we saw a mob of people signing and taking photos with Forrest Griffin. He was there for all the fans and very patient with all the people. As soon as we got to our nose blood seats the light grew dim. The first fight was about to start.
I was looking forward to all the fighters on the card, but nothing prepared me for what was going to happen that night. Kendall Grove made light work of Alan Belcher in typical Team Punishment fashion while Tito sat in the crowd yelling suggestion throughout the fight. His attention was more on the fight than his date for the evening, “Jenna Jameson”.
The fight I was most excited for was the Sanchez vs. Koscheck fight and GSP vs. Serra. These ended up being the two biggest talked about fights of the night even though the Roger Huerta vs. Leonard Garcia was a knock down drag out fight for the UFC record books.
Sanchez started out punching and pretty much stayed with that the whole fight while Koscheck started to do the same. Koscheck seemed to change his striking that night by leaving his jab hand out almost touching Diego’s face. This seemed to cripple or even shut down any striking strategy Diego had. Finally Koscheck at the end of round one went for a takedown, but Diego scrambled on Josh’s back and just before Diego could take control the bell sounded. Koscheck after being sent to his corner figured out hey I can keep this strike game and eek out a decision. Not the best way to, but a win is a win right? Wrong. The fans of Houston Texas began booing louder and louder. The sounds grew throughout the rounds as, drum roll …….. nothing happened. I began gazing at the ring waiting and waiting as the seconds grew longer.
What was happening? Was Diego not putting it all on the line in fear of being knocked out or embarrassed. This is a hard thing for me to think since he is my all time favorite fighter, but the event unfolded in front of me clear as day. Then after the second round, I thought ok his corner is gonna tell him, “You’ve lost round 1 & 2, so basically you have nothing to lose at this point… go for broke kid and let it all hang out”. Well, they didn’t tell him that apparently because he came out in round three and just boxed. I wish I could blam Oscar De La Hoya for tainting him and his mental state, but as they say alot when you enter the Octagon, “You better bring the fight in you”. Then the judges were woken up and they decided that Koscheck won, woopee. Koscheck apologized to the fans about the bore, but the damage was done.
Then at the end of the night GSP and Serra came into the Octagon. I was still shaking my head back and forth in my seat like a mental patient from the Sanchez fight, but I snapped out of it for the sake of my next favorite fighter GSP. Serra looked like the typical Serra in the corner with his trademark thumbs up to start the fight. As it turned out he wasn’t your regular Serra at all, but a highly skilled untouchable bomb dropper. Every punch he threw couldn’t have landed any better if GSP would have stood motionless. Serra also had plenty of wit in his cap because instead of jumping on top of GSP when he was initially dazed Serra stayed back and pulled out his .50 caliber biceps and blasted a few more rounds until GSP was lying on the ground looking like a man trying to catch rocks falling from a cliff.
Why, what happened? I felt like somebody was gonna say hey wake up, were gonna be late for UFC 69 where GSP is gonna kill Serra and Koscheck is gonna pay for all the smack he’s been chucking Diego’s way. Nobody woke me up from this state as I walked out of the stadium in a daze. Shaking my head no, no, no. That’s not supposed to have happened that way.
Try to write a script for MMA and it will turn on you like a dog leaving you shocked, bewildered and a little humbled.
