UFC 106 - Forrest wins, Koscheck still a douche

Ok, so I didn't get my predictions in for this one. My bad. Busy, busy and all that jazz.

I was looking forward to this event, though, as it featured one of my favs, Forrest Griffin, in a redemption fight - the opportunity to not only avenge his split decision loss to Ortiz in the first fight, but also to redeem himself in the eyes of fans who saw him run from the cage after his loss to Anderson Silva.

Here are the results:

Forrest Griffin def. Tito Ortiz (split) - Another debatable result, but, frankly, I thought Forrest won. Maybe it was my rose coloured glasses, but I thought that despite being taken down a couple of times, Forrest was FAR more active in the stand-up and got the best of the exchanges. It does bring up that age-old question of the importance/weight one should place on takedowns. I have always thought they were overrated and, let's face it, contribute to the legend of Randy Couture. A takedown should score points, but not more than a couple of solid shots to the face. It's what a fighter does AFTER they take down an opponent that matters. If they can get punches through, pass, and inflict damage, that's one thing, but laying a praying is b.s. Ortiz just didn't do enough in my book to outweigh Forrest's sustained action. Besides, they weren't exactly clean, skilled takedowns. They were pretty sloppy and Forrest just kinda fell. I would have picked Forrest in this one.

Josh Koscheck def. Anthony Johnson (sub 2) - I really wanted Johnson to knock uber-annoying Koscheck into next week. But c'est la vie. Koscheck did drop another couple of notches in my eyes, though, after blatantly faking an eye injury when Johnson threw a potentially illegal knee that connected with Koscheck's arm - AND NOT HIS HEAD. Johnson was deducted a point for the "foul", but replays showed Koscheck was just stalling for time, like the bitch he is. Way to bring MMA down to the level of soccer, you douche. Hey fighters: there's no point in faking injuries in a fight - you'll lose more respect than you gain when replays show you faked it. Seriously: f**k you, Kos.

Paulo Thiago def. Jacob Volkmann (unanimous) - Not the most exciting pairing, but what with all the injuries and backing out, the UFC bumped this to the main card. Thiago looked good, though.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Luiz Cane (TKO 1) - Little Nog looked good. Cane is no slouch and Nog took him out with extreme prejudice. The light heavyweight division just got more complicated. Wonder if the UFC will have Couture face the other Nogueira after his loss to big bro?

Amir Sadollah def. Phil Baroni (unanimous) - Much like Ortiz, Baroni had nothing after the first couple of rounds. He gassed badly and Sadollah just kept scoring and scoring. Not sure I'm drinking the Sadollah Kool-Aid just yet, but I'm sure the UFC will be testing him in the near future, so we'll see what he can do against better competition.

Ben Saunders def. Marcus Davis (KO 1) - This was a disappointment, but no surprise. It was a terrible match-up for Davis. Saunders is decent, not great, but his reach advantage was just too much. For a muay thai guy, reach is everything. Davis just couldn't handle it. He didn't get inside, which is where he had to be to inflict any damage. Staying at distance just allowed Saunders to soften him up before bringing in the big knees and taking Davis out.

Kendall Grove def. Jake Rosholt (sub 1) - Grove won, but didn't look great. Rosholt was slapping him around until Grove slipped on a triangle choke from his back. Grove is a talented kid, but he has a hard time standing and banging. If Rosholt had just stayed on his feet, it might have been a different outcome.

Brian Foster def. Brock Larson (TKO 2) - Brock Larson continues to underachieve in the UFC. What's up with this guy? Highly-touted, great record... but just doesn't seem to live up to the hype and can't beat anyone of consequence. Disappointing.

Caol Uno & Fabrico Camoes (majority draw) - Sounds like it was a stinker. Didn't see it. Two judges had it for Camoes, but since he had a point deducted, it was 28-28 on those scorecards. One judge had it 29-27 for Uno with the point deduction. Looks like Uno stunk the joint up again. He needs to go away.

George Sotiropolous def. Jason Dent (sub 2) - Dent is a gamer, but Sotiropolous is a very talented fighter who would be a big threat in the UFC if he could get a few things polished.

I think I would have been 5-4-1 in this event... At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.