Ok!  Back on the blog scene with an un-streetwear related post.

UFC 84… wow!  BJ Penn has, in my eyes, officially cemented his place in the rankings of best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.  He’s always been mentioned in those talks, but tonight it’s for real. 

BJ stuffed a couple of Sherk’s takedown attempts and avoided ever getting seriously clipped with any of the Muscle Shark’s lightning fast punches.  And Sherk punches damned fast.  It’s been speculated that Sherk’s fists actually move so fast, that they time travel and opponents get hit twice from the same punch.

But BJ stayed out of his reach and bobbed and weaved and avoided any serious impact.  BJ stayed calm and collected, picked his shots, kept his jab active and before you knew it, Sherk’s face as bloodied up, eyes swollen and a knee to the chin put him down at the end of the 3rd round.  BJ punched like a boxer.  His strikes were accurate and when they landed, they counted.

It was really a great fight and it’s exciting to have such a great, well-rounded guy like Penn as the LW champ.  Sherk seems to be a good guy, but his “take down and stay down” style is really not fun to watch.  Especially for 25 minute long championship fights.

It seems now that BJ will move back up to 170 and take on GSP again.  If he wins that fight, the best p4p title will be between him and Anderson Silva, imo.  But right now, GSP still stands a very solid chance at defeating Penn.  At LW, I really don’t see anyone defeating Penn.  I love Florian and Huerta and a lot of these guys, but based on the way Penn is fighting these days, these guys don’t stand much of a chance.

There were other good fights tonight, like Machida’s win over Ortiz and Wandy beating Jardine, but the Penn fight was the important one.

PEACE!

Tags: mma ufc bj penn sean sherk

Tonight at UFC 77 in Cincinatti, the crowd was let down when two home-town heroes, George Gurgel and ex-middleweight champ Rich Franklin lost their bouts.

Forget Gurgel, I’ve never been interested in his fights anyway, but Franklin… dude got his ass WHOOPED. I’m a Franklin fan. He’s a good fighter and good guy who works hard and has an incredible work ethic. But Anderson “The Spider” Silva was wwaaaayyyyyy too much for him. It was Rich’s second loss to Anderson and both were devastating losses. Tonight Rich was saved by the bell at the end of the first when he got brutalized with a flurry of crisp muay-thai strikes. He just got finished in the second round. Silva simply outclassed him.

Anderson Silva kicking a downed Travis Lutter:

Franklin’s nose after his first fight with Silva (yikes!):

Anderson SIlva, in my opinion, is definitely to be considered when talking about who is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. His muay-thai striking is crisp, precise and powerful and his Jiu-Jitsu is top notch. It’s an insane combo. Watching him control Rich Franklin’s body by having just one hand behind Rich’s neck was enough to prove to me that The Spider knows how to fight.

The talk on the fight forums is who’s going to fight Silva next? The only realistic challenge is Dan Henderson who could very possibly out-wrestle him and ground and pound out a decision. However, Henderson just lost to Rampage at Light Heavyweight, so he’ll probably have to put in at least one fight at 185 before he gets a shot at the title. I don’t think we’ll see another Anderson Silva fight for at least 5 or 6 months.

Brandon Vera’s loss to Big Tim Sylvia was a disappointment, but definitely not a surprise. I’ve been a huge Vera fan since he came in to the UFC; I met the guy and he was super cool.

Me with Brandon Vera about a year and a half ago (dig my hair):

He was undefeated before tonight, and I think he’ll come back strong. I wasn’t sure what kind of game plan he was going to come with. The only way I could see him winning this fight was by dancing around Muhammad Ali style and chopping away at him with kicks and punches. When he actually did that he got the better of some of the exchanges, but a lot of the fight was spent with Vera trying to muscle Tim around and just getting pushed up against the fence. You can’t muscle Tim around (unless you’re Randy Couture of course, then you can basically do anything). Vera will be back, though. He’ll be a very tough contender against anyone in the world at HW.

A-ite! more next time from the streetwear front.

Tags: mma ufc pride brandon vera rich franklin anderson silva tim sylvia

I know this isn’t really an MMA/UFC blog, but this is some big news for fight fans.

According to www.thefightnetwork.com, Randy Couture, former UFC Light Heavyweight and multiple time Heavyweight champion, is walking away from the fight game due to the UFC’s inability to contract Fedor Emelianenko, PRIDE’s heavyweight champ and arguably he best pound for pound fighter in the world.

“I appreciate this opportunity the sport of MMA and the UFC has given me. However, I’m tired of swimming upstream at this stage with the management of the UFC. It only makes sense at this point in my career to fight Fedor Emelianenko, and since he’s now signed with another organization, I feel like it’s time to resign and focus on my other endeavors,” said Randy.

A sad day for fight fans. Randy Couture was a true inspiration to all fighters and many other athletes and fans. His return to The Octagon when he defeated Tim Sylvia for the heavyweight title might be the greatest moment in fight history. His departure now is one of the saddest.

We’ll miss you Randy! Thanks for years of great fights. You are truly a legend.

Tags: ufc mma randy couture fedor

The UFC is having a sick six weeks of fights.

May 26th: UFC 71, Rampage vs. Liddell

June 12th: UFN Stout vs. Fisher

June 16th: UFC 72, Franklin vs. Okami

June 23: TUF Finale, Penn vs. Pulver!!!!!

July 7: UFC 73, too many names to list. Sickest UFC card in a looong time.

Don’t know if any of you are really fight fans, but ***… I’m excited.

Oh yeah, check out: wearchildren.com.