Last night, one of the biggest fights in UFC history took place when Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva threw down for the middleweight strap. The card had much anticipation, as it boasted fights that were sure to be crowd-pleasers.
Let me tell you a couple things. I watched the pay-per-view. I had high expectations for the entire card. The last thing I will tell you is that I was less than impressed with last night’s fights.
If fighters got bonuses for go-to decisions, most of the fighters must have gotten a fat paycheck last night. Of the 11 bouts, eight went to the scorecards. Of the three finishes, one was due to an injury.
Don’t get me wrong, decisions can be entertaining. Forrest Griffin-Stephan Bonnar and Dan Henderson-Mauricio Rua were amazing fights that went to decisions. But a majority of the fights that went to decision were pretty lackluster by my account.
These fighters need to realize something. Last night was one of the biggest events in history. When you have a spot on an event like that, you need to bring your A-game. What I saw last night was a lot of safe fights with competitors too scared to take a chance.
If that was their mentality, why are they even fighting for the UFC? The UFC likes fighters, and last night I saw a lot of guys avoiding finishes.
Not only that, but the judges were somewhat questionable last night. For example, one round Fabricio Camoes has Melvin Guillard mounted and dishing out some damage to “The Young Assassin.” It was the most significant happening of that round, but the judges still deemed that Guillard won a decision in a sweep. There is no way he won all three rounds, even though I still feel he won the fight.
There were other examples of rounds being given to fighters who didn’t earn them, but I don’t wish to rant on that much longer.
All in all, I don’t know why UFC 148 left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I think that my expectations for the event were colossal to a point where anything would have been a letdown.
But this is why I say the cards everybody bashes are the best fight cards, while the ones with all the hype fail to live up to expectations.
UFC 147 got all sorts of heat for not having enough marquee fights. Hell, most of the prelims from UFC 148 could have made the UFC 147 main card.
The difference between the two fight cards is that UFC 147 delivered under scrutiny, and UFC 148 left us wanting more.
I can guarantee you that UFC on Fuel, which occurs next week, will provide better fights than UFC 148. All the potential UFC 148 had couldn’t protect itself from imploding.
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