UFC 125 Resolution

Aptly named Resolution, this UFC event couldn't be more suitable to start the new year. Fireworks took place and blood was spilled, just like the blood drippin' from the fingers of a stupid fool playin' with firecrackers. I thought I should write about this because the PPV replay didn't cease to amaze me. Well, off to the (replayed) festivities!


Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi VS Clay "The Carpenter" Guida

Clay already had this in the bag even before the fighters were introduced. Even if I'm Asian, my confidence in Gomi in this one is really next to none for I know that he would never be able to keep up with Clay's relentless pace. Add to that the fact that Clay has been on a tear lately, plus the fact that Gomi's career is on the downside (even at a relatively young fighting age of 31), and you'll know WTF I am talkin' about.

Guida's footwork and head movement really looked crazy ridiculous! He looked like an epileptic on steroids or somethin'. In fact, Guida's prancing around looked so crazy that Gomi didn't even know what to do with the fucker. I mean, he couldn't tag him cleanly. Guida's dancin' literally took Gomi off his timing and rhythm.

I guess Gomi was so confused with all the shit that was happenin' in the octagon that he got caught in a Joe Daddy guillotine while they were transitioning and shit. This clearly showed that Guida had better transitions on the ground. But for me, Guida will never be a true contender. He's just a solid gatekeeper for the UFC's lightweight division.


Nate Diaz vs Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim

A truly salivating match-up (for match-up freaks like me). Judo VS Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, what more can you ask for?

Now if cockiness had a younger brother, it would be Nate Diaz. Well actually, Nate's elder bro Nick is also cocky as fuck! Well I guess that cockiness has lots of other siblings.

Cockiness' other brother from the same mom.

In this fight, you could clearly see that Stun Gun's one strong motherfucker.He's like in the Yushin Okami mold or somethin'. He kinda' even looks like Okami!

Stun Gun's Jap half-bro.

He's just Judo-trippin' and sweepin' Nate to the mat with relative ease. It was clearly demonstrated that Judo + brute strength wins over Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu + unorthodox striking (sprinkled with some cockiness) any time of the day.

Things started to get interesting though in the third round. Stun Gun had no answer to Diaz's punches which were comin' all over the place at weird angles. It looked like the loping punches in an anime or sometin', and they were connecting!

Stun Gun could do nothing but cover up against the cage, like the CIA covers stuff up. In fact, Stun Gun was slowly fadin'. I could see his switch button about to turn off. He was actually saved by the bell. But it didn't do enough to sway the judges' unanimous decision. Stun Gun really owned Nate's sorry li'l punk ass the first two rounds.


Brandon "The Truth" Vera vs Thiago Silva

I'm sick and tired of Brandon Vera tellin' us that "I'm back!" and shit. Truth is that he never returned after his mismanagement issues. He used to terrorize the heavyweight division with his nasty finishes. He used to be the Jon Jones of the heavyweight division, full of serious upside. Now he's just a replica of what he used to be. Zero killer instinct, and quite hesitant to pull the trigger.

That's why I never believed a single word that he said during the pre-fight interview/trashtalk. His promised aggression was short-lived. After he tagged Silva a couple of times, he just got taken down easily and he was literally smothered on the ground. He couldn't get anything goin' from the bottom. It was clear who had the darker BJJ (or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, it's really to bothersome to spell the whole thing out) belt (Silva's a black belt while Vera's belt is brown, or purple, or whatever). Even with Vera's (used to be) Olympic-level wrestling, he was still taken down at will like a rag doll.

These dudes have better take-down defense.

And to add to Vera's misfortunes for the day, his nose got busted up and broken, in an Owen Wilson kinda' way. It was as crooked as a Manila Customs official!

Vera's nose could end up worse than this.

Thiago Silva wins via unanimous decision. Here's to hoping that his nose also gets broken when he faces the next light-heavy.


Brian "All American" Stann vs Chris "The Crippler" Leben

Stann's no slouch , but Leben ain't no gatekeeper either. For me, he's more of like a tester. If you beat him, you instantly would become a contender.

He also tested positive for steroids more than a year ago.

Stann is more of a technical boxer/striker with his straight punches while Leben's more of a brawler with his looping haymakers. Well even without the looping punches, Leben really likes to brawl, period! So it was amazing that it was Stann who baited Leben into a brawling match! Leben is known for his granite chin (remember him zombie-punching Akiyama?). So he just ate Stann's solid combos like wheaties for breakfast.

Breakfast of champions.

The problem is that a chin could only take so much. Every chin has its threshold. And Leben's had reached its (outer) limits. It could only take so much. But the thing was that Leben's one tough s.o.b. (just recall the zombie-punching)! If it was a lesser-chinned middleweight, the fight's over. But this was Leben folks. Referee Josh Rosenthal was stupid for not stopping the fight a bit earlier, but I guess he saw that it was Leben who was about to go out. So I guess he just gave him some leeway. But even though, repeated trauma to the head could be a recipe for insanity, even death!

It's the 1st time that I've seen Leben stopped in a fight since he welcomed Anderson Silva from Pride back in '06. It's a testament to Leben's toughness, so kudos to Stann for the stoppage!


Frankie "The Answer" Edgar vs Gray "The Bully" Maynard (The Rematch)

I really didn't pay that much attention to their first fight. That's why I was wanting to take a closer look at this. Though I knew deep down inside my MMA guts that MAynard would win this one easily just like in their first encounter. How wrong I was.

Darth Vader didn't win in a Luke Skywalker rematch either.

I was thinkin' that Maynard would just bully Edgar all throughout the fight by using hs superior wrestling. But how soon I've forgotten that his opponent is who I call the Might Mouse of MMA (please see other articles in this shamelessly plugged blog... http://syd420.blogspot.com).

Frankie Edgar: Not an actual photo.

And he showed his Mighty Mouse mettle when he came back from bein' nearly TKO's twice (or thrice even) to literally dictating the fight by sticking and moving.

Lazarus also came back from the dead after bein' permanently KO'd by God.

In all my years watching fights, I've never seen anyone recover like what Edgar did. He was on rubber knees, but he absorbed all the punishment and just went through all the rounds. It's like the recovery of a freakin' video game character!

Even Spongebob can't absorb that much punishment.

Maynard was also kinda' stupid in not bein' able to finish Edgar in the first place. Instead of stickin' to what he was effectively doin' in the first round, he started to head-hunt. He was looking for that one KO punch to put Edgar away. But Edgar's too fast to avoid all that shit. He just avoided the clinch, and blitzed around while waiting to recover. Man he even took Maynard down! Now this in itself, is another Mighty Mouse move. Edgar is one of the few people who has successfully taken BJ Penn down. And he also took down Maynard, who's supposed to be bullyin' people with his wrestling.

Now due to Mighty Mouse's amazing prowess, the fight ended up a draw! Believe it or not!

Jack Palance should be the one sayin' that famous Ripley line.

They say that if you start the year right, it would end right. Well this PPV says it all about all the upcoming fights for the rest of the year. And we should better watch out for the next UFC PPV. Anderson SIlva-Vitor Belfort is a fight that if not watched, could be a mortal sin.



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