UFC 146: THE HEAVYWEIGHTS
Haven’t posted in ages so I’m gonna lash out a few recaps of stuff still on my DVR.
ESPN’s coverage was slightly preempted by some football game so we start halfway through Lavar Johnson’s entrance.
Lavar Johnson (Wake ft. Meek Mill & Rick Ross) v Stefan Struve (Godsmack)
I hate Godsmack with such a passion.
And it’s over. Jesus Christ. Johnson waded in with some lazy jabs and an uppercut. And that was IT for Johnson’s offense. Struve pulled guard against the cage and finished almost instantly with an armbar. Learn to grapple son. Johnson has huge power but he’s fucked on the ground with anyone who has a clue. Especially at this level. Even Mark Hunt has improved on the floor lately.
Struve improves to 5 – 1 in his last six fights. It’s getting harder to deny him some better fights. That said, I’d prefer him to take some time up and shore up the holes in his game. All his problems in the Octagon stem from his inability to use his reach properly. He always seems to end up in these wars where he gets tagged repeatedly and fights from there.
Shane Del Rosario (Drake) v Stipe Miocic (Linkin Park)
Del Rosario wins the battle of the entrance music fairly handily.
The first 4:30 of this fight are Del Rosario picking Miocic apart with crisp jabs and liver kicks. For a heavyweight he can get in and out of range really quickly. Miocic gets hit with a right counter and proceeds to RUN THE FUCK AWAY. He seems amused that he’s getting the shit beat out of him, just laughing his ass off. With 30 seconds to go in the round, Miocic takes Del Rosario down easily and rides out the round.
Miocic comes out for the second, immediately gets the takedown and starts pounding away. Del Rosario has nothing on the floor, just hanging on for dear life. Miocic settles down in Del Rosarios’s loose half guard and just elbows away until the referee jumps in. There was something like nine hard elbows to the temple before the stoppage.
Miocic then cuts the most unintelligible post fight promo since James Toney.
Dave Herman (Beastie Boys) v Roy Nelson (Queen)
Both good choices from the lads here.
Both guys look the best they have in the UFC, Nelson in particular has lost a ton of fat and replaced some of it with muscle. He also has the greatest tramp’s beard of all time.
And it’s over. Big Country lands a hilarious haymaker, it was seriously like something out of a cartoon.
Roy immediately goes over to Dana and company and swears repeatedly in their direction. Dana had been especially vocal in the week leading up to the fight about Roy’s non athletic look and beard.
As an aside, I was reading a Wrestling Observer from around the time Elite XC died. When the IFL went down the UFC would not under any circumstances take Roy Nelson who was their heavyweight champion at the time. Roy ended up in Elite XC where he lost to Andrei Arlovski in what was essentially a handicap match with Arlovski tagging with the referee. Seriously, Roy got stood up from side control while working from a kimura. Then he got knocked out. How different would the world be if Nelson wasn’t on TUF 10 with Kimbo Slice? Kimbo would probably have hammered most of those guys on the show and made the UFC a TON of money on pay per view.
Dan Hardy v Duane Ludwig
Since all the fights ended early, we’re getting some SWEET prelim action.
Hardy lands his trademark lead left hook and pounds Ludwig out. He lost his mind afterwards, running around like a madman and kissing the mat. The fans went apeshit. Similar reaction to when Tito beat Bader last year. The fans love an underdog story and Hardy’s job was on the line after four straight losses.
The finish was hilarious as after Hardy dropped Ludwig he put his hands up as if it was over. When he realised it was not in fact over he dropped elbows like there was no tomorrow. Dan Hardy comes across like such a superstar it’s not funny.
Edson Barboza v Jamie Varner.
I’ve always been unhappy that Varner didn’t have his contract picked up by the UFC after they absorbed WEC. Then again, he was last seen getting push kicked into another dimension by the gay porn star from this season of TUF.
Varner was hated here. There were a good few vocal Brazillian fans but when an entire arena in your home country chooses the foreign dude, then you’re probably a dick.
After Barboza landed a few leg kicks we learned a few things.
One: Jamie Varner could time the kicks and attack off them.
Two: Edson Barboza can’t take a punch.
This all resulted in Varner knocking Barboza down with some looping punches on the counter, getting top position and pounding Barboza out with hammerfists. I lost my mind on the couch watching this, Varner clearly had something to prove here and prove he did.
Jamie immediately found a camera cage side and said “I’m ba-ack” in the douchiest manner possible. He’s a great man and a great heel. Hopefully we get Varner – Cerrone 3 to capitalise on his newfound employment opportunity.
Antonio Silva (Eminem) v Cain Velasquez (Vincente Fernandez)
Cain got a MONSTEROUS reaction. Like this was ridiculous. Cain is a superstar to the fans despite not having any normal qualities associated with that. No charisma, can’t cut good interviews, hates the spotlight etc. But he’s a cold blooded, remorseless killer and you can’t teach that. Also, his music is awesome. I’d love to go to a Cinqo de Mayo party in a border town.
Silva is huge, he had to cut weight to make the heavyweight limit. Cain weighed in 20 pounds lighter but the difference was more likely 40 in the cage.
Seven seconds in and Silva is on bis back. Velasquez just wades in to Silva’s open guard and pummels the shit out of him in an uncomfortable fashion. Cain busts him open with an elbow and blood starts POURING out of Silva’s head. Cain is hitting Bigfoot so hard that the blood is squirting up on to him. Disgusting. The fight is stopped two minutes in the check the cut. The cut isn’t that bad, it’s just pissing blood out.
Fight is restarted on the ground and Silva looks unhappy getting back into position. There is blood in Silva’s eyes. He’s getting pounded relentlessly, not able to rest for even a second. The blood is flowing into Silva’s own mouth. Cain is just killing him with shot after shot as the crowd are not enjoying this at all. Silva turtles up and it’s mercifully stopped.
Velasquez stands up after the fight as if he was just back from the shops. Except shirtless. And covered in blood. He looked like a serial killer after the fight, no remorse at all. It looked like a crime scene after the fight.
This would have ranked as the goriest thing I’ve seen all summer but the Miami Zombie and the Canadian lad stole Cain’s thunder.
Frank Mir (Kanye West) v Junior dos Santos (Bill Conti)
Cool entrances for both. When Junior came out his eyes were so scary. He wanted to fuck someone up and Mir was in his way. Mir looked gigantic, carrying a lot of extra muscle and fat. This seemed like a poor strategy from the outside. Junior looks healthy as ever.
Mir immediately goes for the takedown but Junior escapes. Mir even pulled guard at the end of that sequence but no dice. It settled down into a sparring match with dos Santos landing hard shots over and over. Mir looks sluggish and has no answer for Junior’s speed. Mir’s leg kicks are just asking for a straight right counter. dos Santos tags Mir at the end of round one and pummels away, Mir is saved by the bell.
Second round, same as the first. Junior knocks Mir down twice, the second a counter off a lazy leg kick. Mir turtles up but his equilibrium is gone. Referee stops the fight having seen enough.
Junior is the most charismatic man on earth, just brings joy to the world in his post fight promo. He brings a young kid rescued from poverty in to the cage after the fight
“THANK YOU VERY MUCH LAS VEGAS, THANK YOU FOR THOSE WHO BOUGHT PAY PER VIEW TO WATCH ME AND THOSE WHO COME HERE TO WATCH ME TOO.”
Greatest man of all time.
Adam Brennan 