MMA/Boxing

UFC 82 Fallout/Boxing’s Fight of the Year/This Weekend’s Fights…

I went 3-1 in my UFC 82 picks, losing the Herring/Kongo fight. Anderson Silva looked awesome in his second round submission win over Dan Henderson. It’s clear that Henderson is still a great fighter (he won the first round by controlling Silva on the ground and landing short hammer fists), but Silva is in a class by himself at 185 lbs. Most likely, Silva will defend his title against Yushin Okami, who stopped Evan Tanner in two rounds. Okami won, but nothing he did suggested he could dethrone Silva. Jon Fitch grinded out another UFC win (seven straight, in fact) and is reportedly getting the next shot at the welterweight belt later this year. Fitch is tough fighter, but I don’t see how Karo Parisyan can be denied the next title shot.  The Chris Leben/Alessio Sakara fight was as good as expected, with Leben showing his solid chin and punching power, TKOing Alessio in just over three minutes.

This Saturday features several fights. On HBO, Oleg Maskaev fights Samuel Peter for Maskaev's WBC heavyweight title, while Juan Diaz takes on Nate Campbell for Diaz's IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight titles. I’ll take Peter and Diaz. The same night Showtime features a unique doubleheader, including David Haye vs. Enzo Maccarinelli in a WBC/WBA/WBO cruiserweight unification bout. Haye is the rising star here. The channel also will be showing the U.K.’s Cage Rage card, including Ken Shamrock vs. Robert Berry. I’ll go with legend here for what it’s worth.

NOTES:

Don’t ask me how, but I correctly predicted Israel Vazquez’s decision victory over vs. Rafael Marquez.  This fight is clearly the front runner for Fight of the Year. To the best of my knowledge, this would be only the fifth time that some combination of fight/rematch/rubber match earned Fight of the Year. (Tony Zale vs. Rocky Graziano I and II won Fight of the Year in 1946 and 1947;   Ali vs. Frazier I and III were both awarded Fight of the Year in 1971 and 1975; Marco Antonio Berrera vs. Erik Morales I and III earned the honors in 2000 and 2004; Auturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward I and III were both awarded Fight of the Year in 2002 and 2003. Certainly, the Vazquez vs. Marquez trilogy ranks above the great Manny Pacquiao vs. Eric Morrales trilogy of 2005-2006, and right next to Gatti/Ward and Barrera/Morales as for best trilogy of the decade. When you think about it, this decade has yielded tons of great fights in the lighter weight classes. With the decision disputed, it’s safe to say these two warriors will fight again.  

Elite XC, the MMA promotion on Showtime, has signed a deal to show free fights on CBS. This was big news over the past week, as all the mainstream media has picked up the story. It’s good in the short-term for fight fans, but I’m skeptical on what kind of fights Elite can put together that will help popularize the sport with a larger audience. There is little doubt in my mind that the UFC has the roster to produce solid, entertaining fights for a mass sports audience. With Elite, I’m not so sure. I hope they succeed and draw good enough ratings until the UFC figures out how to stop screwing up negotiations with major TV channels. They should have been on HBO last year and they should have had the CBS deal.