Hello and welcome back to the MMA Weekly Wrap Up. The first of (hopefully) many challenges between the UFC and Affliction took place over the weekend. Prior to this Saturday's Ultimate Fight Night and Affliction: Banned event, there was a lot of speculation about which organization would win the hearts and minds of MMA fans everywhere.Who would get the most viewers? Who would put on the best/coolest show? Which fights would be the most exciting to watch?
Well, the fights are over, the numbers are in, and the viewers have been heard; The official winner of the Affliction vs. UFC competition is... (drumroll)... the Fans!
That's right people, you heard it here first! Both organizations put up some really great fights - The kind of stuff that we'll be talking about for a long time to come. The real winners of this situation are those of us who love combat sports, the people that like to see athletes, at the top of their game, demonstrate their full capabilities. Both organizations had that this weekend and it made for one very exciting evening.
FEDOR DOMINATES SILVA
First up was Afflictions Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia fight. Sure, almost everyone on the planet expected Fedor to win, but most of us also thought that the former UFC Heavyweight Champ would at least give him a run for his money. It didn't happen.
Instead, Emelianenko caught Sylvia with a mean left uppercut/hook combo that put him on the canvas during the opening moments of the fight. Sylvia tried to pull out a ground game, but Emelianenko quickly took his back and sunk a rear naked choke, ending the fight.
Not that anyone was seriously doubting Emelianenko's abilities before the fight, but his utter domination of Sylvia has cemented Emelianenko's reputation as the most dangerous and power fighter in the world.
Seriously, who can even challenge this man? As the clip below shows, he's even beginning to take on the mythical "Chuck Norris" status.
Okay, that question about challenging this man was supposed to be rhetorical. -As it turns out, Randy 'the Natural' Couture has been trying to set up a fight with Emelianenko for quite some time. Couture, who has been battling legal contract disputes with the UFC, hopes to get the issues solved in court sometime this week.
Just think; Couture vs. Emelianenko! WOW! What a fight.
Randy has forgotten more about fighting MMA than most pros will ever learn. He has the knowledge, the experience, the power, and the heart to stand up against Fedor, but he's also been out of the ring since October 2007 at an age when most fighters are safely considering retirement.
This could be an incredibly tough match for Couture as the advantage would now have to go to Emelianenko.
ANDERSON SILVA ROCKS THE UFC LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION
Not to be outdone by the Affliction fights, the UFC brought out it's biggest gun in Anderson 'the Spider' Silva to face James Irvin for Ultimate Fight Night. Silva moved up to the 205 weight class for this match.
If there was a lot of anticipation and stress leading up to this fight, you'd never have known it by looking at Silva. He looked more like someone casually entering a family reunion than someone about to enter the Octagon and face a dangerous opponent.
On his way up to the cage, he was busy giving out hugs to friends, cornermen, and training partners. Completely relaxed and confident, he gave little indication of the amount of violence he was about to inflict on Irvin.
As the first round started, Silva tested the waters with a few low kicks and Irvin tossed out a couple of jabs. Then, suddenly Irvin threw a strong roundhouse kick and all hell broke loose.
Silva countered by tying up the leg, Thai-style, and then jacked his right hard into Irvin's face.
Irvin went down hard, as Silva followed blasting another eight rights into Irvin's head before the referee could stop him.
Anderson's entrance into the Light Heavyweight division was over in a matter of seconds as the referee waved Irvin out.
After the fight, Silvas hostilities disappeared as quickly as they came, as he once again returned to the humble and friendly guy who'd entered the cage just a few minutes before. After having his hand raised in victory, Silva dropped to his knees and presented a formal bow to his opponent, then stood and gave Irvin a big hug as thought they'd been good friends forever.
During the postfight interview, he graciously thanked his trainers, the fans, and in broken English, even his deceased Mother. How can you not love a guy like that?!
He's a true combat sport champion, who shows what winning with class is all about.
Here's a quick clip of Silva interview after the fight - still showing his humility and grounded attitude.
ELITE XC BACK ON NETWORK TELEVISION THIS SATURDAY.
After all of the excitement this past week, it's going to be real hard for CBS to match the intensity with another Elite XC show on Saturday. The biggest draw will be a rematch between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith, which was called early last time by the fight doctor. However, the rest of the card seems pretty weak. (No Kimbo or Gina this time around!)
Other fights include:
Thomas Denny vs. Nick Diaz
Nick Thompson vs. Jake Shields
Christiane Cyborg vs. Shayna Baszler
Justin Eilers vs. Antonio Silva
Travis Galbraith vs. Rafael Feijao
Brian Caraway vs. Wilson Reis
Here's a quick promo of the event.
ROAD RAMPAGE
Finally, if you haven't already heard, the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson was arrested in California this week after a hit-and-run accident and police chase that included Jackson driving on the wrong side of the road and blowing out one of the tires on his pickup truck.
This is extremely sad news and certainly a very trying time for Jackson. All reports indicate that alcohol or drugs did not contribute to his arrest. UFC President, Dana White is understandably keeping mum about the whole situation, but Internet chatter seems to speculate that Jackson is suffering from some stress induced psychosis.
For more information, here's a clip from CelebTV.com;
Just a couple quick notes for anyone thinking about leaving the scene of an accident.
1st. Be sure that you are not a well-recognized and internationally known athlete.
2nd. Make sure that you don't have a life-sized picture of yourself on the side of your monster truck. (Granted, the rest of the truck was painted camo - but unless he was planning on making it to a nearby rainforest and hiding out, I don't think Jackson stood a chance in hell of getting away from the police.)
Seriously, I hope Jackson is okay and that he gets the help he obviously needs. (You're in my prayers Rampage.)
That's all for this week; Check back again soon as we continue to bring you the 'Best of the Web' in the world of Combat Sports.
Respectfully,
Rick
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