The Aftermath – UFC 114
Well, after what was labeled as the biggest grudge match in the history of the UFC, Rampage and Rashad Evans didn’t necessarily put on the slam bangingest fight of all time. I actually thought it was better than I expected, but when you sell a fight so hard, and it’s a one-fight card, the main event has to deliver. And according to most of the FGB crew, it didn’t deliver.
Here’s what we thought about the show:
Duan
Thumbs In The MIddle
Best Fight: Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway
Worst Fight: Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow
This show was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be: mediocre. Most of the fight were passable, but there was a real lack on tension through out the broadcast. You just never got that feeling that everything could change in the blink of an eye. In most of the bouts a pattern emerged early and continued for the three round duration. Ultimately it was another forgettable UFC PPV, and things don’t look set to improve with the dismal Liddell vs. Franklin card scheduled for June.
Credit does have to go to John Hathaway for a sensational performance which moves him into contention at welterweight. Talk of a robbery in the Nogueira / Brillz fight is completely overblown. It was a super close fight. You really couldn’t have complained no matter who the judges favoured.
Alan
Thumbs Up
Best Fight: Jason Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Worst Fight: Todd Duffy vs. Mike Russow
Pretty enjoyable show top to bottom. Not a classic, but better than most UFC efforts in recent months. Main event went as I kinda thought, seemed like Jackson’s lay-off hurt him, but that said, I don’t think the outcome would be too different in a rematch.
Big D
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway
Worst Fight: Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow
Disappointing show. I don’t care that Rampage lost, but the fact that there were a total of 3 exciting minutes out of 15 made that fight complete pleh. It was built up as a war between both and we only saw glimpses of it. Rampage is still just as one-dimensional as he was before, despite the BS from the countdown specials – he’s like the black Tito. In addition to that, the rest of the show had a bunch of fights that weren’t finished other than a fat guy knocking out a buff guy, which is good for fat people, but left me desiring more finishes. The undercard stuff they showed was awesome. On the bright side, they made stars out of Brilz, Mike Russow, and John Hathaway.
Cactus Jim
Thumbs In The Middle
Best Fight: Jason Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Worst Fight: Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow
Another forgettable UFC card that didn’t have half the excitement of the DREAM 14 show that happened the night before in Japan. There was no way the main event could live up to the hype and it fell far short. The two most memorable moments of the show for me were a highlight reel KO from a guy that was outclassed for 2 ½ rounds by another guy that was gassed 3 minutes into the fight. The knockout didn’t make me want to see Russow in another fight, it just proved to me that anything can, and does, happen in MMA. The other highlight was my fight of the night in which I think the wrong man came out on top. Last time I checked, UFC scoring was based on effective striking, grappling, aggression, and octagon control. Nowhere in there did I see fighter popularity. I would like to see Brilz fight on another card soon. With a proper training camp perhaps he’ll have the gas to go hard all three rounds and take it out of the hands of the judges. Or maybe he’ll get his ass handed to him, but let’s hope he gets a fair deal either way. There was one other bright spot on the card and that was watching Hathaway hand Weirdass Sanchez another loss. Maybe Diego didn’t do enough YES! Cartwheels in training…. If a friend has the card recorded, go ahead and watch. If it’s going to cost you $45 to watch the replay, I say skip it.
GG
Thumbs In The MIddle
Best Fight: Jason Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Worst Fight: Dong Hyun Kim vs. Amir Sadollah
I have a slightly different perspective than the rest of the guys because I was there live, but most of what they said about the TV version of the show was similar to how I saw it live at the MGM. Diego Sanchez needs to go back down to 155. He may not be able to beat B.J. Penn, but he’d give Frankie Edgar a great fight. Bad timing for Diego. I thought Jason Brilz beat Lil’ Nog, but I don’t think it was a crooked decision. It was a close enough fight. Duffee is one-dimensional and if he’s the real deal, he’ll bounce back. Michael Bisping looked great, but the fact that he couldn’t put Dan Miller away shows that even at 185, he doesn’t have a lot of power. As for the main, it went pretty much as I expected, except that Rashad took him down far more than I thought he’d be able to. It wasn’t a fantastic fight, but the way it ended was pretty exciting. The crowd was on their feet at the end and you could feel the energy in the crowd. For the most part, the live crowd seemed satisfied.
thumbs up
didnt catch the prelims but i liked the card…fights could have been way worse…favorite fight was duffy gettin dropped…how do you all say that was the worst fight? It symbolized so many great things about ufc…i was disappointed he lost cuz i thought he had potential and i was talkin him up for the month prior to less knowledgable ufc spectators, but dam i had to love it, you never know, that could be the single most exciting factor about ufc (29 rematches in ufc history 14 went to the original winner, and 14 to the loser, and 1 draw…nobody saw it coming, and fat guys around the world rejoiced and the ufc made fans of them for life. For you who say brillz wasnt robbed…ur obviously as blind as the judges…octagon control, submission attempts etc…was all brills, he had 5 submission attempts in like a minute alone…he was definetly robbed, top 5 disgusting decisions of all time. Evan and rampage started and ended good bt the middle was a lil boring, glad evans won tho, michigan state baby! the big ? is…………………………………………..did russow get lucky or is he that bad ass………….was it a a crazy 1 in a million fluke or is duffy that much of a pushover? only time will tell
I think the reason why people didn’t like the Russow fight was because neither guy was particularly skilled. It was closer to a toughman boxing exhibition than a UFC fight.
I think people use “robbed” way too loosely. I don’t think you can get robbed in a close fight. If the guy clearly wins, and the decision is taken away from him, then yes, robbed. But in a close fight that goes back and forth and can be judged to go either way, I don’t think you can call a robbery. As it is, I thought it was close and that Brillz probably won, but I was absolutely not surprised that Lil’ Nog got the decision.