Brock Lesnar and UFC 116 Delivered the Best MMA Has to Offer -- Drama, Skill and Heart
by Kid Nate on Jul 6, 2010 11:21 AM EDT in News
Photo via UFC.com
It might not have ended up being the biggest event of the year.
Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin may look more beatable after their fight, than before the fight.
But virtually every fighter on the card delivered a great performance. There was one crushing TKO, more than a few sweet submissions, and most importantly every fight on the main card was a back and forth display of heart, skill, fortitude and tactics.
I'm very impressed by the heart Brock Lesnar showed, but I also saw him cower and cringe after eating a tough uppercut. Lots of men in the heavyweight division saw that too and thought, "I can tag that big ***** and I'll finish him when I get the chance." I have no doubt the Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, Roy Nelson, Alistair Overeem and Fedor Emelianenko all think they can beat Brock on the feet.
But part of them has to be thinking, "Oh shit, Carwin hits about as hard as is humanly possible and Lesnar came back to finish him."
Chris Leben has shown amazing growth and finished two very talented and dangerous middleweights in two weeks. I'll be very curious to see where he goes from here.
Yoshihiro Akiyama showed that his judo skills translate to take down dominance, but that he needs to work on his conditioning, avoid trading so many punches and cut down to 170lbs. I'd love to see Akiyama vs Jake Shields, Jon Fitch, and especially Georges St Pierre.
George Sotiropolous is a very exciting lightweight contender. Pellegrino is tough and came in on a hell of a win streak. Sotiroplous beat Pellegrino soundly on the feet (except for that final barrage) and on the ground. Pellegrino had the wrestling edge, but when you're getting hurt on the feet and on the ground, wrestling doesn't do much more than change the scenery.
Brendan Schaub didn't show much respect to Chris Tuchsherer after making quick work of him. I wonder how Champ Brock Lesnar felt about his team mate being dissed like that.
Gerald Harris has earned a booking on the main card of a Spike TV or Versus UFC event.
Most of all every fight delivered back and forth drama and proved an evenly matched and compelling sporting contests. Thanks Dana and company. I thoroughly enjoyed the show.
