UFC 100 – As It Goes Down

Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. For those of you who paid $55 to watch this thing, or for those of you who are paying nothing, welcome to a live-blog that will effort to actually cover this thing live as we go. Since I have never done an “actually-live” blog before, hopefully everyone can bear with me.

First, a few things for you to have handy if you so choose:

You may or may not have read my full preview of the PPV event that ran yesterday. It may or may not inform you on the overall feelings about this thing before we get started. One thing I would add to it is I have not seen Frank Mir look so ripped as he did in the weigh-in yesterday. Not that looks decide anything, but Mir is usually doughy, and the fact that he appears to be well conditioned speaks to the level of his preparation. Of course, he is still the under-dog according to the betting public.

If you are interested, Here are the actual betting odds for the proceedings. It appears GSP is the biggest favorite tonight, followed by Lesnar. That seems a bit odd.

Finally, if this is your first night on a computer, and you are not sure how to find Evan and the Rangers’ live blog, Click Here …

There. Everyone ready?

8:55 pm – I know very few of you are as obsessed with twitter as I am, but one of the celebrities I follow is none other than UFC color commentator/comedian Joe Rogan. Here is his page . I was reading what he wrote yesterday, and wondered if this is the only sport, where the night before a huge event, you see this tweeted by an esteemed broadcaster:

Drinking a vodka cranberry that’s making love in my brain with the pot cookie I ate an hour ago.

Would Troy Aikman even consider that before a big Sunday game? I think not.

9:00 – OK, showtime. No refunds on my $55, and I never get tired of the UFC/Zuffa opening. Although it certainly borders a little gay. Dan Henderson’s goal tonight? “My biggest goal is to shut his face”. Bisping better be ready.

9:02 – Music in the open for UFC PPV’s? Why, yes, I have downloaded them both on my Ipod. Optimus Bellum Domitor and Face the Pain. Both available on Itunes under UFC Ultimate Beatdown. You’re Welcome.

9:06 – Despite picking Mir tonight (and GSP and Bisping), I have gone back and forth quite a bit. That first fight was 99% domination by Lesnar and one mistake. I really have no idea. Honestly, there can’t be a tougher sport to gamble on. Nobody knows in this sport. GSP got knocked out by Matt Serra, for crying out loud.

9:08 – Thiago Alves last 4? TKO of Lytle, TKO of Karo Parisyan, TKO of Hughes, Dec (domination) of Koscheck. Was that Holly Madison as a ring girl? Need work?

9:12 – Alan Belcher, pride of Arkansas takes on Yoshihiro Akiyama, pride of Japan. He is going with the music from Stepbrothers, so let’s roll with him. Akiyama is a dude I don’t have a knowledge base of, but he has plenty of bits on his way to the ring. I have to ask, does anyone in the whole world wear normal t-shirts anymore? If I go with something that didn’t cost $50+ and have writing on both sides all over, can I still get in? Akiyama has never been to a decision???? Rogan is making this guy out to be quite a dude, so now, we are all expecting a full ninja performance.

9:19 – Her dream is to be an Octagon girl? Bluff.

9:25 - Round 1: What a round! This is awesome. Both guys are slugging and Aki got tagged and dropped on a nice shot to the chin. Belcher is not impressed with all of the hype. Shot to the groin will never go well. Akiyama sees that the cup doesn’t extend quite as far south as he would like. Wow. Aki is catching lots of kicks. By the way, try not to be distracted by all of the blood on the mat from the undercard. There is nothing to see there.

9:32 – Round 2: I believe we could make the case that the pace of Round 1 slowed things down in Round 2. Belcher took some shots on the ground, but looks reasonable on his feet. Akiyama sings on youtube according to Rogan. Prove it. Belcher went back to the wrong corner. I am sure that means nothing.

9:39 – Round 3: Akiyama’s eye is shut. Any theories on Belcher’s tattoo? JR Reid is my guess. Belcher dropped and then does the escape flip to get away. He wants no part of the ground game. Seems like Belcher fought as good a fight as he could. He can take a stiff right. This is going to be a close decision, but I think Belcher may have taken him with that Superman off the cage that caught a taunting Akiyama.

9:42 - Decision time, And Akiyama wins a tight decision with some very confusing scoring. His eye and thigh are screwed up, but he gets a big win. Belcher was robbed according to the crew. Controversy!

9:46 – And it is already time for Dan Henderson v. Mike Bisping! This is quite a card. Henderson, a dude with huge name but nothing too terribly impressive in his return to the UFC, and Bisping, a guy who many suggest is a manufactured name, due to Dana White and the UFC’s desire to find a superstar in the UK to dominate that market. Let the truth be told. I like Bisping, but I might be sucked in by the cult of personality. Hey, its Blur!

9:48 – Dan Henderson walks in at the same time Donovan shows up at my house. 33 minutes from Cedar Hill he claims. Bisping does look in supreme shape, too.

9:56 – Round 1: First impression – Bisping looked terrified early. Henderson looks great. Bisping looks like he is scared to trade with him, but also scared to take it to the ground. Goldberg with an odd rundown of Bisping’s ancestors serving in the military. Hmmm. Big advantage to Henderson who looks like he just wants to stalk and kill.

10:03 – Round 2 By the way, since Chuck Liddell was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, can I assume there is an actual Hall of Fame building some where in Vegas? Can you imagine trying to sell that to your wife? Honey, can we go to the UFC HOF!

WHOA! Knock out from Henderson! Put Bisping to sleep. Or in a coma. Holy Cow! Bisping, who had never been knocked out in his life has just been knocked out and is still out. How about that second punch??? Good Gracious. Bisping sits up and thinks he is in London. Goldberg says he is a “class act”, but he does that about every single guy that has ever lost a fight. Henderson has some jacked up ears. Henderson admits he knew he was out when he hit him again, and the crowd goes bonkers. Nice. I am 0-1 on the night.

10:08 - GSP – Alves. This should be a main event in any other setting. I have GSP winning, but as I stated earlier, Alves is the real deal. 5 rounds coming.

10:12 - Alves is claimed to weigh close to 200 at fight time. I think I say Muay Tuay wrong. “It is Moo-ey” Not “My”. I believe I am describing a drink. GSP is awesome.

10:18 – Who do you think made more money in 2008. Bruce Buffer or Michael Buffer?

10:24 – Round 1: Very electric atmosphere. GSP almost had the read naked choke set up with the hooks, but Alves defended well. Alves is cut and does not want to go the ground but is easily taken down. Jason Statham in the house. Snatch is one of the most under-rated movies of the last decade.

10:31 – Round 2: Ever wonder why they call it “ground and pound”? GSP just put a clinic on Alves, and the hamburger you see is actually Thiago’s face. More blood. This is going to take a lot for Thiago to last 5 rounds at this rate. Wow. The talk in GSP’s corner is creepy.

10:37 - Round 3: Alves had at least a small chance of winning Round 3 until he was knocked down with :40 to go and was dominated with punches in a flurry. Great stuff. GSP is so solid. He still can be knocked out, but Alves has never been in a 5-round fight. This could be one-sided the rest of the way.

10:43 – Round 4: Alves actually gets St Pierre to his back. He made him work, but GSP responded well and ended the round in control. He informs his annoying corner man that he pulled his groin, and his corner man says to hit him with your groin. What?

10:49 – Round 5: More of the same. Grounded and Pounded. GSP wins big. It got somewhat boring near the end, but the groin may have made him play it closer to the vest as the fight went on. Pretty easy fight for a 5-rounder. Should be an easy decision.

10:52 - Decision Time: 50-45, 50-44, 50-45 all to GSP. He won every round from every judge. Domination. The toughest French Canadian ever. He doesn’t sound tough, but don’t let his cartoon voice fool you. Superfight with Spider in his future?

10:58 – Mir v Lesnar – It’s Time. Mir has 15 fights, 13 have not gone past the 2nd Round? But Lesnar looks the part. He would be an awesome Viking. Not Minnesota. I mean, nordic warrior Viking. Mike Goldberg is so over the top.

11:03 – Mir looks as calm as they come in the tunnel. He never looks nervous or bothered. But, thanks to Forrest Griffin he has a huge bump on his forehead. Nice target. Ah yes, Enter Sandman. How perfect for Lesnar. He is so pro-wrestling-looking.

11:17 – Lesnar won’t touch gloves! So WWE. Round 1: Well, that was an absolute destruction by Lesnar. Holy cow. He was on his back receiving huge punch after huge punch. Amazing. If he doesn’t have a caved in cheek, then I am shocked. Lesnar is on a mission. Mir has nothing from round 1 to feel good about.

11:20 – Round 2: It is so over. Lesnar destroyed him and ended the fight quickly in Round 2. I cannot pick fights. What a machine. He is undisputed. Champion Brock Lesnar. He was trying to start the lawn mower with those vicious swings. And then he flips the fans the bird and is cussing out Mir. What a wrassler! But what a MMA force, too. This dude is insane.

11:24 - Holy cow. That post fight interview might have been worth the money. Lesnar is just what the UFC needed, a Heavyweight that someone had an opinion about. He is married to Sable???

11:27 – But wait, there is more! Paulo Thiago vs. Jon Fitch. Fitch looks like a wild man.

11:37 - Round 1: Thiago has the edge in the first as he had Fitch’s neck locked up for a good 3 minutes. This is always rough not to finish, though, because usually, your arms are shot if you cannot choke him out. So, we shall see if Fitch can rebound, but Thiago has round 1 in the bank.

11:43 - Round 2: I think a little better job from Fitch, but who had the idea to have this fight last? Talk about an odd way to end an electric night. The crowd that remains – including me – are still thinking about the 3 fights that preceeded this one. We have all checked out.

11:50 – Round 3: Fitch tried to end it, and certainly won this fight. Well done. That was a solid effort that almost ended in stoppage. This link Is for a site that claims to offer stats to MMA fights in a Bill James sort of way …Cool.

11:52 – Fitch declared the winner. Good times. Empty arena was impressed. Wow. I think the Rangers blog dominated us, but I can live with that. They practice every day.

Good Night and Good Luck.