I'm not afraid to admit it....my whole weekend was planned around this fight card in Vegas on Saturday....I was very tempted to just buy myself a plane ticket, get the media pass and head down there, especially since my good buddy from Montreal was down there for the fight....but after just being on the trip for two months and then in Lake Placid at the start of the month, I figured that I have to spend a weekend in Ottawa from time to time..... :-)
Most people will know me as a big combat sport kind of guy, but I'm actually one of the few people that will give equal amount of time for boxing and MMA.....they're two different disciplines and I treat them as such....I just can never turn my back on boxing 'cause it was one of my first loves growing up as a sports fan....For those who think I'm behind the times by supporting boxing, here's some evidence that I'm not the only one....
Top 10 North American Pay Per View Buys for 2008
1. Boxing: Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao, Dec. 6, 1,250,000
2. UFC: Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture, Nov. 15, 1,010,000
3. Wrestling: WrestleMania, Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Paul "Big Show" Wight, March 30, 670,000
4. UFC: Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch/Lesnar vs. Heath Herring, Aug. 9, 625,000
5. UFC: Lesnar vs. Frank Mir, Feb. 2, 600,000
6. UFC: Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin, July 5, 540,000
7. UFC: St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra, April 19, 530,000
8. Boxing: Felix Trinidad vs. Roy Jones Jr., Jan. 19, 500,000
9. UFC: Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans, Sept. 6, 480,000
10. UFC: B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk/Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida, May 24, 475,000
As much as the UFC has become the kings of Pay Per View....put two boxing superstars together and you'll have just as many (if not more) pay per view buys for that event as you would have for a card like UFC 100
Just in case you wanted to know, it was only 500 dollars for my good friend to sit in the upper level of the Mandalay Bay Event Center.....I don't wanna know how much it would have cost to sit ringside, but this was such a big event that they could command so many dollars....give credit to the fighters though 'cause the fans were given as good of a fightcard as they will ever pay for....
Anyways, quick thoughts on each fight....
Brock Lesnar defeats Frank Mir by 2nd round TKO
When I looked at this fight, it looked as it was a classic battle between brain and brawn.....Mir represents the guy that would have used sound technique and a gameplan to beat Lesnar, who is nothing but raw strength and power.....problem is Mir either chose the wrong gameplan or failed to stick to the plan he drew up in the first place.....he ended up on his back against Lesnar for a round and a half and got thoroughly beaten....
At this point, Mir has a major hill to climb as he'll need a few fights before he ever gets a chance at the title again, while the UFC has to find stiff competition for Lesnar....at this point, no one knows who will be next for Lesnar.....the only one that could really be credible short-term would be Fedor, but can Dana White and Fedor ever get a deal done for the Russian to make his debut with the big boys of the game?
For those who may have heard the post-fight comments by Brock, but not the subsequent apology in the post-fight press conference, here's the video of the presser....
Georges St-Pierre defeats Thiago Alves via unanimous decision
What can you say? Pure domination by GSP even with an injured groin for the last couple of rounds....a lot of people thought Alves would pose a problem because of his overall size and strength advantage, but it's another perfect example of how technique beats pure size and strength every time out....as everyone saw, Alves had no answer for GSP's repeated takedowns....
To be fair, I'm always weary of a "live" underdog who is being billed as the "toughest test ever"....it's a classic case of the promoter trying to beef up someone to be better than they really are and GSP proved he's way ahead in class over Alves....
Quickly, here's a link to the video in which GSP announces that he hurt his groin....
Much like Brock, GSP is in a situation now where he has no real credible opponent to face at his weight class, but there are two big differences in his situation compared to Lesnar....
1) Due to the groin injury, it's unlikely that we'll see GSP fight until 2010, so there's time for someone to maybe seperate themselves from the pack and become an opponent...
2) Unlike Brock, GSP can move a weight class and explore the possibility of a super-fight with Anderson Silva.....By the way, if GSP went down this route, he would understand the frustration that BJ Penn must have felt when he lost twice to GSP....GSP would simply be too small and he wouldn't have enough skills to overcome the size difference....GSP is highly skilled, don't get me wrong, but Silva is just as skilled....
Dan Henderson defeats Michael Bisping via KO in Round 2
I didn't think Henderson would dominate as much as he did over a round and a half....I'm not sure if this had anything to do with it, but I commented to the boys that Bisping looked way leaner and less muscular than he had in the past....almost too lean and unhealthy......then he looked so tentative throughout the whole fight that it was only a matter of time before he was going to get caught...
It's just unfortunate that Hendo had to get in the extra and vicious shot on Bisping while he was clearly knocked out and in no position to defend himself.....but I'm assuming that with that one shot, Henderson gained five times more fans than he lost....it's just the nature of the beast with this sport....
Alright, finally, anyone who has watched a UFC pay-per-view has by now noticed that UFC announcer Bruce Buffer gets a little animated with his fighter introductions including 180 spins and major leaps in the air....
But there was big talk surrounding the pay per view that Buffer would do the unthinkable and do a 360 jumping spin to introduce one of the fighters sometime during the pay per view....many of those who were big fans of the sport even put down friendly wagers on whether Bruce would actually go ahead with the plan or not.....Well, the video evidence is in and those who bet with confidence that Bruce would step his game up were not disappointed....here's the video of the incredible 360 spin.....
All in all, a great card and no doubt, we'll be seeing UFC 200 before we even know it!