UFC 81: Breaking Point Thoughts and Notes

Some thoughts and notes from this past weekend’s UFC 81: Breaking Point.

I was right and wrong

I did pretty well in the predictions department. I knew going into the fight that Tim Sylvia was going to give Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fits and that’s exactly what happened. However Nogueira has been tough to finish off all throughout his career and this fight didn’t turn out to be any different. No shame in losing for Sylvia. He hung in there with one of the best heavyweights in history.

I had a feeling that if Brock Lesnar was going to be submitted, it might have been by way of a leg lock/kneebar. Wrestlers always have been notorious for being too stationary with their legs while posturing up and working some ground and pound although a lot of fighters don’t really take advantage of it. It just goes to show how intelligent of a ground specialist Frank Mir is to keep his composure while getting pounded and still be able to pull off a smart move.

The only fight I took issue with was Rob Emerson’s split decision over Keita Nakamura. I actually thought that the fight was dead even at the end. I thought that Nakamura won the third round convincingly and that the first round was even.

More thoughts on the fights

Marvin Eastman surprised me while Tim Boetsch did not. While Eastman’s fight against Terry Martin wasn’t necessarily the most exciting, I was a tad happy to see that Eastman was able to take some power shots and still stay on his feet. Boetsch did exactly what I thought he would do against an average fighter in my opinion in David Heath.

Ricardo Almeida, Tyson Griffin, and Chris Lytle all did what I thought they would do. I talked to someone after the event who truly thought that Tibau beat Griffin, which is absurd. I wasn’t expecting that quick of a stoppage from Lytle but a stoppage win nonetheless. What’s going on with Jeremy Horn? I’ll have a piece on him up later today.

Updates on Vera, Cro Cop, and Lindland

Gary Herman of 15Rounds was at the post-fight press conference and picked up everything that was said, including notable tidbits involving Brandon Vera, Mirko Cro Cop, and Matt Lindland.

Vera, who was at the event this past weekend, told Herman that he is tentatively scheduled to fight in June:

“I will be fighting in June, but I do not know exactly who I will be fighting,” Vera said, “There are a couple of names being thrown around, but nothing is official.”

Dana White says that he has given Mirko Cro Cop a deadline of today concerning whether or not he plans to return to fight or retire.

According to Lindland, he will not be returning to the UFC:

“Dana has made it clear they are not going to make me an offer to return to the UFC,” Lindland said.

Shots and more shots at Randy Couture

It all started off this weekend with Joe Rogan’s shot at Randy at the weigh-ins, completely “forgetting” that Couture was the only three-time heavyweight champion in history even though he basically creamed his pants after Couture beat Sylvia to win the belt for the third time last year. It’s a really sad state of affairs these days between the UFC and Couture.

When the one guy affiliated with the UFC who also likes to discuss other fighters and issues outside of the promotion starts getting controlled by politics, you know that the feud between the UFC and Couture is a lot bigger than we thought. It sucks.

There was absolutely no mention of Couture being the champion during the event. Nogueira pleaded with him to come back and fight during his post-fight interview and Dana White called him out multiple times during the post-fight press conference.

That’s about all I have, except for this…

Dear Dana,

If Couture really isn’t going to come back, please attempt to re-sign Arlovski so we don’t have to see Nogueira’s first title defense be against Werdum.

Love,
John

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