UFC 108 was being called the most jinxed card of the world’s top mixed martial arts organization, and critics were already proclaiming the pay-per-view a disaster before fight day itself.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship, however, silenced the skeptics.
Prior to the card, UFC president Dana White vigorously defended the quality of the show and went on the offensive against those who were critical of the matches.
Much is made on Internet bulletin boards of a perceived lack of respect that White shows fighters, but White got the last laugh Saturday. He wound up turning the critics’ words against them.
Mainly that’s because what I really would have wanted to see was Evans versus Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, but Rampage scuttled that much anticipated encounter when he bailed on the Ultimate Fighting Championship to play B.A. Baracus in the A-Team movie.
Still, there’s no denying the skills of Evans and Silva, and it’s not really the UFC’s fault that the UFC 108 card seems jinxed, with different fights being scuttled due to injuries, notably the serious illness that has sidelined UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Lesnar’s championship defense against Shane Carwin was originally supposed to headline UFC 106 but was postponed to UFC 108 after Lesnar’s illness, only to be scrapped again.
Here are some UFC 108 promotional clips posted on the official UFC YouTube channel.
Who’s your pick?
By the way, Fil-American Mark Muñoz a.k.a. The Filipino Wrecking Machine will be going up against Ryan Jensen in one of the undercard fights.
Griffin practically ran out of the building after losing to Silva, and has not issued any statement on the incident as of this writing. Silva, the reigning UFC middleweight champion, had moved up a weight class for the second time in the UFC to face Griffin, the former light heavyweight champion.
Here’s what Jackson, whose Twitter account is @rampage4real, tweeted after Griffin’s loss, including the photo he posted on Twitpic.
I feel so bad for Forrest. I don’t even want a rematch anymore. LOSER!! http://twitpic.com/d8tn2
Gina “Conviction” Carano (also known to “American Gladiators” viewers as Crush) and Cris Cyborg (Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos) will clash on Aug. 15 (Aug. 16 in the Philippines) in the most highly anticipated women’s mixed martial arts bout in the history of the sport.
In fact, Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg, which will be for the newly created 145-lb women’s championship, is the first fight card from a major MMA promotion to feature a women’s match as the main event. Not only that, but just as in men’s MMA title fights, this championship bout will be scheduled for five 5-minute rounds, instead of the previous 3-minute rounds for women’s MMA bouts. Both women are making a statement that women’s MMA is for real, and that female fighters are just as tough as their male counterparts.
Regardless of who wins, Carano and Santos will be making MMA history. I’m an unabashed Carano fan, so I’m definitely rooting for Gina. I already liked her the first time I saw her as Crush on “American Gladiators,” but I became an even bigger fan when I found out shortly after that she’s a Muay Thai expert and MMA fighter. Carano remains unbeaten in MMA with a record of 7-0 (3 knockouts), while Santos, whose primary styles are Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, has a 7-1 record (her only loss was to fellow Brazilian Erica Paes, who made her submit to a leglock in the first round in a May 17, 2005 fight in Brazil), with 5 KOs.
I watched UFC 101: Declaration yesterday at Outback Libis during the Balls Channel and Colt 45 viewing party, and had a great time with my friends Don Herana and Alex Villafania.
As I said in my previous post, I’m a big fan of Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champ Anderson Silva and I knew he would beat former light heavyweight king Forrest Griffin, but man, even I didn’t think it would be so easy for Silva!
