UFC 77: History repeats itself

"What can I say?"
Franklin's honesty was as brutal as the beating Silva had given him. After being saved by the bell when Silva all but KO'd him in the closing seconds of the first round, it became apparent that this was going to play out very closely to the first meeting between these two. Franklin's cornermen had to physically pick him up & put him on his stool. When the second round started, Silva did some pretty fancy bobbing & weaving while Franklin threw whatever he had left. And then we were all taken on a trip down memory lane as Silva rushed Franklin, trapped him against the cage, & broke his nose with a sharp knee that put the ex-MW champ on the mat & out of title contention indefinitely. Ace better hope that contract negotiations to extend Silva's contract break down. As long as The Spider has that belt, the division has nothing more to offer Franklin & vice-versa. I'm reminded of Frank Trigg's 2nd loss to Matt Hughes. It kind of put Trigg in Limbo, & that's where Franklin is right now. I hear he's considering hanging it up after this. I think a drop to WW would be the only other option I can think of offhand.

Meanwhile, Brandon Vera was exposed as the overhyped lout he really is. Not that Sylvia is the be-al end-all of MMA, but after having won the HW belt twice & fighting world-class competition, it was no surprise that he was able to control the fight. I also think this is a good indicator of how much work MFS fighters put into their gameplans. All in all, I'd rather have Pat sketch out a strategy than listen to Lloyd Irvin ramble on & on...I get enough spam from him anyways.

The rest of the fights, I thought, were pretty unremarkable. Bonnar got tomato sauce on his Ouanos & Mini-me Gurgel had his face re-arranged. No big surprises.

I probably won't get any more PPVs until the New Year's card...but there are still plenty of TUFs plus the season finale in the meantime. To be honest, the only other UFC fight that sounds intersting is Karo Parisyan vs Ryo Chonan in November. I remember seeing a bloodied Chonan rally for the win against Anderson Silva in PRIDE, so I think this ought to be an intersting matchup.

Speaking of TUF...I was doing my cool-down stretches yesterday at Legends MMA & when Mac Danzig walked in. That's all, just thought I'd name-drop.

---m