Matt McDonald’s Website

*spoiler warning* this post contains spoilers from UFC 72, which I watched this weekend.

Some people over at the sherdog forums were complaining the lineup for UFC 72, and I could definately see why. No title matches. Griffen/Guida looked like a possible show stealer, but the other fights looked pretty mediocre. I never was a big fan of Forrest Griffen or Rich Franklin. While they are both great fighters, they are both prone to getting ahead in points and just coasting to a win. Here’s a brief rundown of the action (*= my pick to win)

Herman* vs Smith
Scott Smith is always exciting to watch, but both of these fighters are pretty predictable. Ed Herman is going to take the fight to the ground for some GnP, Scott Smith is going to look for that one big shot to win. Herman shot for a takedown in the first 15 seconds or so, and got it without a problem. He landed a nasty elbow, opening a huge cut in Smith’s nose, which gave the fans who wanted blood something to cheer about. Smith fought back for all he was worth, but Herman was too much for him, eventually sinking in a rear naked choke, which had Smith tapping fast.

Griffen* vs Guida
As predicted, this was a barn burner. While I normally hate Mike Goldberg’s commentary, he was right about one thing. If someone wanted to know what mma was all about, this was the match they should watch, as it had everything. Stand up action - combos, kicks, throwing for the fences. Great grappling, crazy scrambles, many different submission attempts - kneebars, ankle locks, RNCs, even a suplex from Griffen (though it looked like he hurt himself more than Guida). Griffen absolutely won the first round, though Guida started to come on strong in the end. Round 2 was a lot closer, though I had Guida winning it on my card. Guida dominated the 3rd round, spending most of the time on top, though I admit, Griffen did more damage throwing from the bottom than anyone I have ever seen. In the end, the entire place thought Guida had won, but somehow 2 of the judges gave it to Griffen. While I was happy my pick won, I was pretty disappointed with the call. All I can figure is the judges still aren’t sure how to score takedowns and submission attempts.

MacDonald* vs Singer
Both have similar fighting styles, though MacDonald always looked stronger, faster, and hungrier to me. That pretty much dictated the match. Singer looked better on his feet, and had a very active guard, but still wasn’t a match for MacDonald. He dominated the match till he got full mount and GnPed his way to victory.

Griffin* vs Ramirez
Griffin put on a striking clinic in this matchup. He took it to Ramirez with both punching and kicking combos. Every time Ramirez tried to counter, Griffin stepped out of the pocket. Griffin dominated the entire match this way. Ramirez finally started the engine in the 3 round, but couldn’t change up his style enough to score any points. Griffin wins *yawn*.

Franklin* vs Okami
Okami’s strength and wrestling ability have brought him to the top of the division. I figured Franklin would be where his drive ended, though I saw it being very, very close. They are the biggest, strongest guys in the division, but Franklin’s striking far surpasses Okami’s at this point in his career. The first 2 rounds were pretty much the same. Franklin would come in, through some punches, and a kick here and there, then back out. Okami never seemed to engage. Sure, he would through a few strikes, but for some reason he never went for a takedown. Even in the clinch, Okami did almost nothing. I loved Frankin’s comments after the first round - “He’s not that strong.” The 3rd round, Okami suddenly came to life. He got leg sweep from the clinch, and ended up in mount. Franklin remained calm and bucks him off without taking any real damage. After a guillotine attempt, both fighters are on their feet, but Okami is looking to go for a kimura. The fight goes to the ground, Okami has the kimura in deep now, and I thought for sure he might pull this out after all. Franklin is able to roll out of it and end up on top, when the round ends. Now if Okami had fought like that from the beginning, the fight would have been his. Not sure why it took him so long to settle into his game. Too little, to late, Franklin wins by decision.

Amazingly, I picked all of the fights correctly. My luck continued to the undercard fights. I ended up with 71 points on mmaplayground.com, finishing 4th in my fight camp, and 120th overall (out of 3493). Not bad!

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