Where did the Weekend Go?
Working over the weekend because the company you work for fails at planning sucks. At least I was able to catch the men’s Wimbledon finals and the UFC. Federer vs. Nadal is really shaping up to be a great rivalry. I honestly thought Nadal was going to pull it off during that 4th set, and I still think he would have won if he didn’t injure his knee. He was looking dominant, Federer frustrated. Then he had to take that break to get his knee looked at, and things turned around. He probably would have still been able to battle back and beat anyone else in the world, but Federer is just too good.
The UFC 73 was pretty good. Here’s a quick breakdown of the matches
Herring vs Nogueira - Herring fought to the best of his ability (read- not on par with Nogueira), with the exception of the last 30 seconds of round 1 and the first two minutes of round 2. He scored a great headkick, all he had to do was keep the pressure on, and he would walk away the victor. I was actually a little surprised the ref didn’t stop it anyway, Nogueira was barely able to stand.
Sherk vs Franca - This happened almost exactly as I though it would. Sherk took Frana down at will, established position, and used his GnP. Franca got a couple of big random shots, but it wasn’t enough. That ju-jitsu that he was always bragging about did nothing for him.
Evans vs Ortiz - I thought this one looked pretty bad on paper. Both of them are mediocre strikers and both good wrestlers, but not great with submissions. A lot of time was spent trying to get a takedown that just wasn’t there. Once a fighter was able to score a takedown, the other was able to get it back to his feet. Then they would trade shots, no bombs, just enough to mix things up. During the 3rd round, Ortiz looked tired, Evans looked fresh. I think if it would have been a title match, Evans would probably been able to push the pace in rounds 4 and 5 for a win.
Marquardt vs Silva - I picked Marquardt to win this, because in Silva’s last fight, he had zero takedown defense. Marquardt is coming off a win over Dean Lister, who has way better submission skills than Silva, so he should be safe on the ground. He just needed to avoid Silva’s pinpoint accurate striking. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that. Every shot Silva threw counted, and he won easily in round 1.
Florian vs Robinson - Robinson pushed the pace early, Florian weathered the storm, waited for a mistake, then got on top and won easily. The question is, what’s next for Florian? After watching Sherk completely destroy Franca, does Florian really have a chance? He already lost in their first match, I can’t see the second going any different.