UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn looks so unbeatable that Kenny Florian, a legit No. 1 contender, never had him in any trouble at all Saturday night at UFC 101. Middleweight champion Anderson Silva looks so unbeatable that he moved up in weight class and absolutely dominated former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin. So what does this say about the state of the championship picture in the UFC?It says that there's never been a time when the UFC has better champions than right now. Penn and Silva, along with welterweight champion Georges St Pierre, light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, appear to be just about unstoppable in the Octagon.
That, of course, is the kind of statement that can end up looking silly in hindsight. MMA is an unpredictable sport, and anyone can be beaten on any given day. And there are plenty of good contenders in the UFC, meaning that any one of the UFC's champions could lose his next fight.
But when you look at these UFC champions, you just see five guys who are just about pefect at what they do. Penn, St. Pierre, Silva and Machida have nearly flawless styles. Lesnar is a physical freak of nature. When will one of these guys be beaten?
I don't know. But as I watched Penn and Silva dominate on Saturday night, I was thinking it'll be a long time before we see them lose again. The same can be said for St. Pierre, Machida and Lesnar. This is a dominang group of UFC champions.
Tweets of UFC 101:I feel so bad for Forrest. I don't even want a rematch anymore. LOSER!! http://twitpic.com/d8tn2-- Rampage Jackson, moments after Silva beat Griffin.
To THE HATERS.. Don't say nothing on the internet that you wouldn't say in person. Cowards.
-- Rampage again, after he was barraged by tweets from fans ripping him for the previous tweet.
Relax guys! It's just humor. Damn! If you can't laugh go follow someone else. Yeah that just happened.. I just said that!
-- Rampage one more time, before logging out of Twitter for the night.
OK, until now, I was a hardcore fanatic that GSP was the P4P best due to his dominance of late, but what Silva did was beyond.
--John_S_Adams, expressing an opinion that a lot of MMA fans are sharing right now: Silva's dominance of Griffin should make him the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. (My own pound-for-pound rankings will be posted later this week at FanHouse.)
I mean seriously what a beat down it'll take awhile for Forrest to overcome this one...I feel a little sorry for him.
--bigrickyb33
I'm sure Forrest isn't happy, but I think he'll overcome this loss and bounce back. He's a fighter at heart.
UFC 101 Awards
Fight of the Night: Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin. I was a little surprised by the decision to give Silva vs. Griffin Fight of the Night honors, just because the fight was so short. It sure was an exciting few minutes, though.
Knockout of the Night: Anderson Silva. No surprise there.
Submission of the Night: B.J. Penn, for sinking in the rear-naked choke in the fourth round to get Florian to tap. Three of Penn's last four wins have come by rear-naked choke; he also submitted Joe Stevenson and Jens Pulver with rear-naked chokes.
Griffin and Penn will get $60,000 bonus checks from the UFC. Silva, for winning two awards, will get a $120,000 bonus check.
Good call: I love the UFC's decision to put six live fights on the pay-per-view. The UFC 101 card had a faster-paced feel to it, and that's because of the bonus fight, Aaron Riley vs. Shane Nelson, getting moved to the TV broadcast.
Bad call: Referee Dan Miragliotta was out of position and couldn't see Amir Sadollah when Johny Hendricks floored him with a series of punches, and as a result Miragliotta stopped the fight even though Sadollah appeared to be intelligently defending himself. Miragliotta has a history of quick stoppages -- most notably Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson last year -- and it's a shame that Sadollah fell victim to one of them.
Stock up: Ricardo Almeida looked good in his unanimous decision win over Kendall Grove, and I think he'll look even better when he moves down to welterweight, which he says he's planning to do in his next fight. Almeida's ground game would make him a threat to anyone at 170 pounds.
Stock down: Thales Leites lost to Alessio Sakara by split decision on the non-televised cards, and the Phillly fans booed his passive style. Leites, of course, was also heavily booed in his loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 97. That's two straight losses and a lot of ill will from the fans, which might mean his days in the UFC are numbered.
Fight I want to see next: Anderson Silva vs. Lyoto Machida. Yes, I know that's not the fight I will see next, but it is the fight I want to see next. Silva and Machida are friends who say they'd prefer not to fight each other, but I believe they're the two best light heavyweights in the world. And that means that if both guys keep winning, this fight eventually needs to happen.
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
on the Griffin fight , are you kidding me i have seen him get hit with everything but the kitchen sink and a couple of shots to the FACE not the CHIN(button) took him out, lol 1 word or maybe 2 FIXED or THROWN. Im not even a Griffin fan but that was BS. Something stinks to me on this one,lets hope this AWESOME sport doesnt get the reputation of that other sport boxing! Does anyone feel the same ?
i can understand why some ppl are saying that the griffin fight was fixed/or thrown..i honestly thought the same thing as i watched the fight (and we all kno that dana wants to show anderson as the beast he was in the beginning). However..then i started thinking...this is griffin. I cant see him throwing a fight. I think that last knock-out looked almost comical, but it was the result of the earlier punishment. And, Griffin's head was somewhere else from the very beginning.
BTW..can anyone explain to me why they had two different guys signing the tape on the fighters gloves before each fight? I never noticed them doing this.
Each fighter gets assigned a seperate commissioner to follow them around in the locker room before the fight. Mma fighters always get their own commissioner therefore their opponent will always have a seperate signature on their handwraps. (at least in strikeforce and ufc I know for sure)
I have seen Griffin get hit by top fighters so hard it would shake the first 10 rows. Silva was fading backwards when he hit Griffin and nocks him down, I don't know for sure but, sure seems a little funny a guy with a iron chin go down like that. not taking anything from Silva I think hes a great fighter. but I watch the fighter a few times. I hope the fix is not starting in MMA..
FFS, people, it wasn't a fix. You DID see Forrest get knocked down TWICE before that final shot, right? You did see Forrest's face quiver, flab and buckle in slow-mo, right? How can you fake that? He got pelted quite a few times, and we all know Silva's power. He demolished Chris Lebel, and he dropped Irvin with one straight right, along with Marquadt. Just watch the fight again, people, and give the man his credit.
I don't think it was fixed but I do think Griffin was hamming it up on that last knockdown with the leg flopping up in the air. But, when it first happened me and the other people at my viewing party were kind of like "was that fixed?" I don't think it was fixed though.
That was not a fixed fight.Silva is one of, if not the best p4p fighters in mma. Just because he beat up the golden boy Griffin it must be fixed.Dont forget Liddel has ko'd people while moving backwards.So it can be done and Forest was already hurt twice.
What was up with Silva trying to help him up after the second knock down? He was toying with Forest and some of you think it was fixed.He has totally destroyed both people he has fought at 205.So who is next? At 205.
Thank you Mitch, that is my point exactly. That sequence where he dropped his hands, leaned to avoid a straight, ducked to avoid the next then weaved back and clocked Forrest in the chin with the straight left had to be the MOST impressive sequence I've seen in MMA in quite sometime. Pure dominance. That dude's a ballerina in the octagon, haha.
I think next should be the loser of the Rashad Evans - Rampage fight. Either or would present Anderson with an issue, since they're both rough and tough wrestlers with some good boxing as well.
I'd like to see silva fight rashad evans. he's a lot quicker than forest and he's also pretty good at bobbing and weaving, just like silva.
I really want to see Silva get knocked out. Maybe that would tone down his cocky attitude.
dude. rashad does not have good bobbing and weaving skills. his last fight, he couldn't even dodge a single punch from machida. he is slow and as of lately is relying on his power. rashad isn't that type of caliber to be on anderson's lvl. no one is.
to everyone that thinks this fight was fixed. his jaw was dislocated from one of those knockdowns before the last one. he couldn't hear out of one of his ears, and he left to get medical help asap. so before anyone thinks its fixed take a punch to the chin from andersone with a dislocated jaw.
Gotta disagree with ya there, Wilbur. Rashad can get pretty elusive. In the Machida fight he was just standing there, though, I really don't know why. I know Machida's crafty and quick, but Rashad seemed stuck in place. Probably nerves, who knows.
The thing that would make a Rashad/Silva fight interesting would, of course, be the stand-up, but also the ground game. I think Rashad could muscle Silva to the mat and try to work his game there. He hasn't done that in quite a few fights (he only went to the ground with Forrest because Forrest was dropped to the ground with a punch). Rampage is just as strong, if not stronger than Rashad, but he's very stiff in fights. His style is very traditional in the boxing sense, while Rashad is free-form, kind of like Jon Jones without the crazy spinning elbows and flying double-knees.
Either or would be great fights.
Dude one of the biggest attributes of Rashad is his bobbing, weaving and head movement. What the hell are you even talking about? Stupid Silva fanboy.
Silva kind of reminds me of Roy Jones JR ... when Roy was dominant.
FYI - I'm not saying Rashad would beat Silva or that he would lose. I'm just saying Rashad has excellent head movement and boxing. I'm sure Evans is thinking about Rampage not Silva anyway.
Silva is fighting Henderson again then I bet if Belfort beats Franklin that Vitor will fight the winner of Silva & Henderson.
Plz johnny boy tell me which fights to watch his "masterful" head movement. You guys are giving him way to much credit. He was losing that chuck fight, losing that forrest fight, lost the machida fight. I don't see where u guys are going at with this. But plz educate me on this. It's seems I am not the stoopid silva fanboy. It seems as you are Rashad's jock strap holder.
Put Silva in with Jon Jones and let's see what will happen. I would take Jon Jones even over Machida.
yes jon jones is a good fighter. but not on the lvl of any elites yet. name a top lvl fighter he has beaten. don't even say stephan bonnar he lost to coleman. he is fading fast.
that is a bold statement mrstephen.Did you watch the fights lastnight?I think Jon jones will be good one day.But I dont believe he is in Machidas or Silvas league yet.His last fight wasnt even one of the televised ones.He has to work his way up to those guys.
What about shogun vs Silva? Rashad or Rampage would be good too shorty.
mitch personally I think Shogun vs Silva would be epic.
I know everyone now is a huge Machida fan, safe to say as a former hater I think he's proven everyone wrong. However I don't believe he'll be holding that belt for long as I believe that Shogun never stopped being the top LHW in the world.
His status took a hit as he was dealing with a couple of serious knee injuries, but that seems to be in the past and Shogun matches up well with both A. Silva and Machida.
Either way I think Shogun vs Machida will be a classic and it could possibly set up a super fight with Silva.
This scenario becomes evem more of a possibility as A. Silva has been bad mouthing Wanderlei Silva and Shogun saying he wasn't deserving of title shot. I think those comments were meant to upset Wandy as Shogun was always his protege back in Pride.
I hope this fight happens, it would be awesome.
I thought Shogun's response after hearing of Anderson bad mouthing him was epic ... he said he isn't worried about because even a parrot talks sometimes. LOL classic.
It seems like Anderson has had a falling out with all the Shooto Box guys from the old Pride days. Kind of a shame really.
Even a parrot talks sometimes.
- Shogun when responding to Anderson Silva's comments.