Are ya'll ready for something revolutionary?!

After digging through the caves of genius inside my brain, I have come across the greatest idea i've ever had in my life. What would happen if I utilized my Fight Pass subscription to watch fights. Not just any fights, but randomly selected fights. And after watching said fights, what if I wrote about them?!?

Put me on the fucking payroll right now. So, ladies and gentlemen, I present the very 1st edition of RANDOM FIGHTS!!!

UFC 34 -- Matt Lindland vs Phil Baroni I

"I've been breaking the law my whole life. Tonight's gonna be no different, i'm looking for the knockout" -- Phil Baroni.

• Now this is an interesting fight. Its kind of an examination of judging, and really feels like a point of view sort of situation when its all said and done. Lindland clearly wins round two with his Chael-like approach of aggressive clinch wrestling, dominating top control (albeit a bit sloppy) with advancements in positioning, and accurate straight punches for the short duration on the feet. But lets break down rounds 1 and 3, where this is at its most interesting.
  
• Round 1 sees Lindland clinch Baroni for 4 mins with really no offense whatsoever. Lindland gonna Lindland though, he does some herky jerky shit and a flush left catches him clean enough and off balance enough to drop him. So now the question is, who gets the round? It pains me to say this since Baroni is the one bringing the action, but I would have scored it for Lindland. The punch didn't rock him, and Baroni didn't follow up well enough to win it.
• Round 3 is almost a mirror of round 1 except Lindland is successful with dragging Baroni to the mat. This time at about the 4 minute mark, after a weird "foul" where apparently Lindland knees Baroni in the head in a scramble, they are stood up and Baroni utilizes the 60 remaining seconds to wing wildman punches at Lindland. Many connect, it gets the crowd pumped, and again creates the question of who do you give the round to? The guy who controlled it for the majority without doing much else but maintain position, or the guy who brought the aggression and did a bit of damage for less time? Again, I would score it for Lindland, making my official scorecard 30-27
• In case you are wondering, the judges scorecards read 29-28x2 and 28-28.

I enjoyed this fight. Its got a little bit of everything minus submission attempts, its an interesting examination of judging, and its got the fuckin BEST EVAA! putting his heart on display in a time he was considered one of the top prospects in MMA. I'm definitely interested in checking out the rematch after this one.

Overall: B

Strikeforce: Fedor vs Rogers -- Gegard Mousasi vs Sokoudjou

• The ring announcer called him "Gayhard". Hehe
• Before we even get the action started, Mauro Ranallo has to correct Gus Johnson on a statement he was attempting to make regarding Sokoudjou's past fights. I see a letter reduction in grade for this fight strictly due to Gus Johnson coming.
• Don't let anyone ever tell you Sokoudjou's KO's over Arona and Lil Nog were flukes. This motherfucker can fight, and in a very close and exciting first round I scored it for him. His clinch was really strong landing two great throws and reversing a Mousasi throw attempt to get the mount, and in the exchanges he held his own and ended a few combos with a nasty low kick.
  
• I don't remember all of his losses vividly enough to know what cost Sokoudjou those fights, but in this case, it definitely appeared to be his gas tank. He had the skillset and athleticism to win this fight. Despite being tired and swarmed with combos against the fence in round 2, he was still able to reverse a Mousasi takedown attempt to get top position. There just was no grasp of pacing. Mousasi reversed a sloppy Sokoudjou, and finished it with ground and pound almost immediately after.

This fight is a great example of why I wanted to watch random fights. As a long time fan, not only are there gems I know I want to revisit, but I know there are gems I have completely forgotten about that I will come across again doing this. Maybe "gem" is a bit of a stretch, but this is a damn fun fight and its really a shame Sokoudjou gasses after the 1st.

Overall: B+

UFC: Ultimate Brazil -- Pedro Rizzo vs Tank Abbott

• Young Bruce Buff one suave muhfukka
• Tank Abbott lol
• Talk about the king of the scar tissue. If you are unfamiliar with Pedro Rizzo's body of work, I promise you he lives up that title tenfold. At 24 years old, he has had so many muay thai fights at this point that the very first punch Tank lands has Pedro bleeding. Dear God.
• The 2 minute mark hits and Tank Abbott is now holding his hips or putting his hands on his knees out of exhaustion every other second before scoring a takedown on a desperation bull charge. This man is legendary. He should have been battling in fight of the year candidates against guys like Zuluzinho and Giant Silva, shame on Pride for matching him with Yoshida.
• Before the Crocop high kick, it was all about the Pedro Rizzo low kick. Tank Abbott lays on Rizzo for 4 minutes before a stand up, and I shit you not, he is STILL bending at the knees out of exhaustion every other second while Rizzo just batters his leg. Finally Pedro decides to throw a punch, and Tank goes down.

What a guilty pleasure Tank Abbott is. Unfortunately for him in this fight he doesn't have some street tough fat dude in front of him to maul and brawl, but he'll be damned if he isn't gonna throw bombs until quickly gassing anyway. Fun fight minus 4 minutes of stalling on the ground. A display of a great technical fighter completely outclassing a brawler.

Overall: B

Pride FC 11 -- Kazushi Sakuraba vs Shannon Ritch

• A Saku fight I don't remember jackshit about?!? Sign me up!!!
• Cot damn I know Shannon Ritch was not a high level fighter, but what a quick and beautiful finish Saku got out of him. A lazy rush in with the 1-2 from Ritch, Saku scores a single, holds the leg and turns it into an ankle lock prompting Ritch to IMMEDIATELY tap.

This one is short, sweet, and brilliant. Saku at his best delivers the fancy finish that was expected in this fight.

Overall: A-

WEC 1 -- Gan McGee vs Seth Petruzelli

• The man who ended the Kimbo hype train against a former UFC title challenger (what in the actual fuck that is real). I knew I wanted to throw a WEC fight in this first edition. I've never seen this one, and when I saw it on the first page, I couldn't say no. Fully expecting a sloppy brawl, but fuck it lets go.
• Did Gan McGee just win by leglock?! Not only did he win by leglock, but hes so hype on himself about it hes walking around rolling his eyes. The announcer is quick to keep him honest post fight making his first remark (aren't you suppose to ask a question here?) to Gan "Well, he landed some shots on you early". Gan says something that I can't make out, the crowd laughs, and throughout the rest of the interview I can audibly hear a total of 6 more words.

Not bad, but very basic. I don't think Seth threw a punch, just whipped leg kick after leg kick. It worked, until he was taken down and allowed Gan fucking McGee to leg lock him.

Overall: C+

Join me next time when I watch, you fucking guessed it smart guy, more random fights!