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UFC 79 - Nemesis coming to fruition has been a story in itself. Originally Matt Serra was set to fight Matt Hughes for the welterweight championship, however; with Matt Serra being injured, it appeared to ruin a great main event. Sometimes things end up working out for the best and the UFC were given what was considered an even better headliner when both Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre stepped up and offered to fight for the third time. To add to the significance, this would be a match for the ‘interim’ welterweight championship. Along with the Hughes and St. Pierre fight, the scheduled and long awaited Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva bout helped to make this card perhaps the most anticipated of 2007. And here are the results and how my picks went:

In the main event, both Hughes and St. Pierre came out looking confident as the crowd anticipated a great third match between these two high level competitors. GSP looked very dominant in the first round, causing Hughes’ corner to offer him reassurances after the first round. Hughes seemed fairly unphased. The second round was more of a repeat of the first with GSP stuffing not only Hughes’ take down attempts, but taking Hughes to the ground and reddening his face with ground and pound. After GSP wore out and overwhelmed Hughes, he scrambled on the ground with him at first appearing to try a kimura but then grabbing onto Hughes’ arm and cinching in an armbar which forced Hughes to tap. This was an ironic style of victory because Hughes was supposedly the more dominant ground fighter with his stellar wrestling background. St. Pierre demonstrated the new breed of fighter as a weapon in all areas. GSP looked dominant in every aspect of his game. Upon winning, GSP refused to wear the ‘interim’ welterweight belt claiming that Serra was still champion and that he would look forward to a rematch when Serra is healthy. GSP has all the motivation he needs for the rematch with Serra which was an embarrassing loss. If GSP is able to become the undisputed champion at that point, he could be quite an unstoppable force for a long time to come. I picked GSP to win this fight, putting me at 1-0.

Chuch Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva has been one of the most anticipated fights and was finally able to manifest due to Zuffa purchasing Pride where Silva had been fighting. This was a difficult fight to pick for many reasons. Chuck has not looked very good in his last couple of fights and being 38 years old and seemingly not having the same tolerance to age as Couture, he is not the same fighter as he used to be. Even still, a good striker is always dangerous and Chuck’s counterpunching style would seem to fit well with Silva’s aggressive predisposition. I ended up picking Chuck to win this fight and the deciding factor was that it was Silva’s first UFC bout since the Pride acquisition. Very few fighters coming over from Pride have been very impressive in their UFC debut. I had expected that Chuck might be able to knock out Silva and he did land quite a few flurries of strikes that were equivalent to attacks that knocked out previous opponents. Silva did prove that he had a solid chin and stood with Chuck for all three rounds. Silva did look hurt at different times but never went down. Chuck slipped a couple of times but bounced back up and continued. In the end Chuck won a unanimous decision and will start a climb back to the light heavyweight championship. In the meantime, in true Liddell style, he had an after party to attend. My record went to 2-0.

One of the most interesting fights of the night was between Rich “No Love” Clementi and Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard. There was a great deal of trash talking between these fighters and the hand gestures continued into the octagon itself as Guillard flipped off Clementi who returned a gesture of his own. In the fight itself, Clementi looked dominant and eventually got Guillard’s back with about a minute left in the first round and upon submission, Clementi made a gesture above Guillard which infuriated the young assassin. Guillard spewed that this feud was not over as he was leaving the octagon. I picked Clementi to win so I moved to 3-0.

A quick run down of the other fights…

Manny Gamburyan made quick work of Nate Mohr submitting him with an ankle lock in the first round and seemed to injur Mohr in the process. I chose Gamburyan to win this fight. I couldn’t go against Manny as he was extremely motivated after having to tap out and forfeit his chance to win the Ultimate Fighter TV show due to a recurring shoulder injury. Still perfect at 4-0.

Undefeated Brazilian Lyoto Machida took on the African Assassin Sokoudjou who was hyped up by a highlight reel showcasing quick and devastating wins. Again, with Sokoudjou being out of his element in the octagon, I chose Machida to continue his winning streak. Although it did surprise a lot of people when Machida won, it was even more shocking to see Lyoto be so dominant over the African. Machida reminds me a lot of Anderson Silva in that he is a very deliberate striker with precision in his movements. Machida could be a real threat at light heavyweight and I think he was too tough of a challenge for Sokodjou in his first UFC fight. I sported a 5-0 record after this fight.

Another newcomer - Sao Palelei took on Eddie Sanchez in the heavyweight division. Eddie Sanchez was expected to lose by many as Sao Palelei had a highlight reel of his own of dominant performances outside of the UFC. Eddie Sanchez stood with Palelei who seemed to gas and eventually the referee stopped the fight after Sanchez had bloodied Palelei’s face to the point where his vision was impaired. I picked Sanchez notching me up to 6-0.

More undercard results:

James Irvin defeated Luiz cane due to a first round disqualification. I picked Irvin, going to 7-0.

Tony DeSouza lost to Roan Carneiro due to a TKO in the second round. This was my first loss causing a 7-1 record.

Canadian Mark Bocek overwhelmed Doug Evans and won a decision. This was my second loss, now 7-2.

Dean Lister won a decision over Jordan Radev. I picked Lister, improving to 8-2.

All in all, this was arguably the best Pay Per View for the UFC of 2007. The UFC really needed an event like this to not only look good on the marquee but also live up to its hype. UFC 79 did not disappoint, offering many entertaining fights. It is consistent events like UFC 79 that will show the rest of the MMA world that they are the leader in the MMA industry.

So, my typical complaints about modern picture shows is that they are far too long. I could rant about their overdone themes, but coming up with fresh material or a way of telling the same thing differently can be a challenge. I Am Legend, clocking in at 1 hour and 41 minutes, piqued my interest so I decided to watch it. Here are my thoughts…

I’ve heard about some people complaining that not much happens in the first hour or so. This did not bother me at all in terms of the lack of seizure inducing action as was expected by critics expecting constant flashing on the screen. What those viewers missed was the significance of the depiction of a world post apocalypse and Smith’s incidents of paranoia and hallucinatory experiences. This was fairly interesting to me and held my attention.

Where “I Am Legend” lost me was on two major errors. The first was the shots of Will Smith doing shirtless chin ups while obviously showing his ripped physique. While impressive, this had absolutely nothing to do with the storyline and furthermore, did not fit his casual speaking character which also discredited him as a ‘doctor’. Sadly, this just appeared to be an opportunity for Smith to capitalize on showing off his new physique which made this all the more Hollywood and interfered with buying into the character and plot.

Secondly, regardless of your orientation to organized religion, the female character introduced later in the movie who made references to the almighty, further insulted the integrity of the film by uttering such a cliche.

The only other criticism I’ve heard was in reference to the infected specimens that they were not terrifying or mutated enough. This was not a requirement for me and anyone who would criticize this film for that reason should probably go home and watch any of the Resident Evil series instead.

While “I Am Legend” made a couple of major errors, it was not without merit. As mentioned, the scenic depictions of the post apocalyptic earth were interesting as well as the routines established by Smith’s character “Dr. Robert Neville”. While, showing a nice set of abs and using a cliche segue to bring about an ending may help draw attention from the unobservant masses, it will do nothing for properly conscious movie goers.

One of the hallmark qualities of any successful sports franchise is to have repeated recognizable figures and it seems that the WEC is not only doing well in that regard but also recruiting for the future.

I’ll discuss the top 3 fights on the card. First up was Paulo Filho vs Chael Sonnen. Chael dominated Filho for the first couple of rounds which surely surprised a lot of people watching. Sonnen made a sloppy mistake with just 5 seconds left in round 2 and was caught in an armbar. Sonnen clearly was in a lot of pain, but after the fight stated that he was not submitting, but instead pleading for the ref not to stop the fight. Regardless, the ref stopped the fight on a submission victory for Filho. In the postfight interview, Sonnen admitted that he should not have gotten caught in the armbar and acquiesced the loss. I personally found this a bit contradictory. I can see Sonnen wanting to be a good sport, but if he really didn’t get submitted, then a real competitor would have been quite disappointed and would have continued the protest. I have a feeling that Sonnen realized that even if he didn’t submit, he would have a broken arm and would not be able to fight and that would have been a worse fate.

WEC 31 marked the return of Jens Pulver to MMA action. Jens was always a smaller 155 lb fighter and despite his successes at that weight class in the UFC, after his loss to BJ Penn, Jens joined the featherweight division at 145 lbs. Jens was undefeated at 7-0 coming into the fight against Cub Swanson who was a hometown favorite. Jens and Cub were previously scheduled to square away months earlier, however; Jens reported a knee injury which delayed the matchup. Cub was outwardly perturbed with this hiatus and at the very least suggested but rather even accused Jens of ducking him. Jens flatly denied any of these claims and demonstrated in the cage that he had nothing to be apprehensive about as he submitted Cub with an anaconda choke only 35 seconds into the first round. While these things happen at times and in some cases are not true indications of a fighters overall ability, but rather a costly lapse of strategy, it still must be a frustrating loss for Cub who had promised to take out his ferocity on Jens. Jens is now touted as the #1 contender for the featherweight title by many. Is just one fight enough to prepare the former UFC lightweight champion for the featherweight title in the WEC? It shouldn’t take long to find out as Jens has asked to fight within the next few months.

So, who would Jens be matched up against for the featherweight title if this should occur? The winner between Urijah Faber and Jeff Curran would produce that opponent. This bout resembled the Chael Sonnen and Paulo Filho fight in many respects. It went past the first round and well into the second with the challenger seemingly dominating. However, as champions always do, Faber rose to the occasion and picked his time to amp up the energy level after Curran may have tired himself trying to gain a more favorable position with which to choke out Faber. Faber cut Curran with some vicious elbows and ended up submitting him with a guillotine choke of his own. After the fight, Faber asserted that he was never in trouble and was prepared to fight for five full rounds if required. Faber also mentioned that it would be an honor to fight Pulver if the WEC puts that match together.

Again, the WEC put on a great show. The undercard was entertaining as well with its own rivalries. As mentioned, the WEC is becoming more successful with more recognizable champions such as Filho, Faber and Doug Marshall who retained his belt as well. Also, the WEC has recognized that the lighter weight classes are a nice market and make for very entertaining fights. With the increased great performances by their champions and bringing new quality fighters into the mix like Jens Pulver, the WEC is doing well to place its own mark in the world of MMA.

In the finale of the Ultimate Fighter Season 6 the main event proved a number of things. Roger “El Matador” Huerta vs Clay “The Carpenter” Guida was a fantastic matchup which had a lot of speculation beforehand. Some felt that although Roger Huerta had never lost in the UFC, that he had not faced any tough competition. On the other hand, Clay Guida had defeated several big names in the lightweight division. As expected, both fighters came out swinging and with lots of energy. This is one of those matchups that is so entertaining to watch that you could dismiss whether the end result was the same each time or not. Guida appeared to be leading the scorecards in the first 2 rounds, leading the Huerta critics likely to surmise their predictions correct. However, in the third round, unlike some other fighters who may be too winded to mount a comeback, Huerta came out blazing with a sense of purpose. This is the type of intensity fans are hoping and expecting to see from a fighter who may be behind on the scorecards going into the third round. All too often we see no real change of effort into the 3rd round. Perhaps this is from being beaten down or feeling emotionally defeated already, but Roger Huerta did what most fans wanted to see. He came back with a vengeance and landed enough punches and knees to eventually get a rear naked choke victory over Clay Guida. Guida managed to get several shots in the first couple rounds including knocking Heurta to his knees at one point.

Ultimately Huerta will continue his title path and Guida will continue to face top competitors in a stacked lightweight division.

In other action, Mac Danzig did end up getting a victory over Tommy Speer to win the 6 figure UFC contract. Although I do believe that Mac Danzig is a very talented fighter and perhaps he could defeat Tommy Speer in a number of ways, I do not believe that we saw the best Tommy Speer performance.Tommy did not seem himself at all. Perhaps the first time experience of all of the cameras, bright lights and the capacity crowd contributed to his being overwhelmed. Tommy was defeated by a rear naked choke. In many cases, this type of victory is caused by a fighter being too tired to fight back or to a certain extent, acquiescing to a situation.

Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver found some untapped reserve energy in the third round to mount Jared “J-Roc” Rollins after a very bloody battle. Koppenhaver was very emotional after the fight commending J-Roc on his performance and wishing both could have won. After such a spirited battle from both competitors, surely the UFC and its fans would consider them both winners.

Other winners included George Sotiropolous (over Billy Miles) who looked back on track as well as Ben Saunders edging out Dan Barerra. We will likely see many of these competitors again the UFC as the TV appearance will definitely help their popularity.

Season 6 is now over and the culmination is tonight! It was a very interesting season of welterweights this year. However, in my opinion the lightweight category is the most exciting division. These guys are in phenomenal shape. If you have ever seen the likes of Sean Sherk, Tyson Griffin, Clay Guida, Leonard Garcia, Roger Huerta or Frankie Edgar fight then you know that it is generally non-stop action. I recently re-watched a fight between Leonard Garcia and Roger Huerta and it was very impressive to see the pace they kept up for the entire fight. The Tyson Griffin and Frankie Edgar fight was the same. I would highly recommend checking out the recently released best of UFC 2007. It does a nice job of showcasing the highlights of the past year.

There are many fights on this card, however; once again, the worst thing is that many of them unfortunately won’t be televised due to time restrictions. This is really too bad for the fighters because TV exposure is the best way for them to show their skills, become more well known and therefore become a bigger draw at events. This all leads into more financial success and more time dedicated to training and getting higher quality trainers and equipment.

The main event is between the poster boy of the UFC lightweight division - Roger “El Matador” Huerta and Clay “The Carpenter” Guida. These are two very well conditioned guys who each have the stamina to go 3 full rounds at full speed. I have a feeling that this fight will be short for some reason. Everything tells me that this should be a decisioned fight after 3 rounds of torrid action. It seems lately in the UFC, when the outcome appears predictable, something unpredictable happens. Stay tuned.

In other action, there is Mac Danzig vs Tommy Speer for the 6 figure UFC contract. Both guys are very motivated for this award. I would have said that Mac Danzig would win by submission but after I saw Tommy not give up after being in a deep triangle choke and then come back to win in his Ultimate Fighter bout, while covered in his own blood, I don’t see it being that easy to call. If I had to pick a winner, I would say Tommy by decision. I just see him grinding things out. That guy can take a lot of punishment. Mac could still win by submission but it would take a great deal of strength to do it and he could burn himself out trying, ending up vulnerable to a stronger fighter. It should be interesting.