Also check out Dave Zirin, one of the few liberal minded sports writers out there.
Okay, on with the show, this is it.
Main Points
- Matt Serra goes off on Marc Laimon for Laimon's perceived lack of respect for the Gracie's. Matt Hughes sits to the side and eggs them both on. Serra says that Laimon should just keep his mouth shut, since Laimon never actually fights. Laimon says he can say whatever he wants because he has 'freedom of speech.'
- Din congratulates Serra on calling Laimon out and laying a verbal beating on him.
- Shonie is now spraypainting furniture. Okay Shonie, simple spray paint advice. 1) Use a drop cloth. 2) Get things you don't want to paint out of the room. 3) OPEN A WINDOW!!! Seriously, the guy had fans going, but the blinds were closed. I don't care if the windows behind them were open, it's not that effective when the venetian blinds are covering the windows.
- Tired of Shonie's antics, Rich Clementi and Jorge Rivera come up with "Phonie" Carter. 'Phonie' is Jorge in a clown wig, red rubber nose, and clown shoes. And, of course, a banana hammock. Mikey Burnett and Jorge perform a re-enactment of Shonie/Serra I, complete with spinning back fist o' doom.
- Shonie asks Rich Clementi to be his cornerman. Serra has GSP.
- Serra talks about how much he wanted this fight, and how he thought it would never happen, due to Shonie's moving up a weight class, and his (Serra's) moving down.
- The night before the fight, Shonie and Serra chat on the patio. They comment on the fact that its been six years since that first fight. It's actually quite touching and gives a sense of the odd friendships that are formed in MMA. Shonie says he wants ice cream.
- The fight starts around the half hour mark. Hmm, I wonder how long this fight will be? Oooh, the anticipation.
- First round sees Serra dominate on the ground, getting Shonie's back a few times, but Shonie is always able to escape and stand back up. At one point raining down punches like played for Miami and Shonie was FIU. With about 30 seconds left, Shonie nails a spinning back fist that rocks Serra.
- Second round has more of the same, with Serra taking Shonie to the ground, only to see Shonie escape. Things are more evenly matched when standing, with both guys throwing some good punches. You can tell Shonie is starting to get a little gassed.
- Third round is another good round, with both fighters playing to their strengths.
- Serra wins the decision, but we have no idea how the judges called it. I would say 30-27, but I can see some judges giving Shonie the first based on his comeback at the end. Or Cecil Peoples could have decided it was 10-8 because he just makes up the fight in his head.
- Serra ripped Laimon a new one. Also interesting is the revelation on his blog that "all of this happened the night before the incident with Matt Hughes and GSP in the restaurant. Tricky editing, as usual, would lead you to believe that this was after the semifinal matchups had been decided." That's one of the best things about Serra's blog...his information about the way the show has been edited to take things out of context.
- A good fight. I think Shonie showed himself to be much better than people expected, and Serra showed why he is dangerous.
- The whole 'Phonie' Carter thing was hilarious. And NO VANDALISM!!! Even better was Jorge's talking about Shonie not seeing this until he's at home with his friends. I'm not saying I want Shonie to be humiliated in front of his family, but I think the fact that Shonie may have had no idea this was coming when watching last night is great.
- Serra on Laimon - "You're a swimming coach who never gets in the pool." - Brilliant
- All three rounds went five minutes this time! Congratulations Nevada State Athletic Commission, your timekeeper was competent enough to tell time!
- Marc Laimon's backing up his comments by saying he was in a free country is pathetic. Yes, you (sort of, not really, kinda don't) have 'freedom of speech' in the United States. But if that's the only justification you can offer for saying what you say, then what you say isn't very valuable. The "Freedom of Speech" is not justification for saying something, it's a means of ensuring that something important can and will get said. The National Enquirer can claim 'freedom of speech' for their garbage, but it doesn't mean that anybody should pay attention to it. Bob Woodward can claim "Freedom of Speech" to ensure that his latest book gets published, because he's saying something important. He's not hiding behind 'freedom of speech' so he can spout off a bunch of nonsense. Thats what people Ann Coulter and Marc Laimon do.
- Matt Hughes is a pathetic, sneaky little crapweasel. Sitting there egging Laimon and Serra on. And I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Laimon was sucking up to Hughes so hard that he actually formed a vacuum seal on Hughes' sphincter. Not that a good old country boy like Hughes would like that sort of thing, either literally or figuratively. I mean, guys like that you drag behind your truck and string up on a fence to die. It's how good god-fearin' folk deal with that kinda thing.
Next week, Pete Sell vs Travis Lutter. Still no word on whether Sell drops "I must break you." Maybe he's saving it for the finale.
Finally, I know there was no way to mention this on the show, but I'm loving the fact that the Middleweight winner won't be facing Rich Franklin. Congratulations to Anderson Silva for beating Franklin like a Leben. And especially on busting up Rich's pretty boy nose. Seriously though, Silva looked great, but I'm sure Franklin is going to come back strong. Not necessarily take his title back, but he's not done by any stretch of the imagination.
No comments:
Post a Comment