UFC 112: Hughes’ boos, Gracie’s disgrace, Edgar’s triumph, Penn’s travel plans, Silva’s fear and Maia’s strength

There’s a lot to talk about after Saturday’s UFC 112. Much of it to do with Anderson Silva. But enough of him for a moment. Let’s look at the other two big fights at the card, namely Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie in an old-timers match-up and BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar in a David-and-Goliath title tilt. Joining me is Revolution MMA’s Joel Gerson.

JG: UFC 112 confirmed my theory that the events that are the most exciting on paper usually go down like a sinking ship.

How can any MMA fighter, namely Renzo Gracie, go into a match at this point in his career and not know how to check a low kick? That fight was an abomination with two guys completely lacking in kickboxing ability doing just that for 15 minutes (and you paid to watch it, sucker). Neither one showcased their respective specialties: Hughes with his wrestling and Gracie with his BJJ.

Was anyone else physically uncomfortable watching Renzo tough it out in the third while his body gave out to heavy blows? It reminded me of seeing a Youtube video of someone getting beat up in the street – you just wish someone was around to stop it before the weaker man gets hurt badly because it’s clear he doesn’t want a part of the other guy anymore.

And is there really any interest in seeing Hughes fight anyone again? I can’t believe that there are people left in middle America (other than the old Miletich fighters) who care.  I guess Dana White plans on milking the old generation of fighters (Hughes, Liddell, Ortiz, etc.) until the casual fan finally taps out. Yawn.

FW: Call it the Matt Hughes Farewell Tour, with stops in Gracietown, Swickville, Serra City and New Koscheck. Hopefully it never makes it to Fitchington or the sovereign state of GSP.

While Hughes looked impressive – and maybe it was the washboard abs that have me thinking that – it was Gracie’s utter failure to launch that made it seem like he was better than he was. Lousy striking and not a single submission attempt from the vaunted Gracie legend – who could have seen that coming?

The Gracie name carries a lot of serious weight, particularly in grappling circles, but it’s been a long time since any of MMA’s First Family has lived up to their reputation. A Gracie hasn’t won in the Octagon since Royce back at UFC 4, fer chrissake! And while Renzo didn’t tap out, gassing out and cowering beneath Hughes’ strikes was just as embarrassing, especially in front of an Abu Dhabi crowd where he is royalty. Definitely not the Fight of the Night I’d hoped for.

JG: What is interesting is Hughes’ respect for Renzo on the ground: he wanted no part of it and knew he would tire by the third.  His overall strategy actually cost him a round or two, but paid off in the end.

FW: Okay, on to a fight worth talking about, Frankie Edgar’s unanimous-decision victory over lightweight champ BJ Penn. This ended up being the most important bout on the card, with far-reaching implications for the division, although it’s been overshadowed by other antics.

JG: Frankie Edgar showed great heart and implemented a smart strategy, and impressed the judges to get the win.  He was like a hummingbird constantly moving, doing his best not to be a sitting duck for BJ’s heavy hands, eventually tiring him out. The fight metrics had this for BJ, but I felt it was a technical fight to score: BJ hits harder, but visually Edgar did more damage and was taking the initiative.

One thing it wasn’t was a 45-50 blow-out. That judge needs to lay off the sauce. I don’t think the Penn camp was all too impressed with the officiating and it should be interesting to get their word on it. Look for Mama Penn to phone a lawyer. If BJ complains publically about this, even though he has a case, he still risks looking like a whiner, so stay tuned. Still, congrats to Frankie Edgar. He defied the odds by taking the fight to BJ all 5 rounds and not getting smashed or subbed – he really is a street fighter with a pedigree.

FW: Edgar was given no chance by anyone. He was considered too small to beat Penn, his boxing’s not as sharp, but like you said, he went in there and outworked Penn. He just looked more impressive. Edgar’s a stud and I’m as surprised as anyone to realize that. He fought the fight of his life and eked out a unanimous decision over the most-dominant lightweight in UFC history and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. Edgar used quick hands, constant head movement and a bottomless gas tank to frustrate Penn and take him into deep waters. He even pulled off a couple of takedowns, something no lightweight has done against Penn in six years.

I know many people think this was a judging travesty on a level of Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua, and it certainly was flawed. But the right name was called at the end. Will Penn make excuses? Will the extra towelling-off Edgar received from the referee have him whining Grease-gate? Likely not. Penn will take this loss like a man. At worst, he’ll use his bum knee as a crutch. And admittedly, he didn’t look quite himself in there, as though somebody had drowned his puppy backstage. He didn’t look comfortable at all. But I sense that he thought he was doing enough to win each round.

Regardless, the upset is good for the game. Now, at least one division has a little more parity at the top. Expect Penn’s welterweight travel plans to change as he sticks around the lightweight division long enough to reclaim his title, which should take all of about two fights. But until then, there are a lot of challengers who would make good fights for Edgar. Kenny Florian has to be at the top of that list. Hell, even Clay Guida has a chance at being UFC lightweight champ now and who would’ve thought that could ever happen?

Now, for the main event: Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia.

JG: I don’t even know where to start with this. Let’s start with the positive. Maia is the man. I hope the next time he comes out to fight he gets a huge ovation and applause. He showed incredible heart, determination and fortitude against a guy who had a massive advantage in this fight in having it start in an area where Maia is weakest.

He took Anderson ’s best shots, and what is more, did not break while being clowned like no fighter has been clowned in the history of the UFC. A lesser man would have crumbled at those moments, moments when your opponent dances to make you flinch, or stands with his hands akimbo and lifts his chin square, or goes through the evolution of fighting stances (ape, man, Gracie, MMA fighter) in front of you. But Maia held firm and actually caught Anderson with a heavy overhand left-right combination that made Anderson go from an overconfident fighter to a ‘scurred’ fighter, and Maia never took the bait.

Anderson wasted so much energy shuckin’ and jivin’ that he actually burned himself out more than people realize. But what truly happened is that Anderson became afraid of Maia’s unpredictable and dangerous punches toward the end. The circular direction Silva was RUNNING was in reality away from Demian’s overhand left, which had caught him at least once earlier on.

The worst thing Silva could have done after humiliating him so badly in the early rounds would be to get rocked and taken down, or worse, KOed by this BJJ guy for whom he had so much contempt. Had he let that happen the only swinging motion we would see is his body from the rafters with Frank Mir’s black belt around his neck.

The paradox of Anderson Silva not only proved the extent of his talent last night, but the degree to which a man so technically and physically gifted could look so weak in victory over an opponent who, despite having so much more to fear, proved so much stronger in his loss.

FW: I’ve already written plenty today about what I think of Anderson Silva (ass hat) and Demian Maia (awesome). So I will conclude by saying that I completely agree with Joel. Silva did get tagged a couple of times while goofing around and it surprised him and scared him. The adrenaline dump had dissipated and the reality that he might actually lose (or at least look bad) against a grappler with weak stand-up skills began to nag at him. Still no excuse. As for Maia, as Joel said, he swallowed his fear and stood toe-to-toe with the greatest striker in the game and came away stronger for it. If that doesn’t make you a Maia fan nothing will.