Another Reason To Love Anderson Silva

UFC middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva is the man because...

1) He made me look like a genius after I predicted his first-round thrashing of the overrated Rich "Ace Ventura" Franklin at UFC 64.

2) He gets away with wearing white fur indoors.

3) He's as good a dancer as you'll find in MMA.

4) He recently donated more than $10,000 to the Ronald McDonald House. The gloves he wore when he (once again) whooped Franklin at UFC 77 were auctioned off for $7,150, and his shorts from that fight went for $3,500. The earnings of the auction will benefit children and families in need.

Silva vs. Hendo at UFC 82

Dan Henderson has apparently worked out contract issues with the UFC and will in fact make the cut down to 185 lbs. to challenge middleweight king Anderson Silva in March at UFC 82. This is good news. Early thoughts: Henderson could a nightmare on the ground for Silva, who has a definitive striking advantage. I'm excited for this fight.

Read more from 5 Oz. of Pain.

UFC 77 - Put It in the Books!

A pretty good night of fights overall, unless, of course, you were rooting for the hometown favorites.

Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin: This time around, Franklin managed to actually mount some offense. He avoided the Thai clinch at times, scored a takedown, and escaped the first round...barely; with just seconds left in the opening round, Silva connected with a hard right hand that dropped Franklin, whose legs gave out from under him. That's when you kind of knew it was over.

Round 2 was virtually a carbon copy of their first fight, capped off once again by Silva ruining Franklin's night with an overwhelmingly strong clinch and a couple of very nasty knees that busted up Franklin's nose (yes, again). Silva punished Ace with about a dozen unanswered shots and left the former champion battered and defenseless next to the cage, forcing Big John to step in and call the fight. Silva's striking, once again, was too strong and too precise for Ace.

The always professional Silva seemed almost apologetic for winning the way he did in Franklin's hometown. In fact, just before Bruce Buffer officially declared Silva the winner, you could see Silva say to Franklin, "I'm sorry," before the two embraced. Nice guy.

My prediction: Silva, TKO Rd. 3

Actual result: Siva, TKO Rd. 2

Tim Sylvia vs. Brandon Vera: Vera has all the tools to have won this fight. I knew that and his coaches knew that. Unfortunately, Vera didn't listen to them and lost the unanimous decision to a less than stellar performance by Sylvia.

In Round One, Vera immediately got inside of Sylvia's reach but didn't do any real damage from the clinch and wasn't able to get the big fella down to the ground. Vera scored a takedown about 3 minutes into the second round but again couldn't get good position for ground-n-pound or for a submission. Late in the round, Vera landed a huge knee to the head as Sylvia climbed back to his feet. Sylvia, however, still had a knee down, so referee Yves Levigne issued a warning to Vera. With just seconds left in the round, the action resumed and Vera conneted with some big-time kicks that rattled the former champion and fired up the crowd.

Vera looked tired in the third, which is when Sylvia started to let his hands go and stole the fight. Vera, who clearly doesn't like getting hit, suffered a broken left hand in the first and resorted to close-range elbows, none of which really connected.

I expected Vera to feed Sylvia a healthy dose of leg kicks and overhand rights throughout this fight- and it sounds like his coaches did also - but what do I know.

Two things about Tim Sylvia: 1) All the talk about him looking to knock guys out now that his back is healthy is all bullshit. He once again showed little urgency n going for the KO, this time against a smaller, weaker opponent with a busted hand. 2) Why is he calling out Cheick Kongo? Be gracious in victory, thank the armed forces men and women like you always do, thank the crowd, and then leave. Instead, he goes on about how Kongo has been "picking on people." Picking on people? Kongo? Stupid.

Up next for big Timmy is Big Nog for the title.

My prediction: Vera, unanimous decision

Actual result: Sylvia, unanimous decision

Jorge Gurgel vs. Alvin Robinson: Heading into this fight, I said that I'd never been impressed - not even a little bit - with Gurgel, and he did nothing last night to change my mind.

As expected, Robinson came out strong and aggressive, but after an early scramble, Gurgel wound up on top and controlled the rest of the round from side control and half-guard. Gurgel's jiu-jitsu looked strong (no surprise there), but Robinson managed to keep Gurgel from attempting any real submissions and suffered no damage otherwise.

Gurgel and Robinson traded some shots to kick off Round 2 before Robinson secured a takedown and starting pounding on a tired Gurgel. Round 3 brought more of the same - a very strong Robinson smashing away at Gurgel's mangled face.

I know Gurgel is from Cincinnati and he trains Franklin and everything else, but enough is enough already. He's had trouble stopping some of the lower-tier lightweights and proved to be no match for the powerful Kid Robinson.

My prediction: Robinson, TKO Rd. 1, 2

Actual result: Robinson, unanimous decision

Stephan Bonnar vs. Eric Schafer: Bonnar escaped a couple of choke attempts and a near kimura in the first round before getting dominant position on Schafer in the second. Bonnar seemed to have a hard time passing Schafer's guard but managed to maintain superior position and unleashed a series of furious strikes to pick up the TKO win in the second round. Despite the loss, Schafer impressed me with his relentless submission attempts.

The highlight of this fight for me was when a victorious Bonnar forgot the name of the bar/club where his after-party was held.

My prediction: Bonnar, TKO Rd. 2

Actual result: Bonnar, TKO, Rd. 2

Kalib Starnes vs. Alan Belcher: Round 1 brought plenty of action. Belcher fired off some knees, popped right back up after being taken down by Starnes, and kept attacking. Belcher smiled off some hard shots from Starnes in Round 2 and smacked him with some big elbows, one of which opened a crevasse on Starnes' head that prompted the ringside physician to wave this one off. Belcher's Muay Thai looked strong, Starnes was enjoying some success with the jab, and I would have liked to see this fight continue (not that I have a problem with the stoppage).

My prediction: Belcher, TKO Rd. 2
Actual result: Belcher, TKO, Rd. 2

Demian Maia vs. Ryan Jensen: No surprise here really. Maia got Jensen's back in the first round,worked to get his hooks in, secured the rear naked choke, and forced an overmatched Jensen to tap.

My prediction: Maia, submission, Rd. 1

Actual result: Maia, submission, Rd. 1

Other Undercard Fights:

Yushin Okami def. Jason MacDonald via unanimous decision

Josh Burkman def. Forrest Petz via split decision

Matt Grice def. Jason Black via unanimous decision

Other MMA News

- Anderson Silva, despite visa-related delays, has finally landed on U.S. soil.

- Elvis "The King of Cock and Stumble" Sinosic will fill in for Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos against Paul Cahoon at Cage Rage 24 on December 1.

- BJJ stud Ricardo Almeida has signed a six-fight deal and will return to the UFC middleweight division.

- UFC president Dana White said at a press conference yesterday that the UFC will not be holding a event in Montreal.

- Joe "Diesel" Riggs has pulled himself out of Strikeforce's November 16th middleweight tournament, but says that this decision may change in the coming days.

- Former BodogFIGHT welterweight champ Eddie Alvarez is training for a potential rematch against current champ Nick Thompson on December 8.

Morning Droppings

- Top-notch heavyweight free agent and former UFC champ Josh Barnett says that he has spoken with UFC president Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta recently, that the UFC is well aware that he has "no beef with them," and that there are no personal issues keeping Barnett from signing with the UFC. "I just have not received any offers from them yet," he explained. Get on it, Dana!

- Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic told Dana White that if he beats Chiek Kongo at UFC 75 in London, he wants a shot at Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

- UFC officials confirmed this weekend that UFC 77 will be held on October 20 at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, where hometown product Rich "Ace" Franklin will get a chance to reclaim his middleweight title in a rematch with Anderson Silva.

- First Sakurai, then BJ Penn, now Jon Fitch? A fight between welterweights Jon Fitch and Diego Sanchez is supposedly in the works for UFC 76 on September 22. I wrote a while back that a Fitch-Karo Parisyan fight would make perfect sense for the division, but what do I know.

- Also rumored is a welterweight fight between Anthony Johnson and Jess Liaudin at UFC 75, MMAWeekly reports.

- On Saturday night at the Arco Arena, 26-year-old Eraldo Cano reportedly fell 30 feet from the second level of the arena, and Sacramento County Sheriff's officials have confirmed Cano's death. There's no word so far as to whether alcohol played a role in this tragic death, and all signs seem to indicate that this was an accident.

UFC 73: Put It in the Books!

Let's just get right to it (in no particular order).

Anderson Silva - Nate Marquardt
After some early fireworks, Nate got Silva down to the ground, where the champ looked very comfortable. The fight was then stood up, went back down again, and after escaping Nate’s guard, Silva destroyed the challenger with laser fists to earn the first-round TKO. Silva’s striking from anywhere is unreal! Thanks for coming out, Nate.

Sean Sherk - Hermes Franca
Sean Sherk is simply overwhelming.

Franca secured a tight guillotine within seconds of the opening bell and landed huge knees at the start of Rounds 2 and 4, but did little else as the champion shrugged off the big shots, secured slams, punished Franca with knees and punches from the ground, and maintained dominant position all night.

Sherk's power, athleticism, and conditioning were suffocating, and all Franca could do was survive what turned out to be a very convincing unanimous decision win for Sherk. Sherk is a nightmare at lightweight, and I'd love to see him face my man Joe "Daddy" Stevenson next.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Heath Herring

Big Nog came out to The Rolling Stones’ "Gimme Shelter," which also appeared in Goodfellas. Points for that.

Nog dominated most of the opening round, but late in the round, Herring landed a monster kick to the Brazilian's unsuspecting jaw that seemed to have sent him to another planet. Herring chose not to engage Nogueira, a BJJ blackbelt, on the ground and ran out of time to finish Nogueira in the opening period. Nogueira still seemed dazed at the start of Round 2, but he recovered and outworked Herring to win the last two rounds and secure the unanimous decision.

Overall, this fight worked out nicely. Bog Nog won his UFC octagon debut, and Heath Herring demonstrated the skill and the toughness that will make him a tough match-up for anyone in the division. A Herring-Arlovski fight could be amazing (if Arlovski engages).

Kenny Florian - Alvin Robinson
Florian demonstrated great tosses, takedowns, and ground fighting early on, passing Robinson and landing shots from on top. Robinson escaped Florian's mount, popped up, threw some nice shots, but was taken down again. It was then that Florian mounted and showered Robinson with elbows and punches. Robinson had enough and tapped out to give Florian the first-round TKO win. Very impressive.

As Randy Couture said, Florian looked very composed under some heavy pressure from Robinson. Naturally, the BC grad masterfully talked the viewing public through the dreaded Mickey’s replay.

Tito Ortiz -Rashad Evans

I didn't care for either fighter and had no problem with this fight going either way. Fittingly, it went neither way and was ruled a draw. Yuck. I predicted earlier that a close decision would go to Tito. And it would have, but a second-round point deduction from Tito for grabbing the fence cost him the dubya.

Tito looked like a monster tonight and started the fight well, but - to Rashad's credit - was never able to get his trademark ground-and-pound going. Rashad, on the other hand, did plenty of dancing around the perimeter of the cage but never mounted any real effective, efficient offense. He secured a third-round takedown with ten seconds left in the fight and almost seemed pleased that the draw, though not a win, kept his loss total at zero.

Predictably, Tito expressed his feelings that he won the fight and called for another fight to settle it. No thanks.

Undercard
Frankie Edgar def. Mark Bocek at 4:55 of Rd. 1 by TKO!!!!!
Chris Lytle def. Jason Gilliam 2:15 of Rd. 1 by triangle choke.
Jorge Gurgel def. Diego Saraiva by unanimous decision.
Stephan Bonnar defeated Mike Nickels by Rear Naked Choke at 2:14 of Rd. 1.

This was a great night of fights, but now it's bed time. Giggidy.

Nate Marquardt: More Than Worthy

There's been some recent Internet discussion as to whether middleweight Nate "The Great" Marquardt is truly deserving of his July 7 championship fight with Anderson Silva. He does, and here's a quick list why:

- Nate is a 7-time King of Pancrase!!!

- Nate holds an umblemished 4-0 UFC record with wins over Ivan Salaverry, Joe Doerkson (helluva fight), Crafton Wallace, and Dean Lister (one of the most acclaimed grapplers anywhere).

- Consider the relatively talent-thin middleweight division. If Travis Lutter got a crack at the belt, then I'd say Marquardt's shot is long overdue.

- Middleweight studs Matt "The Law" Lindland, Paul Filho, and Dan Henderson were not options.

- After one UFC fight against the grossly overmatched Chris Leben, Anderson Silva was given a title shot against Rich Franklin.

- Nate approved me as a MySpace "friend" faster than any other fighter.

I'm not quite ready to declare with any degree of certainty that Marquardt will supplant Anderson Silva atop the 185-lb. mountain at UFC 73, but by no means is such a thought outlandish. The UFC middleweight division needs a great fight - or at the very least, something to keep the fans buzzing - and I'm hoping this will be it.