Payback is a BITCH!!!!!!!

As any longtime fan of MMA knows, VERY unfortunately, bad decisions are pretty much commonplace in our beloved sport. Judging and referring problems are constant and for the long term health of the sport, need to be fixed, SOON! Actually, IMMEDIATELY! In the main event at UFC 123, Rampage Jackson won a split decision over Lyoto Machida. Right off the bat, split decisions already mean that judges are seeing things very differently. More importantly, when the winning fighter admits to "getting his ass whooped", his words, not mine, you know there's a problem.

Here's some verbal gems from Rampage in his post fight Octagon interview with Joe Rogan:

•"Lyoto whooped my ass tonight, I'm so ashamed of myself!"
•"I consider that an ass whoopin'!"
•"Even though I don't want to, I have to give him a rematch!"
•"I was like, DAMN, homie can fight!"
•"Machida's the MAN, ya'll, he's gonna be around for a long time!"
•"Machida's the MAN, that's all I can say!"

Some might say those are the words of an honest, humble, respectful fighter. While true, I see those words as being an absolute admission of losing a fight and also disbelief that he's actually leaving the cage with a "W"! As Joe Rogan said to Quinton, "You're an honest man.". That's absolutely true, Rampage HONESTLY admitted to getting his ass kicked and losing the fight. You have to respect Quinton for his emphatic frankness.

As telling as his words were, which literally say all that needs to be said, Quinton's post fight actions were even more so. As we all know, actions speak louder than words. Let's start with the second the fight ended. Rampage stands up and immediately pulls Lyoto up, grabs his hand and raises it over his head, acknowledging the beating he just took. He then proceeds to put his back to the cage and slump down to the mat like a beaten fighter. Lance Gibson, Q's lead trainer, implores him to get up and literally drags him to his feet. In other words, "try to at least sort of look like you won the fight, dumbass"! Lyoto on the other hand went about his normal post fight activities looking relatively fresh and unscathed. The reason that's the case is because he barely got touched the whole fight. Continuing with the body language theme here, once the decision was announced, Rampage had a complete, "holy shit" look on his face (pictured above) and looked to the heavens thanking whoever he was thanking. Maybe it was the guy working the lights that drugged the judges before the fight. I'm just sayin'............. Seriously, if there was ever a "holy shit" look on someone's face, Rampage epitomized it right there! He looked like a dude whose girl walks in on him while he's banging some drunk skank he pulled out of his local bar. Not that I know anything about that (wink, wink)! Beyond all of that body language admission of defeat was Quinton's gracious interaction with Lyoto right after the decision was announced. He can clearly be seen saying to Lyoto, at least twice, "you won, you won!" (pictured below) Then he goes up to Ed Soares, Lyoto's manager and the boss of Blackhouse MMA, and says, again, more than once, "he won, he won". Again, seriously, what more do you need to see to know who won the fight? When the winning fighter tells the losing fighter and his manager that he won, its pretty obvious who deserved the decision, no?

Now to the specifics of the fight itself. The third round isn't even worth talking about other than debating whether it should have been a 10-8 round for Lyoto. He clearly won the round in overwhelming fashion. From the outset of round one, Rampage literally didn't throw a single technique for the first 2 minutes. During that span Machida landed 5 solid leg kicks. On the 5th kick, Rampage finally made an attempt at a "one-two" that missed completely. At 2:40 into the round they clinch along the fence. Rampage proceeds to do the most pussy technique in the sport, stomping on Machida's foot. Talk about desperation, and only half way through the first round. They stayed on the fence for a minute exchanging minor, insignificant strikes. On the break, Rampage throws an uppercut and a cross, of which neither lands. I watched it multiple times in super slow motion just to be sure. Machida proceeds to land 2 hard knees and a very hard body kick which both Rogan and Goldie acknowledged as such. They clinch again against the fence where Machida lands at least 5 knees to Quinton's thigh. They bothered him enough that he lifted his leg in an attempt to avoid taking any more. Nothing of significance happened in the last 45 seconds of the round. In summary, the only significant strikes that landed were 2 hard body kicks, 2 hard knees and multiple low kicks from Lyoto. How the hell does Rampage win that round on any judge's scorecard?

The second round starts with a nice knee from Machida 15 seconds in. They again clinch along the fence but are broken apart after Quinton knees Lyoto in the nuts. The fight resumes and a minute and a half into the round, they clinch again with Rampage landing a decent knee. Almost 2 minutes in, Rampage gets a takedown, does nothing with it and Lyoto gets back to his feet within 20 seconds. Hafway into the round they clinch yet again. Nothing else significant happens until almost 3 and a half minutes into the round where Lyoto lands a vicious knee to the liver, easily one of the hardest strikes of the fight. Quinton comes back with, in my opinion, his ONLY significant strikes of the entire fight, that being a nice uppercut/left hook combo. Even those weren't flush. With a minute left they clinch YET again. Other than battling for position nothing happens until the last few seconds when Lyoto lands a grazing left hand that takes Quinton off balance.

As mentioned already, the third round was ALL Machida and could have easily been scored a 10-8 for him. Amongst other things it included a nasty flurry that stunned Rampage, a hard takedown, complete ground control, full mount and a couple of submission attempts. Clearly, this was the only time either fighter was close to finishing the fight.

Compu-Strike had Rampage landing more strikes in the fight but those have to include those lame foot stomps and weak punches to the body and legs during the clinches. None of that had any impact on the outcome of the fight.

Now, back to the title of this piece. Yes, payback is a bitch, we all know this. While I disagree, many people think Machida was given a "gift" decision in his first fight with Shogun Rua. It seems as though there's now a bullseye on his back where judges are afraid to give him rounds that they should be. Then there's the issue of being the "aggressor". That's just plain stupid. Some fighters try to land strikes by moving forward, some do so by moving to the side first. Some fighters initiate exchanges, some counter. Some fighters sit "in the pocket", others create angles with footwork. A fighter shouldn't be penalized because of their style of fighting. Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters like to fight off their back. Should they be "penalized" for pulling guard? Of course not, that's their method of attempting to be in the best position to finish a fight within their style of fighting.

I had Lyoto winning 30-27 and was absolutely shocked that it wasn't a unanimous decision. Even if you give Rampage the second round, he still loses. It comes down to one thing. Don't leave a fight in the judges hands. That's the smartest thing Dana White has ever said. I agree, fighters need to go for finishes. Machida did that and was MUCH closer to ending the fight. Rampage was NEVER anywhere near finishing that fight. Not even remotely close. Unfortunately, as history has shown, we can expect almost anything when an MMA decision is being announced. Expect the unexpected. Rampage obviously didn't expect to hear his name called as the winner.

As hard to digest as bad judging is, even harder would be fixes and corruption. I just hope none of that ugliness has infiltrated this great sport. I'm not saying it has but decisions like this have to make you shake your head in wonder and disbelief. Does the brawling, charismatic, budding actor/movie star wannabee mean more to the UFC than the non-English speaking Brazilian with the eclectic, "elusive" fighting style?!?

I don't know, does he?!?

This, That & the Third!

Anyone who follows combat sports, or any sports for that matter, loves a good rubber match. In the short history of MMA there hasn't been that many yet, but come Saturday night, we will all be treated to an absolute gem in the form of the third fight in the BJ Penn/Matt Hughes trilogy. Personally, I have been highly anticipating this fight since the moment BJ ended up in the crucifix in the second fight. That fight was over once Hughes secured that position. Actually, that fight was over once BJ incurred the rib injury in the 1st round. I firmly believe BJ was comfortably cruising to yet another win over Matt had he not torn his rib. The first fight wasn't even close with The Prodigy thoroughly dominating from the opening bell to the rear naked choke finish towards the end of the first round.

What makes this fight so compelling is the recent direction both of these fighters' careers have taken. Hughes seems completely rejuvenated as of late with 3 straight wins over 3 highly decorated BJJ blackbelts, notably, Matt Serra, Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida. Amazingly, Hughes even subbed Almeida with an old school wrestling front choke. Hughes has seemed to make decent strides in his striking game as well. Granted, he's far from a world class striker, but it appears that his training with Robbie Lawler (since opening a gym together) has paid dividends. To be perfectly honest, outstriking Renzo doesn't say much in the grand scheme of things but he's definitely shown improvements, especially with regard to low kicks. He caught Ricardo with a nice left hook that dropped him, stunned him, and enabled Hughes to choke him out as easily as he did. That might actually be the first time in over 50 fights that Matt has hurt someone with his stand-up. All things considered, at Hughes' age and after this many years in the game, he deserves respect for continually advancing his skillset. As BJ and others have said, Hughes hasn't officially received a BJJ blackbelt from a legitimate instructor but technically he is on or very close to that level. What's especially impressive about Hughes' current streak of wins is that prior to that he seemed to be pretty much done as a fighter. His competitive fire appeared as extinguished as Michael Jackson's pedophile playground at Neverland. He got destroyed twice by GSP and also got dominated by Thiago Alves, losing 3 fights in a four fight span. Here we are, a few years later and the country boy is close to contention again. I'm very impressed and I am far from a Matt Hughes fan.

While Hughes' career is on the upswing, BJ's is on a serious slide. He's on a two fight skid, both losses at LW to Frankie Edgar. This is only the second time he's lost two in a row. Edgar is an amazing fighter, so there's no shame in that. The question is, was BJ really at his best in those fights? Only BJ can answer that. To me, he just didn't look like he was completely there mentally. He had somewhat of a blank look on his face and his killer extinct, or lack thereof, was non-existent. Frustration was the only emotion you could read from him. Frankie deserves much of the credit for that being the case, but a lot has to do with timing. BJ has shown mental lapses in the past and this could very well have been one of those periods where he wasn't at his sharpest. He's a complex dude who lives very differently than most people do. His world in Hawaii is both a blessing and a curse. Hawaii has a sizable MMA community and BJ is the king of it. Most times the king is surrounded by "yes men". A venue change in training camp and a serious upgrade in training partners might be a good idea for him. Its hard to push yourself, which seems to be the case for BJ. And its hard to get better when you are always sparring with inferior opponents. His brother and manager, JD, can only do so much to rectify those situations.

Technically, this is a very intriguing match-up. As aforementioned, Hughes has shown solid BJJ skills and beaten 3 consecutive, high level blackbelts, but he is definitely inferior to BJ in that facet of the game. Matt is great at using his strength to create submission opportunities. In contrast, BJ is much more technical in his approach and incorporates a ridiculous level of flexibility to execute his techniques, particularly his defense and sweeps. Their approaches are night and day. On the striking side of things, BJ is a much better boxer and striker overall, but as mentioned, Hughes has made improvements as of late. The gap there isn't as vast now as it was in the prior two fights. If Hughes can land a few solid low kicks, it could drastically change this fight. The problem with that is the susceptibility to a counter right hand from BJ, which is arguably his best punch. BJ's striking didn't fair well in the Edgar fights because of Frankie's excellent speed, footwork and head movement. Hughes has nothing close to that so BJ should be able to land some significant shots. Matt has the obvious wrestling and strength advantage but can he exploit BJ there? BJ's takedown defense was legendary prior to the fights with Edgar. After seeing how easily Frankie took him down, that perception has completely eroded. So was it Frankie's speed that facilitated those takedowns or was it BJ being mentally "off" in those fights? I would venture to say its a combination of the two. Also of much importance in this match-up is the size difference. Baby Jay is a natural lightweight who has fought at welterweight. Hughes is a pure welterweight who could conceivably fight at middleweight if he chose to. Matt has been quoted as saying that he was "licking his chops when Dana White offered him a fight with a '55er". I can see why that would be the case. Hughes is getting BJ at the perfect time in their respective careers. BJ has reportedly barely made 170 for this fight while Matt is cutting weight to get there. Come fight time, Hughes might easily be 15-20 pounds heavier than BJ.

As both fighters have stated, this fight will be won by whichever fighter can impose their will and gameplan. Both fighters are coming into this fight with vast differences in size, fighting style, overall skillsets, strategy, recent career success and sources of motivation. That's what makes this as great a fight as it will undoubtedly play out to be in the cage. And on top of all that, these guys do not like each other at all! They definitely respect each other, but there is definitely no love there!

Speaking of love, you have to love a good rubber match and this is going to be one of the best! Enjoy it, I know I am!