I like Bisping’s fighting style. Always have. With a few more tools, I think he could be lethal at his weight class. What I have always found interesting is how hard these guys train for all kinds of techniques but come fight time, they generally opt for a pretty much a stand up fight. It is like they are afraid to deploy the other stuff they have learned.

Well, unless Miller comes up with something here soon, we might as well call this one for Bisping. Fight’s over. I think I will go ahead and call this one for Bisping. The judges agree.

Duffee v Mike Russow
This is one of those fights that make you wonder – particularly on the part of Russow. He must know somebody.

Guillard v Lowe
That was quick. Very quick. Guillard caught Lowe with a very clean, very well executed knee. The knee put Lowe out. Goodnight it was for Lowe.

To tell the truth, I am tired of Nogueira. The guy seems to think very highly of himself as a fighter. He is okay but that’s just about it. This Jason Brilz guy is not too terrible actually. The fight itself was not half bad. It turned out to be a pretty decent fight. If it was up to me, I would have scored it for Brilz. The judges apparently so the fight differently. Nogueira won the fight. Whatever.

Diego Sanchez continues to disappoint. We all remember the promise this guy showed early in his career as he came out of TUF. We always watched his fights waiting and expecting to see the brilliance he seemed to promise emerge. It never has, perhaps never will. Tonight, John Hathaway made sure it didn’t, beating Sanchez easily in a unanimous decision.

Lauzon v Escudero
This is a lackluster fight. For smaller guys, this fight is really slow. It looks like Lauzon has the talent edge but not the balls to exploit it. If he really wanted to, I suspect he could press and put Escudero to sleep.

In round 2, Escudero seems like he has found his groove. He looks like the better conditioned fighter and he is looking to kick some ass – with some success I might add.

Chelsea won the Barclays Premier League with unbelievable flourish and style today. They beat Wigan so decidedly, so convincingly, there were times I had this funny feeling that Wigan fans and even some players were just enjoying the show. Chelsea set a ton of records, Didier Drogba won the Golden Boot and I believe Peter Cech did enough with this clean sheet to win the Golden Glove. They set a league goal scoring record. It was fun to watch, Chelsea fan or not. Their badassitude was so apparently evident, one couldn’t help but luxuriate in it. They emphatically made the statement that they were badass, in fact the badassest team in the league and showed off their badassitude to that effect. Those of you who have followed us some, know that we are big Gunners fans (and the Gunners came through by the way at Fulham). But today, our hats off to Chelsea. The Gunners will get them next season though. Of this we are supremely confident.

I was looking forward to Kimbo Slice v Matt Mitrione. Both interesting characters. To be sure though, that Mitrione showed more badassitude as a fighter on that TUF show than did Slice. Kimbo Slice at 245 was giving away 8 pounds to Matt Mitrione at 253 and, as far as I was concerned, quite a bit more in MMA skills. Mitrione has always had a pretty effective stand up style and skill and it looked like he added quite a bit of Jiu Jitsu skill. In round 1,

Mitrione almost had Slice in a triangle after Kimbo had power slammed him to the mat but he just couldn’t get the lock he need to finish it. Kimbo did get in a bunch of take-downs but did not do anything with them. It is beginning to look like Slice was a brawler for too long. There are things in the octagon, against a good MMA fighter that he just does not and will not see. For a while it looked like Mitrione might regret not being able to finish off Kimbo Slice when he had had the chance – twice. But he put it together in the 2nd round and completed the win. It was not much of a fight in my view.

Kimbo Slice has to come to terms with the fact that his day in the sun was as a street brawler. Hopefully he makes a few bucks for himself but it is doubtful that his future is as a fighter in the UFC. I thought going in that both guys were badass. The fight ended and I had not seen any real badassitude. Shame.

A word of advice to any fighter out there who still does not get the message fully: Don’t you dare try to knock out Floyd Money Mayweather. Sugar Shane tried. Sugar Shane came somewhat close. He delivered a monstrous right, twice and both times, particularly the second time, Floyd’s knees buckled. And he paid for it. Sugar Shane that is. He paid for the audacity of coming closer than anyone else ever did to putting the Money man on his ass on queer street.

Floyd is a badass. He is the baddest boxer alive today. I love Pac man, I love Sugar Shane, but there is no doubt in my mind, that when he decides to fight, there is no one and nothing like Floyd Mayweather in the ring. He is amazing for both his offense and defense, and his unequalled efficiency. There is not other fighter that I have ever seen who so clearly understands just how much they need to do to win a fight. He never does, Floyd that is, more than he absolutely needs to do to win. Last night he got lazy for a couple of minutes in the second and almost got knocked out. But the correction he made was amazing. He was untouched for the rest of the fight!

There are some things Floyd does which must just be frightening to an opponent. He is one of the few fighters who will counter the opponents in progress punch every single time. Every single time? Is that some badassitude or is that some badassitude? He will get out of the way and ring your bell at the same time, every single time. He can follow up on a jab, as his opponent steps away from a jab with such blinding speed that the over hand right typically scores. He is stronger, much more so than he looks. And for all the trash talk and attitude, there is not a more studious and serious fighter in the ring.

I like Shane Moseley a lot. From where I sat, it seemed to me like Shane never expected to win. He was surprised that he almost did in the second. The effort and emotion around that event drained him. Once Mayweather made the adjustment, Shane was unable to figure out what to do. There was a moment, I think in the ninth, when I really thought his corner might stop the fight. I am glad they didn’t. Shane is far too good a guy and fighter to have that happen to him.

Pacquiao, if the fight can be made, better bring his lunch. And so should Floyd. Pacquiao is relentless and he hits awfully hard, but I would not be surprised if Floyd knocked him out around the 7th round. Speaking of, I will never understand why Pac’s camp cannot agree to the drug test. In fact all of boxing should be thanking Mayweather for what he is doing for boxing, creating the true image of a dope free sport. If they are concerned about the effect the drawing of blood will have on their fighter, why not just stipulate that both fighters should be tested at the same time? Fairly or not, we can’t help but wonder if they are not trying to hide something. Pac Man’s camp that is. But what a fight it will be when it happens. What a fight! What badassitude!

I turned to the WEC 48 show just after I was done watching the Kessler/Froch boxing contest. Some of you are familiar with my thoughts on boxing v MMA http://www.mybadassitude.com/?p=16 for a true fight lover. Kessler/Froch was a great fight. A solid 12 rounds of badassitude that ended in a Kessler win and the title changing hands.

In the main, the WEC 48 undercard was most mostly disappointing – until the Pickett/Johnson fight. That Pickett has some skills but Johnson had interesting speed that he has yet to learn how to use. If they open a 120 lb division, Johnson will be one of the favorites to own it. Both those boys are going to be something. Also, I think there should be a limit to the number of undercard fights. I don’t care that they can end in seconds. Bring on the main event damn it!!

I was so ready for Faber/Aldo fight well before the undercard fights were done. I like both fighters a lot. Urijah Faber fights with a commitment for the duration of the fight that you do not see with many other fighters. I remember when he broke his hand in a fight against Mike Brown I think it was. And he fought the rest of the fight with one hand, and he only lost it by a hair. Jose Aldo on the other hand is very interesting cat. The guy goes at hyper speed, strikes from the strangest of angles and he is fearless. But the coolest thing about Aldo is his victory dance. You should see it. It is really cool and funny shit if you ask me.

After all the crappy fights though, it was time for the main event. Faber v Aldo, for the bantam weight championship currently held by Aldo. Clearly, Faber had the home court advantage. He had the noise and the fans. Squaring off, before the fight started, one would be forgiven if one thought Faber was the badasser of the two. He had the “I am hunting prey look on his face”. Aldo was avoiding eye contact. For some guys, that works. But who knows? The guys had virtually identical stats except that Faber looked more cut. Not sure at that point that it amounted to anything but we had to wait and see. The fight ref was Josh Rosenthal.

Round one was mostly uneventful. Both fighters kept a very respectful distance in the first minute. Urijah showed a really nice front kick early. I liked it. But I was beginning to like Aldo’s strong leg kicks very quickly. On the whole it was a very cautious first round for both fighters but Aldo had a number of good leg kicks and the big knee. I did not see sustained activity from either side and I did not see either fighter beginning to meaningfully impose their will on the other fighter. Both fighters came into the fight very much aware of each other’s ability to end the fight quickly and early – a fate they both made a serious effort to avoid. There was a rule in the (now defunct?) WCL that you could not just retreat without making an affirmatively offensive move or you would lose a point. That would have been a useful rule in this first round. In fact, it should be a rule in MMA for standup sessions, period.

In the second round, it was getting clear that even though neither fighter could seem to find a persistently effective strategy, Aldo’s persistent leg kicks to Urijah’s left leg were beginning to look like they were taking a toll. They were very powerful kicks. Urijah Faber fights with a very long front left stance. And he sets hard – for his front kicks, power right and jab. It looked like Aldo had figured out that little detail. And every time Faber was set on that side, he went for the leg kick. What he also figured was that apparently when Faber is set on that left front stance, he is not as nimble switching out of it to defend a leg kick. By the end of round 2, Urijah was hurting really bad. He had no plan B. Someone in his corner should have been thinking up strategies to deal with the kicks. They didn’t. A simple one should have been this – close the distance, take away the kicks and change the terms of engagement.

Round 3 started to look very single sided. At this point, the fight was being dominated by Aldo. The fight was being dominated using a single, simple, well executed technique – the leg kick. I kept waiting for Urijah Faber to come up with some mitigation for the damaging strategy adopted by Jose Aldo. It was stunning that for such a good fighter as at least we thought Faber was, there was no other path. In fact, it looked like the entire camp, from Faber to all the trainers and partners, there was a complete failure in performing the appropriate due diligence and coming up with a plan. How could they not have known Aldo’s strength with leg kicks? How could they not have prepared to counter?

By round 4, Urijah was fighting just on the basis on heart. Jose Aldo’s badassitude was so apparent and so complete, a lesser fighter might have quit. But Urijah Faber was ready to take his ass whipping like a man. And boy, did he ever? The barrage of leg kicks continued. He tried to take Aldo down but it was Faber who ended up on his back. And he took a beating when he was on his back. I was actually surprised that Josh Rosenthal did not stop the fight. In hindsight, it was fair not to stop the fight. Faber was still fighting and there was no saying, for those of us who have watched him for while, whether he could not come up with a winner somehow.

But by round 5, it was over. Clearly over. Even to both fighters it looked like they understood it. Aldo stayed away from doing anything stupid, and Faber did not have enough to do anything remarkable. In the end it was a unanimous decision as it should have been. But if you ask me, Urijah needs a new corner, a new trainer who takes the competition seriously, studies what the competition does, and comes up with strategies for winning the fight including plan a, b and even c depending on what the opponent does.

I am watching 24/7 Mayweather/Mosley on HBO. Floyd is running his mouth. I love the guy. Pure badass, pure unadulterated badassitude. Some choice Floyd Mayweather quotes – the guy is a gem:

“Shane Mosley says, I am fighting for money. Hello? I am a prize fighter. That is what I am supposed to be fighting for! Duh“.

“You can’t stop God’s work”.

“Some people say he says he’s better than Mohamed Ali. Yep, I am better than Mohamed Ali. That I am better than Sugar Ray Robinson. Yep, I am better than Sugar Ray Robinson”.

Badass!!!