The UFC showed on Saturday night that EliteXC doesn't have the market cornered on controversy.
In the first fight on the televised card of UFC 85: Bedlam in London, England, Brandon Vera took on Fabricio Werdum in what looked like would be a pretty good scrap. Unfortunately, referee Dan Miragliotta put a stop to the fight a little prematurely, at least according to many onlookers.
Werdum was hitting Vera with a succession of pretty good blows, but Vera had his hands up the entire time and seemed to still be defending himself. The decision to stop it drew objections from Vera, and a chorus of boos from the crowd.
Interestingly, it was the same guy who officiated the Kimbo Slice fight last Saturday, and he took a lot of heat for not stopping that fight at the end of the second round when Slice was in a similar position as Vera was. Either this lends more credence to the notion that the Kimbo decision was "encouraged," or Miragliotta was overcompensating for the criticism he took.
I will say that Werdum was definitely doing more damage to Vera than Thompson was to Slice. But I wouldn't say Vera was out of the fight yet. Not with only 20 seconds left in the round.
In Vera's own words following the bout: "Let me take a beating and go to the second round!" At least the fighters were good sports, embracing afterwards.
Next up was Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites, officiated by Herb Dean, one of the best in the game. This wasn't a showcase for that claim, however. Marquardt, who mostly dominated the fight -- one judge gave him every round, while he took two out of three according to the other two judges -- lost the decision because of two calls by Dean.
First Dean penalized Marquardt for an illegal knee to the head of Leites. Okay, you can't argue that too strenuously since it was a legitimate foul. But you have to feel for Marquardt, because Leites was trying to get up at the time, and he was just a split second off.
But then in the third round, Dean penalized Marquardt yet another point for an elbow to the back of Leites' head. Trouble is, replays showed it was to the side. Never mind that Dean got it wrong. You'd think that knowing the borderline penalty given earlier, he would be a little more "forgiving" this time unless he was absolutely certain of the foul. Even if he had already warned him earlier -- he had -- there's nothing to say he couldn't issue another warning. That would have been more called for I think. Marquardt almost won even with both penalties, which shows how good a performance he put on. It's just a shame it had to end that way -- for both fighters.
Then in the third fight, it was almost as if referee Mario Yamasaki wanted to get in on the action, as he deducted a point from Mike Swick late in the third round for grabbing the fence. Fortunately, this one had no bearing on the outcome.
In the fourth fight, Dan Miragliotta was back in for another bout as local Englishman Michael Bisping took on Canadian Jason Day. This was the only one with no controversy at all, which is kind of ironic since it was Bisping's last fight in England that probably had the biggest controversy in recent memory when a very "questionable" decision went his way in front of his home crowd.
Finally, in the main event, it was Herb Dean again. The officiating was fine here, but in another parallel with last week's EliteXC show, the headlining bout will ultimately be tainted by the fact that Alves didn't make weight.
Sure, it was entertaining while it lasted and showcased the up-and-coming Brazilian's abilities. But let's hope they've got some of these "kinks" worked out by the next time the UFC goes across the pond. Certainly, before next month's show in Vegas.
There is one thing to be said however. The quality of the fights was better than what the EliteXC offered. But you get what you pay for.
Final shots:
Bisping was utterly dominant in his fight against Day. While it was only Day's second fight in the Octagon, it probably revealed more about Bisping belonging in the upper tier of the middleweight division than Day not belonging in the UFC. Day's time will come eventually. …
It was a second straight poor showing for the veteran Hughes, who was relatively easily beaten and submitted by Georges St. Pierre in December, and obviously raises the question of how much time he has left. But he assures the fans of one thing. "I've got (at least) one fight left in me," Hughes tells Joe Rogan. "I want Matt Serra." I just wish that fight had come before being dominated a second straight time. …
Alves, for his part, following the final bout, pleaded with Dana White for a title shot. The UFC president smiled. Maybe Alves will get it, but it probably won't be for a while, since St. Pierre has got Fitch next, and there's a good chance he'll face B.J. Penn after that. And if Penn says he isn't too interested in fighting Huerta or Florian, I wonder what GSP would think of fighting Alves.
