UFC Fight Night 29 has come and gone and while many were anticipating your typical night of fights, far more occurred at the Ginasio Jose Correa. Fans were peppered with a few upsets, a reality check and a sad story that no one may have truly appreciated.
Crank and cut
Rousimar Palhares made his welterweight debut against Mike Pierce. The fight lasted all of 31 seconds, as Palhares slapped on one of his patented heel hooks and Pierce quickly tapped. The referee immediately jumped in to stop the fight and as Pierce began to tap some more Rousimar refused to let go of the hold. When he finally did, I, along with the Twitterverse, was appalled.
If you know Rousimar, you know his story is a sad one. But it is also uplifting. He grew up very poor, in a home with a hole in the roof. Apparently it only had one room. At one point, he lived under a bridge. He was able to turn his life around with Brazilian jiu-jitsu then MMA and he made it all the way to the UFC. The problem, though, is that along the way he has apparently hurt his fair share of training partners and opponents in various forms of competition, become a multiple-time offender — someone who holds onto submissions far longer than necessary. And in his home country, he did one too many times.
The UFC has subsequently released him. He went from making a huge statement in a jam-packed division with a stunning victory which could have earned him $50,000 for the Submission of the Night. Now, $50K is good money, no matter who you are, but from what I am told by some peers in Brazil, it would have been a lottery ticket for a guy like Rousimar, who apparently provides for a very large, extended family. Today, he finds himself unemployed. I’m not a psychologist, nor do I claim to have any answers, but something has to give here. Talk to one side of the room and you are told the Brazilian is a true gentleman. Talk to the other side and you get a completely different portrait of a man who thrives on hurting others. There is much, much more to this story and I personally want to find out more.
Main event let down?
While I enjoyed the main event between Demian Maia and Jake Shields, I am definitely in the minority. When a grapple fest is going on, I’m looking at angles, hand and body positioning, time on the clock, potential finishes, escape routes and ways a fighter can cause damage. Unfortunately, we only saw a glimpse of it due to these two all-star grapplers neutralizing one another.
For years I’ve heard that Shields is overrated and for the exact same period I simply smiled. The problem with Jake is that if he doesn’t finish folks he is considered boring. And yes, Wednesday’s fight was limited in jaw dropping moments, but he did get the job done. That doesn’t always make everyone happy (especially the UFC), and I understand, but Shields proved just how good his game is by surviving and defeating a submission wizard in Maia. Jake’s hula hoop escape and reversals have “Fight Schools” written all over them. Take a wild guess what I’ll be requesting from him, the next time we run into each other. That’s high level technique used perfectly versus a very dangerous opponent.
A lesson learned from recklessness
Throughout the co-main event, I kept saying to myself, “What is he doing? Didn’t he learn from Anderson (his pal)?” Yes, I was referring to Erick Silva, who basically decided to brawl instead of use his vast arsenal of near perfect MMA techniques. I’m a big fan of his standup. He’s got smooth combinations and brings power to his punches. His grappling is also very slick. But against Kim, I felt like I was watching a YouTube video of a Kimbo Slice fight.
Erick was reckless. He had a total disregard for what “Stun Gun” was goading him into. There is an old adage from the sweet science that says you box a brawler and you brawl with a boxer. Silva forgot to use proper technique versus Kim. By doing so, he found himself laid out on the canvas, unconscious, eventually waking up and staring at some bright lights above him. His record in the UFC now stands at 3-3.
This was a prospect many considered the future of the division (and he still may be) who was already matched up in fantasy land with Rory MacDonald. “Ares” is 6-1 — seems to me these two guys may not be facing one another for a very long time. Erick almost made it into the top 10, but now his journey will be much longer than many of us originally anticipated.
Miscellaneous thoughts
— I was very impressed with T.J. Dillashaw. He is the real deal at 135 pounds. Many believe he won that fight against Raphael Assuncao, but regardless, the loss did not send him tumbling down the rankings. In fact, I cannot wait to see him inside the Octagon again.
— Fabio Maldonado. I do not know what to make of him. I may be alone on this one, but his behaviour, words and actions confuse me. This guy just seems strange to figure out.
— Yan Cabral. This guy is simply magical on the mat. I was smiling ear to ear throughout his victory over David Mitchell (who proved again he’s one tough dude). Cabral’s jitz is magical. I hope he gets booked more than three times a year. He’s 30, not getting any younger and I really want to see him compete some more.