UFC 64 - Silva gives Franklin a Muay Thai lesson
Rich Franklin may have been a teacher before dedicating himself to fighting full time, but it was Anderson Silva who gave him a lesson on the effectiveness of the Muay Thai clinch. Silva's knees were devestating in winning the UFC's 185 pound title.
The surprising thing to me was how little Franklin did to escape Silva's clinch. It seemed like Franklin had no idea what to do, even though he has surely trained from that position many times. It just goes to show you how effective Silva's clinch is.
Now, the quesiton on everyone's mind is whether the UFC will finally re-sign Matt Lindland so he can take the 185 title from Silva. Yes, I am stating it as a fact that Lindland would beat Silva. I don't see the Olympic Greco-Roman wresting silver medalist getting KO'd quickly (and yes, I remember the David Terrell fight). His wrestling and clinch skils are just too good, and Silva is not as unstoppable as he has looked against Franklin and Leben.
It was a bad idea for the UFC to drop Lindland after he violated some UFC rule by displaying a sponsor's logo at a weigh-in. He is well past overdue for a title shot, so lets hope the UFC has the good sense to sign him.
The 155 pound title fight went exactly as expected. Sean Sherk took down Kenny Florian and overpowered him with his ground and pound attack to win the vacant champtionship. When you broke down this fight, absent a total fluke, this was about the only way it could have gone.
One type of fighter who would be a great match-up for Sherk is someone like the Jens Pulver of three or four years ago - a fighter with great take down defense and good (for MMA) boxing skills. Too bad Pulver got destroyed in his UFC return last month, or I would be pulling to see him get a title shot.
The other type of fighter who can be a tough match-up for Sherk is a bigger better wrestler like Matt Hughes, who beat Sherk for the 170 pound title. But I don't see any fighters like Hughes in the 155 pound division. It will be very interesting to see who the UFC brings in as Sherk's next opponent.
del.icio.us tags: anderson, silva, rich, franklin, matt, lindland, sean, sherk, kenny, florian, mma, ufc, whaledog
|
|
|
The surprising thing to me was how little Franklin did to escape Silva's clinch. It seemed like Franklin had no idea what to do, even though he has surely trained from that position many times. It just goes to show you how effective Silva's clinch is.
Now, the quesiton on everyone's mind is whether the UFC will finally re-sign Matt Lindland so he can take the 185 title from Silva. Yes, I am stating it as a fact that Lindland would beat Silva. I don't see the Olympic Greco-Roman wresting silver medalist getting KO'd quickly (and yes, I remember the David Terrell fight). His wrestling and clinch skils are just too good, and Silva is not as unstoppable as he has looked against Franklin and Leben.
It was a bad idea for the UFC to drop Lindland after he violated some UFC rule by displaying a sponsor's logo at a weigh-in. He is well past overdue for a title shot, so lets hope the UFC has the good sense to sign him.
The 155 pound title fight went exactly as expected. Sean Sherk took down Kenny Florian and overpowered him with his ground and pound attack to win the vacant champtionship. When you broke down this fight, absent a total fluke, this was about the only way it could have gone.
One type of fighter who would be a great match-up for Sherk is someone like the Jens Pulver of three or four years ago - a fighter with great take down defense and good (for MMA) boxing skills. Too bad Pulver got destroyed in his UFC return last month, or I would be pulling to see him get a title shot.
The other type of fighter who can be a tough match-up for Sherk is a bigger better wrestler like Matt Hughes, who beat Sherk for the 170 pound title. But I don't see any fighters like Hughes in the 155 pound division. It will be very interesting to see who the UFC brings in as Sherk's next opponent.
del.icio.us tags: anderson, silva, rich, franklin, matt, lindland, sean, sherk, kenny, florian, mma, ufc, whaledog
