The UFC Experience- Vancouver

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I had the joy of attending UFC 131 in Vancouver, as well as the press conference on Thursday. The last UFC I saw live was UFC 7, in Buffalo. Marco Ruas won that tourney defeating Paul ‘The Polar Bear’ Varlans, by chopping down the 6’10” Alaskan with leg kicks. In the super fight, Oleg Taktarov and Ken Shamrock fought 35 minutes to a draw. Tank got in a fight with someone in the crowd, and by far the toughest looking man in the arena was then Bill’s QB Jim Kelly. My, how things have changed.

Thursday I stood two feet from the fighters as they came in to the press conference area. What surprised me most was how small the fighters seemed, except for Carwin and dos Santos. Florian, Nunes, Stout and Edwards all looked fit, and you could pick them as prize fighters out of any crowd, but it became apparent to me the ‘tale of the tape’ is a bit of a tall tale, pun intended.

I waited around afterwards, to meet Dana White. He was incredibly patient with the fans, but since everyone wanted something from him---an autograph---I was content to shake his hand and thank him for the UFC, which he appreciated. I also met Tom Wright, former commissionaire of the CFL and head of UFC Canada. He is another kind person who gave me his time as we wondered why Toronto seems to be the hottest spot for the UFC . I handed him a card to let him know my novel is being released next month, and that ten percent of the royalties will go to fallen soldiers.

The atmosphere in Rogers arena was electric. Certainly there was no shortage of muscle and meat heads and their fabulously dressed and enhanced Barbie Doll bimbos at their sides.  When Teenage Wasteland started, my blood pressure rose to deadly heights, and as the Jumbotron showed UFC hits in perfect unison to the music, I couldn’t help but cheer.

The Stout -Edwards fight went well for the Canadian. I looked for his crisp stand up to make a difference, and it did. It was interesting live to see him throw a triple-combo and slide to the right like he does, but even though I was staring right at the men as they battled, I missed the shot that put Edwards out ten-one-millionths of a second after he was hit. The Jumbotron showed a perfectly timed and aimed shot to Edwards’s jaw.  The crowd roared.

Dave Herman vs Dave Olav Einemo was a fight I wasn’t waiting for but one that justly won fight of the night. Despite his inability to get and keep Herman down, Einemo kept coming with his fists, and the crowd responded enthusiastically. Herman showed a unique set of tools, along with an incredible physique. It could be the start of a long career if he plays his cards right. His kicks came from unexpected angles, and when he was on top of the Norwegian he used elbows a la Bones Jones. Interestingly, Herman is 6’4”, 233 pounds---about the weight Bones is when he’s not training, or about the weight Bones could easily be should he move up to HW. Herman was impressive, but who would want ‘Pee Wee’ as a nickname when we all know what Pee Wee Herman did in that L.A. theater so long ago?

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Maia’s striking looked spectacular in the first round of his tilt with Munoz.  Munoz is a heavy hitter who is dangerous whenever he lands.  To me this fight was too close to call, but Maia definitely won round  1. Somehow, one of the judges gave Munoz 30-27---mind-boggling. Maia gave us an idea the trouble Munoz will have with deft strikers. I can’t imagine he’s ready for someone like Silva, or even Belfort.

Florian looked good against Nunes, a much better fighter than most gave him credit for,  but after watching UFC primetime, even those of us who had never heard of him knew he could be a handful for Florian. It was a close fight, one that Florian did win via his 3 rd round performance. I assumed Florian, who was a force at 155 but lacked strength against fighters such as Maynard and Penn, didn’t look overpowering at 145. Simply put, he didn’t push around the Brazilian. It was a great technical performance and a good start at 145, but talk of Florian facing Aldo is premature. Florian needs some more tuners before he steps there.

The one thing fans thought they knew about dos Santos vs Carwin is that it would end in KO, likely in the first.  In retrospect, the dos Santos unanimous decision makes sense. Roy Nelson took dos Santos’s punches, and though Carwin’s jaw hadn’t really been tested before this fight, there was no reason to think Carwin couldn’t also take punches from dos Santos. The non-stoppage late in the first was a good call by Herb Dean. Carwin was moving to get up and protecting himself somewhat. Hey, if the refs gave Lesnar the benefit of the doubt in his 1 st round thumping from Carwin, they could give Carwin a chance. Carwin proved the ref right by lasting three rounds.

What I learned is what I knew already and in fact predicted a year and a half ago: Junior dos Santos has a level of boxing unmatched by anyone in the division, Cain Velasquez included, and a grappling pedigree to keep the fight where he wants it. Don’t get me wrong. I love Cain, think he’s a great grappler and stellar AKA stand up fighter, but when he faces dos Santos he’ll see what Carwin saw: difficult angles, difficult distance, and technical boxing in a league of its own as far as MMA goes.   CV will need to out strike JdS in order to set up takedowns and the look on his face as he walks to his corner after round one will show a man who knows his toolbox is inadequate.

My UFC ticket bought 12 fights, six hours of stellar entertainment and an unforgettable experience. There was one bad thing about UFC 131, however. It ended.

By Renko Styranka
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer