Penn vs. Florian, Griffin vs. Silva and UFC 101 Hangover

Some thoughts while I recover from my UFC 101 hangover...

- B.J. Penn proved why many consider him the top lightweight as he submitted MMA Live anchor, Kenny Florian, in the fourth round at UFC 101. 

- Surprise of the night: Penn didn't gas out. Marv Marinovich cardio workouts strike again!

- The UFC lightweight division is looking pretty thin on challengers right now. 

- I am loathe to use this word but Anderson Silva embarrassed Forrest Griffin. Silva showboated and taunted Griffin while tagging him with power jabs that dazed the former light heavyweight champion. Finally Silva threw a jab while back pedaling which felled Griffin who was knocked silly as his arms flailed about and the fight was promptly called. 

- Looks like Silva will be at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings next month. 

- Anderson Silva has power in his hands that we need to harness to make into electricity in order to stop this global warming shit. 

- I don't think any top light heavyweights will jump at the chance to fight Anderson anymore. 

- After Forrest Griffin recovered from the knockout he had a, well, a Forrest Gump moment. Griffin ran out of the cage and apparently kept running.  

- Just for the record Forrest is now 2-2 in marquee matches (Tito Ortiz, "Shogun" Rua, "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans). He is 2-3 if we count the Keith Jardine fight. 

- UFC 101 will definately be remebered more for Silva vs. Griffin than Penn vs. Florian. 

- Before anyone starts making fun of Griffin's post fight reaction read Quinton Jackson's tweet. 

- Philadelphia is often consider the epicenter of boxing and despite all the talk of boxing being dead the Philly fans got a boxing card last night. The preliminary and under card was bad, plain and simple. Poor judging, awful stoppages and low quality fights all leading up to the main events. UFC 101 was a top heavy card to begin with and after watching it, it reminded me more of a boxing PPV than a UFC PPV.

- Also, did everything on this card go exactly like we thought it would? Disappointing considering how top heavy it was. 

- Aaron Riley got sweet revenge over Shane Nelson. For the sake of Ohio MMA let us burn and bury the tape of that horrible stoppage from UFC 96. 

- Amir Sadollah was the victim of an early stoppage though he was tagged by Johny Hendricks. Ironic considering the fight that came after theirs was a rematch due to a similar poor stoppage. 

- Kendall Grove you are so disappointing and inconsistent. If it weren't for Mac Danzig and C.B. Dolloway I would call you the worst TUF champion ever.

- Ricardo Almeida proves he still has some life at 185lbs. despite saying this was his prep fight to drop to 170lbs.  

- Kurt Pellegrino wrestles Neer for three rounds. Neer is not happy and the UFC really just needs to give him lightweights who will stand and bang. I suggest Aaron Riley. 

- Thales Leites in a bad fight, what a shocking coincidence. Once again he loses. The fact that the former number one middleweight contender (however erroneous it was to begin with) lost to Alessio Sakara is an absolute joke and once again calls into question the awful UFC 97 main event. That failure now rests squarely on Joe Silva and Dana White's shoulders. 

- While Leites was on the wrong side of the judges scorecards many observers felt he won the fight or at the very least it should have been a draw. Perhaps the boos by the crowd influenced the judges decision. 

- Weird couple of the night. 

- UFC screws up the walkout music for Sakara and Leites. Perhaps a statement that they really don't want either fighter.

- The Philly fans boo Leites. Its like UFC 97 all over again (I haven't forgotten!!!).

- The UFC has had some pacing issues with their recent shows (UFC 97, UFC 100). Perhaps the six fight under card will be a great way to keep things moving quickly so Jon Fitch won't get screwed again.  Update: Wow, was I wrong. Riley vs. Nelson was bumped from preliminary to PPV and then shown prior to Griffin-Silva. 

- George Sotiropoulos wins the battle of the George's. 

- The UFC's one Australian product won, which must have been a huge sigh of relief for Zuffa execs planning on going "Down Under" in 2010. 

- Critics of judging in MMA will have fresh fodder due to the scores from Riddle vs. Cramer. While all judges scored the bout in favor of Riddle the scores were all over the place. 29-27, 30-27, and 30-26. That is a lot of variability across all three judges, which sends up some red flags. 

- After sleeping on the event I feel extremely disillusioned about UFC 101 as a whole. I couldn't help but think that WEC 42 is going to be so much better for most of last night. 

UFC 101: Declaration coverage