Respect

OK, so Cote did beat Grove. Who knew?

Personally, i thought UFC 74 was a pretty good event. None of the televised fights were complete turkeys, and i thought that the GSP-Koscheck fight and Couture-Gonzaga were both exciting fights. I was happy to see St. Pierre come back as strong as he did. Even though he didn't knock out Koscheck, there was certainly no doubt about who won the fight and Koscheck was clearly bewildered and beaten by the end.

Couture-Gonzaga was only disappointing in the sense that Gonzaga's strengths were essentially neutralized by Couture's wrestling (or "nutrified" as Mike Goldberg might say). Gonzaga got in a few good punches and one nice head kick, but he attempted nothing that looked like jiu jitsu. He was only on the ground when Couture threw him there, and at the end of the fight Gonzaga had no answer to Couture's grounding and pounding. It'd be interesting to see if Gonzaga could put up a better fight if his nose were not broken, but it seems unlikely there'll be a rematch. Couture seems to have settled on a general strategy of trying to get his opponents into positions that are uncomfortable and then keeping them there using his conditioning. Of course, that's a good strategy for any fighter, but it doesn't make for the most compelling bouts. Still, it's always good to see a fighter use their style to its greatest effect, and Couture has really proved the value of Greco-Roman wrestling as a component of MMA.

My favorite fight of the night was Huerta-Crane. Although Huerta was never in much trouble, i enjoyed watching Crane's jiu jitsu. Clearly, his martial arts are not quite that "mixed", but watching the transitions he made and the way he used his hips to maneuver was downright instructional. It'd be interesting to see what he could do with better conditioning.

Last night was the first time i'd heard that Forest Griffin is going to be fighting Shogun Rua at UFC 76. Well, you can't accuse Griffin of shying away from strong opponents, but i'm surprised that Dana White would put such a bankable star up against a clearly better fighter.

UFC 74

The UFC always gives its pay-per-view events silly, WWE-style names. For UFC 74 the official name is Respect, but i think it could have also been called UFC 74: Who Knows? Seriously, i have no idea who's going to win the main fights. It seems like Gonzaga should have the advantage on Couture by virtue of youth alone, but Couture has proven himself adept at finding and exploiting an opponent's weaknesses. I also wonder if Couture's wrestling skill might frustrate Gonzaga's ground game, but then again maybe Couture needs to watch Gonzaga's feet. Whatever the outcome i hope this fight doesn't end with some crazy-ass kick or punch. I'd love to see a long, active ground fight between these two guys, with maybe Gonzaga working from Couture's guard.

The St. Pierre-Koscheck fight is also hard to call. Clearly GSP is the more skilled, more well-rounded, more experienced fighter. But Koscheck has momentum and confidence. Although it'd be disappointing to me, i wouldn't be surprised to see Koscheck upset St. Pierre. GSP is my favorite MMA fighter right now (actually, i also like his buddy David Loiseau, but he's practically disappeared since his loss to Rich Franklin). Although i think too much has been made of his mental state since the loss to Serra, i do think he'd have benefited from a better match-up on his return. Ironically, on the night of the fight i'll be in Montreal at a friend's wedding and so will probably miss the live event.

Kendall Grove will probably beat Patrick Cote, but who knows?