THOUGHTS ON THE MMA AND BOXING

• Caught the replay of UFC 85: Bedlam, and I must say, Brandon Vera did get screwed by the ref. Yes, Vera was, indeed, in a bad spot, with Brazilian jujitsu expert Fabricio Werdum throwing bombs from a dominant full mount; however, Vera did not look hurt at all. The guy didn’t even look like a man in some serious trouble. He was even defending himself well, moving his head, flailing his arms, and slapping most of Werdum’s punches. True, referees are supposed to err on the side of caution, but on this fight, the ref did not just err on the side of caution; he absolutely erred.

• Speaking of Werdum, he should give Brandon Vera an immediate rematch. No way did he prove himself to be the absolute better man on this fight. He just got a break from an incompetent and totally wussy MMA ref. If Werdum has got balls, he’ll give Vera the rematch so everyone can find out who, indeed, is the better man.

• If Brandon Vera doesn’t get another crack at Werdum, he should seriously consider movindown to light heavyweight. He’ll have a far better chance there since he wouldn’t be ranged against fighters naturally bigger, stronger, and taller than him. Just think of all the potential fights that can be had for Vera at the stacked light heavyweight division: Vera vs. Rampage; Vera vs. Griffin; Vera vs. The Iceman; Vera vs. The Axe Murderer; and Vera vs. Machida. Each of those fights have the makings of a classic.

• Just saw Kimbo Slice’s mainstream debut on EliteXC, and it was an absolute letdown. Pegged as MMA’s next biggest superstar, Kimbo sure looked menacing and downright scary––unfortunately, he only looked the part of an MMA superstar; he never played the part. He nearly got knocked out for crying out loud! He put on an amateurish display that did the sport of MMA, and its true superstars, a grave, unforgivable injustice. He may yet evolve into a true, skilled MMA fighter, but for now, he owes the sport an apology.

• MMA––the Kimbo Slice embarrassment, notwithstanding––is in good hands, though, with young, dynamic, multifaceted, and extremely skilled fighters like George Rush-St. Pierre, BJ Penn, Urijah Faber, Miguel Torres, Anderson Silva, Kenny Florian, and Roger Huerta. Which brings me to my next two points: GSP–BJ Penn II and Torres vs. Faber. Now those are matches made in mixed martial arts heaven. (From left-to-right: Penn, Torres, GSP, and Faber.)
  
  
  
• Okay, enough MMA for now. Time to talk about boxing. Last time I heard, Manny Pacquiao said he’s looking forward to a yearend match with Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton. This idea floated around late last year, and that time, I thought Pacquaio was nuts in wanting to fight the Briton. “No way in hell is Manny gonna beat Hatton,” I told myself when I first heard this news. Hatton’s size, power, and rough-housing techniques, I thought, would be too much for Pacquiao. But now, I think I digress with my initial assessment. After being destroyed by “Money” Mayweather, Hatton didn’t look right in his fight against Juan Lazcano. He lumbered through 12 lackluster rounds and hardly did anything to win. If the Hatton-Paquaio fight does happen, I now think Pacman has a pretty good shot at beating the former junior welterweight champion.

• Anyhow, I’m bothered by one thing about Pacquaio: I have this stinky feeling that he’s looking past David Diaz. But with plenty of $$dollar$$ signs on Manny’s horizon, who can blame him for looking past his Mexican foe? Besides, David Diaz––a man who hasn’t beaten anyone of consequence––doesn’t even belong in the same ring as Pacquaio. Bob Arum can hype this fight all he wants, but the fact of the matter is, Diaz is not in the same league as Pacman. A focused, well-trained Pacquiao will annihilate Diaz with one hand. However, stranger things have happened in boxing, and if Pacquiao looks past the Mexican far enough, he just might find himself with an embarrassing L.

• So, Floyd Mayweather has “formally” retired from boxing. Well… Maybe he’s gone for good this time. But then again, maybe he’s not. With the right amount of money (likely in the vicinity of $30 million), there’s a pretty good chance that “Pretty Boy” Floyd will once again eat his words and unretire for a second time. Hey, even Michael Jordan did the whole retire-unretire thing, right? Oh wait, he actually retired, unretired, retired again, and unretired again.