The next issue of TapouT (No. 34) has a feature I wrote on the budding working relationship between MMA and boxing and how more fighters have implemented the time-honored techniques of "The Sweet Science" into their training regimens. Boxing in the cold gyms of Portland, Maine, built the foundation for Mike Thomas Brown's career. An opportunity to train with Miguel Cotto helped recalibrate Miguel Torres coming off a shocking loss of his WEC Bantamweight title.
The great Howard Davis Jr. is a boxing coach at the renowned American Top Team and works with Brown, Thiago Alves, Kimbo Slice and many others including Chuck Liddell trained with Davis to add new wrinkles to their game. The best wrestlers can neutralize anybody's game like Rashad Evans did in his win over ATT product Thiago Sliva Saturday night at UFC 108, but if one's striking isn't beyond par, chances are it's curtains before it gets that far. (Ask Damien Maia if he remembers what hit him in his ill-fated contest with Nate Marquardt.)
“I always say 85 percent on the ground, but when the bell rings you’re 100 percent up,” Davis told me for the story. “If you don’t have your skills in the first 30 seconds to a minute, you’re going to have problems.”
Joe Lauzon is razor-sharp on the ground, but Sam Stout combined takedown defense with precision striking and Muay Thai that diced J-Lau for three rounds, by far the finest performance of the Canadian's career. Especially impressive was how Stout was popped and bloodied early in the fight and nearly tapped out to a kimura. Once the bout was back on the feet, Stout took a game Lauzon apart to win 30-27 on all three scorecards.
Dustin Hazelett, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, was a late replacement for Carlos Condit and matched with striker Paul Daley. Adhering to Davis' words, Hazelett began the fight standing with the powerful Brit and held his own until a vicious left hook put McLovin to sleep at 2:24 of Round 1. I'd love to see if Daley can keep a Josh Koscheck at a vertical base. Daley's takedown defense needs work and if he can't prevent Koscheck from taking him to the ground, the former NCAA Division I wrestling champion will provide the same education he gave Anthony Johnson.
UFC 108 was maligned for the 'injury curse' that robbed it of its star power. Brock Lesnar-Shane Carwin, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira-Cain Velazquez and Anderson Silva-Victor Belfort were all pulled from the event, along with Gabriel Gonzaga, Condit, Tyson Griffin and Rory Markham, for reasons beyond anyone's control. In adversity there's often strength and adversity also opens doors for new names to break down walls. Stout, Daley, Junior dos Santos, Jim and Cole Miller, and Mark Munoz were provided opportunities to shine and they all did. The lower the expectations, the greater the chance that one is surprised and UFC 108 certainly delivered an exciting event.
This is my first blog of 2010 and I'd be remiss if I didn't extend my heartfelt congratulations to MMAJunkie.com (best MMA media source) and lead reporter John Morgan (best MMA journalist) for taking home hardware at the MMA Awards. Lead site editor Dann Stupp gave me the first opportunity to cover MMA and has made me a part of the team, a great team that produces great work. Don't expect us to slow down. Between John racking up world traveler miles and the evolution of George Garcia's entertaining MMA Junkie Radio program, 2010 will be our finest year yet.
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