UFC 88: Iceman Knocked Out Cold!!

Here are the results from Saturday nights UFC 88 courtesy of Jose Barbosa. We here at Tha O Show would sincerely like to thank Jose for his contributions.

I am writing this article after getting home from watching tonight’s display and I can only say....What an unpredictable night.

First I have to say for my first article on Tha O Show I really shit the bed with my predictions going 3-6. But with a night full of surprises for me at least I don't feel too bad.

Let's run down the show.

Note: The Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida fight had been cancelled a day before the fight due to Karo pulling out due to an injury. Because of this the Matt Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim has been moved up to the main card.

Dong Hyun Kim vs. Matt Brown

This fight seemed to be back and fourth with no fighter clearly coming out dominate. The result of Dong Hyun Kim winning by split decision didn't go over well with the fans many thinking that Matt Brown winning the fight. I personally had Dong going over winning the 1st and 3rd round and scoring a 29-28. I taught the first round went to Dong did a good job of controlling and came close to finishing the right with a rear naked choke.

The entire first round consist of Dong hanging off Brown's back trying for the choke and even trying for an armbar. I gave the first round to Dong 10-9. The second round saw more of Matt Brown on the attack with his stand up game showing to be more effective then Dong. I gave Brown the second round 10-9. The third round was a toss-up with Brown coming out to a good start with some body kicks. Until Dong got the takedown, Brown did defend on his back really well but still had a hard time with Dong hitting a nice elbow that cut Brown really bad over his right eye near the end of the fight which in my eyes gave Dong the fight. I gave the round to Dong 10-9. Dong took the fight via Spilt decision.

Martin Kampmann vs. Nate Marquardt

In this fight Kampmann came out and looked very out of league; with a 17-2 record he looked really out classed by the more experience Nate Marquardt. Kampmann got one punch that landed early in the first round but that was it after that it was all Marquardt landing a kick to the end, an elbow and knee to the head really hurting Martin really bad. Follow by Nate landing 5 unanswered shots, Kampmann falls to the ground but Nate jumps to the oppournity and hit a huge shot on Martin and as Mike Goldberg says "It is all over!!!!" Nate Marquardt takes it via TKO (strikes) in the very first round.

Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares

We all knew that Henderson needed to win this fight and by the way he fought tonight it showed. Hendo on several points of this fight dropped Palhares to the ground but Hendo did not capitalize not wanting Palhares to catch him with a quick submission. Hendo had many chance to end the fight but lacked the killer instinct to do so. First round had Hendo crouching very low to counter Palhares early takedown attempts. Palhares nearly caught a submission early. Hendo lands a couple big shots both with his hands and feet. Palhares nearly locked in a knee bar but was stopped by the bell. I gave Hendo the round 10-9.

Second round Hendo doesn't want anything to do with Palhares on the floor has every time he drops him he steps back and lets Palhares stand up again. Palhares locks in a heel hook but Hendo has great defense using his other leg to push Palhares off. Ref Herb Dean stands up both fighters with not much action on the ground. Hendo miss a few huge shots to close the round. Another round to Hendo 10-9. Even though Hendo is winning Palhares has a strong chin and isn't going down. Third round both fighters don't do much both looked gassed. The fans booed much of the last round as there wasn't much action.

The end had a bit with Hendo landing a couple big rights on Palhares. With less then a minute left in the fight Hendo drops Palhares with a right and lands two more shots down on the floored Palhares only for the bell to go ending the 3 and final round which goes to Hendo 10-9. Hendo take the decision unanimously. Not much to argue in this fight Hendo held his own landing some big shots but like I said lacking the killer instinct to finish the fight as well Palhares has a strong chin as he was able to keep going after a couple of bombs from Hendo, good fight overall. Hendo get his first fight in the UFC.

Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill

Now this fight I chose Hamill to pull out the victory well aware that he was the underdog, I was hoping he would pull out the victory. I guess it was too much to ask. Just like many other fights on this night it look like Hamill was afraid to attack Franklin, this was a totally different Hamill that we saw in his last two fights against Boetsch and Bisping. Hamill looked to be more on the defense then on offence where he really shines. The first round was very uneventful with Franklin landing some nice leg kicks and attempt of an armbar. Hamill get grazed with a bunch which opens him up. Franklin wins this round 10-9.

Round two opens with Franklin hitting some more leg kicks, Hamill tries catching a few of them to no success. Franklin is opened up under his eyebrow in the first round and it looks nasty, ref stops the fight for the doctor to look at it, the fans are booing not wanting the fight to be stopped. Rich is allowed back and the fight is started again. Franklin hits Hamill with an inside leg kick that misses the mark and hits Hamill below the belt that would make any guy bow down in pain. Hamill is getting beat standing up, but continues to exchange with Franklin. Hamill continues to try and catch Franklin's leg to no success. Hamill is getting taken apart and is doing nothing about it; it looks like he skipped that part of training. Franklin winning 10-9 again.

Third round is much of the same, Hamill looks really bad tonight, and I don't think he was ready for this fight. I think Franklin was too much of a step up early in his career as an MMA fighter. Franklin ends the fight with another leg kick to the body hitting Hamill right in the liver rocking and dropping him, as he held his midsection in pain Ref Mario Yamazaki stopped it. Joe Rogan said that it had been stopped due to Hamill tapping but I did not see Hamill tapping but none the less the stoppage was legit. Looks like experience took it again in this fight.


And now for the main event of the night....And WOW what a main event it was.

Rashad Evans vs. Chuck Liddell

Note: Was it just me or did anyone else find it weird that Rashad in his corner kept licking his fingers and playing with his man nipples. That is like 6 on the dicktor scale to me. Now in my predictions I might have been a little harsh on the brother Rashad Evans, hopefully the Black Prophet doesn't read the articles. But I will not retract my statement, I still believe Rashad is a really boring fighter, but it doesn't mean I don't think he is a smart fighter and that is what he showed us all tonight.

In Round one Rashad comes out staying low to the floor at first it looked like he was trying for the early takedown, but after midway through the first round Rashad's game plan was clear and that was to avoid at all cost Chuck Liddell's punches by staying low and weaving in and out. In the first round it was majority of Liddell chasing around Rashad looking for that one punch knockout. Rashad does a good job avoiding any major shots, Rashad is basically dancing around the ring avoiding shots, Liddell looks really pissed.

This round was hard to score with Liddell being the aggressor but Rashad avoiding any major damage. I gave it to Liddell 10-9. Second round irony comes knocking at the door while Liddell was looking for the one punch knockout Rashad hits a huge and I mean HUGE right hand and knocks Liddell out cold! Seeing this literally made me OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Liddell showed no life has his body went limp and dropped like a sack of shit to the mat. Doctors and staff rush in to check on Liddell but Liddell is not responding. Evans does a little show boating around the ring, they are totally keeping the cameras off Liddell he have must of been out for at least 3 minutes before they show him passing Dana White exiting the Octagon. At the end of the fight Joe Rogan asked Rashad where he sees himself in the light-heavyweight division and he says this fight should put me up at the top but I am not in any hurry. FUCK that shit; give the black man a title shot against Forrest that fight was whack.

As for Chuck Liddell it seems that there is something about Black people, because this is the second black man that has dropped him in the last year an a half. He might be a good candidate for the White Prophet.

All in all this PPV was a pretty decent one with a couple of O's and an OOO, so even though my predictions were off I had fun watching and writing about UFC 88. Hope you enjoyed reading, and I'll catch you guys at UFC 89 for Bisping vs. Leben and again for UFC 90 for Silva vs. Cote.

Until then OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Here is a quick recap of tonight’s results:

Rashad Evans defeats Chuck Liddell via KO at 1:51 in Round 2

Rich Franklin defeats Matt Hamill via TKO at 0:39 in Round 3

Dan Henderson defeats Rousimar Palhares via Unanimous Decision

Nate Marquardt defeats Martin Kampmann via TKO (Strikes) at 1:22 in Round 1

Dong Hyun Kim defeats Matt Brown via Split Decision

Kurt Pellegrino defeats Thiago Tavares via unanimous decision

Tim Boetsch defeats Mike Patt via TKO (Strikes) at 2:03 in Round 1

Jason MacDonald defeats Jason Lambert via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:20 in Round 2
Ryo Chonan defeats Roan Carneiro via Split Decision

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