UnderGround Forum >> Reflections on UFC on FOX 5

I'm gonna read this but I wanna hug your nuts while I get the chance Joe.  BIG FAN!!!!!!

Holy shit Raphael is a warrior! Damn good post btw Joe.

Now that I have read it I can genuinely say that that was an awesome post.  Crazy about Raphael too.

Lau

Joe Lauzon - 

I was supposed to run the UFC on FOX twitter for this card, but a severe lack of cell service left me unable to get going on twitter and whatnot until way after the fact. I had a lot of things to say throughout the night, so here it is.

Proctors’ Fight

We didn’t get it done this weekend as a team. As a team, we win some and we lose some… unfortunately this was not our weekend and not our fight. Joe Proctor is a warrior and I couldn’t ask for a better training partner and friend. Kid fought his balls off and left it all in the cage. One of the things I always stress to my guys is that you can never be upset about the outcome of a fight that you prepared your absolute best for. If you do everything you can to win and still come up short, thats fine. The time to be upset is when you didn’t do everything in your power to prepare, because then you will be beating yourself up over things you should have done better. This is one of those times where you just tip your hat to the other guy and say “great fight”. Ramsey was a class act after the fight as they both got stitched up and I can’t say enough good things about those guys.

We should have known from the start that this wasn’t going to be our week. Proctor’s luggage got lost flying to Seattle, he lost the fight, got a broken cheek / needs surgery (luckily all covered by the UFC) and as I type this, we are flying to Minneapolis where we will most likely be stranded overnight because is a snow storm that is rolling in. There are good trips, bad trips and then there are we-should-have-stayed-home trips. The only thing that could have made the trip worse would be if Proctor had lost his wallet, like he did for my last fight in LA.

BJ and Rory

I thought this fight lived up to all of the hype. BJ is one of the all-time greats. Rory won the fight… but it wasn’t because BJ didn’t train or was unmotivated. Rory was a MUCH larger opponent with pin point striking and a solid game plan. I have already seen people claiming BJ wasn’t in shape but those people have never stepped into a boxing ring and taken a body shot. Someone out of shape could have never dealt with those crippling body shots as well as he did. I am team Penn through and through and while I really wanted to dislike Rory, its tough when someone goes out and executes like that and has such great things to say about their opponent afterward. I honestly hadn’t been paying any real attention to him until this fight came up, but I can promise I will be cheering him on and keeping an eye on him going forward. He’s definitely got some Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale from American Psycho) in him… but I like it. Cerebral and emotionless… like a terminator.

Henderson and Nate
I think Ben figured out how to deal with the current evolution of Nate and Nick Diaz. A healthy supply of leg kicks seems to deal with their unique boxing style… for now. Ben had a great game plan and stuck to it for 25 minutes and absolutely frustrated Nate. I think the Diaz brothers get a bad rap sometimes for their attitude… but that is usually people getting that from their pre-fight attitude. As soon as the final bell was rung, the true Nate Diaz that I know shone through… with Nate shaking Ben’s hand and raising his hand acknowledging Ben’s win. Diaz brothers are class acts but its usually overshadowed by being such fierce competitors. Nate and I are friendly… but if we end up fighting at some point, he will be mean mugging me from across the room until after the fight… and then we would be boys again… and I can appreciate that.

Yves Edwards and Jeremy Stephens
Wow… incredible fight. I have said in the past that Jeremy throws every punch to take your head off and that even when you cover up and block things, it still hurts. Yves is on my side with that after last night. He was telling me in the back room that he covered up with both arms against one of Jeremy’s punches and it still hurt. Kid has a TON of power… but Yves was a surgeon last night and put a tight hook right on his jaw… earning himself 65K for Knockout of the night.

Assuncao vs Easton
At first, this was just an awesome fight. It becomes that much more impressive when you realize Raphael won a 3 round decision after breaking his arm in the first.

 

 

FRAT

too creepy

 Much appreciated, Joe...I thought your boy fought his ass off last night, he can be proud of his efforts.

Interesting, thanks for posting

Joe, when I was watching the fight I saw Rory was leaving himself open to left hooks. He kept his right hand down and paid for it several times.

Was he being sloppy? Not sure if I was reading too much into it.