Weigh in stare down. Photos by Ester Lin

The only semi-major event going on this weekend will be Strikeforce Challengers 9 that will feature Sarah Kaufman making her first title defense against Roxanne Modaferri (check out here new highlight vid from Fightlinker.

As a fan of both fighters it will be hard to watch and even harder to pick, but I will be glad for an event this weekend. Not to mention having the site back up is pretty nice too.

Let me preface this by saying “GODDAMN YOU CARWIN FOR FALLING FOR LESNARS HOMER SIMPSON STRATEGY”. Now with my questions.

Leben proving doubters (myself included) WRONG!

- What is Akiyama’s biggest flaw: cardio or fighting in the wrong weight class?

- Is Leben making a case for comeback fighter of 2010?

- We still have to wait for the speculative ppv #’s but was this Lesnars defining moment, unlike UFC 100 he wasn’t sharing the spotlight with another popular champ in Boss Canada or two TUF coaches nor was there a video game coming out. Not to mention there still being some lingering world cup action & NBA Free Agency frenzy (OMG LeBron, what will he do). Did Lesnar pull off the biggest win in his career so far with his second title defense?

Big win or biggest win?

- Does a main event finish define and entire card/ppv broadcast? It seems no matter how many finishes are on the card or even the co main event if there is no definitive exclamation point put on the main event the entire card suffers for it?

- Is there a place for a new, more sensitive, humble and introspective post illness Lesnar. Or is it passe to heel it up since he has come into his own as a fighter?

- Both Lawlor and Petruzelli seem to have the same problem with pasting their opponents in the first rounds then gassing and getting out grappled.

Cage grabbers get slammed. gif via Caposa on the UG

-Did Gerald Harris steal Rampages thunder? And with 5 finishes in the UFC why hasn’t he been moved to the main card yet? As a Team Thirsty member alongside Rashad and King Mo are we seeing another variant of “The Cuban” or is this just how The Hurricane throws down?

WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS EVEN MEAN?!?

Bizarre post fight pose aside, Bonnar proves once again to be nigh unfinishble and a true company man in receiving one of 2
75k fight of the night bonuses. From MMA Junkie

LAS VEGAS – Gerald Harris, Brock Lesnar, Stephan Bonnar, Krzysztof Soszynski, Chris Leben and Yoshihiro Akiyama each earned $75,000 fight-night bonuses for their performances at Saturday’s UFC 116 event.

Harris earned the “Knockout of the Night” award, Lesnar earned the “Submission of the Night” bonus, and Bonnar, Soszynski, Leben, Akiyama all earned “Fight of the Night” honors

You know you are screwed when you can't even tap.

- Is the new grapple savvy Lytle just going for bonuses or is he making a real title run?

- Is the inverted triangle like the 4 minute mile, once one fighter does it is it the new cool sub to wrap people up in?

- A truly exciting (I would even go as far to say WEC level in terms of action) card actually featured bouts in every weight class, when was the last time that happened?

Thanks to Fightlinker doing most of the link work for me, lol.

Fans and the MMA media are still up in arms over the events of last weekend & rightly so. A main stay of both the top 3 in both the heavyweight division and P4P mma trinity (alongside GSP and Anderson Silva) his loss suffice to say is kind of a big deal. The messianic overtones of Fedor and his mystique have been displayed in the most literal of interpretations.

UFC PPV/Showtime?!? The dream of co-promotion lives on. From Bloody Elbow

Even ESPN got in on the action, albeit incorrectly labeling the event a UFC & Showtime collaboration. Promotional misnomer aside, the idea that something big happened in the world of UFC/MMA/human cockfighting was noticeable even amongst the casuals and passers by.

From the silly to the sobering truth, mma fans will find a way to cope and eventually move on. If anything the upset of upsets brings up to a new revelation of Mr. Emelianenko’s new found humanity, we will no longer assume invincibility and now will have to really analyze his fights. Realistically assessing the threats his opponents pose and vice verca. In the end this fight made Fedor what he always wanted to be seen as a fighter and not a god

In depth article from the 3rd man in the ring, long time MMA referee Dan Miragliotta gives his account of the post fight foul blow.

Article from Micheal David Smith of MMAFighting.com,

Everyone was shocked. Koscheck afterward said that he said something to egg Daley on. Did you hear what he said to him?
Koscheck the last minute or so, had his head to Daley’s side. He must have said something because I heard Daley say something back to him. With mouthpieces on and I’m standing a few feet away, I didn’t hear what either one of them said. You can’t hear them when they’re that close to each other. They weren’t yelling at each other.
In the Kimbo Slice-Matt Mitrione fight, Kimbo had apologized for putting his fingers close to Mitrione’s eyes during the fight. And Mitrione goes, ‘Don’t worry about it, bro.’ That was during the fight and that one I heard because they were standing up. I didn’t hear a word [Koscheck and Daley] said.

Did you see any anger in Daley’s face those last few seconds?
I saw frustration. He couldn’t stop Josh from taking him down and controlling him on the ground. From what I heard of the pre-fight interviews, they both said they were going to make this a standup battle, and it wasn’t that way. Josh played his card rights and did what he had to do to win the fight. Daley was frustrated that it didn’t go his way. He’s a great fighter. Dana said many times the kid had such good potential. And honestly he’s always been respectful to me. I’ve met him a couple times and he’s always been nice and respectful. I was very shocked…

The interview also covered the not so illegal blow from earlier in the bout.

Can you touch on the illegal knee in the fight? It was hard to tell if it really hit Koscheck, though he said it did. At first it looked like you took away a point but then we found out you didn’t. Can you explain what happened?
There was definitely confusion there because I never took a point away. I thought the knee missed him at first. But when Josh reacted the way he did, I thought, ‘I guess I missed it.’ We’re not perfect, we’re human. But I really thought it missed him. So Josh looked at me, held his head and said, ‘The knee, the knee.’

I stopped the fight real quick and decided to bring the doctor in. They don’t really get a break for that. It was intentional, because he was on the ground and [Daley] threw it right at his head, but if it didn’t make contact, no points could be taken away. When the doctor came in and looked at it, it gave me time to watch the replay on the monitors in the arena. It clearly showed on every angle it didn’t hit him, it didn’t brush him. It maybe hit his hair. I finally watched the fight again yesterday and Joe Rogan said, ‘He got hit with an illegal knee. Dan Miragliotta has to take a point away.’ He was adamant about it. But then he saw it on instant replay and said, ‘Oh no, that never hit him.’

I really didn’t think it hit him. His head didn’t move. When you get hit with a knee, your head’s going to go back. His head didn’t budge. When I saw the replay, I told the doctor to please leave the ring, I told Josh to get up, and I said there was no contact and no point was taken away. Between rounds Joe Rogan asked Mike Goldberg to clarify it with me, and I told him there was never a point deduction. Then they cleared it up on the air.

If it was an Illegal blow like that, not only do I have to take a point away, I could take up to two points if it creates damage, and it could be a disqualification if the fighter couldn’t continue. But we got it sorted out.

He also commented on his not so good luck from past events.

Why do you always seem to be involved in these crazy things, Dan?
[Laughing] I told [Counsel to the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board] Nick Lembo he’s got the hex on me. I get some crazy things. I got big shoulders, I can take the abuse. But that’s why I don’t go on the internet. Everybody’s got a comment to make. Hopefully this time it’s good comments.

Considering that he actually did a good job in such a volatile and unpredictable fight, I will give props where they are due, Good job Dan. There, don’t ever say the internet is all heckling and negativity…its just more often than not is all.

From Sherdog,

A rematch of last Saturday’s UFC 112 lightweight championship tilt between Frankie Edgar and B.J. Penn is looking likely for late summer or fall.

Representatives in both fighters’ camps told Sherdog.com on Tuesday that UFC officials have approached both sides to lock down a second bout between the lightweight fighters. No date or venue has been solidified yet. Edgar earned a unanimous decision over Penn at UFC 112 on April 10 in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., to become the promotion’s lightweight champion.

Edgar’s victory, which delivered Penn his first loss in the 155-pound division since 2002, did not come without controversy. Both the media and fans were split on the bout’s outcome, as the 28-year-old New Jersey fighter was awarded 50-45, 48-47 and 49-46 scores in a tight contest some thought Penn had won.

Whats good for the Brazilian geese is good for the American gander it seems. I was hoping there were going to let BJ tear up some lightweights and work his way back to the title putting on matches with guys who would never work their way to the belt to face him otherwise, Gomi, Guillard, Tyson Griffin etc. But with a fight so close and controversial a rematch was never that far fetched of a possibility.

I wonder whenever there is a close fight that gets a rematch, but was scored as a unanimous decision by the judges, is there any repercussions for the athletic commissions for getting it wrong. A unanimous decision as far as I’m concerned says that there is no question who won and that was not the case for the fight. With Doug Crosby the judge who scored the fight 50-45 in Edgars favor now trolling internet forums in defense of his decision. You have to start wondering if it was the right decision at all.

But I guess that’s the question the rematch will answer…I hope.