UFC 134: Silva, Shogun, Minotauro, Pearson And The Other Silva Impress

When I remember UFC 134, I'll remember this: Anderson Silva stands still, both hands at his waist, daring Yushin Okami to strike him in the face, and Okami lacks the courage to do it.

Sure, it was a trap. Silva probably had a response all planned if Okami took the shot. But it was also an opportunity, one Okami was too cautious to take. Which is how Okami fought the whole time -- too cautiously -- and it cost him the fight. Silva was quicker, with a longer reach. Because Okami fought so defensively, Silva was able to stay on the outside and throw strikes without fear of being hit. And eventually, those strikes landed and Okami got knocked out.

That never would have happened if Silva had been fighting either Ross Pearson or Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. Both of those men put on a clinic in how to fight quicker, longer opponents. You have to be aggressive, constantly moving inside and attacking. When you're close enough to hit him or grapple him, then you've negated his reach advantage. And by taking the offensive, you force him to respond to you, negating the speed advantage. But pursuing that strategy takes heart, because coming inside gives your opponent more opportunities to hit or grapple you too. Both Pearson and Nogueria showed that heart.

Yes, Pearson lost. But he went the distance against the heavily favored Edson Barboza and he just barely lost, via split decision. Two judges picked Barboza as the winner, but one judge picked Pearson, and I know from listening to the mmajunkie.com podcast that a lot of people think Pearson should have been given the decision, not Barboza.

And Nogueria did win. He knocked out rising heavyweight contender Brendan Schaub. That was such an interesting fight. Schaub fought like a modern mixed martial artist: lots of movement, lots of different techniques. Nogueria just walked forward and punched Schaub in the head. And Nogueria's strategy worked. KISS, as my grandfather, Pop Pop Joe, used to say: keep it simple, stupid. And he was right: what Nogueria did wasn't fancy, but it was smart. It negated Schaub's youth, speed, and size and gave Nogueria an opportunity to win. He kept coming inside, and yes, he took his licks to do so, but as a result he was able to land a knockout blow and win.

A quick word about the Mauricio Rua -- Forrest Griffin fight. As soon as I saw Griffin walk out, I knew he would lose. He was so stiff. His back never moved. I think he was having back problems. I say that as someone who has had back problems myself. You can't perform at your best with a bad back. And he didn't. And he lost.

The other memorable moment of the night was the way in which Erick Silva knocked out Luis Ramos. It had been a good fight, a classic welterweight matchup between two quick little guys without a lot of power, full of sound and fury signifying nothing, as Faulkner would have said. And then . . . suddenly, Silva morphed into the second coming of Bruce Lee, throwing a straight lead, the foundational jete kune do technique: a long, lunging punch with some power. It stunned Ramos for a split second and then immediately on its heels came the overhand right, with a lot of power, and Ramos was knocked out. It was a beautiful combination by Silva.

The Little Dragon would have been proud.

Konrad v. Buentello: THE WORST FIGHT I'VE EVER SEEN

Have you ever watched two half-naked fat guys posture for 15 minutes, circling, sweating, jiggling, always jiggling, but never actually fighting? If you had the misfortune, as I did, of watching the Bellator heavyweight "super" fight between Cole Konrad and Paul Buentello last night, then yes, yes you have, and you'll never get those minutes back.

I like Bellator. I like that they are challenging the market dominance of the UFC. I like that they have an intelligent strategy -- tournaments -- and a television partner -- MTV2 -- that enables them to air their fights on free TV. And their lighter weight divisions are great, filled with talented mixed martial artists who actually, you know, fight.

But, good God, that heavyweight fight last night was the worst fight I've ever seen, bar none. The "combatants" were so out of shape, so unskilled, so afraid ...

Words fail me. Except one.

Jiggle.