Max is right: I’m consistently wrong on this MMA prediction business. I said Akiyama would beat Leben by decision. He lost by triangle choke in the third round. I said Carwin would beat Lesnar by TKO in the second round. He lost to Lesnar by an arm triangle in the second round. My friend, with whom I was watching it, said that I was close. If Akiyama had lasted another 20 seconds, he probably would’ve won by decision–and Leben agrees. Carwin came close to knocking out Lesnar in round one. But all in all, I was wrong…again.
What I was not wrong about was that this was an AWESOME card. Only one of the main fights went the distance–the rest all concluded through submissions or TKO.
Akiyama/Leben was a great matchup. I was surprised Akiyama gassed out so early, but props to Leben for keeping it going. During round 2, both men were wobbly and staggering like a bunch of drunks. It was really exciting–one got the impression that either man could’ve landed the final blow to put it away. Unfortunately, Akiyama’s lack of wind got the better of him. He fell off his stool in between rounds 2 and 3, and even though he took Leben down again during round 3 (he was on top during all the grappling), he was so gassed that he was unable to fight against Leben’s triangle.
Lesnar/Carwin was a great fight too. Carwin took it to the big man early, getting him down and throwing punches from the top like a madman. I’ve seen fights stopped with much less damage, yet Lesnar held on, using biceps and forearms to block Carwin’s barrage. Carwin gassed himself out, and in round 2, Lesnar got the first take down. He sat on top of Carwin, throwing blows here and there before making him tap with an arm triangle.
Stephen Bonnar won by TKO–it was good seeing him come back. “Lights out” Lytle won by an armbar. And yes, I verbally predicted both of these fights incorrectly. I promise not to predict Silva/Sonnen–the stakes are too high on that one.
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I was impressed with Akiyama’s chin. I didn’t think he would be able to take clean shots from Leben. However, his gas tank is a major problem; he gassed in the Belcher fight too.
Lesnar showed great heart and the ability to recover, but his striking is terrible. I got Cain taking the belt from him. Viva la Raza!
I was hella impressed with Akiyama’s chin! But man, he had no gas in his tank whatsoever. A friend of mine noted that he had originally been training for Wanderlei and that perhaps the method might be different, but Wanderlei is also no slouch when it comes to cardio. I think Akiyama may have run into the same problem either way.
By the way, I didn’t mention it above, but I LOVED how Leben called out Wanderlei after the fight! Usually fighters call out the title holder, but Leben called out the opponent who would create the greatest experience for the fans. Gotta respect the guy for that!!!