UFC 105 Aftemath: Vera and Kang struggle to hang on to their careers
The media storyline coming out of UFC 105 is that we had another screwy judges’ decision, this time involving judges unanimously giving Randy Couture a decision win over Brandon Vera when Vera should have (in the eyes of many) deserved it. However, the real storyline is that Brandon Vera once again proverbially wrote a check that his body couldn’t cash.
In various media interviews leading up to Saturday’s night fight in Manchester, Vera talked about how Randy Couture was his hero and how Randy would bring the best out of him. It was the same old song-and-dance that we’ve heard before from Mr. Vera. The “I’m really going to live up to my potential this time around!” sales pitch. People hear it, they get disappointed, he says it again, rinse and repeat. But THIS TIME AROUND, it was REALLY SUPPOSED TO MEAN SOMETHING!
And, of course, Vera failed to live up to his potential. Potential, of course, is what a talented person says they have in place of not accomplishing enough in their career.
Truth be told, Brandon Vera should have won the fight on points but he didn’t do enough to justify any sort of complaining about losing on the scorecards. Oh, he showed plenty of chances against Couture in the fight, including some shots that rocked the 46-year old veteran. But at the end of the day, Vera used the same style that he always does and left you scratching your head as to why he never finished his opponent off. We knew exactly what we were going to be getting from Randy Couture – a boring, grind-it-out and grind-out-your-eyeballs-while-watching performance. It was up to Vera to shake that formula up. He did for a time or two but failed to actually put anything together in the cage. You saw the ‘potential’ but you didn’t get the ‘result.’
“I’m really pissed but you know in the sport of MMA,” exclaimed Vera in the post-fight press conference. “MMA is a bitch and if uh if you let it go to the judges you let it out of your hands you know? So I’m going to take the blame for this loss, going to man up, it’s my fault, I should have finished the fight, I had a couple of opportunities during the fight that I should have finished it, I’m super-happy I got a chance to fight Randy Couture, my hero, my legend, and I’m letting the rest of the 205 division know I’m going to whoop your ass if you get in the Octagon with me.
I hurt [Randy] a couple of times, I got to take him down, I got to stop a lot of his takedown attempts, I got to pummel Randy on the fence, bro, that is no easy ass task at all by any means man. I see why when Randy takes people to the ground he just pummels them, if you’ve never been at that Greco-Roman level before been pummeled with anybody of that caliber before, it’s a wrap when you hit the deck. I learned a lot tonight man and uh like I told you guys before I’m probably only at 70% of my full potential, this is the fight that probably just awaken the beast and I’m going to back to training, I probably have a five day mandatory off I think and then after that I’m right back in the gym, I need to get back in and start destroying some people.”
We’ve heard that one before.
As for Couture, he fought like a really tough 46-year old gym rat who is game to fight anyone but doesn’t necessarily have the skills remaining to fight someone with lightning hand speed like a Rashad Evans. Nonetheless, Couture fought another fight where he should have gotten really hurt and in the end he didn’t. Score another victory for the legend, who looked good at 205 pounds.
“Yeah, I actually felt real comfortable, the weight came off very easy,” stated Couture in the post-fight press conference. “I lost about 10 pounds in 70 minutes just walking on the treadmill so the water comes out of me pretty easy and it wasn’t a difficult cut at all.
There’s no horsepower issue dealing with a guy my own size so I get in that range and I can stay there, I can wear a guy out normally and I think by the end of the second round it was wearing Brandon down, he wasn’t ready for that pressure either.”
Vera rocked Couture in round one, nailed him again in round two, and then attacked with some body shots in round three. Through it all, Couture survived and managed to control Vera against the cage. Vera only managed a weak takedown once.
“I had to kind of shift gears, he definitely got my attention in the second round, you know I was protecting my head and he kicked me square in the ribs and got my attention, I think he moved my heart with that shot and I had to kind of shift gears, my corner guys said hey, you know it’s real stale in the clinch, you got to open up and start fighting inside there, trying shoulder punch off balance him, throw your hands more, throw some elbows and I think that made a big difference at the end of the second round and the third round but it was a close fight, I agree that it could have went either way, I wouldn’t have been terribly disappointed had the decision gone the other way, I think you know Brandon obviously did a good job in the second round, he backed me up and knocked me down with the kick to the body, I had the takedown in the first round, Brandon did have the takedown in the third round but we didn’t stay there for very long and I had I think three good flurries with my hands in the third round that probably won me that round, so…
He did a great job in the clinch, you know, it’s been a long time since I pummeled and got in there with somebody who actually had some sensitivity and skills there, it’s usually much easier to get a guy to move and then ultimately take him down. Even the time I take him down in the first he was great at hopping right back up, I couldn’t get the cradle and the positions I’ve been training to get there, he did a good job of staying long and standing back up so we had to kind of shift gears in the second where we were getting to the clinch fine but we weren’t scoring there, it was stalling and staying, he was doing a great job so I had to try to get the dirty boxing going and try and release punch and hit him more damaging more there and he nailed me with a solid kick to the body in the second round that took my wind away for a minute.
I wasn’t confident, no, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see it go the other way, I knew it was going to be a very close decision, I felt like I won the first round even it wasn’t very eventful. I controlled the first round by sticking to him the whole time and I thought it was touch-and-go in the third round because of the takedown, I think I countered quickly, I got up quickly and I came right back and hit him with a bunch of shots so that probably swung it my way.”
For as disappointing was Vera’s fight performance was in the cage, the biggest disappointment was Denis Kang.
Kang, who for veteran MMA fans is well-respected for his power and ferocity, faced a fighter in Michael Bisping whose reputation was in desperate need of repair. Say this for UFC matchmaker Joe Silva — booking Kang against Bisping was not a gimme fight by any stretch of the imagination. Bisping desperately needed to win and win in spectacular fashion and do so against a legitimate opponent.
Fortunately for UFC, that happened — and more.
In round one, we saw the Denis Kang of old. The awesome Kang who just put Bisping on the ground and didn’t let up. But a funny thing happened — Bisping didn’t lose his confidence. Kang used to instill fear in his opponents. Anyone who watched his PRIDE fights knows what I mean here. At the end of round one, Bisping walked back to his corner with a confident swagger that said, “Yeah, I can do this.” The Brit showed some guts and good defense on the ground. By round two, Kang was gassed and Bisping took him apart. For a fighter with the talent that Kang has, this should have never happened. Bisping picked him apart and got him down a couple of times, to the point that Kang that was starting to turtle up and Bisping got the TKO by punches on the ground. Perhaps someone like Jordan Breen predicted that finish, but I sure didn’t — I expected Bisping to win on points or for Kang to win by knockout, but to see Bisping win by TKO?
It was the kind of win that really helped salvage Bisping’s UFC career. The UK fans loved him and gave him a lot of adoration. Given that Dan Henderson is still a free agent, UFC had no choice but to hope that they could repair Bisping’s credibility and they did.
As for Kang, it’s really becoming unfortunate what is happening here. It was only a couple of years ago that we talked about Denis Kang as an elite-level fighter, the kind of fighter who put fear in the hearts of his opponents. Then all of a sudden the wheels just started coming off and you have to point back to his loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama in South Korea on the HERO’s card that just made you scratch your head and wonder what the hell is going on.
Or, in the words of Sherdog writer Jordan Breen, “The real story is the latest vivid reminder that Kang is maybe the most implosive fighter in a sport of explosive fighters.”
Bisping’s main expression after the fight was one of relief.
“To say that I’m happy is an understatement. The pressure I felt since the last fight has been unbelievable. Obviously I have a family to provide for and you know a few losses in the UFC and you’re out and this is my passion, this is my dream you know and yeah, so I was very worried going into this fight. I know it was important, but I wanted to beat people otherwise I don’t belong here you know.
I mean he caught me with a stupid shot, OK? But I felt comfortable, even on the ground, you know he did hit me with some decent ground and pound but I was never in danger of being submitted or everything. I’ve said many times I’ve got a good ground and pound and I showed you that tonight, but I’m happy, you know he’s a tough opponent you know and I took care of him nicely.”
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