Rarely will a fighter with as large an ego as Mike Swick apologize for putting on a terrible performance. The fact that he admits the fight was bad when he came out the victor speaks for how undeniably terrible it was. The Omigawa vs. Tavares fight is the same in that sense.
I'll admit that, like Sloan, I was very impressed with the performances turned in by Patrick Cote and Nate Diaz. I didn't think that Cote would be able to finish McFedries, but he did, and deserves respect for doing something that no one else in the 185 pound division has done yet, and that's hurt the Miletich man.
As for Diaz, he finished Alvin Robinson in the impressive, aggressive submission grappling style I've come to expect of Cesar Gracie students, with and without the gi. It speaks for Diaz's skill as a grappler, and there's no problem with a solid, technical submission.
My problem with Sloan's piece has nothing to do with the first section and everything to do with his allussion to a great fight between Lesnar and Mir, because he's hoping, and not looking at the facts, and setting himself up for a letdown, especially given the rest of this card.
Everyone knows that Nogueira vs. Sylvia is going to be a hard fight to watch, bar natural disaster (and I'm praying for rain like the NBA saw this weekend to brighten up the fight). After all, both fighters are coming off of fights that can be called nothing other than unimpressive, and they don't match up in a way that promises explosiveness. That's partly because one of the fighters is Tim Sylvia (who doesn't really provide and explosive matchup with anyone short of Fedor and CroCop) and the other is Nogueira, who is most explosive off of his back, a place where we know Sylvia will never allow this fight to be.
Anyone who suggests that this sport will be entertaining because Lesnar comes from a background in "sports entertainment" doesn't understand why fans watch this sport. I won't speak for everyone, but I watch it to see two guys go at it, not to see them talk about going at it and then pull a chair out from under the ring as soon as they show the first sign of defeat.
Sloan offers us with three possibilities.
Will Mir run out of gas within 90 seconds like he usually does, thus allowing Lesnar to capitalize? Will Lesnar take Mir down and fall right into an armbar 20 seconds in? Or will Lesnar and Mir both enter the Octagon in the best conditions of their lives, resulting in one hell of a heavyweight showdown worthy of being the main event of UFC 81?
The first two seem the most probable, and while I, like Sloan, will be praying for hell and high water to show up in that cage, it's important to acknowledge the unlikelihood.
I commend Sloan for his optimism, but question his reasoning. Well, I guess that when we're faced with certain boredom, all we can do is hope for the best.
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