Some of the events in 2007 were fucking shocking. Georges St. Pierre getting knocked out by Matt Serra, Gabriel Gonzaga getting laid out by Mirko CroCop and Randy Couture returning to the Octagon were just a few of the big surprises, but this first card of 2008, not so much.
Perhaps the only thing that might even be construed as an upset on the card was Fabricio Werdum knocking out Gabriel Gonzaga, but it's not terribly amazing when a fighter beats a guy he has beaten already. That said, I picked Werdum to lose, and we pretty impressed with his performance. Still, it didn't shock me.
Penn's choke out of Joe Stevenson and Marcus Davis' big KO of Jesse Laudin were not surprising either, and both of them were well expected by many fans, myself included.
While I was a little surprised by Wilson Gouveia pulling out an early round two KO of Jason Lambert, it isn't the first time Jambert's been floored with that strike before and it was a move that Gouveia clearly put some effort into scouting. If anything on this card can be called a surprise, this is it. The first Octagon KO might have been the big win of the night in my opinion, but with the odds for this fight basically up in the air, it wasn't a huge shock to see Gouveia pull it out.
Antoni Hardonk turned in what was my favorite performance of the night in a fight that I knew was going to be entertaining, though most people thought differently going in. I predicted a round one KO, but I was surprised that he did it so early, so quickly and so devastatingly. Not shocked at the outcome, but very happy to see Hardonk can a boring layngay fighter like Colin Robinson with some serious Dutch kickboxing saavy.
I know Kendall Grove is overrated, even if many of the hardcore TUF fans wanted to admit it. I knew he was going to lose the fight with Cote and I knew he was going to lose this one. The downfall for Grove continues to be that he cannot cope with the more experienced brawler and use his height effectively. In my opinion, he shouldn't be working with Punishment, but rather with a camp that's going to really teach him some effective muay thai skills like Chute Boxe.
That said, I was impressed with the way that Rivera showed up and really brought the fight to Grove, working around the reach and knocking him around like he was a 15 year old kid. I like watching the Conquistador fight, and even if he never manages to get to the top of this division, he'll be a solid test for many of the young up and comers.
Sakara brought some good boxing skills and put on a solid show in his fight with James Lee. He used his distance like a good boxer should as he transitions to MMA, and I was impressed with is ability to keep from getting taken down. I figured he had one out for this fight, and that was to use his hands to keep distance between him and Lee, and he did that. Props to Sakara, and hopefully the UFC will keep him around to see if he can continue to use his hands at that level.
Sam Stout and Paul Kelly turned in impressive showings, and hopefully we'll get to see them finish a fight in their next matchup, as they'll probably be facing UFC rookies to show that they belong in the upper echelon of their division.
In a card with only one heavyweight fight I'll say this: the only thing that surprised me was that the UFC managed to broadcast the entire card on pay-per-view, and I wasn't bored with the decisions. I good note to start of the year, but not one that really shook the world.
Oh well, maybe that will come later.
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