The Port Arthur News
April 05, 2008 11:02 pm
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UFC Fight Night on Wednesday delivered and delivered with express shipping.
The night started out with James "The Sandman" Irvin cold clocking Houston Alexander with a Superman punch, knocking him out within eight seconds, tying it for the fastest knockout in UFC history.
Superman punches have an extremely low success rate but when they land, they're devastating. Irvin landed two rights to Alexander when he was down on the ground to ensure the fight was over.
Referee Steve Mazzagatti immediately jumped in to stop the fight when it appeared Alexander was not intelligently defending himself.
The crowd, which erupted into cheers after the knockout, then started to boo when Houston Alexander jumped up seconds after the stoppage. He recovered from the knockout so quickly, the crowd felt it was a premature stoppage by
the referee.
In an important bout between welterweight contenders, Thiago Alves and Karo "The Heat" Parisyan, referee Steve Mazzagatti was faced with the same situation. Alves caught Parisyan in a Muay Thai plum and took out the Judo expert with a knee to the chin.
When it appeared Karo Parisyan was not intelligently defending himself, Steve Mazzagatti stopped the fight. Again, the knocked out fighter jumped up seconds later to show the crowd he was really OK.
Cheers turned to jeers again when the crowd felt this was another premature stoppage by the referee.
Here's the interesting part. Steve Mazzagatti is known for being the ref who will let fights go the distance, perhaps longer then they should. He's the ref who has let fighters fight until they're a bloody pulp.
Does he err on the side of caution for fights that are being aired on free television?
On pay per view events, Mazzagatti may have given the downed fighters a little more leeway to recover and possibly come back. There appears to be a violence threshold that differs between pay per view events and free television.
Perhaps fighters should be aware of this when fighting on free tv and learn not to get into the least bit of trouble. If they do, they're susceptible to the fight getting stopped.
Kenny Florian controlled and defeated Joe Lauzon in the main event of the evening. Florian was clearly the more conditioned and stronger fighter of the two. He performed weeks of elevation training in Colorado in preparation for the fight.
This is a sharp contrast to Lauzon's training with BJ Penn in the lush, oxygen rich environment of Hilo, Hawaii. Lauzon did utilize an altitude sleeping chamber to strengthen his lungs. However, it appears it was not enough.
With more and more at stake in MMA, fighters are taking the next level in preparation for fights, living and training two
miles high and utilizing such devices to get the edge over their opponent.
With the Florian victory, the title picture in the UFC lightweight division is getting more and more intriguing. The BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk title fight in May is going to be a big one.
Should BJ Penn win, we could be looking a Penn vs. Florian title fight with Penn looking for revenge for his pupil. Should Sherk win, we could see a rematch of the 2006 lightweight title match between Sherk and Florian.
The UFC welterweight division is getting more crowded at the top. Thiago Alves' victory over Karo Parisyan has thrusted him closer to a title shot. One can only hope for an eventual fight between the explosive striker Alves and the dynamic Georges "Rush" St. Pierre.
That would be a phenomenal match-up both record and style wise. We'll see what shapes up after the highly anticipated rematch between St. Pierre and Matt Serra on April 19th.
David Estrada Jr. is a Mixed Martial Arts columnist for the Port Arthur News. He can be e-mailed at
DavidEstrada@DavidEstrada.com
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