TUF 5 Finale: Rise of the little guy

So this is what B.J. Penn looks like when he's in shape.

I love this guy, despite his history of letdowns. He's just got these crazy legs and scary-good ground skills that make you wonder why he's got 4 losses on his record, including a decision to Jens Pulver in UFC 35.

This time, he dominated Pulver from start to finish. So much that I wondered if he was trying to extend the fight just to punish Pulver a little.

The match up of the coaches from The Ultimate Fighter 5, was a reminder of just how freaking good Penn can be. And after seeing Penn at 155, I've got to wonder what he's thinking about going back up to the welterweight division.

Of course, the money is in the higher weight division where he could get some marquee purses with possible rematches against Matt Hughes and Georges St.-Pierre.

Penn (12-4-1) looked good at 155. He just needs to lay off the roast pork and poi. But at 28, it's past time for Penn to decide whether he wants to be a "prodigy" for the rest of his life or finally turn it on and become something more.

TUF 5 Finale between Manny Gamburyan and Nate Diaz offered a great contrast, with the lanky Diaz holding a 6-inch reach and 5-inch height advantage over the fireplug Gamburyan.

Unfortunately, Gamburyan tapped out with a dislocated shoulder in the 2nd round, giving Diaz the TUF 5 title. You can't take away anything from Diaz, these kinds of injuries are the nature of the sport.

But dude, where's your car? He sounds like he's been hitting the chronic between rounds.

You've also got to feel for Gamburyan, though and wonder if he'll be able to work his way back from this injury.

Personally, I doubt he has much of a future. Once a shoulder dislocates, it gets easier and easier for it to happen again. And while shoulder surgery might help a football or basketball player get back to an elite level, it's unlikely to stand up to the pressures of grappling and jujitsu.

In the first televised fight of the night, Roger Huerta (20-1-1) got served up some Alaskan flounder.

Doug Evans, making his UFC debut, wasn't a total fish, despite the UFC's hope to build Huerta into a future star in the lightweight division. He frustrated Huerta in the first round with his wrestling skills, which made you wonder why Huerta kept trying to work a takedown when he should have been standing the fight up.

But in the second round, after the fight went to the ground, Huerta was able to get behind Evans, where he started pounding away at the former collegiate wrestler. And with Evans doing nothing but covering himself up, the ref stopped the fight at the 3:30 mark in the second round.

It's a frustrating to see a fight end this way, especially when you get the feeling that Evans could have made things interesting if he could have taken it to the third.

Surreal moment of the night belonged to Gray Maynard and Rob Emerson, which ended in a "no contest" decision. Maynard, who had control of the fight in the second round, picked Emerson up and slammed him to the canvas. Emerson, whose ribs were already hurt, tapped out but there's some debate whether Maynard had knocked himself unconscious. Get out. I haven't seen anything like that since Rocky II.

UFC 72? Wake me when it's over

For the first time in more than two years, I missed a UFC pay-per-view event.

Not that I wasn't itching to make a last-minute purchase, I've always been a fan of Rich Franklin, a great fighter and a classy dude. And nothing against his opponent, Yushin Okami, even if he was a replacement on the card. I was also curious how Forrest Griffin would come back from the clobbering he took from Keith Jardine.

But sometimes you've got to stand up for principle. So, I passed on UFC 72, a card that really should have been on Spike.

From what I've read, the Griffin fight was disappointing and the Franklin fight was about what you expected. Though, I did hear Franklin say in the post-fight interview that Okami wasn't as strong as everyone i.e. Joe Rogan, had made him out to be.

Still, Franklin, who won a unanimous decision, admits he avoided throwing kicks because he didn't want to give Okami a shot at working the leg for a takedown. That was probably smart because from some of the photos I've seen, once the fight got to the ground in the third, Okami sunk a wicked kimura that makes me wonder how Franklin avoided tapping.

I'm happy for Franklin, though if I was him, I wouldn't be itching to get back in the ring too soon with Anderson Silva. Not that Silva is untouchable but, well, he's been untouchable since he moved over to the UFC.

Fan loyalties, aside, I'm hoping other folks out there stayed away from UFC 72.

Will I spend the rest of the day trying to find a clip of the Franklin-Okami fight on the web? Sure. Does that make me a hypocrite. Maybe.

But paying to see such a lackluster card sends the wrong kind of message to Dana White and Zuffa.

Fisher, Stout stand & deliver

Go ahead, copy last night's UFC main event to DVD. It's an instant classic.

Spencer Fisher, 31, (21-3) won a unanimous decision in his rematch against Sam Stout, 23, (12-3-1) but the lightweight fight was anything but one-sided. Fisher, who lost to Stout last year, dropped bombs from every angle but, each time, Stout brushed it off and answered with solid blows of his own.

Despite the unanimous decision, I thought the first round was almost too close to call, either way.

I gave Fisher the edge in aggressiveness but Stout always seemed to have a timely kick or knee strike to punish Fisher for charging forward. By the third round, however, Stout's punches had gone slack. He was still swinging and countering but there was no zip at all.

The third round was Fisher's best. He rocked Stout a couple times early in the round, controlling it the whole way.

But the first and second rounds were spectacular. They each ended with the crowd at the Hard Rock Casino giving standing ovations. All I could think of at the moment was that UFC and Spike had produced something special once again, the same way they did during the first Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonnar fight.

Fisher not only avenged his loss to Stout, he also added enough shine to his star to put him in line for an eventual title fight. That is if he can repeat against Stout in the likely rubber match.

Here's some observations from the evening:

I didn't see enough of Anthony Johnson's debut in the UFC to tell whether he's going to be a star. That's what happens when you knock out your opponent in 13 seconds. Still, Johnson had the biggest laugh of the night when Joe Rogan asked him what was going through his mind after he landed the deciding left cross. "Man down, man down," Johnson replied . . .

. . . The second funniest moment was during a promo for UFC 72 this weekend in Belfast, northern Ireland. Forrest Griffin, who has Irish roots, said something about how there was no way he could go to Ireland and lose to a Hispanic. That brought a combination of laughs and gasps from the South Florida crowd, where Hispanics were well represented . . .

. . . The strangest fight of the night was the Tamdan McCrory vs. Pete Spratt match. McCrory, a lanky, awkward-looking middleweight, looked overmatched most of the fight. The crowd booed when McCrory refused to stand up. Spratt looked frustrated, too. Then faster than you could shout, "look out," Spratt fell into the trap McCrory had been setting from the opening bell. McCrory dropped a triangle choke on Spratt that forced the Texan to tap out at 2:04 in the second round . . .

. . . The most brutal punch of the night was landed by Drew McFedries on Jordan Radev after Radev was knocked flat. McFedries pounced and landed three shuddering blows to a defenseless Radev before the ref could push him away. . . .

. . . Finally, I think it's safe to say that UFC events have eclipsed NBA basketball games as the place for the hottest female fans. The hot mom in the picture below was showing off her stripper moves -- including squeezing her breasts -- for the camera while her two kids sat nearby. Way to go mom!

Boxing vs. MMA

Can boxing and MMA co-exist?

Until the last year, or so, boxing was like the older brother who didn't pay much attention to what its upstart, rough-around-the edges little brother was doing.

Boxing had always been king. It had always had stars. But now, boxing is starting to get a little annoyed at all the love MMA is getting. While boxing's popularity has declined, MMA is soaring.

The Miami Herald had a feature today on the two sports, focusing on boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC star Chuck Liddell sniping at each other.

Mayweather calls MMA a fad. Dana White, UFC president, fired back, as did Liddell.

The fact is that if boxing had a charismatic superstar, no one would be worried about boxing's popularity. Mayweather is not that guy. He talks a good game and gets the hype, but as he showed in the Oscar De La Hoya fight, he's about as exciting as a wet potato.

In his Sunday column, Herald columnist Dan Le Batard talks about how much more MMA offers the fight fan: "more blood, more action, more danger, more testosterone, more art, more more."

But to really watch MMA is to appreciate the skill involved. Sure, Mayweather would probably pummel a top UFC fighter in a boxing match. But can you imagine Mayweather in a MMA against someone like Anderson Silva?

They'd be carrying Mayweather out in pieces.

Tommy "the joke" Morrison

I haven't seen any video from the fight but from what I read, Tommy Morrison's "MMA" debut last night was a sham. Morrison fought against John Stover in an unsanctioned fight in Arizona and won by KO in the first round.

Though it was billed as an MMA fight, the rules were changed before the fight to prevent grappling and knees. So basically, it was a boxing match with the 5-oz MMA gloves.

Stover must need the money to not only agree to the rule change but to step into the ring with a guy who may have the HIV.

As the purses grow in MMA, we're going to see more of these washed-up palookas like Morrison trying to cash in. Former NFL receiver Johnnie Morton made his debut last week in Los Angeles and got KTFO in less than a minute. He made a clumsy takedown attempt that left him open to a muy thai knee strike. And then he made the mistake of going toe-to-toe with Bernard Ackah.

Someone forgot to tell Morton that it's best to keep your hands up when you do this. Morton got dropped so hard they had to take him out on a stretcher.

In the brief time he was the ring, Morton showed a flash of athleticism but it's clear he needs another year or two of training. Here's the Morton Video:

Fisher vs. Stout

Lightweights Sam Stout (12-2-1) and Spencer Fisher (20-3) are the main event this week at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Stout beat Fisher in their one and only previous meeting last year. Fisher has more experience and is hoping to even the score.

But as we saw in the aftermath of the Chuck Lidell-Quinton Jackson KO, sometimes it's easier to talk payback smack than to deliver.