UFC 82 has come and gone. It was a lackluster event filled with boring fights. The first fight on the pay-per-view set the tone for the dull night as Jon Fitch defeated Chris Wilson in three rounds. It was a very uninspiring performance by Fitch who will probably get a title shot next against the winner of Georges St. Pierre vs Matt Serra. That fight will happen in April.
The next fight was more exciting as Yushin Okami knocked out Evan Tanner in the second round. Okami is also in line for a title shot after this victory. He should get the next shot to try to dethrone middleweight champion, Anderson Silva.
The third fight of the pay-per-view card should have been the first fight shown on TV. Chris Leban and Alessio Sakara slugged it out until Leban knocked down Sakara. This match probably woke up some of the fans who were watching the show.
Unfortunately for fight fans, the next fight between heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Heath Herring made them almost fall asleep again and want their money back. The fight was sloppy and there was nothing technical about this battle.
Silva capped off the night in the main event against Dan Henderson. Silva showed everyone he is the most dangerous fighter in the middleweight division and saved the show with his dominating performance. Silva knows how to finish fights and entertain the fans. It was another bad night for Team Quest fighters as both Wilson and Henderson lost. Team Quest fighters are on a serious losing streak in the UFC.
What made the show hard to watch was not just the lackluster fights but the horrible announcing of Mike Goldberg. Goldberg and sidekick Joe Rogan are probably the worst announcing team in MMA. All Goldberg does is repeat himself or state the obvious. When ring announcer Bruce Buffer announces the referee's name, Goldberg quickly repeats his name just in case we forgot. He should just shut up or maybe just use his catch phrases, "Heeeeeere we go" and "It's allllll over." Sometimes he can be overdramatic. During the Okami vs Tanner fight, he made it seem that Okami was in trouble when he caught a few punches from Tanner when Okami clearly was not in danger. Goldberg does a better job at giving halftime football scores on FSN than announcing MMA. I would rather listen to Bill Goldberg and Jay Glazer than Mike Goldberg call another fight. The next time he says "great round" during a terrible fight, I will get ready to hit the mute button on my remote.
Rogan is no better than Goldberg. During the Fitch vs Wilson fight, he said that a boring fight on the ground is way more interesting than baseball. I guess Rogan doesn't know that baseball is America's pastime and one of the most popular sports in this country.
Overall, UFC 82 was not worth the $44.95 price that it charged fans to watch the show. I hope UFC 83 will be much better but I won't count on it. In fact, I am more excited about Strike Force's show on March 29 than UFC 83.
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