Thoughts:
Silva vs. Leites - This fight was not fun to watch. The first 2 rounds I pretty much blame Silva for what was going on. I know Leites wasn't too keen on scrapping, but he was more ready to do it in the first 2 rounds, and Silva was playing games. After that, the next 3 rounds were a garbage-fest by Leites. I can understand that it's not your thing to stand-up, and that means it's especially not your thing to stand-up with Anderson Silva, but come on. Thhis isn't the first time I've seen a guy do this, but besides maybe the later rounds of the Liddell/Horn fight, this was probably the most prominent fight that had this go on. This fight will show bad for both guys, and while Leites deserves more of the blame, I think Silva will get more of it. I did think it was amusing what Silva was doing in the later rounds by showcasing some moves, and doing some funny stuff like punching Leites in the legs and feet (4th round), but overall it bothers me more that Silva didn't just go in and swing hard at him. I know that Leites was dropping, and I know you can't "walk" into a shot by your opponent, but Leites wasn't throwing anything. I just think that Silva would have come off better if he rushed in a few times looking to end it, rather than just showing off some cool moves he knows. This fight will probably hurt Leites more because most people are not going to be interested in seeing him fight anymore, and if he gets more fights, I am sure they will be unfavorable match-ups, just like Silva was.
Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua - This fight went pretty close to how I thought it would. I knew Shogun would be strong in the first round, and he could drop Chuck fast. I thought if Chuck survived he could win, but in the end, he couldn't. I now it's going around that Chuck will retire, but I'm not sold on that yet. He can still make money for the UFC, or he could make a lot of money for another promoter. I was nice to see Shogun get a good win, and I'm looking forward to him getting a fight with a better opponent. Shogun still has what it takes to be one of the best fighters in this weight class.
Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann - Sos looked pretty darn good in this fight, and that is good news. Sos has a lot of potential and I look for him to continue to win fights. He did a great job of knowing what he is good at and focusing on that to beat his opponent. I like guys who have a good gameplan, and execute it well.
Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk - This fight bothered me a little. I think Kongo has a lot of potential, but I just feel like either he isn't prepared for his fights. I mean that in the sense that either he doesn't train enough in regards to fighting. He obviously spends enough time in the gym, but I'm not sure he spends enough time on the mat. Or, it could be that is just not getting good enough training. It seems to me that he still does not know how to finish fights. I know this was a TKO, but it was a garbage call. I am sick of the Brock Lesnar fininsh that is just weak hammer fist shots that barely do any damage, but have a high quantity delivered. I don't like how for some of these guys they think the fight should be stopped for how many times they hit someone as opposed to how much damage it actually does. Maybe I'm nit-picking here, but I think Kongo should be better by now than he is. Also, something was up with Hardonk in this fight. He seemed really tentative. Maybe he was just being cautious with Kongo, but it got him beat.
