You could attribute it to whatever you want. That doesn't necessarily mean your attribution reflects reality? Sakuraba being heavier wouldn't have shielded his brain more. I can only think of two people that ever even knocked Sakuraba out, Wanderlei Silva and Ricardo Arona. Also, Arona didn't really knock him out so much as he kneed the crap out of him so much that the doctors stopped the fight between rounds for Sakuraba's safety because his face was a bloody mess. And both of those guys are in his weight class anyway. Yeah, he was a little light for 205, but so what? There have been light-heavyweights and even middleweights that fought heavyweights and won. Yeah, the weight difference can be something to overcome, but it's not impossible. Serious brutality? Like Dan Henderson beating Big Nog? Like Randleman suplexing Fedor? Like Randy moving up to HW and beating the crap out of Tim Sylvia? Like Igor beating--I don't even remember how many people that were much bigger than him? Like Wanderlei Silva knocking Fujita out? Or losing to Mark Hunt by split decision? Like Bas chopping Ruben Villareal down with leg kicks? Or maybe more like Genki Sudo heelhooking Butterbean? I'm not saying this is the norm, because usually the big guys do have an advantage over light-heavyweights, but it's not guaranteed to result in brutal knockouts.
The finale's in the books and the results were: [EXPAND="Spoilers"] Matt Wiman defeated Brian Geraghty by TKO in round 1 Leonard Garcia defeats Allen Berube by RNC in round 1 Rob Emerson vs. Gray Maynard was declared a No Contest in the second round. Weirdest fight in a long time: Maynard took Emerson down in the second, Emerson started tapping as though he were injured, but Maynard had smacked his head on the floor and knocked himself out on the takedown. It's been a while since I've seen a double-finish like that Cole Miller defeated Andy Wang by TKO in round 1. Nice head kick Joe Lauzon defeated Brandon Melendez by triangle choke in the second round Roger Huerta defeated Doug Evans by TKO in round 2. Evans was very game in the first round, looking good on the feet and showing good takedown defence, but in the second, Huerta came out to finish, put Evans down, took the back, flattened him out and unloaded punches for the TKO. Pretty cool fight Thales Leites defeated Floyd Sword by arm triangle in the first round. Sword was game, but ultimately was out of his depth against Leites Nate Diaz won the final, unfortunately due to an injury Manny received on a takedown attempt early in the second round. I had Manny winning the first round, then in the second, he shot in, Diaz stuffed it and it appeared that Manny had separated his shoulder. It's a shame as it was shaping up to be a good fight BJ Penn defeated Jens Pulver by rear naked choke in RD 2. I knew it was going to happen, but as a lifelong Pulver fan, I was hoping he'd have taken it. Jens rallied well at the end of the first, but other than that, it was all Penn[/EXPAND]
[EXPAND="My thoughts"] Uggggh - I really wanted to see Maynard get a spectatular win. I didn't care for Emerson's matches on TUF5 and had wondered if they just brought him in again as cannon fodder for the others. The call on this match sucked though - Maynard beat him and Emerson tapped. I don't care if Maynard had knocked himself silly - he beat Emerson and Emerson tapped. Now, Emerson will probably get yet another match and Maynard will have to waste his time fightimng him again instead of going after a stiffer challenge. Heh heh heh - that's my rant. I enjoyed this match a lot and Lauzon has become one of my favorite young fighters. I see big things in his future! Really enjoyable fight and the ending sucked. I'm just glad they didn't call it a "No Contest" I was really puling for Manny... I'm not sure if his admission that this had happened before will help him get more matches though! Yes, I was rooting for Jens Pulver too. Watching the season, I myself would have chosen to be on Jens' team, I liked his coaching style and how he came across on the show. I respect Penn a lot but his training style wouldn't suit me as much. I really wanted to see Jens beat Penn but regardless, the match was great and very enjoyable! [/EXPAND]
While not a fan of Emersion the call was justified! Dang i wanted that fight to go on between Manny and Nate Diaz! Bj Penn with his if you want to know how i feel, go to bjpenn.com!
[EXPAND="Spoilers"]I thought the Maynard vs Emerson NC was wrong.. The fighter is not knocked out until the ref "rules it", the same as a tapout. If replays show me tapping but the ref never called it, it is not officially a submission. That is why Hughes beat Carlos Newton even thought he was out as well. I didn't like the Manny fight, it looked like I had predicted the fight correctly up until he messed his shoulder up. I have to wonder about his future since his shoulder kept him out of MMA for 2 years and then he has hurt it in his two most recent fights... BJ dominated, looked like he let Pulver out of the armbar and the triangle which Pulver seemed to acknowledge as he said something like " BJ didn't want to submit me, he just wanted to beat the crap out of me". BJ did hold in the choke a bit too long but I'm not sure if it was malice or the fact he seemed to close his eyes and just squeeze as hard as he can. Jens was all class, I hope he can bring the 145lb division to the UFC. I also hope Penn stays at 155 until he fights for the championship. All in all, it was a good finale and I'm surprised the event wasn't packed.[/EXPAND]
TUF Finale The Maynard vs Emerson fight had a wild ending all right. Maynard kept arguing with joe Rogan as they showed the replay over and over. He may also have been out for a few seconds but he won the fight. Emerson tapped. Sometimes when you get KO'd you don't even realize it. Bj is just so flexible. Once he got Pulver's back and trapped his arm with his leg it was all over. Not many people can pull that off as well as BJ becaus of the flexibility it takeds to trap the arm with your leg. Once that happens though the opponent can't pry your arms off his neck. I think you are right about the Manny/Nate fight. It probably would have been more of the same as what happened in the first round if Manny hadn't dislocated his shoulder. Thanks, Sensei Tom
