PreView's Picks for UFC 88 - Post Event

Well, another PPV has come and gone, and I'm back to posting horrible records on my fantasy picks. I went 3-6 this time. Horrible. Absolutely horrible.

Here are a few quick thoughts on the event (after the jump), in no particular order - I'll likely flesh this out some more when it's not almost 3 in the morning.


Liddell vs. Evans - Had someone been able to look into the future and told me that Evans won, and that I could win a million dollars by guessing what way he finished the fight, I think KO would have been my absolute last choice. Regardless of that, Evans had what could likely be dubbed KO of the year, and a spot on any instructional videos on what an overhand right is supposed to look like. I was among the many who thought Evans couldn't handle Liddell, and so I now have to give major props to Evans.

Franklin vs. Hamill - no real surprises here for me, except that Franklin took so long to finish the fight and Hamill didn't try to shoot in more than he did. Hamill can definitely be a force at 205, but he needs to expand his striking game. I think he only threw four or five different punches the entire fight. I think Franklin can post a more dominating victory at 205, but he'll have to fight somebody he's not so close with.

Henderson vs. Palhares - this fight was kind of disappointing for me, in that I thought Palhares would post a stronger performance. Not to take too much away from him, though, because he did survive some huge onslaughts from Henderson, and tried to capitalize on the ground when he had the chance.
And the big slam he got will definitely show up on his personal highlight reel in future UFC events. But my question now is what's next for Henderson?

Kim vs. Brown - I was fairly pleased with this fight. I thought Brown fought hard through it, effectively stuffing Kim's Judo game. I think Brown would've ended up in a better position had he pushed the action more, but it was an entertaining fight.

Kampmann vs. Marquardt - Also a little disappointed here. Frankly, I didn't think Marquardt stood that good of a chance in winning this fight unless he started in on the crotch-shots much earlier this time. I thought Kampmann would definitely win the stand up battle, and would be able to survive enough on the ground to frustate Marquardt. But like with Evans, props to Marquardt - it was definitely a dominating victory. 2008 has been much better to Greg Jackson than 2007 was.

Lambert vs. MacDonald - No big surprise here for me, although I did think MacDonald did a great job of not panicking when he was in (literally) a tight spot. In spite of the fact Lambert lost, I think he should stick with 185 - he seemed a lot lighter on his feet than he did at LHW.

Boetsch vs. Patt - No big surprise here either, except for the fact that Boetsch came in to the fight in WAY better shape than he was against Hamill. I'd heard he was working harder, but you could definitely see it, as he was much lighter on his feet and looked significantly lighter as well. I'm excited to see who Boetsch will fight next.

Finally, while they did not broadcast Tavares vs. Pellegrino, since it garnered Fight of the Night honors, I'm hoping they'll show it for free on UFC.com like they did with Burkman vs. Hazelett.

Oh, and maybe for the UFN, I won't embarass myself in the fantasy leagues like I did tonight. One can only hope.

-PreView