Quite an exciting weekend for the sporting world, wasn't it? Saturday night the UFC provided us with the ultimate rematch between Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn, and Sunday night was the big NFL championship game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. Lets see how all of this went down, shall we?
UFC 94: Penn vs. St. Pierre II provided us with some very interesting and even matchups. I will mention that the term "even" is INSANELY appropriate as 8 of the 10 fights that night went to decision, with several being split decisions to boot. The main card proved entertaining still, although the first two fights could've gone either way in the end.
The first fight was between top lightweights Clay Guida and Nate Diaz. Guida was a slight favorite because of his experience, but Diaz was to be a tough one for him. In the end, Guida got a close split decision victory because of his grappling and aggression, although some felt Diaz should've gotten the win. I felt Guida just got it, and now he's up to some tough competition. Following this fight was a welterweight bout between Karo Parysian and Dong-Hyun Kim. Another back and forth fight occured, and another split decision was reached in favor of Parysian. I really thought Kim had eked out the fight, but it was still an entertaining fight to see.
Next was a light heavyweight battle between Stephan Bonnar and Jon Jones. In what was supposed to be Bonnar's comeback turned into a nightmarish one-sided lose where Jones both out-struck and out-grappled the veteran. Still, Jones looked very impressive, and shows a lot of promise. Another highly-anticipated light heavyweight fight came next as Lyoto Machida took on Thiago Silva. Both were undefeated, and both were looking for a title shot. In the end, Machida dominated the stad-up game, knocked Silva down several times before finishing him off with a downward right that put him out at the last second of the first round. Great showing by Machida, and he proved he could very well be the next champion.
Finally, it was time for the fight I had been waiting quite some time for: welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre was defending his title against current lightweight champion BJ Penn. I begged for St. Pierre to put a beating on Penn in some way. He did not disappoint. After a good first round for both, but a clear round for St. Pierre, he began to demolish Penn on the ground by taking him down, and beating on him relentlessly. He did so through to round 4, and Penn who was completely broken at this point, was forced to give up then and there, and his corner threw in the towel. Georges St. Pierre is still champion, did it convincingly, and completely outclassed someone who was expected to give him a good fight.
As if one night for a great sporting event wasn't enough, the next night did it again with Super Bowl XLIII. The Steelers were clear favorites against the Cardinals, but most every football fan knew the Cardinals would not go down with giving them hell. I actually thought the Cardinals would get the win, and I rooted for them the whole way. The first half of the game didn't seem that way, as the Steelers got a field goal in the first quarter, then scored a touchdown in the second. Although the Cardinals got a touchdown in the second quarter, they failed to capitolize on a chance to pull ahead as Pittsburgh intercepted their attempt at a touchdown, and scored one of their own in the longest Super Bowl run of an even 100 yards by Santonio Holmes. Impressive......but not looking good for the Cardinals. Score was 17-7 Steelers.
The third quarter went similar to the first, as the Steelers added a field goal to their score. It was the forth quarter where it got interesting. With a touchdown, a safety, and another touchdown, the Cardinals pulled ahead 23-20, keeping the hope alive. Not much time was left on the clock for Pittsburgh to either pull ahead or tie the game with a field goal. They choose to end it there, and a touchdown by Larry Fitzgerald pulled the Steelers ahead 27-23. Now the Cardinals had even less time to get another touchdown to get a win. Those hopes were dashed when the Steelers again intercepted a poor Kurt Warner pass attempt. The Pittsburgh Steelers are again NFL champs for a record six times in the team's history. Not much you can say other than that it was a hell of a game, the way a championship game should be.
Whew, I'm getting excited all over again just reliving these great and entertaining moments. Let me tone it down, and end this blog. Upcoming posts will include a look at reality shows, talk of the latest video game I've been playing, and some other cool Top 5 lists. These are gonna be some cool posts, I can see it now. But you know what the cool thing to do right now is? Find your own entertainment right now. You know how I know that's cool? Cause that's what I'm gonna do. Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeah........
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