Apart from the inevitable conclusion, I was wrong in my Ali/Wepner metaphor.

(does this remind you of another famous, iconic image of a certain iconic Boxing legend?)

After dropping him twice, Anderson Silva sent Forrest Griffin crashing to the mat one final time for the win. In only three minutes and 23 seconds of the first round, the final crash was amazing, propelled by merely a right jab while Anderson was backing up. Upon crashing, Forrest put a hand up, signaling he had enough.

Therefore, I was largely wrong in envisioning Silva vs. Griffin as MMA's equivalent of Muhammad Ali vs. Chuck Wepner. Forrest Griffin never put Anderson in danger, and never had a chance to go the distance; Wepner went the distance, and shocked the world when he sent Ali down on his ass in the 9th round. But, Ali inevitably came back, and sent Wepner down for good in the 15th and final round. I was right in envisioning Silva's win as inevitable as Ali's win, and right in envisioning Griffin and Wepner as epitomizing the every man who never quit, but I was wrong in envisioning Forrest Griffin taking Anderson Silva to the distance.

However, I was nowhere near as wrong as the audience, as well as the Internet community. Instantanenously, the audience changed their tune regarding Silva, as they initially booed him during his entrance and introduction. The response from most of the Internet MMA community was similarly faster than the speed of light, as they are now back riding the Anderson Silva bandwagon, and agree with Dana's White assessment of Silva as the "Pound-for-Pound Best Fighter in the World."

But, Anderson Silva never lost his status as the Pound for Pound Best. In his last two Middleweight fights, he was showcasing his ability to toy with opponents and end a fight whenever/however he wants. How many fighters can do that!?

As for Forrest Griffin? The keyboard warriors were judging and criticizing him for running out of the cage immediately after his defeat. Forrest is known to be distressed in defeat, whether it is humbly criticizing his own performance (after the split-decision loss to Tito Ortiz), or crying uncontrollably (after being knocked out by Keith Jardine). All fighters handle defeat differently, but most share one thing: passion. Agony accompanies that level of passion when a fighter experiences defeat. Whether a fighter humbly accepts or reacts emotionally, it is only natural, and any criticism from fans is completely unwarranted. As Frank Trigg says, "anyone who criticizes Forrest Griffin has never been passionate about anything in their life." Forrest will bounce back regardless, because he is a true fighter, and cannot be permanently broken by defeat.

But, several of those finger-tapping warriors consider the defeat embarassing, specifically in the way Forrest lost. Sure, the short arm jab may not have looked as visually "strong" as a dynamite-stacked high kick to the head or a Chuck Liddell swinging knock out of ultra-death, but it was damn impressive, and certainly not embarassing. The fact Anderson can land such a devistating blow in defense while merely backing up is much more amazing and calculated than the C4-explosive high kick or the dialed-up OhMyGawd knock out of uber-violent death. Don't get me wrong, I like explosive endings as much as the next viewer, but Anderson Silva's technique and skill is out of this world. Anyone who still questions or doubts Anderson Silva is a fool.

The biggest question is, how is losing to a man who is the best in the world AND one of the elite strikers in the game... in any way, embarassing? When Forrest Griffin retires, he will be able to look back at his career, and tell people that he fought some of the very best fighters in the history of the sport.

Win, lose or draw, Forrest Griffin has absolutely nothing to be embarassed about.

Besides, everybody loses to Anderson Silva. If Mixed Martial Arts were an Arcade video game tournament, it'd be Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Anderson Silva would be Akuma. The reason? As David Sirlin explains, "most characters in that game cannot beat Akuma. I don’t mean it’s a tough match—I mean they cannot ever, ever, ever, ever win... his air fireball move is something the game simply wasn’t designed to handle. He is not merely the best character in the game, but is at least ten times better than other characters."

While Akuma is banned from use in U.S. competition, Anderson Silva cannot be stopped. He has as much control over when/how to end a fight as he does over when to retire from competition.

Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin: Trial by Fire

Tonight at UFC 101: Declaration, UFC Middleweight (185 lbs.) Champion Anderson "the Spider" Silva revisits the Light Heavyweight (205 lbs.) division to challenge Forrest Griffin. This is Silva's toughest fight to date, as he enters the Octagon against a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. If fighting a former champion isn't enough, he's also fighting one of the toughest contenders in the entire division! Forrest Griffin's toughness shines through his iron-clad fight-to-the-death will, as he specifically and repeatedly vows "I will never be broken... and I will never quit." His toughness is matched only by his legendary conditioning, of which UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture (also legendary for conditioning) famously remarked "(Forrest) is the hardest worker in training... I literally have to throw him out... and I crawl out of the gym after training with him." Forrest Griffin personifies "fortitude" and "challenge."

Silva faces such a tough contender, off the heels of two dissapointing and hotly-criticized outings. Though successful in defending the Middleweight crown AND cementing a UFC record 9-fight win streak, his defense against Patrick Cote (in November 2008 at UFC 90) ended in the 3rd round, due to Cote's freak right-knee injury. Silva's latest defense against Thales Leites (in April 2009 at UFC 97, ironically named "Redemption") ended in a highly uneventful unanimous decision, which Dana White remarked, "I have never been completely embarassed of a main event until tonight; I apologize." Although Anderson didn't lost a single round against Cote and Leites, the walking highlight reel of devistating knock-outs and submissions desperately needed a change.

Anderson Silva, who Dana White still maintains is "the Pound-for-Pound Best Fighter in the World," needed to be challenged. Seriously challenged. Although Cote is/was a very respectable competitor within the division, he was not prepared for Anderson Silva, who completely outclassed Cote for three straight rounds. Cote at least (carefully) engaged the champion, whereas Leites did not fight like a hungry challenger at all. When Leites wasn't deliberately falling to the mat, in futile hopes of engaging Anderson on the ground, he was merely at the mercy of the very bored Middleweight emperor. The mercy sent a message loud and clear to Dana White and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva: I am talented enough to decide when this fight ends, and how I want it to end.

Fortunately, White and Silva received the message. With four fights left on his current contract, and a public desire to box Roy Jones, Jr., Anderson Silva intends to retire on a monumental note. Beating Forrest Griffin silences critics, who believe his last two fights have somewhat tainted his image. Critics also believe Anderson has lost the motivation and the passion that solidified him as an all-time great, but rarely analyze in-depth the two prior challenges (or lack thereof).

But, silencing the critics is not a major concern, as beating Forrest Griffin achieves a feat rarely achieved: successful competition (regardless of a belt or not) in three different weight classes. In only his 6th fight, Anderson Silva won the high-regarded Japanese Shooto Welterweight (168 lbs.; now known as Middleweight) Championship from the legendary Hayato "Mach" Sakurai. Later in 2003, while fighting in Cage Rage and PRIDE Fighting Championships, Anderson graduated to the Middleweight division. During the initial pursuit, Anderson won the Cage Rage Middleweight Championship, and left Cage Rage undefeated (save for a questionable disqualification loss to Yushin Okami) with three defenses. Upon entering the UFC's Middleweight division, Silva's domination has been unprecedented. Silva completely cleared out the Middleweight division, and hints that he could also impact the Light Heavyweight division.

Silva hummed the first hint in July 2008, KO'ing (former) Light Heavyweight contender James Irvin in only one minute.

Tonight, Anderson intends to yell the next hint, at the expense of Forrest Griffin. Most expect Forrest Griffin to lose, much like nobody gave Chuck Wepner (the main inspiration for the "Rocky" movie series) a rabbit's chance in a Lion's den against Muhammad Ali in 1975. Wepner shocked the entire world when he sent Ali crashing to the mat in the 9th round. Although Wepner lost the fight in the 15th and final round by TKO, the amazing effort cripples the test of time.

Will Forrest Griffin embody a modern-day (but more successful) MMA equivalent of Chuck Wepner, or will he surpass Wepner and beat an all-time great?

Will Anderson Silva enhance his win-steak record to 10 wins and begin the twilight of his career on a high note, or will Forrest Griffin prove that Anderson Silva belongs solely in the Middleweight division?

Pondering, Purpose & Porn Fail.

Leisure, tans and that sand-in-the-toes shit embodies the summers of most sane individuals. My summer is embodied by constant pondering. I ponder various things, particularly the conundrum, "exactly how the fuck will I use this fresh, pesky Bachelor's in English" If you believe I've solved the conundrum, you clearly did not major in English, which means you are 10 times wiser than the fool whose "work" (if you can really call it that) you (for some reason) are reading.


But, with a few FaceBook associates starting up blogs, and Liberty isn't Free! Don't Tread on Me! now revolving (and rightly so) around Chris Lewis' 2010 campaign, I might as well throw my aging grey "Snoogans" skull cap in the ring. Qualculus will put that degree to minor and occasionally productive use, though the effort is free of charge. Maybe I should look up how to make money allowing ads on here... assuming it is not another slither of bullshit, among the Internet's endless capacity of bullshit.

My own slither of bullshit will contain a few shit's and fuck's being tossed around like dollars for strippers. But, some strippers are pretty, so you should give them a couple of dollars for the show and/or for a "dollar lap dance." Glorifying strippers is what scientists deem "politically incorrect," but it won't be the last "politically incorrect" piece you read from me. I never care about fitting in a "PC" mold; I'm the bastard child of eloquence and vulgarity's unfortunate fornication. Besides, the only difference between my glorification and a politician's glorification is my disinterest in hiding the glorification. Strippers make an honest living, so why disrespect and/or self-righteously shun those working girls (and guys)? We can't all be lawyers, doctors, businessmen/women and ultimate FaceBook warriors.

My own slither of bullshit will also come in various stenches. One entry might have a Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing and/or Kickboxing stench. Another might have a political stink, which may or may not be worse than the smell of Delaware. Then, a certain slither might have that academically-routine current event~!! write up, where I react to what happens. Be warned that an event could range from religion bullshit, a scandel or something completely bizarre, and my reaction may or may not agree with your reaction. Hell, one might absolutely stink of something WTF worthy, like not beating Kintaro half-frustration, or how much I love Dolph Lundgren as the Punisher. The random "frustration" will always be very half-hearted, because I generally do not give a shit about much; Hakuna Matata!

But, something I do give a shit about is Porn Fail, a swirling vortex of visual porn- and sex-related bloopers, hilarity and general fails. I visit it daily, and always get some LOLZ out of it. Be forewarned, because Porn Fail is NOT for those who lack a sense (perhaps even twisted) of humor, are easily offended by things which exceed their own idea of "normal" human function and are trapped in the quicksand of a high moral ground.

Fortunately, I'm pretty hard to offend.