Nay: Earl Montclair
Saturday night, Diego Sanchez and Gilbert Melendez put on a wild brawl to the delight of the thousands in attendance and the millions watching around the world. It was, without a doubt, the Fight Of The Night simply based on intensity, throwing caution to the wind and pure heart. These two men put their bodies on the line and were rewarded with lots of extra money and the adulation of the crowd. There was also a lot of adulation coming from Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan, who hailed the contest repeatedly as “the greatest fight I have ever seen.”
Really, Joe? REALLY? Greater than Shogun v Noguiera or Santiago v Misaki? Greater than Alvarez v Chandler? Now maybe it was because you were not present for those fights. Maybe you meant to say that it was the greatest fight you have ever seen live. Nope, cant be that either. In no logical universe was that fight greater than Couture v Noguiera? Jones v Gustaffson? Jung v Garcia? Bermudez v Grice? Shogun v Hendo? St Pierre v Penn 1? Hughes v Trigg? Maia v MacDonald even? The list could be pages long in regards to better fights you have witnessed 3 feet from the damn cage than that fight last night. For Joe Rogan to praise that fight to the heavens as the GOAT is not only absurd and disingenuous on a staggering level, it also shines a very bright spotlight on the mentality of casual UFC fans.
No wonder fans boo at clinch work and grappling. Who the hell needs technique and well rounded skills when you can just get the shit beat out of you and keep winging wild punches. This delusional worship of fighters like Diego Sanchez and Leonard Garcia keeps fans ignorant and uninformed. It contributes to the insufferable nature of watching fights in the vicinity of some casual fans. It does nothing good when they are fed this bullshit narrative that last night we were witness to the greatest pugilistic spectacle ever put forth on Earth. I absolutely see the need and excitement for a fireworks laden, crowd pleasing brawl but do not make it something it is not.
Gilbert Melendez flat out mugged Diego Sanchez last night. With the exception of a brief grappling exchange in the first and Diego’s thunderous uppercut in the final frame, Gilbert Melendez pieced up Diego Sanchez with brilliant counterpunching and *gasp* technique. While Diego was pressing forward with his offense of wild, looping punches and angry faces, Gil was throwing tight, technical strikes that brutalized Sanchez. It was a savage, one sided beating and because of that fact and that fact alone. It cannot be the best fight ever in the history of combat sports.
Great fights are competitive. Great fights are full of moments where both men shine, there are drastic momentum shifts and an unprecedented level of brilliance shown by BOTH men. Diego was not brilliant last night. He got his ass handed to him by a fighter who absolutely should have handed him his ass. When Mike Goldberg praises a fight as being a “Rock Em Sock Em Robots fight” that is not a GOAT fight. I know that Joe and Goldie were caught up in the moment. It was an incredibly entertaining fight and both men deserved FOTN. I would have no issue if Rogan said it once and then backed off, but he didnt. I understand when people are hopped up on a lethal cocktail of adrenaline, admiration, OG Kush and Xyience that they can say some crazy things. Joe kept his foot on the gas and repeated himself endlessly for the remainder of the broadcast. I kind of fear that he actually believes it. He just can’t mean it, though. He just can’t.
So lets just be honest. Melendez v Sanchez was an entertaining fight. It was, undoubtedly, the fight of the night. It was not the greatest fight of all time. It was not the fight of the year. It wasn’t even the greatest fight of the last month. Stop letting the moment overwhelm you and be honest in the booth. What was said last night was flat out insulting. Insulting to fighters and fans. Be better than that. It’s really not too much to ask.
Yay: Josh Hall
UFC 166 may have been the best event of the year, and I was lucky enough to be in attendance for the fireworks. As such, I could not hear any commentary for the fights, and when I looked at what some people that I respect had to say about the FOTN between Gilbert Melendez and Diego Sanchez I was quite surprised. One person who was not as enthralled by the fight as myself was Undercard’s own Earl Montclair.
Earl didn’t hate the fight by any means, but he took serious issue with the announce team referring to the fight as the best they had ever seen. He feels that Rogan was being hyperbolic and feeding into the “just bleed” fans, but being in the arena for the fight I can understand exactly why Rogan felt the way he did.
The fight was one sided for large portions without a doubt, but it had 2 entertaining rounds followed by arguably the round of the year. It certainly felt that way in the arena at least. I haven’t watched the fight on TV so I don’t know if there may have been something lost in translation there, but the intensity in the building throughout that fight brought an element to it that is tough to fully explain.
The crowd was into the fight for its entirety, but in the third round the entire Toyota Center was whipped into a frenzy that was an experience in itself, and there is no way that Rogan did not feel it too. The first chant of the night was one of “Di-e-go”, and once it started it spread through the spectators like a brush fire, and you could feel the ground vibrate under your feet because it was so insanely loud.
The entire crowd was on their feet for the majority of the third round, and what was amazing was that they stayed that way through the interviews of both men. I read that Diego was slurring his words in his post-fight speech and I didn’t know it live because the crowd was still going so crazy that I couldn’t hear hardly any of Melendez or Sanchez on the mic. Gil bowed to the crowd in a show of mutual respect that was just awesome and made the moment just a little more special.
I think that calling this fight just an entertaining beatdown badly misses how special that fight felt for other fans. Very few fights can give me genuine chills to watch at this point as a fan, and I was totally sucked in by this battle. Some great moments in sports are not displays of the most incredible technique, but those of heart, guts, and pure will. So many fighters lose the first two rounds of a fight and take nowhere near the damage Sanchez did and just give in. They fight to make it to the bell and not take any more damage than they have to. They know they are beaten, and that is that.
By the same token, Gilbert Melendez could have simply stayed away in the third round, played it safe, and won a comfortable decision. He didn’t have to try and finish the fight to get a win, and could have just evaded when Diego went full Diego and started hulking up in the middle of the cage. Instead, he bit down on his mouthpiece and went blow for blow with Sanchez, and almost got himself knocked out in the process.
The combination of the heart showed by Sanchez and the fighting spirit of Melendez to oblige him made for a truly special experience for me and many others. I believe that Rogan felt the same thing as a large number of the fans in attendance as well as many watching on PPV, judging from what I have read post fight.
Fights can strike a chord with a fan in many different ways, and this one really connected with the visceral part of me. It wasn’t about breaking down the fight frame by frame to see the disparity in strikes landed, or looking at the technical quality of the fight, but feeling the emotion of the fight and getting swept up in the moment. I love tactical, smart fights, but in my opinion there will always be a place in the list of great fights for one that transcends an overall outstanding card with nothing but toughness and heart.
I find nothing insulting about Rogan going on about the fight, and I don’t find it disingenuous or hyperbolic. The whole building was doing the same thing. I’m not the least bit insulted by what Rogan said like Earl is; in fact I felt the same way as Joe. I would need to see it more than one time live to make that a definitive statement, but watching it that one time I can say with no hyperbole that I have never felt a moment like that, including watching Matt Serra winning the title from GSP.
Gil and Diego certainly deserved their FOTN the night money, but someone wins that every event. Fights like this one just don’t happen every event though. Not even close. If being a Diego fan for that performance makes me crazy, then I welcome the madness. This was nothing short of awesome in my opinion, and judging a fight as a great one is always a matter of opinion.
There were a few boos that happened during the event, and I cringed at every one (except when Dolloway tried to perform corrective vision surgery on Tim Boetsch with his finger for the second time, but I have my limits). I only mention this because a fight like Melendez/Sanchez may not appeal to everyone, but it goes far beyond the casual bloodthirsty fan.
Let’s just be honest. This fight is going to be one of my favorite live sporting experiences until I die. It is going to hold a place in my heart with every one of my favorite moments I’ve ever seen in televised events too. I do not believe for even an instant that I am less of a fan for it.
-Earl can be reached @EarlMontclair, Josh can be reached @jhall282.
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