Mike King "One of the craziest endings to an MMA fight"
As promised, this week's episode has one of the craziest endings to an MMA fight or any fight for that matter I have ever witnessed. This is worse than any shady boxing scores or weighing takedowns heavier than strikes but simply put, someone made a mistake and in this case the commission and official both are at fault. I'm not taking anything away from either fighter because Ian had a solid game plan that he followed although trying to finish the fight would have been in his interests. As for Zapata, a win is a win so you can't take that away from him. In his defense he did land more damage, which in some peoples eyes means they won the fight.
Ian is a great wrestler with a lot of motivation. He is a hard worker that focuses on preparation. Some seem to think he is cocky but with preparation comes great confidence. Confidence can come off as cockiness unless you know the person on the inside. Ian has the will to win because of a chip on his shoulder. He lost his father at a young age and didn't allow that to define him as a person. Instead he has succeeded in life despite what may have broken some. We both share a common tattoo. On his forearm the word âunbreakableâ appears as does the same on my chest. Most people think this is cocky because every manâs physical body is breakable but it has nothing to do with the physical body. The tattoo represents the mind and no matter what life may throw at you it is impossible to break him.
Zapata is a fiery new family man. He left his newborn in NY to persue a better life for him and his family. You can tell by the way he has changed as a man. His new focus is his family and his newborn. This can make or break a fighter. Either it grounds a fighter to where they change or it fires a man up to provide for his new family. It will be interesting to see how Rodger deals with the newfound pressure.
Legend Matt Hughes made an appearance on the show to work with Zapata and his takedown defense. Matt was actually working with Zapata on ways to take Ian down which Rodger seemed to pick up well. This fight could very well go either way and is making out to be a war. Both fighters are determined although both clearly handle the pressure differently.
Fight recap:
From the opening bell it was obvious that Ian didn't want to stand up with Zapata. He was diving for takedowns early and often before securing one and taking Zapataâs back. From that point on, Ian has Rogerâs back for the rest of the fight even though Roger was landing a lot of damage with his elbows. What shocked me is that Ian didn't attempt one submission or try any ground and pound. He was happy with simply having back control and holding position.
Round two is exactly the same thing but Zapata was able to open up a few cuts on Ian's head although Ian was in the dominant position.
Round 3 was more of the same but this time Ian was really tired and couldn't finish his takedowns. Roger was landing some good elbows but was stopped by Mazzagatti and deducted a point for an elbow that was clearly legal. From that point on the fight should have been over because the final round is sudden victory and by losing a point the only way for Roger to win would be finishing the fight. Which Zapata was unable to do.
The decision is made and the referee announces Ian Zapata as the winner. Everyone freezes because no one knows who has won because Mazzagatti announced both peoples name. After making the correction they finally announce Roger as the winner and the place goes crazy. Dana is yelling at the commission, the red team is yelling at Dana, and the blue team is watching in awe. Simply put, this is the craziest thing I have ever seen. Two peoples livelihoods hang in the balance and they both left it up to the judges. If you can take one thing from this at all, it is to simply take the judges out of the equation and finish fights. It was obvious one person was trying to win a decision, which didn't work out, and the other was trying to inflict damage.
