"Too little, too late"
Sebastian Fernandez | Tampa, Florida United States | 11/16/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This event had pretty good undercard fights, and one of the best lightweight bouts of 2007, but when the time came for the main two confrontations of the night, we were left with a sour taste in our mouth. Griffin vs. Ramirez turned out as a really boring fight, with two extremely cautious fighters. I do not understand how these guys are planning to get any higher, since it is pretty clear that those that do not go after their chances to finish a fight in this sport, will end up on the short end.
The saddest thing is that once I watched Franklin vs. Okami, even the previous fight looked decent. Both these fighters were looking for a shot at the title, and they disappointed everyone with a soporific bout. The comment at the end was right on, "too little, too late". Going over the other fights in the main card, there was a good show by MacDonald and Singer in an evenly matched confrontation, but Griffin vs. Guida really stole the show. This was a spectacular strategic fight, with outstanding technical elements, and combining proficient wrestling, good stand-up, and some of the best defense I have ever seen. More than anything, these two guys came to the octagon with their mind on giving the spectators what they were looking for, which other fighters definitely forgot to do.
The undercard featured a few exciting bouts, and there were some interesting local fighters. The one feature that I liked better than in previous productions was that there are lengthier presentations before the fights with interviews, even for the undercard match-ups. It is a real shame that the main fights of the night were not up to par."