Good Night for New Talent at UFC 84

by Kid Nate on May 26, 2008 8:58 PM EDT in MMA News

I was pretty dumbfounded to see that UFC debutantes went 5-1 Saturday night. Shane Carwin and Rousimar Palhares impressed in short fights. I'm far more sceptical of Goran Reljic -- he looked sloppy and limited against Gouveia.

But the two I'm excited about are Dong Hyun Kim and Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Yoshida's fight (I mean demolition) made the PPV but Kim's three round beat down of Jason Tan (pictured) didn't. I was lucky enough to find it online since they still haven't put it on UFC.com. One thing about Kim -- he was positionally dominant all the way through but his ground and pound wasn't especially devastating until the final barrage.

Very similar fight to Yoshida's, just took longer. Kim even used a very similar judo throw for the final takedown.

Looking forward to seeing these guys move up the rankings a bit and fight some of the mid-level guys at 170. Maybe the winner of Carneiro and Chonan would be a good test for Yoshida and the winner of Burkman/Hazelett for Kim.

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Judo throw =

Harai ogoshi. Major outside reap. I really wish Rogan, as much as I’m a fan, would bone up on his throws instead of lumping them all together as one “judo throw”.

by Luke Thomas on May 26, 2008 9:16 PM EDT reply actions

Goran Reljic

Glad to see we’re on the same page when it comes to Goran. He was allowed to stand at a range where he could keep throwing the head kick over and over…which looked impressive but started to get into the realm of “here it comes again” after a while. His boxing (punching) was very one dimensional…left hands and left hands only. And even worse, he was very sloppy and reacted VERY poorly any time Wilson decided to press the action and he appears to HATE it to the body.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls and looking like hard work." -- Thomas Edison

by Brent Brookhouse on May 26, 2008 11:14 PM EDT reply actions

I think Reljic got fairly lucky in this fight, though I have to give him credit for pulling guard and saving himself.

His kicks don’t have enough power to mean anything in the LHW division. I suspect Sokoudjou, Bonnar, Hamil, and Thiago would all destroy him.

by Michael Rome on May 26, 2008 11:21 PM EDT reply actions

I think Rogan goes with “judo throw” to keep it simple for the fans. Also, unless he knew he was 100% correct he would just be reamed by the online warriors. He knows bjj, stick with the bjj. It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation for him I think.

Also, that guard pull was Aoki-esque. Absolutely ridiculous.

by Simco on May 27, 2008 12:36 AM EDT reply actions

WHAT??

Someone posting to defend joe Rogan???

Where am I? What have you done with the internet??

Seriously, very good point.

"They said you was hung!!"

"And they was RIGHT!"

by BJJDenver on May 27, 2008 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Just watched the Kim/Tan fight. What a beating. I was cringing at the damage that Kims elbows were taking hitting Tans head.. seriously.

by pr0cs on May 27, 2008 4:21 AM EDT reply actions

Yoshida was good. Looking forward to him in future bouts. His Octagon necklace was hilarious.

by pud333 on May 27, 2008 2:57 PM EDT reply actions

Carwin—I saw him fight Pendergrast at Ring of Fire and was more impressed by his size, than his fighting. While I won’t hail him as the next coming off of one big, perfect, beautiful punch, I will say he was impressive, looked smaller and better and didn’t even get to show his strengths. Looking forward to seeing him fight more.

Palhares—Very slick, effortless transition to the armbar. beautiful bjj, impressive physique and apparently the guy who will beat Anderson. Well, that’s what the internet says. lol. Seriously, this guy is now being touted by posters worldwide as the next big thing. I don’t see him having much of a chance against Anderson, but what a grappling fans dream 185 is turning into. Jacare, Almeida, Marquardt and on and on. he could provide some interesting matches.

Yoshida—Nice, but I want to see more of him. And sooner rather than later. UFC could use some Asian success, imo.

Kim—will try and look for it, I heard it was a beating.

"They said you was hung!!"

"And they was RIGHT!"

by BJJDenver on May 27, 2008 3:41 PM EDT reply actions

Is there any news on the Kim finish?

Kim was slapping Tan repeatedly with some apparently soft elbows. When asked if he’s ok Tan gives Mazz the thumbs-up, and then Mazz steps in and stops it.

Any thoughts?

by asa on May 27, 2008 11:50 PM EDT reply actions