I'll be the first to say it, I was wrong about Shogun.  I really wanted him to win, but from his performances against Forrest and Coleman, I had little reason to think he would.  I wanted him to win by knockout, but I thought he'd lose a decision.

I'm glad I was wrong.

Shogun was in excellent shape, was very agressive and intelligent in his gameplan, and showed very good striking (which included some very good defensive maneuvering- IE blocking, slipping, dodging strikes) against Chuck.  He planted some lightning quick, powerful kicks into his legs and side, showed great hand speed and power, and was able to take Liddell down and work for a leg lock.  When Chuck took him down, he neutralized any kind of GnP he could try for, and instantly started shrimping his hips and working his legs up for submission attempts.  Then, when he nailed Chuck with the left, he showed some great killer instinct, and blitzed him with hammer fists and forearm strikes.

via blog.getsportsinfo.com

I, for one, hope that he can stay on a roll, and can continually improve his conditioning, technical striking, and grappling so that he could work his way towards a 2010 title shot (after the whole Rampage vs. the winner of Rashad/ Machida situation works itself out).  In the meantime, i'd like to see Shogun fight someone like Luiz Cane- two surging LHW's with great striking, and who generally put on a good show.  After that, maybe the winner of Shogun/ Banha would get the winner of Forrest/ Thiago for a shot at the title in early '10.