Marquardt KOs Maia in UFC 102

Demian Maia (10-1-0 overall, 5-1-0 in the UFC) is one of the best ground gamers, if not the best, in MMA. He has won four Submission of the Night Honors out of his six UFC fights. This made him visible in the grappling domain of the UFC, aside from making him hundreds of thousand dollars richer (SOTN Honors have corresponding cash prizes).

However, he fell down hard in UFC 102 courtesy of the right fist of Nate Marquardt (29-8-2 overall, 8-2-0 in the UFC). This happened in just 21 seconds of the first round, giving Maia his first MMA loss and Marquardt KO of the Night Honors plus 60K USD.

To describe things in detail, Maia started off with a good high kick. At 20 seconds, he steps in and Marquardt quickly finds a home for his right hand, making Maia spin then land face first on the canvas, dazed.

I'm still a follower of Maia's grappling magic but kudos to Marquardt for showcasing one of the finest KOs in UFC I've ever seen. He also demonstrated sheer professionalism and sportsmanship when he stopped his follow-up punch when Maia was already down.

I was rooting for Maia in this fight, but since every fight starts standing up, he has to do some more preps so he can come out stronger in his next bouts.

Image from http://mma.fanhouse.com/

On UFC 101

UFC 101: Declaration wrapped up with a bang for champions BJ Penn and Anderson Silva, among others. Kudos to both of them!

Lightweight champ Penn stopped the fight via a rear naked choke on Kenny Florian on the fourth round, boosting his ego once again after an epic loss to Georges St. Pierre. This credited him a UFC record as well for defending the LW crown for a number of times (I forgot how many), tied up with Jens Pulver during the latter's career in the early ages of the fight promo.

However, I find it strange the reaction of Forrest Griffin after hitting the canvas courtesy of middleweight champ Silva's "KO jab". When he fell, he raised one leg then raised one hand gesturing to the referee to stop the bout. He then stood up then ran to the locker rooms immediately with no after-fight interview. Joe Rogan must have been equally puzzled.

I read somewhere that he hurt his jaw, making his hearing impaired so he had to get medical attention fast.

Until that's not proven to be the real reason behind it, for the meantime, I'll just believe someone told him to "Run Forrest, Run!" : þ