Whadya think I saw..

Did a lot of watching this weekend, with UFC 109 and the Pro Football championship.
Friday I did some moving:
4 man rotation.
1 clean, 1 front squat, 1 jerk
1 clean, 2 front squats, 2 jerks
...
1 clean, 10 front squats, 10 jerks.
all at 135.
Brutal. I'm finally able to squat with some volume, my hips are moving, and my back is holding up. I'm going to keep the weight down and volume up for a while to rebuild my foundation, but it feels good to be back after it.

Saturday, I worked for 7 hours in the morning, and missed jiu-jitsu. My abs, upper spinal erectors, and right quad were sore as hell from the previous night's workout.
That night I watched UFC 109. thoughts:

Rolles Gracie looked horrible on Saturday. He's talented jiu-jitsu player, and a nice guy (I met him at pan ams a couple years ago) but his conditioning was terrible, and he either needs to work on his stand up or his wrestling (either make the other guy take you down, or take him down) . I am afraid of what would have happened if he had fought Mostapha Al-turk (a much better fighter than Joey Beltran).
I am sure his cousin Renzo is still yelling at him about his performance. I hope he gets it together, because I am a fan, and would love to see him do well. Very disappointing.

Phil Davis looked very tough, but someone needs to teach this kid how to finish a fight. Brian Stann looked horrible. He did well in lesser shows by the virtue of having heavy hands, but in the UFC you have to have some sort of ground game. That said, this was a hand picked fight for Davis. Stann is notoriously bad on the deck. We'll see how he holds up against someone more polished.

Melvin Guillard looked good on Saturday. Training under Greg Jackson seemed to help him a ton. Melvin has all the physical tools in the world, but was easy to bait out of his game plan and drag into deep water. Saturday he was calm and followed the game plan and put on an impressive showing. His opponent Ronys Torres was unlucky to have run into the new Melvin Guillard, and looks to be a solid fighter that can beat a lot of guys in the UFC.

Mac Danzig, the world's toughest vegan, looked pretty solid this weekend. He still lacks pop but his tendancy to fade late in fights seems to have been solved. He looked solid and well rounded. His guard in particular was very dangerous, we'll see who Joe Silva sets him up with next.

Matt Serra looked great, and Frank Trigg is done in the UFC. I have never been all that impressed with Trigg, I think he gets press because he's a good interview. I've never really seen him beat anyone worth mentioning: Mayhem Miller, Dennis Hallman, and Kazuo Misaki are the only name fighters he's beaten in the last 10 years, and while they're good guys, they're not names to build a reputation on.
I am glad Matt Serra did well, and will be in the UFC for a while longer, that guy is good people.

Demian Maia is back on track with an ugly win. Good 'nuff is good 'nuff.

Beautiful choke by Paulo Thiago put Mike Swick to sleep. Thiago is a tough guy, and it will be interesting to see who the UFC lines up for him to fight next.

I was happy to see Chael Sonnen beat Nate Marquardt. Most people (including the UFC brass probably disagree, but hear me out) Marquardt had his shot, he got his butt kicked. I am tired of the UFC and the WEC continually giving guys title shots (COUGH-Uriah Faber-COUGH). Bring in some fresh talent, build the title holder. The WEC in particular are treating the 145 lb division like it belongs to the California Kid.
I want to see a champion be a champion and fight several guys. I want to see a contender/fallen champion EARN their title shot. I think Sonnen has earned a shot. he's fought everyone they've ever put in front of him. Let's see how he does in a 5 round fight. I feel like Marquardt is a defacto challenger. Let someone else have a crack, and then if they win.. maybe you get the next shot.

Randy Couture is still a viable fighter (probably not the dominating fighter he was) but still on any given day can beat most anyone else at 205. Mark Coleman is done. You can tell by his physique that his body just doesn't have what it takes to perform. He isn't nearly as explosive as he was, and just hasn't learned enough 'old man' tricks to make up for it. Couture is cagey, and still very fit. He makes up for his lack of snap with conditioning and tactics.

I watched some football on Sunday and made some (too much) food.
Feeling fat an happy on Monday.

Good class last night, re-learned a choke that I used to love. Worked some open guard, and just had a good night.

Mahalo.