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Heavyweight Bout: Tim Lajcik (wrestling) vs. Ron Waterman (wrestling) |
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| Waterman won the first round, but he wasn't particularly impressive in doing so. He was able to take Lajcik down and control him. The thing is, he couldn't do any damage at all so he was mainly just burning a ton of energy trying to stay in control. Lajcik took a big chance in the middle of the round by giving Waterman his back. Luckily for him, although I'm pretty certain this is what he was banking on rather than it being a foolish mistake on his part, Ron was was a total man out of water in this situation. Instead of controlling Lajcik's lower body first, so he'd have all the leverage he needed and Lajcik would be trapped, Waterman just went right for the choke, although his choke attempt was not particularly good and looked more like a bad Misawa facelock. All Lajcik had to do to avoid danger was keep his neck down, and with his lower body free he was able to get back to his wrestling base then stand up. "I thought it was going to be over when Lajcik gave his back to Waterman, but Waterman was uninterested in even going for the choke, though to Lajcik's credit he did keep his head down. IMO, to be really successful in this sport, a fighter had to be able to change gears in the octagon/ring and not rely on one style to beat an opponent," wrote Jason. In a way, Waterman is the new Tank Abbott. By that I just mean that they want to push him because they like something other than his actual ability right now (in his case, it's the Goldberg look), but he really doesn't have the all around ability to get the job done on even a semi-consistent basis. I thought he knew what he had to do, but due to his lack of submission training, he didn't know how to do it. I really wished Peretti was announcing this match because I wanted to here him scoff at the lack of technique displayed by Waterberg. "I kinda agree on Waterman being Abbott, except he's not that good. Tank normally only loses to fairly top guys. Waterman lacks his raw punching power. Still, he can wrestle and strike well enough to be successful at lower levels. His performance in this match was undoubtedly hampered by coming into the fight with a shoulder injury that required surgery later," wrote Miko. Abbott was better, but Waterman has far more potential because he spends so much time working out and, as far as I know, he's not unwilling to try to learn new things. "This was good fight, but for me came off as more of a UFC club fight since neither of these guys convinced me they had the range of skills needed to compete at the top level," wrote Miko. I agree with your assessment, but we both know that UFC doesn't have the luxury of developing anyone in that manner, so this slot is where Waterman belongs right now. Largely because of his look, although this match showed his stamina is the converse of what his physique would lead people to believe his stamina was, it is smart for them to give Waterman a chance to develop. Well, that is if he doesn't end up bailing out on them if he ever gets good. The last 2+ minutes of the first round were really dull. Waterman just held Lajcik against the fence without trying any offense. Due to Waterman being called for a foul on a low blow, his 10-9 win of the round was reduced to a 9-9 tie. Lajcik got going in the second round, getting above Waterman when he tried to shoot then spinning until Waterman went down into the guard. Waterman's guard was probably the most ineffective of anyone on the show, as Lajcik cut him above the right eye and gave him a mouse around his left eye. I felt that Lajcik was going well enough in Waterman's guard that he should have stuck with it instead of going back to standup when he had the opportunity. All the energy Waterman had expended in the first round seemed to be taking it's toll, as Lajcik had a lot more in his tank at this point. Waterman was deliberate in his failed attempts to shoot. Lajcik started to gas toward the end of the round, but he had clearly dominated it with his punches. Waterman caught a break early in the third round when his shoot failed, but Lajcik concentrated so much on elbowing that Waterman gathered his strength and lifted Lajcik off the mat for the takedown. Lajcik had Waterman in the guard, and Waterman couldn't do much striking or pass it, so he mainly pushed Lajcik into the fence. Waterman won the round, but he didn't really do any damage. The match was ruled a draw. I felt this was the right decision. Waterman won round one and three 10-9, so he beat Lajcik 29-28. However, the foul is a one point deduction, so that tied things at 28. I think some people will find this boring because there were no big blows or flurries of action, but I enjoyed it because it was an even, hard fought contest. Jason: Both fighters were in the ground and pound mode. If either one of these guys had more cross training, they would have been in a better position going in. There were times when Waterman was throwing some wild strikes from the mount that I felt if Lajcik had more submission experience, he could have controlled Waterman's arms more and hooked him with something. Overall, a good match that got the right finish, even though Waterman would have won if he hadn't committed the foul. Special Thanks to: Jason Higgs & Miko Kubota - Michiku Pro 15:00 |
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