Ultimate Fighter 2 - Week 4

Marcus is an extremely strong boxer, while Joe's forte is grappling. In pre-match interviews, both fighters insist that their games are multi-dimensional. Marcus insists that he's a better grappler than he's let on, while Joe says the same thing about his standup skills.

But come match time, it's a bit anti-climactic. Marcus knows he's no match for Joe on the ground, and, wary of a takedown, only flicks out air jabs that Joe avoids easily. Joe, wary of Marcus's jackhammer punches, refuses to close in enough to shoot. This goes on for a minute, until Joe goes for broke and shoots in for a single-leg takedown. It's not a great takedown from a technical standpoint, but Joe essentially picks up Marcus, carries him to the edge of the octagon, and in true Matt Hughes fashion, slams him into the section where the mat meets the fence. Marcus winces audibly as his shoulder takes the brunt of that.

The rest of the fight is a forgone conclusion. Joe easily passes the guard and achieves a side mount, controlling one of Marcus's arms with his hips and legs and the other with his right hand. With the other, Joe delivers a series of elbows to Marcus's head. Marcus shows impressive ability to take the elbows, though I suspect that Joe could use a few lessons in delivering that technique. (Personally, I do not believe anyone can take more than two well-delivered elbows to the head. It's physiologically not possible.) But still, the referee stops the fight once it appears that Marcus is no longer able to respond effectively, if at all.

After the fight, Marcus tells the camera that this is it for him, and he's hanging up his gloves for good. At the age of 32, he says that his wife and two young kids have put their lives on hold and sacrificed for too long to give him his shot at fulfilling his dream, and he doesn't want them to sacrifice anymore for him. So he's going to focus on them from now on, and on providing them with a good life. It's actually a touching scene, one that emphasizes that mixed martial arts, like most contact sports, is a young man's pastime. You can practice the martial arts all your life, but as you get older, your focus is going to have to shift away from just the

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4