Sherk was the heavy favorite and even though Sherk won the unanimous decision you have to give Florian a lot of credit. Florian took a beating but kept coming at Sherk. Even up until the last two minutes of round 5 there was still a glimpse of hope that Florian could possible pull out a suprising submission. In the end, Sherk definitely deserved the title for all he has been though. And Florian, even with this loss, proves that he is one of the top 155 pounders in UFC.
I was expecting a stand-up war between Franklin and Silva, but the fight ended so abruptly, and decisively, that feel I really bad for Franklin. It seem to be all down hill once Silva had Franklin in his Thai-clinch. The knees to the body and the nose-crushing blow was devastating. For the first time in UFC, Franklin looked unmotivated and out classed, in terms of striking ability. Congrats to Silva. It was his second UFC fight and he won the title. Not many can have that sort of claim.
My biggest question is what’s next for Franklin? And also will there be an immediate rubber match? Silva is definitely here to stay. Who will UFC feed him? Swick? Matt Hughes (that’s if he wants to move up)? From Silva’s performance tonight it looks like he will be holding onto the title for quite a while.