[ILDiver]

The rounds are for sanctioning. A lot of the rules were set to make the sport more acceptable to the athletic commissions. Gloves to prevent cuts from opening to quick, soccer kicks, knees to the head of a downed opponent and so on. As far as stand ups, some are quick, but they get pressure to keep the fans happy. Most US fans at the events boo at a boring grappling match because they don't understand the techniques involved. Some are stalls, like the fight night live they just showed on spike, it had a hug fest...third fight I think it was.

As far as the pure styles, they don't work. I like the more recent fights with well trained cardio machines who move for all 3 to 5 rounds. You have to be an all around fighter. Cro Cop was known to be a one dimensional fighter. Anderson Silva was thought to be a one dimensional fighter, but he does have a ground game. The more tools you have the more versatile your fighting style, the better you will do. The sport has evolved to this through necessity. Back in the early days it was always a one sided affair. Look at Tank Abbott now...his 30 seconds to a minute all out flurry to completely gassed style does not cut it.

I was so glad to see Chucks looping punches finally countered smartly by Rampage. To see Hughes picked apart by GSP, twice. Anderson Silva walked through every match in the UFC so far.

Rampage should pretty much take Forrest apart too. Also, I will be curious to see Evan Tanner return. Reading his MySpace blog, he is an interesting cat.