"One of the interesting stories coming out from UFC 43 is what happened to Lindland in his fight against Niko Vitale. When looking a bit closer, what really knocked Lindland out? Was it Lindland himself, Vitale's head or was it something else.
Matt has some ideas that he shared with MMAWeekly's John Hartnett over the weekend saying "The actual mat that I fought on had more to do with the knockout than anything else. I told that to the UFC before I fought."
It seems what Lindland is referring too, is the "holes' in the mat that he complained about before the fight. Lindland, Yves Edwards and Ian Freeman inspected the Octagon floor as they always do before the fight and all three fighters felt what they call "holes" in the mat. Basically there were spots in the Octagon which seemed hallow or very thin.
It was explained to fighters by the gentlemen who puts up and tears down the Octagon ring, that the mat has been worn down over the past UFC's and that the last time the ring apron was changed was around UFC 31.
"Basically it's a canvas with steel underneath. I couldn't believe the size of the knot on the back of my head when I hit the canvas." Lindland said.
Matt continued, "I've done that throw a million times and this has never happened before. Even when I've missed like that, I've never been knocked out before. I know it was more of the canvas floor than anything else. I've done it a million times and have never had that happen to me before."
UFC President Dana White did say in the post fight conference that Lindland will get a rematch against Niko Vitale, so we will soon get to see what happens between the two fighters. So whether it was the canvas or not, the good part is that Zuffa will give the fans what we want to see and that is the rematch. With a new mat in place, we will get to see what happens when Lindland and Vitale square off in the Octagon."
Leniwy i d****ny Kain
HIT Jedi
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