UFC 304 is happening on Saturday in Manchester, England but that didn’t stop the folks at Canada’s Sportsnet from asking some of the fighters on the bill to give their expert takes on some classic hockey bouts.
Of course, they agreed because when someone says, “Do you want to watch some hockey fights?” the answer is always an automatic yes.
Fighters Paddy Pimblett, Molly McCann, Belal Muhammad, Leon Edwards, and Tom Aspinall gave their takes on some notorious bouts that we’ve seen in the National Hockey League, and the first was one that as a Flyers fan, I remember all too well: Anaheim’s Kevin Bieksa putting then-Flyer (now-Duck, ironically) Radko Gudas on his keister with a brutal Superman punch.
“Who’s that? What’s his name?” Pimblett asked after watching Bieksa clobber Gudas. “Bieksa? Need to meet him; he’s a belter.”
Bieksa was a belter indeed. That “proper GSP flying Superman punch” as McCann put it, was Bieksa’s signature move and he did it a few times, but none were more memorable than when he planted Gudas; a guy who is an extremely tough customer in his own right.
Kevin Bieksa uses his signature Superman punch to knock down Radko Gudas (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
I always wondered why anyone fighting Bieksa afterwards doesn't just go up and try to grab the jersey, because I think if they took the time to go up against him, he would.
Anyway, a classic.
The next game was one in which then-Atlanta thrasher (good old times) Evander Kane completely fooled Penguins firebrand Matt Cook.
“Oh, he's really gone,” Aspinall said. “Pardon the pun, but he's ice cold.”
No, just kidding. Kane was still a young player at the time, but Cook was known as one of the biggest pests in the league.
Luckily, Cook stayed healthy after that game and played a few more years in the NHL before retiring.
Finally, we got UFC fighters' thoughts on one of the most one-sided bouts in recent memory, in which Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin out-punched poor Hurricanes star Andrei Svechnikov.
He doesn't need to do it much, but Ovechkin can pack a punch when the need arises, whereas Svechnikov, no matter how talented he is, throwing a knuckle sandwich was never a part of his game, especially early in his career.
“But they're crazy,” Pimblett said. “They punch each other with their helmets on. Your hands hurt.”
“I think they have better technique than us at UFC,” McCann added.
I think they were impressed with some of the fight scenes they saw, and kudos to whoever selected these pieces of footage, because they are truly modern classics.
