I don't know if it's consistent or not but I was actually dealing more damage if I popped Fists of Earth and it's fairly easy to manage if you aren't constantly eating sears.

When I took PGL in opened with the Aura Pulse combo for slow but I pretty much dropped that altogether after the first phase. It's nice to be able to use Simian there too and I saved Quelling Strike for Howling Fist. While it's not as stellar, you can just freely pop Simian when you get a chance to push out some damage. Blindside + Blood for Blood, Howling Fist was almost pushing 700 (685). I couldn't break it though =|

ON the FoF cure note - isn't it kinda weird that Fists of Fire cures him but the additional effect on his weapons don't?