MMA

[itadakimasu]

MMA is getting huge..

How many fans here ?

Anybody else see Kimbo Slice get pwnd this weekend?

[animus]

Yeah, I was one of those people that was rooting for him, not cause of hype but cause of his demeanor.

Wtf Kimbo, 14 seconds? It wasn't some sucker punch, or a cocked uppercut. His weight drop might have something to do with it. But then again, weight doesn't fix a glass jaw.

[itadakimasu]

I was thinking they may have stopped it too early ... but his legs were straight out stiff as a board.. some ufc fights get stopped way too early. I watched this other strikeforce one on friday and the one guy was nearly knocked out but they let it go and then he ended up winning.

i knew he was bound to lose because his last fight went into the 3rd round when they stopped it (because the guys ear started bleeding alot) he fell to the mat and was just completely drained.


any favorite fighters? i'm kinda looking forward to seeing urijah faber next month... he's a beast even though he just weighs like 140

[darkshadow]

what does his weight have to do with anything? >_>

[Dark Dragon]

what does his weight have to do with anything? >_>

Just like in boxing, a heavy weight will murder a feather weight if they are on the same skill level. Someone with a heavier natural built tends to have more mass and muscle to push around hence the extra weight.

or to put it simply Big > Small

[darkshadow]

Ek = 0.5mv²

[Dark Dragon]

Ek = 0.5mv²
I'm horrible at physic so forgive me if i make a mistake. Kinetic Energy is determined by 1/2 mass x velocity square so while most of the force would derive from speed, mass is also an important factor in the equation. Also unlike a moving object, the speed of a punch from a human body is limited.

It would be ideal then to try to find a balance and maintain your weight as high as possible without sacrificing any speed in return.

[darkshadow]

True, but its also true that a welterweight (140-147lbs) pro boxer punches with 10x the force of an average joe(165-176lbs). The reason why? average joe maxed out with a punch at 15mph, the welterweight was throwing em at 32mph.

[Dark Dragon]

Yeah but we're not comparing a pro boxer to an average Joe. The conversation was about how he would be a lot more dangerous if he was in a higher weight class while retaining his speed.

edit: at least that is what i assume Itakidamasu is implying in his comment about the boxer weight.

[darkshadow]

No, i was just giving an example of how speed is a very big factor.
This was in response to itadakimasu saying he was a beast, but only weighs 140lbs.
Just pointing out that weight has little to do with that.

It doesn't really matter how big you are, a 32mph punch from any grown man ( or woman ) on the nose, chin or even temple and liver, will hurt a lot if it doesn't disable you from continuing the match, which happened to Kimbo, though in this case the punch was prolly slower, but had more weight attached to it.

[Animeniax]

You guys are losing sight of the original point. Most people would see the 140lb stat and think of a little guy that they wouldn't have to worry about. But a professional fighter at pretty much any weight will destroy a bigger guy who is not a pro fighter.

Kimbo showed he is the sham all fight-enthusiasts claimed he was. Seth Petruzelli is a 3rd-tier heavyweight (who I think dropped to 205 for his original fight, so he fought Kimbo while underweight) and he dropped Kimbo with a short punch. Even Lesnar is a more legit fighter than Kimbo. I'd have loved to see Lesnar vs Kimbo, the battle of the two possible shams.

Lesnar has somewhat proven he is not completely incompetent though, since he has wrestling (not pro wrestling in this case) skill. I'd like to see how he takes a punch though.

[darkshadow]

i think Lesnar would destroy Kimbo to be honest.

[Animeniax]

No argument there, even before Petruzelli beat him.

[itadakimasu]

lesnar could be the UFC champ very soon... i think he's going to win.... what a beast.

I think alot of people can beat kimbo, it was even worse after i saw the replay of the fight. It looked like he barely hit kimbo and he went down.

[Animeniax]

I want to see Fedor vs Lesnar, a battle between true skill and sheer size.

I think Lesnar could be UFC heavyweight champ if he does the same thing to Nogueira (or anyone else he fights) as he did to Herring. Really though, he caught him with an amazing punch and it was all downhill for Herring from there, with Lesnar using his wrestling skill to keep him pinned and on the defensive the entire fight.

[Animeniax]

Did anyone see UFC90? That was not how I expected Silva vs Cote to end. I'm glad Koscheck got beat soundly by Alves.

[itadakimasu]

I watched it... alves is a beast, but at the same time koscheck earned some respect by not getting layed out. I thought the sherk / griffin fight was possibly fight of the night w\ the alves / koscheck

As far as Anderson Silva... i guess I'm a hater and really didn't want to believe the hype.. but he's just rediculous. As little attacking he did, it was crazy the way he would move in for the attack. The way it ended was a little disappointing. Cote did take some serious shots and stay in the game.

I think I'm going to order 91 so I can see the brock lesnar / randy couture fight

[Animeniax]

Alves is tough but I don't see him beating GSP. Koscheck made a mistake trying to stand with Alves. I've never liked him since his TUF1 days, too arrogant and his hair pisses me off. I was happy to see him lose his first pro fight against Drew Fickett in 2005.

We get UFC pay-per-view events free where I'm at, it keeps the troops' morale up. I think Couture will be in big trouble against Lesnar. I'd love to see Tim Sylvia vs Lesnar.

What I don't get is why it's a title fight since Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira became the interim heavyweight title holder when Couture left the UFC last year. I also don't get how Lesnar gets a title shot after only 2 fights in the UFC, the first of which he lost.

[Animeniax]

Wow, just saw Lesnar beat Couture. Too much size and power on Lesnar's side. If someone had Couture's skills but a little more size and could take a punch better (Gonzaga, Silvia), Lesnar will have trouble.

[TwisT]

I actually think Lesnar is almost unstoppable except for the Ju-Jitsu part. The only thing i can see that can actually beat him is Ju-Jitsu grips because as for the pure wrestling Lesnar dominates. And for standup i think he is probably one of the best. Silva i have never seen as that good of a fighter. He is solid and has a long reach, and has a pretty good takedown defense and hight but that's about it. Against a guy like Lesnar i think his takedown defense would be worth little. And he would no longer has an advantage in the reach. Not in power either. I think Lesnar would dominate Silva. Gonzaga would be an intresting matchup since he has power but i think he would be dominated too. The think that could save him would be his Ju-Jitsu. To grab an arm or an ankle from the ground. And Lesnar showed here that he has the stamina to go the distance even when pressured the entire time.

First thing you think when Lesnar entered UFC was another Bob Sap. But the fact is Lesnar actually have skills, agility and stamina to go along with his big size. The things he lacks he make up for in size and weight. And if he just learns better defense, better boxing, and to avoid the dangerous Ju-Jitsu stuff, he would become the most dominating fighter in the heavy weight to ever set foot in the Octagon.

The only heavy weight i could see to be the clear victor against Lesnar would be Alexander Emelianenko. And sadly he doesn't do UFC. The biggest threat right now in UFC would be Nogeria, Frank Mir and maybe Gonzaga because of their Ju-Jitsu, and the only striker i can see as a threat would be Crocop (if he could show us what we all know he really can do, not the stuff he has shown us in UFC so far).

[animus]

I honestly thought when Mir beat Lesnar it was out of almost pure luck. He was getting dominated all match.

[Animeniax]

Silvia at least has the size to not be completely physically dominated by Lesnar, and the skill to possibly beat him, but he'd probably lose anyway.

I don't think Lesnar proved anything concerning his stamina, as he was getting winded after a round and a half against Couture. He easily lasted three rounds against Herring but he was dominating the entire fight which takes a lot less energy.

To me all it would take to beat Lesnar is comparable size with typical skills of a top contender. Obviously Couture is a much more skilled fighter, but there was no way he could make up for the 60 lb weight advantage.

Aleksander Emelianenko has the size to deal with Lesnar, though I'm not sure of his skill level. Even though Fedor has the skill to beat him, the size difference would be a problem like it was for Couture.

[TwisT]

I meant Fedor not Aleksander. I so wish he could go to UFC so we could see him against people like Lesnar and Couture. He have already faced Nogueira and Crocop in Pride so even though that would be exciting it wouldn't be anything we haven't already seen.

We saw how fast Fedor took care of Tim Silva in Affliction.

[Animeniax]

At 6ft 230 I wonder how Fedor would do with the huge size difference. He has the skill to beat Lesnar, but so did Couture. Of course, Couture had age against him too, and I wouldn't compare Couture's 16-9 record to Fedor with his 28-1 record.

I've never been that impressed with Sylvia. He doesn't use his size to his advantage enough, and has lost 3 of his last 4 fights. I don't think beating Sylvia is a good gauge of how a fighter would fare against Lesnar.

[Animeniax]

I just got back from watching UFC 92 at the hot wings bar. All of my favorites lost in the headline matches, including Silva, Nogueira, and Griffin. For once it was a bad night to be a Brazilian fighter. Had a great time hanging out with the guys and girls though and great food and drink.

At least Okami won, though they didn't broadcast the fight.

[itadakimasu]

i was surprised that wanderlei got knocked out.. i'd found the last 2 jackson / silva fights on google video and was really excited to see them fight. idk which i'd have picked for fight of the night. the Mir fight would have been ok if noguera put up a fight, and i had a bad feeling about the griffin / evans fight from the beginning because evans was just smiling so much like he was already the champ.

i think 93 is free on spike tv... then 94

[Animeniax]

It was a lucky wild punch that knocked out Wanderlei, so it wasn't really payback for the two beatings he gave Rampage before. I also watched the two previous fights on youtube before seeing this latest one.

Nogueira's standup was touted as being far superior to Mir's, so it was shocking to see Mir fight in standup and win. Completely unsatisfying to see two top BJJ/grappling fighters not work the ground at all. I don't like Mir's chances in a rematch with Lesnar, Lesnar has too much incentive and drive to win. There will be no fluke ankle locks next time.

I feel bad for Griffin but he didn't strike me as a dominant champion. I don't see Evans lasting as champ either, once guys like Henderson and Franklin or even Rampage make their way up the 205 ladder to challenge for the belt.

[itadakimasu]

are you going to watch the affliction event on the 24th of january?

i want to see the fedor / arlovski fight. not sure if i'm ordering it or not yet... depends.

I watched UFC 91 via live internet stream because I didn't want to pay just to see brock lesnar fight couture... i didn't really watch any of the other matches, i was just waiting for the main event.

[Animeniax]

Where I'm based most of the year we get the fights for free, so I get to watch them all, except it starts at 5AM on Sunday morning.

I will definitely see Affliction on Jan 24 unless the feed is down, which happens at times. I don't look forward to seeing Arlovski destroyed by Fedor, but that's the nature of their sport.

You could find a sports bar that has the fight if you don't want to pay per view. Buffalo Wild Wings in Houston is a great place to eat and watch the events.

You missed out, UFC 91 was great. The main event was one of the least interesting fights from a technical standpoint.

[Animeniax]

Did anyone see Affliction: Day of Reckoning?

I was disappointed in some of the fights because they were so short, but they included spectacular knockouts and decisive victories. I actually doubted Fedor's supremacy for the first 3 minutes of the title fight, then he KO'd Arlovski and he seems unbeatable again. I wonder though how Fedor will beat Barnett if Barnett sits on top of Fedor like he did with Yvel.

Great set of fights. Not sure it was worth the PPV cost for those who shelled out $45.

[TwisT]

I just watched it. Although i was not impressed with the other fights, Fedor and Andrei made they watch all worth it. To see someone actually give Fedor that much problem was a big surprise. And if anyone has shown potential to beat him, it's Andrei. Would be cool if they could have a rematch futher down the line.

If i would have payed to see that i would have felt cheated.

[Uchiha Barles]

Can someone tell me where I can see the Arlovski vs. Fedor fight? I can't find it on youtube, and I missed it on sopcast.

[Animeniax]

I just watched it. Although i was not impressed with the other fights, Fedor and Andrei made they watch all worth it. To see someone actually give Fedor that much problem was a big surprise. And if anyone has shown potential to beat him, it's Andrei. Would be cool if they could have a rematch futher down the line.

If i would have payed to see that i would have felt cheated.That's the thing, we all thought Fedor was in trouble early but that's his M.O., he feels out his opponent looking for a weakness before unloading on him. He might take some lumps in the process, but he's not 29-1 (1 disputed loss) for nothing. I thought some of the other fights were pretty good, and Belfort KO'ing Lindland was wicked.


Can someone tell me where I can see the Arlovski vs. Fedor fight? I can't find it on youtube, and I missed it on sopcast.Go to sherdog.com and check the forums. One guy has a gif of the last 5 seconds of the fight.

[itadakimasu]

Can someone tell me where I can see the Arlovski vs. Fedor fight? I can't find it on youtube, and I missed it on sopcast.

kfight.net has video's.

so... i tuned in (to kfight) and got on about 5 minutes before fedor / arlovski.

i had it zoomed full screen, and the resolution was a little bad and for a minute i thought arlovski had somehow kneed himself in the head or something lol... until i saw the replay.

http://www.kfight.net/Funny-Stuff/Gif-Fedor-about-Tim-Sylvia

This made me LOL... check it out.

he should have had more patience... i was really going for arlovski but that just really shows me that fedor is a serious bad ass.

[Uchiha Barles]

Man...that Fedor vs. Arlovski fight was something else. He had Fedor trumped in the stand up...sort of. That's why Fedor is so damned dangerous. Not only is his training actually quite good, he makes his opponents PAY for their mistakes. Fedor is one of those fighters doesn't get angry, or hyped up. He's just plain calculating. He keeps his eyes open and his brain is on overdrive crunching data as the fight progresses. That flying knee came WAAAAAAAAY too early against Fedor, if it should've come at all.

A lot of people are talking about how Fedor actually got lucky on that fight...I guess he did get lucky that Arlovski made that mistake. Otherwise, if he couldn't figure an answer to Arlovski's magnificent pugilism, he'd have had to take the fight to the ground and win by submission...people annoy me.

Arlovski's one of my favorite fighters, but Fedor is too at this point. REMATCH!

[Animeniax]

Yeah I get tired of hearing people say he got lucky. It's not luck, it's skill. Everyone knows Arlovski is the better boxer than Fedor, but he's clearly not the better fighter. If Arlovski had continued dominating in standup, Fedor would have taken it to the ground and beaten him to death or submitted him.

Arlovski's chances of a rematch are good only because of the limited number of contenders in the Affliction/M-1 roster. One or two more wins for Arlovski against guys like Sylvia, Yvel, Buentello, and Barnett, and after Fedor beats a couple more guys, Arlovski could be the top contender again. That's unless Affliction adds to their stable of heavyweights, which would be smart to ride the Fedor wagon, but also dumb because they're lacking in talent in the other weight classes.

[itadakimasu]

http://www.kfight.net/News/Affliction-2-Day-Of-Reckoning-Fighters-Payouts

I'm not sure if this is 100% accurate or not for the afflication payouts...

if arlovski really got $1,500,000 to fight fedor and fedor only got $300,000... it made me wonder if they're having to pay people to fight fedor. The Tim sylvia payout against fedor was similar, sylvia got tons of money to get his ass beat in 30 seconds, and fedor only got a portion of that amount. But, maybe the dollar is really strong in russia !

[Animeniax]

Wow that's pretty amazing if it's true. But you have to keep in mind that Fedor's drawing power in the US might not be as strong as Arlovski's, who has exposure from his UFC days. A relative unknown in the US market can't command the salary of big names. Also, maybe Fedor doesn't care about the money, he just wants to kick some ass.

edit: check around, there are rumors that Fedor received a bonus of more than $1million.

[Animeniax]

Just finished watching GSP vs Penn 2, pretty amazing card of fights. GSP owned Penn, Machida owned T. Silva, Guida beat Diaz, Fitch beat Gono, Jones beat Bonnar, Parisian beat Kim.

The Korean disappointed, which teaches me for having any faith in one of those people. He won the first round, then proceeded to hug and do nothing through the 2nd and 3rd on his way to a decision loss, his first career loss. Pretty pathetic to see.

GSP owned Penn. Not much more to say about that. They brought Thiago Alves into the ring after the fight to talk about GSP vs Alves; you could see fear in his eyes.

[itadakimasu]

i saw it too. the first couple fights weren't very entertaining. the machida fight was good though, he looked like the smaller, less powerful fighter but he had a few near-knockouts before he actually KO'd him, 4:59 1st round! I was actually confusing thiago alves w\ thiago silva until the fight came on...

and yes, i'm glad penn got his ass handed to him since he talked so much smack leading to the fight. I don't think kenny florian can beat him but who knows.

[Animeniax]

Florian has improved a lot, and kind of has the Machida tactic of evasion and hit and run. Very effective style, if not very exciting. I think he'd do ok against Penn, but Penn will want to avenge his loss against GSP on the next guy he fights.

Machida shows that tactical fighting and skill beats aggression and power. I wonder if the UFC will give him a title shot, since a lot of fans hate his style and he wouldn't be a very popular champ. It also shows how Thiago Silva's 13-1 record came mostly against lower-tier fighters. I wonder how Silva would do against Rampage or Wandy. It would be a slugfest.

[itadakimasu]

Have you seen the bj penn videos? He was talking about how he intended the GSP fight to be his last fight. Idk if he meant for good, or just UFC...

And then his people are claiming GSP's corner put vaseline on his back and that effected bj's performance against him

[Animeniax]

Wow, haven't seen those videos. Where can I see them? That's pretty shocking to hear. I think it was a mistake to jump straight to 170 and fight the king of welterweights. He (and the UFC should have made him) should have fought his way up the 170 ranks to earn a shot at the title. That would have kept interest for him and his fans going, and he would have stood a better chance against GSP.

I've heard plenty about the vaseline controversy. You can see on the PPV broadcast, between rounds 1 and 2, one of GSP's corner-men applies vaseline to GSP's face, then rubs his shoulders and then his upper back. It's hard to say how much vaseline was left on his hands after the face, and it was a very brief rub and he massaged GSP's temples and shoulders enough that there couldn't have been much left when he massaged his back. After round 3, you can see some ring officials in GSP's corner, and one of them uses a towel to wipe off GSP's back as he stands to start round 4. Not sure what to think, we'll see what the officials rule.

I'm reading now that GSP could move to 185.

[animus]

Yeah, the vaseline thing was odd. It was nitpicking. GSP didn't even need the vaseline, Penn got rocked. But, White was right though. Illegal is Illegal.

[Animeniax]

In the 2nd round Penn did seem to have problems keeping GSP in his guard. He kept putting his legs up around GSP's shoulders and they kept sliding down to his lower back. That could have just been sweat though, or GSP's powerful back making it hard for Penn to clamp on.

The thing is, if you use moisturizing lotion on your body, it dries and becomes invisible. As you sweat, it becomes moist again. Any fighter who moisturizes could have an advantage in the ring. They wouldn't need vaseline.

[itadakimasu]

gsp vs anderson silva... now that would be a real super fight.

i think the vaseline thing is bs... it makes bj look like a punk who's trying to find an excuse for the ass beating he got.

so, i just read this Dana White interview off ufc.com and apparently he's just got alot of hate for Affliction. He's like " i fucking hate those guys. I'll be fuckin surprised if they have another event, blah blah blah. I actually hope they have another event so they can keep losing money!

Then there is a question about the ufc maybe getting some fighters like gina carano, allistair overeem, Fedor, Tito ortiz....

Dana's answer is " Tito Ortiz is included in a list of great fighters? LOL

[itadakimasu]

In case you don't follow MMA news, Strikeforce bought out part of Elite XC, including fighters like Nick Diaz, Robbie Lawler, Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano, and 30+ others. They're going to take over Elite XC's tv deal that they had w\ CBS and Showtime and will be having upwards of 14 shows annually starting w\ april 11th where they have Nick Diaz vs. Frank Shamrock, Josh Thomson championship fight opponent TBA, and a few other fights.

[animus]

Kimbo's failure played a huge part in that I'd guess.

[Animeniax]

Nah, promotions fail all the time. They pay too much to fighters who don't draw the crowds the promotions need to stay even on the books.

Glad to see the UFC won't be the only shows to look forward to. Affliction only does 2 shows a year, WEC is all small fighters without the big game atmosphere, and the UFC does maybe 1 or 2 a month. We need more fight action!

[itadakimasu]

http://mmajunkie.com/news/14050/b-j-penn-releases-video-to-document-allegations-against-georges-st-pierre.mma

video released by bj-penn documenting vasoline-gate. After watching the video I'm kinda in denial cause I like gsp. I think the video makes his claims valid though. I'm wondering if they're going to schedule a rematch after each of them defends their titles ( assuming both of them win their next fights )

[Animeniax]

Yeah that video is very persuasive, but in truth it's a lot of conjecture and an argument built on circumstantial evidence. He cites quotes by several people that's offered as proof of guilt, like Dana White saying GSP is in trouble with the NSAC. I've also read that fighters like Matt Hughes and Penn are pricks who would accuse people of cheating to defend their inflated egos after a loss. I like GSP and would rather not think he cheated in any of his fights. I'd like to see GSP vs Penn 3 to settle the matter.

Anyone excited for UFC 95? I'm not, but I'll watch it and hope Stevenson wins.

[Animeniax]

Wow great card of fights. The first 5 or 6 fights they showed were all TKOs or beautiful submissions. The Brazilians owned before Marquardt's win over Gouveia.

The most boring fight was the main event, in which Stevenson demonstrates again that he's no longer a contender in the lightweight rank. Let's hope this is the last time we have to see him bore us in a main card fight.

[itadakimasu]

I only saw the last 2 fights of UFC 96. I like Rampage but I'm not sure if he can last 5 rounds. If he does fight Rashad at UFC 98, he better come out with all he's got the first couple rounds, because I dont' think he can hang with Rashad in later rounds...

That is if he takes the fight though, because most fighters take 4-6 months between fights to rest and train.

[Animeniax]

I feel bad for anyone who paid for UFC 96. Crappy card with no really interesting fights or fighters. Some wicked KOs but they were boring somehow. The main event was lackluster and didn't show any MMA skill.

There's lots of heat on the refs because of 2 late stoppages, one where the guy got hurt kind of bad when the ref let it continue even after the initial beating. It was pretty tough to watch, but I don't blame the refs, they have a tough job.

[itadakimasu]

The main event was lackluster and didn't show any MMA skill.

That's why I think Rashad can beet jackson.. I like jackson but he's mostly a 1 dimensional fighter, and I don't think he can last 5 rounds.

You should watch the post-fight press conference, it was pretty funny. Somebody asked Rampage about the low blow he took and his answer made me laugh... too bad they didn't pan over to get jardine's reaction to what he said.

[Animeniax]

I've seen Evans' fights where he gassed pretty early too, so hopefully he's improved his cardio since then. I like him over Rampage, though I don't particularly like either fighter. I'm rooting for Machida at LHW.

I saw the whole thing, some funny stuff there. Rewatching the show right now, 3rd airing on AFN.

[itadakimasu]

http://mmajunkie.com/news/14232/tapouts-mask-killed-in-early-morning-auto-accident.mma

Founder of Tapout killed in auto accident, probably racing his ferrari against a porche

[Animeniax]

Man we were getting spoiled with an MMA event almost every two weeks back in December and January. Now it's 3 weeks between events and it sucks. At least there's 3 major events in April.

Gotta buy some Pride videos and see some classic Fedor/Crocop/Overeem/Randleman/Sakuraba/Wanderlei action to keep my adrenaline pumping until then.

[itadakimasu]

I *cough* downloaded a 75gb torrent of pridefc fights. they have some ridiculous fights.

This weekend is loaded. I've been waiting for tomorrows Strikeforce event since they announced it a couple months ago. And of course, UFC is counter-programming it by replaying UFC 94 on spike at the same time, and they're also airing 3-4 eps of UFC Unleashed before UFC 94 comes on.

Also, they're replaying Dream 8 from earlier this week on hdnet

[TwisT]

Season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter started not long ago. 2 episodes out right now. Looks like there might be some interesting fighters among the bunch.

[itadakimasu]

The Shamrock / Diaz fight was kinda sad. Shamrock was not the same fighter he was last year when he fought and lost his championship belt to cung le. Diaz just owned him until they stopped the fight.

UFC 97 this weekend... I feel like whenever anderson silva is on the card, the rest of the card can sometimes be weak ( even though chuck and shogun are fighting ) UFC 98 has 3-4 good fights on it while w\ 97 you might just see anderson rape his opponent in 30 seconds and thats it.

[itadakimasu]

so, UFC 97 was pretty weak. Alot of people are blaming anderson silva for a weak performance and I'm trying not to do the same, but I think he should have cut loose in the 4th and 5th rounds and tried harder to finish him

Leites.... i'm wondering if they cut him after his performance. I've never seen a fighter flinch and drop to his back so many times in any pro fight.

[Animeniax]

Just watched UFC 98 this morning, man oh man oh man. The Dragon is the new LHW champ. My heart has not beat that hard and I haven't been that speechless even when hearing alarms for incoming mortar attacks. He destroyed Evans and left no doubt about his style or skill.

I didn't enjoy the other fights on the card as much, Hughes by lay 'n pray over Serra, Sherk thinks he's a boxer, and some other cool matches between fighters I didn't care too much about. Still, it would have been worth the $50 if I had had to pay for it.

[itadakimasu]

yeah... that was just an unbelievable KO. Machida is the real deal.

I saw some GIF's of him blocking punches w\ one hand and then nailing a solid punch w\ the other hand. He's just really dangerous.
I thought Hughes was going to get KO'd in the first round but he managed to grind out the win.

[Animeniax]

There are pictures on the internet of Evans in his KO pose. Very disturbing.

Machida rules.

The Hughes/Serra fight was not exciting. Hughes got hurt by a headbutt, then went to his old style of LnP/GnP by wet-blanketing Serra for almost the entire rest of the fight. Sherk could have learned a lesson from Hughes if his fight hadn't gone first, then he could have won his fight against Edgar.

[itadakimasu]

They confirmed in the post-fight press conference that Rampage is the first in line to fight machida.... Rampage is halarious. I've seen a few great video interviews w\ him. He was telling this guy that sometimes when he goes to japan he tells the girls he's bob sapp (350+ lb ex football / mma / wrestler in japan )

You going to watch strikeforce next week? They have a pretty good card.

[Animeniax]

Yes Rampage is next in line to fight Machida for the LHW title, but it seems we'll have to wait until late 2009 or maybe even 2010 for the fight, since one or both will be busy filming TUF10 for 3 months, followed by 3 months of airing, before they can train 6 weeks for the fight.

I didn't even know Strikeforce was putting on a show next Saturday. Looks interesting, I'll probably get it.

[itadakimasu]

yeah... the summer is busy. The strikeforce show is next saturday and then next sunday is WEC 41 w\ the Urijah Faber / Mike Brown rematch.

I was watching this video w\ Greg Jackson where he mentioned Rashad "getting caught" and I just thought he used that term wrong because getting caught makes me think about a looping "lucky" punch... Machida took him apart completely w\ precision strikes. Probably KO of the year.

also, check out www.fedorchant.com

[Animeniax]

Yeah lots of people are upset at how Jackson discounted Machida's victory, suggesting Machida got lucky instead of the systematic dismantling he performed on Evans. Jackson says he wants another crack at Machida, not sure who he has on his team who can handle Machida. Jardine would be a joke.

I won't get the Strikeforce card but the WEC show is free right? Or was this the first PPV for WEC? Zuffa was talking about starting PPVs for WEC cards.

I've heard about the Fedor chant at UFC 100. I don't think enough casual fans (the majority of those who attend the live events and don't look at it online) will be exposed to this movement before the fight. I could be wrong, BJ Penn seemed to get booed at UFC 98, probably for his greasegate antics, and that was an online movement too.

[itadakimasu]

IDK about wec being PPV... Dana Whites videoblog from yesterday was about WEC. But this one is on VS. and not PPV.

So, Kimbo Slice is on season 10 of the ultimate fighter which started shooting yesterday w\ Rampage and Rashad as coaches. Plus, Dana white is promising news soon of something that will change the UFC and MMA forever....

[Animeniax]

I will definitely watch WEC 41 then. Faber vs Brown II should be fun, though I see Brown winning.

I heard about the Kimbo deal on TUF. What a farce. Also, Shogun gets a title shot against Machida because Rampage is ducking him. I mean, because Rampage is busy with TUF.

[Animeniax]

I just found out you can add Showtime to your Comcast package for $6 per month for the first 6 months. I think I'll do it, then cancel after the Strikeforce show this weekend.

[itadakimasu]

Haha... $6 PPV! I don't want to think as ramage as ducking machida cause I like rampage but it could look that way. Even if he's just trying to get more footage of machida fighting to form some kind of plan, I think thats pointless because rampage doesn't have the most elaborate fighting style.

The UFC might come to Dallas for a september show : UFC 103 but between UFC 100-102 There aren't any huge main events I can think of : ( Rampage / Rashad would be cool but TUF 10 is starting around the same time and they've been timing the coach fights w\ the season finale's.

[Animeniax]

Exactly, $6 for a pretty stacked card with Lawler vs Shields, Diaz vs Smith, and Arlovski vs Rogers. It'll be funny to see "NY Badass" Baroni and Kevin Randleman in action again.

Did you just say that UFC 100 through 102 aren't huge main events? Those 3 shows have some potentially amazing fights. And 103 is when Shogun is supposed to fight Machida for the LHW title, though it might be 104.

[Animeniax]

Just watched the Strikeforce show. Some great fights, but all weird. Arlovski got KO'd in under 1 minute against Rogers. Diaz won, Shields won by guillotine over Lawler in under 2 minutes.

[itadakimasu]

I thought it was a great show. they should have stood them up more in the first fight, they spent way too much time on the ground not doing anything.

I really liked the Diaz / Smith fight. Nick Diaz just has a unique style and it's like smith didn't know how to deal with all of the punches. Its cool to watch because it doesn't look like he's hitting hard but you see smith just getting beat up.

[Abdula]

Watching Strikeforce on Showtime at the moment and I gotta say the Diaz/Smith fight was pretty funny. I couldn't help but laugh when watching it, you could tell the punches really were doing damage but they were at such weird angles, from the cameras perspective at least that it just looked funny. It looked like something you would see in Looney Tunes.


Some great fights, but all weird. Arlovski got KO'd in under 1 minute against Rogers.
Gotta appreciate a great KO.

[itadakimasu]

I didn't even think about the fact that UFC 99 was being held in Germany and that there is a bit of a time difference between there and here in the states... Apparently it aired @ 3pm... I may have caught it at a sports bar or something if I thought things through : (

100 is coming!

[Animeniax]

Sorry if I'm spoiling anything, but from the fight play-by-plays and clips I've seen, you didn't miss much. Lots of decisions, some questionable. Not a lot of highlight reel action. I almost bought the PPV, but couldn't stay away from the online sites long enough to not get spoilers. Kind of happy it worked out that way, since I've been trying to save money lately.

[Animeniax]

Gotta appreciate a great KO.
I'd have enjoyed it more except I didn't think it was a great KO, it was just a weird one. Rogers basically walked at Arlovski and punched him a couple times for the KO. Either Arlovski didn't take Rogers seriously or he threw the fight. Everyone knows he has no chin though.

[itadakimasu]

i downloaded it and used my dvd players usb port to watch it on my tv. not a great event, none of the fights were super exciting. The wanerlei / franklin fight was ok but it went to decision... I think it was weak PPV for anybody who spent the $45-55 on it. 100-102 are all looking to be pretty stacked though, and then they're having 103 in dallas and most of the marquee fighters will have fought just in the past 2 months...

[TwisT]

Did anyone catch the Ultimate Fighter Finale? If not you really should. Sanches vs Guida was so awesome. I expected Clay to dominate that fight because i have never been impressed with Diego. Thought it was gonna be a walkover. But Diego surprised me big time and made it a war. Like some have said, possibly the fight of the year.

[Animeniax]

Most of the fights were disappointing decisions, but the Sanchez/Guida fight was pretty amazing. People liked Lytle/Burns but I wasn't that enthused. Wilks looked awesome with the submissions in his TUF fight with Johnson.

[itadakimasu]

I ordered UFC 100 earlier today. They have the SD version for $45 and the HD version for $55 and it made me wonder about that because I'm certain they shoot everything in HD regardless. Do they have some kind of filter to make it only SD even if it was recorded in HD?

I got the HD version to play it safe.

[darkshadow]

Doesn't matter if you shoot in HD, you can just reencode it to 480p, no big deal.

[itadakimasu]

UFC 100 was ok... really enjoyed Hendo's KO over Bisbing... that was devestating. GSP pretty much just dominated Alves and wouldn't let him stand and bang, beat him up pretty good on the ground, and then the Brock Lesnar / Frank Mir fight was pretty much as you could assume it would go. Brock, the much bigger guy pretty much layed on mir the entire match and pounded him in the face. Mir showed a quick burst of impressive striking in the first seconds of the 2nd round including a 1-legged jumping knee to the face ala uriajah faber, but brock didn't want any of that so he layed on him some more and KO'd him.

Since I paid $55 for the ppv... I was disappointed because it seemed like all of the matches went by really fast, and the fitch / thiago matchup didn't happen until after the main event. I think if you order the PPV before it airs, they should show you the preliminary matches... I mean, I did pay $55. now i have to go find and dl them in order to see them.

[itadakimasu]

The MMA world is going crazy right now...

Affliction cancelled it's upcoming event due to it's main event falling apart... they later came out and announced that their closing up their MMA operations, and then that they're going to go back to being a sponsor in the UFC, which means their fighters are now free agents for the most part.

Everybody is hoping that Fedor gets signed by the UFC. Also, Dana white apparently twittered "welcome back Tito" which many people think means Tito Ortiz is coming back.

The UFC is holding a press conference next week (31st) in which they're going to unveil a "laundry list" of announcements...

Also, I'm going to be at UFC 103 ^^ probably wont have the best tickets, but at the time I didn't think $250/350 per ticket was a smart idea right now.

[Animeniax]

Yeah, all thanks to roid-head Barnett, millions of dollars lost and a company goes out of business, further allowing one of the most corrupt sports orgs to come that much closer to completely dominating the sport and giving its athletes less say and control over their careers. Some say Barnett was paid to take the dive without taking a single punch from Fedor.

I've read that some of the fights will be picked up by Dream and Strikeforce for their August shows, since the fighters have been training and are ready to fight.

I'm surprised the UFC is allowing Affliction to become a sponsor again, but I'm sure it came with a lot of boot-kissing and kickback money.

I still don't think Fedor will sign with the UFC unless they meet his demands. Even before Affliction folded, Fedor and the UFC weren't seeing eye to eye.

[itadakimasu]

Everybody is hoping for Fedor to sign w\ the UFC, love him or hate him. Affliction shutting down is a good thing all around though because honestly... I wanted to watch their fights but at the same time I didn't really want to spend $40-50 on the PPV.

Strikeforce is pretty solid right now and if they pick up some of the fighters and keep doing what they're doing, it will be good for all of the fans. I think that allowing affliction back into the UFC will also come w\ some fighter contracts which they'll have to re-negotiate.

[Animeniax]

I'm a huge Fedor fan but I don't see him in the UFC unless they allow him to fight in sambo tournaments for the honor of his motherland. Plus I think his company is controlled by the Russian mob and they want to muscle in on the UFC's interests, which is probably run by the Italian mob.

I like Strikeforce but really their roster is all b-list fighters and guys who couldn't survive in the UFC. Affliction actually had some A-list fighters mixed with B-list guys. Now some will sign with the UFC, some with SF, and some might fight in Japan.

Fedor, Mousasi, and Belfort in the UFC would be pretty amazing.

[itadakimasu]

Fedor had a press conference yesterday where his M1 handlers pretty much took all of the questions. Their announcements consisted of fedor "headlining" the EA mma game that will sorta rival the UFC 09 game.. this game likely will bomb.

Questions about the UFC turned out to be lame and they gave the same old answers about how they want to co-promote w\ the UFC and that M1 will be hosting more and more events in the future... so fedor signing seemed less likely after that. We'll see though.

Dana White is having a press conference tomorrow in which he's going to unveil the laundry list of news for the UFC.

Strikeforce picked up the Babalu / Mousasi matchup which will be for the Strikeforce LHW championship. They also got Jay Hieron to fill in against Nick Diaz which will be for the Strikeforce WW championship.

So, if no more changes happen to that strikeforce card, it's still going to have 4 titles on the line : cyborg / carano for womens championship, thomson / melendez for lw championship, babalu / mousasi for lhw championship and diaz / hieron for the ww championship.

I think it's awesome... I'm more excited for this strikeforce card than I am for ufc 101 or ufc 102, I'm going to ufc 103 so that will be exciting... unless i can't see anything.

[itadakimasu]

Vitor Belfort vs Rich Franklin @ UFC 103 which i'm going to be attending live...

Tito Ortiz is back in the UFC

Dana White was unable to sign Fedor

Dan Henderson will fight Anderson Silva next @ 185 for a title match... I was expecting some more major announcements since everybody knew Vitor was coming and that Tito was likely returning also.

[Animeniax]

The big earth-shaking move that Dana White was hinting at didn't materialize, but I think the guy speaks in hyperbole most of the time. Fedor wasn't signed and there is no network TV deal, either of which is what most thought the big news would be.

Belfort returning to the UFC is cool, but fighting at LHW again? He made the move to 185 and looked crisper and quicker by most accounts. I'd rather see him fight Mousasi at LHW than Franklin.

Tito returning isn't very compelling either. Not many matchups I care to see with him at LHW. He's another wrestler/GnP guy and there's enough of them in MMA.

[itadakimasu]

Befort / Franklin is going to be @ 195 like the franklin / wanderlei fight was. They hinted at bringing Vitor in to fight anderson silva at the last fight night they had on Spike tv. If franklin beats him though... idk who they have him fight after that.

[Animeniax]

I can't believe you're lucky enough to be going to UFC 103. It will be an amazing card and there's no way they can show all the great fights on the PPV unless it's a bunch of 1 round KOs.

Just a quick rundown:
Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin
Junior Dos Santos vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic
Martin Kampmann vs. Mike Swick
Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller
Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg
Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin
Jim Miller vs. Thiago Tavares
Tomasz Drwal vs. Drew McFedries
Paul Daley vs Brian Foster
Jason Brilz vs. Eliot Marshall

Unbelievable. This is a better card than UFC100.

[itadakimasu]

i can't believe they added more fights to the card! I'm going to have to do some research and find out how early they usually start the prelims, and I'm probably going to take off work to goto the weigh-ins the day before.

OHHH... they pulled the Sean Sherk fight from the prelims... maybe going to use it for UFC 104... that sucks, I watned to see sherk in action.

[Animeniax]

i can't believe they added more fights to the card! I'm going to have to do some research and find out how early they usually start the prelims, and I'm probably going to take off work to goto the weigh-ins the day before.

OHHH... they pulled the Sean Sherk fight from the prelims... maybe going to use it for UFC 104... that sucks, I watned to see sherk in action.
You're not missing much, he's a pretty boring fighter.

People are really excited about these undercard fights so you should be sure to catch them:
Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin
Jim Miller vs. Thiago Tavares
Tomasz Drwal vs. Drew McFedries
Paul Daley vs Brian Foster

[itadakimasu]

McFedries is either knocking somebody TFO or getting KTFO himself.

[Animeniax]

Ha, UFC is counter-programming the Strikeforce Carano vs Cyborg show by airing UFC100 on Spike for free. They're serious about destroying Strikeforce for signing Fedor.

[Animeniax]

Anyone watch Strikeforce Carano vs Cyborg? Mousasi kicked Babalu's ass, Melendez kicked Ishida's ass, Werdum subbed Kyle, and Cyborg destroyed Carano. It was pretty tough to watch Carano get handled like that. It was like she was fighting a man almost.

Congrats to Cyborg, but she really has no competition in women's MMA. Not sure what she does for her next fight.

[itadakimasu]

I was disappointed that the nick diaz / jay hieron fight didn't happen.

nick is to blame for not preparing in case of a drug test, but the NSAC is to blame for having MJ as a banned substance when nick has a prescription !

Mousasi took out babalu really fast, that surprised me a little.

[Animeniax]

I was disappointed that the nick diaz / jay hieron fight didn't happen.

nick is to blame for not preparing in case of a drug test, but the NSAC is to blame for having MJ as a banned substance when nick has a prescription !

Mousasi took out babalu really fast, that surprised me a little.
First Barnett, now Diaz. These guys need to get their acts together or they'll shut down some more promotions and only UFC will be left.

Diaz is a known pothead. He's like Ricky Williams, he'd rather get high than anything else in life. He has the skills to be a top fighter if he'd take his craft seriously.

I wasn't surprised, Mousasi is supposed to be the next big thing at LHW and Babalu never impressed me that much. I'd love to see Mousasi fight Shogun or Machida. Word is the UFC picked up Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who would have been a great fight for Mousasi in SF. SF needs to get some top LHWs for Mousasi's next 2 fights before his contract with them is completed.

[Animeniax]

Did anyone see UFC 102? Amazing night of fights!!! A couple of the fights were lackluster like Vera/Soszynski, but the Marquardt/Maia and Duffee/Hague fights each lasted less than 30 seconds. I don't know if they showed the Gonzaga/Tuscherer fight since I left after Couture/Nogueira.

The main even was an awesome fight. Nogueira shows he's still got it. Now he needs a rematch with Mir to show fans their last fight was a fluke because he was recovering from the staph infection. He'd destroy Mir if they fought again.

[itadakimasu]

That was a great UFC card. Some quick KO's. I can't believe Marquart KO'd Maia so fast... I was ready for an all out war, but good for nate.

Nogs boxing is great... I can't believe he let go of that choke he had randy in, and also can't believe randy held on so long, and jumped up so fast when nog let up on the choke. I still think Brock is too dominant though... idk... That Duffee guy is pretty big, he's a solid 250lbs, i'm not sure how big carwin is off the top of my head.

[itadakimasu]

I went to ufc 103 last night. My wife was a trooper and was pretty into it and stuck out the 6+ hours of fights and intermissions!

They said there were 17,500 people there. our seats were decent for being on the top level. We were 2nd row on the top section ($100 per ticket) would be cool to be able to afford $350 seats but that's just alot of money.

Could have used binoculars to be able to see all the fighters / celebrities in attendance. You could pick out Tito Ortiz because of his big head... and dana white because he's bald ^^ and also jenna jameson because she was with Tito.

Most of the fights were 1st round finishes, there was a cool submission and a couple good knock outs. Mirko cro cop had the loudest reception of the night but his fight ended strangely as he "verbally submitted" everybody was like... WTF!?

None of the fights that went the distance were amazing or anything. There were 13 fights all together though and all in all it was a good time.

I think it opened me up to the idea of flying out to other UFC events that have amazing cards.

Tons of drunken obnoxious people though. There were a few fights in the crowd, and one involved this 250 or so lb dude like... pushing this guy and falling on him down the stairs, like at least 6-7 rows.... kinda good that both guys got up ok because you could easily die w\ a huge guy landing on you on cement steps.

[Animeniax]

Oh man, that sounds like a fun time. It's great you got to attend the show, and even better that your wife didn't make it a crappy time. I guess you'll have to suck it up and do something she enjoys next? I'd have loved to have made the drive from Austin but oh well.

Here in Austin it was almost impossible to see the show at a sports bar because they were showing the Texas/Tech game and it lasted until 10:30. I'd imagine some even showed the Mayweather/Marquez fight rather than the UFC show.

The prelim fights on Spike were all really entertaining.

[itadakimasu]

how many fights did they show on spike? they were only slated to do 2 and they both ended pretty fast.

I'm not much into boxing but since HBO is showing the marquez / mayweather fight on saturday I'll watch it.

I didn't really take into account college football. That's some tough ppv competition.

[Animeniax]

They showed 4 fights, all very exciting matchups of no-name fighters.

I'm not into college football, but Austin is huge for it, probably only because Texas is ranked in the top 3 right now.

[itadakimasu]

Strikeforce news :

Last week they annonced that Fedor vs Brett Rogers will be on November 7th live on CBS. Cung Le relinquished his championship belt, and Jake Shields and Jayson "mayhem" Miller will fight for that belt on the same card ( i think ) They said there would be 4 fights all together so I'm wondering who else is going to fight.

I'm thinking they may put Cyborg on the card too since it's on CBS, and get some exposure to people who maybe don't have cable or know anything about MMA.

I'm still hoping that they come through w\ the Nick Diaz vs Jay Hieron fight that fell apart back in June.

[Animeniax]

In a baffling move, SF signed 47 year old Hershel Walker to a fight contract. Maybe they'll add Mousasi vs Walker to the November card. That would be a one sided demolition.

Also, Carano should be on the card if it's going to be on CBS. She's still the hottest face in MMA.

[6Zabuza9]

Anyone watch Kimbo Slice vs Roy Nelson on TUF today? Man the fight was such a disappointment, even on Roy Nelson's performance. All Roy did was basically sat on Kimbo Slice all day long with his fat ass and throwing the weakest punches in the world on Kimbo's head. If Kimbo even had the slightest skill in jitsu and was able to keep the fight standing I think Kimbo woulda had a chance.

[Abdula]

Yeah is was a complete disappointment. For all Roy's talk and his confidence his performance was really underwhelming. I was more impressed by Kimbo's performance even though he lost, than Roy's victory. Kimbo showed some skill, his stand was what you would expect, he seems to have good take-down defense, used the cage well and he didn't do a bad job from the bottom either. In fact one my friends I was watching it with commented that Kimbo was the only guy he has seen on TUF that actually used strikes from the bottom. With a good camp behind him, Kimbo could actually be the real deal.

Roy on the other hand was the quintessence of lay and pray, especially considering that he was utilizing the crucifix position. Kimbo made the critical mistake of throwing a knee when Roy was attempting to take him down and once Roy got him down he didn't have the skill to get back up. Though he certainly tried his best, more so than his teammates did in their fights, and he almost succeeded a few times too. He tried to simply power out a couple of times but I don'tt care how strong you are, when you're flat on your back there is no way you are going to lift a 260 lb guy off of you, especially when your face is being smothered by belly fat. That was hard to watch

As much as Roy pissed me off I guess I shouldn't criticize him too much, his strategy was sound and more importantly it was successful, and he showed that he has some experience under his belt but I really don't care about that. As he himself said if that were on a pay per view card he would've collected a nice check but that's not what The Ultimate Fighter is about. It's supposed to be about showing how much "heart" you have, or as they say "how much you want it" and proving that you're a better fighter than your opponent. That is what he said he was going to do, prove that he was better than Kimbo and he didn't. His celebration after his victory was also kinda pathetic, what did he call it " The whopper with cheese." Yeah it was definitely cheesy.

[Animeniax]

Yeah it was a very underwhelming fight overall. Neither guy was impressive.

I think you're giving too much credit to Kimbo though. His ground game is nonexistent, and by his own admission, he'd do a lot better if he actually spent any time training it. He's a one-dimensional puncher, like Houston Alexander or Drew McFedries. If these guys ever developed their wrestling and BJJ, they'd be monsters. Instead they're cellar dwellers in their divisions.

That was far from lay and pray by Nelson. Putting someone in the crucifix position is excellent ground work, not laying on them. If Nelson wasn't such a fatass, he'd have moved into proper crucifix position to isolate Kimbo's head and done some real damage.

Everyone is looking to knock off Kimbo Slice. Nelson did so in unimpressive fashion, but he did win against a big name, so he deserved a little celebrating. Now he needs to lose that gut and he could be more than just a former IFL champ.

[Abdula]

I think you're giving too much credit to Kimbo though. His ground game is nonexistent, and by his own admission, he'd do a lot better if he actually spent any time training it. He's a one-dimensional puncher, like Houston Alexander or Drew McFedries. If these guys ever developed their wrestling and BJJ, they'd be monsters. Instead they're cellar dwellers in their divisions.
That is true but that fight really annoyed me and I like Kimbo. Yeah he is still a one dimensional fighter but that kinda is why he is on the show in the first place isn't it. If Kimbo manages to get a ground game or he at least learns enough to be able to get off his back when he gets taken down then he'll be an okay fighter, not spectacular but no one is expecting him to be the greatest fighter in UFC history.


That was far from lay and pray by Nelson. Putting someone in the crucifix position is excellent ground work, not laying on them. If Nelson wasn't such a fatass, he'd have moved into proper crucifix position to isolate Kimbo's head and done some real damage.
Yeah when a guy punches you in the face and you get scared, take him down and lay on top of him until the ref stops the fight then yeah its lay and pray. He actually mounted Kimbo a couple times during the fight and made no attempt to posture up and strike instead he was content to smother him with his belly fat. You may not call it lay and pray but he really did nothing from the top and won the fight simply because Kimbo wasn't able to get back up.

[itadakimasu]

Rumor has it that Kimbo is in Florida training with american top team. He slipped in an interview saying that he was preparing for a fight in december which is most likely the TUF finale.

That fight did suck though... Kimbo just couldn't get out of that. Even though Roy wasn't really doing much if any damage, kimbo was just unable to defend himself.

I wonder if they could have the discretion to stand the fight up at that point if the guy on top isn't actually trying to finish the fight ( by throwing weak punches) in the 2nd round though, kimbo shouldn't have thrown that knee that allowed him to be taken down. he should have kept jabbing and defended the take down at all cost.

[Animeniax]

Yeah when a guy punches you in the face and you get scared, take him down and lay on top of him until the ref stops the fight then yeah its lay and pray. He actually mounted Kimbo a couple times during the fight and made no attempt to posture up and strike instead he was content to smother him with his belly fat. You may not call it lay and pray but he really did nothing from the top and won the fight simply because Kimbo wasn't able to get back up.

Getting someone in the crucifix position is high level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It was Nelson's fault for not doing more damage with elbows, but no way is that lay and pray and no way should the ref stand that up. Getting someone in the crucifix position means they're getting TKO'd 99% of the time. I'm reading around that Nelson intentionally took it easy on Kimbo when he had top position on him. Lay and pray would have been if Nelson hadn't pinned both of Kimbo's arms in an attempt to open up his head to attack, which is exactly what the crucifix does.

Nelson should have improved his position and unloaded some elbows and power punches, but from some other sources I've read that Kimbo's posse doesn't take kindly to anyone derailing their cash cow. There's a story that Kimbo brought a gun to the ATT training center to threaten a fighter who arm-barred him and wouldn't let it go, even though Kimbo would not tap. Threats were also reportedly made against Seth Petruzelli after he beat Kimbo and said he'd beat him again in the UFC once they were both signed.

[Abdula]

Rumor has it that Kimbo is in Florida training with american top team. He slipped in an interview saying that he was preparing for a fight in december which is most likely the TUF finale.
Yeah I've heard as much. Any idea as to who his opponent is going to be?

Getting someone in the crucifix position is high level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It was Nelson's fault for not doing more damage with elbows, but no way is that lay and pray and no way should the ref stand that up. Getting someone in the crucifix position means they're getting TKO'd 99% of the time. I'm reading around that Nelson intentionally took it easy on Kimbo when he had top position on him. Lay and pray would have been if Nelson hadn't pinned both of Kimbo's arms in an attempt to open up his head to attack, which is exactly what the crucifix does.
Maybe I'll change my mind when I watch the fight again but I doubt it. Ordinarily getting your opponent into the crucifix position would be high level BJJ but it's not as if Roy did it to Frank Mir, it was Kimbo Slice the guy you yourself said has a nonexistent ground game. Roy didn't seem to be that skilled on the ground either he just had more knowledge and more experience and that made all the difference.


Nelson should have improved his position and unloaded some elbows and power punches, but from some other sources I've read that Kimbo's posse doesn't take kindly to anyone derailing their cash cow. There's a story that Kimbo brought a gun to the ATT training center to threaten a fighter who arm-barred him and wouldn't let it go, even though Kimbo would not tap. Threats were also reportedly made against Seth Petruzelli after he beat Kimbo and said he'd beat him again in the UFC once they were both signed.
I actually laughed out loud. That is hilarious, even more so if it's true.

[itadakimasu]

104 was pretty good. Shogun definitely got robbed. I'm going to watch it again today or tomorrow. I was cheering for Machida but... damn. His whole mystique was crushed.

Dana white has been quoted saying that Shogun gets an instant rematch. I'm thinking they can do it @ 108 maybe. Anderson Silva may not be cleared to fight after his elbow surgery.

[mage]

Shogun wasn't robbed. Machida clearly won the fight.

[Animeniax]

I agree, it was no robbery, it was very close and easily arguable that Machida won or got the benefit of being champion.

[itadakimasu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc-ToTIM3gc&feature=player_embedded - Hitler thought Shogun won.

I rewatched the first couple rounds last night and Machida could win the first round. But I think the leg kicks should count for something. This is basically the way that Forrest Griffin beat Rampage Jackson to take the belt away from him.

It sucks because with Machidas last 2 wins everybody was excited because we thought there was going to be a super dominant champ @ 205, but shogun exposed machida and machida no longer has that untouchable mystique about him.

[mage]

Cecil Peoples (MMA judge) gave a good explanation of the decision, just google it.

Also, here's a good explanation from a kickboxing expert's view

http://www.headkicklegend.com/2009/10/25/1100366/a-kickboxing-look-at-machida-vs

[Animeniax]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc-ToTIM3gc&feature=player_embedded - Hitler thought Shogun won.

I rewatched the first couple rounds last night and Machida could win the first round. But I think the leg kicks should count for something. This is basically the way that Forrest Griffin beat Rampage Jackson to take the belt away from him.

It sucks because with Machidas last 2 wins everybody was excited because we thought there was going to be a super dominant champ @ 205, but shogun exposed machida and machida no longer has that untouchable mystique about him.
Shogun didn't expose anything. People were over-hyping Machida's style but he hasn't fought certain types of fighters so there were still questions about his dominance. Shogun is no slouch. Getting beat by Shogun doesn't expose anything about you, it just shows what a badass Shogun is.

Super dominant champs get tiresome. GSP, Anderson Silva, Brock Lesnar... people watch their fights hoping to see them lose. I'd rather see a competitive division. In the LHW division, the best days were when Chuck and Randy fought for the top spot. A Machida vs Shogun trilogy would be amazing.

[Animeniax]

Cecil Peoples (MMA judge) gave a good explanation of the decision, just google it.

Also, here's a good explanation from a kickboxing expert's view

http://www.headkicklegend.com/2009/10/25/1100366/a-kickboxing-look-at-machida-vs
You probably don't want to use Cecil Peoples' judgment to support your claims. The guy is either inept or corrupt. While I support the judges' decision in Machida vs Rua, Peoples' judgments in other fights has been atrocious and morally questionable.

The best thing that could happen because of UFC 104 (besides a rematch of Machida vs Shogun) is Cecil Peoples losing his reffing license.

[itadakimasu]

hopefully both fighters are much more aggressive in the rematch.

I just started a thread on an mma forum and it instantly turned into a flame fest because nobody wants to agree with me that weight cutting is pointless and hurts mma.

i think the only logical way to look at it is that the weight classes are there to match up fighters based on weight, and alot of fighters cheat the system by dropping 10-20lbs in the sauna the day before the fight so they weigh in lighter @ the weigh ins but then they balloon back up @ fight time. I just think it's stupid and that it takes focus away from fighting.

[Animeniax]

I thought they were both plenty aggressive. Even Machida vs Evans was less eventful. Shogun and Machida engaged every round and landed numerous strikes with some grappling too.

I agree about the entire weight-cutting mess. Guys like GSP, Anthony Johnson, Jon Fitch, Nate Marquardt, Tito Ortiz, Forrest Griffin, etc, all cut a lot of weight to fight in their division. They gain back maybe half of that weight by fight time, mostly in water and nutrients.

Shogun walks around at almost 230 and weighs in at 205. Machida is around 215 and cuts to 205 for fights. Forrest Griffin supposedly weighs 240 when he's just a couple months from a fight, and Anderson Silva around 220. Anthony Johnson is the worst, cutting from 220 to 170 for fights. That's why he didn't make weight at 104. So basically he was a MW fighting Yoshida who could make the cut to LW. That's some BS and defies the spirit of martial arts.

[Animeniax]

Fedor just smoked Rogers in the 2nd round with a huge right hook.

[6Zabuza9]

saw the fight yesterday as well. rogers did better than i expected

[itadakimasu]

Yeah, it's a win/win for Rogers. He's 10-1 and his only loss came in a good showing against Fedor. I think he broke his nose in the first 15 seconds of the fight... that cut was nasty.

I was just watching a fight from Sengoku that was in japan saturday morning, and during one of the fights the announcer Michael "The Voice" Schiavello says " He's taking more hits than Nick Diazes Bong !!!" made me LOL

[Animeniax]

It's been shown that the cut on Fedor's nose was an existing injury and Rogers' jab only opened up the cut. Supposedly Fedor's brother Aleks busted his nose in training camp a week or so before the Saturday fight.

[itadakimasu]

ah. did they cover that baby up w\ super glue and makeup?!

Animeniax : check this out :

http://forums.mmajunkie.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19050&p=505208&hilit=sweater#p505208

i lol'd the first time i saw it.

[Animeniax]

Yeah he's gotten a lot of flak on online forums for that sweater. You'd think these net nerds didn't have their moms dress them with all the talk of sweaters and fashion concerning Fedor.

[Genma]

Been a fan of MMA for a while now, but it's gradually starting to wear on me. It's become too much of a sport. I miss the Pride days when people would come out in full costume then soccer kick their opponents into oblivion.

Now we got guys like Jake "Lay and Pray" Shields who just want to win, rather than put on an interesting show. Miller would have dominated him, and almost did if it wasn't for the bell. $5 lost on that one. :/

At least Fedor made that card worthwhile, though I doubt any Fedor fan was even concerned during it. I remember my friend leaned over and was like, "So, how long until Fedor pulls an armbar or KO?" while Fedor bled profusely from his nose. I guess that's what makes Fedor the best... he looks like he's losing but somehow pulls a win.

It's sad he won't be joining the UFC. Both sides are to blame, Dana White for not respecting fighters and M1 for wanting to co-promote. We'll never see Fedor at his true potential... because, as much as people will argue it, he's not fighting people at his level. Brett Rogers is practically a Kimbo Slice of Strikeforce. He's good, but one dimensional.

Anyways, enough of that rant. How do you see the Vera/Couture card playing out this weekend?

[Animeniax]

In Shields' defense, he has 0 standup ability and Mayhem Miller has excellent submission defense, so all Shields' has is LnP.

Fedor fans were worried when Rogers had top position and landed some heavy shots on Fedor, but we also knew the armbar attempt was coming. Still, great way for Fedor to finish the fight. There's an awesome gif of the KO punch floating around:

http://i37.tinypic.com/2hxvlvp.jpg

I'm not too excited about 105 this weekend, but MMA is MMA. I think Randy will win by decision or Vera will win by TKO.

[itadakimasu]

A free ufc card is always nice. I'm hoping couture wins but I like Vera too. I re-watched the couture vs noguera fight that they replayed last weekend on spike to try to counter-program strikeforce... that was a really good fight. I'd have to refresh my memory a bit but it's probably in my top 5 fights of 2009 for sure.

Rumor has it that strikeforce is going to be signing Andre Arlovski and Bobby Lashley. Arlovski could fight on the December 19th strikeforce card.

[Animeniax]

Did you miss the Strikeforce card while watching UFC reruns? If you did, you missed a great fight between Fedor and Rogers, and Mousasi kicked ass again. Shields got a lot of flak for laying on Miller, and Werdum and Silva had an ok fight.

[Animeniax]

Funny mashup of Taylor Swift and Kanye at the VMAs starring GSP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozYTYLEer2I

[Animeniax]

The Strikeforce event on Saturday was a bust. Dana White is laughing his ass off at the terribleness of the event. 3 belts on the line, 3 snoozefests with a lot of wrestling and positional control and not much else.

The best part of the show was a mini-brawl at the end that CBS decided to air because it was the only worthwhile bit of the entire show. The problem is, most people had stopped watching by that point so they didn't see it.

[TwisT]

Well Dana White recently had his own disappointment with Silva vs Maia. He was seriously pissed at Anderson Silva for that. I lost all respect for Silva myself for that. And the GSP vs Dan Hardy fight before that wasn't that fun either. Looked like GSP wanted to end it with a submission so badly that it ended up going to the judges. You could clearly see he could have finished that fight anytime he wanted to if he had gone used us old game with ground and pound and used his mixed fighting. I believed he had the better standup. And even if they where even with GSP being able to mix with standup and ground so easily he should become very dominate as Hardy would have gassed early.

Anyone watching season 11 of TUF?

[Animeniax]

I dispute the statement that GSP has better standup than Hardy. GSP has kicks, but Hardy's boxing is superior and he can take a punch while GSP's chin has been questioned and is a large reason why he uses wrestling against any capable striker (which seems to be everyone these days because GSP takes it to the ground against all his opponents).

Even with crappy main events, at least a few of the fights in each UFC show have been entertaining. Strikeforce's entire aired main card was boring uncompetitive wrestling matches. Unfortunately MMA's viewing base is still mostly casual fans looking for exciting punch-em-ups and quick, easily digestible short fights. Having all 3 main card fights go to decision was the worst possible scenario for Strikeforce. The mini-brawl would have saved the show from complete failure if people had stuck around to see it.

[TwisT]

Did anyone watch UFC 115? Some great fights. And Rich Franklin. Not much to say other then, what a badass! Was hoping he would win. I thought he would be the underdog and have more trouble the Chuck would have but he did great. Have always liked Rich the most of the 3 dominating Champs of their time (Rich, Chuck and Matt Hughes). I have always liked Chuck but never really felt that epicness i felt from Rich. So I'm real happy with the outcome. And with a broken arm no less.

And Mirko winning by submission. didn't really see that coming. Thought it would end by a Knockout from either side. Was disappointed with Pat Barry though. He took so much pride in talking about his devastating kicks (specially the legkicks). And then he just threw it a couple of times then started brawling. I think CroCop would have lost if he just kept up the legkicks to stiffen him up and then later get some devastating kicks to the head and midsection. And in the break to the third round Pat's corner told him to not use the legkicks and just to try and knock him out with strikes. WTF? Also i can't believe that Pat didn't dive on CroCop when he knocked him on his ass in the first round. TWICE! Mirko said himself after the fight that he was hurt the second time. Pat lost this because of his own stupidity. Well hopefully Mirko will get some momentum from this so he dares get more aggressive. I think he has been way to passive in his previous UFC fights and he hesitates to much with those legs that made him dominate in Pride.

[Genma]

He took so much pride in talking about his devastating kicks (specially the legkicks). And then he just threw it a couple of times then started brawling.

Saw a picture taken from his twitter showing he had a broken hand and a broken foot... so that might explain the lack of kicks. Still, there's no real excuse for not attacking after that punch that messed up Cro Cop's eye, even if it did cause him to break his hand.

Still an entertaining card. Some horrible calls by the refs on some unimportant fights, though I really couldn't care less about those guys.

Chuck getting KTFO'd yet again made me sad. I still remember when Rashad KOed him and it was a huge surprise and big deal (by that time nobody really messed up chuck too bad, even Rampage didn't put him completely out), but now seeing Chuck get KTFO'd is pretty commonplace. When someone like Franklin knocks you out with a weak counter with his one good arm, you know it's time to call it quits.

[itadakimasu]

I went and saw 115 in the theater since my wife was gone the whole day... only about 30 people were there. It was pretty cool though. $21 and HD on a huge movie screen beats sitting at home and paying $55 for it to be in HD. The card was really good though. All of the fights were pretty good.

This month is crazy MMA wise. There is a major strikeforce card on wednesday headlined by Babalu vs Robbie Lawler, Bellator finals on thursday, UFC TUF finale on saturday, Sengoku has a saturday event too I think, wec on sunday. Then next saturday is Fedor vs Werdum, and the saturday after that is Lesnar vs Carwin / Wanerlei Silva vs Akiyama!

So many events going on this month, it's bananas.

[6Zabuza9]

So who saw Fedor vs Werdum. Can't believe he got caught in that choke trying to finish :(.

[animus]

I knew he was gonna lose at some point in time, I just didn't expect it to be against Fabricio Werdum, or to lose that quickly against a triangle choke he got himself caught in because he kept pushing his luck. I and probably 90% of MMA watchers were expecting Fedor to win when he floored him with his starting combo.

[itadakimasu]

I can't believe he tapped to a choke :(

I think fedor beats werdum 9/10 times though.

[Animeniax]

I contend Fedor threw the match on purpose. Odds were something like 600:1. With all the money he's losing because of the UFC's hardball tactics on his sponsors, he was hurting for a big payday. So if his people bet $1 million on Werdum, they won $600 million when Fedor lost.

[mage]

600:1 favorite? lol, no

Fedor was -650 and Wedum +400, meaning bet 1 on Werdum, win 4.

[Animeniax]

I seriously doubt the odds were that close. Fedor was fully expected to destroy Werdum in under 1 minute. 600:1 sounds more like it.

[mage]

600 to 1? Are you serious? There has never been a line that high in any sporting event and there never will be. -650 translates to a predicted victory of approx 85%, which is correct for this fight. Just google "fedor werdum odds" and although there are no lines listed on the sportsbook sites anymore you can see where various sites have quoted them.

[Animeniax]

600 to 1? Are you serious? There has never been a line that high in any sporting event and there never will be. -650 translates to a predicted victory of approx 85%, which is correct for this fight. Just google "fedor werdum odds" and although there are no lines listed on the sportsbook sites anymore you can see where various sites have quoted them.

Cyborg vs Finney was 2500:1, and that was not as sure a thing as Fedor vs Werdum was supposed to have been.

[mage]

No, Cyborg was not a 2500 to 1 favorite, she was 20/25 to 1 (depending on the site). Cyborg -2000 / Finney +1000. This means if you bet $100 on Cyborg you win $5 and $100 on Finney you win $1000. I think you are just confused on how these odds work O_O

[Animeniax]

Nah, Inside MMA said the line was 2500:1 in favor of Cyborg. Basically there was little chance of winning any money by betting on Cyborg, same as with Fedor.

[mage]

Whoever said they were 600-1 and 2500-1 were either extremely exaggerating or just wrong...

[Animeniax]

Girls should stick to cooking and cleaning, and leave gambling and fighting to us men.

[itadakimasu]

Strikeforce released Jake Shields. The UFC still hasn't announced his signing though. He wants to fight Anderson Silva though.

[Animeniax]

I don't think he deserves an immediate title shot, but then I don't think Chael Sonnen deserves one either. Let Shields fight Belfort or Maia for his first fight.

[animus]

Carwin imploded.

[Animeniax]

He gassed. So much was made of his ability to end fights early. Evidently it was a large part of his gameplan due to necessity as much as ability. He owned Lesnar in the first round, it was beautiful to see.

[Kagemane_no_Jutsu]

If only he had taken home the belt. He got mounted almost instantly and Lesnar did a sick transition into that choke. I love striking as much as anyone but that level of grappling is something to be awed.

I'll get my fix for standup next event with my boy Silva taking out another challenger.

[animus]

It wasn't special or anything. Carwin had nothing left in him. He let himself get mounted because he didn't have anything in the tank to stop Lesnar from taking him down.

[Kagemane_no_Jutsu]

Lesnar surviving that onslaught of a 1st round was nothing special? Considering no one ever even got out of the first round with Carwin.

[animus]

Surviving was fine, his grappling just wasn't anything special. Carwin was basically a piece of wet paper at the start of the 2nd round.

[Animeniax]

Lesnar surviving that onslaught of a 1st round was nothing special? Considering no one ever even got out of the first round with Carwin.

Lesnar didn't do anything special, he just didn't try to stand and trade with Carwin like most of Carwin's opponents. As soon as Carwin landed a punch, Lesnar did a standing turtle followed by a turtle on his back with a lot of cowering. It looked pathetic for a 6'3" 280lb man to look like a little kid getting beat up. But in the end it was a smart maneuver to let Carwin gas himself out. Still looked silly for the HW champion to "fight" like that.

[itadakimasu]

I thought the way brock finished him was awesome. The arm triangle is one of my favorite subs. I don't think anybody could have predicted brock locking on a jui jitsu move and quickly passing over his guard to finish him w\ such a move.

I think that proves just how dangerous he is. Round 1 just showed how he needs to train more on getting punched in the face.

[Animeniax]

Arm triangle is the second least impressive submission, only trailing guillotine chokes in their ease of application.

Lesnar basically applied the submission to a grappling dummy. He didn't display any technique or special ability.

Too bad he won't be able to learn how to eat a punch. Some guys have it, some don't. He should enjoy the few months off before he loses the title and #1 ranking after Cain Velasquez embarrasses him.

[TwisT]

Can't believe anyone hasn't commented on UFC 117. For some reason i forgot about it. I was psyched about it on Thursday and but then it just slipped my mind. Just watched it today. And man was it a sweet event. One of the best in a long time.

Roy Nelson impressed big time even though he was dominated. Just love him more for every fight. Animeniax said in the post above me, "Too bad he won't be able to learn how to eat a punch. Some guys have it, some don't.". Well we know for sure now that Roy Nelson have it ^^ . Thought it was a little unfair of Rogan to say comment on his weight and that is why he was so tired. We know for a fact that big punches like those add fatigue big time. We have seen it before with people we know can go 5 rounds breathing heavy in the second round when they been rocked big time like that. Of course he would perform better but the fatigue in this fight i would contribute to the power shots he ate instead of the shape he was in. I could be wrong. I guess he just reminds you of the average Joe and that is why he gets all the love.

Matt Hughes had a great and quick victory as well. Showed that he isn't done. And against someone from the Gracie camp no less. Extra sweet IMO. I always liked Matt. Maybe because he was so dominate. I was never the biggest fan of his cockiness that he had. But his accomplishments and dominance earned him the right i guess. But it still rubbed you the wrong way. Great to see him more humble. His demeanor reminded me of Randy Coture. And then you just have to love him. Maybe he has grown up some.

And Clay "The Carpenter" Guida is always a delight to watch. Like the energizer bunny from hell. He never disappoints. He gets me so pumped up just watching him enter the ring.

Stefan Struve made a huge comeback. Got dominated the first round and that swollen lip was freakish. But he didn't give up and got the knock out. Great to see.

Jon Fitch is great as always. Never liked Thiago so it was extra sweet for me even though i would have wanted to see him finish it.

Anderson and Sonnen was a great fight. Most people counted Chael out, including me. Despite Anderson's clowning in his resent fights you know the level he could bring. And with all the hate i suspected he would bring it. And i never thought Chael would last long if that happened. But he did. He dominated. And rocked him too. Chael shut me up good. But he got caught with less then 2min left. 23min of dominance and then lost. can never drop your guard against a BJJer. And the strange breakup made it look like Chael was gonna deny the tap and i started to get pissed, but he owned up to it and his arguing with the ref was probably about something else. Once again i started to hate on Chael prematurely and he shut me up.

Awesome card. Every aired fight was great and i worried about the Silva-Sonnen fight for nothing. So, why didn't anyone comment on this. Did you guys miss it too or didn't you find it as great as i did?

EDIT: I of course meant UFC 117 and not UFC 118.

[Animeniax]

Nelson is likable but he doesn't have the standup to hang with the strikers and he doesn't have the wrestling to keep it standing against the wrestlers. He'll make a fine gatekeeper, and he should have some good fights against other middle-tier HWs like Gonzaga and Mir.

I don't think Hughes showed us anything beyond Almeida's lack of standup ability which was nothing surprising. Hughes would still get destroyed by any of the top 5-6 WWs. He'd still be good to see against guys like Diego Sanchez, Paulo Thiago, or Martin Kampmann. I'd also love to see him wrestle Fitch. I'm surprised you're cheering for Fitch's performance. The guy is talented but his performances show why North American MMA rules suck in favor of wrestlers. He'll never be #1 as long as GSP is at WW, and Shields tooled him in a grappling match so that fight would be fun to see.

Anderson vs Sonnen was much closer than I expected it would be but I still couldn't watch the entire fight since it resembled a typical GSP title fight: 5 rounds of top control with no chance of finishing. The compustrike "record" of 250+ strikes is a bullshit stat, most of Sonnen's punches were love-taps. Look at Anderson's face after the fight and then look at Sonnen's. Further proof that MMA judging needs to be changed to not reward takedowns and top control as much and also give more credit to takedown defense, reverses, and escapes. They also need to allow kicks and knees to the head. Stomps I can see continuing to be banned since they are really dangerous in a cage.

[mage]

Stomps aren't any more dangerous than punches or knees. Probably less dangerous. It just looks really bad, so it's banned.

[Animeniax]

Stomps aren't any more dangerous than punches or knees. Probably less dangerous. It just looks really bad, so it's banned.

Normally I'd agree with you but watch Sims vs Mir at UFC 43 and you'll hopefully think differently. I agree stomps are fine most of the time, but when a guy has his head trapped against the cage and gets stomped then it's too dangerous a position. They could make a "ring within the ring" area where stomps are allowed, maybe 2 feet away from the cage at all points, but I don't see it happening, too much room for error and DQs.

edit: Also consider that a stomp brings the full force of the weight of a guy onto the other guy's head. No knee, punch, or elbow can generate that kind of deadly force.

[Uchiha Barles]

A stomp is really nothing but a forward thrust kick whose direction is largely aligned with the direction of gravity, i.e. forward thrust aimed a lot lower and closer to the body. If it's any more dangerous than what you normally think of as a forward thrust kick, it's just because it's easier to drop the stomp than the forward thrust. You're not bringing down the entire weight of the body unless you're actually airborne when you thrust out one or both legs, i.e. jump and stomp/vertical drop kick.

[Animeniax]

A stomp is a lot more than a forward thrust kick, particularly since a stomp is normally aimed at the head and a forward thrust kick isn't. It's the same as an elbow from the 12 to 6 position which is a lot more dangerous than an elbow thrown from the 3 to 9 position, regardless of what Joe Rogan says. Go watch some old Shogun and Wanderlei Silva fights from Pride and you'll see how much force you can put behind a stomp that isn't possible with a forward thrust kick.

I'm all for allowing kicks and knees to the head of a downed opponent.

What they really need to change is allowing up-kicks to the head of your opponent when you're on your back. It's ridiculous that that isn't allowed.

[mage]

You're able to put a lot more power into punches and kicks by turning your hips than you can with a stomp using only a single leg's power. The only way a stomp could be more damaging is if you used the ropes or cage for leverage, which is illegal.

[Animeniax]

That would be true except stomps are more than just the force of one leg when thrown correctly, just as a punch has more force when thrown correctly. A lot of the stomps you'll see when watching Pride fights are thrown frantically and therefore incorrectly. But the times you see a proper stomp, it's brutal.

And as far as stomps in the cage, the problem remains that even a poorly thrown stomp to the head of a guy is bad news if his head is trapped against the cage.

[Uchiha Barles]

I understand that stomps are dangerous. Kicks though, are no less so. Using the forward thrust kick for example, ever seen someone use that kick aimed at the head of a person who was on their knees with their head pressed up against the wall? Though I guess I do kind of see one point you're making. Most stomps are going to be used in a situation where the person's head and body are up against the floor or the corner or a wall/cage near where it meets the floor, and a stomp is extremely brutal in that case. But a properly thrown low roundhouse, or a low side thrust (which is different kind of stomp by my definition) are no less brutal in those situations.

Also, unless the stomp is aimed directly below or close to directly below your center of gravity, you actually can put your hips into the stomp.

edit: Actually, just tried it out as close to directly below center of gravity as makes sense in a practical application, and you can put your hips into it also, big time xD.

[Animeniax]

Unfortunately the perceived brutality of kicks and stomps in general due to these specific uses will be what keeps them out of north American MMA.

I used to argue for allowing stomps in the cage, until I saw Mir vs Sims and then listened to some discussion about the dangers in a cage as compared to a ring. I'd still like to see them allowed on a trial basis.

I still think kicks and knees to the head of a downed opponent need to be allowed. They are no less brutal than elbows to the head of a downed opponent (which promotions like Strikeforce don't allow). Also, at a minimum kicks to the head when performed as an upkick should be allowed.

[Animeniax]

Did anyone watch the Strikeforce:Houston show? Some good fights, but it's clear that besides the HW division, Strikeforce's fighters would get owned by the UFC's fighters.

Jacare and Feijao both won championships at MW and LHW respectively. The Jacare fight was disappointing, looked like a typical Okami fight.

The Bobby Lashley and King Mo hype trains were both derailed.

[itadakimasu]

I was defending strikeforce alot a year ago but their production and match making just suck.

i wish i would have put some money on Feijao and Griggs! Best part of the night I thought was KJ Noons' striking... those combos were just great. But then the crappy production comes in and instead of hyping one of their top 3 155lb contenders, they're trying to talk to him about fighting Nick Diaz who is the 170lb champ...

[Animeniax]

The production value of Strikeforce shows does suck. The announcers are the worst part. But I watch for the fights and the fighters so I have to forgive the shit production, though I spend a lot of time yelling at the TV for the announcers to shut up when I'm watching.

Strikeforce: Houston was worth the $25 PPV.

[mage]

Oh dear, Gus Johnson trying to hype a fight between Noons and Mayweather was ridiculous.

It was a crappy event, but it's not like any of the fighters matched up well for each other. The commentating was a lot better this event as well. Gus apparently learned to shut the fuck up some because I didn't hear him too much during the fights.



I still think kicks and knees to the head of a downed opponent need to be allowed. They are no less brutal than elbows to the head of a downed opponent (which promotions like Strikeforce don't allow). Also, at a minimum kicks to the head when performed as an upkick should be allowed.
Knees and upkicks would be great. Right now the only option you have vs someone turtling up on the ground is to punch them in the side of the head, doing no damage, and just prolonging the inevitable. Knees to the head of a grounded opponent would stop this easily and make the opponent actually try to do something.



Strikeforce: Houston was worth the $25 PPV.
Do you buy PPVs? I've just streamed every boxing and MMA event for free the past 2 years. It's a total waste to buy them unless you don't have anything else to blow your cash on.

[Animeniax]

Oh dear, Gus Johnson trying to hype a fight between Noons and Mayweather was ridiculous.

It was a crappy event, but it's not like any of the fighters matched up well for each other. The commentating was a lot better this event as well. Gus apparently learned to shut the fuck up some because I didn't hear him too much during the fights.

Knees and upkicks would be great. Right now the only option you have vs someone turtling up on the ground is to punch them in the side of the head, doing no damage, and just prolonging the inevitable. Knees to the head of a grounded opponent would stop this easily and make the opponent actually try to do something.

Do you buy PPVs? I've just streamed every boxing and MMA event for free the past 2 years. It's a total waste to buy them unless you don't have anything else to blow your cash on.
I've bought 2 PPVs so far, both Strikeforce events, to support competition. I've yet to buy any UFC PPVs, I usually watch them at sports bars or stream them. However, I believe we should support the fighters and pay for the PPVs.

I thought SF:Houston was a good show, particularly the LHW title fight. The other fights were entertaining if not meaningful. Seeing the hype behind Lashley derailed was cool too. That should help staunch the flow of pro wrestlers into MMA.

Gus Johnson is the worst announcer in MMA and the SF team are the worst in sports. They actually make me miss Rogan and Goldberg's idiotic commentary. I especially like how Johnson referred to KJ Noons as the "best puncher in MMA", even though Noons has pro boxing fights on his record.

I think upkicks would give a guy on his back more methods of attack and knees to downed opponents would give wrestlers more pause to just constantly shoot for takedowns. If a stuffed takedown could leave you open to knees to the head, they'd be a lot more hesitant to shoot for the legs.

[Uchiha Barles]

Sorry for asking this n00bish question, but I'm not very familiar with the MMA rules for any promotion. So, you mean to tell me that you are not allowed to strike someone in the face with your knee if they're going for a shoot?

[Animeniax]

Sorry for asking this n00bish question, but I'm not very familiar with the MMA rules for any promotion. So, you mean to tell me that you are not allowed to strike someone in the face with your knee if they're going for a shoot?

Nah, not a noob question. If they shoot and their knee is on the mat, a knee strike by the opponent to the head would be considered illegal, if the referee sees it. It happens so rarely though that someone can time a knee perfectly that it hasn't really been discussed.

What I was talking about is if someone sprawls and stuffs a takedown, the shooter is down on all fours and his head is in a perfect position for the opponent to throw some knees to the head, but that's not allowed currently.

[Uchiha Barles]

I think I'm starting to see why my training partners tell me there's a world of difference between mma and actual fighting, even under a controlled environment like a cage. That, is a total bs rule and seems to skew the advantage towards grapplers. Shoot and fail, don't worry about paying for the failure, try again. I mean, I know there are other things you can do besides knee the guy in the head, but it just seems so natural particularly from a sprawled position.

[Animeniax]

I think I'm starting to see why my training partners tell me there's a world of difference between mma and actual fighting, even under a controlled environment like a cage. That, is a total bs rule and seems to skew the advantage towards grapplers. Shoot and fail, don't worry about paying for the failure, try again. I mean, I know there are other things you can do besides knee the guy in the head, but it just seems so natural particularly from a sprawled position.

Exactly, all spot-on observations by you and your training partners. North American MMA rules favor wrestlers because the majority of American MMA fighters have wrestling backgrounds. There's a reason why wrestlers didn't fare so well in Pride in Japan.

You should be careful to differentiate between wrestling and grappling though. Wrestlers tend to be good at takedowns and top control and suffer in other positions. Grapplers are often just as good on their backs and can submit a guy from the bottom or reverse their way out.

If you get a chance, watch Munoz vs Okami at UFC Live on Versus 2. Munoz shoots for 15-20 takedowns, all of which are stuffed by Okami. That was the entire 15 minutes, plus some punching from Okami.

[DO]

Who else is looking forward to the James Toney vs Randy Couture fight? This is definitely going to be an interesting match up. They also have been promoting it as boxing vs UFC.

James Toney is an interesting fighter, has great hands and has knocked out a lot of people. Though, when it comes down to it I have my money on Couture winning it. The way I see it is Toney has knockout power, and Couture knows and respects this. He is not going to stand with him for long and exchange if he wants to win. Like it or not Toney is a boxing legend, and this would be a very risky move. Randy is too smart for that. Even if Toney has been training for this fight, and his camp has a few wrestlers I personally think that the experience Couture has in this area is going to out shadow what Toney is trying to learn in a few months time.

I can see Couture controlling this fight with his grappling and Toney struggling to fight from a position he is not used to being in. Then again this is MMA so crazy things can happen.

[Uchiha Barles]

I'm hearing that Toney isn't seriously training takedown defense and grappling technique. He's going to get fucked.

[mage]

Not counting the last scrub he fought, James Toney hasn't KO'd anyone in 7 years. It's not like he's Mike Tyson.

And where'd you hear he isn't taking grappling seriously? Everything I've read says the opposite.

And yeah, should be an interesting fight. I can only hope that Couture gets KO'd.

[Animeniax]

UFC is promoting it as boxing vs MMA but that's a load of bs. The guys on Inside MMA said it best: if they want to set up boxing vs MMA, why match-up a boxer way past his prime and a 47 year old MMA fighter with an 18-10 record? It's a gimmick, typical UFC money-making bs.

I'm hearing Toney is training takedown defense and reverses and basic submission defense, but he still expects to win the fight with a KO on the feet so it's hard to say how seriously he's training the grappling and wrestling.

118 is a pretty good card past the co-main events. Florian vs Maynard and Diaz vs Davis will also be entertaining fights.

[DO]

For some reason I'm not all that excited about the Penn vs Edgar rematch...

I'm way more interested in the co-main event and the main card.

[Animeniax]

I wasn't either, then I watched the primetime show. Penn was talking a lot of trash while looking for some reason to hate Edgar. It seems he only fights well when he's motivated, which is silly considering his trade. Now I want to see Edgar beat him again and end all of the talk of Penn being a P4P great of all time with a 15-6-1 record.

[mage]

Wow Toney weighed in more than he has for any previous fight. Don't think he has a chance here.

[Animeniax]

Toney looked terrible at the weigh-ins, like he just came from a Chinese buffet.

[DO]

UFC-118-Weigh-ins (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/mma/post/2010/08/ufc-118-weigh-ins-toney-packs-237-pounds-edgar-draws-boos/1)

Just a nice little read for everyone who missed the actual event.

Also, here are my fantasy picks for UFC 118:

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/7002/picksj.th.png (http://img34.imageshack.us/i/picksj.png/)

[Animeniax]

Did anyone see the UFC fight night tonight? It was in Austin and I would have loved to have attended but everyone I know who is into MMA is poor or doesn't care enough to go see a live show.

Marquardt vs Palhares was a bs outcome. It definitely looked like Marquardt greased but they claim the athletic commission and doctors checked after the fight and cleared him. Of course he trains at Jackson's so it's definitely plausible he cheated (GSP greased vs Penn and Jones illegal elbow DQ against Hamill), but Palhares showed his lack of mental fortitude when he stopped fighting and let Marquardt wail on him for the loss.

The other fights on the card were pretty awesome. If this had a better main event it could have easily been a successful PPV event.

[mage]

How did it "definitely look" like Marquardt greased? You see fighters get out of leg locks like that all the time. Palhares is just an idiot. Shitty way for a fight to end, though.

[Animeniax]

Watch the fight, then comment please.

Marquardt's explanation that he worked up a sweat before coming into the cage doesn't quite explain how he slipped out of the hold like a wet bar of soap slips out of your hands. He would have had to have been drenched in sweat for it to slide out like that, considering Palhares' skill with the leg locks and his powerful grip.

Marquardt has tested positive for steroid use and he trains at Jackson's, a camp known for cheating.

[mage]

I watched the fight and there was nothing strange about the way he got out. How could you possibly suggest he greased when he was checked before and after the fight?

[TwisT]

I don't know. Almost looked like he didn't have the leg locked up and in anyway. Like he messed up and he just popped out. I'm no expert on the subject since i have never practiced such things but i don't really see it. Maybe he was a tad slippery, from the sweat like he said, and Palhares either misjudged that he had the lock tighter or he felt that he was slippery and thought he was greased and wanted a DQ win. But it looked like the heal slipped out at the elbow-joint(?) where it was enough space for it to pop out. And when Palhares complained about it, Herb Dean felt his leg on Marquardt request, i i think it was Herb's voice saying "Nah, no" in the background. But then again he had gloves. But the commission cleared him. So to be honest i think it was legit and Palhares just misjudged the situation. But who knows.

Escadero didn't make weight. Anyone knows his future? Haven't seen any press conference for this fight, so wonder if anyone know if Dana has commented on Escadero.

Cole and Person was the fight of the night IMO. I liked Cole on season 5 of TUF. He looked like a scrawny sissy but proved himself. And Person was my favorite in season 10. I was a little shocked that Cole won by knockout though. I thought that Person would win but if Cole was gonna win, he would win by submission.

EDIT: Anyways i wasn't that interested in this card when i saw who where fighting except Cole vs Person. I was much more psyched about TUF season 12. Anyone that's gonna follow it and maybe even ahve seen the first episode yet? A lot of interesting fighters. Some impressed big time.

[Animeniax]

His leg didn't "pop out", it slid out like it was lubed with grease.

edit: rewatched the fight, and I have to apologize for calling Marquardt a cheater. He had his other leg in there so Palhares didn't have a good lock on the main leg allowing Marquardt to slip out. Watching it originally and in replays his leg glided out so easily that it was easy to think he was greased, besides which Palhares complained about it and the Jackson camp is known for cheating. But in this case, Marquardt did not cheat and won fair and square.

[Animeniax]

Sonnen tests positive for PEDs at UFC 117. Most likely this means no rematch with Silva which is great. I didn't want to see another 5 rounds of Sonnen laying on Silva and becoming the champ (if he could avoid getting subbed yet again).

Now it will be more likely Belfort gets the title shot after he annihilates Okami, or they scratch the Okami fight and Belfort fights Silva.

[Uchiha Barles]

I want that rematch...I don't believe that fight was anything short of rigged. As much as I keep watching it, it looks like Silva was succumbing to attacks he easily defended against in a myriad of other fights, only to 'miraculously' slip in a triangle hold? Not buying it, at all. I could easily be wrong on this. Either way, a rematch should clarify it in my mind.

[Animeniax]

I prefer to think MMA fights are not fixed, just some fights happen the way you expect (or don't) like it's scripted but really it's just how that kind of fight would go. Plus Silva said he wanted to sub Sonnen in honor of his masters the Nogueiras, and he didn't get the chance until late in the fight (or he waited that long to make a point).

Silva had a rib injury going into the fight and Sonnen is a wrestler. Everyone predicted that would be the style of fighter to give strikers like Silva, Machida, and even Shogun problems (Evans will try to LnP Shogun in the next LHW title fight), and that's exactly what happened.

I doubt it happens because of the steroid scandal, but if they do rematch and Silva isn't injured, expect him to KO Sonnen early next time around.

[mage]

Did you guys watch UFC 119? Crocop/Mir was a fucking train wreck. If they switched the prelims with the main card it would have been a nice PPV.

[Animeniax]

They showed 3 awesome fights in the prelims (I missed Mitrione/Beltran but I heard it's a snoozer). 119 is further proof the UFC needs better match-making and possibly cross-promotion with Strikeforce. Right now SF's HW division is stronger than the UFC's HW division. SF's LHW division could give the UFC's LHW division a good test too.

[mage]

Mitrione/Beltran was pretty entertaining despite their lack of technical abilities. Probably 2nd fight of the night.

[Animeniax]

See that's where we'll have to agree to disagree. I don't like watching two unskilled mooks slug it out, no matter how much it excites the idiots in the crowd.

[TwisT]

I watched it but it was a boring event. I didn't watch any preliminary fights. But i would have loved to watch CB's and Mitrione since i always love to see how the TUF fighters are doing/improving. And i heard CB was great out there (didn't he get Submission of the night?). And I'm one of those idiots (although i still enjoy watching 2 people that are technical more) so i would probably have enjoyed Mitrione.

Serra, Sherk and CroCop-Mir was boring and stupid. I had big expectations of Serra IF he went to the ground. But either he didn't or he couldn't (looked more like he didn't really wanna go there) and it feels like he threw any chance of winning out the window.

Same with Sherk. Why don't he ever go to the ground anymore? And i mean really go to the ground. Not a lame takedown attempt and possibly a successful one and the back up again. Is he so stupid that he believes his standup to be superior to his ground game? Or is it that he was so roid-pumped before that he can no longer get people to the ground?

And both Mir and CroCop sucks every time i see them. CroCop refuses to throw his legs anymore. And Mir forgot he knows BJJ. I can understand Mir, that he feels like he has improved his striking, and because of his cocky manor he likes to beat people with what is supposed to be his weakness. But when you go 2 rounds and go in to the last round and notice it ain't working why not do a takedown. Do something different. But instead they squeak out a win on decision which is no different then lay-and-pray.

It's become to common that feared ground specialists just stand and slug, even when it's shown that it don't work. Is it just me or are many established fighters getting worse/fighting stupid?

[itadakimasu]

Did you guys watch UFC 119? Crocop/Mir was a fucking train wreck. If they switched the prelims with the main card it would have been a nice PPV.

UFC 119 wasn't great. I watched the prelims on spike nearly live so I could ffwd through commercials. Then I watched Dream 16 that had recorded the previous night, and dl'd UFC 119 when I woke up in the morning!

The torrent was recorded from ESPN HD... which brings me to my bitching about UFC ppvs. They give them away to all of these markets around the world who just need basic cable to watch them. I can't afford to spend $50 every month to order ppv's...and it just seems crazy that you can watch it live on espn if you live outside of the US.

[Animeniax]

The torrent was recorded from ESPN HD... which brings me to my bitching about UFC ppvs. They give them away to all of these markets around the world who just need basic cable to watch them. I can't afford to spend $50 every month to order ppv's...and it just seems crazy that you can watch it live on espn if you live outside of the US.

That's the UFC's plan for expanding into other markets. Give it away free in places with small fan bases in order to attract more viewers... they wouldn't pay for it anyway. You don't have to spend $50/mo, just $5 cover and money for beers at a sports bar. There are other alternatives, so you don't really get to bitch.

@TwisT: I'm the exact opposite. I hate watching most TUFers, and am too happy to see them disappear from the game. Most of them don't deserve to be in the big show (or even the other major shows). They should work their way up like all of the other great fighters. Instead they just show up to a casting call where they are the best of the worst and get a chance to make it big. Besides season 4 (all returning vets of the sport), has TUF ever produced a true champion? Nope.

[TwisT]

No no true champion. But competitive with other people in the middle and top? Definitely. Many don't deserve staying or getting a second chance even after being on a losing streak. But there are many of them that deserve to be there more then people that have worked their way up. And i used to watch Pride and a little K1 back in the day, and i ahve watched a few Strikeforce. But lately i haven't watched anything other then UFC because i usually find it boring with the other shows. Much because you don't feel that their level is as high, and also because i don't like the ring and rather want the cage. So for someone like me to be able to see someone truly progress as a fighter, TUF is ideal. Here i can see people that often only know one aspect of MMA and they first develop on the show and get to prove themself against others. And sometimes people that truly suck and will disappear after a few fights in UFC advance because their style was a good match against someone else that might have been better and a much better learner. That's the way it is when a lot of them only know one aspect. But some of them are better learners then others, and are really strong in one aspect and they actually start improving other aspect once they get picked up by real camps. Can make a list.

Season 1: Koscheck, Diego and KenFlo. All of them where great in with their ground game. And once they got camps they started to improve their standup. Today they are all competitive fighters and truly deserve to be in the UFC IMO. They are above a lot of other fighters in their class. Even though Forrest won and even became a champion for 1 fight i always felt he was in the UFC because of the entertainment value (when he goes all out and is reckless), and not a top contender so don't count him..

Season 2: Only one i feel have made something of himself is Rashad. After all he has improved a lot and he has only lost once and that was against Machida. Joe Stevenson is a great example of someone that where extremly stong in one aspect for a TUFer and doesn't seem to learn anything new.

Season 3: Michael Bisping. He is right there on the edge of top contender and only being a competitive fighter.

Well this post is gonna get really really long if i ahve to list every season, but you get my point. Many of them are strong enough to face the lower tier of they class. And those that improve by the time they have enough wins for the middle tier usually win more then they lose and by my standards deserve their spot. Those that don't improve start falling out and eventually disappear. Some get way to many chances. But it's not only a sport but also a show and some get to stay because of the entertainment value. Another good thing about TUF is that you get more invested emotionally. You start to like some, and start to hate some. But is a good thing. Because you feel more invested in their fights. Just as you would with hockey, soccer, football, basketball and baseball. You have your favorites that you love watching. Like Machida and Rua. I felt nothing for either fighter so i didn't really care who won. I wanted Rua to win in the end because it feels like he has a more aggressive and violent style, and his coming fights would be more entertaining then Machida. But emotionally i felt nothing and therefore looked forward to Koscheck vs. Paul Daley more since i love to hate Koscheck.

I see your side of it too if you watch more then just UFC. That you want to see people that dominate a "lesser show" move up since you might have followed their progression for a long time. But for me that only watch UFC nowadays, love TUFers.

[mage]

Speaking of TUF.. just remembered it comes on in 30 minutes. This is the first season I've watched since S1. It's been pretty entertaining so far.

[Animeniax]

The first season is the only season I saw in full. After that it's been pretty blah. I wish I had seen season 4 with all of the veterans getting a second chance. I get tired of all the whining, childishness, and lack of dedication of the amateurs in the other seasons.

[Animeniax]

Did anyone else see Aldo demolish Gamburyan? They hyped up Gamburyan but really he's no competition for Aldo. No one at 145 is. Aldo needs to move up to LW and win the WEC LW title, then to the UFC LW division. Aldo vs Edgar would be one of the greatest fights in history.

[6Zabuza9]

anyone saw ufc 121? I knew cain was the better fighter, however i feared brock's size would dominate the hw divison. was overjoyed when cain won but disappointed at brock's performance and how fast the fight ended. dispite sheild's poor performance at 170, i believed he should've still had a unanimous decision over kampmann yet a stupid judge had kampmann winning for some reason. theres no way shields can beat gsp at his state atm. diego sanchez fight was awesome. disappointed in tito's performance. and wtf at gonzaga totally thought he would destroy schaub. future predictions for ufc hw division :cain>jds, carwin>nelson, maybe brock> a top contender, winner of carwin vs brock fights cain

[Animeniax]

It was a good show but a night of disappointments for me, except for the main event. I called it before the show started to a bunch of casual fan white guys in the sports bar, and they laughed it off saying Brock would destroy Cain. They didn't have much to say after the fight, except one guy who swore Brock would definitely get a rematch and do better the next time. I didn't break it to him that rematches for one-sided ass-kickings with no controversy do not warrant rematches, though the UFC would do it just for the money even if it was undeserved.

Otherwise all of the guys I picked to win did not win except for Hamill. Thiago gassed even though he was clearly technically superior on the feet and the ground to Sanchez who again demonstrated his lack of skill and why we won't ever be a champion in any major promotion. Gonzaga and Kampmann both showed why they will always be gatekeepers and never champions... they do not have the mental strength to succeed. Kampmann is 1000x times better on his feet than Shields yet he tried to submit a gassed Shields and couldn't even do that.

And Tito showed he is done (like we didn't already know that). What remains is to see what ailment or affliction he reveals had him at 50% for the fight, and another fight against Chuck Liddell to keep them both active and make the UFC some money.

[itadakimasu]

The UFC card was pretty good. It's awesome to see a dude like Cain dominate such a gigantic powerful guy like brock who you think nobody can beat.

Tito said something about fighting Chuck in the post fight presser and Dana white immediately said No. He didn't even let him finish talking, he was just like NOOO. not happening.

Jake shields.... IDK.. I really hate weight cutting and what not. Koscheck beat Paul Daley to get his fight @ GSP that's coming up.

Shields beat Daley I think it was 3 fights ago, then he beat Robbie Lawler, then he dominated Dan Henderson @ 185 who was one of the next in line to fight anderson silva. I think they should have brought him in @ 185. He cut 20 lbs right before weigh ins, which is just stupid and it showed in the fight. If that is the guy who is going to get the next 5 round title fight... that could be very disappointing.

I like jake shields but that was a horrible fight for him. If judging was more standardized he could have lost based upon the 2-3 times he was nearly KO'd w\ strikes from Kampman.

[Animeniax]

I thought the card kind of sucked. Of the 6 fights they showed, 4 were decisions and the other 2 were less than 1/2 a round each.

Cain vs JDS will be amazing.

Dana has said no to stuff before, but if Chuck sells it and it means $$$, it will happen.

I typically hate weight-cutting since it normally is just a means of getting a size/strength advantage over your opponent which is antithetical to martial arts. In this case, Shields cut weight to fight in a different weight division. I don't understand why he waited until the day before the fight to cut the weight. Guys like GSP start cutting weight 2-3 weeks before the weigh-ins. It looks like Shields fights the winner of GSP/Koscheck, if for no better reason than that no one else deserves a title shot.

Please stop saying he "dominated" old man Hendo. He laid on him and controlled with top control for 4.5 rounds. Not really a domination. If he had any great skill, he'd have subbed Hendo. I see GSP destroying him with strikes since GSP tends to fight guys where they are weakest, and Shields' standup is nonexistent.