The MMA/UFC Thread

[Bracken]

Yeah, Leites was shocking in that fight. I'm hoping that Henderson has a good showing, but the only way I can see Henderson winning is to take him down and lay on him for 25 minutes. Not exactly an exciting prospect.

I want to see Maia get a shot. His insane BJJ is probably the only thing in the division with any chance of finishing Anderson.

 

[duffer]

Yeah, I think I've made my Maia love well known on here before. His fight with Nate is a mouth watering prospect though. Against such a solid all rounder he's really going to be tested.

Anderson is such a beast on the ground though. Hendo got done good and proper last time they fought he'd be a brave man to try and take it there straight away. Honestly think he'd do well to compete and hope he lands one swinging for the fences. Don't see it though.

Really really want Sanchez to get a shot at Penn next though. He's improving his standup every time he goes out there and on the ground he can match most things BJ does. If Penn comes into it in as good a shape as he was in against Florian it's going to be difficult though but he has a better chance than anyone else in that division of pulling off the upset.

 

[Bracken]

If BJ come into the fight in the same shape he was in last week, Sanchez is going to need a baseball bat to beat him.

I reckon that Gray Maynard has the best chance of beating BJ. He's the only guy at 155 who has the size and the wrestling to put BJ on his back and give him the GSP treatment. Sanchez will get the next shot, but I wouldn't be shocked if Maynard's next in line.

There's no way Henderson is going to land anything standing up. Silva's ability to slip punches is just out of this world, and if Forrest couldn't land even a jab, then Silva's going to easily dodge Henderson's big right. I suppose anything's possible, but I'd give Henderson a much better chance at outwrestling him.

 

[duffer]

I never said I thought he would land anything, just think it's the only real shot he has tbh. Silva outclasses Hendo in all facets from what I've seen. Only way he'll beat him is if he knocks him out. If he manges to submit him, feel free to pick my avatar for a couple of months. Just can't see him doing it.

Maynard is a good shout though with regards to opponents for Penn. Would definitely fork out to see that one.

 

[Bracken]

Oh, I know what you're saying, and a week ago I would have agreed. I'm still dumbfounded at just how good Silva's standup was against Forrest, though.

Griffin is no can, and he's always been known to be really accurate on his feet. I can understand him not landing anything powerful, but I still can't believe that Griffin could get knocked down three times in three minutes, and only land one single jab in return- and Silva had his hands at his waist for half of the fight.

On that performance, Silva's a frigging ninja. I've been watching fights for a fair while, and I've never been so awe-struck. The pragmatist in me knows it'll happen, but I just can't imagine anyone being good enough to really tag the guy standing up.

As you said, though- Silva is a demon everywhere. Ridiculous stand up, a BJJ black belt under the Nogs, and Machida as a training partner. I suppose Henderson just better pray and pray hard.

 

[Majin]

Great to see the Aussie George Sotiropolous get a solid win for himself too.

Just watched this fight, really enjoyed it, a lot of good action going on. His groundwork was awesome as well, loved the way he slammed the Kimura on with authority. Think that deserve sub of the night more than BJ's RNC anyway, looked like it came out of nowhere to me.

Anyway am a big fan of Hendo personally but agree that Anderson would probably waste him quite badly again. I can't honestly see there being anyone giving Anderson any trouble outside of Lyoto, and we know that neither of them are interested in that fight. Well actually if he goes through with this plan to Box RJJ he might get put on his ass but I'm not gonna count him out as badly as some people are.

On that performance, Silva's a frigging ninja. I've been watching fights for a fair while, and I've never been so awe-struck

Haha have to agree, I think I can say the last time I saw striking of that kind was in a japanese anime...and we all know how realistic those are gotta love the Spider.

 

[Bracken]

The Strikeforce Carano v Cyborg card is on in a few hours. I was looking forward to seeing Diaz and Hieron, but apparently Nick Diaz rates weed higher than a Strikeforce title shot.

It's a shame, because I am a huge fan of the Diaz's as fighters. Absolute douchebags as humans, but a great fighting style for mine.

I'm 50-50 on the Carano-Cyborg fight. Cyborg could very likely kill Carano in the first round, but if Carano can hang with her for a couple of rounds, Cyborg will gas badly.

Hieron will beat JT, Melendez will beat Ishida, and Mousasi will damn near murder Babalu.

And how a POS like Mike Kyle can get a license is beyond me. Hopefully Werdum can get him on the ground and break something.

 

[Majin]

Haha Gina got wasted hard. Cyborg is a god damn monster. Seems to be some "controversy" in the eyes of some people about it being a premature stoppage but that's quite patently bull**** imho, The referee wasn't looking at the clock at all he was watching and yelling at Gina telling her that she needed to do something other than assume the fetal position and Cyborg was throwing bombs from the top, a good stoppage for mine 'cause Gina wasn't doing anything.

Chalk me down as a new fan of Women's MMA though, that was a great fight, loads of explosive action on the feet and on the ground. Will definitely be watching whatever I can from now on.

 

[Bracken]

Yeah, Cyborg was always going to come out hard.

Women's MMA can be pretty good, but I reckon you've just seen its peak as a commercial sport. Carano's drawing power is going to take a huge hit with the loss, and Cyborg is never going to be a draw on her own. I highly doubt you'll ever see a card headlined by a women's fight again- which is a shame.

I was really impressed with Mousasi. I may be jumping the gun, but I reckon he might just be the guy to give Machida a bit of a run. I wouldn't be shocked if Dana signs him up pretty quickly- probably a minute or so after he KTFOs Sokoujou in that Super-Hulk tournament thing.

 

[Majin]

I dunno you might get some good value out of a Rematch. There were a couple of mistakes Gina made, I defintely don't think she should have stood back up when she had the full mount, it was clear from the start that Cyborg's power was way more than she expected standing up, and as you have mentioned and from all accounts Cyborg wouldn't have had the best gas tank. Hell it looked like both of them were knackered towards the end of the first. Should have tried to have kept dominance and worn cyborg down when she had her there. I wouldn't mind watching a rematch anyway.

Where did you watch the PPV anyway mate? I managed to find a stream of Cyborg and Carano online but I don't think the actual show itself was shown here in the UK. Would like to see Mousasi in action, have heard a lot of good stuff about him.

 

[Bracken]

Nah, it wasn't shown in Australia, either. I did a bit of searching, and found video of the fights on some site. I think it was pancrase.org or something like that.

Be warned, though- the site looked like it came with a whole stack of adware and whatnot. I use Linux, so I'm not overly concerned, but I'd be very careful going there with a Windows machine.

They had all of the televised fights up. The Mousasi/Babalu fight was pretty quick and brutal, Werdum looked in way better shape than he was when Junior Dos Santos knocked him silly, and the fight was pretty much Kyle throwing haymakers and hoping to get lucky until Werdum got a hold of him, wrapped up the standing guillotine and pulled guard. Melendez looked a class above Ishida, but the fight wasn't anything special.

I wouldn't be shocked if Werdum gets another call up to the UFC soon. I reckon he got cut more for being lazy and coming into the Dos Santos fight out of shape, rather than because Dana doesn't want him. I'd bet he was told that if he stayed in shape and won a couple of good fights he'd get another shot.

Mousasi is signed to M1, so there should be a heap of (legal) stuff of his on youtube. I know he's doing some exhibition "sparring session" with Fedor on the upcoming M1 Global show that King Mo is supposed to be headlining.

 

[duffer]

Yeah was searching for a stream furiously. Gutted to have missed it.

Wrt Werdum. Some of the stuff I saw before his dos Santos fight was incredibly ****y. Wouldn't be surprised if he went into that fight complacent. Was an awesome awesome knockout though. Glad he did it.

 

[Bracken]

The rumour mill is now saying that Carwin v Velasquez at UFC 104 is off, and is being replaced by Brock v Carwin at UFC 106. Cain has to be seriously pissed if that's true.

 

[duffer]

Might be alone in this, but I'm seriously not impressed by Velasquez. He's powerful and has a good chin but man, he is completely clueless once he gets you to the ground. Carwin v Lesnar would be infinitely better.

 

[Bracken]

Nah, I agree. Cain strikes me as someone who COULD be good if he keeps improving and keeps his head straight, but he's not there yet. Sort of like Brandon Vera was a few years ago.

Of course, then Vera started believing his own crap. Remember when Vera would tell people how he'd be the first guy to hold the heavyweight and 205lb belts at the same time?

I hope Cain does break through, but I'm much more interested in seeing Carwin fight Brock right now. Brock would definitely be the favourite, but Carwin has a very good shot. He's got a better chance than anyone of stuffing Brock's takedowns, and Carwin's a bit better on his feet. Should be a good fight.

Apparently Ben Rothwell is going to be taking Carwin's spot against Velasquez at UFC 104. That'll be a good test for Cain.

 

[Majin]

Holy crap. I'm watching UFC 102 right now, won't spoil anything but just saw one of the best KO's of all time. That was AWESOME.

 

[duffer]

Thoughts on 102:

Big Nog is back. **** me dead he is back big time. The first thing I thought after his Mir fight was he must be injured no way a guy like Mir was ever in his class. Would love to see him receive a chance to get that loss back. If not, unleash him on Brock. Would love to see that happen.

Randy is such a trooper there. Most mortals would've been finished multiple times that fight but wow he's got stones on him. Brilliant brilliant fight. Worht the wait, although imagine if this happened two or three years ago. Would've been epic.

Silva-Jardine wasn't much of anything. Nice and hit and did well to finish.

Rosholt-Leben. Real good fight from Rosholt here, a fair few people were doubting him before it and he gave an impressive account of himself. Should be sticking around for a while. Leben wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination but he looks ragged. Maybe the first fight back from suspension gave him cage rust but might be a long shot for him to climb back out of this.

Maia-Nate was such a let down despite the crazy impact Nate unleashed on him. Goldie got it right when he said "all fights start on the feet" but I had this as my fight of the night before the show. Maia should get more shots in the division but this is a big blow for him. Marquardt want the Spider whcih I'd look forward to but Silva just seems to be on a different level in most facets. Hope to see Maia stay around, I really like him as a fighter. Crowd went ape **** when they showed Anderson SIlva's face on the big screen. Shocked to hear that tbh.

Soszyinski-Vera. Not a good fight at all and the crowd were quick to let them know about it. Found it difficult to stay with this fight let alone score it. Shrugged my shoulders when the decision came.

Herman's knee blowing out was nasty. He threw a few crazy knees and kicks but always looked a little loose and a fighter like Simpson rode the onslaught well and stayed calm.

Gonzaga-Tuscherer. Wow, Gabriel killed this guy. Tuscherer gets most of his cred for being the dude who prep'd Brock for his second Mir fight but he looked completely wrecked once he copped that low blow. Thought they would stop it when they called the doctor and he was writhing around everywhere and they probably should've. He had no chance in hell once they got him back up, Gonzaga monstered him.

That Todd Duffee bloke looks like a best. Sounds like a complete douchebag though.

All in all an excellent show. Loved the Main Event and plenty of crazy finishes and knock outs to keep everyone happy. Bring on Franklin-Belfort asap. 103 has a great card. Can't wait for it.

 

[Majin]

Oh god damn, Big Nog is one of my very favourite fighters in MMA. I had him picked to win the fight, but christ, supporting him is like being an English Cricket fan. Every time he walks into a punch with his hands down I have a small heart attack. Was such a great fight but ugh I was crapping myself right up to the end. Just as I got calmed and thought it was over, Couture flipped him out of the back mount and then there was another minute of "oh ****". But yeah, he is definitely back, took some big shots and that Iron Head of his didn't fail him, loads of attempts to finish the fight and at the end just have to take your hat off to Randy for being a tough son of a bitch. Loved the fight, was the highlight of the PPV for mine. But yeah, feed Frank Mir back to full strength Big Nog pls, that would be beautiful. Mir coming off a loss against Brock against someone he "beat", and Big Nog gets a chance to avenge that loss and cement #1 contender status.

other than that, hahaah jesus christ Nate the Great. Was a neutral going into that fight, though I had picked Damian Maia to come away with the victory...loved it so much how hard they were building him up before the fight, best BJJ in mma, the next Royce Gracie etc. And then he got some serious hang time. But yeah hopefully this will be a huge wakeup to Maia and he'll come back with some much improved standup (I mean, I love Wanderlei as much as anyone, but he's a brawler, and Maia just doesn't have that in him. He should be training with someone else.) and then he'll be back in the mix at middleweight. On the plus side by the time he's gotten himself back into title contention, Anderson might have retired. Which means this could have been a blessing in disguise But yeah, loved how Nate won, loved his sportsmanship, but do think Anderson is a bit too much for him. But we'll see! Nate vs Hendo for #1 contender spot pls, that would be a match and a half. Also Duff what happened with Anderson and the big screen and all that? Heard stuff about how his reaction was funny and shiet but ESPN cut that part out 'cause fail.

Jardine/Silva pretty much went the way you'd expect. Post-fight interview was fairly hilarious, poor guy tried so hard.

Herman's knee blowing out was pretty nasty, but he wasn't particularly smart about it either. First thing he tried to do after damaging it the first time was throw a right head kick? all the weight on that one leg. Well, not really surprising what happened.

Soszyinski-Vera was awful, I don't like Brandon Vera at all and this fight didn't help that whatsoever. Both inactive and very lazy. Not good stuff.

Didn't get to see the Gonzaga fight for whatever reason, ESPN phail I suppose.

Todd Duffee looks like a super mutant from fallout 3 to me. But yeah seems like a jackass.

Was indeed a great show, looking forward to watching Vitor Belfort deal with Ace at 103. And seeing Mirko Cro Cop try and redeem himself. Should be epic. And then...104! Bring on Lyoto/Shogun prz.

 

[duffer]

I know it's early but looking at the 103 card as it stands:

Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort: Nice

Mirko Filipović vs.Junior dos Santos : Both these guys can knock elepants on their ass. Will be a brutal finish imo.

Mike Swick vs. Martin Kampmann: Love Swick, hope he pulls this one out.

Josh Koscheck vs.Frank Trigg: Good to see Frank back, hope he can ktfo of that douchebag Koscheck

Tyson Griffin vs. Hermes Franca: Like Griffin, hope he does well.

Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller: Escudero is one of my favourite TUF guys. Gutted that this couldn't make a Main card but looking forward to seeing him in action.

Great card for mine. Roll on the 19th.

 

[chalky]

What's Belfort been up to? Last time I saw him he lost to Tito when Titowas on top in the light heavy div.

He was the unbeatable champion when I 1st got into UFC he was, he was waesome was knocking guys out for fun, a bit like Anderson Silva is now. I remember the commentators saying he was going to be champ for years then along came Rand Couture and the rest is history.