budlitebrad Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 (edited) That was a ridiculous KO. I can't see him losing the belt anytime soon. Page better get ready... Edited May 24, 2009 by budlitebrad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 PON's been saying it for a while, and Joe Rogan said it tonight as well (although he waited until AFTER the knockout to say it)... Machida is going to be dominant for a very long time. Of course, by MMA standards, that really means successfully defending the title more than a couple of times. I get the feeling we're basically seeing the Anderson Silva of the LHW class... he's going to make lots of contenders look rather silly before anyone comes close to beating him. The question in the back of many minds right now is which is more likely to happen... Silva fighting GSP or Silva moving up to 205 once again for a showdown with Machida. Either one would be phenomenal, although the two dangerous Brazilians with different styles intrigues me more, personally. I'm just a little irritated at myself for not going with my gut feeling, which was to place a bet on Frankie Edgar... I felt that he would handle Sherk, even though Sherk was favored significantly, which he did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budlitebrad Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 The question in the back of many minds right now is which is more likely to happen... Silva fighting GSP or Silva moving up to 205 once again for a showdown with Machida. Either one would be phenomenal, although the two dangerous Brazilians with different styles intrigues me more, personally. Silva and Machida have said in the past that they wouldn't fight each other, so GSP is probably more likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Do Work Son Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 wooo that was a heck of a knockout Machidaaaaa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Do Work Son Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 I'm just a little irritated at myself for not going with my gut feeling, which was to place a bet on Frankie Edgar... I felt that he would handle Sherk, even though Sherk was favored significantly, which he did. Boy is he quick..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Silva and Machida have said in the past that they wouldn't fight each other, so GSP is probably more likely. Yeah, I've heard that as well, unfortunately. I am guessing it's because they both want to stick to "just" dominating their respective weight classes... and why put themselves in a position where one of them has to lose, when they don't have to. I guess it's just wishful thinking on my part, since I really don't see either one of them being challenged any time soon, otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theprofessor Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Yeah, I've heard that as well, unfortunately. I am guessing it's because they both want to stick to "just" dominating their respective weight classes... and why put themselves in a position where one of them has to lose, when they don't have to. I guess it's just wishful thinking on my part, since I really don't see either one of them being challenged any time soon, otherwise. I see Machida losing before Spider. Anderson can do it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 I see Machida losing before Spider. Anderson can do it all. Anderson has flaws, and Anderson has been beaten. 24-4 still means you lost four times. I wouldn't say Anderson Silva can do it all either, he's brilliant with Mauy Thai and great with BJJ, but he has holes. The only guys that don't are Fedor and Machida What people fail to realize with Machida is that he's never lost a round on a score card from any single judge. Anderson is one of the greats, but has been submitted twice, lost on a decision once and lost by DQ as well. Anderson also hasn't looked good in a fight since July of last year. He's no longer fighting to win, but is now just trying to hold on for dear life. Not to sound like an MMA elitist, but as someone who trains in BJJ, Muay Thai, and boxing and watches every MMA even that is on, I can honestly say that Machida is the smoothest fighter I've ever seen. His kicks were faster than Evans jabs, and the guy rarely gets hit. This is the one fighter that has the chance to be better than Fedor Emelianenko. His karate background is something that no one sees in MMA, at least not at his level. His BJJ is elite as he's a BJJ black belt and an all around freak. Tito Ortiz, who's one of the best ground and pounders ever couldn't take him to the ground, Evans jabs were slower than Machida's kicks... We don't need to be comparing Machida to Spider, because Spider would get throttled. Machida is Bruce Lee. By the time all is said and done I believe Machida will be the best fighter MMA has ever seen. Doing it at LHW is far more impressive as he's already gone through some of the best in the game. Anderson's elite wins are over Rich Franklin and a 38 year old Dan Henderson. Cote is legit, but Anderson did almost nothing when Cote's ACL tore. Any serious thought of Anderson moving up to LHW would be foolish, as Silva is a massive welterweight. He walks around at 210 so his advantage is skill+size. At light heavy he would be one of the smaller guys who would have to rely on skill alone, and if we learned anything from Penn/GSP, its that the bigger stronger guy will always win when they're on an equal playing field talent wise. If all goes to plan and Wand Silva beats Rich Franklin we'll be seeing Wand V Spider. It will be the first time that Silva has fought someone that big in his class and has the skill and mentality that Wand brings. That will be a true test for him. If he doesbeat Wand, he'll retire. He's said many times that he wants to retire when he's 35 years old, which is less than two fights away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 I guess it's just wishful thinking on my part, since I really don't see either one of them being challenged any time soon, otherwise. If the Wand Silva/Spider Silva match comes to fruition, get ready. Anderson has never fought someone who is stronger than he, nor has he fought someone who is as aggressive and every bit as good as he in the stand up game. Bisping will also put on a good fight against Silva, as would Maia if Anderson would engage in the ground game, but for the most part you're right, Anderson hasn't been tested much. Not a lot of fighters at 185 right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Anderson has flaws, and Anderson has been beaten. 24-4 still means you lost four times. I wouldn't say Anderson Silva can do it all either, he's brilliant with Mauy Thai and great with BJJ, but he has holes. The only guys that don't are Fedor and Machida What people fail to realize with Machida is that he's never lost a round on a score card from any single judge. Anderson is one of the greats, but has been submitted twice, lost on a decision once and lost by DQ as well. Anderson also hasn't looked good in a fight since July of last year. He's no longer fighting to win, but is now just trying to hold on for dear life. Not to sound like an MMA elitist, but as someone who trains in BJJ, Muay Thai, and boxing and watches every MMA even that is on, I can honestly say that Machida is the smoothest fighter I've ever seen. His kicks were faster than Evans jabs, and the guy rarely gets hit. This is the one fighter that has the chance to be better than Fedor Emelianenko. His karate background is something that no one sees in MMA, at least not at his level. His BJJ is elite as he's a BJJ black belt and an all around freak. Tito Ortiz, who's one of the best ground and pounders ever couldn't take him to the ground, Evans jabs were slower than Machida's kicks... We don't need to be comparing Machida to Spider, because Spider would get throttled. Machida is Bruce Lee. By the time all is said and done I believe Machida will be the best fighter MMA has ever seen. Doing it at LHW is far more impressive as he's already gone through some of the best in the game. Anderson's elite wins are over Rich Franklin and a 38 year old Dan Henderson. Cote is legit, but Anderson did almost nothing when Cote's ACL tore. Any serious thought of Anderson moving up to LHW would be foolish, as Silva is a massive welterweight. He walks around at 210 so his advantage is skill+size. At light heavy he would be one of the smaller guys who would have to rely on skill alone, and if we learned anything from Penn/GSP, its that the bigger stronger guy will always win when they're on an equal playing field talent wise. If all goes to plan and Wand Silva beats Rich Franklin we'll be seeing Wand V Spider. It will be the first time that Silva has fought someone that big in his class and has the skill and mentality that Wand brings. That will be a true test for him. If he doesbeat Wand, he'll retire. He's said many times that he wants to retire when he's 35 years old, which is less than two fights away. Agree 100%. I'm not going to claim to be an expert in MMA, or anything close. I do consider myself to be a a FAIRLY knowledgeable fan of MMA, only because I try to soak up as much of it as I can get... watch EVERY televised fight/card (PPV or not, UFC, WEC, or whatever), and read as much as I can about the sport as well... online, magazines, you name it. I guess when I say that I'd love to see a Machida/Silva match-up, it's not so much because I think it would be a great fight as it is because I wish we could see Anderson challenged by somebody. I'll be clear about one thing... I agree that Machida is too big for Silva, and would overwhelm him. So, in that sense, it sounds like Anderson taking on Wanderlei might be a better match-up. I mean no disrespect to Anderson when I say this, but his last few fights have been nowhere near impressive as the first couple that I saw when I started watching him. It's kind of like the equivalent of if the North Carolina basketball team were to have gone into the "four-corners" offense for the entire duration of the NCAA tournament with no shot clock... they would still probably have gotten the job done and won the whole thing, but it would not be nearly as exciting to watch as them scoring 90 points per game. Not that it's totally Anderson's fault, though, either. He's beaten everybody he could possibly beat in HIS weight class, and SAYS he'll fight anybody Dana White wants him to fight... It's just his game plan or approach to the last couple of fights that has been a disappointment. He's been fighting "not to lose", rather than going out with the expectation that he's going to seek and destroy, which is what he's used to do (even though he was always a little bit conservative in doing so, at least for first couple of minutes, when he's always been known to sort of feel out his opponent). PON, what do you think the chances are that we will someday see a HW fight between Fedor and Lesnar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 So, PON, if I'm reading what you're saying correctly (and that's a big "if" so forgive me if I'm mis-stating anything here), I take it you're picking Wanderlei will beat Franklin, Bisping will beat Henderson, GSP will beat Alves, Penn will beat Florian, and Anderson will beat Forrest. The last three don't surprise me, as GSP and Anderson are heavily favored (and I know you're a Penn fan), but I find the first two more interesting. Here are the current odds on the main fights from the three upcoming summer UFC cards, as well as the Ultimate Fighter finale on 6/20 and the WEC event on 6/7... As you can see, Franklin is slightly favored over Silva, while Henderson is a pretty big favorite to beat Bisping. Are you picking any upsets below? UFC 99 Cologne, Germany 6/13/09 Rich Franklin -145 Wanderlei Silva +115 Spencer Fisher -210 Caol Uno +170 Mike Swick -210 Ben Saunders +170 Marcus Davis -210 Dan Hardy +170 WEC 41 - Sacramento CA 6/7/09 Mike Brown even Urijah Faber -130 UFC - Ultimate Fighter Finale - Las Vegas NV 6/20/09 Diego Sanchez -270 Clay Guida +210 Nate Diaz -130 Joe Stevenson even UFC 100 - Las Vegas NV 7/11/09 Brock Lesnar -225 Frank Mir +185 Georges St Pierre -290 Thiago Alves +230 Dan Henderson -290 Michael Bisping +230 Jon Jones -500 Jake OBrien +300 UFC 101 - Philadelphia PA 8/8/09 BJ Penn -160 Kenny Florian +130 Anderson Silva -260 Forrest Griffin +200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menudo Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 We got the fights last night, and I wasn't disappointed in Machida at all. I haven't been as into MMA as in times past, so, I hadn't even seen him fight before, but, WOW, I was extremely impressed. Evans is one heck of an athlete, and Machida simply dominated. Evans knew what he was up against, as he was clearly trying to be careful with him. When Machida struck, it looked unstoppable. As for the 2nd main event, that was a big disappointment. Matt Hughes was once my favorite fighter, I always favor the wrestlers, but, he is far from his prime. That said he did what he had to do. As for Matt Serra, that guy simply annoys me. Other than a couple of decent shots early, he did absolutely nothing except make cocky faces, and try to talk trash a bit. He is nothing more than a guy who had a lucky punch against GSP, in my far from an expert opinion. I do really love this stuff and need to find time to get back into it like I used to be. I need to take advantage of the free UFC and WEC stuff that is on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budlitebrad Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 For anyone who didn't catch the fight Skip to about 13:15 for the KO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 We got the fights last night, and I wasn't disappointed in Machida at all. I haven't been as into MMA as in times past, so, I hadn't even seen him fight before, but, WOW, I was extremely impressed. Evans is one heck of an athlete, and Machida simply dominated. Evans knew what he was up against, as he was clearly trying to be careful with him. When Machida struck, it looked unstoppable. As for the 2nd main event, that was a big disappointment. Matt Hughes was once my favorite fighter, I always favor the wrestlers, but, he is far from his prime. That said he did what he had to do. As for Matt Serra, that guy simply annoys me. Other than a couple of decent shots early, he did absolutely nothing except make cocky faces, and try to talk trash a bit. He is nothing more than a guy who had a lucky punch against GSP, in my far from an expert opinion. I do really love this stuff and need to find time to get back into it like I used to be. I need to take advantage of the free UFC and WEC stuff that is on. I was pulling for Hughes as well, and although the fight wasn't "exciting" in terms of there being a climactic finish, it was obvious that both Matt's were very aware of each others strengths. Hughes was doing everything within his power to not get caught by Serra's right hand (although he almost did with the inadvertent headbutt), while Serra's BJJ experience was very apparent as well... he was able to minimize the damage he took from Hughes' ground and pound, and never really put himself in danger of being seriously hurt or submitted. The fight was another perfect example of why some NFL and NBA athletes could learn a lesson or two from MMA fighters... Nine times out of ten (or probably far more, for that matter), no matter how much dislike there is between two fighters, they will acknowledge each other with respect and embrace after the fight, no matter what the outcome. There's been a few exceptions, but for a sport that revolves around "fighting," it's usually very nice to see the level of class that these athletes exhibit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 It wasn't aired on the PPV last night, but I was also pretty surprised to see that Phillipe Nover, runner-up in the last LW Ultimate Fighter finale, lost by TKO one minute into his fight against Kyle Bradley. If I remember correctly, Nover was about a 5 to 1 favorite going into that fight. Anybody who bet on Bradley cashed in nicely last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 PON, what do you think the chances are that we will someday see a HW fight between Fedor and Lesnar? I'd put it at under 5%. Dana White has a hardline that he will not cross as far as what has to be in contracts. When under contract with the UFC, you don't compete in Samba or ADCC tourneys. Fedor is a Samba champion and loves to compete, as it's one of Russia's favorite past times. The biggest hurdle in landing Fedor is money. As it stands right now main event high ppv buy guys like Brock Lesnar, GSP, Penn and Machida are paid around 200k max per fight. It was rumored that Fedor's handlers were demanding nearly a mil a fight. Fedor's handlers are as stubborn as Dana White so there is another hurdle in the Brock/Fedor dream. While on the topic of Brock Lesnar, he is going to have to show marked improvement to beat Frank Mir, the real champion in my mind. Mir has already tapped Brock, and was the first ever to knock out Big Nog. Don't discount the best BJJ in the heavyweight class. So, PON, if I'm reading what you're saying correctly (and that's a big "if" so forgive me if I'm mis-stating anything here), I take it you're picking Wanderlei will beat Franklin, Bisping will beat Henderson, GSP will beat Alves, Penn will beat Florian, and Anderson will beat Forrest. The last three don't surprise me, as GSP and Anderson are heavily favored (and I know you're a Penn fan), but I find the first two more interesting. Here are the current odds on the main fights from the three upcoming summer UFC cards, as well as the Ultimate Fighter finale on 6/20 and the WEC event on 6/7... As you can see, Franklin is slightly favored over Silva, while Henderson is a pretty big favorite to beat Bisping. I do like Wand over Franklin, Penn over Florian and GSP over Alves. Bisping I feel should be able to beat the aging/under performing Hendo at this point, and that pains me to say it as I absolutely hate the Count. Forrest Vs Anderson is interesting, as Forrest isn't dominant at any one thing, but he is good at everything, and he's a massive LHW. If Griffin has a strong training camp I may lean his way. Too early for that though. Are you picking any upsets below? UFC 99 Cologne, Germany 6/13/09 Rich Franklin -145 Wanderlei Silva +115 Spencer Fisher -210 Caol Uno +170 Mike Swick -210 Ben Saunders +170 Marcus Davis -210 Dan Hardy +170 WEC 41 - Sacramento CA 6/7/09 Mike Brown even Urijah Faber -130 UFC - Ultimate Fighter Finale - Las Vegas NV 6/20/09 Diego Sanchez -270 Clay Guida +210 Nate Diaz -130 Joe Stevenson even UFC 100 - Las Vegas NV 7/11/09 Brock Lesnar -225 Frank Mir +185 Georges St Pierre -290 Thiago Alves +230 Dan Henderson -290 Michael Bisping +230 Jon Jones -500 Jake OBrien +300 UFC 101 - Philadelphia PA 8/8/09 BJ Penn -160 Kenny Florian +130 Anderson Silva -260 Forrest Griffin +200 I feel pretty confident that Wand will beat Franklin, as I think Mike Brown will beat Urijah Faber. The others at this point I would seriously consider placing bets on, as I don't feel the odds reflect how much of a toss up those fights can be. I've doubted Frank Mir and he always proves me wrong. The guy is legit. Hendo has underperformed in the UFC so far and I think his age may be catching up with him. Bisping at 185 looks fantastic Forrest should be closer to even with Silva as Forrest is so damn big as a LHW. Caol Uno has fought in my opinion better competition and if his game is on should win his fight... He is the same guy that took BJ Penn the distance a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 It wasn't aired on the PPV last night, but I was also pretty surprised to see that Phillipe Nover, runner-up in the last LW Ultimate Fighter finale, lost by TKO one minute into his fight against Kyle Bradley. If I remember correctly, Nover was about a 5 to 1 favorite going into that fight. Anybody who bet on Bradley cashed in nicely last night. Novar's hypetrain started last season whenever Dana White called him the next GSP. He was tooled in the UFN finale, but the hype didn't slow down. I think of that class, Bader and Krystoff have bright futures. Bader did tear up his knee and will be out for some time, but he's so strong and is a world class wrestler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 As for the 2nd main event, that was a big disappointment. Matt Hughes was once my favorite fighter, I always favor the wrestlers, but, he is far from his prime. That said he did what he had to do. As for Matt Serra, that guy simply annoys me. Other than a couple of decent shots early, he did absolutely nothing except make cocky faces, and try to talk trash a bit. He is nothing more than a guy who had a lucky punch against GSP, in my far from an expert opinion. My problem with the fight is that Hughes was talking about how he hates Serra and wanted to hurt him, he was out for blood blah blah blah... It's fight time and he proceeds to lay and pray for the entire fight. If that's your game plan, that's fine, but don't talk about how you're out for blood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I really like Krystoff as well... seems to be very well-rounded, and has his head on straight. Of course, in that division, you pretty much have to have both of those things just to sniff the top ten list, it's so deep. Bader is just a beast, plain and simple. There are some guys who just seem to be solid due to their wrestling background, even if they're not all that well versed in BJJ. Many of those kind of guys come from the smaller weight classes, which is why Bader falling into that category at the LHW division is impressive to me. He's been dominant so far and breezed through TUF. Yeah, I guess I can see what you're saying about Nover... he certainly did get a lot of hype on the show, and then was pretty much dominated in the final. I'm just surprised a guy favored that heavily lost one minute into the fight. It's not like it was a knockout, where he got caught with one punch... it sounds like he was just over-powered and beat up, thus the TKO. I don't know... it seems to me like a few of the odds we're seeing are way off base. I don't know enough about every fighter to consider betting seriously on MMA, but it seems that there is money to be made, if you know what you're doing. Classic example... Henderson at -290. I'm with you and agree that he's past his prime and has been far less than impressive in the UFC. Bisping is nearly a decade younger than Henderson, and in his prime... As much as Bisping bothers me (especially watching him rip on the U.S. every chance he gets on TUF), I just don't see why/how Henderson is such a heavy favorite. I'm looking forward to the Davis/Hardy fight as well... seems to be some bad blood there, and they're both fairly exciting to watch from what I've seen. I'm definitely not assuming Brock is going to beat Mir, who has always been under-rated in my book. The odds-makers are certainly on Lesnar's side, and I think it's with good reason that they're assuming he WILL show marked improvement since his last fight. He has done so every time he's fought, which is what makes him so scary. Still, though, it wouldn't surprise me much at all to see Mir take him down again. What do you think about the other major physical specimen in the HW division, Cheick Kongo? Like Lesnar, he's pretty raw, but does seem to get better every time we see him. Assuming he beats Velasquez, how far away from being a serious title contender do you think he is? I don't know what to think about Penn and Florian. They're both guys that I've picked against in the past, only for both of them to prove me wrong. Florian seems to be getting better all of the time, and you certainly can't question his heart. Penn was looking as dominant as anybody in the sport, until he chose to move up and face GSP again, which was another example of why superior size sometimes just can't be negated. I guess I'd have to lean towards B.J. if I had to pick, but I wouldn't be horribly shocked it Florian pulls it off. I think it will be a very good fight, and will actually be more surprised if it doesn't go to a decision, than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 What do you think about the other major physical specimen in the HW division, Cheick Kongo? Like Lesnar, he's pretty raw, but does seem to get better every time we see him. Assuming he beats Velasquez, how far away from being a serious title contender do you think he is? I don't know what to think about Penn and Florian. They're both guys that I've picked against in the past, only for both of them to prove me wrong. Florian seems to be getting better all of the time, and you certainly can't question his heart. Penn was looking as dominant as anybody in the sport, until he chose to move up and face GSP again, which was another example of why superior size sometimes just can't be negated. I guess I'd have to lean towards B.J. if I had to pick, but I wouldn't be horribly shocked it Florian pulls it off. I think it will be a very good fight, and will actually be more surprised if it doesn't go to a decision, than anything else. I'm not a big Kongo fan. If you get outpointed and loose a decision to Heath Herring at this point then I think you have a ways to go before in contention for a title shot. His biggest victory was in September of 07 against Cro Cop who was less than 100% during his first stint in the UFC. He's great on his feet, but lost on the ground. For the HW in the UFC I rank them 1. Mir 2. Lesnar 3. Big Nog 4. Couture 5. Carwin Big gap 6. Gonzaga 7. Kongo 8. dos Santos I would put Fedor as no.1 Arlovski and Barnett all very close to Mir. As far as the Penn/Florian fight goes, everything Florian does well, Penn does better. No one is better on the ground than Penn with Jiu Jitsu. He earned the name "The Prodigy" from winning JJ tourneys as a blue belt to getting his black belt in three years. Florian is a great striker, especially with his elbows. Problem there is that Penn has some of the nastiest boxing in MMA. Freddie Roach, a big name in boxing said that if he trained and went into professional boxing he would be a force. Bas Rutten went as far to say that Penn has the best boxing in MMA. Penn has one of the best jabs that pretty much neutralized Sean Sherk and led to the TKO in the third at UFC Ill Will. Florian is getting better, problem is that Penn has torn through guys that have given Florian fits and even beaten Florian. I'm not a big fan of MMAth and saying Fighter A beat Fighter B, Fighter B beat fighter C, so Fight A must be better than Fighter A, but I can't ignore it on this one. I like Penn by TKO. I have a feeling Penn is going to be out for blood after the loss to GSP and Florian running his mouth. Note to Florian: DO NOT MOTIVATE BABY J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I'm not a big Kongo fan. If you get outpointed and loose a decision to Heath Herring at this point then I think you have a ways to go before in contention for a title shot. His biggest victory was in September of 07 against Cro Cop who was less than 100% during his first stint in the UFC. He's great on his feet, but lost on the ground. For the HW in the UFC I rank them 1. Mir 2. Lesnar 3. Big Nog 4. Couture 5. Carwin Big gap 6. Gonzaga 7. Kongo 8. dos Santos I would put Fedor as no.1 Arlovski and Barnett all very close to Mir. As far as the Penn/Florian fight goes, everything Florian does well, Penn does better. No one is better on the ground than Penn with Jiu Jitsu. He earned the name "The Prodigy" from winning JJ tourneys as a blue belt to getting his black belt in three years. Florian is a great striker, especially with his elbows. Problem there is that Penn has some of the nastiest boxing in MMA. Freddie Roach, a big name in boxing said that if he trained and went into professional boxing he would be a force. Bas Rutten went as far to say that Penn has the best boxing in MMA. Penn has one of the best jabs that pretty much neutralized Sean Sherk and led to the TKO in the third at UFC Ill Will. Florian is getting better, problem is that Penn has torn through guys that have given Florian fits and even beaten Florian. I'm not a big fan of MMAth and saying Fighter A beat Fighter B, Fighter B beat fighter C, so Fight A must be better than Fighter A, but I can't ignore it on this one. I like Penn by TKO. I have a feeling Penn is going to be out for blood after the loss to GSP and Florian running his mouth. Note to Florian: DO NOT MOTIVATE BABY J. Makes sense. Sherk seems to have been exposed in the beating he took from Penn... keep Sherk on his feet by moving laterally, and take advantage of his shorter than average reach, and Sherk's ability to "over-power" his opponent is neutralized. I thought Frankie Edgar executed that game plan perfectly. Sherk hasn't won a fight in the UFC by stoppage/KO since 2002... his disadvantage in the reach department, combined with the fact that he's never been known to pack a powerful punch, seems to have really limited his ability to stop fights. Watching him fight Penn and then again last night was like watching that really nasty-looking pit bull that keeps charging, trying to attack you, but it's always a few inches short because of its leash. He took some major swings at both Penn and Edgar, but nothing really connected, while both fighters were able to pick him apart with the reach advantage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Makes sense. Sherk seems to have been exposed in the beating he took from Penn... keep Sherk on his feet by moving laterally, and take advantage of his shorter than average reach, and Sherk's ability to "over-power" his opponent is neutralized. I thought Frankie Edgar executed that game plan perfectly. Sherk hasn't won a fight in the UFC by stoppage/KO since 2002... his disadvantage in the reach department, combined with the fact that he's never been known to pack a powerful punch, seems to have really limited his ability to stop fights. Watching him fight Penn and then again last night was like watching that really nasty-looking pit bull that keeps charging, trying to attack you, but it's always a few inches short because of its leash. He took some major swings at both Penn and Edgar, but nothing really connected, while both fighters were able to pick him apart with the reach advantage. I can't stand Sherk. I don't really like most wrestlers, but I think thats just a bjj thing... Anyways, after Sherk lost the fight he left the arena... In his walkout gear with his handwraps and gloves still on... Now I do know that he didn't take the post fight drug test before he left, but if he went out and drank a beer, then came back for said drug test he faces suspension... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Did anybody catch the TUF episode a couple of weeks ago where Bisping was all up in arms because the ref gave the American fighter "extra time" in between rounds to pry his teeth out from the inside of his mouth guard? Hendo had to get them out with a pliers... Bisping was going crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Did anybody catch the TUF episode a couple of weeks ago where Bisping was all up in arms because the ref gave the American fighter "extra time" in between rounds to pry his teeth out from the inside of his mouth guard? Hendo had to get them out with a pliers... Bisping was going crazy. Yeah, this weeks episode is going to be crazy. Bisping isn't the classiest of fighters and sprays water in DeMarquis' face... He won't back down from Bisping and proceeds to throw his hat and hit Bisping in the back of the head... I can't wait for this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Yeah, this weeks episode is going to be crazy. Bisping isn't the classiest of fighters and sprays water in DeMarquis' face... He won't back down from Bisping and proceeds to throw his hat and hit Bisping in the back of the head... I can't wait for this week. Didn't I see DeMarquis in somebody's corner last night? Can't remember who, but he walked in with one of the fighters. The other thing I noticed was that it appeared that Matt Serra actually had a girl in his "posse" that walked in with him... Nothing wrong with that, of course. Just kind of unusual. Don't know if that's a coach/trainer of his, or what, but she definitely looked to be part of his group/corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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