MMA

[Abagadro]

Heh, tomato can backup fighter drops Mr. T Part Deux in 14 seconds.

Oops

[Nazrat]

Yep, the Silverback was regularly abused in the UFC.  He was a big guy with a goofy haircut who could take a punch.  Seeing him knock out Kimbo has to send shivers down the spines of CBS/EliteXC officials.  If that palook can derail their main draw, they have a real problem on their hands.

And, no, Tito fighting for them after back surgery won't improve their league very much.

[Cyrrex]

I think EliteXC are pretty much done after that debacle.  Hilarious.

[stray]

They suck anyways. Fucking affliction and rockstar logos everywhere. I felt like I was watching Idiocracy.

The affliction commercial for Fedor is cool though.

[edit] Tito is lame. Who cares.

[Cyrrex]

The best part of the Fedor commercial was that they were able to air his entire last fight within that single commercial.  Also, Affliction > EliteXC but many lengths.

[WindupAtheist]

Putting this here because I've talked a little boxing here.

Bernard Hopkins, 43 years old, just gave a fucking boxing lesson to 26 year old middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. Hopkins looked sharp, fast, and masterful. Pavlik looked like an amateur in comparison. It was the single clearest example I've ever seen of experience and the effects of a spartan lifestyle trumping age. Hopkins hasn't weighed a pound over his fighting weight in his entire career, and the benefits of that showed.

Foreman beat Moorer when he was 45, but he did so by losing nine rounds and then landing a Hail Mary bomb. Hopkins went out there and fought his ass off like a man 20 years younger than himself for all 12 rounds. I'm fucking stunned.

[Johny Cee]

I think EliteXC are pretty much done after that debacle.  Hilarious.

EliteXC is done.  UFC is already picking through the roster for value deals.


This weekend is some Anderson Silva goodness.  I'll post the whole card a little later,  but looks like a solid show.

[Johny Cee]

UFC 90: SILVA vs. COTE
Date: 10/25/2008
Event Type: Live Pay Per View
Location: Allstate Arena (Rosemont, Illinois)


----------
Main card

    * Middleweight championship bout:  Anderson Silva vs.  Patrick Côté[5]
    * Welterweight bout:  Thiago Alves vs. Josh Koscheck[6]
    * Heavyweight bout: Fabricio Werdum vs.  Junior dos Santos[7]
    * Lightweight bout:  Sean Sherk vs.  Tyson Griffin[8]
    * Lightweight bout: Gray Maynard vs.  Rich Clementi

Preliminary card

    * Middleweight bout:  Thales Leites vs.  Drew McFedries
    * Lightweight bout:  Spencer Fisher vs.  Shannon Gugerty
    * Middleweight bout: Matt Horwich vs.  Dan Miller
    * Lightweight bout: Hermes Franca vs.  Marcus Aurelio
    * Welterweight bout: Josh Burkman vs. Pete Sell


Some changes on this.  Diego Sanchez, Ricardo Almeida and a pile of others have pulled out do to injury.

- Silva should smoke Cote.  Cote has had a nice win streak,  but Silva isn't human.

- Sherk vs. Griffin is a huge fight.  A win for Griffin,  and he should be a top contender at LW.  Sherk needs a win here,  after the steriod nonsense and BJ pummeling him.

- Alves vs. Koscheck is likely a #1 contender matchup for WW.  Koshcheck's only loss in the last two years is GSP, and includes a pile of decent wins.  Alves has been on a run,  knocking out Karo and destroying Matt Hughes.

- Maynard vs. Clementi is another huge fight at LW.  Both guys are looking to pull out of the cluttered middle tier and into contender status here.  Classic wrestler versus BJJ fight.

[Evil Elvis]

Ok, I'll go...

Silva
Koscheck (I want to go with Alves, but Koscheck always upsets my picks)
Werdum (never heard of the other guy)
Griffin
Maynard
Leites
Fisher
Horwich
Aurelio
Sell

[Johny Cee]

Ok, I'll go...

Silva
Koscheck (I want to go with Alves, but Koscheck always upsets my picks)
Werdum (never heard of the other guy)
Griffin
Maynard
Leites
Fisher
Horwich
Aurelio
Sell

- Silva is pretty much a lock.
- I'm hoping Alves wins,  because I want to see GSP fight a good striker.... but I think Koscheck will grapple his way to a victory.
- Griffin or Sherk would be good here. 
- Maynard over Clementi.  Maynard is looking TOUGH.

The rest of the fights don't really need too much comment.

[Hoax]

Silva is amazing.

Alves is a beast.  How can you not want to see him fight GSP?  I don't think GSP could take him down with ease like he's been doing to people and it'd be a nasty fight standing.  Two people with legs that are that effective?

The Griffin v Sherk fight proved that scoring still sucks major ass in the UFC.  I don't begrudge Sherk winning persay, but I think it was mostly bullshit.

I won some money though. 

Leites put a clinic, that was fun.

It was a sort of boring card because the fights were long and lame (Sherk v Griffin & Clementi v Maynard) and we didn't get much undercard.  But Silva is now must watch no matter what else is happening.  He was doing Wang Chung (sp??) fucking unbelievable.

[Johny Cee]

Silva is amazing.

Alves is a beast.  How can you not want to see him fight GSP?  I don't think GSP could take him down with ease like he's been doing to people and it'd be a nasty fight standing.  Two people with legs that are that effective?

The Griffin v Sherk fight proved that scoring still sucks major ass in the UFC.  I don't begrudge Sherk winning persay, but I think it was mostly bullshit.

I won some money though. 

Leites put a clinic, that was fun.

It was a sort of boring card because the fights were long and lame (Sherk v Griffin & Clementi v Maynard) and we didn't get much undercard.  But Silva is now must watch no matter what else is happening.  He was doing Wang Chung (sp??) fucking unbelievable.

See...  I thought that the Griffin-Sherk fight was the best fight on the card.  Griffin had good flurries,  but then he would tire and Sherk would pound on him the rest of the round.  The action was back and forth, and at a solid pace.

Clementi-Maynard was pretty awful.  Maynard held him down, and didn't really do much to him.

Alves-Koscheck was another great fight.  Alves is fucking TOUGH.  Very excited to see him fight GSP,  but it's sounding like BJ and GSP are going to be fighting in January.

The Junior de Santos knockout of Werdum was out of nowhere. 

Cote and Silva was really shaping up to be a good chess match, before Cote's knee went.

[stray]

On a non mma related note, I wish I believed in myself as much as Roy Jones does. How the fuck does someone get like that?!

[Cyrrex]

 

Very excited to see him fight GSP,  but it's sounding like BJ and GSP are going to be fighting in January.

You almost make it sound like BJ vs GSP is a bad thing. 

[Hoax]

See...  I thought that the Griffin-Sherk fight was the best fight on the card.  Griffin had good flurries,  but then he would tire and Sherk would pound on him the rest of the round.  The action was back and forth, and at a solid pace.

I see why some people liked it but honestly.  Both have very boring striking styles, I wasn't thrilled watching 15 minutes of them boxing.  I have been a huge Griffin fan, because he's from Cali, he should have been undefeated coming into that fight (fucking loss versus the Boston kid was bullshit) and he has a great attitude.  But he's just failed to add something to his game to give him a way to dramatically finish fights.

So where does LW stand?  Who did Sherk earn a fight against?  Winner of the Kenflo v Stevenson fight? Huerta? Maynard? What's next for Tyson? I think UFC knows his fights are long and boring, I think they'll force him to fight a rising star nobody next on the undercard and see if he can kill the guy spectacularly.

Also have I gloated about how Florian didn't earn dick with that calculated pussy performance against Huerta yet?  Fucking bitch Florian, man I hate that guy.  If Stevenson wins, would UFC really put him back against BJ so fast I wonder.

[Johny Cee]

See...  I thought that the Griffin-Sherk fight was the best fight on the card.  Griffin had good flurries,  but then he would tire and Sherk would pound on him the rest of the round.  The action was back and forth, and at a solid pace.

I see why some people liked it but honestly.  Both have very boring striking styles, I wasn't thrilled watching 15 minutes of them boxing.  I have been a huge Griffin fan, because he's from Cali, he should have been undefeated coming into that fight (fucking loss versus the Boston kid was bullshit) and he has a great attitude.  But he's just failed to add something to his game to give him a way to dramatically finish fights.

So where does LW stand?  Who did Sherk earn a fight against?  Winner of the Kenflo v Stevenson fight? Huerta? Maynard? What's next for Tyson? I think UFC knows his fights are long and boring, I think they'll force him to fight a rising star nobody next on the undercard and see if he can kill the guy spectacularly.

Also have I gloated about how Florian didn't earn dick with that calculated pussy performance against Huerta yet?  Fucking bitch Florian, man I hate that guy.  If Stevenson wins, would UFC really put him back against BJ so fast I wonder.

Griffin and Sherk were obviously going out there to mix it up, and I think they kept it interesting.  LWs just don't have much knock out power,  and Tyson realized he didn't want to fuck with Sherk on the ground after the first where Sherk nearly had his back twice.

Griffin has been in two or three Fight of the Nights, and the UFC will keep him around.  He always puts on an interesting performance, if you like a good high activity grappler.

Sherk is just.... Sherk.  If you're name isn't BJ Penn or GSP,  he will make you look like an amateur in a grinding, wearing fight. 


Florian can go fuck himself.  His whole "I finish fights!" spiel was tired when he was actually finishing the C level fighters the UFC was giving him, and then bragging about it.  It became complete hypocrasy when he is SOOOO obviously shooting for a point win (Huerta) or a stoppage due to cut against tougher opponents.


The title situation is a mess.  BJ fighting GSP in January puts any LW title fights on hold till at least April.  And that's not even counting the fact that if that fight is for the WW title and BJ wins,  he will now hold up two divisions.  Honestly,  GSP is probably the favorite but....  I think its arguable that BJ won their first match up, when he was still in shitty shape and unfocused.

I'd much rather have GSP vs. Alves  and BJ vs. Kenny/Maynard/Edger.  On the other hand,  GSP and BJ are both so dominant that there aren't a lot of great matchups there.  GSP has killed everyone decent except Alves and Diego (and Swick and Davis,  but these guys look like solid B fighters and not contenders).

BJ made Sherk look like a fool,  and Sherk was pegged to dominate that weightclass for the near future until BJ dropped to LW.  I'd like to see BJ wreck Kenny Florian,  but.....  the rest aren't particularly awesome matchups. 

Maynard and Edger are in the same mold as Sherk:  dominant grapplers.
Clay Guida is the man,  but he is too inconsistent.
Hermes Franca has a couple of recent losses,  and has a steriod problem.
Spencer Fisher is likeable but inconsistent.
Tyson Griffin just lost.
Joe Stevenson was just murdered by BJ.
Huerta just lost.

[Slayerik]

Last UFC was a disappointment.

Silva dancing around like Muhammed Ali was yawnfest.

Griffin should have won.

Alves won me some cash.

yada yada yada

[Johny Cee]

Last UFC was a disappointment.

Silva dancing around like Muhammed Ali was yawnfest.

Griffin should have won.

Alves won me some cash.

yada yada yada

See....  I thought it was a pretty solid card except for Clementi-Maynard. 


UFC 84 is now out on DVD.  This is, from top to bottom, a great card except for the Clementi fight.  Lots of exciting fights.

Main:

BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk -- Lots of leather thrown.
Tito vs. Machida -- Machida cat and mouse.
Mendes vs Thiago -- Two good muay thai fighters bang.
Soukoudjo vs Nakamura -- Soukoudjo is amazingly explosive.  And looks waaay too much like the Predator.
Gouveia vs. Reljec -- Reljec is a scary kickboxer,  and Gouveia has nasty muay thai
Wanderlai Silva vs Keith Jardine -- Heh.

Lots of good undercard fights.

[Hoax]

Last UFC was a disappointment.

Silva dancing around like Muhammed Ali was yawnfest.

Griffin should have won.

Alves won me some cash.

yada yada yada

I feel the same except I enjoyed the fuck out of the Silva fight, wanted to see him finish it but that only made me more fired up for his next bout.  I also one some cash on the Werdum upset (I made the bet once I heard that he looked even fatter then usual in weigh ins) but I lost a bunch on the Griffin v Sherk fight and feel slightly robbed.  That was a stupid as fuck bet though since I knew it was going to judges.

I thought the card was really boring.  Because lots of punches thrown != good fight imo.  The Sherk v Griffin was boring as hell for me.  Midgets throwing hooks for 15 minutes?  Yawn.

[Johny Cee]

WEC 36 will be live on Versus tonight.  Pretty good card, too:

[20-1-0] Urijah Faber (c) vs. Mike Brown [19-4-0] - WEC Featherweight Championship
[16-0-0] Paulo Filho (c) vs. Chael Sonnen [21-8-1] - WEC Middleweight Championship
[15-3-0] Rob McCullough vs. Donald Cerrone [7-0-0]
[22-8-1] Jens Pulver vs. Leonard Garcia [11-3-0]
[3-0-0] Mark Munoz vs. Steve Steinbeiss [4-1-0]
[11-5-0] Tim McKenzie vs. Doug Marshall [7-3-0]
[4-0-0] Jake Rosholt vs. Danillo Villefort [8-2-0]
[8-4-0] Alex Serdyukov vs. Johny Hendricks [3-0-0]


Urijah Faber is a dominant, exciting 145 lber.  Ranked one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world,  and usually alot of fun to watch.  Mike Brown is a decent fighter, but this should be Faber showing off how good he is.

Paulo Filho is one of the top MWs in the world, many people even giving him a good shot of beating Anderson Silva when WEC folds their MW division into the UFC.  Chael Sonnen is a decent MW,  who looked like he had Filho in trouble their last match before getting caught in a sub.

Razor Rob McCullogh is the former WEC LW champ,  looking to angle for a title rematch.  Cerrone is an up and comer with talent.

Jens Pulver at Featherweight should be good.  Garcia is decent, but Jens should be pretty driven here.

[Johny Cee]

So,  UFC 91 this weekend.


Randy Couture (C) vs. Brock Lesnar -UFC Heavyweight Championship
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Josh Hendricks
Joe Stevenson vs. Kenny Florian
Demian Maia vs. Nathan Quarry
Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone

Preliminary Card Bouts:

Dustin Hazelett vs. Tamdan McCrory
Jeremy Stephens vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Jorge Gurgel vs. Aaron Riley
Alvin Robinson vs. Mark Bocek


- Randy versus Brock.  Oooooo.  The 45 year old superman versus a freak of nature.  I'll be rooting for Randy,  but not surprised if Brock takes it.

- Gonzaga v. Hendricks.  Don't know anything about Hendricks,  got to go with Gabe.

- Florian v. Stevenson.  If Florian wins this, he should be the number one contender.  If Joe wins this,  things are confused in the LW division with no clearcut contender since Joe just got demolished by BJ.

- Maia v. Quarry.  The winner here is probably one fight from a championship match,  depending on the outcome of Franklin v Hendo

- Amir v. Catone was scratched,  so we get Hazelett vs. McCrory which should be an entertaining fight.


This is likely going to be the highest viewed UFC event ever.  Both Lesner and Couture are huge draws.  Brock is probably the favorite but god damn,  everyone will be hoping that Randy can pull it out once again.

[Hoax]

Bodog is only offering odds on the top two fights for 91...

Lesnar is the favorite at -150, Couture is a PICK
Florian is the favorite at -185, Stevenson +155


Lesnar > Couture
Gonzaga > Hendricks
Florian > Stevenson
Maia > Quarry
Sadollah > Catone

I'm not paying for this card, it sucks balls.

[Cyrrex]

I think Brock takes it.  Dude is just too fucking powerful.

[Johny Cee]

I think Brock takes it.  Dude is just too fucking powerful.

I think Brock takes it as well....  but you're a dirty liar if, in your heart of hearts, you aren't hoping for Randy to pull through one more time.

 

[Johny Cee]

Wow.  That was a great event.

Almost everything finished in the first round, with slick striking or slick ground work.  Almost every fight was broadcast.

-Brock is a fucking scary dude.  Can't wait for him to fight (hopefully) Nog.
-I detest Florian, and his camp, but he put on a great show.  Looking forward to BJ destroying him.
-Hazelett was sooo slick.
-The Gorgel fight was great.
-Gonzaga killed a foo.
-Demian Maia worked Quarry.


I just have to say how much Steve Mazagatti as a referee cracks me up.  Every one of the fights he refs,  he either stops early or stops way too late.  Gonzaga dropped Hendricks with a huge punch,  lands one more.  He stops, looks at the Mazz,  who motions him to continue even though Hendricks is obviously sleeping.  Gonzaga lands another big punch and Mazz comes flying in to break it up like Gonzaga was doing something wrong.

[ashrik]

I teased my friends with a horrific fiction in which Brock gets around to fighting each of their MMA favs and destroys them one by one.

Brock Lesnar, the legend-killer. Like Shadow of the Colossus (if you've ever played it), except from the other side of the fence.

[Cyrrex]

He may well be able to.  He is no pretender, that's for damn sure.  Absolute monster.  He'll get beaten by good technique every now and then, but he's going to win more than he'll lose.  Great wrestler, obviously, a surprisingly good striker (even a couple really good knees) and enormous size and strength.  I wouldn't like to be Nog right now.

[ashrik]

I say Nog is going to submit him like the overgrown brute that he is

[Johny Cee]

Jeremy Stevens had a highlight reel knockout last night, as well.  It was the most telegraphed, vicious uppercut I've ever seen.  The only thing I can think of is that his opponent thought he was winding up for a head kick and covered,  so was completely unready for it.

[kaid]

The one fight I saw lesnar in was I believe the only way he will get beaten. He was dominating his opponent until the guy got him in a lock and made him tap. If somebody is really slick with the holds you may get lucky if not anybody fighting him is in for a beating that guy is a freak.

[Johny Cee]

I say Nog is going to submit him like the overgrown brute that he is

Nog has pretty good odds, in my opinion.  Great submission guy, and his standup is pretty good.  Lesner's striking is looking better,  and he has soooo much power its just insane combined with being pretty fast for his size.  The punch that KO'd Randy was actually part of a combination:  Randy ducked the jab,  that left him open to the followup.

I think Lesner keeps it standing and tries to KO Nog.

Mir, on the other hand, is shit on his feet and has the cardio of a 3 pack a day smoker.  If Lesner fights him again,  I think Lesner keeps it standing and destroys his world.


There are some great up and comers in the UFC heavyweight div.  Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez are both big, athletic wrestlers with decent and much improving standup.  Gonzaga is a possibility, between his size, good standup, and great sub game.  Junior de Santos is small,  but he's an amazing Muay Thai guy.


By the way,  the next card looks AMAZING:

UFC 92

-Fight Card-

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (c) vs. Frank Mir - UFC Heavyweight Championship (Interim)
Forrest Griffin (c) vs. Rashad Evans -UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
Yushin Okami vs. Dean Lister
Cheick Kongo vs. Mustafa Al-Turk

C.B. Dollaway vs. Jorge Rivera
Ryo Chonan vs. Brad Blackburn


Nog vs Mir?  Awesome.  Griffin vs Evans?  Awesome.  Rampage vs Wanderlei?  Double awesome.

Kongo and Al-Turk should be good.  Okami vs Lister has the potential to be not very exciting.

[Hoax]

I just want to see Okami lose, that guy is horribly overrated.  Not sure Lister is the guy to do it though, if I remember Okami's fights he is a bitch to takedown & Lister is a sub guy c/d?

Right now I'm thinking:
Nog > Mir
Evans > Griffin
Jackson > W.Silva

and I'm downloading small shows where I can find them to get a bead on the undercard match ups.

UFC91 was good though, I thought it was going to be crap and didn't buy the ppv and I do regret that now.  The Maia submission got me some cash, stupidass cracker Nate Quarry

[Johny Cee]

I just want to see Okami lose, that guy is horribly overrated.  Not sure Lister is the guy to do it though, if I remember Okami's fights he is a bitch to takedown & Lister is a sub guy c/d?

Right now I'm thinking:
Nog > Mir
Evans > Griffin
Jackson > W.Silva

and I'm downloading small shows where I can find them to get a bead on the undercard match ups.

UFC91 was good though, I thought it was going to be crap and didn't buy the ppv and I do regret that now.  The Maia submission got me some cash, stupidass cracker Nate Quarry

UFC 91 might have snatched the crown of best PPV this year from UFC 84 (Penn vs. Sherk).  Every fight they showed was great.

Hazelett rocking the Evan Tanner beard while throwing slick submissions has really stuck with me.  The Stephens uppercut was straight out of a movie.


UFC 92:

- Nog > Mir.  The Nog vs Lesner fight will be sweeeet.

- Wandy has already wrecked Rampage twice.  I got to go with Wandy.

- Evans vs. Griffin should be a killer fight.  Griffin has great takedown defense, and should be better than Evans on the feet.  Evans is also a small LHW,  while Forest walks around north of 225.  Rashad seems to be constantly improving, though, and he's stepped up each time his competition has bumped up.


I really, really want to see Randy vs. either Kongo or Herring now.  Randy would make Kongo look like a fool,  and Herring would spend 3 rounds being beaten down by an old man.

[Johny Cee]

UFC: Fight for the Troops

Date: 12/10/2008
Event Type: Fight Night free on Spike
Location: Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, North Carolina


Fight Card:

Welterweight bout: (11-3-0) Josh Koscheck vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-2-0)
Welterweight bout: (12-2-0) Mike Swick vs. Jonathan Goulet (22-9-0)
Light heavyweight bout: (6-1-0) Steve Cantwell vs. Razak Al-Hussan (5-0-0)
Middleweight bout: (10-2-0) Tim Credeur vs. Nate Loughran (9-0-0)
Lightweight bout: (12-1-0) Jim Miller vs. Matt Wiman (10-3-0)

Welterweight bout: (13-4-0) Luigi Fioravanti vs. Brodie Farber (13-4-0)
Welterweight bout: (11-4-0) Steve Bruno vs. Johnny Rees (10-1-0)
Welterweight bout: (6-0-2) Ben Saunders vs. Brandon Wolff (7-2-0)
Lightweight bout: (2-1-0) Corey Hill vs. Dale Hartt (5-1-0)
Heavyweight bout: (8-2-0) Eddie Sanchez vs. Justin McCully (8-4-2)


Live event on Spike tomorrow!

- Koscheck vs. Yoshida should be good.  Got to go with Koscheck to avenge his thumping via Thiago Alves a couple months ago.
- Swick vs. Goulet.  Don't care.  Never drank the Swick koolaid, though he seems to have alot of fans.
- Cantwell vs Al-Hussan. Cantwell is the former WEC (also owned by Zuffa, famous for having Urjiah Faber) LHW champ. 
- Credeur vs....  who cares?
- Wiman vs. Miller.  Wiman was on TUF, where he was mediocre, but has been on fire since.  Wiman should take it to this guy HARD. 


The undercard is mostly "meh".

[Hoax]

Bodog isn't offering lines on tonight's fights... sigh.

My picks (by order of confidence):
Koscheck > Yoshida, too bad they put one of the more promising azn fighters against a guy who is top5 and will refuse to lose.
Wiman > Miller, can't imagine a new fish taking out Wiman right now, this kid has been improving greatly with every fight.
Cantwell > Al-Hussan, Cantwell wont be effected by this being his first ufc fight, this other kid is in trouble.  Also the description he gave of his style made me cringe.
Swick > Goulet, Swick always gets much love from judges, he wont get tricked by any "crafty vet" stuff and AKA always gameplans to win on points. 
Loughran > Credeur, this is just a random guess really.