UFC Ongoing Thread - Page 45

Re: UFC Ongoing Thread

Here's the thing with Silva/GSP. Even if you agree that they'll fight at say 180 pounds making silva cut 5 more for the fight. It really won't matter because by the time of the fight Silva will be back at 215 and GSP will probably only be at just a little over 185 (though he says if he fights Silva, he'll put on weight). Tying up belts is a valid point, although I have argued in the past that tying up belts can be a good thing if you've got a division that is either void of top contenders or has too many. It can give you some time to establish a pecking order. BTW, B.J. is set to defend his title against Florian in June.

I wanted to come in here to make mention of something, I wish I had done this earlier in the week but I've been busy.

Tonight, I'll be interviewing Mike Swick of the UFC starting at 9:00 PM ET. You can listen live at: blogtalkradio.com/psp/ and there's a chat room as well. If you want to call and ask Swick a question, you can do so at: 347-324-5735.

An archive of the show will be available later tonight and I can post an interview. If you have a question you want asked but can't listen, email me at Casey@combat-hooligans.com and I'll see what I can do.

Mike Swick is probably the biggest name in MMA we've spoken with so far and I'm looking forward to it.

Re: UFC Ongoing Thread

The interview with Swick went pretty well. We actually touched on something discussed in this thread. We talked about guys who cut 30 pounds to make a certain wait, like Thiago Alves walks around at 199 and cuts to 170 for his fights. Swick doesn't see the sense in cutting 30 pounds, he thinks at that point you should just fight at middleweight.

Details on the show are here

Re: UFC Ongoing Thread

I might have heard it wrong, but I thought Thiago said on Inside MMA this past weekend that he walks around at 205.


If you can do it without too much damage to your body, the point is when you walk into the cage, you'll be the bigger (and hopefully stronger) fighter.

Re: UFC Ongoing Thread

Yes, I know that the point is to have a size advantage when you're in the cage. But, Swick's mentality is screw it, I'll fight guys who are bigger than me, I don't care...that's why he doesn't see the sense in cutting so much weight when he himself is just willing to go in against the bigger guy.

If I remember, he said in our interview that he was currently at 180 and that's his walking around weight. So even when he was fighting at 185 he was giving up size to most...and it worked pretty well for him his only loss at 185 in the UFC was to Yushin Okami, who's a pretty big dude.

Hoping to finally have Rich Clementi on the show this week, third time the charm, recently cut by the UFC and signed by Strikeforce the same day.

Re: UFC Ongoing Thread

Yowza. Kimbo Slice to compete on The Ultimate Fighter 10: Heavyweights.

"Kimbo Slice" scores slot on "The Ultimate Fighter 10" cast | MMAjunkie.com

Re: UFC Ongoing Thread

The UFC : Ultimate Fighting Championship site would be the place to look, but from what I've been able to see, they only stream past fights.

Re: UFC Ongoing Thread

Looks like this wasn't reported here, so I'll post a link just in case anyone doesn't already know...

Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos fight for Strikeforce's 145-pound title on Aug. 15 | MMAjunkie.com

It's also been announced the bout is scheduled for 5 5-minute rounds, which is pretty much a first for women's mma. That puts it right on par with a men's championship bout. Personally, I'm glad. I like fights to end decisively.

In other news, don't epxect to see Cro Cop back in the UFC anytime soon.

Notebook: Cro Cop leaves UFC - MMA - Yahoo! Sports

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic leaves UFC after one-fight return at UFC 99 in Germany | MMAjunkie.com

After seeing a fighter behave this way, I feel more sympathy for how restrictive UFC contracts normally are. It seems to me Cro Cop knew he couldn't compete in the UFC and had no intentions whatsoever in really returning, other than to fight a tomato can in his home area. Shame, and good riddance.

Re: UFC Ongoing Thread

I believe Rampage and Evans are the coaches for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. That is somewhat strange to me since the upcoming season is for heavyweights. But then, I never paid attention in the past as to whether the coaches came from the same weight class as the contestants.

Anyway, Machida will likely fight someone else before taking on Rampage if Rampage can get past Evans in December. Shogun Rua has been mentioned as an opponent for Machinda in the Fall.

I've seen some riff raff around the 'net about it being a bad decision for Rampage to put off a title shot in favor of coaching TUF. I can't comment either way. I think the Rampage/Evans fight has been built up and I'll enjoy watching it. I also think Rampage has relied far too much on his physical skills in the past and as he faces stronger well-rounded fighters, he's going to have to up his game if he wants to stay relevant. Age diminishes strength, but you can become more seasoned and skilled if you work at it. They say Rampage has a wrestling background, but it's hard for me to see that in the fighter I've seen. He claims he now his jui-jitsu, but I don't see anything more than token evidence of that. On the other hand, it's sometimes difficult to know if Machida is Karate, Jui-Jitsu, or wrestling as he's strong in all areas.

As for deceptive power in the hands, my favorite in that category is Nick Diaz. If I were in a bar, and I was sizing him up, I wouldn't think he could open a pinata with his swing. Of course when he throws 50 of them spaced 2 seconds apart with 35-40 of them landing, you gain a different appreciation. Not the same type of power as Machida, but they're both deceptive.

Re: UFC Ongoing Thread

Chuck is done as a top Light Heavyweight. He'd always have a puncher's chance, but others have passed him by. Speaking of people with nothing left...

Report: Tim Sylvia knocked out by Ray Mercer in 10 seconds at Adrenaline MMA III | MMAjunkie.com

Re: UFC Ongoing Thread

Good, I hated that bum (Sylvia).

I've been out of this thread for awhile due to being very busy...a computer crash, some illness and just a whole bunch going on.

I want to hit on a few things.

1.  You can watch PPV's legally online via Yahoo and I think even UFC.com. In fact, UFC had a deal where if you ordered the PPV by Friday night on the website, you'd get the unaired prelims for no extra charge as soon as they were posted to the net after the end of the show.

2.  Kimbo on TUF is brilliant.

3.  Rampage coaching on TUF rather than taking a title shot is a good move. The buyrate for Rampage Vs. Evans will be bigger than Rampage Vs. Machida and that means more money for Rampage, plus a win and he gets the shot anyway.

The coaches on TUF often don't match the weight classes of the fighters competing. Jackson and Griffin coached Middleweights, Henderson and Bisping coached lightweights and Welterweights. Pulver and Penn did coach fighters in their class and so did Hughes/Serra.

4.  Brock Lesnar is going to kill Frank Mir.

Everyone enjoy the show tomorrow/today, whatever you prefer.

Kimbo being on TUF and the move away from showing so much "in-the-house" garbage are the 2 best decisions that Dana White and the UFC have made. If they do USA or England vs. Brazil that will be cool too.

I think Kimbo will do really well on TUF, he is usually very humble about his shortcomings and is anxious to earn his ground game. He is one of the few people that seem genuinely appreciative of the opportunity not to mention how many new viewers he will bring in.

Edited by Raasean Asaad - 7/11/2009 at 11:40 pm GMT

Please do not send me a link to watch the Lesnar/Mir fight. I do not want a link to it. So, please - do not send it to me. I appreciate your understanding.


KIIIIMBO!

The TUF 10 heavyweight cast is actually a pretty decent group. My pick to win it all is Roy Nelson, the former IFL heavyweight champion...you may have seen him fight and lose to Andrei Arlovski on CBS last year. There are guys with NFL backgrounds including Marcus Jones who's turned in to a decent prospect, a kickboxer (James McSweeney) from the U.K. and a couple of guys who have had a cup of coffee or two with the UFC already.

I don't see Kimbo winning it all, I predict though that his first fight will be set up to be the last of the first round fights shown. That way, even if he exits after just one fight, they've gotten good ratings out of all the episodes before that, it would be a waste if his first fight was on show #1 and he lost. I'm not saying, because I don't know, that Kimbo only lasts one round.

So, Cro Cop is signed to fight at UFC 103.  Didn't he screw Dana over after his last fight and sign with some other promotion?  I guess that didn't work out but I am still surprised to see Dana take him back.

Crocop was supposedly signed with DREAM when he was supposed to sign with UFC. Dana was quite verbal about it at the time. I'm not sure what all happened, but I don't think it was a matter of DREAM falling through and CroCop crawling back to the UFC. I think the UFC wants CroCop, and they found a way to get past their issues and make it happen.

Casey and Mikah will probably back this up with insightful commentary and analysis but in laymans terms:

Anderson Silva is "The man"

He's The Beast! Gotta give a thumbs down to Griffin though for running out after he lost. Pretty classless IMO...If he was well enough to run out of the ring and into the dressing rooms, he was well enought to stay and give Silva his due.

Have to say, this was my first PPV purchase and overall a disappointment in terms of entertainment value for the cost...I mean seriously, two ground and pound matches which had no virtually no pound whatsoever, the pre-mature ending, Griffin's showing. AT least BJ Penn made the night somewhat worthwhile. Now he's the man!

There's really not much that can be added to that. I couldn't believe what I was watching. I didn't think Forrest Griffin surpassed Anderson Silva in terms of skill, but I did think his tenaciousness, heart and size gave him a chance. The reality of the fight was like watching a boy fighting a man. Anderson was just so quick, and so strong.

I left that fight thinking I'd need some time to digest it, and see what reports came out today. I also want to watch it again. Was something wrong with Forrest? Did he basically give up? If so, why? Why did he run from the ring like that?
 
I went around the 'net a little bit to see some of the comments folks were making. I've read Forrest was overrated. Not here. I think he's earned his rating. He just came up against a fighter where his greatest attributes were useless. I've also read Anderson Silva disrespected Forrest during the fight. I can see the point, but it's not ultimately where I landed. The way I see it, Anderson's basically saying, "We're having a very public sparring match for all the fame and marbles, but I don't hate you or even dislike you." Since I watch MMA for the skill display, to some degree, I like it. Perhaps he'll treat his opponent with more caution (fear?) when he comes up against someone that makes him.

I also heard a lot about how folks dislike BJ Penn. Well, I didn't like what he did in his post-fight interview. He'd done it before, but I forgot. I don't like him telling the people who just paid his salary that if they want to know what he has to say about the fight, they have to go to his web site. Hey bucko, we're watching you now. Anyway, in the ring, he showcased what a superb fighter he is. It's was almost difficult to believe it is the same person that went up against GSP and lost so badly.

All in all, it felt like a light card in some ways, but I was satisfied with both main events.

Its my understanding that Silva broke Forrest's jaw early in the fight and that is the supposed reason that he verbally tapped out and then immediately left the arena after the fight. I do agree wit others though that if he can walk out of the octagon then he could have acknowledged the loss and then left for treatment.

Apparently, Forrest was not injured and is said to be not taking the loss well.

I agree with the knock on BJ too with his web site. I'm surprised they let him get away with that stuff. It would seem to me the UFC would benefit from some crowd interaction.

There's never a shortage of speculation passing as information regarding MMA, so I like to get as close to the source as possible.

www.fighthype.com/pages/content5437.html



I also completely agree with his statement that (paraphrased) everyone has a plan until he gets hit. The sports world (not just MMA) is filled with fans who know better than the people who've dedicated their lives to doing it. Nothing about that fight diminished my appreciation for the heart of Forrest Griffin. It did, however, increase my appreciation for Anderson Silva.

Speaking of Anderson Silva, I keep seeing speculation that Dana will have him fight Lyoto Machida, but from everything I've seen, Anderson keeps using words like "never". I'm not so sure Dana will fight him on this issue. He may try to convince him, but I don't think he'll employ his usual heavyhanded tactics.

Well I like Forrest.  I was surprised he ran out like that, kind of a disrespectful thing to do in my opinion.  Give Anderson his props and then get out of the ring and go, he didn't even do that.  But about the fight.

Did it (the fight) look weird to anyone else, I mean I know Anderson is good, but Forrest, in other fights, was taking much harder hits, or what appeared to be much harder hits, and would keep on coming.  Maybe Andersons hits were just hitting the perfect spot, but the first one that seem to rock him didn't look like it had much on it and the one that dropped him was what I would call a tap.  Maybe it was a bad camera angle and the hit was actually harder, but after the fight I was thinking maybe he was fighting with a concusion or something and those couple of hits really rattled him.  I don't know, but it just hasn't been the same Forrest since he got knocked out by Jardine.  He's had some instances where it looked like he was back but ever since that fight its like he can't take a hit anymore.

The rest of the fights were pretty bad, ref stoppage in one was bad, the ref's not getting the guy back on thier feet more during a couple of others was pretty bad and all in all made for a pretty lack luster night of fighting.  Penn v florian, I was very dissapointed in Florian, thought he would have been pushing the fight more, but he seemed to be back on his heels, and BJ took him apart.

Just wasn't a good night of fights.

I read once that getting hit with such a force that your brain basically says "screw that" and goes into survival mode, does take something out of a fighter. And that's just physically. Then there's the psychological component. It's not just Forrest. Look at how quickly Chuck Liddell tumbled once he was knocked out. Remember, before Rampage, he was considered close to unbeatable @ LHW. Age catches up to a fighter (and "age" can be more than chronological numbers) in varying ways, but getting knocked out sure does accelerate the process. Younger fighters can come back from it easier. Getting submitted is much easier on a fighter than getting KTFO. I need to see more from Forrest before I'm ready to drop him a tier.

And yes, Anderson was going backwards, and the punch didn't look hard, which is why some have said Forrest was Petrucellized (after the way Seth Petrucelli knocked out Kimbo Slice). I wasn't in the ring, so I couldn't tell you if it was the accumulation of blows, or just a blow that hit exactly the right spot, but I think where it landed had at least something to do with it. What I don't think, is that Forrest in any way threw the fight (and yes, I've seen those claims as well). Anything is possible, but I'd need more proof of that than what we saw.

I'll take away a style point for Forrest running from the ring like that, but hopefully he'll realize it wasn't cool and  can learn and grow from it.

General theory (unproven by medical science) is that being knocked out has less to do with the actual force of a punch, and more to do with how the head reacts to getting hit and whether it rotates or snaps upward fast and violently after being hit..and if so, how fast and how violently. You can get hit pretty hard across the jaw for example, but if you're ready for it, your head wont rotate as much or as violently after being hit....you'll have muscles braced for the blow, you'll turn your body with the punch etc, etc.....Compared to a lighter punch which you're not ready for, which can spin your head even more quickly and violently than the harder punch you were expecting and thus knock you out.

Far as Forrest goes. I still think he's a great fighter, but that was poor sportsmanship on his part.