The MMA thread (mk1)

[aerius]

As much as I like Spidey, it would be foolish of him to fight Fedor - Silva may be calculating and strategic, but Fedor is a fucking machine - He'd eat silva alive in two rounds - if that. Arlovsky got taken down on a lucky shot, true enough - but he'd have run out of gas long before The Russian Experiment anyway.

The more I watch the Fedor-Arlovski fight, the more I'm convinced that Fedor pulled a rope-a-dope on Arlovski and suckered him into throwing a flying knee or other high risk move that would leave him open for a knockout. It looked like Fedor was getting drilled by Arlovski, but when I watched it in slo-mo most of the punches weren't connecting clean and Fedor looked like he was selling the shots a bit. And then out of nowhere comes one of the fastest punches I've ever seen.

[Chardok]

As much as I like Spidey, it would be foolish of him to fight Fedor - Silva may be calculating and strategic, but Fedor is a fucking machine - He'd eat silva alive in two rounds - if that. Arlovsky got taken down on a lucky shot, true enough - but he'd have run out of gas long before The Russian Experiment anyway.

The more I watch the Fedor-Arlovski fight, the more I'm convinced that Fedor pulled a rope-a-dope on Arlovski and suckered him into throwing a flying knee or other high risk move that would leave him open for a knockout. It looked like Fedor was getting drilled by Arlovski, but when I watched it in slo-mo most of the punches weren't connecting clean and Fedor looked like he was selling the shots a bit. And then out of nowhere comes one of the fastest punches I've ever seen.

You may be right. I sort of bought that Arlovski was rocking him for most of the round - Arlovski is explosive. I actually said to my buddy "Wonder when we'll see the knee?" a few moments later I was like "YE - Whoa..." What is even more funny is that Arlovski outright said he was going to be boxing the whole damned fight (Well, not him but his trainer) so it isn't as if Fedor didn't know what to expect. I almost think that he was just trying to show that he could destroy Arlovski no matter how he fought (Ground and pound, lay and pray, stand-up, etc.)

Regardless, he fight was lose-lose for me, because I think Fedor is just distilled awesome - but I also have a man-crush on Andrei Arlovsky.

[weemadando]

Finished watching GSP v Penn.

Penn - indeed, who's a quitter? Who "got destroyed"? Who "got killed"? You? Awwww. It's so cute watching a balding man cry.

GSP - fuck me that man is a machine. Passing BJ's guard at will and demolishing him. I'd have scored it 10-9, 10-9, 10-8 and a 10- FUCKING SEVEN for GSP. That's how stupidly dominant he was.

Machida - had better get the next LHW shot. He finished a fight in style. Isn't that what you want Dana? But no - now he's going to get Shogun thrown at him while Rampage and Forrest make runs at the title again.

[weemadando]

...And did we suddenly double the amount of posters in this thread... That'd be awesome. Now sign up at MMAplayground damnit!

[Pablo Sanchez]

Machida - had better get the next LHW shot. He finished a fight in style. Isn't that what you want Dana? But no - now he's going to get Shogun thrown at him while Rampage and Forrest make runs at the title again.

I'm not an MMA goon, I just like to watch people get hurt sometimes, so I checked out some Machida clips to see if he was "boring," including one of his whole fight with Tito Ortiz. It's pretty obvious that Machida is simply fighting in a technical, strategic fashion. Through the whole fight with Ortiz he's dodging in and out of range, hitting Ortiz whenever he sees an opening, and resisting almost every takedown attempt--watching the video, it's obvious that he owns that fight from start to finish. He is in control.

I don't find this boring, it's actually entertaining to watch, in part because it's hard to believe through most of the video that Ortiz is a long-time veteran and was once regarded as being close to the top of his weight class, because he gets schooled. Apart from the insane come-from-nowhere submission hold that Machida slips in the last seconds of the bout, at no time does Ortiz even appear to have a chance of winning.

EDIT:
calling it boring is especially retarded when more than half of a typical MMA fight consists of two guys laying in a sex pile pawing at one another in the hopes of one day maneuvering into a submission hold or a position where they can hit the other guy.

[weemadando]

OK, so it's Lightwest Fest '09 for the UFC Fight Night tonight... I'm amazingly keen for Pellegrino v Emerson (go Batman!) - I have no doubt that Pellegrino will win, but also no doubt that Emerson will make it entertaining.

Also excited to see Matt Riddle again (now at Welterweight) - I maintain that he will make the UFC a goddamn mint if they build him up right. This looks like it will be a tough test for him though.

And Rich Clementi again - lets see if he can break his decision streak.

[weemadando]

Oh yeah - and BJ Penn needs to shut the fuck up. Even if there was greasing of GSP, then it still doesn't change the fact that Keith fucking Kizer personally intervened and had GSP wiped down at the end of each fucking break.

So BJ, shut up, go home have a cry and actually fight someone in your own division (it's not like there's a shortage of good contenders) and stop trying to be "The greatest who ever lived" because you just fucking aren't.

[aerius]

Andrei Arlovski - could this guy look any more like Leonidas? (Hint: No)

You're not the only one who's noticed the resemblance, check out this cartoon video which some guy made and posted on youtube. He's got a whole series of them, fun stuff.

[weemadando]

Well it's about fucking time.

Machida gets the title shot after Rampage declines the May shot against Rashad.

And also coming off this weekend - man was Yves Lavigne having an awful night and the Riley fight didn't even go to air...

[aerius]

Oh boy, this has the potential to be one hell of a good fight, or one hell of a boring one if both Evans & Machida keep waiting for someone to make the first move before countering. I could see this going much the same way as the 1st round of Chuck's fight with Evans, except with even less going on, just the 2 of them trying to get position on each other while faking jabs. It could be awesome, or it could be like Tim Sylvia vs. Arlovski 3 where they did jack for 5 rounds. I'm hoping for awesome.

[weemadando]

I too am hoping for awesome. But given both of their styles I am a little worried.

Oh yeah, and BJ Penn is the whiniest of whiney bitches. He has now made the official complaints to the NVSC asking for GSP and Greg Jackson to be banned, the bout struck from the record etc etc etc.

Even if there was any "greasing" done, the fucking head of the NVSC thought something might have happened and ordered GSP scrubbed down at the end of each break.

If they do the GSP v Penn another dozen times it will still come out the same way. BJ just doesn't have what it takes to beat the improved GSP.

[aerius]

Nevada state athletic commission tells BJ to blow it up his ass. BJ is still whining away, what a fucking crybaby. You lost, deal with it. And I hope Florian beats him too so he cries some more.

In other news, Royce Gracie wants to fight GSP. Let me say that again. Royce Gracie wants to fight GSP. I suppose a $400k payday (which he got for being beaten senseless by Hughes) will make the beating worthwhile, hell, I'll step into the octagon with GSP for that kind of money. But let's be honest, Gracie has the same chance of beating GSP that I do, which is to say none.

[weemadando]

In other news - you need to watch Bully Beatdown. It's hilarity in a half hour package. Watching idiots who think they're tough say that the professional fighter has no chance against them getting tapped out 3 times in 3 minutes and then getting KO'd by a liver shot is fucking hilarious.

And new season of TUF this week. I'm mildly enthused as there's a lot of WEC, IFL and Cage Rage vets in the mix.

[Sriad]

In other news - you need to watch Bully Beatdown. It's hilarity in a half hour package. Watching idiots who think they're tough say that the professional fighter has no chance against them getting tapped out 3 times in 3 minutes and then getting KO'd by a liver shot is fucking hilarious.

And new season of TUF this week. I'm mildly enthused as there's a lot of WEC, IFL and Cage Rage vets in the mix.

All those Pro Athletes vs. Weekend Warriors shows are good for a laugh, at least.

And just for clarity, TUF starts April 1. I'm in the minority that still finds it consistently entertaining.

[weemadando]

A few points.

1) Holy shit, Strikeforce has kicked it up a notch. That card was great fun. But can someone please explain to the fucking women's MMA people that weight divisions are there for a goddamn reason? I can't think of the last time I saw a women's MMA fight that wasn't at a catch weight. And for god's sake, when will people learn: "DO NOT LET SCOTT SMITH SWING AT YOU."

2) TUF looks good -glad to see Andre Winner in there, I hope he goes far. And by god do the US team look rubbish by comparison at the moment. And thank christ that Junie Jr was elimated in the round of 16.

3) The best commentary on "grease-gate" thus far.

4) I would be watching the UFC live this weekend, but instead am doing a seminar with Carlson Gracie Jr, which I think is a fair trade. So I don't want to see any fucking spoilers as we've got spoiler tags here now!

[aerius]

1) Holy shit, Strikeforce has kicked it up a notch. That card was great fun. But can someone please explain to the fucking women's MMA people that weight divisions are there for a goddamn reason? I can't think of the last time I saw a women's MMA fight that wasn't at a catch weight. And for god's sake, when will people learn: "DO NOT LET SCOTT SMITH SWING AT YOU."

No kidding, Cyborg is a man with tits who probably had a good 30 pounds on her opponent. On the bright side, I guess she & Gina can fight at 160 since neither of them can make weight.

Also, there's no such thing as a bad Nick Diaz fight, I still have no idea why the UFC let him go. The man can talk trash and hype a fight bigtime, and he can back it up in the ring with kickass fights. Ok, so he's a bit of a pothead, but it sure beats roids.

[[R_H]]

Edit: Neglected to read the top part of this page.

[weemadando]

1) Holy shit, Strikeforce has kicked it up a notch. That card was great fun. But can someone please explain to the fucking women's MMA people that weight divisions are there for a goddamn reason? I can't think of the last time I saw a women's MMA fight that wasn't at a catch weight. And for god's sake, when will people learn: "DO NOT LET SCOTT SMITH SWING AT YOU."

No kidding, Cyborg is a man with tits who probably had a good 30 pounds on her opponent. On the bright side, I guess she & Gina can fight at 160 since neither of them can make weight.

I loved the excuse too: "women's problems". So? It's still poor fucking management - I'm sure this isn't the first time you've had a period and held some weight. Maybe you shouldn't have been so fucking heavy to start with? Maybe you should in fact have a much lighter "walking around" weight if you can't make weight reliably.

Also, there's no such thing as a bad Nick Diaz fight, I still have no idea why the UFC let him go. The man can talk trash and hype a fight bigtime, and he can back it up in the ring with kickass fights. Ok, so he's a bit of a pothead, but it sure beats roids.

The Diaz bros. piss me off with their "yeah, we're like, totally thug gangster" BS. But both of them produce entertaining fights. And yeah - I don't see how the UFC can still back Sean Sherk and all these other 'roid cases while dumping Diaz on his arse. I'm guessing there was a lot more to it (I have to imagine that Nick would be a pain in the arse to deal with), but they really should just dump and refuse to re-hire anyone with a steroids hit from an Athletics Commission.

[aerius]

In other news - you need to watch Bully Beatdown. It's hilarity in a half hour package. Watching idiots who think they're tough say that the professional fighter has no chance against them getting tapped out 3 times in 3 minutes and then getting KO'd by a liver shot is fucking hilarious.

I've only seen the first 2 episodes, but I think the best part is how all the bullies fall flat on their asses when they try to do a high kick on the heavy bag. In Pride rules, that would be the setup for head stomps and soccer kicks to the head as done by Wandy and Shogun.

The Diaz bros. piss me off with their "yeah, we're like, totally thug gangster" BS. But both of them produce entertaining fights. And yeah - I don't see how the UFC can still back Sean Sherk and all these other 'roid cases while dumping Diaz on his arse. I'm guessing there was a lot more to it (I have to imagine that Nick would be a pain in the arse to deal with), but they really should just dump and refuse to re-hire anyone with a steroids hit from an Athletics Commission.

The Diaz brothers are pretty out of control, apparently they almost started a brawl at a press conference and both of them, especially Nick, run their mouths like there's no tomorrow. Nick's pretty much badmouthed everyone everyone you can think of and I doubt he even has a half-decent relation with the UFC & Dana White. They're a public relations nightmare for the UFC.

4) I would be watching the UFC live this weekend, but instead am doing a seminar with Carlson Gracie Jr, which I think is a fair trade.

Have fun getting twisted into a pretzel. Also, Rubber guard!

[weemadando]

I spent some time today trying to explain the "Cyborg" v Akano fight to a friend who hadn't seen it.

In the end I had to go with:
"Imagine GSP with breasts being put into a cage with a featherweight. That's about how fair this was."

Have fun getting twisted into a pretzel. Also, Rubber guard!

I suck at Rubber Guard, what with not having Eddie Bravo's ridiculous flexibility. Also, with my knee being banged up I will likely not be rolling, which totally fucking sucks. But I got to meet Carlson the other night - that dude exudes an aura of violence for lack of a better phrase. If I hadn't known who he was when he came into the gym I would have thought that someone was about to be stabbed to death over a debt or something. I can't wait to see him take some people apart.

[aerius]

I spent some time today trying to explain the "Cyborg" v Akano fight to a friend who hadn't seen it.

In the end I had to go with:
"Imagine GSP with breasts being put into a cage with a featherweight. That's about how fair this was."

More like Wanderlei Silva with tits, I saw a Photoshop of that once and I have to admit it was a striking resemblance. It wasn't pretty, and neither is Cyborg.

I suck at Rubber Guard, what with not having Eddie Bravo's ridiculous flexibility. Also, with my knee being banged up I will likely not be rolling, which totally fucking sucks.

It's weird, both of my knees are screwed up but I can still do Muay Thai pretty well except for some of the knee strikes, but BJJ is out of the question. Tried it once and it hurt.

[weemadando]

I spent some time today trying to explain the "Cyborg" v Akano fight to a friend who hadn't seen it.

In the end I had to go with:
"Imagine GSP with breasts being put into a cage with a featherweight. That's about how fair this was."

More like Wanderlei Silva with tits, I saw a Photoshop of that once and I have to admit it was a striking resemblance. It wasn't pretty, and neither is Cyborg.

I suck at Rubber Guard, what with not having Eddie Bravo's ridiculous flexibility. Also, with my knee being banged up I will likely not be rolling, which totally fucking sucks.

It's weird, both of my knees are screwed up but I can still do Muay Thai pretty well except for some of the knee strikes, but BJJ is out of the question. Tried it once and it hurt.

I'm actually OK with Muay Thai and can do most of the stuff that I've been shown in that, but Rubber Guard just eludes me - the action is just too alien at the moment.

[weemadando]

Oh, and I also have a public service announcement:

If you think that Rua is ever going to look like he did a few years ago again, you're a fucking idiot. He's over-rated and injury plagued. And got out-fucking-cardio'd by Mark Coleman. GET THE FUCK OVER SHOGUN PEOPLE. When he puts together a streak against legitimate opponents I may reconsider, but until then can all the fanboys just shut the fuck up?

[aerius]

Oh, and I also have a public service announcement:

If you think that Rua is ever going to look like he did a few years ago again, you're a fucking idiot.

I wouldn't say never quite yet, assuming his knee healed up ok and he gets back to doing a hardcore training program there's no reason he can't start another run through the division. He's still young and he hasn't taken much damage at all unlike Wandy or Nogueira, he's still got his skills and if he can get his ass back in shape he can be quite successful.

He's over-rated and injury plagued. And got out-fucking-cardio'd by Mark Coleman. GET THE FUCK OVER SHOGUN PEOPLE. When he puts together a streak against legitimate opponents I may reconsider, but until then can all the fanboys just shut the fuck up?

But that's the big problem, Shogun hasn't been the same since he got his arm broken by Coleman, yes he was still winning fights but if you look at his 2 fights with Alistair Overeem there's a big difference. Shogun won both, but the 2nd fight was not nearly as good and he didn't look as fast & strong.

Personally I don't think we'll ever see the 2005 Shogun again, but I hope I'm wrong even though I rather doubt it.

[aerius]

Spoiler

Holy shit! How the fuck did Shogun get that much better in 3 months? Man am I ever happy to see him back in shape again, he nailed Chuck with nice leg kicks and a body kick or 2, winning most of the standup exchanges. Then he managed to take Chuck down and almost got him with a leglock. When was the last time Chuck got taken down? After they stood up again he dropped Chuck with a nice left and hammerfisted his head in like he did to Arona in 2005 Pride GP.

Spoiler

I did not think it was possible to have a bad Anderson Silva fight. I was wrong. Very wrong. It was like the Cote fight, except 10 times worse. Silva looked fucking bored, I got the feeling that he was thinking "why is the UFC putting these unworthy dumbasses in front of me?" He had the guy completely outclassed and I think he could've finished the fight any time he felt like it, but it went to a decision with Leites spending half the fight lying on his ass with Silva standing over him with a "what the fuck are you doing?" expression.