MMA Thread

From August 13, 2011. Page 30

Now I know I am not crazy and I did in fact make a post about her. Technically, evilbob was the first to type the name 'Rousey' when he posted the fight card. Fluffhead then made a comment that Steve Mazagatti errored in his stoppage of the fight. Next was the above post. This was back in August when I saw she was a champ.

Fluffhead doubted her potential status as a future champ when he said that Rousey should not have won.

She became 3-0 after this fight and she was at 145lbs. A Tate matchup was not even concieved at that point. The way that Rousey did get the title shot is controversial, though I feel that the Olympic medal counts for a lot in terms of experience in a combat sport. Judo may be 'the gentle way' with all the throws, but it is real.

I didn't mean that I was making a prediction of Rousey over Tate, but rather that it is possible to see a champ before they get to that place in their career.

I still stick with the fact that the stoppage was a bad one......however I never said she isn't championship material.

But, who cares about her. People who have wanted Russow to move up the ladder are getting their wish. If Werdum looks anything like he did against Nelson, Russow is fucked. I thought the next logical step up would have been Hunt or maybe Barry. But he is jumping way up the ladder. Werdum might be the 3rd best HW right now.

You did question the legitimacy of the win. Rousey insists that she let go because her opponent submitted to her. The issue here isn't the ref, it is whether you think that Rousey lied about her opponent submitting or not.
I don't think that we can have it both ways. Either she is a champ with 5 legit submission wins, or she doesn't have those full 5 wins and thus the belt is undeserved.

Like I said, it isn't UFC, but it does serve the sport of MMA.

Realistically, Nelson is about a 225 lb fighter with the rest of the weight being fat. He has a Mirko Cro Cop type of size.

Russow is a true HW and a Chicago cop, but he is overweight. Nelson can drop to 205, Russow can't. That is the difference.

Barry might have a recent KO win under him, but he is so far back in the division due to that bad KO from Kongo. Russow should not have to face someone that has already fallen from the 'semi-finals'. If Russow is defeated, then it is back to the 'Oldies circuit' that Barry has been on (facing Struve and Morecraft).

Matchmaking has to do with pitting strengths against strengths, weakness against weakness, and finally, strength against weakness.

Werdum stood up for Nelson, but he layed down for Overeem. Werdum has the lone KO loss to Dos Santos.

Nelson is getting ready to fight Bigfoot Silva and Roy has never been KO'd in the UFC. Never being KO'd is a valuable asset. It is what gives Russow this upper tier bout and prevents Nelson from sliding down as Barry has. Bigfoot was KO'd by Daniel Cormier who is an undersized HW just as Nelson is in that respect.

Travis Browne is another who needs to be tested against someone dangerous, just as Mittrione was placed with Kongo when he was to be tested. If you don't finish a fight, then Joe Silva makes sure to put you in the octagon with someone who will punish you if you don't finish it. If a fighter goes for a takedown and secures it, and he is not challenged with any defense, then in the next bout he will be put against someone who will knee him in the head when he goes for that same takedown.
This is the idea with Gustaffson vs Silva [the next UFC event]. Silva is dangerous and Gus has to take care of him early and not let the fight go on. It was originally going to be a patient fight where Gustafsson would need to be careful of submissions from Lil' Nog. Patience won't help with Thiago Silva. Silva may not be as agressive without the PED's though. Gustaffson actually only knocked out his last opponent when 'The Janitor' walked straight into a jab.

I don't think it is about people moving Russow up the ladder. The UFC is like the NBA playoffs or any other martial arts tournament, except that the UFC HW tournament is unofficial. Just look at the format of UFC 146, it is like a min-tourney. The winner of Mir/Valasquez will face the winner of Dos Santos/Overeem. At the end of the night, the next title fight will already be set.

The fighters decide themselves who they will ultimately face based on their performance. The one punch out-cold KO of Duffee is a classic. The crowd has never buzzed like that before.

Jones needs two more successful title defenses to reach the record which is 4 and it is held by...... any guesses?
Rashad will be the third, and Hendo will stop Bones with the overhand right. Better luck next time.

Tito?

I happen to agree with you about Hendo stopping Jones' run.....unless for some reason he fights Silva instead of Jones/Evans

Yep, you are correct! I had to look it up, but Otiz has 5 actually, Liddel and Frank Shamrock each have 4. Jones therefore needs 3 more to tie the record.....

Could the UFC feed Jones two small fish before Hendo? Maybe Hendo faces winner of Gustaffson vs Thiago Silva?

Anderson Silva doesn't want to face Hendo. I don't see that changing. At 205 lbs, there is an incoming champ (MFC) in Ryan Jimmo who had to cancel his first UFC bout. His record is 16-1 and has a 16 fight win streak. All of his bouts have been in Canada though. He is supposed to be a Karate style fighter like Lyoto.

The guy that Jimmo was supposed to face, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlos_Vemola, looks awesome too! Only 2 losses and they were by decision. He is listed as a MW as well.

John Jones is a cross-dresser

Wouldn't know.... wouldn't care.

I just want to see who the toughest is. Whether it be Jones, Hendo, Gus, Jimmo, or Thiago.

Light Heavyweight is a class that is the most dangerous in the UFC. You have the KO power of 205-215 lb man, combined with the speed that a true Heavyweight lacks. Add those two together and you have the Great White shark or the Orca Killer Whale of the Octagon.

Middleweights will never be scary.

LHW has been stacked since the infusion of the Pride guys. Just like HW is now by Strikeforce HWs coming to the UFC.

Yeah, and he didn't want to face Chael again either, hell, never wanted to fight Chael the first time. Yeah yeah yeah blah blah blah. Silva is not scared to fight anyone. After the way their fight ended, I think Silva would go into a Hendo fight feeling very confident.

Silva and Palhares are pretty scary

The difference in Silva facing Chael or Henderson a second time is that Silva does not have to face Hendo since Hendo did not make his UFC re-entry at 185 lbs. Hendo doesn't really have an automatic-shot at the MW title, though he is almost guaranteed a LHW title bout.

Silva may not want to face Chael, but he has to since Sonnen is in the top contender spot.

The win against Rua does not help Hendo in the MW rankings since it can be argued that LHWs are not as skilled in submissions as MWs are. The further down in weight you go, the skill level increases. Hendo might actually be more likely to lose by submission in the MW division than in LHW division.

There is no doubt that many of Anderson Silva's opponents were scared of him... with Okami and even perhaps Belfort being perfect examples. Chael seems to be immune to Silva's intimidation.

LHW may be stacked, but it isn't as deep of a talent pool as the other divisions. I used to say that it was the 'weakest', but that was before Hendo came over and before Jones went on his title defense run.

I don't think that Silva would be confident due to the 1st round beating that he took from Hendo in their first bout. In addition, Hendo has moved to 205 since then and even if Hendo were to drop back to MW, he would be carrying much more muscle than he did when they first met years ago.

Hendo would be more inclined to keep the extra muscle on and lose water weight. Silva simply does not have the upper body strength that Hendo has.

On the ground, Palharas would be on the scary side..... but all you have to do is back up and make him stand. Yes, he could break your ankle if you mess around.

Just looking into some of the guys that are on TUF Brazil. On paper, some of these guys look really good. Some good clips on youtube of a few of them. Renee Forte and Gilbert Galvao are my early favorites in the MW tournament. These guys seem to have more experience against better fighters than the guys on TUF USA do. Not sure if the show will work or not, but it won't fail because of fighter talent that is for sure. Starts this Sunday on Fuel.

Starts this Sunday on TUF.TV and maybe UFC.Com airing on Fuel later this spring

Great MMA segment on Tosh.O. Funny shit.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/27920/vid...-0-dives-into-mma-with-buffer-and-celeste.mma

http://www.ufc.com/tuftv

tonight at Midnight EST

Wow that was sweet, the fights to get in the house where intence . Looks like its going to be great stuff . Thanks fluff

Some of those guys look pretty good already. Yeah, those were some good fights. Those guys really wanted in that house

King Mo getting cut over his tweets was a bit harsh considering the things Dana has said about the that same commission.

Hendo not interested in a 2nd fight with Shogun. Why do they keep offering him fights? He is waiting on Jones/Evans and will not fight again until then. For the record, I don't blame him. Anything less than a title fight at this point is almost beneath him.

I have been watching a lot of the best of Pride on fuel. The fights were matched so much better for fans over there. It wasn't always about being the champion. If the UFC scheduled the way Pride did, we would have already seen Silva vs GSP. Silva vs Jones would be in the works. Hell, Jones vs JDS would be a possibility. The UFC could put together some amazing fights. But with so much of it being about getting the title, a lot of those make no sense.

Was TUF Brazil even on TV? I checked Fuel and there was nothing. They air UFC on FX, FOX, Spike, FSWest, and Fuel.... with all being in HD except the last one.

It wasn't what Mo said, it was how he said it. What matters now is if he can stay cool, get two wins outside of Strikeforce, then come back in....maybe even to the UFC.

Is this Deja Vu all over again?

Moving on...

There were less weight classes in Pride, therefore there were fewer belts and thus fewer fighters were title chasers. Nowadays, if you can't get a title at LHW, you move to MW. If you can't make it at 185, try at 170, and so on...

It is like in the NBA how every rookie used to be right out of high school and therefore every basketball playing HS kid thought he was the shit (when he really wasn't). The NBA fixed that and now requires one year of playing elsewhere before being allowed in the league.

When I said that Nelson could make LHW, I also mean that Dos Santos can do that as well. It isn't practical for Dos Santos though unless he were to hit a losing streak. Right now, Dos Santos should not change his weight. Velásquez is the one who needs to put on real muscle for Mir and not just the layer of flab he had with Cain.

For Silva vs GSP, then it would have to be at MW and GSP would have to finish his career at that weight class. GSP could not drop back to WW after changing his body so much with the muscle addition. Same goes for Hendo, he can't drop to MW and then expect to be able to fight at LHW ever again. The muscle will be gone.

Jones is the only one who could realistically go between LHW and HW. This ability is due to his age, bone structure, etc.... I am only talking about 235-240 lbs at max were Jones choose to pack on muscle. Bones could up his weight in less than 12 months, have the HW bout & win the title, defend the belt just once and vacate it, then drop back to 205 where his home is. This and only this would make Jones the greatest MMA fighter ever.

Those fights you mentioned do indeed make sense, and ironically, the only way they will happen is if one of the current champs is dethroned and wishes to hold a belt once again.

Look at Kobe Bryant. He wouldn't even be playing ball now if he wasn't expecting to get a ring. Title hungry fighters are what make the UFC and make the USA. This isn't Japan.

I was being a little sarcastic when I mentioned Hendo turning down another fight. But really, why do they even bother offering him fights?

All that you have said about losing/gaining weight/muscle is true. But again, it all comes back to being the best and gunning for the title and always having your career in mind. In Pride, if they asked Wanderlei or Sakuraba to fight Cro Cop they didn't put all that thought into it. They just did it. Everything stayed the same they just didn't have to cut weight before the fight. They would win some they would lose some but all the time they were gaining fans and putting on great shows. And yes, you could point at those guys now and their careers in some cases (Sakuraba Cro Cop) are sad. But I don't think we as fans get the best fights under the current UFC system

Imagine an 8 man UFC open weight GP opening round

Silva/Evans Hendo/Cain JDS/Shogun Jones/Sonnen

People would go nuts

How long do you think Jones can stay at 205? 1 year 2 years??

You implied that Machida would be good for Hendo, and I said although he was in title contention until recently, Machida has had a hard loss and his past wins don't count for much at this point. He needs a new victory, and attempting to take one from Hendo would be unwise since he is desperate for a win and will do desperate things in that sort of fight.

Machida may be a type of gate-keeper at 205, perhaps for winning Sophmores (2nd UFC bout with the first being a win), or Juniors (3rd bout). They need someone in that role.

Jones can stay as long as he likes at 205, but I don't think he will need to be pushed by Dana White as Frank Edgar was [to drop to 145]. He will stay for Evans, Gustafsson, Bader, and Jimmo. That is about 18 months and 6 title defenses (7 belts).

I don't know where to place Hendo in there or if Hendo will first face Gustafsson in 3 - 4 months. Jones could then get 3 months to train for the winner of that #1 contender bout.

Cro Cop was a HW, Wanderlei Silva never really was. He wouldn't do something crazy like fight at HW or even LHW now. Cro Cop did well in his kickboxing bout 2 weeks ago, and being a hero in Croatia is what matters to him. Nothing sad about it.

Overeem now or back in the Pride days? His potential is now. It is just the nostalgia you are after... of a time back when MMA was new. We have seen it all now and witnessed the greats fall.

The Axe Murderer, as well as Hendo, are the strongest pieces of the old days.

Bonnar is someone not after a title. He has two wins and volunteered to take a loser for his next bout. He may not be the most exciting, and he took a lot of booing from the crowd last time, but he did what he could.

Ortiz vs Griffin III will give us something for sure. The crowd will cheer for them even if they are tired or hurt, and that cheering will have an effect on the two fighters.

It is like today when Kobe was missing all of his shots but the crowd never gave up on him, and then in the 4th quarter he hit three shots including a game winning 3-pointer to give the Lakers the win over New Orleans. I expect the people to do that for Ortiz.

You really think they would make Hendo fight Gustaffson for the #1 spot?

Yes, Tito vs Forrest are the type of fights I would like to see more of. Franklin vs Le is another good one to me. Tito vs Forrest I is one of my top 10 UFC fights

"Make" Hendo fight? More like 'let' or 'allow'. I am talking about specific circumstances. If Thiago Silva wins, we aren't talking about this.
Jones gets his elbow broken against Evans, but still wins. How long does Hendo wait? 9 months? I suppose if they could tell Hendo that within 6 months he gets a title shot, then I would prefer that. Stuff happens. Hendo may have to face someone else, and that someone else should be Gus. if he wins. Perfect matchup. Tallest LHW in the UFC vs the oldest, and both on win steaks.

UFC announces a slew of bouts, including headliner for upcoming Las Vegas card

Fights and dates set for a number of UFC events

By Case Keefer (contact) Wednesday, March 21, 2012 | 1:30 p.m.

Local welterweight Martin Kampmann will have the chance to fight himself into title contention at home.

The UFC announced Wednesday that Kampmann (19-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) would challenge Jake Ellenberger (27-5 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in the main event of “The Ultimate Fighter Live” finale June 1 at the Palms.

It’s a major opportunity for Kampmann, who has won two in a row, to put himself in line for a title shot against either champion Georges St. Pierre or interim champion Carlos Condit.

“Right now, Carlos Condit has a target on his back,” Kampmann said after a third-round submission victory over Thiago Alves earlier this month. “I’ve got a win over him. Since GSP is out, he’s the one everyone is gunning for, and I’d love to get a chance to fight him one more time. I know he’d want to get a chance to avenge that loss he has to me, so let’s go.”

With six straight wins, Ellenberger is ahead of Kampmann in the 170-pound pecking order. But that could all change this summer.

“I’m always looking for the next step in getting that title shot,” Ellenberger said after beating Diego Sanchez last month. “I’m always prepared.”

A flyweight rematch between Demetrious Johnson (15-2-1 MMA, 2-1-1 UFC) and Ian McCall (11-2-1 MMA, 0-0-1 UFC) that was previously rumored for “TUF Live” finale will not take place until the next week at UFC on FX 3.

The event is confirmed for June 8, but no location has been set.

Main card for Las Vegas’ Fourth of July weekend event coming together
Although the UFC hasn’t confirmed an expected bantamweight championship bout between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber as the headliner for UFC 148, the promotion has revealed several supporting pay-per-view fights.

Most notably, Tito Ortiz (16-10-1 MMA, 15-10-1 UFC) will fight for the final time against old nemesis Forrest Griffin (18-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC). Ortiz, who has split two previous meetings with Griffin, says he will retire following the contest no matter the result.

UFC 148 is slated for July 7 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. A fan expo at the Mandalay Bay Events Center will precede the card.

Ortiz and Griffin are two of three former champions appearing at UFC 148. Rich Franklin (28-6 MMA, 13-5 UFC) is also on the card as he meets dynamic striker and actor Cung Le (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC).

Michael Bisping (22-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) and Tim Boetsch (15-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) will also serve as a featured bout. The final announced bout for UFC 148 pits bantamweights Renan Barao (28-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) against Jeff Hougland (10-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC).

UFC President Dana White announced on Wednesday several forthcoming UFC stops at a press conference in Calgary, Alberta.

Calgary is the site of UFC 149, which featherweight champion Jose Aldo will headline against a to-be-determined opponent on July 21. White said the UFC would visit Canada twice more in 2012.

The promotion will hold UFC 152 September 22 in Toronto and UFC 154 November 17 in Montreal.

A venue is also set for UFC 147, which features a grudge match between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen, according to White. Silva vs. Sonnen II will go down at an 80,000-seat soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro — not Sao Paulo as originally planned — on June 16.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

Yeah, if something were to happen to Jones, then I guess Hendo would almost have to take a fight. But I am not sure it is Gusstafsson. I can't help but remember the loss he had against Phil Davis. Davis put it to him. Davis already proved he wasn't ready for the jump up. Maybe Gus isn't ready either.

How in the hell is Thiago in this big of a fight? Thiago has not won a fight since August of 2009. 2009. Yes, 2009. OK, he did beat Vera but tested positive for PEDs so it was ruled a NC.

I was really impressed with McCall in his first UFC fight. Win or lose I look forward to seeing him fight in the future.

Renan Barao is a bad mofo. Another win or two and he will beating on the door of either Cruz or Faber. After watching him handle Scott Jorgenson I think he is ready for a title shot now. If he stops Hougland I expect he gets the winner of Cruz Faber

You give me the picture then. The rankings for you to work with are below.

Thiago Silva still has some mystery to him. His only KO/TKO loss is to Machida, and it was at the last second of the round. Things in MMA change so much, it is good to back to something that worked before.

As the old goes, the new smaller fighters like McCall take over like a Point Guard in the NBA. Yes, they are fast as we all hear, but what else? Should fans expect some never before seen submissions and ninja moves?

To note, Cote is "making a comeback" according to a new article and the gist of it is that the writer/blogger as well as Cote are both saying that Alan Belcher is a cheater and used "an illegal move" in order to secure a W in their UFC bout.

I commented that if Cote has a poor sport's attitude as he does with his unfounded allegations of cheating, then he is not ready for the UFC at this point.

Belcher did not 'spike' Cote. He did not "drop Cote on his head". Belcher threw him down on his face.... a totally legal move.

The link, http://news.yahoo.com/welcome-jungle-patrick-cote-looks-back-ufc-via-183034729--spt.html

Light Heavyweight MMA Top 10 (205-pound limit)

Posted on March 4, 2012 by MMAWeekly.com Staff

1. Jon Jones

2. Rashad Evans

3. Dan Henderson

4. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua Unless a miracle occurs...

5. Lyoto Machida

6. Phil Davis

7. Gegard Mousasi

8. Alexander Gustafsson

9. Ryan Bader

10. Quinton Jackson

Lets say that Jones beats Evans, but it is a 5 round war and both fighters leave the cage with injuries. Both will be out for 6-9 months. Gustafsson beats Silva and is healthy after the fight. Does Hendo then fight Gus?

As I look at the rankings it is a bit muddy in this scenario. I think Machida is a fight that makes sense, but Henderson allegedly turned that fight down once already. But if the champ is out with injury, perhaps Hendo fights Machida. The problem with that fight comes if Machida wins. What does the UFC do if Machida beats the #1 contender. I don't think he gets a rematch with Jones and Rashad would probably refuse to fight him in his first title defense......again. So, Machida is out

Hendo vs Shogun II makes even more sense. A win by either and I don't think a title shot is out of the question. IF Shogun were to win, that would put him at 2-1 since he lost the belt. A close loss to Hendo and wins over Hendo and a dominant stoppage of Forrest. A win by Hendo and he gets the title shot no doubt. Shogun works!

Then I would get to Gus and Bader. If Bader were to get in another fight soon and win it, he could make a case for a shot at Hendo. Could Bader survive a huge right hand from Hendo? Doubtful. Could Bader take him down and stay on top and grind out a decision victory? If Jake Shields can do it, Bader could do it. BUT is Bader ready for a title shot with 2 more wins? 3-2 in his last five and on 3 fight win streak. Yep, Bader works

Gustafsson with a win over Thiago would be at 5 in a row with 3 wins over solid vets in Matyshenko, Silva and Hammil. Would he then be ready for a shot at Hendo. I would have to say yes. BUT is he then ready for a title shot if he were to beat Hendo. Yes. Gustafsson works!

We now have Shogun, Bader, and Gustafsson. I would say Hendo should fight Shogun next in this scenario. Put Bader vs Gus around the same date as Shogun Hendo II and the winners fight for a shot at the belt.

I'm sticking with that for now