[Archived] Mma

[DeadlyDirk]

I've never liked Evans and was hoping Rampage would unload on him and it would end up being an exciting fight. As others have said though Rashad basically played it safe and put the win ahead of entertainment. It's hard to argue with the logic by Rashad but it certainly didn't make for an entertaining fight.

The flip side to that though was Duffe and Russow, Duffe looked outstanding in round one and then got tired and had no plan B, he still looked to finish the fight and not just ride out a decision victory and ended up on his back after a big right hand from Russow. Fair play to Russow, he has a hell of a chin on him, Duffe however, does not.

I quite enjoyed the Bisping fight mainly because he's a Brit and everyone hates him. Why Miller decided to keep it standing for so much of the fight without even attempting a takedown I have no idea. Bisping is still improving and technically is one of the best strikers in the division but I think his lack of power and wrestling will stop him from ever getting close to being the best in the division. His ground game is decent and his takedown defence is forever improving but someone like Okami, Sonnen or even Marquart would probably just over power him and GnP him out.

Brillz without a doubt got robbed against Lil Nog in what I agree was fight of the night. To be fair to Nog though I think it was partly to do with the change of opponent so late and Brillz being under rated rather than Nog over rated.

They need to do something about the decisions and judges though, it seems every PPV now that there is some dodgy decision. I think they need to be a little more open about how they judge fights other than the simple, Striking, Grappling, Aggressiveness and Octogan Control. What's more important, a takedown or say 3 clean strikes? A failed submission attempt or someone swinging for the fences and only catching him once or twice?

I know Dana gets as ###### as anyone else about the decisions so I guess he has no say over who the judges are but surely the likes of him and then people from Strikeforce, Dream etc can all get together and put some guidelines or something together on what they want and then send them to the athletic commissions or something. I'm not sure how they do it, the sport has evolved so much since the mid 90's that I just think it needs to be a little clearer.

Overall there was nothing bad about the PPV, but there was nothing really good either, it was just kind of there. If it wasn't for the big name main event it easily could have been a free Fight Night Card. They do almost seem to be at a crossroads right now, mainstream approval and fanbase has grown so much but for every Brillz vs Lil Nog there are 3 or 4 snoozefests. If Rashad vs Rampage were two non names then it would have seemed even more boring. Now this isn't to say it needs to turn into a slugfest but there are times when it seems like a fighter could push the pace to finish someone instead of riding out an easy decision victory and playing it safe. Now when it's a sport and there is so much money on the line it's hard for people to take that risk, so maybe like they do in TUF they need to increase the prize money for people who finish fights. Maybe that will encourage people to go for it a bit more.

It's a very tough one, as I said with money and titles/ranking etc on the line people are always going to go for the win first before entertainment but they somehow need to find a happy medium.

[American Rover12]

The UFC under Zuffa has hit it's first talent wall I think. We have all these established 'stars' and a lot of promising 'up-and-comers' but we're at a cross roads now where everyone knows basically what everyone else has got. I don't want to see the sport dilute again back into out of shape bar brawlers slug it out every fight, (Though I would take some of the time, because it's still exciting to watch,) but we're at the point in the cycle where, just as in football, some game plans / strategies are too stale or the two fighters match up so well they just negate each others talent.

I'm hard pressed to think of a "main event" in the last few months / year that have been great. The last for sure war was Penn v Edgar. Maybe I'd give UFC 113 and Macheda v Shogun 2 some credit too, that was great. More and more though, I'm referring more friends to Bellator, Dream, and Sengoku. If you can DVR the events do; the Japanese culture is all about the spectacle and their shows are about 6 hours long. Worth it for the fights though.

Side note: It's refreshing to have a convo about the sport with people who genuinely know and care about it.

[neekoy]

Got to agree with you Dirk, $$$$ for finishes sounds great.

They need to bring some PRIDE rules back in though to ensure aggression.

The two that always annoy me is knee strikes to the head on the ground and elbow strikes. Nothing worse then seeing a wrestler get himself into a defensive position on the fence and leave his head exposed and nothing can be done about it.

The fighters are so well rounded these days that top guys are always going to negate each other, it is only when you get a striker like Shogun who has good defensive BJJ that it gets exciting.

[DeadlyDirk]

Only just got around to watching UFC 115 which turned out better than I expected.

Mac Danzig got completely screwed, referee stopping the fight due to a technical submission even though he was completely conscious, very harsh on someone that really needs the wins right now.

Dunham vs Griffin was a pretty good fight, Dunham currently unbeaten looked very good and better in every department against Griffin which is no easy task. The biggest shock here was that some crazy judge scored the fight for Griffin, I have no idea how. I hear he's also judging Lesnar vs Carwin which shouldn't matter really as I'll be surprised if that one gets out of the first.

Condit and Macdonald was a good scrap, Macdonald controlled a lot of the fight and looked very impressive for someone who is only around 20 years old. The veteran Condit pulled it out of the bag in the last round with some impressive ground and pound that he probably should have tried to use a little earlier. Stopped only with a few seconds to go but even Macdonald admitted he was getting his ass kicked and it was a fair stoppage.

Martin Kampmann looked excellent and completely controlled Paulo Thiago who was looking to aim towards a title shot. Kampmann completely schooled him and like the Dunham vs Griffin fight he seemed better in every department, even the juijitsu. His striking was crisp and he had a good gameplan, question marks about his chin in my opinion but if he continue to fight smart then Kampmann may be due a title shot in 2 or 3 fights time.

I really enjoyed the Cro Cop vs Barry fight. Barry put down the legend twice in the first round but chose not to follow up which may have ultimately been his downfall. Did he have too much respect for Cro Cop or none by thinking he could finish him easily? Debatable. Cro Cop was certainly entertaining with all kinds of kicks such as axe kicks and hook kicks. Late on in the third Cro Cop hurt him in the clinch and then managed to take advantage, unlike Barry did in the first, by following up and ended up choking him out with a Submission of the Night! I don't think anyone would have predicted that at the start. Rumours Cro Cop may retire after this fight even though he won, stating that the training was very hard at his age, if it is the end of Cro Cop then at least he went out by putting on a good fight.

Last but not least, Liddell vs Franklin. I'm a huge fan of both men for what they have done for the sport, especially Liddell. The fight looked in Liddell's favour for a while, he mixed up his striking with kicks that we haven't seen for a while, looked in good shape and had Liddell backing up. He even managed to break Franklin's arm with a body kick which was obvious looking at him after the fight. Then Chuck got a little careless, he had Franklin hurt, but perhaps not as badly as he thought, tried to finish and ended up getting caught with a short right hand which if it didn't put him out, the follow up certainly did.

Full credit to Franklin, he took what Liddell had to throw at him, sucked it up, fought through a broken arm and didn't consider quitting and then responded by knocking him out in the first round, you can't ask for much more. Considering the man has only lost to Machida, Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson and Belfort at catch weight people are pretty critical of Franklin. He's always in the fight (Unless it's against the Spider) and certainly brings it 100%, that's why he was a champion for so long.

Chuck Liddell, where to start? I was gutted to see Chuck lose, it's no secret he hasn't been the same fighter since the loss to Rampage and the subsequent losses but he certainly looked in shape for this fight and had dedicated himself to his training, unlike in the past. However I guess that wasn't enough as he found himself flat on his back early on from a shot that many have said wouldn't have fazed him earlier in his career.

The time has certainly come for Chuck to retire for good, there is no way he is good enough at his age to make a run back to the top now, Couture is a freak of nature that he can do it at his age, Liddell unfortunately hasn't looked after his body quite so well. So it's time for the Iceman to say goodbye, as I said he's a long way from the top and certainly doesn't need to put on fights just for the hell of it.

However, although I think it's time for him to ride out in to the sunset I'm selfish and as probably my favourite MMA fighter of all time, I want to keep on seeing him fight! I'd still like to see him get his hands on Tito one more time, although a loss really could tarnish his legacy. I'd love to see Chuck leave the UFC off the back of a win, whether or not the UFC and Dana would even consider putting him in another fight I'm not so sure. They've said he'll never fight in the UFC again but that's not the first time we've heard Dana say that. During Chuck's title reign the PPV buys went up something like ten times what it was in his first title fight. If it wasn't for Chuck's popularity would the UFC even be here today? If that man wants to fight I say let him continue until he drops dead, the man's a fighter who knows nothing else, his legacy should enable him to choose when he goes.

Whatever happens, thanks for the memories Chuck and at least The Iceman went out swinging if that is the end.

[neekoy]

It was a very good card, Griffin just keeps missing that one little thing extra that could make him top of the tree.

Cro Cop is one of my favourites all timers so I was glad to see him get the win. I don't think Barry went to ground when he knocked him down because Barry can't wrestle and has absolutely nil JJ ability. Besides if you fracture Cro Cops face on one side why not try on the other.

Liddell should have retired after Rua, like another couple of my favourites in Nogueira and Wanderlei Silva, get out of the game before you end up like Royce Gracie did against Matt Hughes, completely embarrassed.

Liddell is a legend but striking has developed past a good takedown defence and swinging from the trees.

[beanie]

I'd love to see the iceman get his hands on tito again but could not stomach the huntington beach bad boy's gloating if he did manage to beat a declining liddell time to get out i'd say. Oh and im sure tito will start making his mouth go trying to set up the fight very soon.

[American Rover12]

Leban - Stann from UFC on New Years day was a real great fight. Clinch game clinic.

[neekoy]

It was a pretty good card, very dissapointed in Leben, you think he is getting himself up and bang he gets smashed. Wandy V Leben would be a good matchup if they get around to making it but it seems everyone wants to call Wandy out these days. Depending on what happens with Sonnen I think that is next on the cards for mid year.

UFC 126 is going to be my pick for card of the year, Silva, Belfort, Griffin, Franklin, Bader, Jones. Paul Kelly is going to ahve his work cut out against Cerrone, one for the brits to keep and eye on.

[neekoy]

Keep an eye out for a Rovers shirt on UFC 127 telecast, I have ringside seats so will be flying the flag.

Card looks low key but getting pumped none the less.

[American Rover12]

That's awesome that youre going. The card is an expensive PPV buy but i might go to a pub and watch it. Let us know how your experience of the spectacle live is, I've only ever heard good reports.