MMA Discussion thread part V

[booyaka]

Version 5!!

Lets have a good clean fight!!

[JimmyHart84]

My take on UFC 104:

Yushin Okami Vs. Chael Sonnen

Chael was excellent. Didn't give Okami a look in. Not sure if Okami was nervous to try for the takedown, but he just didn't do anything, which I found odd. But not to take any credit away from CS, he dominated the fight and deserved win.

Antoni Hardonk Vs. Pat Barry

At the first couple of minutes of this I thought AH would win it, he looked so hungry and focussed. That's not to say PB didn't, but I just didn't fancy him. However, he came out and took it to AH in the second round, very impressive. Then fair play to the guy, that's when his emotions were shown, and certainly put me in my place for thinking he didn't want it as much!

Ryan Bader Vs. Eric Schafer

Thought Bader would KO Eric in the second round, but I was really surprised how much he slowed down. Fair play to Eric, came back from a bit of a beating and never gave up, turned it into a very interesting fight. Fair result, shame Ryan gassed though, hopefully the best of him is yet to come as I've been very impressed with him since TUF.

Anthony Johnson Vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

Cracking KO, dominated, not much more to say. Silly boy for not making weight. If it was due to his injury, fair enough, but if it wasn't, I just cant see how he can stay in this division. Regardless of what weight he fights at in the future, I'm really looking forward to seeing more fights from him.

Joe Stevenson Vs. Spencer Fisher

Very impressed with Joe. Certainly not a huge punch fight, but very calm, controlled and impressive fight from a techincal and strategy point of view.

Cain Velasquez Vs. Ben Rothwell

Cain is going places. I've not seen anything of Ben before UFC I must admit, but he's a big guy and I could tell he can take some punches. But Cain just didn't give him any chance at all. Wether he can go all the way and beat Brock, that I'm not sure of, but it'll be interesting to see how he progresses. As for the stoppage, I'm torn. Yes Ben was getting up, but he was getting smashed in the face, so I do have some sympathy for Steve in deciding to stop it. It's a tough one to call, especially in the heat of the moment.

Lyoto Machida Vs. Mauricio Rua

As many of you have said, that was Shoguns fight. 48-46 for me, 3 rounds to 1. I would have scored it like this:

1 - Shogun
2 - Machida
3 - Draw
4 - Shogun
5 - Shogun

Some of you give your round scores, it would be interesting to compare.

[Boris360]

Dana White;

"Steve Mazzagatti shouldn't be allowed to watch MMA let alone ref it!"


Don't sit on the fence there Dana.

[mooperman]

Originally Posted by Boris360

Dana White;

"Steve Mazzagatti shouldn't be allowed to watch MMA let alone ref it!"


Don't sit on the fence there Dana.

ha ha...

[Gaz Lear]

Don't know how much truth to take from this but a few forums and websites are saying that Lesnar has pulled out of his fight next month because he has flu?

EDIT

confirmed

Y! exclusive: Illness forces Lesnar out of fight - UFC - Yahoo! Sports

[JimmyHart84]

Hope Lesnar is ok. Regardless of whether people like him as an MMA fighter or not, still wish good health on the guy. Be interesting to see what they do, wouldn't be surprised if they just find a last minute stand in to face Carwin. Kimbo? haha na, I hope not!

[JimmyHart84]

Edited my 104 summary to include the title fight.

[Boris360]

I reckon Rua has the advantage now in a re-match. I know what Phil is saying about it being a golden opportunity for Rua and losing the element of surprise but I'm not sure what Machida can do to improve his game. That fight took place at Machida's usual pace and was all stand up just how he likes it. Any change to that is likely to suit Rua way more than Machida IMO. As talented as Machida is, I don't think he's quite as versatile as Rua.

I think part of the problem that people had with Machida is that he'd never been seen to lose a single round. There was no blueprint on how to deal with him successfully. Rua has shown a way to do it and although both fighters will try to tweak their tactics for the next encounter, I think that anything that Machida changes will probably just take him further away from his A game. He's a brilliant fighter but he employs the same tactic every time and now that tactic has come up a little short.

Rua's low kicks were the thing that caused Machida problems and I think they'll cause him more problems next time. The fact that title fights are over 5 rounds is in Rua's favour too because low kicking is more effective in longer fights, so if he can crank it up slightly in that area, that might be the difference.


I wonder if the judges were slightly swayed by the fact that they were scoring a guy that had never lost a round in his entire career and maybe felt it 'right' to be giving Machida the tighter rounds? I'm not sure that he'll get the benefit of the doubt next time especially given that the scoring in this fight was so controversial.

[Crimson Monkee]

UFC104, Started off with a bang and ended in controversey!

Big dissappointment for me was Rothwell, after watching the build up show he had really talked himself up and then as soon as the fight started it seemed like he kept helping Cain out by just falling down really slowly! all the time!
Maybe his gameplan was to take loads of hits (check) and fall down underneath Cain (check) and then to walk up the fence really slowly while taking punches to the face (check) before finally knocking Cain out with 10 seconds to spare in the 3rd round! I'm sure if he had explained this to the ref then there would not have been such an early stoppage only mid way through the plan...

My Score Card for Machida vs. Shogun would read:

RD1) Shogun
RD2) Machida
RD3) Shogun
RD4) Machida (Only just)
RD5) Shogun

I did notice Machida getting some sweet punches in on Shogun's face, but other than the last minute in round 4 there just were'nt enough of them and they didn't seem to do the damage intended. I did feel that Shogun showed way more aggression (Machida is notoriously a counter-striker and often waits for his opponents to commit themself before attacking), that he controlled where the fight took place and that he caused the more damage, both fighters had red raw torso's, but Machida had a matching set of red legs and cuts on his face, all in all I feel that Shogun had done everything needed to win the belt....however you leave it in the judges hands and decisions will not always go your way

[y2k]

I thought round 1 was pretty tight but everyone seems to be giving it to Rua.

[Boris360]

Quinton Jackson gets worse each week.

The rivalry between him and Evans reminds me of the cartoon the 'Roadrunner'. With Jackson obviously being Wile E Coyote. Everything that the hapless fool tries to do is trumped by the more intelligent, competent Roadrunner. I can just see Jackson giggling as he opens up a wooden box full of straw, with a pair of ACME, rocket powered boxing gloves inside - thinking that will give him the edge.

He's shown himself to be a bully too. His constant jibes at Daryll were out of order. But he's not the only one. Did anyone else find the bullying of Zak uncomfortable to watch? Dana White needs to be a bit careful here. Every TUF series usually ends up 'proving' that MMA fighters are just mindless thugs. If it's not people threatening each other it's trashing the house or bullying.

That house looks like the last place on earth I'd like to be!

[DrPhil]

Woo hoo, part 5!

Off work today so won't be here. Sitting at the local garage now using their wi-fi.

Looks like Lesnar is definitely out of the 106 fight, crap. Although I'm glad I didn't make it, we very nearly booked another trip to Vegas and I was going to try and get to WEC 44 and UFC 106. How gutted would I be if Lesnar v Carwin was cancelled after I got tickets???

[bigstu31s]

Originally Posted by Boris360

Quinton Jackson gets worse each week.

The rivalry between him and Evans reminds me of the cartoon the 'Roadrunner'. With Jackson obviously being Wile E Coyote. Everything that the hapless fool tries to do is trumped by the more intelligent, competent Roadrunner. I can just see Jackson giggling as he opens up a wooden box full of straw, with a pair of ACME, rocket powered boxing gloves inside - thinking that will give him the edge.

He's shown himself to be a bully too. His constant jibes at Daryll were out of order. But he's not the only one. Did anyone else find the bullying of Zak uncomfortable to watch? Dana White needs to be a bit careful here. Every TUF series usually ends up 'proving' that MMA fighters are just mindless thugs. If it's not people threatening each other it's trashing the house or bullying.

That house looks like the last place on earth I'd like to be!

Rampage is without a doubt the worst coach I have ever seen on TUF but he does make me laugh.
That cartoon painting he got of Rashad’s team was hilarious especially the one of “Titties” wearing a bra.

I am surprised that no one in the house has demolished a wall or smashed up furniture yet as they have done on every previous series so to be fair this bunch are fairly mild mannered.
Some of the fighters do come across as thugs and that’s because, well they are thugs.

[Boris360]

Originally Posted by bigstu31s

Some of the fighters do come across as thugs and that’s because, well they are thugs.

Yeah, I'm sure if it was 16 baseball players then there would be some thugs amongst them too. I suppose it's just because a lot of people automatically assume that anyone involved in MMA must be a thug and this show often re-enforces that stereotype. I'm sure every bit of thuggery makes the show because it makes more entertaining TV.

[bigstu31s]

Originally Posted by Boris360

Yeah, I'm sure if it was 16 baseball players then there would be some thugs amongst them too. I suppose it's just because a lot of people automatically assume that anyone involved in MMA must be a thug and this show often re-enforces that stereotype. I'm sure every bit of thuggery makes the show because it makes more entertaining TV.

And to be fair up till now they have been a well behaved bunch. I'm sure we all thought Kimbo would be rampaging around the house starting fights but this hasn't happened. If it wasn't for Rampage then the show would be a little dull