The Official MMA Thread

[heineken_fretwalker]

Mixed Martial Arts is the fastest growing sport in the world, and there are more than a few people who discuss it on this forum. Instead of having a scattered slew of threads, I figured it would be a good idea to forge it into one. So, if its MMA related, it goes here!

We'll start the discussion with UFC 116 Lesnar/Carwin. Who ya got??

 

[Esp Griffyn]

I haven't followed MMA for a while now, it just started to suck really badly when Pride went under and UFC started monopolising everything. MMA should never have been fought in the cage, because it just allowed Dana White and his marketting team to bend the rules to make the Ultimate Wrestling Championship and keep the home audience happy. Boxing has never felt the need for something tacky and outlandish like a cage, and the wrestlers were never at a disadvantage in the ring, so why should they get the balance tipped in their favour?

Fedor has a legit loss now, things just look dire for MMA. He has spent too long not fighting. The crop of golden age MMA heroes like Fedor, Cro Cop, Shogun etc are pretty much done and there is just nothing to keep my attention now.

 

[JeffFromMtl]

I really hope Lesnar gets his shit handed to him tonight. There are some champions you like, like GSP, the protagonist, who just comes to the fore and fends off the bastards to keep his title, but Lesnar, he's like this evil villain, defending his throne of hideousness. And every time he wins, it's like the first time I heard that superman died. It means there's no hope.

 

[Esp Griffyn]

I predict another bout of Lesnar smothering an opponent with his massive bulk before clubbing them a bit for a ref stoppage. If only the UFC had a ring and some real HW talent!

As I said before, the age of heroes and champions is over. Golden era champs like Wanderlei Silva (back when he was good unless he was being shown up by Cro Cop), Fedor before he got sloppy etc, and then there were the epic Grand Prix tournaments. Those tournaments were without a doubt the best thing to ever happen to the sport, which is now on a severe downslide, and the GP format cannot be utilised in the US because US state sports authorities aren't keen on letting a fighter fight moe than one bout in a night.

Now, if only Lesnar would get cocky and try his hand at K-1...I'd like to see what even the aged legends of K-1 would do to him.

 

[newamerikangospel]

Lesnar is very talented, and given that he only has 5 fights or so in MMA, he has done exceptionally well.

I really like the parrellels between Lesnar/Carwin and Lesnar/Mir

Against Mir:
Wins first round, get submitted in the second. Post fight interviews state that he thinks its a "pretty crummy ending", since Mir got lucky with the submission. Mir capitlized on an inexperience with Lesnar.

Against Carwin:
Is destroyed in the first round. Submits Carwin in the second, after capitalizing on a mistake/tiredness, due to "inexperience" of Carwin with fights lasting more than 3 minutes .

The funny thing is, there was almost two minutes of un-returned blows from Lesnar, which constitutes a fight stoppage. He covered up and took alot of it. Carwin went a little blind and started hitting whatever he could touch (several impatient blows to Lesnars covering arms/fists), and effectively punched himself out.

All in all, Lesnar won the fight, and did so by utilizing his skills/abilites. However, I think Lesnar is now seeing that he isn't untouchable, and if Carwin would've fought just a tad smarter and the referee just a little bit more stringent, Lesnar wouldn't have the title. From what I have read, it seemed like Lesnar took on a more humble approach to his win in the post fight interview (I couldn't find any coverage yet, so I dont know). Maybe Lesnar's illness, and near loss might have started to humble him a little bit.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Woooo Hooo! A MMA thread

How crazy was the Brock v Shane Fight? Shane nearly finished him in the first round! Brock somehow managed to survive, comes out the 2nd round and submits him. Who the hell would've thought it would end via arm triangle from Brock . I guess people saw Brocks chin on display

Glad the Ref let it go. It's a title fight so it was a good choice not to stop it, Brock was hurt but seem to scramble and recover when he had to. Would've been a shame to stop it and then there be controversy over the decision

The Leben v Akiyama fight was a war as well. Leben has zombie powers for sure. He kept getting tagged and just ambles forward all the time throwing bombs. Great fight.

Also, as an Aussie it was awesome to see George get the victory over Kurt Pellegrino. He has launched himself into into the top tier of lightweights for sure.

All in all I thought it was a pretty good UFC. We even got the prelims for free, which was awesome because I got to see the Harris knockout slam

 

[Raoul Duke]

MMA should never have been fought in the cage,

Dude, MMA in a cage/enclosure is WAY better. Just think of all the times fights got stopped because a fighter was sliding/hanging out of the ring. They were always standing them up, taking them into the center of the ring, attempting to get them into the same position and then starting the fight again.

Really killed the natural momentum of the fight I felt

 

[heineken_fretwalker]

Yeah, and how the hell is Shogun "done" when he's the light heavyweight champion

What's happened to this golden age of heavyweight fighters is something that happens to every athlete, age. That, and you can only take so many hits to the noggin before you can't take it anymore. Look at when Gonzaga killed Cro Cop with that leg kick, or when Rampage broke Wanderlei's soul in their third fight. Shit, Chuck Liddell used to have a chin, and now if wind touches it too hard, he does the stanky leg. Trust me, man, I'm as big of a Pride fan as there is, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the UFC. The fighters now are quicker, stronger, more agile, and they bring more and more styles of combat to the octagon.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Yeah, and how the hell is Shogun "done" when he's the light heavyweight champion

Sad thing is, Shogun messed up his knee again and apparently wont be able to defend his title to very late this year or early next year

Talks of an Interim title have been rumored due to this. It would have to be Rashad versus someone as he was promised Shogun after beating Rampage but I'm not sure who they would put against him.

Its a shame because I was looking forward to Shogun V Rashad


Also Brock is set to face Cain now which should be a awesome fight

 

[heineken_fretwalker]

Yeah, I've been waiting for awhile to see Cain fight Brock. I think he's a bit more versatile of a fighter than Carwin, though I don't think he has quite as much power in his hands.

They could do a Rashad/Rampage 2 for the interim title, since Rashad leaned on him for two rounds to win that fight. I'm convinced that if they fight again, Quinton will beat him to death.

 

[Esp Griffyn]

Dude, MMA in a cage/enclosure is WAY better. Just think of all the times fights got stopped because a fighter was sliding/hanging out of the ring. They were always standing them up, taking them into the center of the ring, attempting to get them into the same position and then starting the fight again.

Really killed the natural momentum of the fight I felt

The UFC refs are much slower to stand fights up than Pride ones were. In Pride if a wrestler wanted to take it to the ground they had to remain active, which meant making significant attempts to damage the opponent, whereas the UFC ref's defition of "staying active" is grabbing and making light punches which aren't really progressive. If fighters were through the ropes they got brought back to the centre of the ring, an intrusion of 7 or 8 seconds at most, whereas in a cage you can see someone jammed against it for entire rounds and nothing happens. Clearly this is worse for the flow of the fight than centre resets and Pride-style quick stand ups.

As for Shogun being done, he is wracked by injuries these days and he is still pretty young. Back in Pride he kept up a tremendous pace, beating many great names and being a really exciting fighter to watch (although you can blame pony US rules for not letting him use his stamps and soccer kicks style), and if you look at his UFC record, he has won 3 fights in about 3 years. Liddell, Coleman and Machida? Really? Two past-it bums who were never that great anyway and Machida who I have never rated. And his next fight, Rashad Evans - Shogun could have been in for a tough fight when a couple of years ago he would have absolutely steam rollered a bum like Evans, but I suppose it won't happen now anyway.

 

[6string40]

Whether you like Brock's personality or not, you have to admit he is a great fighter who is still learning MMA and is simply a freak of nature. No one that big should move that fast. He has been much more down to earth since his illness and seems more respectful now. I think getting his ass handed to him in the first round by Carwin really gave him a wake up call...as in, he's really not as untouchable as he once thought. If that was Cain the other night, Brock would have been smoked b/c he won't gas out. He now realizes how much more work he's gonna have to put in for the Cain fight.

As far as LHW...who faces Rashad for the Interim? Does Machida get another shot at it since he was 1-1 vs Shogun? Who else is there? Franklin? Little Nog? Forrest? Hamill? Rematch with Rampage? There just doesn't seem to be much left in that division...one that was supposedly at one time the best of the best.

 

[ZXIIIT]

Lesnar winning again, by submission, made my night,

I dearly miss the old days of UFC.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Whether you like Brock's personality or not, you have to admit he is a great fighter who is still learning MMA and is simply a freak of nature. No one that big should move that fast. He has been much more down to earth since his illness and seems more respectful now. I think getting his ass handed to him in the first round by Carwin really gave him a wake up call...as in, he's really not as untouchable as he once thought. If that was Cain the other night, Brock would have been smoked b/c he won't gas out. He now realizes how much more work he's gonna have to put in for the Cain fight.

As far as LHW...who faces Rashad for the Interim? Does Machida get another shot at it since he was 1-1 vs Shogun? Who else is there? Franklin? Little Nog? Forrest? Hamill? Rematch with Rampage? There just doesn't seem to be much left in that division...one that was supposedly at one time the best of the best.

Brock definitely showed a change in personality after the Carwin fight. When he was going to get interviewed I was almost cringing waiting to hear what he was going to say. He was rather humble and I think the whole diverticulitis episode has made him appreciate life in general alot more. Seeing him interviewed after the fight he said that he wasn't really happy with his performance in the first round and he knows he has a lot to work on.

Some people have hinted at Evans V Machida 2 for the interim. I have also read that they might make Rampage fight little Nog and then the winner of that faces Rashad for the interim.
I don't really think little Nog deserves that chance after he was almost beaten by Brilz . I actually thought Brilz had done enough to win up until getting caught in a crucifix in towards the end of the 3rd round. Even then it was a close decision

Either way I think now that Rampage has finished "The A - Team" he will get back into shape and smash whoever he faces next....unless that person is Shogun . I'm sure we all remember that fight in Pride

Jon Jones and Ryan Bader are being toted as future contenders as well. The winner of Matyushenko V Jones will apparently face Bader for a possible future title shot.

 

[heineken_fretwalker]

Speaking of that Brilz/Nog fight, I really thought Brilz did enough to win that fight as well. Shame that he lost.

On another subject, anybody see Gerald Harris slam Dave Branch to death? Reminded me of Rampage's KO slam of Ricardo Arona. Harris showed why sometimes its not a good idea to jump to pull guard. That was fucking vicious.

 

[Raoul Duke]

That slam was awesome I was actually saying to my mate how I haven't seen a KO slam in the UFC in a long time while that fight was going on

After he got semi slammed in the first 2 rounds I thought Branch would realize "Hey, maybe this isn't such a good idea..."

Nope, he tries to jump guard and gets slammed unconscious. So good!

On the subject of Brilz - I am really excited to see who he fights next. Dude showed he has balls and the skill to back them up. The UFC asked 3 dudes to step up and fight little Nog before Brilz manned up . Brilz V Forrest would be awesome I think

Also, we might see Brock v Cain sooner than we think. The UFC is struggling to find a main event for 119 and want to make it happen

Health permitting, Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez could be UFC 119 headliner | MMAjunkie.com

 

[6string40]

I don't really think little Nog deserves that chance after he was almost beaten by Brilz . I actually thought Brilz had done enough to win up until getting caught in a crucifix in towards the end of the 3rd round. Even then it was a close decision

Jon Jones and Ryan Bader are being toted as future contenders as well. The winner of Matyushenko V Jones will apparently face Bader for a possible future title shot.

Agreed on the Brilz fight. Little Nog was being touted as the next in line and he didn't show it in that fight.

I'd like to see the winner of Jones/Bader fight the winner of Rampage/Little Nog for the right to fight Evans for the Interim. Gives an up-and-comer and a veteran a shot.

 

[Arterial]

any of you guys know Shinya Aoki?

He's without a doubt one of the best grapplers in MMA.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinya_Aoki

Highlights Video


K-1 fight again Mizuto Hirota (Not for the lighthearted)


If not, what do you guys think?

 

[jymellis]

i miss igor vovchanchyn



and genki sudo

 

[Raoul Duke]

Looks like we won't have to wait all that long to see this fight

Brock Lesnar will defend his heavyweight crown against unbeaten American Kickboxing Academy thoroughbred Cain Velasquez in the UFC 121 main event on Oct. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Lesnar confirmed the bout as signed via Twitter. MMAFighting.com on Friday was first to report the blockbuster matchup.

In just six professional fights, Lesnar has ascended to the top of the heavyweight division. A four-time collegiate All-American wrestler, he won a Div. I national championship at the University of Minnesota in 2000. Lesnar submitted the previously unbeaten Shane Carwin with a second-round arm-triangle choke in the UFC 116 headliner one week ago in Las Vegas, as he returned to the cage following a lengthy illness. Since entering mixed martial arts in 2007, the 6-foot-3, 265-pound former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar has become the sport’s biggest box office draw. Lesnar holds other notable wins against UFC hall of famer Randy Couture, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir and Pride Fighting Championships veteran Heath Herring.

Velasquez has finished seven of his first eight foes, five of them inside one round. The 27-year-old last appeared at UFC 110 in February, when he blasted through beloved Brazilian Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in a little more than two minutes. A junior college national champion, Velasquez was a two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State University. Victories against French kickboxer Cheick Kongo and former International Fight League standout Ben Rothwell anchor his resume.

I think Brock wins this fight . Cain will be a hell of a challenge though. His striking is very technical and diverse and I'm sure he'll have alot of confidence after destroying Nogueira @ 110

I was at that event and you could hear the shot that dropped him from the 5th row