news The General MMA & Combat Sports Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Crimson Azure
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As bad as the UFC can be at times with various things they still manage to make Strikeforce look completely bushleague in comparison. I didn't like Mauro's commentating back in the Pride days, and I can't stand listening to him at Strikeforce. His bias for Noons throughout the fight was absolutely terrible.
I thought it was a great Strikeforce event in terms of the fights, but agree that Mauro can be offputting at times. I always preferred Quadros over Mauro in PRIDE (in combination with Bas) and even though Mauro more suited PRIDE's epic vibe, in Strikeforce, he seems somewhat past his prime. On the other hand, Gil Melendez worked really well on the mic and Pat Miletich is always good.
As for the card, I thought it was pretty damn entertaining. I for one really like the women fighting, in terms of pure fighting, the women's fights seem to more highlight technical ability over raw power or athleticism which is what I like about it. With blokes, poor technique can be masked by being a freak athlete, especially so under Unified Rules, cage, etc
JZ I thought was VERY hard done by. The 30-27 on one of the score cards was simply disgraceful! In any case, I did tip Thompson, but JZ would have been spewing and in my mind at WORST deserved a draw.
Diaz and Noons was a pretty entertaining slug with Diaz showing he really has some great standup that just "works" for MMA. I'd love to see him vs a top shelf wrestler, as this is the kind of match he'd be reapeatedly fed if he went to the UFC. This is when we can really tell if he is p4p material. Assuming his ground game can hold up against a great grinding smothering wrestler, he'll be found out. Last great wrestler I remember him facing was Sherk where he lost a decision but took little damage. Now he's 27 and stronger reaching his prime, it would be good to see him mix it up with the top 170 wrestlers. Maybe Woodley would be a good next fight for him. He's not near the Koscheck/Fitch/GSP level of MMA wrestler, but he's athletic as hell. Just seeing if Nick can stuff a takedown or two or sub/sweep from his back would tell a lot.
As for new matchups, I hear Gomi/Guida is in the works for the UFC on new years day
As for the card, I thought it was pretty damn entertaining. I for one really like the women fighting, in terms of pure fighting, the women's fights seem to more highlight technical ability over raw power or athleticism which is what I like about it. With blokes, poor technique can be masked by being a freak athlete, especially so under Unified Rules, cage, etc
JZ I thought was VERY hard done by. The 30-27 on one of the score cards was simply disgraceful! In any case, I did tip Thompson, but JZ would have been spewing and in my mind at WORST deserved a draw.
Diaz and Noons was a pretty entertaining slug with Diaz showing he really has some great standup that just "works" for MMA. I'd love to see him vs a top shelf wrestler, as this is the kind of match he'd be reapeatedly fed if he went to the UFC. This is when we can really tell if he is p4p material. Assuming his ground game can hold up against a great grinding smothering wrestler, he'll be found out. Last great wrestler I remember him facing was Sherk where he lost a decision but took little damage. Now he's 27 and stronger reaching his prime, it would be good to see him mix it up with the top 170 wrestlers. Maybe Woodley would be a good next fight for him. He's not near the Koscheck/Fitch/GSP level of MMA wrestler, but he's athletic as hell. Just seeing if Nick can stuff a takedown or two or sub/sweep from his back would tell a lot.
As for new matchups, I hear Gomi/Guida is in the works for the UFC on new years day
I think GSP and Fitch would comfortably beat Diaz. Koscheck too if he decided to wrestle. There's always the chance of a sub with something the quality of Diaz but I think those three will be smart enough and good enough to keep out of harm's way. The thing with Diaz is, he's only 26. He's only just reaching his physical prime and it's not too late for him to improve his wrestling.
Agree about Melendez too. I would've preferred it if was just him and Miletich.
Agree about Melendez too. I would've preferred it if was just him and Miletich.
Good enough Strikeforce card. I was able to find a good HQ stream too so I was happy, next time I just need to get my HTPC sorted out so I can watch the stream on my TV instead of my laptop.
Biggest disappointment was Galvao, he's battled with the transition into MMA and he just got embarrassed here once he couldn't get Woodley down.
JZ got ripped by the judges. Comfortably took out the third round and IMO he easily took the first, Thomson's arm triangle at the end of the first round wasn't close, JZ was defending it properly and knew there was only seconds to go so he relaxed until the horn, at which point he sprung back to his feet. Assuming you reason that Thomson and JZ's subs cancel each other JZ at least landed a big shot on the feet that left Thomson hurt enough for the sub attempt.
Diaz/Noons was good enough, not nearly the classic Mauro was claiming it to be though. I thought it looked weak when Mauro was trying to hype a third fight just after they hyped a third Thomson/Melendez fight since their second fight was actually an incredible fight. I love the Diaz bros and want to see Nick back in the UFC for a possible GSP fight since he's good and anything can happen, but at the same time I'm still not convinced that he would comfortably get by somebody like Mike Pierce.
Biggest disappointment was Galvao, he's battled with the transition into MMA and he just got embarrassed here once he couldn't get Woodley down.
JZ got ripped by the judges. Comfortably took out the third round and IMO he easily took the first, Thomson's arm triangle at the end of the first round wasn't close, JZ was defending it properly and knew there was only seconds to go so he relaxed until the horn, at which point he sprung back to his feet. Assuming you reason that Thomson and JZ's subs cancel each other JZ at least landed a big shot on the feet that left Thomson hurt enough for the sub attempt.
Diaz/Noons was good enough, not nearly the classic Mauro was claiming it to be though. I thought it looked weak when Mauro was trying to hype a third fight just after they hyped a third Thomson/Melendez fight since their second fight was actually an incredible fight. I love the Diaz bros and want to see Nick back in the UFC for a possible GSP fight since he's good and anything can happen, but at the same time I'm still not convinced that he would comfortably get by somebody like Mike Pierce.
Crimson Azure
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- Thread starter
- #85
Possible match up for 126:
Jon Jones vs ryan Bader
If it goes ahead it will be great.
My call: Jones to win & be champ by the end of 2011 though.
Jon Jones vs ryan Bader
If it goes ahead it will be great.
My call: Jones to win & be champ by the end of 2011 though.
Red Black and Blue
Brownlow Medallist
126 could be an absolute monster card:
Silva vs Belfort
Dunham vs Florian
Forrest vs Franklin
Jones vs Bader
Silva vs Belfort
Dunham vs Florian
Forrest vs Franklin
Jones vs Bader
Shane Carwin is out of the fight against Roy Nelson at UFC 125. That was the fight I was most looking forward to on that card too. Not a lot of options out there for a replacement, Mir would be the best I'd say.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney and Eddie Alvarez's manager Monte Cox are trying to get a co-promotion fight with Alvarez vs Melendez. Basically the only other fight of real interest to Alvarez is a rematch with Shinya Aoki who submitted him 2 years ago. Other than that, both Alvarez and Melendez has beaten all the top lightweights outside of the UFC.
Cox also said he thinks Alvarez will eventually end up in the UFC:
http://mmajunkie.com/news/21177/up-next-for-champ-eddie-alvarez-cox-rebney-coker-and-white-all-weigh-in.mma
Cox also said he thinks Alvarez will eventually end up in the UFC:
http://mmajunkie.com/news/21177/up-next-for-champ-eddie-alvarez-cox-rebney-coker-and-white-all-weigh-in.mma
Interesting news earlier this week with Dana confirming rumours that Aldo was offered a fight against Florian in the UFC later this year only for his management to turn it down. Word is they felt a fight against Florian was a no-win situation and that he should be getting an instant title fight at 155 while he's the 145 champion.
There's also going to be a "major announcement" coming from Dana overnight.
There's also going to be a "major announcement" coming from Dana overnight.
So, Dana's major announcement was the merging of the WEC into the UFC starting at the beginning of next year. Aldo's defending the featherweight title at UFC 125 and the winner of Henderson/Pettis at WEC 53 in December fights the winner of Edgar/Maynard. I wrote in the Aldo/Gamburyan thread that I selfishly hoped the WEC would stick around because the fights are always incredible but I'm still excited to see this unfold, and it should mean a much-deserved payrise for guys like Aldo, Faber and Cruz
Also of note, Gonzaga and Cote have both been cut after 121.
Also of note, Gonzaga and Cote have both been cut after 121.
Pavs I'd say there would a number of them, considering the 'prestige' of the UFC now extends to the lighter weights. Might see a number of the smaller 155's who make the cut easily head there. Hell Edgar could probably make 145. who wouldn't want to see an Aldo v Edgar fight?
Also looking forward to the benson/pettis edgar/maynard mini-tourney. The LW div just got that little bit more stacked with the likes of Cerrone/Benson/Pettis coming in and even the potential of Aldo going up a division as he grows.
Big UFC cards will be even more stacked now as multiple championship belts could be on offer on some cards.
Good stuff.
Also looking forward to the benson/pettis edgar/maynard mini-tourney. The LW div just got that little bit more stacked with the likes of Cerrone/Benson/Pettis coming in and even the potential of Aldo going up a division as he grows.
Big UFC cards will be even more stacked now as multiple championship belts could be on offer on some cards.
Good stuff.
jimmyclean
Team Captain
Only thing I don't like about benson/pettis getting next shot is it puts G-sot one more fight from his rightful place as Australia's first UFC champion.
I think Tyson griffin will be moving down to featherweight shortly, followed by Frankie edgar when Maynard takes the belt.
Great move by the UFC. Everybody wins.
- WEC fighters get greater exposure and money.
- More people will now get to see guys like Aldo, Cerrone, Benson, Cruz, Bowles, Mike Brown etc.
- UFC expands with more fighters, more events and bigger profits.
As Magnum said, it'll be very exciting having cards with multiple title bouts.
Dana mentioned that a big part of the move is to help the UFC's expansion in other countries. It makes sense as there'd be a lot of smaller fighters in a place like China which is one of their targets.
I assume that we'd now be able to see the top WEC fighters on FuelTV as well. Previously, our only access has been Setanta Sports (does anyone subscribe to that channel?) or struggling to find an online stream. 4 UFC cards on Versus next year should mean 4 cards on Fuel.
Very exciting!
EDIT: WEC ring girl Brittney Palmer has confirmed that she's moving to the UFC!
- WEC fighters get greater exposure and money.
- More people will now get to see guys like Aldo, Cerrone, Benson, Cruz, Bowles, Mike Brown etc.
- UFC expands with more fighters, more events and bigger profits.
As Magnum said, it'll be very exciting having cards with multiple title bouts.
Dana mentioned that a big part of the move is to help the UFC's expansion in other countries. It makes sense as there'd be a lot of smaller fighters in a place like China which is one of their targets.
I assume that we'd now be able to see the top WEC fighters on FuelTV as well. Previously, our only access has been Setanta Sports (does anyone subscribe to that channel?) or struggling to find an online stream. 4 UFC cards on Versus next year should mean 4 cards on Fuel.
Very exciting!
EDIT: WEC ring girl Brittney Palmer has confirmed that she's moving to the UFC!
Red Black and Blue
Brownlow Medallist
Agree that its a great move, less filler fights on cards is always a good thing.
Man this is an awesome move. Gunna make for some great PPV's and more $$$ for Dana.
As was mentioned above, the first thing that came to my mind was George Sotiropoulos. If anybody is getting screwed in this deal, it is him...
As was mentioned above, the first thing that came to my mind was George Sotiropoulos. If anybody is getting screwed in this deal, it is him...
Crimson Azure
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- Thread starter
- #98
TUF 13 a 145 pound comp?
jimmyclean
Team Captain
I expect a bunch of this season's rejects to drop to 145 as it is. That said it wouldn't shock me to see a 135 or 145 TUF.
