Lei Tong

I don't know about physically. Hopkins isn't the same guy who put the whooping on Tito years ago. He's a step slower nowadays, but he's still an extremely intellient & savvy fighter.

Hopkins via a wide decision. Taylor has all the physical tools needed, but he's been fed some very weak competition up until this point, and at times looked pretty dissapointing against said competition (vs. Joppy being a good example). Bernard's going to make it a rough & tumble fight Taylor just isn't ready for.

That wasn't a beatdown; it was a snuff film disguised as a fight.

PRIDE MW GP Finals matches: Overeem vs. Silva Rua vs. Arona Reserve match: Vitor Belfort vs. TBA (mostly likely Yoshida, possibly Kondo)

"Kid" Yamamoto was the closest MMA had to a Mike Tyson-like figure, but his attitude has clamed down a bit and his style is no longer as super aggressive as it once was.

Get the early Vitor Belfort UFC fights. Belfort vs Tank Abbot <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Vitor never actually full on KO'ed anybody outside of John Hess. Pulver vs. Lewis is also awesome. You can practically see Lewis' jaw getting knocked out of place.

A few quick recomendations. Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Tetsuo Katsuta (SHOOTO)- relatively easy to find Duane Ludwig vs. Shad Smith (KOTC)- another relatively easy find for a small org. match Allan Goes vs. Mark Coleman (PRIDE)- a perfect example of the need for weight classes "Tank" Abbot vs. John Matua (UFC)- one of the most well known UFC beatdowns Bas Rutten vs. Masakatsu Funaki II (Pancrase)- a long, extended beatdown

Rumour is Frank was more than happy to be a lazy pice of shit with a belt, and was never in any real rush to come back. Just thought that was worth noting. Arlovski via KO, Rd.1

Well, do you want brutal KO's as well or are you looking just for beginning-to-end shit kickings?

K-1 HERO's results From PuroresuPower: Mostly expected results, but HOLY SHIT, Tokoro beat Pequeno. That more or less dumps a lot of the FW rankings on their collective heads. On a smaller note, Kikuchi's dominating performance moves him ahead of karo Parisyan in my WW rankings.

Kondo isn't a Top Ten fighter. He may have cracked the LHW ranks with his wins over Kikuta & Sperry, but fell soon thereafter. He could potentially be a Top Ten MW if he ever decided to drop, but he refuses, so it's a moot point.

In skill, accomplishments and name value, Igor falls short. Nowhere near HOF material, IMO. he sticks out like a sore thumb even amongst weaker candidates like Funaki, Smith & Frye.

- Frye never fought Taktarov - Vovchanchyn never defeated a Top Ten opponent outside of Mark Kerr - Maeda deserves mention in the non-combative section - Inoki's influence on MMA is very debatable. Theoretically he's as influential as anybody, but pretty much every other big-name, behind-the-scenes guy has made more easily recognizable contributions to the sport.

If anyone's going to look much improved form the show, expect it to be Koscheck. The guy's potential is very high, and if he handles the cut to WW well, there's no reason to expect anything but a brutal beatdown for Spratt.

Gatti is a huge, Matt Hughes-level weight cutter. He usually fights at nearly 160lbs (the Jr.WW limit is 140). It's not some sort of secret, though Gatti & his camp don't want to do an unofficial weigh-in on fight night. I guess it would make the loss that much more embarassing.

On a side note, I thought it was funny (yet extremely in line with their usual BS) that during HBO's preview show they made excuses for Gatti's late 90's slump without mentioning the drug & alchohol abuse that helped cause it, as well as the DUI's, possession, assault & rape charges that went along with it. Of course, Floyd's problems were readily put forth to show just who the fans SHOULD root for. Fuck HBO.

"So far Ibragim has been submitted by a striker & outstruck by a wrestler. By this logic, Mirko should win via a boring lay & pray JD." -Mr. Blue

This is a big chance for Harris. He's negotiated himself out of a few TV dates before, but this is a big chance for him to prove himself amongst the 140lbs. elite.

I definitly disagree...Castillo has more fights, but Gatti has been at the world-class level for years longer. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Gatti has been fighting on the level for a few years longer, but since around 2000, Castillo's list of opponents blows away Gatti's, IMO. Johnston x2, Mayweather Jr. x2, Corrales, Casamayor, Diaz & Lazcano match up to just about anyone on Gatti's resume throughout his career. My main point is that Gatti isn't quite special as people make him outt o be. Aside from his high profile losses, he's most well-known for going to war 3 times with a glorified club fighter & retiring a small, shot & chinless Joey Gamache.

A couple of things: - Jose Luis Castillo is even more experienced fighter than gatti, hits hard and is known for good bodywork. He also put on quite possibly the best, most disciplined performance of hi career against Diego Corrales, so I'd say Floyd has something of a point of reference to Gatti, if not at 140lbs. - I'd say only Tszyu/Hatton was the big upset. Golota is a nutcase liable to fold at the drop of the dime who fought a hard puncher, and no one was sure what RJJ had left in him after having looked like shit post-HW title. The way each won, however, was suprising.

Gatti is far from a complete fighter. As I said, he's shown off his improved boxing skills vs a massively undersized Leonard Dorin & a small, past his prime Jesse James Leija. Looking good boxing those two guys is VERY far from trying outbox Mayweather. In regards to brawling, I don't think Mayweather will brawl with Gatti in the sense of recklessly throwing punches and forgetting his defense, but rather actively engaging Gatti, cutting him up with quick combinations before avoiding Gatti's return fire. It's arguable that Mayweather hasn't faced anyone with with power comparable to Gatti's, though if Gatti does land clean, it will definitely be the hardest Foyd's ever been hit.

Though Mayweather exagerated a bit in his disses of Gatti, he wasn't too far off. Gatti has fought some relatively weak competition at 140 since the Ward series (and even Mickey isn't that good in the first place), whereas Mayweather is easily the best techincal boxer in the game right now and near the top of the P4P heap. Mayweather SHOULD be heavily favored, though I imagine a majority will be rooting for Gatti and he does stand a chance of landing something huge and/or lucky on Floyd. I think Mayweather will carve Gatti up, stopping him on cuts in about 8.

Actually, I thought the fight wa spretty "meh." Tarver used his physical advanatges juste nough this time to keep Glen off of him for the majority of the fight. The amount of arm punches he threw was saddening, and makes me wonder what he could do if he actually bothered to commit more often. For as overrated as the whole series was, "Gatti/Ward" this wasn't. The udnercard fight was much more exciting, as Phillips had Quartey on queer street a few times in the fight, and even nearly out in the 9th, but jsut couldn't put him away. The ref's decision to not call the 2nd knockdown will cause a bit controversy, but it was an entertaining fight nonetheless.

I'm probably like it slightly better if they would trim down on the wasteful matchmaking a bit more. Imanari vs. Hansen? Ridiculous.

Should be a slam dunk for each, though I'm basing Silva mostly on what I've heard, as I haven't been able to see the vast majority of his fights.