Hawkius Maximus

I'm not feelin' Rampage/Forrest, which is odd. I think it's due to TUF, because I was really looking forward to this fight. I think seeing them on TUF has zapped my interest. It also doesn't help that both Forrest or Rampage hasn't fought in nine months. That's quite awhile ago. I should be interested in this, but I just don't. Still a month to go before they fight though.

GDS's board is deeeeeeead. I dunno what happened, but man, their bandwidth got ate alive. I like TEW 08...but the game still has issues. Touring is still broken and unrealistic. All the major talent is continually ending up in the big feds. The data has issues, and in a lot of ways it just feels like Ryland ported the last TEW's data and updated some stuff. You can't even play PGHW in the data as it's set up because the game won't let you alter their touring details (they have a "tour" contracted wrestler), and the fed doesn't tour in the demo month. Little stuff like that is stupid.

The only reason this show is on PPV, is because I think UFC is worried that it wouldn't draw on TV. Easier to sweep a bad buyrate under the rug then a bad rating. I think this will be a good show too, but goddamn if there's no draw on this thing. Matt Hughes would have been able to draw something on his own a few years ago, but he's looked mortal, and his opponent has no aura or build to him. He feels like just a guy, even if he did beat Karo. Not much UFC could have done with all the injuries, but damn. Vera/Werdum will either be really good or REALLY boring, depending on how they fight. Werdum's capable of good fights, but he does have a boring streak. Vera...I'm not sold on Vera. He's looked good in all his fights outside of Sylvia (hard to look good when a 6'10 guy is just leaning on you though...) but this will be a major test of his overall game. Werdum's no slouch. It'll be funny as hell if Eddie Sanchez gets past Hardonk, and then wins a few more fights and is in CONTENTION~!

I actually had a post last night, but I walked away without posting it. There's really no point in arguing over this because it's like talking with a brick wall with some people. The basic fact is thus: MMA is a business. Dana White would not play ball with people, and he left this opening that Elite XC has filled. Irregardless if you liked Elite XC or not, just about everyone OUTSIDE of the hardcore MMA fanbase liked the show. It drew a pretty massive number for it's time slot and expectations. Elite XC has changed the business of American MMA, and it's getting more press then just about anything MMA related in a very long time. You can either accept it, accept the fact that a "sideshow" drew in ratings, and be happy that there is a viable #2 promotion, or you can't. It's that simple. Elite XC is going to be around. They've earned a right to be around. WEC last night was a good show, but in the end it's not going to mean anything. Elite XC, bad show or not, has changed things. That's just a fact. That is just life.

The reason the "Japanese" couldn't be jobbed out in eight minutes is because by this point in time, Shinya Hashimoto was on his way to becoming one of the biggest stars in the country (He's now considered an true legend since he's...dead and all), and Hiroshi Hase was easily one of the brightest stars in Japan. WCW didn't exist in a vacuum at that point. New Japan regularly sent guys, and vice versa, and WCW would acknowledge events in Japan. Hase wrestled in WCW a couple of times, and so did Hashimoto too. I'd assume that's why they lost to Windham and Rhodes, one of WCW's top teams at that point in a competitive match. WCW didn't want to make New Japan talent look bad at that point (They would later stop caring), and risk losing their deal with them, which opened up huge paydays for their talent and the company in general. WCW gained a lot of talent from NJPW, and at that point in time it was a lock that WCW talent would appear on New Japan's Tokyo Dome shows during the year. It helped them both.

That first fight went longer then the first three fights from Elite XC COMBINED, and was godawful boring. I'd rather watch two unskilled heavyweights throwing bombs then watch two lightweights circle each other for fifteen minutes. Milage varies I suppose. I mean, the rest of the card was okay to great, but that one fight was easily the worst of any of the two shows. That being said, the 135 fight was REALLY great, and I didn't enjoy Pulver/Faber as much as I thought I would, but it was really good. I don't remember a goddamn thing about the other fights. I think a dude got submitted, and another knocked out. That's all I remember. Either it's burnout from too much MMA, or they just didn't leave an impression on me.

I hope this show is better then that first fight, because everyone who said this show would smoke Elite XC will have some crow to eat. That was just fucking boring.

Monster success with those ratings. If Elite can hold ground or gain with their next special, then the entire dynamic in the US MMA scene changes.

I have no idea what they'll do for the next show. Their only hope would be to get Tito involved in some form, if he's contractually able to be there. Elite doesn't really have many "names", which is why they've been riding Kimbo so hard. Nick Diaz is their next biggest name, and I'd hardly consider him a top guy name power wise. Might be time to try and shell out money, but with Affliction signing people to near million dollar deals, I dunno who they could get right now.

All Elite XC has to do is draw the key demo. That's it. It's what network's want. It's what sponsors want. They succeeded. Doesn't mean the next one will though. For now, Elite can celebrate. So...Yay Elite XC~!

I've seen way worse shows then this from UFC, PRIDE, and so on. This show wasn't bad. It just wasn't great. That's not even including abortions like Strikeforce Tacoma or YAMMA. I *know* this show was better then those. In the end, this show's success or failure has nothing to do with hardcore fans, the large percent that are tearing the show a new one. Just like how a UFC PPV has to appeal to the casual fans, if this show succeeds it will be because Elite got casuals. If it fails, it's because they didn't.

He certainly claimed they were accidental.

Don Frye/Gilbert Yvel. Granted, that was more or less because Yvel wouldn't quit fouling ,but he raked Frye's eyes a couple times, leading to it.

If this Elite XC show bugged you, then you have clearly not seen the dregs of MMA. This was what it was. Elite XC is playing to a different audience then UFC seems to, which was reinforced by the crowd. I have not heard a more pissy, fickle group of fans in a long time. They'd go from booing Smith/Lawler to cheering the hell out of them, to booing them again within three minutes. It was goddamn baffling. These fans just want to see fighting, and Elite XC tried to deliver. You can harp on them playing to the MMA stereotype all you want, but in the end, it was UFC that left this gap in there for Elite to use. Regardless if this show hurts or helps MMA, Dana White and his insistence on having it his way all the time left this gap that Gary Shaw tried to fill. Elite XC does stupid shit, and the constant rap music got old, but I can't honestly say I am bothered by the dancers that everyone else seems to take offense with, when UFC is parading ring girls around the ring in usually equivalent or worse attire in the middle of fights. Same thing, different way of doing it. The idea that these fights were stopped early for "TV time" as Tigeraid proposed is some of the more ludicrous claims I've ever heard, and I've seen quite a few. The fact that the show went NEARLY AN HOUR OVER proves this. If they were working things, that would not have happened. Baroni was done. Why should Baroni care if he lost? The guy isn't PAID to win. He is entertaining. As long as Phil Baroni can be Phil Baroni, he'll be around. He doesn't care at all about winning or losing. Just another day for Baroni. The Woman's fight was seemingly stopped because the other chick had a HYOGE mouse under her eye which seemed to be affecting her ability to see. There's also the fact that Gina had beaten her half to death right before then. If a fighter isn't responding well, then it's the correct decision to end the fight. The fight could have been quite frankly stopped when Gina was teeing off on her standing, and the chick had no response other then to punch herself in the face due to Gina hitting her arms. She was *done*. Smith/Lawler, it's hard to say...but if Smith really did say that he couldn't see, then the blame lays upon him. That is fighter code 101 for "I'm done, get me out of here", which any doctor knows. Beyond that, we do not know how bad that was. If Lawler's fingernail got him just right, he could have pretty nasty damage to it. Really, any time a finger gets the eye, or a knee hits the junk, a fight can end. It all depends on the fighter, and how bad it is. Shit happens. The main event was awesome. It was just two relatively unskilled guys throwing shots. Some people might not like it, I dig it when it's fast paced like this. Kimbo's punches looked good, and he was teeing off for most of the fight, but he's GOT to work on his sprawl if his ground game is that bad. The end was fine. I dunno what people want, really. Thompson was clearly on his way out anyway, and there's the fact that his ear was mutilated and pouring out goddamn blood to help spur the ref to get in there. I'm sorry, but if a fighter is about to go down and is suddenly almost SPURTING blood out of his fucking ear, I'd probably stop it anyway. Why risk it? He's going down, he may suffer permanent damage in the meantime.

Coincidentally, Amir is one of the few people on the show who might end up doing something. For having no pro fights, guy is good. Him and Dollaway might end up going somewhere. Everyone else is fucked.

...A lot? Spike <<< CBS Maybe a couple more <'s.

I don't look at MMA in terms of rankings. So maybe that's why I don't get why MMA hardcores are turning their nose up at this. Kimbo/Thompson no matter what happens will be a fantastically fun minute long slug fest. And Smith and Lawler have both looked very good in their last few fights. There's also the fact that it's the first MMA card *EVER* in Prime Time. Why shouldn't this show be supported for the good of MMA?

This show is baffling. CBS has been promoting it pretty hard...but there's *NO* buzz for it. I have no idea how well this will do. I don't think it looks good though.

The danger for Brock isn't so much in getting Herring down. He'll get Herring down, most likely with ease...the danger is when the fight gets stood up or restarted. Herring can be deceptively quick with strikes, and he has good power. He will eventually pop Brock with shots, and that's when we'll find out what Brock will do. I doubt he'll run away like O'Brien did. Brock strikes me as the type of person that will swing back if he gets hit. That's where the danger lies. We also have no idea how Brock's chin is. For all we know, one good right could put Brock on his ass. For nearly beating the #1 contender to the UFC HW title (...hah), we sure still don't know alot about what Brock can/will do.

I fail to realize what that post is about. I can't really say I see Ichigo as "mopey" when the whole last arc was about him stubbornly refusing to let his friend be taken...Again.

If I hadn't started reading the manga, I'd have given up on Bleach. But thankfully, while the anime's in fillers, the manga is kicking serious ass. I'm still baffled about why they decided to put fillers where they did. it makes absolutely no sense no matter how hard I think about it, and I'm usually pretty good about putting things together that make no sense.

Here's the problem with that. There's no one that can "take it to Machida" in the Light heavyweight division. I'm not saying he can't be beat, but there's no one that's going to break him of his style. Machida is a high level karate fighter. You try to charge in, and he'll nail you with KO power. So bull rushing won't work. And he shrugged off Tito's attempts at a takedown, so trying to get him down looks like it'll be hard...and if you do, he's got very good ground game. You could just be getting in a worse situation as Nakamura showed in their fight. If there's one glaring weakness to Machida, is that *if* you could get off first, and tag him and play defense/aggression and hit first or counter him, you could win by decision...theoretically. The only problem is that Machida almost always starts turning up the aggression in round three to seal fights that he's already winning. I don't know what he'd do if he thought he was losing at that point. I think there's a lot of interesting fights for Machida...but I think there's very few that he could possibly lose. Forrest's unpredictability and Silva's high aggression could be interesting, same with Shogun. I think it'd be kind of unfair if Lyoto has to fight again to earn a title shot, but it's UFC.

Herring's a dangerous opponent for Brock. Heath's a tough bastard who doesn't fight very intelligently. He's just going to barrel into him with what skills he's got. Herring's going to test how well Brock can take punches, even if Brock takes him down constantly. If I I'm going to predict, I'd say Brock by decision. His best bet will be to take Heath down and keep him there. Herring most likely isn't going to get a submission off his back, but Brock will have to be on the look out for Heath exploding at the restarts between rounds. If I remember right, that's how he got Kerr way back in the olden days. I strongly doubt Brock can finish Herring. Brock's powerful but Herring is tough. He'll have to nearly kill Herring before he goes down. UFC knows what their doing with Brock though. If he beats Herring, they can tout it endlessly that he beat someone who was/is one of the top Heavyweights in the world. However, if Brock loses to Herring they can say that Herring nearly KO'd Nog, beat Kongo, and then beat Brock. Title shot land.

This card looks good fight wise...but it's not going to draw anything on PPV. But at the same token, I don't know that people would tune in to see this card on free TV. You need something to draw, and Matt Hughes after being humbled by GSP isn't gonna do it. Should be a fun show though.

Sengoku 2 just ended...Some thoughts. Not a bad show, but not a great show either. Production rivals or beats DREAM, but there was almost *NO ONE* in the crowd. Main eventing a big show with Jeff Monson = BAD IDEA. In fact, not having TV = BAD IDEA. Hopefully Yoshida's got some serious backers, because Sengoku looks like it's losing money faster then DREAM at this rate. Speaking of which, that fight had intrigued me, as I thought Monson's grappling skills would give him a chance. His grappling abilities let him survive, but he never really posed a significant threat to Barnett. Barnett pretty much controlled him in every aspect, he just couldn't finish Monson. Roger Gracie fucking murdered Yuki Kondo, and not in the usual way. He just...made him his bitch. Took him down, laid on top of him long enough for Yuki to realize "I CAN'T DO ANYTHING" and even started helplessly flail around before Roger nearly popped his head off with a rear naked choke. It's hard to gauge how good Roger is, but with a win over Ron Waterman (Not that it means much) and with his size and Gracie talent, he could be someone to watch out for. Randleman/Kawamura looked okay...During intermission I had loaded up Oblivion and by that token paid no attention to the fight. Didn't LOOK bad. Santiago/Matsuoka wasn't very good, but the finish was. Korean dude versus Japanese dude wasn't bad, but wasn't good. Satoru Kitaoka looked AWESOME in his fight in the opening match, easily submitting his opponent. and that's all I remember.