RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted April 3, 2004 A bit of a preface: I suck. So here you go. Why is it not on the main site? Well, this isn't my best work (it's good, read, you'll be better for it) but I don't think it would represent me or the site in a positive manner especially posted this late in the game. Ok, that's the official stance. The unofficial stance is I forgot my password and/or user name (it's been 2 months since I last used it, I'm only human! A stupid, stupid human who should have saved it... but human nonetheless). So if you're interested in some well-written MMA related material and are here instead, READ~! 2 months after UFC 46: Super Natural and the Tap Out returns for another UFC preview. I apologize for not being more active with the MMA posts and I assure you that will change. April has 2 big shows going on, including the PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix, and I have the month lined up each week for an MMA column. It’s all about getting into the groove, so let’s get down and… groove. Yeah~! ”It’s On” Such a silly name for a PPV. They had YEARS to come up with a good title for the much-anticipated Chuck Liddell/Tito Ortiz fight and all they could come up with is “It’s On”?? Why not just call it “Let’s fight!” or “Grr!”? Such a silly, silly, name. The card, however, is far from silly. A Heavyweight slugfest; Two former friends, now hated enemies, with so much on the line looking to avenge their prior losses; A big fat Hawaiian looking to dance centre-ring as he rises up the ladder and a Neo-Samurai returning to dazzle us all once again. Truly, It’s On. Alright, if you’re here to know whether or not you should buy this card – sure, go for it. I don’t do write-ups for uninteresting or bad cards. It’s not worth my time to do and it’s not worth your time to read, if the end-result is unrewarding. If you’re a wrestling fan and used to watching wrestling events, you don’t know what you’re missing. There’s this feeling of unpredictability, where you are either on the edge of your seat watching or you’re already on your feet and leaning-in towards the television set as if the fate of the world is resting on whether or not some guy will tap out. There is nothing like it in Professional Wrestling. Even at its peak, Wrestling is no where near as exciting as MMA. I love Wrestling, have so for a while now and don’t see myself stopping, but it always has training wheels on. It’s protected. It’s safe. At the end of the day, the two wrestlers in the ring are cooperating and the result is pre-determined. For better or worse, MMA isn’t like that. It’s real. It walks a tightrope. Anything can happen. At its best, it’s the highest of highs, and at its worst – you get something like Couture/Belfort II where you just want to roll up in a ball and cry because it didn’t deliver. That’s the price you pay with MMA events, and I think it’s worth the risk, ‘cause when it delivers, it’ll stay with you. I still have the PRIDE: Final Conflict high from last November. Wrestlemania 20 wasn’t even close to matching it, 50 bucks, 4 hours, and all. As I mentioned before, there are two MMA events this month. Personally, I am more interested in the PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix. If I had to choose between which one to see, that would probably be it. So if you are an MMA fan but don’t want to spend 60 bucks a month, you know where I stand. This is still a worthwhile card and if you have a friend or a couple of friends willing to chip in, it’ll make for a fun night. Card, Quick’n’Easy. Prelim Matches: Wade Shipp vs Johnathan Wiezorek Tiki vs Chris Lytle Genki Sudo vs Mike Brown Main Card #1 Contender Match for the Light-heavyweight title: Tito Ortiz vs Chuck Liddell Heavyweight Contenders match Wes Cabbage Correira vs. Andrei Arlovski Lightweight Fight Yves Edwards vs. Hermes Franca Welterweight Fight Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler Heavyweight Fight Mike Kyle vs. Wes Sims The Main Card is solid with lots of “name” fighters on it. UFC Prez. Dana White said that the best prelim fight will probably be shown on PPV if there is time. Now, let’s screw Quick’n’Easy and get down and dirty. Tito Ortiz vs Chuck Liddell Wow. Finally. After all the anticipation; After all the hype; After all the analysis and debate by fans from around the world; Finally, It’s On. So why does it feel so anti-climatic? This fight was supposed to happen at UFC 40. However, perennial #1 contender Chuck Liddell stepped aside and let Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz get their “Vendetta” over with. In his post-fight interview, Tito essentially said he didn’t want to fight Chuck, which was a different tune than that of UFC 37.5 where Ortiz stepped into the octagon after Liddell had won his fight against Vitor Belfort. The months that followed had Ortiz ducking Liddell and hiding behind shooting a movie, wanting more money, and “he’s my friend” to avoid an in-ring confrontation. This time last year, an Ortiz/Liddell fight would have been one of the biggest fights ever. So what happened? Not to sound clichéd or melodramatic, but Randy “The Natural” Couture happened. UFC 43 had Couture –a former heavyweight champion- against Chuck Liddell for the “Interim Light Heavyweight title”. Liddell was supposed to win. Couture was supposed to be too old. In MMA, you will often find if something is “supposed to” happen, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will. Couture won the belt, beat Ortiz in September to become Undisputed champion, and now, rather than having the Light heavyweight Champ and #1 Contender go at it, we have two losers who need to answer some questions. I make it sound so attractive, don’t I? While the fight doesn’t have any gold on the line, it has something of even greater value: Their Careers. Liddell has lost 2 of his last 3 fights, if he loses this one he is just about done with. Ortiz has even more to lose because if Chuck drops him, then all the critics will have been right and the dark cloud over his head just turned into a hurricane. However, if either they, they get a title shot against either Randy Couture or Vitor Belfort. There is a lot to win, and there is even more to lose. Each man will be out there to answer the questions that fightfans have been posing for over 2 years; Can Tito take Chuck down? Can Chuck knock Tito out? Strengths and Weaknesses: Tito Ortiz Strengths: - Very Good Takedowns - Strong GnP - Excellent Conditioning - Excellent training partners - Good stand up Weaknesses: - Suspect Chin - Questionable Submissions - The Mental Aspect Chuck Liddell Strengths: - KO Power in Hands and Feet - Very Good takedown defense - Amazing ability to get up after getting taken down - Fighting with a purpose Weaknesses: - Exposed Game - Poor conditioning - Sometimes sloppy - Bad Jiu-Jitsu Thoughts and Analysis: This fight could very-well be decided in Tito Ortizs’ head. How to beat Chuck has already been laid out for him by Randy Couture and Quinton Jackson. Chuck throws looping punches; which means he is susceptible to jabs and overhand rights/lefts. If he gets gassed and is on his back, the fight is over. However, the difference between Ortiz and Couture/Jackson is that Couture and Jackson were not afraid of Chuck Liddells stand-up. They didn’t respect it. They kept pressing the action and went toe-to-toe with The Iceman and won. Ortiz knows this. He has said this in interviews. There is, however, a difference between knowing the path and walking the path, and Tito has also said in interviews that he is afraid to get hit. With Jackson/Couture, they were willing to take a punch to give a punch; that is Liddells mentality as well. Tito wants to be a movie-star, so he doesn’t want his face to get damaged. He doesn’t want to end up with a speech impediment. So will Ortiz walk the path? I don’t think so. However, there is not just one way to beat Chuck Liddell. Ortiz has it in him to take Liddell down and keep him there and ride it out for a decision. If Tito Ortiz will win this fight, it will be by decision and it probably will be pretty boring if you aren’t familiar with the two men. There is a very good chance of this happening, but I don’t see it. Chuck Liddell is a man with everything to lose. He his more focused on this fight than any other. You can see it in his eyes, you can see it in how cut he was during the weigh-ins, you can see it in the way he walks. He is confident that he can knock out Tito Ortiz. That is a dangerous state of mind to go into the octagon with.... dangerous for Ortiz, that is. Liddell has this Maurice Smith-like ability to just stand up after being taken down. He did it against Couture, and Couture is a MUCH better wrestler than Ortiz (Ortiz couldn’t get up so easily when Couture had him pinned against the fence), so I see that happening in the early rounds. This will CRUSH Tito Ortizs’ ego. Ortiz will be relying on his GnP and when it isn’t there to save him he will have to confront his worst fear and that is stand up in the middle of the ring with Chuck Liddell. The longer they stay on their feet, the closer Liddell is to a rematch with Belfort or Couture. I am not totally counting Tito out; I am a pretty big Ortiz fan (in fact, he was the one who got me back watching the UFC) and I really want to see him do well. Ortiz trains with some of the best fighters in the world while Liddell is still training with his regular team. This is a distinct advantage for Ortiz strategy-wise. Ortiz doesn’t have any specific weaknesses either; while some have questioned his ability to take a punch, he has never been knocked-out (and he fought against Wanderlei Silva and Guy Mezger and won). While he hasn’t KO’d anyone on his feet, he has been training with Colin Oyama, has been with world class boxing coaches for at least 3 years, and made hamburger out of Ken Shamrocks face. There are more ways for Liddell to lose in this fight, but I don’t think Tito is mentally ready for it. Final Decision:Chuck Liddell by KO in Rnd #2 Cabbage vs. Andrei Arlovski This time last week I was thinking about how Andrei Arlovski could beat former Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. I like Arlovski. I think he has this great modern evil Villain look. I wanted Arlovski to take the vacant Heavyweight Title and go on to face Frank Mir. That was a week ago. Now, I am thinking about how many times Arlovski is going to have to punch Wes “Cabbage” Correira’s huge Hawaiian skull before the ref stops the fight or Andrei breaks his hand. Suffice it to say, my thoughts are a lot more pleasant regarding this fight . If Arlovski has the great modern evil Villain look, then Wes Correira must look like the classic evil Villain of the 1980’s... The Staypuff Marshmellow man. A smaller, soulless version of the Staypuff Marshmellow man. When I first saw Cabbage fight, I looked into his eyes and I saw nothing. No fear, no happiness, no anger, no emotions period. It was one of the scariest things I have ever seen in my life. Just this blank stare. Then he did the cabbage patch with this goofy, shit-eating grin on his face and I was scared even more. Against Sylvia, Arlovski had to contend with a debilitating reach advantage that put down the likes of Gan McGee, Ricco Rodriguez, and Cabbage himself (well, technically he wasn’t “put down”). Now, against Correira, Andrei has to face a concrete slab of an opponent where his mighty right uppercut which KO’d Ian Freeman and Vladimir Matyushenko won’t be as effective. This is going to be a slug-fest, and it’s going to be brutal. Beautifully, tenderly, violently, brutal. Pleasant thoughts indeed. While Cabbage can take a ton of punishment, when put against a superior striker like Pedro Rizzo, Arlovski got his lights dimmed in a perfect 1,2 combination from the Brazilian “Rock”. Does Cabbage have the skill of a Rizzo? No, but he’s still a huge threat for the Belarusian Sambo master… which brings me to my next point; submissions. It is very possible for Arlovski to catch Wes in a leg lock. It is equally possible, however, for Correira to pummel Arlovski on the ground if he breaks free from a leg lock. This means I think Andrei won’t be attempting any submissions unless all his stand-up efforts fail. I really don’t know whether they will or not, I just want this fight to go to the 3rd round and end with a sweet finish. Right now, I’m thinking that finish will be Cabbage KO-ing Arlovski. Final Decision:Wes Correira by KO in Rnd #3 Yves Edwards vs. Hermes Franca I am probably looking forward to this fight the most. Yves Edwards really impressed me in his UFC 43 fight against Eddie Ruiz as he showed excellent stand-up skills and submissions. Hermes Franca surprised nearly everyone with his KO of Caol Uno, as his specialty is jiujitsu. So what we have here are two well-rounded fighters and who are also lightweights. This means continuous, fast-paced action that could be the match-of-the-night. Edwards reminds me of a Jose Pele Landis-jons or a Gilbert Yvel. He is a bit wild, loves to throw combinations (particularly a right/left/right-uppercut OR right high kick), and is always looking for that knock out. He has a really good sprawl and can submit on the ground as well. I see Franca trying to stand with Edwards in the first round and Yves getting a really good shot in which will force Franca to scramble for a takedown. The round will end and Edwards will enter the second round with a lot of confidence which will end up hurting him when Franca gets in a surprise hook. This will put Edwards to the ground and Franca will try and capitalize. The 2nd round will end with Franca in the power position. The third round will be a stalemate as both fighters will be reluctant to go for the win and the fight will go to a decision. Edwards’ early knockdown and 3rd round “sprawl and brawl” will end up bagging him the win. Final Decision:Yves Edwards by Decision <Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler Diaz by submission in round 1. How do I figure, you ask? Well, I think Lawler will come out and look for the quick KO/TKO. I think he will be underestimating Diaz and the jiujitsu expert will slip something on “Ruthless” Robbie and make him tap. In the 18 matches they collectively have, only 4 have gone to decision. These men are finishers and it should be a fun (if not quick) fight. Diaz really impressed me in how he –out of nowhere- put an armbar on Jeremy Jackson at UFC 40. It was one of the most beautiful submissions I have ever seen and I hope to see him repeat that performance against the former welterweight golden boy. Final Decision:Nick Diaz by submission Rnd 1 Mike Kyle vs. Wes Sims Wes Sims has stamina problems and he sucks standing up. I don’t know anything about Mike Kyle but he can’t be worse than Sims. I like Sims, which may be surprising given those last 2 sentences, but it’s more for his personality and how he presents himself more as a pro wrestler than fighter. He’s a fun guy, I hope he does something fun here, but I don’t see him getting the win especially when he took the fight on such short notice. There are two reasons to watch this fight – to see Sims do something goofy, and to see what Kyle has in him. It’s basically a jobber match, and while jobbers are boring in wrestling, they are DAMN FUN in MMA. Final Decision:Mike Kyle by TKO Rnd 1 Looking at UFC 47, I am actually getting pretty excited for the full card of fights. I don’t see any real stinkers here because even if Ortiz/Liddell is boring, it’ll still have that excitement to it. There are two heavyweight fights which are almost guaranteed to be slugfests and a lightweight match that could be a fight of the year if they’re up to it. Plus, you might get to see GENKI SUDO if Zuffa has any sense in them as his entrances alone trump anything ever done at anytime in the history of everything. John MacKinnon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Last Warrior Report post Posted April 3, 2004 Very nice preview John, a good read. I will incorporate you into the prediction league as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Styles 0 Report post Posted April 3, 2004 Nice preview RRR! I too see Chuck getting a second round knockout. I'm really interested to see this Cabbage guy fight now, as he doesn't look like anything good but you made him sound like a beast. Im getting my tape tommorow so I'll watch/give my thoughts then. Until then I'll hibernate away from the board for a day to avoid results. Enjoy the show! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted April 3, 2004 WHOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO~! I think my best prediction was this one: "‘cause when it delivers, it’ll stay with you." cause I'm feeling good tonight!!! UFC 47 went beyond my expectations and on the ride home I was yellin "WHOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO" quite frequently. I love this high, it's a great feeling and it was a kick-ass show. I missed the first match between Kyle and Sims because of the damn leafs game (1 for 1 btw). I went to an Italian Restaurant/Take-out joint called "San Franseco's" 9I believe, GREAT "HOT" Chicken Sandwiches) where it was being shown on the ~BIG SCREEN~ but the downside was the leafs game took precidence over UFC so they put it on late (I'd gladly give up 1 fight for a free show ). The upside was that I was basically the only one there (~!). I, personally, LOVE watching fighting and wrestling alone because I can focus my attention completely on the fight. The only fight where people were watching on the Big Screen (they had TV's in the back) was Ortiz/Liddell and all the staff (half a dozen) came out and watched. Anyways, it was turned on right at the beginning of Lawler/Diaz Lawler/Diaz Really fun fight with Diaz taunting Lawler throughout and pushing the fight forward standing (~!!!). He caught Lawler a few times and Lawler caught him and so went the first round. The highlight was Lawler getting dinged and then getting JACKED up and PISSED and came back with a flury of his own. Second round was much-the-same and just as Lawler was beginning to take over ~DING~ Diaz hits a short right hook and hit Lawler on the button. The best part here was Lawler slowly falling face-first to the canvas after a delay. A beautiful image. I laughed pretty hard (a HO HO HO HO! kinda laugh, one of disbelief) after that shot. (2 for 2) Arlovski/Cabbage I loved the shit out of this fight. Arlovski kept pressuring Cabbage with low kicks to the right thigh and picked his shots to Cabbages enormous head. Very awesome stuff by Arlovski as the sound of the shots sent chills up and down my spine. I didn't think Arlovski could put Cabbage down but dammit, he did and it was with the upper cut. I think Joe Rogan is an awesome commentator, he says everything that I'm thinking, but I thought the fight should have been stopped there. With Cabbage, any time he goes down is a time where the fight should be stopped simply because of the amount of shots he took. Shit, my preview was slanted more towards Arlovski and I should have went with my gut there. I underestimated his striking and overestimated Cabbages (Arlovski fluttering at the end was a nice touch IMO as he looked a bit worried, as if to say "what do I have to do to beat him?!"). Either way, it ended with a nice finish so I'll take the misfire and smile (2 for 3). Edwards/Franca I was a bit disappointed with Edwards' performance here as I expected him to press it standing and set up more shots (I don't think he set up any...) and I was very impressed with Francas work (Sudo/Franca MUST BE DONE!). I enjoyed this match, and I think I'd go as-so-far as to say it was MOTN (though it does have stiff competition). The ground work was superb by both men and I think Franca should have won it given the fact that he initiated all contact and attempted to finish the fight more. HOWEVER, that's more of a PRIDE mentality. In the UFC, they seem to prize getting out of submissions more than putting them on. Plus, I think Zuffa wanted Edwards/Thompson and the judges knew that, so they leaned it in Edwards favour. (3 for 4) Lytle/Tiki Pretty fun fight that I didn't care about whatsoever but still enjoyed. They were trading shots for the first round, it looked like Tiki broke Lytles rib with a kick or really hurt it. Active stand-up with some combinations thrown. This is kinda what I expected Edwards/Franca to be like. The first thing that went through my head after him getting that side headlock/choke was "Newton" and Rogan hit it shortly after. Good stuff. (No prediction; prelim. Though I probably would have guessed Lytle simply because of Tikis Octagon Curse) Liddell/Ortiz I was surprised at how hyped I was for this as they both entered the ring. I didn't really know how much I wanted this, but I did. First round was uneventful right up until the last 10 seconds when Liddell went for a combination and Ortiz blocked a high kick. Ortiz seemed fired up (and almost surprised) that he "took" Liddells stand up and stayed standing at the end, which was a neat visual. Second round was fucking AWESOME. Liddell went BALLS OUT and threw everything he had at Ortiz. He caught him initially with a left hook that put Ortiz back against the fense on the defensive and Liddell smelled blood and kept throwing until Ortiz fell. This was one of those moments that you'll see over and over and over again and you'll still love it. Ortiz was all class at the end there putting over Chuck huge ("This man is the baddest motherfucker in the world right now") and the crowd who booed him (traitors, they were chanting his name 3 minutes earlier) cheered him again. Ortiz is a great promo man and hyped up a fight vs. Lee Murray. If that happens in June, SHIT, UFC 48 will be fucking DOPE.(4 for 5) Sudo/Brown Awesome. Amazing. Stunning. Wonderful. But enough about Sudos entrance Good fight, ended with a sweet triangle armbar and Brown tapped. Bastard wouldn't let Genki play around, so I'm happy he lost. Nothing more to say, really. Gotta love Genkis post fight celebration with the flag. Overall Thoughts: Really good show; big thumbs up, best of the year so far. I can't believe they got me hyped for fucking Shamrock/Kimo. The summer for MMA is going to be HOT. Rogan/Goldberg are by-far the best announce team today. I didn't like the "On the mat", it just ruined the pace of the show. I think they took too long in between some fights, I still hate hearing celebs make predictions, and I loved Rogans "the internet is probably going to be pissed about this" (Franca losing). Cause it's true John MacKinnon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the pinjockey 0 Report post Posted April 3, 2004 " I have the month lined up each week for an MMA column." Is one of those the "Why we want a MMA folder?" article you said you were going to do a couple months ago? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted April 3, 2004 I never said that. Though I've said many things As of right now, "The Top 10 fighters you need to know about" which will feature historical figure as well as current fighters (with resident expert in all things MMA Lei Tong providing his knowledge of lesser known fighters), "The difference between UFC and PRIDE" which may or may not feature my own personal history with the two companies, and a special "Matches you need to see" where I hope to get some thoughts/reviews from ppl on this board. That, along with the PRIDE GP Preview and Review should fill up the month. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
