30 Days of MMA

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

July 22nd - 9:00pm

Bushido Vol 8 - pay per view

Ryo Chonan vs. Phil Baroni

Takanori Gomi vs. Jean Silva

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Buscape

Masakazu Imanari vs. Joachim Hansen

Kazuo Misaki vs. Daniel Acacio

Jyutaro Nakao vs. Marcus Aurelio

Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Kimo

Denis Kang vs. Andrei Semenov

Sentoryu vs. James Thompson

 

July 25th - 11:05 pm et

Unleashed - Spike TV

Stephan Bonnar vs. Forrest Griffin

Diego Sanchez vs. Kenny Florian

Alex Karalexis vs. Josh Rafferty

Mike Swick vs. Alex Schoenauer

 

August 1st - 11:05 pm et

Unleashed - Spike TV

Ivan Salaverry vs. Tony Fryklund

Ivan Salaverry vs. Joe Riggs

Chris Leben vs. Jason Thacker

Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Sanford

Nate Quarry vs. Lodune Sincaid

 

August 6th - 9:00 pm et

Ultimate Fight Night - Spike TV

Ivan Salaverry vs Nathan Marquardt

Stephan Bonnar vs Sam Hoger

Kenny Florian vs Alex Karalexis

Mike Swick vs Keith Rockel

Josh Koscheck vs Pete Spratt

Nate Quarry vs Pete Sell

Chris Leben vs Patrick Cote

Drew Fickett vs Josh Neer

 

August 8th - 11:05 pm et

Unleashed - Spike TV

Content TBA

 

 

August 14th - Check local listings time

Fox Sports Network

Liddell vs. Horn

Liddell vs. Babalu

Horn Highlights

 

 

August 15th - 11:05 pm et

Unleashed - Spike TV

Content TBA

 

 

August 20th - 10:00 pm et

UFC 54: Boiling Point - pay per view

Chuck Liddell vs. Jeremy Horn

Randy Couture vs. Mike Van Arsdale

Diego Sanchez vs. Brian Gassaway

Frank Trigg vs. Georges St. Pierre

Tim Sylvia vs. Assuerio Silva

Matt Lindland vs. Joe Riggs

Dave Terrell vs. Trevor Prangley

James Irvin vs. Terry Martin

 

 

August 22nd - 11:05 pm et

The Ultimate Fighter 2 - Spike TV

Welterweights & Heavyweights compete for two UFC contracts.

[razazteca 0]

Did any of the people improve since the last time they were on the Spike tv show?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Well, Nate Quarry defeated Shonie Carter at the last UFC show. Carter, while not a top 10 fighter, is still good enough to consider the dominant win impressive. Forrest had an easy victory that night as well. I haven't heard much on the other fighters, but then again, it's only been 3 months and fighters usually fight 3 or 4 times a year at best (unless you are Jeremy Horn).

 

The "Unleashed" shows are previous fights (from the Ultimate Fight Night undercard and other events) and I haven't really heard anything bad about those fights. The August 6th live show will probably feature a select few fights as well. Quarry vs. Sell should be good, Leben vs. Cote should as well. Salaverry vs. Marquardt should be tremendous.

[Guest Big_Jay101]

When is Pride's Final Conflict this year? It is in August because Fedor and Mirko Cro Cop are fighting ont he August show.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Final Conflict is in August.

 

Quarry's win over Carter is to be taken with a grain of salt, IMO. Quarry fights at MW, while Carter normally fights at WW, but it's still fairly impressive.

 

And in late July is the K-1 MAX tournament, which I would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend to watch if you can get ahold of it. A-class fighters all the way, and light years better than the K-1 HW's.

[Lei Tong 0]

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.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

--Spike TV has added more UFC programming in August besides what has already been mentioned. On 8/20, as a Sunday Night Heat version of UFC, they have UFC on from 7 to 9 p.m. Eastern time as a lead in to the PPV that starts at 10 p.m. Of course, on the West Coast, they compete with themselves. On 8/21, they will have another all day UFC marathon to build for the 8/22 premiere of Ultimate Fighter 2. It will start at 2 p.m. on 8/21 with every episode of season one of UFC airing from 2-7 p.m. Heat will air in its regular slot at 7 p.m., followed by four more hours of UFC taped programming from 8 p.m. to midnight.

 

- Da Meltz

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I'm about half-way through the BUSHIDO card; thoughts so far:

 

SPOILERS!!!!

 

 

Masakazu Imanari vs. Joachim Hansen

 

- Hansen. Is. Badass. Imanari was really fun in this - joking around, doing all this whacky stuff. Hansen was business. He hit the knee, but the best part was right after he hit it he walked to his corner without looking back. BADASS.

 

Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Kimo

 

- Kimo sucks. The highlight of this was Minowa working the crowd after his win.

 

Denis Kang vs. Andrei Semenov

 

- Pretty good fight. Some nice standing encounters, Kang has a pretty darn good ground game to go with his pretty darn good stand up. Tough call on the decision, though. Semenov didn't really do much after his takedowns, so I can see that hurting him with the PRIDE judges. I hope they give him another shot in the Bushido ring.

 

Josh Thomson vs. Daisuke Sugie

 

- NICE fight. A kneebar out of an armbar? AWESOME! I hope they bring Daisuke back too. I need some SHOOTO, dammit.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

More thoughts:

 

SPOILERS!!!

 

Ryo Chonan vs. Phil Baroni

 

- Chonan, good job on keeping your hands down and totally underestimating Baronis punching power. I think the fight was stopped a lil early, but I can see how it may have delayed the inevitable.

 

Takanori Gomi vs. Jean Silva

 

- Fight of the Night. Fight of the Year Candidate IMO. Impressive performance by Gomi - who should get some respect from this board but doesn't. Gomi dominated all around, he kept the pressure on throughout the 15 minutes and there was never a dull moment. Awesome, awesome, awesome. There should be more hype on this. The armbar at the end was tragic.

 

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Buscape

 

- A big 9 minutes of nothin from Kawajiri, but the other 6 minutes was good. By the end he was punishing Buscape.

[Lei Tong 0]

Gomi being ranked at number 5 in my LW rankings is as much respect as he deserves.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I wouldn't mind hearing your reasoning for your top five lightweights and why Gomi should be number 5. The guy gave the best performance of the night at Bushido - better than Kawajiri and Hansen, and has been tearing it up lately. I hope it's not a "well, Hansen beat Gomi, and Shaolin beat Hansen, and Kawajiri beat Shaolin". I buy Hansen - that guy has been very impressive - I can see maybe Kawajiri, but Shaolin is a bit of a puzzle.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Oh, and where can I find some SHOOTO tapes/dvds?? I may be horrifically uninformed here

[Lei Tong 0]

I wouldn't mind hearing your reasoning for your top five lightweights and why Gomi should be number 5.  The guy gave the best performance of the night at Bushido - better than Kawajiri and Hansen, and has been tearing it up lately.  I hope it's not a "well, Hansen beat Gomi, and Shaolin beat Hansen, and Kawajiri beat Shaolin".  I buy Hansen - that guy has been very impressive - I can see maybe Kawajiri, but Shaolin is a bit of a puzzle.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

An impressive showing vs. sub Top 20 opponent is HARDLY reason to rank Gomi ahead of the 4 men ranked above him. Some comparisons of recent opponents (Hansen excluded, since you don't argue with him above Gomi):

 

Takanori Gomi:

Joachim Hansen- Top 10 LW at the time with wins over Nakayama & Sato, now widely considered Top 5. Lost a Maj. Decision.

B.J. Penn- Formerly argued as a the number 1 LW & WW in the world at different points. Numerous big wins. Submitted to an RNC in Rd.3

Jadson Costa- undersized and very limited Chute Boxe fighter. 3-3-1 with no notable wins. TKO'ed in Rd.1

Ralph Gracie- had a good win over former Top 10 LW Dokonjonosuke Mishima in his only other bout this millenium. KO'ed in 6 seconds.

Fabio Mello- undersized BTT member. 3-3, with his biggest win being over the extremely limited Takumi Yano. TKO'ed in Rd.1

Charles Bennet- tough journeyman LW. Submitted by Takumi Nakayama & Dave Hisquierdo immediately before & after, respectively. TKO'ed via kimura (technical submission) in Rd.1

Jens Pulver- undersized (sensing a patern here?) Top 10 FW. Was coming off solid wins over former Top 10 FW's Stephan Palling & Naoya Uematsu. 2-2 in his previous 4 fights at LW, with losses to Jason Maxwell & Duane Ludwig. KO'ed in Rd.1

Luiz Azaredo- decent former WW with wins mostly over inexperienced fighters as of late (sans a good showing vs. Buscape and a loss vs. Tony DeSouza). KO'ed in Rd.1

Jean Silva- exciting but untested LW. Biggest wins over Leigh Remeidios & Gerald Strebendt (who's also drawn with & loss to, respectively). Won a unanimous decision.

 

Tatsuya Kawajiri:

Takumi Nakayama- solid LW. Plenty of losses to top LW's. Rebounded slightly to win the KOTC LW title, though that's far from anything to write home about. TKO'ed in Rd.1

Yves Edwards- Top 10 LW at the time. Came into his own immediately after, with wins over Hermes Franca (2), Josh Thompson & Mishima. Won a Unanimous Decision.

Ryan Bow- solid LW. Previously lost decisions to a few Top 10 LW's (and Top 5 FW Joao Roque). Rebounded slightly before losing to teammate Kotetsu Boku. TKO'ed in Rd.1

Caol Uno- former Top 10 LW. No really notable wins since 2002, though had good showings in losses to Franca & Hansen and a draw with Penn. Draw.

Mindaugas Laurinaitis- Winless Lithuanian. Not notworthy. TKO'ed in Rd.2

Vitor Ribeiro- Considered by most non-Americans as the number 1 LW in the world at the time. TKO'ed in Rd.2

Jani Lax- European Shooto champion. A few solid wins, but far from world class. TKO'ed in Rd.1

Kim In Seok- supposedly one of Korea's best fighters in his weight, but that's not saying much. TKO'ed in Rd.1

Luiz Firmino- Formerly being built as a big test for Gomi, he was derailed by Azaredo. Tough, if unspectacular fighter. Won a unanimous decision.

 

Yves Edwards:

Eddie Ruiz- tough wrestler. Had nothing much to offer but a granite chin. Won a unanimous decision.

Tatsuya Kawajiri- See his record. Lost a unanimous decision.

Nick Agallar- solid. 8-1 in last 9, with the loss to Yves and wins over Mitsuoka & Diniz. TKO'ed in the 2nd round.

Deshaun Johnson- strictly a JTTS.

Hermes Franca (x2)- formerly a Top 10 LW, he's dropped to 2-4 in his last 6, with disputed decision losses to Edwards & Thompson. Won 2 split decisions.

Josh Thomson- solid, Top 10 LW. Wins over Franca, Strebendt, & Sugie. KO'ed in the 1st.

Naoyuki Kotani- decent LW who has yet to actualy beat anyone notable outside of some solid FW's, including Tokoro & Morkevicius. TKO'ed in the 1st.

Dokonjonosuke Mishima- former Top 10 LW. Has some solid wins, but has routinely lost to his best comeptition. Submitted in the 1st round.

 

Vitor Ribeiro:

Eddie Yagin- formerly undefeated Hawaiian. Tough but limited fighter. TKO'ed via sidechoke (techincal submission) in the 3rd.

Tatsuya Kawajiri- See his profile. Won via unanimous decision; lost the rematch via 2nd round TKO.

Ryan Bow- Previously mentioned. Won a majority decision.

Ivan Menjivar- Top 10 FW. His only losses have been to opponents out of his weight class. Won a unanimous decision.

Joachim Hansen- Previously mentioned. Fresh of the Gomi win and widely considered in th Top 3. Submitted via sidechoke, Rd.2

Mitsuhiro Ishida- Top 15 LW. Tough Japanese wrestling stylist with wins over Boku & Sugie. Won a unanimous decision.

Tetsuji Kato- former Top 5 WW. On the downside of his career, with losses to Mishima, Lynn & Ribeiro. Submitted via sidechoke, Rd.3.

Gerald Strebendt- Exciting, nigh .500 LW. Only notable win vs. Siva. Submitted via guillotine choke in the 1st.

 

My rankings:

1) Kawajiri

2) Shaolin

3) Hansen

4) Edwards

5) Gomi

[Lei Tong 0]

PS- I'll try and hook you up with some fights and/or events when I can.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

The only thing I see, and I am also ignorant on matters of SHOOTO, is that Shaolin doesn't match up well with Gomi and neither does Edwards. Against Shaolin, I don't know if Shaolin would be able to keep him on the ground long enough to submit him as well as avoid being pounded out, not to mention whether he will be able to get it there and survive Gomi's standup first. Yves would just be overpowered since he's so lanky and I think Gomi would also be able to pound him out.

 

Combine that with the fact that his fight with Hansen was awhile ago and very close, and that he has a very similar style to Kawajiri, and I think it's arguable that he could be Number One. Of course, I don't believe it since I feel that he's beaten lesser opponents than the others and that his striking defense and cardio, or lack thereof, will be his undoing. So I see both sides, but I'm sticking with how he's not at the top.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Glad to know I'm not the only Kawajiri nuthugger around here. I can't stand Gomi either, for reasons other than people constantly overrating him. I agree with Lei's ratings, BTW.

 

Imanari was way in over his head against Hansen, however. Imanari is naturally a featherweight I believe, with Hansen having a good ten pounds on him in that fight.

[Lei Tong 0]

Gomi vs. Shaolin: It's unknown whether Gomi has Kawajiri's takedown defense, but if not, expect a repeat of Penn mounting Gomi and then taking his back, with Ribeiro in the role of BJ. I also doubt Gomi was ever as strong as Kawajiri at 155, though PRIDE's extra 5 lbs. limit has helped him fill out a bit. I'd give a 60-40 advantage to Shaolin.

 

Gomi vs. Yves: Though I doubt he'd have any more success G&P'ing the lanky Yves anymore than Kawajiri did (who struggled to do damage within Yves' guard), I could see him controlling him to a JD. However, Gomi might get a hair up his ass to try and prove something standing, and thus get KO'ed in short order, regardless of his admittedly good chin. However, his match with Silva would seem to indicate that he learned a lesson in the bout with Azeredo. 60-40 Gomi.

 

However, this is all theoretical. The fact is, Gomi has lost to the 2 best fighters he's fought, and has only 1, arguably 2 wins vs. ranked opponents.

[Lei Tong 0]

Imanari/hansen was not simply a mismatch of size, but of styles. Imanari is pretty much a living exagerration of Rumina Sato's flaws, and the G&P beating Hansen gave Sato is pretty infamous.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Hansen has fought at WW before too hasn't he? He used to be (may still be) Shooto WW champ, IIRC.

[Lei Tong 0]

Actually, Shooto's weight classes are similar to American ones, but their closest counterparts are usually listed differently. For example (and the most relevant one in this case), 155lbs. is the limit for LW division in the US, while in Shooto that's the WW limit.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I just finished watching Gomi/Hansen, and _at best_ I'd call it a draw with a 10-9, 8-10, 10-9. Gomi won the first and third round, and controlled all but 3 minutes of that fight. Was Hansen getting Gomis back and sinking in the (unsuccessful) choke all he needed for the win? I don't know SHOOTO rules, but "winning" 20% of the fight doesn't seem all that fair.

 

Gomis takedown defense in that fight was very good. He reversed Hansens attempts several times, he won the fight standing, and certainly chose where the fight was going. I think out of all of the top 5, Gomi is the most well rounded - or at the very least, has shown me the most well rounded skills. I think his win over Jens Pulver is getting over looked, as Jens still should be considered a top fighter and the fight was decided standing. "Undersized" shouldn't really qualify in this case. Gomi showed excellent technique in that win, yet what he does in a fight tends to get over-looked. His fight with Jean Silva, for example, Gomi looked amazing in it, but that doesn't get factored in. So Gomis only real loss was to BJ Penn - and if you want to talk about size, here ya go. BJ muscled around Hughes at a higher weight class and competes at middleweight as well. I'd like to see Kawajiri or Shaolin or Hansen take on BJ and see how well they'd do.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Kawajiri would fuck BJ up at LW. I say this because I am a Kawajiri nuthugger.

[Lei Tong 0]

-The scores for Hansen/Gomi were 28-28, 29-28, & 29-28. Due to Shooto's "catch" rules, locked submissions give the applier an extra half point (Shooto also uses half points), and further the judges gave Hansen an extra half point, giving Hansen a full point advanatge in the 3rd. Gomi got the takedowns, but Hansen had no problem defending on his back of oft-times outworked him from there. The fact is, Gomi went into that round knowing he was down, but continued to be lackadaizacal and apparently assumed the judges would give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

- How does Pulver being undersized not matter? That's like saying Amar Suloev should've gotten credit for taking out Din Thomas, in spite of being nearly 25lbs. heavier than him at fight time. The fact is, Pulver had not been a threat at 155lbs, much less 160lbs in a long time, and had been training for a fight at 17lbs. below that only a month before. And if Gomi gets credit for taking out Pulver on his feet, what about Duane Ludwig & Jason Maxwell? I certainly don't hear much clamoring to get those extremely limited fighters ranked.

 

-I think Gomi's well-roundedness is a bit overrated. Azaredo exposed his standing defense a good bit, and Silva & Bennett are hardly ground fighters. His wrestling still stands up to the test, but his takedown D is questionable (Hansen has pretty average takedowns; certainaly uncomparable to the likes of Shaolin's).

 

- Trying to invalidate Gomi's legitimate loss to Hansen? Come on. Anyways, Penn was actually the 2nd fighter he's fought in his career who matched up to him size-wise, and it showed. Besides that, nobody would care much about the Penn loss if Gomi were beating some ranked opponents, instead of undersized opponents and limited regional fighters.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

- Gomi got better shots standing, he not only defended the takedown but turned them into advantagous positions for him, and he controlled the vast majority of the match. Judges decision regardless, this fight does not say to me that Hansen is a better fighter than Gomi.

 

- How does Pulver being undersized not matter?

 

Pulver had the height advantage, and the fight was at a weight that he had been fighting at in MMA for some time and that he could easily and naturally reach. There wasn't an instance where Gomi could have leveraged whatever "size advantage" he had against Pulver. In the end, in this fight, it was about technique.

 

And if Gomi gets credit for taking out Pulver on his feet, what about Duane Ludwig & Jason Maxwell? I certainly don't hear much clamoring to get those extremely limited fighters ranked.

 

If you want to go back that far, how come Jens isn't getting credit for beating BJ Penn? _In that fight_, Gomi showed excellent boxing skills. He worked combinations, he went to the body, he showed good form, showed he can take a punch, and he scored the knock out. I didn't see those 2 fights, but in the case of Duane Ludwig -a K-1 calibre striker who had a considerable reach advantage over Pulver- I don't see it as a huge detriment and shouldn't take away from the fact that Pulver is a top LW fighter who has his fair share of KO's. If Ludwig focused more on MMA perhaps he'd be considered on this list, there certainly was hype on him at one point in his career. In the end, Gomi deserves credit for his KO win over Pulver, not just because it looked good on paper, but also because he looked good in the ring.

 

-I think Gomi's well-roundedness is a bit overrated. Azaredo exposed his standing defense a good bit, and Silva & Bennett are hardly ground fighters. His wrestling still stands up to the test, but his takedown D is questionable (Hansen has pretty average takedowns; certainaly uncomparable to the likes of Shaolin's).

 

And Azaredo also exposed Gomis knockout power. The problems Azaredo gave Gomi in their fight (quick, unconventional, striking) was fixed with in Silva fight. Silva hardly a ground fighter, despite the vast majority of his wins coming from submissions? Even with that absurdity ignored, what Gomi did in that fight against this non-ground fighter was still very impressive. Who would you say in that division is more well rounded that Gomi?

 

- Trying to invalidate Gomi's legitimate loss to Hansen? Come on.

 

He had a single choke on Gomi and had control of the fight for 3 minutes. The rest of the fight was Gomi. Come on? I can't see how that fight proved to you that Hansen was not only a better fighter than Gomi, but enough of one to be ranked 2 spots higher and not to be the brunt of the "overrated" stigma and continual downplaying. Come on.

 

Anyways, Penn was actually the 2nd fighter he's fought in his career who matched up to him size-wise, and it showed. Besides that, nobody would care much about the Penn loss if Gomi were beating some ranked opponents, instead of undersized opponents and limited regional fighters.

 

I don't see where Gomi is this big monster in the division, size wise. You might have to explain that to me because I don't see it. The guy is lanky, and going by Sherdog is 5'6. Everyone in your top 4 is bigger than him.

[Lei Tong 0]

-Gomi got the best of Hansen standing, but again, he couldn't continue to do it when it counted: the 3rd round. In the 3rd round he essentially gave up the fight with a lackadaizacal effort from the top. Hell, people often give UFC shit for overrating the importance of simply obtaining and keeping top position. The fact is, Gomi lost the bout fairly, and I don't see how he could be ranked ahead of Hansen with comparable resumes and a head-to-head loss.

 

- Pulver had NO size advantage.

 

 

Gomi used that weight advantage every single time he struck Pulver. Weight plays a factor not only in the grapping aspect of MMA, but striking as well. The fact is, Pulver was never a big LW, and the talent in the weight division had become so that the size he gives up is no longer negated by his skills. Also, I don't know how you can say that Gomi's size advanatge didn't help him. This day and age in MMA, a fight between skilled fighters seperated by 15+lbs is never going to favor the smaller guy. As far as technique, Gomi was able to shrug off Pulver's shots and bang through Pulver's guard without any fear of retribution from a weaker fighter. The fact is, physical advantages had as much to do with that win as skill.

 

- No one's arguing that Lugwig isn't a good striker, but combined with the Maxwell loss, it's hard to give THAT much credit to yet another fighter for doing the same, especially one of arguablly more skill.

 

- I don't necessarily see how the flaws Azaredo exposed were fixed in the Silva fight, outside of Gomi taking the fight to the ground more often. As a striker, Gomi has always relied on his chin & wreslting ability to get him out of danger, as opposed to solid defense. Also, I meant to say "good" ground fighters (in regards to Silva & Bennet).over lackluster competition, but when faced with a decent grund fighter (Remedios, who's ground skills are far from elite), he needs his stand-up skills. As far more well rounded, I'd say Thomson & Edwards jump out. Both have solid striking, as well as good ground & submission skills. Thomson has some good takedown skills as well, and Yves has good takedown defense.

 

- As stated before, he won the fight based on the judging criteria. Besides, I rank him two spots ahead of Gomi because not only did he beat Gomi, but Yves Edwards has a better resume than Gomi as well. and thus gets placed just ahead of Takanori as well. Also, Hansen doesn't deal with the "overrated" stigma simply because no one ever talkes about him as being the #1 LW in the world as they do Gomi.

 

- As those pictures showed, Sherdog's stats are often inaccurate, from fighter stats to match endings, etc. Gomi has bulked up since arriving in Bushido (thanks to the 160lbs limit). He's bigger than Shaolin overall, and also bulkier than Edwards & Hansen. The issue was never that big until he came to PRIDE and started feasting on smaller men en route to his current overrated stature.

[Lei Tong 0]

Question: outside of conjecture based on in ring performances (in other words, strictly on who they have beaten), do you honestly think GOmi should be ranked #1 in the division?

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

As I stated before, Jens bulked up to about 175 now, so when he cuts down to 160, his size should be within about 5 lbs of Gomi at the very least, since Gomi walks around at about 180. The fight will be different the second time.

 

I don't understand how someone can say that size didn't matter, Gomi had about twenty pounds on Pulver in that fight, who only a month before was preparing for a boxing match at 143. Even still, Pulver is no longer a top ten LW. A guy like Kawajiri has beaten TWO top FIVE lw. No way can Gomi be ahead of him, or Shaolin or Yves who have wins against better opponents. Hansen beat him in a recent head to head ranking so I'd say that is why most put him at Number five. Well most SHOOTO fans that is.

 

I still think Josh Thomson will break out in this tourney. He was cocky in the Yves fight and I think if he keeps his head straight he has a legit shot to take the whole thing. He's been severely underrated since that loss to Yves, I guess because it is such an amazing visual.

[Lei Tong 0]

The thing is, very few fighters can simply "bulk up" and do better than they had been, unless they wre draining themselves making weight. More often than not, they either end up putting on too much excess weight (Murilo Rua), or drain themselves anyways when they have to cut that weight (Frank Mir).

[AboveAverage484 0]

If I could chip in with my two cents, Ludwig is a capable striker, but overrated somewhat by a lot of people. I think he's been dropped in all of his K-1 MAX fights at least once.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

The thing is, very few fighters can simply "bulk up" and do better than they had been, unless they wre draining themselves making weight. More often than not, they either end up putting on too much excess weight (Murilo Rua), or drain themselves anyways when they have to cut that weight (Frank Mir).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It doesn't sound unhealthy though, I doubt it's excess since he's a natural wrestler so his body is used to that sort of thing. I don't think he'd give up his quickness to bulk up, well too much of his quickness anyway. Then again, Monte Cox is a biased source for that sort of thing. I guess at the very least I'm hoping it's not too bad. If anything, maybe he drained himself in the first fight. He was cutting to 143, and looked drained at 158, which is approximately what he fought at, so it doesn't sound that difficult.

 

When has Frank ever had to cut weight?