Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted November 6, 2005 I figure over the coming weeks and months we are all going to get to know who loves this guy and who hates that guy but this will help us all understand where the fanboy-ism is coming from. That and so you all can understand why Rudo would have Fedor's child if it was possible. Team Curry: Georges "Rush" St. Pierre It's a damn shame that too many guys in MMA have the word "future" thrown into the nickname because this guy truly is the future of the sport. It is going to be a fucking WAR between him and Hughes. Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen Man does this guy scare me. In his pre-fight promo vs Yves Edwards from PRIDE's Bushido: The Tournament he talks about hitting Edwards and hitting him hard. Not the most original statement but the way he said it had a cold evil to it. I've gotta invest in some Shooto tapes. Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski Alongside Shogun vs St. Pierre, Arlovski vs Fedor is one of my current dream matches. I can't see anybody in the UFC fucking around with this guy in a while and I look forward to the stomping he's going to give Mir. Vampire teeth mouthguard = awesomeness. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lei Tong 0 Report post Posted November 6, 2005 Pretty much all of Killer Bee (Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, Akira Kikuchi, Koutetsu Boku, Atsushi Yamamoto, etc.), as well as Hatsu Hioki, Ganjo Tentsuku, and AKIHIRO FREAKIN' GONO. I might do some write-ups later. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sass 0 Report post Posted November 6, 2005 Andrei Arlovski, Matt Hughes, Nick Diaz, George St. Pierre, and Shogun. Arlovski - this guy is a mack truck and no one's gotten close to stopping him. I so want to see him run through PRIDE's top heavy's and would shell out $50 with no problem to see a UFC/PRIDE heavy show happen. Hughes - he fights like he's 200 instead of 170. The last fight Hughes had with Trigg made me a Hughes fan. The "heart" and determination this guy has to be the best shows whenever he fights. Hughes is an entertaining guy inside and outside of the ring. He's the king of the mountain and I don't see anyone taking him out. Nick Diaz - this guy is one the toughest guys to fight in the UFC right now. He's *amazing* with his ability to squirm out of bad ground situations and I think getting caught with a submission is just something I don't see happening to this guy. This guy is the one UFC fighter who always manages to impress me. Rush - Canadian's are not pussy's. This guy is spectacular to watch. He's unpredictable and comes to fight every time. Shogun - the king of PRIDE. He fights at a lighter weight but he fights like he's 2 bills, just like Hughes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lei Tong 0 Report post Posted November 6, 2005 Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto Purebred Tokyo/ Killer Bee 5'4, 145lbs 12-1 Strengths: World class wrestler; powerful; viscious G&P; heavy hands both standing and on the ground; improved striking; solid chin Weaknesses: Smallish FW, even smaller LW; limited submission skills; often reckless Biggest wins: Tetsuo Katsuta (TKO/G&P) Jeff "The Frog" Curran (UnaDec), Caol Uno (TKO/cut) Akira Kikuchi Purebred Tokyo/Killer Bee 5-8, 167lbs. 13-1 Strengths: Good judoka with good takedowns and takedown defense; very good top fighter with good submissions & G&P; strong; improved stand-up Weakness: Somewhat ineffective off his back; often relies too much on overpowering opponents; does not match up well with the division's best Biggest wins: Jake Shields (UnaDec), Katsuya Inoue (TKO), Jutaro Nakao (SplitDec) Akihiro Gono Team Grabaka 5'9, 183lbs. 23-11-7 Strengths: Well rounded striker with good leg and body kicks; good ground fighter; well rounded; very tough to submit Weaknesses: Not a great finisher; often has trouble finding his rythym when pressured heavily; often lackadaisical Biggest Wins: Crosley Gracie (UnaDec), Daniel Acacio (UnaDec), Ivan Salaverry (KO/spinning back kick) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted November 6, 2005 I became a Gono fan after seeing the bomb-ass liver shot he threw down on Daniel Acacio (sp?) at the Bushidio show. Too bad he fucked around with Henderson because all it did was motivate Dan to punch his head off. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Fedor Emelianenko: The smartest fighter on the planet. There are guys like Kevin Randleman who have all the physical tools, but for some reason can't put it together and live up to their natural potential. Fedor isn't like that. Look at Fedor. His physique isn't anything impressive. He's not ripped like a lot of fighters are nowadays, yet he is able to go 20 minutes at an insane pace. The reason? His training. The guy runs forever to make sure he can outwork the guy across the ring from him. He doesn't spend time in the gym living weights and getting cut, the way he builds strength is by sparring a lot. He's practical, efficient. Watching him fight is like watching a How To Compete tape on MMA. Plus he's very well rounded. Strong grappling, striking, conditioning, and defense. Georges St. Pierre: The guy is damn near close to perfect. It's like the Canadian Government took the money they should be spending on Defense and put it towards creating GSP, with the assumption that he take on any attackers and defeat them with ease. Bring it on, world. You ain't got shit on Rush. Shogun: He's like Wanderlei Silva, but with better wrestling, submissions and ground, more aggression, and diverse striking. So yeah... Fighter of the Year in 2005, with quite possibly the most dominant year in MMA history. Honourable Mentions: Hansen - I haven't seen a bad fight out of him yet. The guy just doesn't give a fuck. Great skills. Gomi - Great hands, and he comes right atcha. I dig that. Hits so hard. Franklin - I've been a fan once I saw him in the UFC for the first time against Tanner, and the guy is good. Well duh. I don't know if he's the top guy at 185, but then again, I don't think we've seen his best yet. Hendo - C'mon, he's Hendo. He's always on the list. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lei Tong 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 I became a Gono fan after seeing the bomb-ass liver shot he threw down on Daniel Acacio (sp?) at the Bushidio show. Too bad he fucked around with Henderson because all it did was motivate Dan to punch his head off. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> To be fair, while Gono has a good gas tank, the fight with Acacio obviously took a bit out of him. I mean fighting Hendo at 185 is a tall order anyways, but having to fight a very fresh Dan after having gone 15 minutes with another Top 10 fighter? Not exactly an envious position. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 By "fucked with" I was referring to Gono constantly complaining to the ref which seemed to rile Hendo up more. I knew going into that fight that Gono had slim to no chance of winning, he just didn't help his cause out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KingPK 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Diego Sanchez - I loved watching him shove Diaz' words down his throat last night. That, and I love his postmatch comments when he's asked to watch the replay. "Oh, that was a nice punch." Matt Hughes - See Sass' comments on him. Luke Cummo - He's got a personality that separates him from the other fighters and he's got a lot of heart. I hope we see him again soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sass 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Cummo's a marketing dream for the UFC waiting to happen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Somebody needs to kidnap Dana and tell him that tournaments are not a bad thing, especially with the current WW Division they have. Assuming Hughes is the champ make it for #1 Contender. - Riggs - Stevenson - GSP - Diaz - Sanchez - Miller - Parysian - Cummo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sass 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 An Ultimate Ultimate show (sans the UFC heavy's) would work for just about every (important) weight class the UFC has. The word "tournament" has some prestige to it and the UFC has the talent(s) to run such a show. There's no telling if the show would be good or suck but it'd be loaded with *good* talent and that's always a plus towards having a fun show. Dana and the money marks should do at least one tourney show this year. If Luke would win, holy shit, bust out the "I'm a geek and a I RULE~!" commercials. That's where the UFC could start to gain *many* viewers: establish a connection between fans. Batman is the most popular super hero in the world because fanboys *think* they could be him. His books are one of the highest selling properties DC has under their banner. Luke could be the UFC's Batman. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
razazteca 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 UFC Grand Prix would be a good thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 It's a shame that their HW division is in shambles at the moment though it looks like they're taking the nescessary steps to try and rebuild it. I think they've finally actually taken a look at PRIDE's division and realized how weak theirs is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sass 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 I think the heavyweight ranks will need to be realigned if the heavyweight division is going to get some rehab. I mean, it's open to anyone from 206 to 265...which seems very PRIDEish to me. I'd feel sorry for the 206 pound bastard who takes up a fight with the 240 + Arlovski. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Brian Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Anyone close enough to 230 walking is going to drop the weight over six weeks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Brian Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Anyone close enough to 230 walking is going to drop the weight over six weeks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KingPK 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Hell, I'd just include the champs and put a cash prize on the line (say $250,000 or something). I guess they wouldn't mix weight classes because a Diego/Arlovski fight would probably end up with them breaking out the squegee to wipe what's left of Sanchez out of the octagon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Why hasn't the UFC made attempts to bring in guys that PRIDE hasn't had use for in a while like, oh I dunno, Heath Herring? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sass 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Dan Severn, IIRC, would cut like 30 pounds before weigh-ins and then gain it all back for his fights. I mean, I think the Beast was tipping the scales at 280 for his fights when he first started out in the UFC, which I thought was ridiculous but not unexpected from a wrestler. Nowadays, the Beast goes in at 250ish, which, for a guy pushing 50, is pretty goddamn big. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sass 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Brian, are you going to list the fighters you're diggin or not? I'm curious to see who your picks are. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 I read somewhere that Brandon Lee Hinkle vs Brandon Vera has been tenatively added to the UFC 56 card. I'm assuming that Vera bulked up as I don't see Hinkle slimming down to LH. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AboveAverage484 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Why hasn't the UFC made attempts to bring in guys that PRIDE hasn't had use for in a while like, oh I dunno, Heath Herring? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Herring is under contract with K-1. Same goes for Goodridge and Frye. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 That makes sense then. They really need a breakout HW star in UFC right now because there's nobody around that could even give Arlovski a bit of a challenge. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KingPK 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 I dunno, giving him a Tyson-esque run of just beating fools and then going into the crowd and beating their relatives would be highly entertaining to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 UFC should make a deal with K-1. K-1 fighters on UFC shows, UFC fighters on K-1 shows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Sapp vs Imes would be a delicious freakshow of a fight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lei Tong 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Any K-1 connection would be noteworthy only for making Fat Boy's return to the UFC slightly less improbable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AboveAverage484 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Any K-1 connection would be noteworthy only for making Fat Boy's return to the UFC slightly less improbable. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You're referring to Barnett I assume? I figure since he's already fought twice for Pride that he would want to stick around with them considering that the paychecks would be better. K-1's 155 division is better than the UFC's right now. That's sad, considering K-1 has been doing MMA for only a little more than a year now. I would dig Sam Greco vs. Arlovski. If Greco could keep it standing, Andrei might be in trouble. Don't forget about Lyoto Machida either. I'm liking this suggestion of a UFC/K-1 deal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LooseCannon25 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Right now i'm feelin (in a hetero way): Andrei Arlovski --- Tremendous standup skills and amazing hand speed and technical precision to his boxing. Great movement. This guy is becoming a star and he's only gonna get better Quinton Jackson --- Seems remotivated and has new team, which i think he needed. Looked very good against Yokoi at Pride: Fully Loaded. This guy is dangerous if he stays focused. Karo Parysian ---- I'm upset that he won't be fighting Hughes, but his time will come. Very exciting style and is always pushing ther pace. This guy has a ton of heart and will stand up and bang with you too. Joel Villasenor ---Apparently, this guy has been contacted by Pride and feelers have been thrown his way. Very good fighter, with devasting KO power . Also not a bad ground guy either. Has dominated KOTC for a while now and it's time to step up to the big leagues now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
