UFC 74

[Lei Tong 0]

Man, I dunno what I'm most impressed by. Koschecks amazing jiu jitsu ability to do dicknothing off his back, or his superbulous stand up skills that consisted of loading up and throwing overhand rights. I was completely wrong about the guy. I truly do know nothing about this sport.

 

All props for a good fight by GSP aside (of which he deserves a great deal), you're again missing the point. YPOV never said that Koscheck's proficiency in BJJ should be measured by what he can or cannot do off of his back. If going solely by that measure, GSP's BJJ must sucks ass too, considering the only signinficant thing he's ever done from there was get submitted by Hughes.

 

As for the stand-up, again, YPOV only ever stated that Koscheck would probably be able to use his stand-up well enough to set-up a takedown. Given that he only attempted a single shot in the fight that I can recall, it's a toss-up as to whether this reflects more on Kocheck's impotence standing or inability to take the initiviative tonight.

 

 

Also, while a bit drunk and fucking sick of telling people all nigh thtey're violating dress code, I'm fairly confident in saying that I'd take GOnzaga in a rematch, if only because I think him bustung his nose up only happens 1/10 times Randy nails that high crotch.

[starvenger 0]

I imagine somebody in the vein of either Vera, Nog or Mirko will be next for Randy.

Vera's taking on Sylvia circa 76 or 77, so it's probably not him. Nog or Mirko would probably make the most sense, or if Henderson makes it past Rampage, you might as well have him fight for a 4th belt. why the hell not, eh?

[Diamonddust 0]

Roger Huerta in sprawl mode was fucking amazing. Using the bigscreens to rain perfect back elbows was genius on all levels.

 

My favorite moment in the Gonzaga-Couture fight was Couture seemingly no-selling what appeared to be a clean high kick near the end of the fight.

 

Huerta using the monitors was one of the best things since Arlovski was warned and then sucker punched Cruz at UFC 66.

 

Agreed. I was going nuts when he did that. Cool on so many levels.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

 

The $25,000 choke. Apparently Heath wore a shirt to the octagon that had Babalu's mugshot on it.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Did he get fined for that?

 

I'm really happy to see GSP and Randy whoop that ass. BRING ON FEDOR NOW! Except this time I won't be laughing when they say that. To me there is no bigger fight in the world than Randy vs. Fedor right now.

 

Surprised by Cote, he really showed some killer instinct that he's lacked in a lot of his big fights. He's making good on the potential many saw in him a few years ago. To be fair though, Grove has always been a bit chinny.

 

What else can be said about GSP? The sports psychologist must have done their job because he showed none of the mental weaknesses many were accusing him of. He really took this fight seriously, though I don't know about the supposed move to Jackson's. Koscheck will be fine, but he appeared to lose initiative once he realized that he wouldn't be able to take down Georges at will. Hopefully they give him an easier fight, as he's still got a lot of potential.

 

Guida beating Aurelio was pretty sweet. I haven't been to Sherdog yet but I imagine there are a bunch of "UFC LW>PRIDE LW" threads now.

 

Best UFC card...ever. I said it.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Certainly up there with UFC's 49, 52, 57 and 58 but until I see the three undercard fights I'll reserve judgement.

 

Easily the best thing UFC has done since the Fisher vs Stout UFN.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

UFC 57 is another good one, but what puts this over the top for me is the EPIC~! nature of the main events and how they actually lived up to billing. Keep in mind anytime Randy dominates a main event I'm inclined to love it, before this UFC 68 was probably my favourite UFC card of the year.

 

UFC 52 was awesome, but the main events were considerably shorter. That doesn't always matter, but in this case it's kind of like a tie-breaker I guess.

 

Randy Couture is the best example I can think of, of an athlete squeezing out every single drop of potential that they possibly can. The UFC hype machine tells all kids to aspire to be more like Randy, and they're right.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

49 was fucking awesome. One of the greatest KO's of all time in Edwards/Thompson, one of the best fights in UFC history in Karo/Diaz. Kyle/Eilers was a gully knockout too. Lindland getting housed. Lytle/Jhun and Riggs/Dirte were both good. Chuck/White is one of the better Chuck fights. Randy/Vitor slows it down but Randy mauling him and turning his white shorts pink with Vitor's blood was faboo.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

UFC 49 is probably the best all-round UFC card ever.

 

Was it just me, or did Koscheck's stand up solely consist of throwing his right hand as hard as he could and hoping it landed somewhere? GSP taking him down in less than thirty seconds, when Koscheck claimed it wouldn't happen at all, was sweet. GSP just owned him on the ground, and while not a great fight it was one I enjoyed because Koscheck had nothing to counter GSP.

 

What more can you say about Randy that hasn't been said already? The guy is phenomenal. I don't think anyone gave him a serious chance. Sure, plenty of people wanted him to win, but I didn't see many people seriously thinking he could do it. If Mirco can KO Check Kongo with a high kick, we might get Randy/Mirco after all. It won't mean as much is would have pre-Gonzaga, but it should draw very nicely.

 

That crowd HATED Babalu for not letting go of the choke. There were 'asshole' catcalls all over the place after the finish got replayed on the big screen. It's good that he got fined, because that kind of thing is something UFC doesn't need. If you haven't seen the fight, you have to in order to get a real sense pf how badly Heath was bleeding. It was splattering all over the mat. Just crazy, and one of the biggest blood showers in UFC history.

 

And yes, Huerta using the big screen to help was awesome. Outside of Randy winning, it was the moment of the night.

[Rendclaw 0]

You simply cannot let Randy in close, or he is going to peck you to death with short punches, elbows and knees. Once he got that takedown and Gonzaga's nose exploded, it was all but over. He tried to keep Randy at bay in the beginning of Round 3, but by that time he had no real force and power behind his punches. It was obvious that he was trying to go for the home run by throwing a high kick, but it was way too late.

 

As much as I get sick of Rogan verbally fellating guys, he was absolutely right in that Randy's Greco-Roman/Dirty Boxing style was perfect for the octagon. Your only real chance is to do what Chuck did back when he knocked Randy out, and that is to keep the distance and punish Randy for trying to close in. Also, be patient: Gonzaga was trying to go for a little too much too soon, and Randy's defense allowed him to shrug off most of Gonzaga's offense and get inside.

 

All that being said, what Randy's doing is just amazing.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I forgot to mention 'that' high kick. For a split second, when it landed with full force I was worried. And then Randy shrugged it off like it was nothing, not even acknowledging it. That was fantastic.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

As soon as Gonzaga's nose exploded, it was really just a matter of time before the fight ended. Before that, I thought Couture was winning, but he wasn't really hurting Gonzaga a whole lot. After the nose blowing up, Gonzaga got desperate, but it was mostly Couture just griding him down.

 

I don't know the extent of Gonzaga's injury, but I wouldn't be surprised if his orbital bone got smashed as well. He couldn't see, which is what he tried to tell Herb Dean. Unluckily for him, Dean's a dick, and just got mad. If Gonzaga's seeing was limited, and he couldn't breathe, then as much of a Couture fan as I am, I'm not really impressed by the win. It'd be more like random shit occuring took place that beat Gonzaga with Couture just making it worse.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

The Babalu and Mir fights are up on DailyMotion. Heath/Babalu was a good fight, sucks that Babalu likely won't be welcomed back because he looked good here. Watching how much blood Heath lost I'm gonna side with Rogan's commentary which was that Mazzagatti should've stopped the fight. Then again, it's Stevie Mazz.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Gonzaga said to Herb Dean that he couldn't see, but then said he could fight and wanted to continue. Telling the referee you can't see is going to make him want to stop the fight. That Gonzaga said he couldn't see just because he wanted his eye cleaned up, something Herb told him they couldn't do, is probably what annoyed Herb.

 

It's a reach to call Gonzaga's nose breaking 'random shit', when it happened as a result of Couture slamming the guy to the mat. 'Random' would be a fluke clash of heads when locking up, similar to Belfort getting cut at UFC 49. Nothing 'random' about Couture slamming Gonzaga to the mat.

 

Some post-UFC 74 notes from F4W:

 

Despite not appearing at the UFC show last night, it is still believed that Brock Lesnar has either signed with UFC or will sign imminently.

 

Randy Couture said he wants Fedor Emelianenko. There is another meeting this week and if Fedor signs, the match seems guaranteed, perhaps for December which is looking to be the new annual WrestleMania-style PPV from the company. If not, it'll likely be Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, which is intriguing because the two have been training together.

 

Joe Stevenson apparently broke his jaw in round one of last night's fight.

 

At the press conference, Dana claimed a sold out crowd of 11,118 for a gate of $3.5 million.

[Mik 0]

I just got back from the ocean and missed this PPV... you guys are killing me calling it one of the best in years.

 

Damn it.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

It is random, because if you repeated that same takedown in a difference place in the octagon, at a different time, with Gonzaga not grabbing the fence, his nose/face most likely would not have been smashed to bits. It's called variables, it was a freak occurance during a takedown that even IF you repeated that same situation with the same variables again probably would not happen in that correct order with the same result. Repeat that again, and Gonzaga might have just banged his nose, again and it might have done nothing to him. Again and that angle could have KO'd him.

 

That is the definition of "random".

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

They will bring Babalu back, if only to have him fight Shogun.

[Brush with Greatness 0]

Here's an idea:

 

Don't get slammed, but if you are going to get slammed, don't grab the fence.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Man, I dunno what I'm most impressed by. Koschecks amazing jiu jitsu ability to do dicknothing off his back, or his superbulous stand up skills that consisted of loading up and throwing overhand rights. I was completely wrong about the guy. I truly do know nothing about this sport.

 

All props for a good fight by GSP aside (of which he deserves a great deal), you're again missing the point. YPOV never said that Koscheck's proficiency in BJJ should be measured by what he can or cannot do off of his back. If going solely by that measure, GSP's BJJ must sucks ass too, considering the only signinficant thing he's ever done from there was get submitted by Hughes.

 

As for the stand-up, again, YPOV only ever stated that Koscheck would probably be able to use his stand-up well enough to set-up a takedown. Given that he only attempted a single shot in the fight that I can recall, it's a toss-up as to whether this reflects more on Kocheck's impotence standing or inability to take the initiviative tonight.

 

 

Also, while a bit drunk and fucking sick of telling people all nigh thtey're violating dress code, I'm fairly confident in saying that I'd take GOnzaga in a rematch, if only because I think him bustung his nose up only happens 1/10 times Randy nails that high crotch.

 

No.

 

His Striking is Really Good

His BJJ is Really Good

 

Both said. Both wrong. As evidenced by the fact that when GSP took away Joshes wrestling, Koscheck looked like an amateur in the fight.

[v.2 0]

Since when does BJJ only occur on your back anyway. Do you think the goal all of us big guys have in sport BJJ is to get to our backs so we can triangle the other bit guys with their enormous shoulders and our huge thighs?

 

 

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Yeah, you know what, you're absolutely right. If I walk into any BJJ club I won't see anyone on their back. What a silly thing for me to think.

 

 

[Lei Tong 0]

But would you also say that GSP's BJJ, for example is also unproven (the word I believe you used), given the fact that he's shown as little off of his back as Koscheck?

[v.2 0]

Yeah, you know what, you're absolutely right. If I walk into any BJJ club I won't see anyone on their back. What a silly thing for me to think.

 

I was on your side. What I meant to say is that you can do plenty of BJJ from the top, like pass guard, attempt submissions, and keeping a strong base. BJJ, in other words, is not limited to what you can do from your back.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I thought Gonzaga's nose was smashed by Randy's head on the one belly to belly takedown, not on the one where his face hit the mat. If I had to choose between someone's skull or the mat doing that much damage, I'd choose the former. I don't think they ever showed it clearly enough either way.

[Just call me Dan 0]

Do you all find the win for Couture a little tainted? Nothing shady went on by any means, but although Randy looked great, had the nose not been busted, would he have won?

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

It is random, because if you repeated that same takedown in a difference place in the octagon, at a different time, with Gonzaga not grabbing the fence, his nose/face most likely would not have been smashed to bits. It's called variables, it was a freak occurance during a takedown that even IF you repeated that same situation with the same variables again probably would not happen in that correct order with the same result. Repeat that again, and Gonzaga might have just banged his nose, again and it might have done nothing to him. Again and that angle could have KO'd him.

 

That is the definition of "random".

The nature of Gonzaga's injury might have been random, but that he was injured was not.

 

And it turns out Gonzaga broke Randy's arm in the third round:

 

http://thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=4673

 

For good measure, here's the payroll for UFC 74 courtesy of UFCjunkie.com:

 

The total disclosed payroll for UFC 74 was $755,000.

 

Clay Guida — $14,000 total

$7,000 to show

$7,000 win bonus

 

Marcus Aurelio — $30,000 total

$30,000 to show

Win bonus would have been $30,000

 

Thales Leites — $18,000 total

$9,000 to show

$9,000 win bonus

 

Ryan Jensen — $4,000 total

$4,000 to show

Win bonus would have been $4,000

 

Frank Mir — $66,000 total

$36,000 to show

$30,000 win bonus

 

Antoni Hardonk — $8,000 total

$8,000 to show

Win bonus would have been $8,000

 

Renato Sobral — $50,000 total

$25,000 to show

$25,000 win bonus

 

David Heath — $6,000 total

$6,000 to show

Win bonus would have been $6,000

 

Patrick Cote — $24,000 total

$12,000 to show

$12,000 win bonus

 

Kendall Grove — $12,000 total

$12,000 to show

Win bonus would have been $12,000

 

Joe Stevenson — $32,000 total

$16,000 to show

$16,000 win bonus

 

Kurt Pellegrino — $8,000 total

$8,000 to show

Win bonus would have been $8,000

 

Roger Huerta — $34,000 total

$17,000 to show

$17,000 win bonus

 

Alberto Crane — $4,000 total

$4,000 to show

Win bonus would have been $4,000

 

Georges St. Pierre — $140,000 total

$70,000 to show

$70,000 win bonus

 

Josh Koscheck — $10,000 total

$10,000 to show

Win bonus would have been $10,000

 

Randy Couture — $250,000 total

$250,000 to show

No win bonus awarded

 

Gabriel Gonzaga — $45,000 total

$45,000 to show

Win bonus would have been $45,000

 

Do you all find the win for Couture a little tainted? Nothing shady went on by any means, but although Randy looked great, had the nose not been busted, would he have won?

 

Shit happens in a fight. Nothing tainted about Randy's win just because Gonzaga broke his nose early in the right. That kind of thing happens regularly, with a guy getting injured in the fight and going on to win or lose. Look at Randy.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

The medical suspensions:

 

http://boxing.nv.gov/2007%20Results/08-25-07%20MMA.pdf

[Brush with Greatness 0]

When salaries are always listed, I never see bonuses for finishing fights. Do guys get such bonuses and they are just not disclosed, or do they not exist?

[Mik 0]

There are all types of bonuses that aren't included in those figures.

 

Fight of the night, best knockout, best sub, etc. etc.. I'm sure Dana makes a few up on the spot.

 

And the main eventers usually earn a % of the PPV gross, so Randy's gross is probably 3-4x what's listed there.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

From Josh Barnett's site.....

 

"UFC Heavyweight title? Not in my eyes. Written by Josh Barnett Tuesday, 28 August 2007

 

Let's get straight to it and say that Randy did a phenomenal job at UFC 74 in defending his title. As a fan and a fellow Washingtonian I was happy to see him win. But as for the title itself -- it still sits in my house. No one in UFC ever beat me for it, and as far as I am concerned, no one in the UFC can be the heavyweight champion until they take that belt off of me in the cage.

 

At the post fight press conference, Dana White said "there isn't anyone in the world that can beat this guy" in reference to Randy. All this because Randy beat a guy that had less than ten fights and only one noteworthy win?

 

That's not even a world championship level fight, let alone reason to proclaim the winner as "unbeatable". This comment was made even more ridiculous by the fact that I was standing right there, living proof that Randy Couture is definitely beatable.

 

"Unbeatable", Dana says. If he actually believes that, I'm more than willing to step into the cage and prove him wrong. It wouldn't even have to be for the belt. I already got the real belt. They can keep their pile of brass they purport as the UFC Heavyweight Title and put it on their next paper champ."