UFC 76

[Cuban Linx 0]

Man, all the PRIDE guys other than Rampage must really miss their roids i guess. I look forward to Wanderlai losing to Houston Alexander or whoever in December.

 

Griffin/Tavares was really good as expected, Machida/Nakamura was awful, Sanchez looked 1000x better than his last fight but Fitch is just a beast, and the LHW division got turned upside down big time. Huge wins for Forrest and Jardine, god knows where they go with the division now. At least this settles that Rampage is definitively the #1 guy in the division now.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

- So, Tyson Griffin is your Fighter of The Year. That's it. Done. Set in stone. Tavares shows he could hang with some of the top-level guys in the division.

 

- If Nak had come alive in the first as opposed to the last thirty seconds of the 2'nd round and the 3rd this might have been an actual fight. Once again, Lyoto frustrates me by showing killer instinct in areas of his game but fails to capitalize on those instincts.

 

- Fuck this fight was good. Fitch should fight the winner of GSP/Serra or Hughes with Diego facing somebody like either Koscheck in a rematch or an up and comer like Marcus Davis or Thiago Alves. Close fight with the obvious argument standing at the end being ' How much do close-sub attempts and finishing the fight play into the decison?'

 

- There was a point in the second round where I went "Awwww fuck, Shogun is gassed" and those fears were confirmed in the third but I didn't expect that finish. Hey, I was thinking to myself earlier today ' It's a good thing I like Forrest because anybody else upsetting Shogun would really piss me off.' Great post-fight interview from Mr. Griffin to boot.

 

- Uhhhhhh......wow? Yeah, wow. Right after Chuck got dropped in the second he was a different fighter and Jardine smelled the blood and just went for it. To even have that as a split decision just shows the problems they have nowadays with judging. Fuck, tonight fucked up the 205 rankings.

[Diamonddust 0]

Damn, I wish I had seen this event.

[Darthtiki 0]

Just got back from the show, wow. Forrest holy fucking shit. Curry, I totally agree with you on your analysis on the Liddell fight. Fitch was a beast and it was nice to see Diego lose.

 

 

All that being said, the crowd was absolute shit (other than being made up mainly of a bunch of posers and brohoes). They booed everything, especially when it went to the ground. Not to mention I had a group of drunken retarded jerkoffs from Sacramento screaming 90 percent of the time, making me ashamed of being from Sacramento.

 

Seriously, Dana needs to write off California for a while at the least when it comes to PPVs.

[The Niggardly King 0]

My niggah Forresst did it

 

Too bad Nakamura didn't get the job done.

[The Niggardly King 0]

By MMATH Houston Alexander is the top contender in 205 division and Chuck is KING of the HEAVYWEIGHTS... I love my MMATH

[The Niggardly King 0]

Now I expect Wandy to get KO'd in the 1st and go into a coma by someone like Houston Alexander.

 

I never thought roids made that much of a difference in MMA. Crazy.

[Mik 0]

Houston Alexander needs to fight someone towards the top of the division.

 

He's 36 so if he's gonna make a move it needs to be soon.

 

That would be dope if he got Wandy.

 

Yeah Tyson Griffin is the man...of course Curry is right. Always a great fight. I thought it was the 3rd best fight last night and that's saying something because it was a GREAT fight.

 

Who do we all think Chuck is going to fight next? It's a must win so they'll feed him someone. I don't know.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

- Griffin/Tavares was crack, impressed by both fighters. A rematch in the distant future is defiently needed, I can't wait to see both fighters fight next.

 

- Machida dominated, he defiently should be in line for a title shot, but Dana won't give it to him because Machida doesn't finish fights. Machida would pwn pretty much most of the divison on points, his striking is very techncial. Good desicion by Forrest for not fighting Machida, and fighting Shogun instead.

 

- Sanchez should've gotten the desicion IMO, but still insanely close fight. And it makes me wonder how the fuck that stupid nigga Cecil Peoples is still an MMA judge... 30-27? Go fuck yourself. Sanchez is maturing more and more as a person, his post fight interview was very humble, I want to see him fight Thiago Alves next. As for Fitch... it's ashame him and Koscheck are teammates, that would've been a very good fight.

 

- Shogun looked sloppy and suprising gassed. Shogun has never been known to gas in his MMA career, so it shocked me big time. Forrest Griffins hardwork in the gym and efforts at getting better has paid off. I'm kind of dissapointed he won because I wanted my boy Rampage to get his rematch with Shogun. But hey, Shogun is still very young and will most likely be able to bounce back from this loss. Griffin-Jardine II will most likely happen in the near future.

 

- Jardine scored all night with those leg kicks. I always thought even before the fight was announced, that Jardine's legkicks could pose a problem for Chuck, but I never thought he would actually win. I still want to see Wanderlei Vs. Chuck, because BOTH fighters are coming off back to back losses, so the fight makes even more sense now. It just won't have the same meaning as it would've years ago.

 

 

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Word coming out the show is that Diego is thinking about dropping down to LW.

 

And the reason Shogun never gassed in PRIDE is because.....well, it's pretty obvious. I shouldn't need to come out and say it, so I'll use a visual aide......

 

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I disagreed with the Fitch decision as well as the Tavares decision, how someone gave all three rounds to Tyson is nuts.

 

It wasn't the roids so much as the lack of training. I just don't think he took it seriously. He didn't look that bad or gas in other fights he had in America.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

If thats the case, why isn't Bob Sapp a cardio machine?

[AboveAverage484 0]

I think this all just some huge conspiracy so that when Fedor finally comes to the cage, everyone will be favoring the "UFC" fighter and then Fedor just wins as usual.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I think this all just some huge conspiracy so that when Fedor finally comes to the cage, everyone will be favoring the "UFC" fighter and then Fedor just wins as usual.

 

Fedor is going to kill with elbows.

[Mik 0]

Well, if Fedor does sign his first opponent will be Randy.

 

And that's the day the world asplodes.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I think Jardine vs. Machida would be a good match. Or Machida vs. Alexander. Lyoto looked vicious at certain points during that fight but needs to get his gas tank to the point to where he can sustain that viciousness. After either win, Lyoto should be considered for a title shot, as I think Rampage vs. Machida would be a good fight, and 205 is fucked with mmath. Overall I thought it was a good win and a good fight, though Nakamura clearly missed the needle. I think Lyoto vs. Jardine, Griffin vs. Alexander as contender fights isn't completely insane to do.

 

Alves vs. Diego was a thought on my mind after the loss to Fitch, as well as a drop to 155. Either would be silly sick, especially Diego dropping weight. Diego vs. Koscheck II is also another option.

 

Speaking of dropping weight, Shogun should drop to 185. It was clear he couldn't deal with Forrests size, just like he had difficulty dealing with Diabate and Overeem. With those fights, however, he was able to capitalize on his opponent gassing early and equalize with stomps and soccer kicks. At 185 there aren't that many guys taller than him as most walk around at 6'1. As for his gassing, a combination of things led to it. First and foremost, the takedowns drained him, and I think Forrests size made that a two fold problem. His reach had Rua not wanting the fight standing and his weight made the takedowns all the harder to get. Secondly, Shogun was off for a while and didn't sustain his fight shape. Thirdly, and this will be discussed below, he didn't train like Forrest did. I honestly expected Forrest to win, but I am disappointed nonetheless. I took a number of positives out of this fight for Shogun and the things he needs to improve are things that can be done in the gym, it's just a matter of getting them done in the gym. Is Chute Boxe the place for that now is a good question.

 

I think the biggest issue to come out of this is that, simply put, Americans are the state of the art when it comes to training, and the world needs to catch up. Whether it comes to game planning or running ridiculous drills, the work isn't being put in at the level Internationally that the guys at the top American clubs are putting in.

 

Liddell was Liddell in the fight. Looking for the one punch knock out and not getting it. Jardine strung together strikes and had an actual game plan. Liddell got caught up in knocking out grapplers, forgetting he got took the distance with Busta, Suloev, and Belfort (hell, consider Horn if it wasn't a 5 rounder), who are certainly not world-beaters in the striking dept. but were able to not get caught with that one punch. Chuck never once changed up his strategy even when he was getting lit up and down, and he really needs to learn that lesson if he is to keep on fighting at 205. I'd say there are 3 options, one is a fight with Wanderlei, the other is a fight with Mirko Cro Cop, and the final one is move up in weight and hunt down Randy.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

In regards to the 10 point must, I don't think it needs a huge revamping, I do think the scoring criteria favours GnP and not submissions. Striking, Grappling, Aggressiveness, Octagon Control, Damage - that pretty much all would go to a guy who holds the other guy down and punches him. I think Aggressiveness needs to be changed to "Fight Finishing". A guy who catches a submission is trying to finish a fight, while a guy who is throwing punches from guard and isn't Fedor, isn't. However, that could be considered more aggressive than the submission attempts, and ditto the control issue. "Damage" also needs to be redefined or reconsidered as a criteria as you don't do much damage with submissions, but they are nonetheless as dangerous as a good strike.

 

Also, most of the judges are guys with striking backgrounds and seem unwilling to give 10-10 rounds, which I felt some fights last night warranted.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I think Chuck is just too used to fighting grapplers. If he fights utilizing all of the weapons he has (which you'll see in some of his old fights) he would be a much more dynamic fighter. He should really kick a lot more than he does and use more combinations. He's capable of it, he's just become too dependent on his one punch power. Also, he probably could have GnP'ed his way to victory if he decided to take Jardine down.

 

Shogun was always bloated with the roids, which is why he could compete at 205. But I don't think that was the only reason he lost. A lot of it had to do with him not training properly, and you're right about American camps. They're the most knowledgable when it comes to properly preparing guys for big fights in terms of fight shape.

 

Nakamura doesn't seem like he was ever on the sauce, he was just overwhelmed by a better fighter.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

It really amused me that many people thought Machida/Nakamura would be a great fight because of Nakamura...I had honestly wondered if anyone had seen him fight before. Nakamura was severely disliked by the Japanese because he had boring fights. Nakamura/Nakajima is one of those fights that the usual polite Japanese fans turned on VIOLENTLY.

 

I don't find Machida boring. I've watched many of his fights, and he doesn't bore me...If anything, his style facinates me. There is no one in MMA right now that fights like Lyoto. He is probably easily in the top five right now, I've never seen him in danger in any aspect of his fights, and his style gives people major problems...He's a counter fighter. He waits for the opponent to do something, then counters. In this fight, he actually went on the aggression some which was nice to see...but that was most likely because he didn't respect Nakamura as an elite fighter. There was no aspect of this fight that Nakamura had any hope for. He couldn't take Machida down very easily, and when he did, Machida was just waiting for a submission. On the feet, Nakamura got the rare shot, but Machida was just griding him down into nothing.

 

I'd really like to see Machida against a hyper aggressive fighter like Houston Alexander. Although I think Machida could take him out with his style, it'd be interesting to watch.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Your Nak hate is sickening.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I'd rank Rampage, Hendo, Shogun, Jardine and Forrest all above Lyoto in terms of rankings at the moment.

 

And while we're at it with the fantasy-booking, I'd roll with Jardine vs Wandy in December for shot at Rampage while Forrest fights either Lyoto or Houston.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

http://www.youtube.com/user/TubaraoFloripa

 

Two Griffin Fights from last night

[AmericanDragon 0]

[Mik 0]

Keith was looking pretty badass when he was bleeding from both sides of his face.

 

But Chuck is probably not even walking today. Or if he is, it's very gingerly.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva, anyone? Screw this December bullshit, have this fight happen as Silvas first and let the division sort itself out in the mean time.

[Mik 0]

Yeah... that's another question: who is next for Rampage?

 

All the fights I'm coming up with would be a #1 contender match, which only leaves the question of who the #1 contender is NOW.

 

I got nothing.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

You don't wanna throw Wanderlei in with the champ in his first fight. Build him up a little for the fans and for his own confidence. He's coming off two bad KO losses, he deserves a break.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Rampage IS the break

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Rampage IS the break

 

Are you serious? Rampage is not the same fighter who got thumped by Wanderlei twice.

 

Rampage is a different fighter under Juanito Ibarra, and now that he was better fighters to train and sparr with, and considering Wanderlei Silva looks to be a shell of his former self, I would have no problems taking Rampage if the fight happens.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Do you even know why Rampage lost those fights?