UFC 91: Couture vs Lesnar

[Lord of The Curry]

Quarry hasnt been TQ for a while now IIRC.

[Lt. Al Giardello]

Those guys are far too experienced for him at this point and all would probably murder him, style matchups alone. A guy like Quarry is well-rounded enough to test him while giving him a chance to choke out another Team Quest fighter.

 

But if you go by the rankings Maia deserves one of those kind of opponets. He just beat MacDonald who is pretty much the fighter if you beat you're in the top middleweight class, so he deserves a top middleweight.

[Lord of The Curry]

That's pretty much what I meant. I'm aware that the trio of Silva Victims is a big step up for Maia but I can't see how beating Nate Quarry is going to advance his stock in the division all that much.

 

Oh and after the type of performance he put in against Phalhares I think Maia would have more then a decent chance at beating Hendo.

[Lei Tong]

You can talk about Maia falling back down the latter if Quarry manages to beat him, but the same thing would happen should he step up too soon, as YPOV alluded to. MacDonald was a slam dunk style match-up: a fellow BJJ'er with weak striking and inferior wrestling, yet Maia still struggled mightily with him. With the effort they've put forthing building him up as a future champion, I can see why they're going for a slow burn with the guy. I don't necessarily agree with it, but they have their reasons.

[Lord of The Curry]

Struggled mightily = not giving credit to MacDonald's toughness. He got put through a grappling rape-fest that most guys would've succumbed to much earlier.

[Hawkius Maximus]

Quarry/Maia is a good match up, because it's a win win.

 

Say what you will about Mr. "Rock", but UFC REALLY likes him. The fact that he has a truly inspirational message to be told since his return and his complete mocking of Kalib are two things that I'm sure Dana White absolutely loves.

 

No matter how that fight goes, UFC can use it easily. Maia can prove he's a legitimate guy by beating someone who had a UFC Middleweight title shot, or Quarry can prove that he's the best he's ever been. He has won twice since his major surgery, and overall he is 10-2. So, the case can be made that Quarry isn't a "step down" at all, really.

[Mik]

Yeah... in the UFC's eyes I guarantee that Quarry isn't far below those others mentioned in terms of the middleweight picture. Obviously we might not agree but I could easily see Quarry getting a shot if he strings 2-3 more wins together.

[Lei Tong]

Struggled mightily = not giving credit to MacDonald's toughness. He got put through a grappling rape-fest that most guys would've succumbed to much earlier.

 

"Struggled mightily" relative to guys like Franklin, Okami or even Starnes & Carter if you want to go back. And that's considering that MacDonald pretty much played into Maia's greatest strengths, which guys such as Marquardt, Henderson and/or Franklin would most definitely not. Thus far, Maia's best competition has almost exclusively been other grapplers with limited stand-up (MacDonald, Herman, Ximu), so Quarry will give Maia something new to deal with if nothing else.

[Hawkius Maximus]

There's also the fact that matching up new contenders against people Silva murdered is very bad match making. The odds of Quarry or Maia losing to people like "Nate the Great" and Henderson are at the very least 50/50. If the person who lost to Silva wins without showing improvement, then what do you have? A situation where no one gives the former challenger a shot against Silva, which results in a poor buyrate which means less money.

 

The only reason Franklin's second fight with Silva worked at all is because Franklin has credibility with fans, and he was trying to reclaim his title. If that had been his second SHOT at the title, it would have done even worse.

 

Matching up Maia and Quarry, both who would be new challengers for Silva against each other makes it for sure that one of them moves closer.

[BruteSquad_BRODY]

http://mma.fanhouse.com/2008/09/20/randy-c...-carwin-as-his/

 

Randy's training w/ Shane Carwin

 

Smart move for sure!

[Lord of The Curry]

Yeah, they mentioned on Inside MMA last night that Carwin is the only big HW with close to the wrestling pedigree that Brock has.

[Lei Tong]

Yeah, they mentioned on Inside MMA last night that Carwin is the only big HW with close to the wrestling pedigree that Brock has.

 

Well, that's not as old as Erikson or Terkay.

[Toxxic]

So Brock loses in 90 seconds to Frank Mir (OK he performed well from what I heard, apart from leaving his leg there), then beat Heath Herring by decision, and he gets a title shot? Granted it's a fight I'd be interested in seeing, but...

[Hunter's Torn Quad]

So Brock loses in 90 seconds to Frank Mir (OK he performed well from what I heard, apart from leaving his leg there), then beat Heath Herring by decision, and he gets a title shot?

Are you looking for an answer beyond the obvious one?

[Youth N Asia]

So Brock loses in 90 seconds to Frank Mir (OK he performed well from what I heard, apart from leaving his leg there), then beat Heath Herring by decision, and he gets a title shot? Granted it's a fight I'd be interested in seeing, but...

 

Brock vs Randy will sell more PPVs than any other fight they could make. Deserved? Hell no, but Dana puts the money first

[Rendclaw]

Yeah, this is an obvious "strike while the iron is hot" cash grab by Dana, but the thing is that everyone is going to see it. If it was up to me I would have waited another six months, but that's a big risk because of Randy's age. At the same time, Brock is not ready yet. I can see Randy eating a few shots from Brock and then shocking the world by knocking him out somehow or submitting him. Brock's eagerness and inexperience can most definitely be used against him, but you have to overcomes his power and wrestling skill to do it. Frank Mir was the perfect counterfoil to Brock, and that panned out in 90 seconds.

 

I watched the replay last night, and I had to laugh. We all got shocked by Brock's speed and power, but his inexperience cost him big time.

[Lord of The Curry]

TUF VI fighter Matthew Riddle who beat Dante Rivera by UD at the Ultimate Finale will take on Ryan Thomas who most recently lost to Ben Saunders at UFC 87.

[Lord of The Curry]

MMAJunkie puts Jorge Gurgel vs Aaron Riley on this card.

[Mik]

Gurgel was depressed after losing to Miller?

 

Man, Rich is really slacking in the comfort department.

[Mik]

Reminder: ESPN E:60 will have a piece on Brock Lesnar tonight at 7 PM.

 

Their previous pieces on Gina and Kimbo were very well done.

 

I think the all-out media blitz is set to begin.

[Mik]

^^ The piece was pretty outstanding.

 

Lesnar really is a cocky motherfucker, though.

[Angles Broken Fricken Neck]

and here it is http://www.cagetoday.com/brock-lesnar-on-espn-e60-video/

[Rendclaw]

Agreed. That was an excellent piece, and Lesnar is a dick at times. Brutally honest at others, but he can be a rather large penis as well.

[RavishingRickRudo]

You know what they say, "you are what you put on your chest".

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

Beat me to it.

 

The power of the dildo won't be enough though, but Matt Hughes thinks otherwise and actually picked Brock to win. A LOT of people are apparently, as betting lines are a lot closer than expected. I'm strongly considering putting money down on the Natural.

[Lt. Al Giardello]

Beat me to it.

 

The power of the dildo won't be enough though, but Matt Hughes thinks otherwise and actually picked Brock to win. A LOT of people are apparently, as betting lines are a lot closer than expected. I'm strongly considering putting money down on the Natural.

 

It's a tough fight to call... Randy hasn't been in the cage for over like 15 months, and he's 45. Lesnar is more powerful, more athletic, and very hungry to prove himself in the cage. Randy has never really displayed his BJJ skills in the past, but then again very fight Randy always comes out with something new. I always thought Randy couldn't crack an egg shell with his fists, yet in the opening seconds of the Sylvia fight he knocked him on his ass. Who knows, maybe Randy will pull off a spinning heel hook.

 

The wrestling edge, I got to give it to Brock, while there credentials are pretty much similar, Brock should be able to just over power him. Standing up gotta give it to Randy, even though we've barely seen anything from Brock in the stand up department over then him one punching Mir and Herring and dropping them. If Lesnar can crack Randy, he's going to get rocked bottom line. But Randy has displayed good head movement in the past.

 

Like I said, I can't really call this fight...

[Lord of The Curry]

I can't call a winner but I think that if Randy is taking it the fight either goes to the judges or he gets a late TKO after Brock gasses. If Brock wins I'm thinking early KO/TKO.

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

That's the biggest question for me, the layoff and the age. I think that's why the lines are so close, because that's the biggest X-factor.

[Lord of The Curry]

Ignoring the fact that Brock hits hard I think a big area Randy wants to avoid is getting muscled up against the cage and being hit with knees to the midsection. I have no clue why Brock didn't do more of those against Herring because they were taking a big toll.

[Hunter's Torn Quad]

There are so many ways this fight can go which is what makes it exciting. I still think Brock is too strong and too powerful for Randy, even with Randy's experience. I think that, as well as Randy's age and down time, is going to make for a very long night for Randy. Of course, that just means something crazy is going to happen, like Randy KO'ing Brock with one punch.