UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008

[AboveAverage484 0]

What's with all the Mir hate around here? Sure, I wanted Nog to win, but Mir always comes across as a pretty cool guy, especially compared to the douchery that runs rampant in American fight sport. If he seemed cocky in victory, why not? In all likelihood he's fighting a pro wrestler in his next fight who he's already beaten and who has a reputation of being a little cocky himself.

[The Niggardly King 0]

One thing I'll never get is when watching footage of Silva sparring, he's a great technical striker who would be ahead of 95% of his division if he stuck to that way now... dude's gonna continue getting caught by anyone who can mix it up on the inside.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

I assumed the "quick" stoppage in the Nog/Mir fight was due to the fact that it was the 4th time Mir put Nog flush on his ass in the fight.

[Mik 0]

What's with all the Mir hate around here? Sure, I wanted Nog to win, but Mir always comes across as a pretty cool guy, especially compared to the douchery that runs rampant in American fight sport. If he seemed cocky in victory, why not? In all likelihood he's fighting a pro wrestler in his next fight who he's already beaten and who has a reputation of being a little cocky himself.

 

I always thought Mir was a cool guy, myself. But then TUF 8 happened and now I think he's a dick. I still don't hate him or anything, but he's definitely on the cocky prick side.

 

Gotta be Rashad/Rampage next, right?

 

Something to make me like Kongo a little better:

 

[Damaramu 0]

What's with all the Mir hate around here? Sure, I wanted Nog to win, but Mir always comes across as a pretty cool guy, especially compared to the douchery that runs rampant in American fight sport. If he seemed cocky in victory, why not? In all likelihood he's fighting a pro wrestler in his next fight who he's already beaten and who has a reputation of being a little cocky himself.

 

 

TUF 8. Dude was a total cocky dick the whole show.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I'm hungover and Nog lost. Fuck this world.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Yeah, but at least Silva killed Rampage again...

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

Stupid Forest messed up my parlay at MMAPlayground, but I cleaned up with a huge bet on Mir. Don't doubt the hair.

[AboveAverage484 0]

What's with all the Mir hate around here? Sure, I wanted Nog to win, but Mir always comes across as a pretty cool guy, especially compared to the douchery that runs rampant in American fight sport. If he seemed cocky in victory, why not? In all likelihood he's fighting a pro wrestler in his next fight who he's already beaten and who has a reputation of being a little cocky himself.

 

 

TUF 8. Dude was a total cocky dick the whole show.

 

Well no wonder I'm behind the curve on Mir; I watched the first episode and that was it.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

 

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

I'll give Rashad his due, but I'm still not sold. I had Forrest winning up until he got caught and taken out with what I'm now calling "The Greg Jackson Ground and Pound."

[Mik 0]

What would make you "sold"?

 

He's undefeated, shows something new each time out and is seemingly better by leaps and bounds after every camp.

 

Plus, he showed up to the building in a pimp fucking suit. That's how a champ should carry themself.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

My fucking ass Forrest wasn't tapping. That's some very specific "flailing".

 

I'm with Mik here, I'm not sure what it's going to take for people to realize that Rashad is legit. He's always been a slow starter but was never in any real danger but it took him less then a round on top to dispatch Forrest. Can't fuck with that kinda percentage.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

He stand-up looked good like always, but the first two and half rounds was basically Forest vs. Rampage all over again...except Rashad isn't Rampage and it wasn't as close. Evans was getting eaten alive with those leg kicks. And BS with his post-fight interview where he said he wasn't looking for just one thing. His whole strategy was looking for that one shot to put Forest down and GNP. If Forest put a little effort into his guard and didn't keep going for a triangle, he probably would have caught his arm.

 

Forest fought the better fight and he is someone who I can say has improved leaps and bounds. Rashad has just improved in certain areas.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Oh yeah, totally, he was like 175% on his takedowns and 100% in finishing shots on the ground and around 73.378625% on his total GnP.

 

Those shades are 5000% ballin.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Eaten alive with leg kicks? Maybe on the judge's cards, but Forrest didn't really do much to Rashad damage wise.

 

And I love the continuing streak of Rogan and Goldberg creaming themselves over how much some dude is underrated on one thing, this time it was Griffin's ground game, all the while he's getting pounded on and trying for a retarded triangle that wasn't even close to being applied.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

Evans being unable to put any weight down on his left leg = no damage? Really now?

[Toxxic 0]

Spike... c'mon man. Forrest looked good for a fair while, but going for percentage moves like leg kicks is going to be dangerous when you're up against someone with one-hit KO power like Evans has demonstrated. Griffin did a good job keeping him at bay with his reach for a while, but even I could see his guard was sloppy once he was on his back, and I know fuck all about MMA.

 

Don't make me add anything else to my signature, please.

Edited December 28, 2008 by Toxxic

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

Forest has shown to have a tough chin and was taking quite a few shots from Rashad in the first two rounds. But he was pacing himself very well and his strategy was clearly to go into the later rounds. His leg kicks were working considering Rashad kept changing stances and wasn't able to put any weight down on his left leg.

 

I can see Forest coming out of this fight a better fighter and I'm sure he'll be back into title contention and possible another reign in the future. Rashad, though...I don't know if he'll get past Rampage due to his size alone.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

He did okay with Forrest who, size-wise is significantly larger then Rampage.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Hey LOTC, that Silva sure killed Rampage, right? Fuck you! I'm hungover and still celebrating last night.

 

Rashad's ground and pound is brutal. And I give Frank Mir his due, he looked great.

[Toxxic 0]

Forest has shown to have a tough chin and was taking quite a few shots from Rashad in the first two rounds. But he was pacing himself very well and his strategy was clearly to go into the later rounds.

 

Right, that's fine, I agree with that. BUT, what I'm saying is that it's a risky strategy to plan to go to the later rounds if you've got someone who can potentially KO you on the spot, because you might not get there. And sure, Evans didn't do THAT, but he got Forrest down and hammered his face into paste.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Happy birthday to starvenger. Have a good one.

[Mik 0]

IIRC, he's somewhere deep within the heart of China and might not read that for awhile. But I concur, happy b-day.

[theone 0]

Hey LOTC, that Silva sure killed Rampage, right? Fuck you! I'm hungover and still celebrating last night.

 

Rashad's ground and pound is brutal. And I give Frank Mir his due, he looked great.

Mir's striking looked better than I've ever seen from him

 

if him and Brock can keep it on their feet and trade blows, it'll be an epic fight

 

but I'm sure Mir will want him on the mat where he can try his hand at some BJJ against Lesnar

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I was completely wrong with Silva/Rampage. What can ya do.

 

Bryan Alvarez had a good point (for once) in the F4D/WO.com recap show , where he summed it up that Nog and Silva have taken so much abuse that their levels were finally shown after all they had taken. Meltzer expanded upon it with how PRIDE fights went, the mentality over there, and how often they'd fight.

 

It was a sad day, really. Five years ago, that shot wouldn't have KO'd Silva...but now, he's older, he's taken so much abuse, and his chin's going. T'was all it took.

 

Nog looked even worse though. I wonder if he came in injured...or if he just...locked up in the fight. He didn't do anything. And while Mir kept using the same combination over and over, it worked every time so why change it up? Mir fought smart. Didn't blow himself up, didn't expose himself, he did exactly what he needed to do to win. Good for him.

 

Regardless if you like Frank Mir, or if you like Brock Lesnar, their rematch will most likely be the second one million buys PPV in UFC history. If not even bigger then Brock/Randy was. Given that Mir can cut a much better promo then Randy can, and that both understand promotion (Witness Mir IMMEDIATELY go to Brock, The man gets it) they will be doing everything they can themselves for that fight. The promotion will be amazing.

 

On the main event, I predicted Forrest (I believe), and I'm not sure why. As the fight went on, two things became really clear.

 

1) Forrest has much more technical striking

2) Rashad has much better footwork, much better speed, and much more power

 

Forrest was scoring, but he doesn't have "finishing" power. His blows hurt, but it wasn't doing much to finish Rashad. While, every punch Rashad threw or landed had legitimate one hit KO power due to the velocity and power. You can't underestimate that speed. He is *FAST AS FUCK*. Rashad's Ground & Pound was fucking terrifying. Forrest was barely alive from the hammer blows which with any normal fighter wouldn't have been that strong, but with Rashad it was like litterally hammers being slammed into his face. And once Rashad began with the finishing blows, Forrest was done. He took FAR, FAR too many late punches. He couldn't escape, Rashad's hitting him with as much power as he can, and Forrest's body is just...flailing. That's ignoring the "tap".

 

You can't ignore Rashad anymore. You can't underestimate him anymore. He is legitimately the #1 LHW in the world now. Undefeated at that. Rashad built up a reputation as a boring fighter who goes to decisions...but he's not that guy anymore. He's not even the same guy he was a year ago against Bisping. He's finally fully tapping into his natural athletic talents which are MASSIVE, and woe to whoever gets in his way six months from now when he's even more refined.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I'm kind of dreading a Rashad/LYOTO match since Machida is the definition of counter fighter, while Rashad has evolved into one over the past year, although I can see him changing his game up and becoming more aggressive.

[Warriorfan 0]

UFC 92 was a perfect ending for MMA this year!

 

I think Dana has learned his lesson from the Cro Cop fiasco and will set up Evans vs Rampage immediately.

 

Brock vs Mir oustrips Penn vs GSP for me in terms of the biggest fight in 2009. If Brock( and he will) beats Mir, it demands that Brock fights Fedor if the Affliction champ is successful in his title bout.

[theone 0]

UFC 92 was a perfect ending for MMA this year!

 

I think Dana has learned his lesson from the Cro Cop fiasco and will set up Evans vs Rampage immediately.

 

Brock vs Mir oustrips Penn vs GSP for me in terms of the biggest fight in 2009. If Brock( and he will) beats Mir, it demands that Brock fights Fedor if the Affliction champ is successful in his title bout.

Fedor and M-1 has already called out Brock and the UFC to a cross-promotional event...

 

They did it like 2 days after he won the title, lol