MMA News and Discussion Thread

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

I didn't mean to imply that Bones Jones winning was any sort of foregone conclusion. I love the guy because he's really fun to watch, not because I think he's a future champion or anything.

And I really don't think they'd put somebody with the marketability potential of Brett Rogers against a complete unknown who stood a decent chance at beating him.

[I Love Pokemon]

I didn't mean to imply that Bones Jones winning was any sort of foregone conclusion. I love the guy because he's really fun to watch, not because I think he's a future champion or anything.

And I really don't think they'd put somebody with the marketability potential of Brett Rogers against a complete unknown who stood a decent chance at beating him.

you didn't imply anything. i was just stating my belief that he is outmatched vs O'Brien. Jon Jones is a very exciting prospect, his striking isn't really great but it's akward and unorthodox, and that helps at times. but unlike Bonnar or Gusmao, O'Brien has the ability to outwrestle Jone and bring him down to the ground,and with minimal expierence smart money is that Jones hasn't devolped well off of his back yet.

And Humphries is an underdog, and unproven, but then again so is Brett Rogers. Rogers has no ground game, isn't that good of a striker, he had potential and hits hard but thats really it. I like the guy, and he should win, but Humphries can make it tough and upset him. And Humphries has marketability as well, he was on that BET show, Iron Ring i think it was called.

Humphries may be unkown to alot of MMA fans, but he is decently known to other people, i know alot of people who are excited to see him fight because he was on that show. Both guys are undefeated and unproven, Rogers is less of a question mark, but it's crazy to think that Humphries has no chance at all, upsets happen, and maybe he is really good just hasn't shown it yet.

[ACCBiggz]

you didn't imply anything. i was just stating my belief that he is outmatched vs O'Brien. Jon Jones is a very exciting prospect, his striking isn't really great but it's akward and unorthodox, and that helps at times. but unlike Bonnar or Gusmao, O'Brien has the ability to outwrestle Jone and bring him down to the ground,and with minimal expierence smart money is that Jones hasn't devolped well off of his back yet.

Jon Jones' striking is much better than Jakes, and it is actually quite decent just not top notch just yet. O'Brien has wrestling ability, I'm just not seeing how he is going to out wrestling Jones. Jones is faster and more athletic, he'll be able to stuff Jake's takedowns MUCH more easily than Jake would be able to stop Jones', however Jones isn't going to shoot either most likely. I think this is another example of Joe Silva's excellent match making. Pick a guy who will be able to test Jones without putting him in too much danger unless he gets caught. He'll be able to test his stand-up without too much worry of being taken down and won't have to worry about Jake's striking much. I'm not counting Jake completely out, but the match making should be able to be clearly seen and is quite obvious.

And Humphries is an underdog, and unproven, but then again so is Brett Rogers. Rogers has no ground game, isn't that good of a striker, he had potential and hits hard but thats really it. I like the guy, and he should win, but Humphries can make it tough and upset him. And Humphries has marketability as well, he was on that BET show, Iron Ring i think it was called.

Humphries may be unkown to alot of MMA fans, but he is decently known to other people, i know alot of people who are excited to see him fight because he was on that show. Both guys are undefeated and unproven, Rogers is less of a question mark, but it's crazy to think that Humphries has no chance at all, upsets happen, and maybe he is really good just hasn't shown it yet.

This is going to be another quick KO/TKO victory for Rogers most likely. As you said, upsets happen, but it's going to take one of those random KO shots to make this an upset.

And Affliction is looking for a television deal and to restructure contracts to run a show up against UFC 100. So says FiveOuncesofPain.com

Edited March 19, 2009 by ACCBiggz

[I Love Pokemon]

If Jake O'Brien can't take down Jon Jones, then everything known about wrestling is useless. Jake O'Brien is a better wrestler then Jon Jones thats a fact. It's not really debateable. O'Brien, Marrero, Munoz, Hamill, Henderson, and Bader are the best wrestlers at 205. O'Brien will be able to outwrestle him, plus i'm sure he's stronger. And O'Briens showed pretty good boxing in his fight with Christian Wellisch.

Jake O'Brien has a better shot at outstriking Jones then Jones has of outwrestling him. Its absurd to think that Jones will outwrestle O'Brien, how? Because he is undefeated and beat Bonnar and Gusmao? Or because O'Brien was outwrestled by Cain? This fight will be exciting and good, but Jake has the best chance of winning this fight.

And, sure i think Humphries will be KO'ed quick, but i thought the same about GSP v Serra 1. Humphries is unknown, and the underdog but he has a shot at the victory.

[Fitzy]

And Affliction is looking for a television deal and to restructure contracts to run a show up against UFC 100. So says FiveOuncesofPain.com

And also running up against UFC 100 is HBO as they have a boxing event scheduled for July 11 and Floyd Mayweather looks to be making his return to boxing on that night/event.

[ACCBiggz]

My Japanese friend here at University and I were discussing Japan in general and I brought up MMA. He did't know Akiyama, Gomi, and some others. But he knew Bob Sapp, Saku, KID, and a few more. I talked about Aoki, DREAM and the current state of MMA in Japan and he got on Yahoo Japan and read an article for me. In it Aoki blatantly states that DREAM is "collapsing" and he has taken the fight with Mach to try and "save" DREAM.

I found it interesting. Because while we know the ratings have been down, there has been no real reports like this. So thought I should pass it along.

[ACCBiggz]

Two Quick Notes:

Gomi returns to Shooto.

Gatorade is sponsoring it's first MMA fighter: Georges St. Pierre. He filmed a commercial already, not sure when it's set to run.

[I Love Pokemon]

The Fact that Gatorade is sponsering an MMA fighter shows how far the sport has come. I'm glad it's GSP he is a good ambassador to the sport.

Oh, and Lashley and Guida got into a scuffle at a press event after Guida said some shit, Lashley brushed off the hand shake, Guida pushed him, Lashley grabbed Guida by the throat untill security and Roy Jones Jr. Broke it up. Lashley has commented that he had nothing but respect for Guida, but Guida's antics had thouroughly pissed him off.

Should be good.

Oh and Ken Shamrock is appealing his suspension saying he didn't take roids.

UFC 101 will most likely take place in Philly.

GSP is training to Help Kenny Florian beat BJ Penn. GSP says he did cheat, but thats because he paid a man to kiss BJ on the mouth, not due to vaseline.

[gunnar hendershow]

If UFC 101 is in Philly I'll be buying tickets.

[rocksta]

If UFC 101 is in Philly I'll be buying tickets.

This

[I Love Pokemon]

I hope soon they bring one back here to MN again, or Wisconsin or Iowa. Then i will Def go again. I went to UFC 87 and it was awesome. I got to meet Matt Hughes, Sean Sherk, GSP, Fitch, Lesnar, McCrory, Cummo and Chris Wilson. Not to mention i ended up sitting next to Chris Tuscherer the YAMMA finalist.

[ACCBiggz]

March Badness Results:

Dennis Hallman won quickly and easily.

Din Thomas did as well.

Bobby Lashley won via decision over Jason Guida. However, it was a perfect fight for him. While Guida isn't great, he's a vetern and Bobby got to do a bit of everything: Stand-up, wrestling, go the distance, fight out of a tough spot (guillotine). So overall, I think this was a great night for his devolopment.

Monson d. Nelson 29-28. VERY close fight, I had it 29-28 for Big Country. Controversial decision as a lot of people thought Nelson won, but I can see it for Monson too. Prolly should have been a 29-29 draw.

Edited March 22, 2009 by ACCBiggz

[I Love Pokemon]

I agree. Lashley was impressive, Guida is better then his record, he takes alot of fights on short notice.

Also i'm impressed as i always am with Dennis Hallman. The guy gets a bad rap, people act like he is crap and only known because of victories over young Hughes twice. But the guy does have some skill, he is a good fighter.

[ACCBiggz]

Whoa there nugget. I never said Lashley was impressive. He probably should have been able to finish Guida. His stand-up was fairly horrible, his wrestling was stuffed and he tried for a single a couple of times very sloppily, and he didn't do a great job of working for better position on the ground. However, like I said. This was the perfect fight for someone like him. Fights like this are what really help a fighter grow and get better. This is way more valuable than his training has been and I hope he fights someone around his same skill set/experience in 4-6 months. I'd like to see Bobby fight 3 more times this year, at least two more.

[I Love Pokemon]

I think it was impressive, Guida is a pretty good wrestler, he his a veteran, and he is better then his record is. Guida is a tough guy for a guy to fight especially someone with only 47 seconds of cage work. The win is impressive, fact is Lashley should improve with more fights, but it's impressive to beat someone like Guida with minimal expierence.

I didn't see the fight yet, but the fact that he beat a solid vet is impressive for a rookie. And in the long run going the distance will help him. How was his gas tank?

EDIT: Lashley has said in an interview that he wanted to fight 6-7 times this year or as much as he can. So it's a safe bet to assume barring injuries he should fight 3-5 more times this year.

Edited March 22, 2009 by I Love Pokemon

[ROC]

The problem is, to most MMA heads that pay attention to records, Lashley had trouble putting away a guy with an overall losing record. Jason Guida could be in 30 more fights than Lashley and Lashley's still going to look weaker perception-wise based on Guida going in with a 15-17 record.

Also, the Yahoo headline is predictably "Fake wrestling star Lashley's real fight". Yay, Yahoo.

[Thrilla]

I hope that's the headline for Dave Meltzer's article >_>

[I Love Pokemon]

The casual fan may not find the win very impressive, but it is IMO. Beating Guida is no easy task, especially when you're so inexpierenced. Lashley doesn't need to worry about beating people with impressive records right now, if he's smart he will take fights that are tough but winnable. He still needs more cage time.

[Toe]

Jason Guida, the guy who failed to make weight on The Ultimate Fighter?

I'm not the biggest follower of MMA, but that seems like a guy you should be able to put away. I guess Lashley needs to get a lot more experience and improvement before fighting real competition.

[I Love Pokemon]

Jason Guida, the guy who failed to make weight on The Ultimate Fighter?

I'm not the biggest follower of MMA, but that seems like a guy you should be able to put away. I guess Lashley needs to get a lot more experience and improvement before fighting real competition.

that was Guida's first shot at trying to make 205 in his life. he is a Heavyweight, and thats where he fight best. He is talented, he is like a bigger less skilled version of Clay Guida.

Jason is tough, and his record would be remarkably better if he didn't take most of his fights on short notice. Guida is the type of journeyman fighter that can show if you are ready. I'm not saying Guida is a top fighter, but a win over him in his second fight is impressive.

But if you want really impressive look no further then Mo Lawal, who in his first fight fought above his weight and beat a very tough and at that time top 10-12 HW in Travis Wiuff. Then he beat Kawamura who is a King of Pancrase. So Mo looks like the real deal i can't wait to see how he develops down the road.