MMA News and Discussion Thread

[Enter Blue Guy]

Maybe a similar approach, but a different opponents for sure. They have their similarities. They're unorthodox counter fighters, their reaction time second to none, and have pin point accuracy.

Anderson doesn't mind fighting off his opponents from whatever scenario he winds up in. If a guy is pressuring and is willing to engage, Silva will not shy away from meeting him and doing what he has to.

Lyoto is much more in control of his opponents because he simply won't allow them to touch him. And he wants to keep it that way.

Anderson is willing to let his opponents take an inch if it means getting that whole mile in the end, even if his opponent builds some momentum up in the process. Lyoto is 100% "fuck that, FLAWLESS VICTORY!"

I lost the point of why I posted this, so I'm just going to end by saying Page will most likely be danced around the cage, led by Machida for how ever long it takes Machida to find a finish.

Edited May 25, 2009 by Enter Blue Guy

[gunnar hendershow]

Where does Evans go after this loss? Who do people see his next opponent being? Obviously Machida-Rampage is definite for the sometime in the fall. But what guy at 205 do they have Evans up against? I would like to see him take on Shogun. If Shogun beats Evans then he has to be in line for the Machida-Rampage winner.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Shogun is a good choice, but I really like the idea of Franklin vs. Evans if Rich puts Wandy away first.

[ACCBiggz]

It will not be Shogun, and Rampage/Lyoto will meet most likely in December. They will try to keep both Shogun and Rashad relevant instead of forcing them to face each other right now. It's possible Rich could fight either/or in a contender's bout if he beats Wanderlei. UFC 99 became a win/win for the UFC post-98. If Wanderlei wins then he is one win away from the grudge title fight vs. Anderson, and if Rich wins we have another contender (one with a storyline) at 205.

I'd look for Rashad to face a mid-level fighter whom he can defeat relatively easily. Another name I've tossed around that would make a decent styleistic opponent for Lyoto, and who had been booked to face him previously but pulled out due to time constraints, Brandon Vera. He looked great his last fight, and if he can win 2 more fights that'll put him right up in the mix.

[destroyed]

Wasn't sure where to put this. I Started getting into UFC a bit after playing UFC Undisputed. Watched UFC 98 and liked it. I wondered what decent classic PPVs anyone could recommend. Thanks.

[IAceI]

Matt Hughes, deserved winner in my opinion. Not sure why Serra seemed convinced he'd won at the announcement, can't say I saw anything that would warrant him a victory - even though it was a close match. Had they not been stood up that final time and Serra got that reverse take down I don't think it would really have been up for discussion, and the accidental headbutt in the first round pretty much rocked Hughes for the whole match. Wouldn't like something pathetic like that to have been the talking point of a fight, fair play to Hughes - he clearly had no idea what was going on but still had the common sense to defend well and turn the fight around and dominate.

As for the Evans/Machida fight. Well, what can you say? You knew what was going to happen, Machida must have what seems like a mile between him and his opponent when they stand. The first round was typical, but I certainly didn't think Machida would do what he did in the second. He'd obviously got Evans all over the place and Evans just had to swing for the fences because there's no way he could grab a hold of Machida. Thing is, had Evans maybe just moved his head one way or another and not been hit with that final shot he could have maybe recovered, as it was - and as MMA is - Machida connected with a left right under the jaw and as we saw, Evans just about crippled to the floor. Was quite weird to see. I think Machida will defend that belt in Anderson Silva-esque fashion.

What were the other fights out? What is worth me getting a hold of and watching and what's worth skipping?

[Enter Blue Guy]

My 205 picture would go like this;

Rashad vs. Franklin... again, if Franklin wins. I think Wand is a better opponent for Rashad, but if Wand wins I fully support a move down to 185. Maybe a bit premature as these guys could easily be favorites for the next title shot and it looks like there will be a quite a bit of time to kill til that goes down.

Vera vs. Thiago Silva... I really like Vera. As a fighter and as a person. Just a great rep for the sport with a super personality. He needs a big win and I like him in the aggressive fight and Silva would be the kind of opponent who will bull straight forward and give Brandon the fight he wants. Silva is strong coming in, but Vera is a tricky dude and I'd like him in this to show his craftiness, poise, and his killer striking, making him come off like a million bucks against a very tough opponent.

Shogun vs. Jardine... Nobody is sold on Shogun like they were two years ago. Jardine is the perfect test for Shogun, IMO. He'll need to practice his self control and be smart defensively, the two technical aspects of Shogun's game that kill him the most. Otherwise Jardine will pick him apart. A convincing win here and my doubts about Shogun will be eased a bit.

Matt Hamill vs. Luis Cane... A solid, unpredictable fight to give either one of these guys a boost up the ladder. Hamill should be perfectly able to power Cane to his back and beat him up from there at some point, but Hamill has been known to catch real bad cases of sitting duck syndrome. Luis could just as easily be the first guy to KO Matt, a great way for folks to forget the Cantwell fight which was much more back and forth than people expected.

Edited May 26, 2009 by Enter Blue Guy

[Toe]

DREAM 9:

Spoiler: Click here to view

The way the Jacare and Mayhem fight went sucked, but overall it was a good show. I really liked all of the Featherweight fights except for Imanari vs. Fernandes. Abel Cullum and Tokoro showed how to grapple at high speeds. It was very entertaining.

The SuperHULK tournament was okay. Mousasi and Sokoujou were both impressive.

[Ananas]

Dream 9:

Spoiler: Click here to view

Fun night of fights. The Hulk Grand Prix generally wasn't the train wreck I'd assumed it would be, and the featherweight tournament brought some really consistently good fights.

Minowa def. Sapp: Sapp stupidly decided to work out of a half guard and try for a submission despite the 180 pound weight advantage and massive reach advantage. He tried to get Minowa's back, Minowa turned over and locked in a sick heel hook from the reverse mount.

Hong-Man Choi def. Jose Canseco: Went about as expected, other than Canseco being able to stretch the fight over two minutes. He landed a few body shots early and was able to avoid Choi's attack, but as soon as he took a hard punch you knew it was basically over. Choi knocked him on his back, mounted him and worked some easy ground and pound for the victory.

Sokoudjou def. Nortje: Instead of coming out like a bat out of hell and tiring after two minutes. Sokoudjou worked the outside with some leg kicks and came in looking for the takedown from the clinch. He eventually got the judo takedown and the KO from (I think, it was a while ago) side control. He looked good, the best he's looked since the last time he fought in Japan.

Mousasi def. Hunt: Again, went about as expected. Mousasi used the considerable mobility advantage to get the takedown and eventually the kimura from half guard (?). Looked impressive here, definitely looked the favourite to win this tourney.

Kawajiri def. Calvan: Calvan almost caught him with a guillotine early but couldn't lock it in. Kawajiri then ground and pounded out a victory over the quickly gassed Calvan. Not the most exciting fight on the card. No, that would have to go to...

Tokoro def. Cullum: Awesome submission showcase. Cullum almost had him a couple times (a heel hook towards the end of round 1), but for the most part Tokoro was the better fighter in a really high paced fight. One of the better fights of 2009 so far.

Takaya def. Maeda: Love Maeda, but Takaya won me over by using Cavalera Conspiracy as entrance music. Maeda dominated most of the fight until Takaya caught him with a right cross that floored Maeda, allowing him to finish the fight just before the first round ended.

Fernandes def. Imanari: Not entirely unlike Anderson Silva vs. Thales Laites, Fernandes kept trying to finish the fight with strikes while Imanari dropped to the ground hoping to get a submission. Glad to see the one-dimensional fighter take the loss via unanimous decision. Also didn't realise until the end of the show that Fernandes fights out of Canada, so that's awesome.

Joe Warren def. Kid Yamamoto: How about that Joe Warren? Deadly in the clinch, huge on the ground and with a granite jaw. If he keeps working his muay thai he's going to be one hell of a featherweight. Warren by UD.

Mayhem Miller NC. Jacare: Disappointing finish, with Jacare taking an inadvertent illegal kick to the head on the ground and being opened up deep. Miller was really showing some poor sportsmanship, shit-talking Jacare all the way despite obviously being at fault for the stoppage. Maybe it's for the best; after Cullum/Tokoro there's no way the ME was going to top it.

If you didn't catch the card I'd definitely catch the replay. Starmaking turn by Joe Warren and some great fights along the way.

[IAceI]

Can someone recommend me the better fights from the DREAM 9 event? I know most of the results but probably best not to mention them just in case others stumble across it and don't want to know.

Also any other from UFC would be greatly appreciated, I've seen the two main events - what else was worth watching?

[Toe]

From DREAM 9, I recommend you track down Abel Cullum vs. Tokoro and Kid Yamamoto vs. Joe Warren.

[Fitzy]

Frank Trigg returns to UFC sometime this fall as he signed a four fight deal. Apparently they have been in discussion for nine months as he originally wanted in the WEC welterweight division (i guess to get a rematch with Carlos Condit) but since that closed down I guess talks continued and he will be joining the welterweight ranks once again.

Maybe we'll see another Hughes rear naked choke to Trigg.

[Fitzy]

It looks like they are going with Jackson and Evans as the coaches for the next season of the Ultimate Fighter and won't have them fight. Apparently, according to Machida's website, the fight with him and Jackson is scheduled for Las Vegas so that fight takes place as the season is just starting. So this will be the first since the second season with Franklin/Hughes where they didn't fight (not counting four since they had no official coaches).

I guess if Jackson beats Machida they could do Jackson/Evans at Ultimate 2009 in December...

[Guest King Waldorf]

Where'd that come from? As of yesterday, I was hearing Machida and Rampage as coaches and them fighting in December...

[Fitzy]

From MMAJunkie ...

And well yeah only cause it makes the most sense but "Machida's manager Ed Soares stated emphatically yesterday that his client would not be appearing as a TUF 10 coach." ... so yeah that is probably why they are saying Rashad Evans...

Edited May 28, 2009 by Fitzy

[ACCBiggz]

Rampage vs. Evans will happen win/lose to Machida. However, I thought I read from Mike Chiapetta that it may be Shogun who gets the first shot at Lyoto, but I think he was just assuming Rampage wouldn't fight Lyoto due to filming. I'm not a fan of Page/Evans after Lyoto in December at all. Both will be coming off losses and the loser will be thrown to the bottom of the division.

Note: Jose Canseco got a six-figure deal to fight Choi.

Edited May 28, 2009 by ACCBiggz

[Guest King Waldorf]

Yep, Evans and Rampage as coaches. The 205 division's almost a mess now.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Rampage vs. Evans will happen win/lose to Machida. However, I thought I read from Mike Chiapetta that it may be Shogun who gets the first shot at Lyoto, but I think he was just assuming Rampage wouldn't fight Lyoto due to filming. I'm not a fan of Page/Evans after Lyoto in December at all. Both will be coming off losses and the loser will be thrown to the bottom of the division.

Note: Jose Canseco got a six-figure deal to fight Choi.

That's if Lyoto beats Rampage, don't get too confident. Great or even amazing, nothing is guaranteed in MMA. Or maybe that's just me holding out hope for Rampage

[ACCBiggz]

As I stated, barring a one-punch KO (which is possible), I can't see Rampage defeating Machida. Stylelistically it is just an atrocious match-up for him.

[IAceI]

Yeah Machida's not going to let Rampage get anywhere near him, and everytime he tries he's going to get bopped in the nose.

If it were wrestling, Rampage would charge in - duck a punch and pick up Machida. Unfortunately it's not for him and probably even laying a hand on Machida will be a challenge for him, let alone beating him.