MMA/UFC/PRIDE/K-1 discussion thread

goo

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x465o6_paul-daley-vs-sam-morgan_sport
Paul Daley v Sam Morgan on the ShoXC card the other night.
Daley's striking is amazing, standing them up was ridiculous.

*edit*

I had no idea Extreme Sports show mma, they have an hour long King of the Cage show at 2am.

Fozzy

goo wrote: »

I had no idea Extreme Sports show mma, they have an hour long King of the Cage show at 2am.

Yeah, they seem to air it at the same time as UFC shows on Bravo too. One night Sky Sports had a Cage Rage show on at the same time as well, no prizes for guessing which show the majority were watching!

Nog will try to take him down with the switch the same way he takes everyone down. Wheter or not he lands it is another matter but I think Nog is the technically better striker. As for KO power I think Timmys "nuclear right hand" (quote from ufc.com) is over-rated. Hes a staller. I give Nog a good chance.

cletus

goo wrote: »

I had no idea Extreme Sports show mma, they have an hour long King of the Cage show at 2am.

They have an hour most evenings at either 9 or 10pm, showing King of the Cage or Cage Rage, just be prepared for some repetition

LeoGilly

Ne 1 know when Lesnar's All Access is going to be shown. I've heard his training is still insane these days!!

Fozzy

LeoGilly wrote: »

Ne 1 know when Lesnar's All Access is going to be shown. I've heard his training is still insane these days!!

It first airs at midnight on Thursday in the US, not sure if it'll be on over here but it'll pop up on the net somewhere

Am I the only one who's more excited by Nog vs Sylvia and Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau in particular than the freakshow that will ensue when Mir and Lesnar step into the Octagon?!

Fozzy

Deleted User wrote: »

Am I the only one who's more excited by Nog vs Sylvia and Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau in particular than the freakshow that will ensue when Mir and Lesnar step into the Octagon?!

It would take a special man to get me interested in a fight featuring Sylvia and Nogueira just isn't special enough. Tyson should put on an exciting fight, but I thought the same thing about Tavares last week. Lesnar though...I'm just really interested in what he can do. Whenever he's put his mind to something in the past he's become excellent at it and he's got to be the most athletically gifted heavyweight in the UFC

I was just reading that one of the original owners of the UFC has started up a new promotion and wants to hold tournaments like the UFC in its early days

Fozzy

Fozzy wrote: »

It would take a special man to get me interested in a fight featuring Sylvia and Nogueira just isn't special enough. Tyson should put on an exciting fight, but I thought the same thing about Tavares last week. Lesnar though...I'm just really interested in what he can do. Whenever he's put his mind to something in the past he's become excellent at it and he's got to be the most athletically gifted heavyweight in the UFC

I was just reading that one of the original owners of the UFC has started up a new promotion and wants to hold tournaments like the UFC in its early days

I agree about Tim cos he really is a pain. the sooner he retires the better, however, im interested to see if Nogueira can pull of yet another giant killer act. He's not the most explosive wrestler in the world so it has my attention. I also LOVE it when Tim loses so better chance this weekend than usual so ill be glued to the TV!!


I feel the same about lesnar, im very curious how he'll go and Mir is an ok opponent for him cos he has zero gas tank. But i just feel that theres way too much focus on lesnar for this PPV although i guess that cant be helped.

dunkamania

Tim Sylvia has the marketability of roadkill, so no surprise his fight is not getting top billing.

Dragan

dunkamania wrote: »

Tim Sylvia has the marketability of roadkill, so no surprise his fight is not getting top billing.

Bingo, nobody really likes Tim. He's boring and arrogant and talked a massive amount of **** about knocking out Fedor and Le Banner.... thats pretty classless and people don't really like it.

Lesnar on the other hand.....he's been in a level of limelight with a degree of exposure that MMA fighters can only dream about.... it would be ****ing retarded to focus on anyone else in the lead up to this event from a promotional point of view.

dunkamania

A recent interview with Tim Sylvia.

How do you feel?

I feel good, man. I'm just looking forward to fighting a guy that is so highly ranked, and he's looked up to alot in the MMA world. So I want to go out there and show people what I actually can do, and that is knock him out.

If you beat Nogueira, one could argue that you are the number one heavyweight in the world. What do you think?

Well, I haven't really looked that far ahead. Let's talk about that after the fight. He's definitely going to be the toughest fight I've had to date, so first things first. Let's go out there and hopefully the game plan works and he falls right into my hands and I knock him out.

What are your thoughts on the PRIDE fighters that have come over to the UFC? Are they good enough to be in the UFC?

We'll find out. Uh, I don't know if it's that they are not good enough to be in the UFC. I think some of them are just not used to the cage yet, not used to our rules, not used to the UFC itself. The crowds are alot noisier and not as respectful as Japanese fans. Over there you could hear a pin drop. I don't know what it is. I never fought in Japan so I can't say.

Cro Cop is a stud. He has just had some bad luck. Heath Herring was real good and then came over here and had some bad luck. Nogueira looked rough his last fight but he hadn't fought in a long time, and he's fought alot of tough guys. I don't know what to think.

I know Fedor hasn't fought alot of top competition lately, like the last two or three years. I don't really see how he is still ranked number one. But we will see what happens. This fight with Nogueira is going to tell alot I think.

Talk game plan a little.

We're prepared for both situations (standing and on the ground) so we have two game plans prepared. I think he is a smart fighter and he knows his best chance of winning will be to take the fight to the ground and try to submit me or control me. I think he knows if he stands up with me that he kind of plays into my hands because that's what I want to do. It would be like me going out there and trying to take him down. I'm not going to do that. But we'll see. It's fighting and you don't know what's going to happen.

Critique Nogueira's stand-up.

I truly believe I have the advantage in our stand-up match-up. Don't get me wrong. He's got good hands. He's shown them alot and he throws great combinations, nice and crisp, straight down the pipe. But he has been susceptible to guys with good hands and good stand-up, taking big punches or kicks. I just watched a tape of the fight with Josh Barnett, and Josh dropped him with a left hook. Josh has decent stand-up but is not known as a stand-up fighter.

How comfortable would you be with Nogueira on the ground?

I'm comfortable with anybody on the ground. I don't want to be there. That's where I believe I could get caught in this fight. He is one of the best, if not the best, submission MMA fighters in the world. So no need to play into his hands and give him a chance to win this fight. I think if the fight is standing the whole time, then I win the fight. So obviously, the advantage will be slightly towards him on the ground.

How's your back?

Everything is great. All fighters lie and say they never have any injuries going into a fight. We always say we feel great. When I had my back injury before Randy, I told everyone I felt great and was the best I had ever been. We all lie. (laughs) But this is the first time I have ever come into a fight without a small injury, a nagging injury, or anything. When I went into the Vera fight, I had a bad hand. I had torn ligaments in my right hand. Randy and Jeff Monson, I had the back issue. For Arlovksi, my elbows were trashed. So, come fight time, there is usually that one injury. They usually don't bother me, with the exception of the back injury in the Randy fight. It did bother me when we fought. But this will the first time I don't having nagging injuries. It's kind of weird because I've been doing this for so long and I'm the oldest right now that I've ever been. I don't know if it is because of the way I'm training, with all the extra iron man stuff and all the swimming. I don't know. But the back surgery went great and maybe alot of my injuries were tied into the bad back. But I'm happy right now. I'm blessed. I'm looking forward to putting on a good show and getting the belt wrapped around my waist for the third time.

Has your training changed over the years?

I has actually. Lately I have been doing alot more distance running, biking alot, and in the last couple of years alot of swimming because of the back surgery. I've tied all those things together. Every morning I'm up at 7 or 8am doing all that stuff before I do any weight lifting, technique grappling, boxing, all of that stuff. And my new house has a hot tub. Maybe that is working too.

Talk about your training with regards to your footwork and hand speed for this fight.

You know, I'm blessed with the fact that I'm 6'8", 285 pounds walking around, cutting to make heavyweight. If you can get a guy that big to move like a 220 pounder, then people are going to be in trouble. That's the way I've been fighting, except for the Randy fight obviously. Arlovksi was alot better of an athlete than me, and I went out there and out struck him in two meetings because I had faster hands than he did. And I out struck Brandon too. It's something I always like to work on and always need to work on. You do lose a step if you don't constantly work on that stuff.

If you beat Nogueira, do you think the fans will start warming up to you?

(laughs) I don't know. I don't care. Don't get me wrong. The more fans, the merrier. I have a great fanbase. I get over a hundred messages on my MySpace page a day. Out of a thousands messages, maybe one or two is something bad. So I think I'm starting to win the fans over...slowly. (laughs)

Is there a requirement for fans that want you to sign an autograph?

Yea. They have to know my name. I can't stand it when I get this middle-aged lady, it's usually older ladies, comes up and ask for an autograph, and I ask them what's my name and they say they don't know. "I don't know but everyone else is getting your autograph and they say you're famous." Uh, no. I'm sorry. No.

What animals have you killed this year?

This year I have killed a black bear, turkey, pheasant, quail, and six deer. And some possums, you know, but that's just pests out in my yard tearing up my lawn and digging into my apple trees. Raccoons too. And some coyotes.

What the heck do you do with a possum?

Oh, nothing. I just kill it and throw it in a ditch.

Weirdest place or situation where you have worn the belt.

I've had sex before with the belt on. That was back in the Ricco Rodriguez days. The night I won the belt I had a sexual experience with the belt on. But hey, I was 25 years old and it was the biggest thing that ever had happened to me in my life. The girl was like hey, are you going to take that thing off. And I said no, I'm not...I'm wearing it and if you have a problem with it, then I'm leaving. And I hate to say it, but if I do win the belt again, then this time it's never coming off. I'm going to wear it alot more.

For the record, what do you think about Kimbo and Tank?

Who?

Kimbo Slice?

I don't even know who you are talking about.

dunkamania

Interview with Amaury Bitetti, Nogs trainer, no real focus on wrestling training unfortunately.

"We worked on guard passing and so he doesn't lose any position. We trained a lot on ground control, the full-mount, attacks to the arms, if he loses the full-mount to take the back, etcetera. We are emphasizing the takedowns to submissions, without losing the position, working from the top until the submission.
"(Sylvia's) reach will be trouble. Rodrigo will have to be careful on his feet. If he gets his face hit, he must take a step back. Because Tim Sylvia, in addition to his good jab, has a strong right hand. He has to be careful about his counters. Rodrigo will have to look for the inside, shorten the distance, and in the striking, try to take him down and get on top."

The black belt analyzed Nogueira's ground game by saying he had a fluid submission style that needed altering.

"Now he is changing his game a little because of the UFC rules, because the rounds have five minutes, where he can't be that fluid and lose positions. He is adding details to his game, like holding better, like the judo fighters. He knows how to hold opponents better without giving them spaces to get out, like he did before, when he fought in 10-minute rounds. Today, in five-minute rounds, he can't lose any position.

Dermot Nolan

dunkamania wrote: »

I've had sex before with the belt on.

Not a nice image at lunch time.... or anytime!!

dunkamania

dunkamania wrote: »

Interview with Amaury Bitetti, Nogs trainer, no real focus on wrestling training unfortunately.

"We worked on guard passing and so he doesn't lose any position. We trained a lot on ground control, the full-mount, attacks to the arms, if he loses the full-mount to take the back, etcetera. We are emphasizing the takedowns to submissions, without losing the position, working from the top until the submission.
"(Sylvia's) reach will be trouble. Rodrigo will have to be careful on his feet. If he gets his face hit, he must take a step back. Because Tim Sylvia, in addition to his good jab, has a strong right hand. He has to be careful about his counters. Rodrigo will have to look for the inside, shorten the distance, and in the striking, try to take him down and get on top."

The black belt analyzed Nogueira's ground game by saying he had a fluid submission style that needed altering.

"Now he is changing his game a little because of the UFC rules, because the rounds have five minutes, where he can't be that fluid and lose positions. He is adding details to his game, like holding better, like the judo fighters. He knows how to hold opponents better without giving them spaces to get out, like he did before, when he fought in 10-minute rounds. Today, in five-minute rounds, he can't lose any position.

Im pretty sure he has trained a lot of wrestling, he's not an idiot.


im pumped for this, Nog as UFC Champ would legitimise the belt (despite his 2 losses to Fedor), Tim as Champ makes a mockery of it.

Dragan

Deleted User wrote: »

im pumped for this, Nog as UFC Champ would legitimise the belt (despite his 2 losses to Fedor), Tim as Champ makes a mockery of it.

Hmmm....not sure i see the logic here. If someone you see as the better fighter beats the poorer fighter you feel that is legit and makes the title more valid.

If the poorer fighter overcomes the better one you feel somehow that this is less legitimate?

Dragan

Dragan wrote: »

Hmmm....not sure i see the logic here. If someone you see as the better fighter beats the poorer fighter you feel that is legit and makes the title more valid.

If the poorer fighter overcomes the better one you feel somehow that this is less legitimate?

Steroids.

Nothingcompares

with the exception of the gratuitous animal killing tim sylvia comes across as pretty cool in that interview. I wanted to big nog to win but I don't really care as long as it's a conclusive fight.

Dragan

Deleted User wrote: »

Steroids.

Sure Tim failed a test before and he did his time for it. He passed every test since then....and there is little point in arguing that he could just be cycling well....so could Randy.

If Josh Barnett came back to the UFC and cleaned the place out people would be going ape****.

Dragan

Dragan wrote: »

Sure Tim failed a test before and he did his time for it. He passed every test since then....and there is little point in arguing that he could just be cycling well....so could Randy.

If Josh Barnett came back to the UFC and cleaned the place out people would be going ape****.

It still lingers in the mind and made worse byt he fact that hes bigger than alomost all of his opponents. And yes, that could be argued, add Hughes, Arlovski, etc to that list.

But its a bad image for the sport when guys like Sherk/Tim get title shots in their first fights back from roid bans. Tims attitude is a joke too.


And finally Tim has lost the belt now to Mir and Randy and lost a title decider to Andrei. He never beat Mir, hasnt beat Randy and yet he has another chance to call himself the champ.

Fozzy

I don't know if it's been said here, but Werdum will be the first challenger for the title

Also, the Nevada State Athletic Commission is now going to randomly test fighters licensed in their state for drugs and steroids throughout the year. Every UFC fighter is going to fall under that, I'm sure that some guys are going to get caught out

Fozzy

Fozzy wrote: »

I don't know if it's been said here, but Werdum will be the first challenger for the title

Also, the Nevada State Athletic Commission is now going to randomly test fighters licensed in their state for drugs and steroids throughout the year. Every UFC fighter is going to fall under that, I'm sure that some guys are going to get caught out

Werdum is my dark horse to win the title before the end of 2008. However I dont know if he has come along enough to beat Nog in a rematch just eyt. He certainly proved his toughness and worth with his win over Gonzaga, I thought at one stage that the leg kicks were going to TKO him!!



Yes we're gonna see some failures soon Im certain of that.

johnny_adidas

just as i was contemplating getting rid of setanta, i noticed this announcement on their website. events on bravo (even with the day delay) were just too good to be true.

"Setanta to become home to UFC

17 January 2008
The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC) organisation and Setanta Sports have announced a multi-year deal to make Setanta Sports 1 the exclusive home for all of the UFC’s big UK and US fights plus all other UFC programming, in Britain and Ireland.

The deal will see Setanta Sports broadcasting all the UFC UK fights in 2008 and 2009 and later in July 2008 all other cards will be available exclusively live on Setanta. As such, Setanta subscribers in 2008 will be able to see at least four UK live events and after July, all other US live events.

UFC fans should note that all the UFC supercards will NOT be available on a pay-per-view basis, but only to Setanta Sports subscribers at just £9.99 a month, reinforcing Setanta’s position as premium sports broadcasters offering great value to sports fans.

For more information on UFC, visit our dedicated microsite here."

Dragan

Deleted User wrote: »

And finally Tim has lost the belt now to Mir and Randy and lost a title decider to Andrei. He never beat Mir, hasnt beat Randy and yet he has another chance to call himself the champ.

Not really a lot they can.....Andrei caved under pressure, Randy walked, CroCop is MIA, Gonzaga was built up only to get shut down, Vera had his chance and couldn't seal the deal ( granted he broke his hand in round one but still ) Mir is washed up....all you really have left is Tim.....unless you want to give Kongo a bash?

In fairness the UFC is doing what they can with a division that is slowly falling apart on them.

Fozzy

Gomi has signed up with World Victory Road to fight in Japan in March. Misaki, Baroni and Yoshida are signed for the event as well

http://www.sengoku-official.com/pc/

cletus

ok, slightly off topic, not really news, but entertaining just the same

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRNuP1TDT5Y

Rubin Tagle vs Rocky Williams
Organization King Of The Cage
Date March 19, 2006
Location Soboba Casino,
San Jacinto, California

dunkamania

http://mmajunkie.com/2008/01/31/ufc-executive-ufc-returning-to-newcastle-possibly-with-abdul-mohamed/


The UFC will return to Newcastle, England, which played host to UFC 80 earlier this month, for an event in 2009.

Marshall Zelanik, the president of the UFC’s U.K. division, confirmed the return trip while speaking to Adam Steel of the The Evening Gazette.

UFC 80 took place Jan. 19 at Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena. B.J. Penn defeated Joe Stevenson in the night’s main event to claim the UFC’s vacant lightweight title, and Fabricio Werdum defeated Gabriel Gonzaga with a second-round TKO to move up the heavyweight rankings. Despite a somewhat lackluster undercard, the event turned out to be a fairly solid hit. Only two fights went to a decision, and eight of the night’s nine fights aired on the pay-per-view broadcast.

The event also broke the venue’s box-office record. Without an athletic commission overseeing the event, the official numbers aren’t known. However, the UFC claims a paid attendance of 8,412 for a live gate of approximately $1.25 million.

When the organization does return in 2009, Zelanik specifically mentioned one area fighter who may be on the card: Cage Rage lightweight Abdul Mohamed (15-5-2).

It’s unusual for the UFC to comment on fighters signed to other organizations, but Zelanik left open the door when asked about the Cage Rage champion.

“You never know what the status of some contracts are, so you never want to interfere with anyone’s contract,” Zelanik told The Evening Gazette. “We get a lot of interest from managers who lead us on to their fighters. I usually turn that over to our matchmaker Joe Silva and he evaluates them, and he is signing a lot of good fighters now from Europe and the UK.“

UFC President Dana White has publicly stated that the organization is losing “millions of dollars” as it attempts to penetrate the European market. However, in addition to the return trip to Newcastle, White has said that the UFC will hold shows this year in Croatia, Scotland and Dublin, Ireland. Additionally, the UFC is expected to return to London’s 02 Arena for a UFC 85 event on June 14.

Okay lads time to hang our hats....Predictions:


Nog vs Tim - Nog via sub. i firmly believe he'll get him down once and thats all he'll need. Nog has the boxing ability to go at Tim an tire him out.

Brock vs Mir - Mir via sub, 2 years of training and bein a tank wont negate a BJJ black belt. although if Mir isnt in decent shape we could see freeman Mir 2.

Nate Marquardt vs Horn - Nate by dec in a slow fight. can see BJJ fans like myself learnign a tric or two watching this but cant really see it being action packed.

Tyson Griffin vs Gleison Tibau - Tyson by dec in the FOTN, he can never seem to finish guys off though so Gleison could catch him but going with tyson.

Almeida vs Yunit - Almeida by sub. As long as he isnt overly ring rusty.

Eastman vs Martin - Dunno with this one. eastman might be an animal at 185. 2 lads built like brick ****houses who like to bang, should be exciting. Ill go with the Beastman by KO.

Nakamura vs Emerson - Emerson by TKO.

Lytle vs Bradley - Lytle by KO

Heath vs Boetsch - never seen Boetsch fight so gonna go with Heath.

Wacker

The only fights I really have a predicition on is the Mir Vs Lesnar fight, and Noguirea Vs Sylvia. For Lesnar Vs Mir, I can see it ending one of three ways:

1. Lesnar takes Mir down early, but gets caught in an armbar, guillotine, heel hook, etc. and he taps.

2. Lesnar takes Mir down, and pounds the bejaysus out of him, and that's the end of that.

3. A longer fight, where Lesnar's cardio ad aggression gives him the win.

While two out of those three options end with Lesnar getting his arm raised, I still think option 1 is the most likely.

I can't see Noguira subbing Sylvia. Sylvia does have good takedown defense, as he demonstrated against Monson, and he can defend himself well even when he is down. I see this being another five round snoozefest, with Sylvia winning, and with me throwing a rock at the TV.

Dragan

I'm gonna make a very odd prediction and say the Nog is going to win by TKO! I don't think he's even remotely afraid of being knocked out by Tim....if the best of Pride in their prime couldn't do it i can't see Tim being able to. I think Nog is gonna work a solid stand up fight and shock Tim then use that to shoot in for takedowns, tire Tim out and eventually pound him out from a dominant position.

If i'm wrong i look like a dreamer but i really have a feeling that how this fight will go! Late round TKO stoppage!

Mir Vs Lesnar is interesting. Everyone ( read the casual fans ) seems to be expecting Lesnar to go in and clear out the division based on strength and wrestling alone. I don't really see it. I think Lesnar will easily be able to dictate where the fight goes, either on the feet or on the mat. I think he'd be a fool to try and pound out Mir early. I think a lot of work against the cage, some knees and some dirty boxing could tire Mir out if he shows up in poor shape but i think it's also important to remember that Mir came into a division of strong wrestler and racked them up.

Fair play to Lesnar for asking for a challenge but i think Mir has a very, very strong chance of grabbing something and taking it home.

Mir via Choke!