The Official MMA Thread

[Bwaho]

AT LONG LAST WANDERLEI SILVA VS CHUCK LIDDELL IS GOING TO HAPPEN!

GOD DAMN! I've been waiting for that fight for years now! I never thought it would happen!

and next on the card!:

Matt Hughes vs Georges St.Pierre

this fight alone would make buying the PPV worthwhile! personally I would have prefered to have seen Serra vs Hughes, but this is quite an amazing fight to have on the card. Third time these two are fighting eachother. I think it's going to be more evenly matched this time with Hughes being able to take Georges down a couple of times.


next on the card:

Machida vs Sokoudjou

Sokoudjou is coming off two quick and stunning knockout victories over ricardo arona and nogueira... fluke? we'll see

I didn't think the UFC had signed Sokoudjou so I was pleasantly surprised to see him on the card.



Anyways, obviously the big draw on this card is Silva vs Liddell, the dream fight for many longtime fans. I only feel sad this fight didn't happen earlier. Chuck being 37 years old is most likely past his prime and I can already see the excuses people are going to make if chuck loses: "silva beat an old chuck, thats nothing!!" or "had chuck been 31 like silva he would have kicked his ass!"

oh well, we'll see how this pans out... please people share your predictions and love for this card.

[VALIS]

For gods sake, I'm disgusted about the lack of interest in the greatest sport in the world on this forum.
More concerned with Football or the pussy ass version of Rugby.

Anyway, yes, UFC 79 looks amazing and will be the event of the year.
I'm going with GSP, Silva and Sokoudjou!

[Publius]

Much as I love Hughes, that's going to be a close one like you said, Bwaho. Hopefully Serra heals up quick - I can't wait to see him take the pounding he has had coming for a while, and Hughes doesn't have much time left in the Octagon before he retires.

Speaking of TUF match ups (and I realize this is a little off topic, but eh) what do you guys think about Griffin and Rampage being the coaches for next season? I've never been particularly impressed by Griffin - he's going to have a rude awakening come fight night (however far away that may be), I think.

And is there an official UFC thread here?

[Bwaho]

what do you guys think about Griffin and Rampage being the coaches for next season?

it sounds great!

there probably wont be bad mouthing and bitter rivalry between the two since they're good guys... something which made the pulver/penn fight and the hughes/serra fight all the more interesting.

but a Griffin vs Rampage fight could be epic

I've never been particularly impressed by Griffin

not even when he completely dominated mauricio shogun?

And is there an official UFC thread here?

no, by all means start one =)

[Publius]

not even when he completely dominated mauricio shogun?

Good job on his part no doubt, but compared to the laundry list of people rampage has rolled over...? I think it's a bit soon to be giving Griffin a title shot, especially having lost to Jardine.

As for them as Coaches, I think it will be pretty awesome actually - they're both pretty funny guys, and I think it will make the regular season fun to watch. I think a better choice, or at least a more level one, for coach opposite Rampage would have been Silva though.

there probably wont be bad mouthing and bitter rivalry between the two since they're good guys... something which made the pulver/penn fight and the hughes/serra fight all the more interesting.

Ya, true. And I feel like I'm the only one who noticed (or cares), but how long did Penn hold that rear naked choke after Pulver tapped out...? I like Penn a lot but it seemed like his anger really got the better of him there. Still, good tv.

no, by all means start one =)

Once UFC 79 is over let's just rename this thread and have it morph into it

[Idwayreth]

St Pierre is gonna tap that a$$ again. Was really hoping Serra would do it since i despise Hughes.

As for the Silva, Liddell part, not really as excited anymore, seeing both are comming off consecutive losses.

[VALIS]

Seriously, lets look at this objectively, Hughes has zero chance of winning this fight with the frenchie.

Frenchie has vastly superior striking,has pinpoint accuracy, great hands and kicks. Hughes has terrible striking, he just flails his arms around has zero technique at all. He doesn't have power in his punches either to test GSP's questionable chin. Hughes also has bad defence, while GSP has a good one against punches.

Hughes has great wrestling but I think with his fights with Koscheck and with Hughes himself, GSP is now equal to Hughes and CANNOT be taken down. I fully expect GSP to avoid all takedowns and even outwrestle Hughes.

I can't really say much about their Jiu Jitsu, maybe they're about even, I doubt Hughes can be that much better than GSP to help him during the fight.

GSP is stronger, faster more well rounded.........everything Hughes has, GSP does better or is at least equal.

It's a mismatch really. Matt Hughes will be brutally crushed barring a complete miracle.

[Bwaho]

Seriously, lets look at this objectively, Hughes has zero chance of winning this fight with the frenchie

if Hughes gives up on his dream of knocking someone out and sticks to what he's good at he can win.

and CANNOT be taken down

of course he can be taken down. the question is what will Hughes do if he gets GSP down?

I guess I could see hughes getting a tired GSP in a choke in the later rounds, but this fight could very well go to decision. I think more than anything the outcome of this fights depends on what Matt Hughes shows up at the fight. If hughes tries striking with GSP again he's doomed, but I think Hughes is smarter than that and he will try to get GSP on the ground and try to land elbows.

The optimal position for Hughes in this fight would be sidemount. From there he can try to trap GSP in that crucifix of his, like he did with BJ Penn.

[Publius]

If hughes tries striking with GSP again he's doomed, but I think Hughes is smarter than that and he will try to get GSP on the ground and try to land elbows.

Exactly. Hughes has said himself that trying to stand up with GSP in their second fight was a big mistake. He'd been training and improving his stand up game quite a bit before the match and perhaps thought he was better on his feet than he actually was.

I'd be really surprised if Hughes didn't go for a take down almost straight out of the gates, and even more surprised if GSP wasn't on the ground at some point in the first round taking some hard shots.

I can't really say much about their Jiu Jitsu, maybe they're about even, I doubt Hughes can be that much better than GSP to help him during the fight.

Eh? I'd say Hughes has just as big an advantage on the mat as George has in the stand up game.

Either way it's likely to be a tight and pretty close fight - the outcome (as I see it) will probably depend on where the fight is fought.

[Bwaho]

guys what the hell?

Liddell vs Silva who are you picking to win!? and when and how do you think it's going to end?

I see Silva chasing a backpedaling Chuck. After some stalking Silva is going to try to rush Chuck and try to get in a brawl and Chuck is going to circle and try to land that wild looping hook of his.

I think Silva is better on paper, but seeing as both fighters are kind of wild strikers this could go either way... I'll wait with my final prediction on this fight

[Publius]

Chuck's been off his game, but I'm still pulling for him - and I do honestly think he can win.

I see Silva chasing a backpedaling Chuck.

Of course! That's how Chuck fights - he makes people chase him and then when they're coming in, throws it into drive and comes out screaming.

Also an interesting speculation (and mind this is only speculation - there's no proof of this at all) made by my Uncle was that a lot of the PRIDE fighters were juicing before the UFC - PRIDE merge (PRIDE having much looser regulations on drug testing). Thinking about all of the fights to date between the two, it's hard to argue:

-Rampage wins over Henderson
-Griffin wins over Shogun
-Kongo wins over Cro Cop
-Gonzaga wins over Cro Cop

Likely I'm missing a few, but off the top of my head a lot of these PRIDE fighters are having a rough go of it. I'm thinking it might be the same for Silva.

[VALIS]

Chuck's been off his game, but I'm still pulling for him - and I do honestly think he can win.


Of course! That's how Chuck fights - he makes people chase him and then when they're coming in, throws it into drive and comes out screaming.

Also an interesting speculation (and mind this is only speculation - there's no proof of this at all) made by my Uncle was that a lot of the PRIDE fighters were juicing before the UFC - PRIDE merge (PRIDE having much looser regulations on drug testing). Thinking about all of the fights to date between the two, it's hard to argue:

-Rampage wins over Henderson
-Griffin wins over Shogun
-Kongo wins over Cro Cop
-Gonzaga wins over Cro Cop

Likely I'm missing a few, but off the top of my head a lot of these PRIDE fighters are having a rough go of it. I'm thinking it might be the same for Silva.

Rampage IS a PRIDE fighter. Dan Henderson has had as many fights in the UFC as Jackson has, Jackson came from PRIDE, beat Eastman and was given a title shot to Chuck straight away, lets not forget that Rampage whooped Chucks ass in Japan. Just because Jackson was given a title shot for a UFC belt before Henderson and won doesn't mean he was a UFC fighter.
They were both Pride fighters.........Rampage just got into the UFC earlier than Henderson did after the merger!
Lets also not forget that Rampage needs to cut weight as he weighs well over the 205lb limit between fights. Dan Henderson's natural weight class is 185lbs and he had to do significant weight training to get up to 205, it is not his natural weight. Had nothing to do with steroids or any of that junk, Rampage is just naturally bigger, stronger and younger. (Henderson is 37, Rampage is only 29)
Rampage is gonna be scared if Wanderlei beats Chuck, I bet Rampage still gets nightmares from the beatings he took from Wandy back in the day.

Anyway, here's a preview to GSP vs Hughes 3. (AKA Death in the octagon)

[Titus001]

Chuck's been off his game, but I'm still pulling for him - and I do honestly think he can win.


Of course! That's how Chuck fights - he makes people chase him and then when they're coming in, throws it into drive and comes out screaming.

Also an interesting speculation (and mind this is only speculation - there's no proof of this at all) made by my Uncle was that a lot of the PRIDE fighters were juicing before the UFC - PRIDE merge (PRIDE having much looser regulations on drug testing). Thinking about all of the fights to date between the two, it's hard to argue:

-Rampage wins over Henderson
-Griffin wins over Shogun
-Kongo wins over Cro Cop
-Gonzaga wins over Cro Cop

Likely I'm missing a few, but off the top of my head a lot of these PRIDE fighters are having a rough go of it. I'm thinking it might be the same for Silva.

The Rampage vs Henderson fight in the ufc was basically a pride vs pride fight. Rampage fought many times in pride and made his name in pride. Rampage back in pride for whatever reason could not get over the hump so to speak. Rampage lost 2 times to Wanderli Siva in pride both by tko. Getting kneed to the head and falling through the ropes in one of the fights. Rampage went on to fight Shogun and again lost by tko. Rampage besides those fights did have success in pride and was always a contender. He had his chances.

Two former pride fighters do have the UFC belt. Rampage and anderson silva. Big nog may be the 3rd when he fights Big Tim for the title since Randy Couture resigned from the ufc. I hope that in october when randy's contract is up with the ufc he will fight Fedor to decide who is the best heavyweight fighter on the planet.

[Publius]

Rampage IS a PRIDE fighter.

Was, but Rampage was the UFC Light HeavyWeight title holder at the time. Either way, that was just one example. No need to get worked up.

[VALIS]

It was a pretty bad example though, You made it sound like Rampage was a life long UFC fighter and that Henderson spent his whole career in Pride possibly on steroids. Also you kind of implied that the reason why Pride fighters weren't performing as well in the UFC was because they couldn't use their steroids but I had to set the record straight that both Rampage and Henderson were both in Pride for roughly the same amount of time and had just as many fights as one another and that Rampage beating Henderson had more to do with being the naturally larger man.
Also Henderson beat Wanderlei Silva in the US to win the Pride 205lb belt and was of course drug tested and he came out clean, so nothing to do with steroids on Dan's part.

Shogun was injured before the bout with Griffin and obviously wasn't in shape for the fight, Shogun had to take 2 drug tests in Pride when Pride came over to the US and he was clean and he won both his fights. So I doubt it was steroids.

As for Crocop.......who knows, maybe he was on steroids....that one was a good example unlike the other two.

[Publius]

and you kind of implied that the reason why Pride fighters weren't performing as well in the UFC was because they couldn't use their steroids

Really? As I read it I mentioned another person's speculation about their performance which I explicitly stated there was no evidence for.

Mirko has been rather disappointing simply because I always loved him as a fighter, but the Gonzaga fight especially was... painful.

As for the rest... maybe, maybe not. Either way that's a bit more of a reaction that I had really anticipated.

[VALIS]

Really? As I read it I mentioned another person's speculation about their performance which I explicitly stated there was no evidence for.

Yeah I guess you did. The notion that Pride fighters aren't performing as well in the UFC because they can't use steroids due to testing is actually a valid one, they had 0 drug testing in Pride and its interesting that some cardio machines from Pride come to the UFC and are all of a sudden flopping about like they're about to die of exhaustion.
I'm sure many fighters took advantage of the no drug testing policy of Pride/Japan.

Mirko has been rather disappointing simply because I always loved him as a fighter, but the Gonzaga fight especially was... painful.

Knockout of the year. Crocop got Crocop'd!

[Publius]

Knockout of the year. Crocop got Crocop'd!

I know, I couldn't believe it!

[VALIS]

Then getting beat by an overgrown Frenchman! Especially a cheating one that knee'd CC in the balls like 4 times!

The reason why CC performed so poorly in that fight was because of breathing problems stemming from a broken nose which he received way back in the early days while he was in Pride, one nostril was completley shut and the other was only working at 30%, so he became fatigued very quickly. He had surgery and should be 100% now, hopefully he comes back and wins again.

[Publius]

I'd love nothing more than to see Mirko and his high kicks back in the cage and dominating. Didn't know about the surgery or injuries though. As for Kongo's knees... ugh, I think I mentioned it in the UFC (what was it, 75?) thread. Wasn't too impressed by that.

Of course, another thing that may have been contributing to Mirko's struggles in the UFC (it certainly doesn't help) is that he doesn't train in a cage. He has a pretty strong defensive game on his back but has virtually no training on how to handle himself once he gets pinned up against the cage.