[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

At a local level, that's absolutely true. If, however, something happened and the UFC suddenly was gone, would MMA maintain the same national popularity?

[paladin]

someone else would take its place. strikeforce being big in a major media market gives it potential and elite xc has some talent and would probably cannibalize a lot of ufc talent if it went under.

we also dont know yet what will happen with hdnet fights. cuban has endless capital and seems to be dedicated to putting together a true competitor.

[amphibian]

I ain't taking everything on here - just a few.

Raymond Luxury Yacht;261977 said:

2. Wanderlei Silva (SP?) is thinking about dropping a weight class. Scary. He's still got the power to HURT people, especially if he's fighting littler guys.

He was pretty ripped at 205. I don't know if he can drop 20 more pounds and not lose too much of his strength, but what do I know? I ain't him or a trainer.

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4. How much do you think it hurts guys from Pride to not be able to to kick a downed opponent in the head? Some of those guys (Silva especially) seemed to make a living doing that. So, that said, if it is throwing off their game to a large degree, is it the fault of the rules for being too restrictive, or the fault of the fighters for relying too heavily on a cheap technique?

5. Along similar lines, how much does it throw off their games that elbows on the ground are allowed but weren't in Pride? Again, does the blame rest on the rules for being too lax and allowing a move some (but not me) would argue should be allowed? Or blame the fighters for failing to adapt?

I saw an interesting theory that the "Octagon" itself is one of the reasons why some of the big PRIDE fighters are having a hard time. The boxing ring allowed them to corner opponents (CroCop) and being up against the cage walls are putting greater demands on their clinch and ground skills. It doesn't explain everything, but Big Nog proved that PRIDE fighters can win if they train and fight good.

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7. The UFC's business model has worked brilliantly up to this point. Specifically I'm talking about signing only exclusive contracts, and how much they pay their fighters, and promoting the fights. It is responsible for MMA being a legitimate, popular sport. However, it seems to be going sour on them.

More and more big names are leaving the UFC for other organizations, mostly over money and the fact they can't fight non-UFC guys. The UFC won't co-promote, as they want to maintain the idea that they are the only show in town. It's like if someone tried to start another football league, the NFL would never play them. The problem is, there are other shows in town now. They are throwing crazy money around to sign talent, and most are willing to let their fighters compete against other organizations. Does the UFC need to change their SOP and get with the times? Are they dooming themselves?

I think that Brock Lesnar making 250,000 for his debut fight is ridiculous. He's certainly got a following, but to immediately put him above champions on the pay-scale shows a weird disrespect for their own championships. To the fighters in the UFC, which is supposed to be more important: winning the belt in your weight class or being popular enough to get record PPV buys?

The quality of the product has to come before advertising. I think Couture has a legitimate cause for complaint, but I also believe that the fighters lower in the rankings should be paid more. If they can make 50 grand in one fight and devote more time and energy to training, the UFC gets better fights and thus builds its rep and its ability to put out better entertainment. It'll also make the UFC the legitimate Big League. If they spend the money now to push the others to the side, they'll have less to worry about later.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Ahhhh! I can't wait for the fights this weekend! So pumped! Such a good card!

[paladin]

CBS/EliteXC seem to have come to a 4 "show" deal with kimbo slice headlining the first show. this should have been down as soon as the strike started

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Yeah, UFC screwed up and didn't get the first network deal. Oops. My problem with the other organizations is that they don't seem dedicated to turning MMA into a legit sport with mass appeal. They are in it more for the novelty aspect, like pride was.

[paladin]

its hard to grow without a draw, so i can see why they are doing some sideshows(though kimbo slice looks less like a sideshow every time out)

don frye is fighting in that new yappa league or whatever. don frye is the great american folk hero. better chesthair and mustache than tom selleck

[acesn8s]

Anyone else interested in the Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le fight at the Elite XC/Strikeforce event on March 29th? I think Cung Le has pretty much been given cans up until this point.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

acesn8s;265536 said:

Anyone else interested in the Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le fight at the Elite XC/Strikeforce event on March 29th? I think Cung Le has pretty much been given cans up until this point.

I wouldn't pay to see it, but will read about the results. Who has Shamrock fought lately? Robbie Lawler, iirc. Please. I just can't get excited to watch someone fight who got dropped by the UFC because they weren't winning anymore. What these other organizations don't get is this: if you sign someone who got kicked from UFC for losing too much, and that person then is dominant in your organization, it makes you look bad.

[paladin]

they know that their skill level is low.. its the minor leagues. they develop the talent and ufc capitalizes.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

It just seems like they are starting to emphasize getting has-been UFC guys more than they are trying to develop new talent. It makes them look more of a senior's tour than a minor league. IFL was different, getting new talent. Now that they are going to organize the teams based on gyms instead of city teams, it's going to be all about current and past UFC guys who have gyms. Team Couture vs Team Hughes, etc.

[acesn8s]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;265583 said:

I wouldn't pay to see it, but will read about the results. Who has Shamrock fought lately? Robbie Lawler, iirc. Please. I just can't get excited to watch someone fight who got dropped by the UFC because they weren't winning anymore. What these other organizations don't get is this: if you sign someone who got kicked from UFC for losing too much, and that person then is dominant in your organization, it makes you look bad.

Phil Barnoni which is a meh victory in the grand scheme of things. Frank Shamrock's last UFC fight was against Tito Ortiz in UFC 22 (almost 10 years ago). He beat Tito then retired. For some reason these guys just can't seem to stay retired.

Anyways, he's past his prime seeing as he's at the ripe old age of 35. Still, I hope to see him beat Cung Le just to stop the hype surrounding Cung Le.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I wouldn't mind seeing that either. I also wouldn't mind seeing the Shamrocks fight each other, just to see Ken get stomped on one more time. I heard he signed a contract to fight with one of the promotions. Bad idea.

[amphibian]

Kongo looked like he improved his ground game, but couldn't figure out how to get out from side mount. Gotdang, I was rooting for him too.

Anderson Silva is easily my favorite fighter of all time. He just supplanted Joe Son.

What next for Henderson? I think he should stay at 185 and rip through the division before the title fight. He's got a better shot against Silva than against Jackson.

Chris Wilson has the same name as my best friend. He put up a decent show, but seemed to gas in rounds two and three.

Leben? Angry fighter with good left hooks. Hilarious post-fight ineterview.

I a m hammered. This post took about five minutes to write.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Holy Crap. Silva is the best fighter in the world. There, I said it. There's no one left for him to fight in his weight division. The way things shape up, Rich Franklin is the #1 contender, and if he fights Silva again he's going to get killed. #2 contender, maybe Okami? Problem is he lost to Silva.

Here's what I want to see happen. Silva cuts his ass off and fights GSP and takes his belt. Or, if the weight drop is too much (probably is) they fight a a catch weight, GSP loses but keeps the belt. Next, Silva goes up a weight class and beats Rampage. Yes, I think he could beat Rampage.

Kongo will someday be the heavyweight champ. Tonight was a setback, but give him a couple of years of grappling and BJJ training, and he'll dominate.

Chris Leben. I hated this guy at first when he was way too cocky, but now root for him. He's a much more likeable guy since his near decapitation by Anderson Silva.

Brock Lesner might kill Mark Coleman. I understand he's a legend, and invented the G&P, and won a couple of UFC tournaments, but come on. The guy iis an old school fighter. You think he can ground and pound Lesner? Lesner has been on the juice for the past five years. Not going to happen. Lesner, TKO round 2.

[amphibian]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;266892 said:

Holy Crap. Silva is the best fighter in the world. There, I said it. There's no one left for him to fight in his weight division. The way things shape up, Rich Franklin is the #1 contender, and if he fights Silva again he's going to get killed. #2 contender, maybe Okami? Problem is he lost to Silva.

Here's what I want to see happen. Silva cuts his ass off and fights GSP and takes his belt. Or, if the weight drop is too much (probably is) they fight a a catch weight, GSP loses but keeps the belt. Next, Silva goes up a weight class and beats Rampage. Yes, I think he could beat Rampage.

Kongo will someday be the heavyweight champ. Tonight was a setback, but give him a couple of years of grappling and BJJ training, and he'll dominate.

Lindland is still out there. If those two fight, it'd be a bigger deal than almost every potential match out there - except for Fedor-Randy.

I don't think Silva beats Rampage at 205.

I don't think Kongo is going to be the heavyweight champ. He's 32 already. He however is going to be a force and likely among the top five in the UFC in a couple years.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I don't think Lindland is ever going to fight in the UFC. I forget the whole story, but think there's some bad blood between him and Dana White. (Surprise!)

Rampage might beat him. I don't know though. Silva dealt with Henderson much easier than Rampage did. It would be a sweet fight regardless.

I didn't realize Kongo was that old. He looks young. Still, I think he could pull it off. It Tim "I'm freaking big but not a great fighter" could win the belt, t makes me think that anyone could win it.

[amphibian]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;267089 said:

I didn't realize Kongo was that old. He looks young. Still, I think he could pull it off. It Tim "I'm freaking big but not a great fighter" could win the belt, t makes me think that anyone could win it.

He's huge. Herring was supposedly the same height and ten pounds heavier, but Kongo just seemed taller the entire fight and was explosive as heck at a few points.

Elsewhere, I'm seeing a whole lot of people shit on the ground part of the Kongo-Herring fight. Looking back on it, they're right. Kongo really had no idea what in the hell he was doing down there (good takedowns though), and Herring was only a little bit better.

I guess this was the Number 1 Contender fight, with Kongo being set up to take the title shot, but Big Nog would likely tear through Kongo on the ground in about two minutes flat. Werdum-Nog Redux?

Here's the awesome Leben post-fight quote:

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“When I came out, he actually hit a lot harder than I thought,” Leben said. “It takes a lot to hurt me, so more power to him, but I put him in the blender, took him into the deep end and said, ‘You want to swing? Let’s swing.’ That’s what these fans came to see.“

That's a whole lotta mixed metaphors right there.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Yeah, ground fighters those guys are not. How long do you think Nog will hold the belt? There aren't any dominant guys right now. Some guys with potential, but incomplete games. They offered the fight to Couture again. I hope he takes it. I wish Dana White would just accept that he needs to allow his fighters to compete against anyone.

[paladin]

its not a secret that being a big guy makes it difficult to be a real good ground fighter. its very easy to blow all your energy working on the ground, and the bigger you are the harder it is to have that endurance.

losing randy, arlovski, and crocop within a span of months turns the heavyweight division from shit to awesome and back to shit again within 1 year. dana really mismanaged the division. not signing fedor lost them crocop and randy. they've made no progress on barnett, mark hunt is another quality fighter who is unsigned in mma(though he still does kickboxing apparently), the situation with arlovski is unexplainable considering he beat werdum and just cant beat sylvia, and im sure there are other entertaining fighters that remain that can be bought as well