[Malaclypse]

amphibian;234190 said:

The only legit top five heavyweight Fedor hasn't beaten yet is Captain America. Barnett is still unsigned, so it might be possible that M-1 will put on another Fedor-Barnett card before making any moves. Right now, I don't see how someone can really say anyone not Fedor is the #1 heavyweight, but if Couture convincingly demolishes Big Nog (if this fight happens), then you've got an iffy case to make. There are way too many "ifs" in my sentence there.

I tend to agree, at the moment, but how is he to retain that ranking? It's clear that Fedor doesn't want anything to do with the UFC in terms of an exclusive contract and it's clear that Dana is not interested in sharing revenues with competing organizations. So, from Dana's perspective, let Fedor fight whoever he can get until he's beaten, then sign the guy who beats him, provided that happens - otherwise, let him fade away into obscurity and retirement fighting cans. The UFC is where it's at right now and for all his numerous faults, Dana knows it. Fedor doesn't need the UFC but neither does the UFC need him. Fedor's legend will fade with time as it becomes more difficult to find or care about his fights. Now, if the Randy-Fedor fight were to happen, I would watch, but tbh, I'm more interested in the up and comers for the long term.

amphibian;234190 said:

On a side note, HDNet/Cuban is televising M-1's New Year's lackluster card. I knew those two would hook up somehow, but not to show Fedor beating the crap out of a gimungous tomato can.

Exactly. The most interesting thing to come out of that would be Choi winning that fight. And then Dana would sign him if possible (see above) It's going to take a much more concerted effort to present the slightest challenge to the dominance of the UFC in the MMA market, imo. I'm confident it will eventually happen and the business model is there, but I think it will take some time (read: until certain people's contracts run their course) The UFC has to be threatened in their own market before they will consider dealing with other orgs and I pray for the day that happens

[amphibian]

Filho was losing that fight. I realize it may have looked like he was about to wreck Sonnen's arm, but Sonnen was not in serious trouble. That ref stopped the fight too early (only like 4 seconds left in the round).

I think Filho just dropped below Anderson Silva in everybody's middleweight rankings.

[Malaclypse]

amphibian;234623 said:

Filho was losing that fight. I realize it may have looked like he was about to wreck Sonnen's arm, but Sonnen was not in serious trouble. That ref stopped the fight too early (only like 4 seconds left in the round).

I think Filho just dropped below Anderson Silva in everybody's middleweight rankings.

It's a bit of a random subject switch, but I found the fight vid and I agree, Filho was definitely losing that fight. Sonnen didn't tap but he certainly seemed to be in a great deal of pain...in any case, it's his choice whether to tap and avoid serious damage to his arm or to carry on fighting - the ref shouldn't have taken it out of his hands, especially with so little time left in the round. I admit that this is the first of Filho's fights I've seen, but I don't see how he's even close to Anderson Silva. I think Silva beats this guy 8 or 9 times out of 10. Hell, if Sonnen knew how to use his knees, he would have won easily imo.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I'm interested in the Faber/Pulver fight. I think Faber takes it, but Pulver has the tools to pull off the upset.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Anyone watched UFC tomorrow? This is going to be a sweet card. I will be watching it for sure. For free, like the cheap bastard I am. Thank you, Quil Ceda Casino. They've saved me hundreds of dollars in ppv money.

[Malaclypse]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;237633 said:

Anyone watched UFC tomorrow? This is going to be a sweet card. I will be watching it for sure. For free, like the cheap bastard I am. Thank you, Quil Ceda Casino. They've saved me hundreds of dollars in ppv money.

I'm going to try to avoid spoiling myself until 10pm tomorrow, when it's on Bravo for free...it will be difficult...

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I'll be nice, and not post about the fights until you see it. I will say this, regardless of who you are rooting for, the two big fights were sweet.

[Zanth13]

post the resuts using the spoiler tags please... ufc.com is blocked by the censors...

[amphibian]

Spoiler

GSP is ridiculous. He's taken on two of the best wrestlers in the sport and outwrestled them. His striking isn't quite as fluid as Anderson Silva's, but I think his ground game makes it more than even.

I think Wanderlei was unable to implement his game plan. I bet Couture set him up with a hybrid of what Randy did with Gonzaga and what Alexander did with Jardine - dirty box into the clinch and then go nuts with the punches - and he just wasn't able to do it. Chuck did very well, but I wish he'd have pushed the issue after rocking Silva with the spinning backfist and combinations.

Side note: Chuck actually shot two or three times and got 'em. Good lord.

[paladin]

Spoiler

gsp definately looks like hes going to be on a run similar to what hughes had previously... hes a young guy still too.

i was impressed by liddell. he definitely showed that he has the drive to fight.. he didnt have his belly anymore either. silvas prefight interviews were gold though. "i want to kill him, yea?"

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I'm worried that UFC is trying to do too much, too many shows. It dilutes the individual shows. These guys can only fight so many times a year, and with to many shows, there's no way you can fill every one with quality matches. I see no reason to put on more than 12 ppv events a year.

[paladin]

well the problem comes with quantity.. say you have 8 fights per card, not every one on the main card, usually 4 or 5. every fighter fights 3-4 times per year in the ufc, which is very different from other organizations. at 12 events per year, that gives you about 64 fighters with a conservative 3 fight estimate. ufc has 5 active weight classes giving you about 12/13 per class and thats not currently what we have.

just like boxing, the lesser fighters have to have fights in order to become contenders, and most of these events are just that. that is why ufc is branching out into foreign countries, because its easier to build a fightcard to appeal to a country than have a title shot in every fightcard

[No-God]

But with the buyout of PRIDE, the UFC should have plenty of new fighters to sustain some of the biggest cards in MMA.

That isn't happening.

[paladin]

because some of them have resisted.. not every contract was transferable and the WEC took some of pride talent as well if i recall.

keep in mind you have people that have to move to the US when they're firmly established near japan, and then they have to train on top of it. it is difficult to do that right away. this has given crocop trouble, arlovski moved to chicago to avoid the problems with travelling(an early example of it, not from pride obviously), wanderlei recently moved near las vegas because of the challenges in training and fighting in america when living abroad, etc. give it time, the buyout was messy and not yet a year old and people train from 3-6 months for each fight

[No-God]

paladin;240569 said:

because some of them have resisted.. not every contract was transferable and the WEC took some of pride talent as well if i recall.

keep in mind you have people that have to move to the US when they're firmly established near japan, and then they have to train on top of it. it is difficult to do that right away. this has given crocop trouble, arlovski moved to chicago to avoid the problems with travelling(an early example of it, not from pride obviously), wanderlei recently moved near las vegas because of the challenges in training and fighting in america when living abroad, etc. give it time, the buyout was messy and not yet a year old and people train from 3-6 months for each fight

True, but I think it has to do with Zuffa's ineptness to actually do anything with this buyout. Recall that PRIDE was originally going to be kept alive - Zuffa failed at that. Why are PRIDE fighters, like Paulo Filho, fighting in WEC when guys like Travis Lutter are getting title shots against Anderson Silva?

I also don't like how Randy Couture left the UFC. Sure, he wants to fight Fedor. But what, exactly, has he done to assume that he can demand such a fight? Fedor is the #1 heavyweight, bar none (whether by being the best, or due to nobody else fitting to take the rank - your choice), and Couture has... wins over Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga? In my opinion, Couture should have fought Nogueria - who is unquestionably ranked higher - before leaving the UFC.

I guess the Couture thing just continues with the UFC's traditional mismanagement of their heavyweight division. Having guys out there, like Josh Barnett, Mark Hunt, and Fujita, available for the heavyweight division, but decides to give Cheik Kongo fights, and sign Brock Lesnar... Sure, Barnett used steroids. But Sean Sherk is having the same issue, and I guarantee he'll remain in the UFC after his suspension. Same with Stephan Bonnar. Steroids are not something that keeps you out of the UFC forever, it seems...

I would also love to see my personal favorite fighter, Ricardo Arona, in the octagon. With elbows, he would leave bodies in his wake. The best takedowns at light heavyweight, I think he's the only guy who could put Liddell on his back and keep him there. Plus, a third war with Wanderlei Silva is a must.

Since I'm ranting about the UFC, I might as well comment on their lightweight division. They have some good guys - Tyson Griffin, Frank Edgar, Sherk, Penn - and some good up and comers - Crane, Huerta - but they have absolutely none of the top LWs in the world. Aoki, Gesais "JZ" Calvantante (my #1), Vitor Ribiero, Kid Yamamoto (unless he's fighting at featherweight now), Tatsula Kawajiri, Ishida, and Gilbert Melendez. Mixing these guys up with some of the current UFC lightweights would be a blast.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Part of the problem is that a lot of fighters from pride who were supposedly some of the highest ranked fighters in the world have been busts. Pride always was good at having fights with one guy who was good, and one who was a joke. Based on the losses I've seem some of them put up, as well as some very uninspiring wins, I'm not going to buy into the hype of any pride guy until they've proven themselves in the ufc. Obviously, there are exceptions (Rampage, Silva imppressed me even with losing, and....I'm sure there are some others) but this is how I generally see it.

I also don't think you can blame the ufc for not keeping pride alive. It was screwed from top to bottom and corrupt as you can imagine. Plus, I think it makes more business sense for them to let it fold and take over the fighters.

[amphibian]

No-God;241136 said:

Since I'm ranting about the UFC, I might as well comment on their lightweight division. They have some good guys - Tyson Griffin, Frank Edgar, Sherk, Penn - and some good up and comers - Crane, Huerta - but they have absolutely none of the top LWs in the world. Aoki, Gesais "JZ" Calvantante (my #1), Vitor Ribiero, Kid Yamamoto (unless he's fighting at featherweight now), Tatsula Kawajiri, Ishida, and Gilbert Melendez. Mixing these guys up with some of the current UFC lightweights would be a blast.

Penn and Sherk are probably the two best LWs in the world right now. BJ is up there on the pound-for-pound list too.

[paladin]

other people have answered most already, but regarding randy couture, hes been a major draw for ufc for quite some time, especially during a time that the heavyweight division was total crap. he came out of retirement for ufc to make the heavyweight division competitive. he earned his way to the top of ufc and he wants to fight the top fighter from another organization, i cant fault him for that. as far as quitting/resigning/retiring because he didnt get it, thats his choice, and i think a lot of people feel he earned it. hell, dana white is the first person to talk shit on someone and to blacklist someone from fighting in the organization and he's been worshipping randys feet trying to get him to fight someone(like nog) rather than telling him to goto hell. that tells you something about the respect the organization has for him

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

So BJ Penn is the new lightweight champ. For once I missed the fights, but I gues he beat the crap out of the guy. Tito Ortiz is going to fight machida and then quit the UFC because of lack of respect and $.

[amphibian]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;246632 said:

So BJ Penn is the new lightweight champ. For once I missed the fights, but I gues he beat the crap out of the guy. Tito Ortiz is going to fight machida and then quit the UFC because of lack of respect and $.

The Penn-Stevenson fight was the bloodiest thing I've seen in the UFC yet. I would have had a hard time fighting Stevenson much less coming out ready to rumble with a gash like that.

Werdum looks like he got lucky with a good knee to the head and then worked the opportunity he got successfully.

I just want Ortiz to go away. Painfully if possible.