[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

amphibian;209766 said:

I haven't been watching, but I remember reading this thing somewhere about Matt Hughes playing games with Scarola and Serra. Backstory: Scarola is Serra's longtime student. Hughes knew this.

Hughes apparently took Scarola aside and told him he'd be taken with Hughes' first pick - if Serra didn't grab him. Hughes then proceeded to sit back and watch Serra panic and take Scarola with the first overall pick, which let Hughes take his pick of the better fighters remaining. Did this make it to air?

Yes.

[paladin]

this happened but it really didnt seem like anything. it was a whole 1 minute of the show and wasnt a tense moment or anything. serra received first pick and didnt hesitate picking scarola. i believe it was more serra picking his boy. serra is a stand up/loyalty type person, so i expected it even without the attempt to insert drama.

the one problem i see with it from hughes side is that he used the most accomplished fighter in the cast to take out one without any accomplishments. sure, its a psychological victory over serra, but it leaves potentially lopsided bouts in serras favor that could prove costly

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Jardine/Liddell is going to be a fun fight to watch. Someone's getting dropped. I doubt that fight gets past the first round.

[Ereko]

Well Chuck did get dropped on his ass!Was quite suprised at the Forest Griffin match but shows he can contend with the big boys!

[Coco with marshmallows]

now that (jardine/liddel) was a hell of a fight.

still, anyone else think chuck might pack it in now?
Two losses in a row, plus he's getting on a bit, and before anyone mentions it, he isn't in the same class as couture when it comes to training/self motivation.

I dunno, the last two fights he just hasn't seemed to be all there. I thought he looked terrible against Jackson. I'll admit he looked a lot better againt Jardine, but still....

[paladin]

nah, chuck doesnt really care.. i think hes really only biding time to fight wanderlei.. hes been wanting it for a while and theres nothing else i think that interests him at this point

[amphibian]

paladin;210560 said:

nah, chuck doesnt really care.. i think hes really only biding time to fight wanderlei.. hes been wanting it for a while and theres nothing else i think that interests him at this point

I made the executive decision to go play beer pong in a garage, instead of watching this card. Damn, I paid for it.

I don't think Chuck, right now, with the same trainers/camp he's been using for ten years, can beat the elites anymore. The sport has changed significantly enough that Jardine was able to successfully game-plan his ass. Of course, Jardine had to eat like a million punches to do it, but there's a precedent.

Assuming Wanderlei isn't just spouting nonsense in his interviews, he's adapting to the sport's changing and is going to be in a much better position than Chuck.

Couture's XC camp is something like 10-0 in the last few cards, right?

[Coco with marshmallows]

yeah, but at this rate, he won't get wanderlei. Why would wanderlai want to fight him? He could pretty much get a title match like that (imagine me snapping my fingers here)

[paladin]

the division is too deep for him to get an automatic title shot

[amphibian]

paladin;210693 said:

the division is too deep for him to get an automatic title shot

Yeah, 205 is stacked. There are so many guys in line right now, it's like a deli queue. And Rampage is serving big ol' butt-whoopings.

I still think the second-best LHW right now is Henderson. He took Rampage to his limits for the full five rounds. That was such a great fight. They probably could have gone another couple rounds, though Rampage still would have won.

[paladin]

henderson could be, but he'll never beat rampage. the styles of fighting and body types lend to rampage winning 99 times out of 100. i dont think there willbe a rematch honestly, because it would be as pointless as ortiz/liddell 4

[paladin]

Now the report is Couture is leaving UFC since UFC failed to sign Fedor. Sucks for UFC is all i can say

[amphibian]

paladin;213556 said:

Now the report is Couture is leaving UFC since UFC failed to sign Fedor. Sucks for UFC is all i can say

This positively boggled my mind. I didn't know Liddell was still getting more money than Couture - the HW champion.

If Couture does indeed go to Russia and fight Fedor, he will have established a legend for himself, outside of the UFC and if he actually won, I'd view him as probably the biggest badass in modern times.

[paladin]

it would be rocky 4 all over again

and yea, couture wasnt making crap because the HW division was asstastic when he signed back up. he was the biggest draw they've ever had at the heavyweight level and they've paid him ass. offerring fedor 2mil/fight when he makes 250k/fight was a slap in the face, but seemingly tolerable if he could have fought fedor. now thats done, so hes done.

interestingly enough, a lot of people feel crocop doesn't care because his only accomplishment left is beating fedor as well. this may make crocop care even less

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I don't think he can go fight fedor. He's still under contract to the UFC for 2 fights, and can't compete outside of the organization. UNless his contract can expire without all the fights fulfilled?

[paladin]

plenty of fighters fight in multiple organizations, though usually they request leave.

but ive also heard that coutures contract is on a fight to fight basis, which i believe means he can do whatever the hell he wants.

he could also negotiate to buy out the remaining fights(he would earn $500k total), which, if he works out a deal with another organization, he could conceivably using a signing bonus of some sort to pay that off

honestly, with the exception of a one off fight with fedor, i see him retiring to running his gym and coaching

[amphibian]

Can Dana White enforce that UFC contract in Russia? Picture this: M-1 sets up a card in Moscow with whoever, Barnett vs. a tomato can, and Fedor vs. Randy. It would be pretty much the biggest card ever among serious MMA fans. I doubt White/Zuffa could really do anything to stop Randy.

Or what if Couture buys out of the contract, signs with M-1 and then M-1 sells out to the UFC for a huge price? Every fighter gets a good piece of the pie there and the UFC gets three top five heavyweights at the cost of some dollars and a deflated ego.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

paladin;213608 said:

plenty of fighters fight in multiple organizations, though usually they request leave.

but ive also heard that coutures contract is on a fight to fight basis, which i believe means he can do whatever the hell he wants.

he could also negotiate to buy out the remaining fights(he would earn $500k total), which, if he works out a deal with another organization, he could conceivably using a signing bonus of some sort to pay that off

honestly, with the exception of a one off fight with fedor, i see him retiring to running his gym and coaching

UFC only signs exclusive contracts, which was a sticking point with Fedor. They dol occasionally let guys in a slump fight outside of the UFC to regain their form, but you have to get permission, which somehoe I doubt Randy is going to get.

I see him retiring, but it won't be all coaching. He's an actor now. We'll see how that turns out. I read somewhere he might get a tv show.

[paladin]

the one thing im wondering about is that its never been announced who is funding M1 other than "an american entertainment related company". the conspiracy theorist in me tells me its zuffa, but in reality who knows

[amphibian]

paladin;213759 said:

the one thing im wondering about is that its never been announced who is funding M1 other than "an american entertainment related company". the conspiracy theorist in me tells me its zuffa, but in reality who knows

CUBAN!