The MMA Thread

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

http://www.spike.com/ufc-100

You can now vote from 177 fights to rank the top 100 fights in UFC history. OK, realize that not EVERY fight is on here. But there's a ton of stuff here from old school UFC from the 90's and after. Some of the votes are pretty surprising. But do as you see fit. You can comment as well.

The Silva/Leites fight is disgraceful. For the first time ever, I am rooting for Forrest Griffin to destroy Anderson Silva. I'm sorry, but "THAT WAS A TECHNICAL STRATEGIC MMA BATTLE" is not a good excuse. That was not a fight.

Leites should be fired. He was gifted with a title shot he doesn't deserve and literally does nothing to try and win.

So then how can you blame that on Silva? He knew he was fighting a guy that really posed a threat to him. So he did what a champ should do, make his opponent beat him. Which Leites didn't do.

 

[TheVileOne]

So then how can you blame that on Silva? He knew he was fighting a guy that really posed a threat to him. So he did what a champ should do, make his opponent beat him. Which Leites didn't do.

You know to know why I blame Silva?

FALCON LEG PUNCH!

FALCON WWE BOOGEYMAN IMITATION!

This is why I don't buy any of the excuses of Silva fighting a smart strategic MMA battle. Silva had Leites on the run and backing away. And yet Silva could go in and PUNCH HIS FREAKING LEG instead of trying to finish the fight. He was strutting like WWE's Boogeyman instead of taking the fight seriously and trying to win. This has nothing to do with avoiding Leites ground game but not putting him away when he had Leites backing up toward the cage constantly.

If you can ****ing punch a guy in the leg you can ****ing finish the guy. Silva's performance was a disgrace to MMA and the UFC middleweight title.

 

[Superark]

I don't have a preference for the Evans vs. Machida fight, but I don't think Machida is going to pick Evans apart. I do think Machida is the favorite, but Evans isn't where he is at for no reason.

Then again look at what happened to Rich Franklin when he met Anderson Silva, twice. So Machida certainly could just tear Evans apart but I don't think he will.

I think Lesner has the Mir fight. I really want Mir to win just because if he gets demolished this time, like he almost did last time, Lesner is only going to have more confidence and be even more of a beast than he already is. But I am not counting Mir out, he has the size and skill to certainly take Lesner again.

But Lesner has only gotten better and smarter from their first encoutner. He basically made a stupid mistake and gave Mir the fight.

Evans certainly got to where he is through hard work and being a good fighter, but Machida is just on a different level when it comes to striking and he has good TDD. Plus I have not been impressed with Evans last two win over Chuck and Forrest. Yes his power is impressive, but he was losing those two fights in the standup easily before the KO. Like I said in a previous post Rashad has a chance, but it will be a punchers chance.

I think opponents really underestimated Lesnar in his first two UFC fights. While Lesnar needs a ton of work still, he is a physical beast thats going to be hard for anyone to handle, even moreso now since he has had more time to train. I believe Mir will go into this 2nd fight with a ton of respect for Lesnar and know that he needs to be more careful than he was in his first fight. Lesnar also will be more careful and not try to get over-zealous like he can be at times. But even if Lesnar doesnt make a "stupid mistake" he can still get caught with a submission by Mir because Mir is just that good. He is always trying to lock something in and grabbing a body part. I think Lesnars worst plan would to try and take this to the ground.

IMO this fight will be determined on the feet. If it stays standing up, it is a toss up. Mir has the better and more technical striking, but Lesnar has a huge reach with tons of power. Lesnar's chin still hasnt been tested so we dont know how he can take shot, and Mir's chin is weak.

It's going to be very interesting and fun to watch! Both guys are going to come in this fight extremely motivated, with Lesnar wanting to avenge his loss against Frank "Muur" and Mir finally getting a chance to get his belt back after the motorcycle accident.

But who ever wins this fight I feel sorry for, because it is only a matter of time before the fight "The Engineer" Shane Carwin. War Carwin!!!

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Evans certainly got to where he is through hard work and being a good fighter, but Machida is just on a different level when it comes to striking and he has good TDD. Plus I have not been impressed with Evans last two win over Chuck and Forrest. Yes his power is impressive, but he was losing those two fights in the standup easily before the KO. Like I said in a previous post Rashad has a chance, but it will be a punchers chance.

I think opponents really underestimated Lesnar in his first two UFC fights. While Lesnar needs a ton of work still, he is a physical beast thats going to be hard for anyone to handle, even moreso now since he has had more time to train. I believe Mir will go into this 2nd fight with a ton of respect for Lesnar and know that he needs to be more careful than he was in his first fight. Lesnar also will be more careful and not try to get over-zealous like he can be at times. But even if Lesnar doesnt make a "stupid mistake" he can still get caught with a submission by Mir because Mir is just that good. He is always trying to lock something in and grabbing a body part. I think Lesnars worst plan would to try and take this to the ground.

IMO this fight will be determined on the feet. If it stays standing up, it is a toss up. Mir has the better and more technical striking, but Lesnar has a huge reach with tons of power. Lesnar's chin still hasnt been tested so we dont know how he can take shot, and Mir's chin is weak.

It's going to be very interesting and fun to watch! Both guys are going to come in this fight extremely motivated, with Lesnar wanting to avenge his loss against Frank "Muur" and Mir finally getting a chance to get his belt back after the motorcycle accident.

But who ever wins this fight I feel sorry for, because it is only a matter of time before the fight "The Engineer" Shane Carwin. War Carwin!!!

True it hasn't but have you seen that guy's neck. I would be very surprised if he couldn't take a punch. Not that he can't be knocked out, but I highly doubt he has a weak chin.

 

[TheVileOne]

I'm excited about Mir/Lesnar's. Mir's trash talk has made it well worth the wait.

 

[Superark]

True it hasn't but have you seen that guy's neck. I would be very surprised if he couldn't take a punch. Not that he can't be knocked out, but I highly doubt he has a weak chin.

muscled guys with huge necks get knocked out all the time in mma. that has nothing to do with how he takes a shot. but i'm not saying he cannot take one or that he can. we don't know until he actually gets hit and take clean shot. If Mir's standup looks as good as it did against Nog, then it will be a good test to see how Lesnar's chin is.

 

[TheVileOne]

Lesnar did take shots from Randy and held up fine, though Randy has never been like a big power striker. Randy did knockout Gabriel Gonzaga though. Lesnar did look a little panicked when Couture cut him.

Also, the Herring and Couture fights prove that Lesnar has big heavy hands that can put you down with the right clean shot. Lesnar hit Herring with a huge shot that swolled Herring's eye right up.

Mir had much improved standup for the Nogueira fight. So let's see how he can hold up in a standup battle this time with Lesnar.

Also it doesn't matter if you can't choke or armbar Lesnar. Get it to the ground, and Mir's superior ground game could still come into play and he could submit Lesnar with a leg submission just like last time.

Also, Mir's not a small guy either. He generally goes into fights at around 250+. So he might be able to use some of that to his advantage with more time to train and gameplan on Lesnar. Mir is not a dumb run of the mill fighter despite what his detractors might say. People excuse Nog for his illness recovery, but Mir simply took advantage of a critical problem that Nogueira displayed in MANY fights. That being that Nog's head movement is terrible. Nog doesn't move his head and he takes a ton of shots. Herring fight. Sylvia fight. Fedor fight. Nog just doesn't move his head and gets a ton of headshots. Mir simply took advantage of that instead of making it a ground war where Nogueira would've possibly had the upper hand. It was a brilliant strategy on Mir's part.

 

[CrypticOne]

I believe Mir will win this fight again. I mean, I think this will be a totally different fight than last time. If Brock is smart, he won't take this to the ground. But then again, Mir seems to me, to be quicker on the feet. All Mir has to do is stay away from Brock's reach, because if Brock does hit you, you do go down. I hope Mir pulls this out.

 

[E-Man]

Man it sucks that I didn't see this thread until now. I'm a huge MMA fan. Oh well let's see what's on the horizon.

I think the Evans Machida fight will be a huge one to watch. I really don't have a favorite fighter, but Rashad is easily a guy I always root for. He's always counted out, even though he is one of the most talented guys in MMA period. Ever since seeing him on TUF 2 I have been a fan, and he's improved in every single fight except for the Bisping fight to where he didn't look like himself. Machida is another guy I like to watch because he's so damn technical. The angles that he takes are unreal, and he's clearly in it to win. Machida is the deadliest type of fighter out there, because you have to beat him using your all instead of relying on him to make a mistake. The great thing about this matchup is that both guys are the cream of the crop at 205, and I wouldn' pick any other guy to beat them except their opponent. Rampage is always dangerous, but Rashad and Machida are too refined to handle him. Forrest always has heart, but they're too good for him. Jardine won't fight Evans, and against Machida he's got a good chance but lacks a chin. Shogun is overrated. He's never really been anything but a B fighter like the other Chute Boxe guys. Not saying he sucks, but he leaves himself wide open for straight punches and takedowns. Evans and Machida will beat him pretty handily. Anderson is moving up, but for how long? He won't fight Machida, and I'd love to see him fight Rashad. I think he's got his heart set on defending the title.

With all that being said I pick Rashad slightly based on bias, and more based on talent and improvement. What Machida has over Rashad now is better footwork. Rashad is light on his feet right now, but Machida can trap him against the cage like Chuck and Forrest did. Rashad does have the speed to escape, and Rashad will beat Machida iby decision. I think the plan will be to get Lyoto worried about the striking, and to mix up strikes and takedowns. Regardless it will be a great battle, even if it has the potential to be boring.

So what else is going on in the MMA world?

-UFC 100 is pretty stacked, and GSP/Alves is another intriguing matchup. GSp will outsrike Alves, and show people why he's so damn great. Lesnar will also win, as I think he'll keep it on the feet and outstrike Mir from there.

-Anderson vs. Forrest is another great matchup that will show people just how great Anderson is. At this point in time Anderson only has extremely minor weaknesses that Forrest won't exploit. I wouldn't count out Forrest though. He's come along way as a fighter. It's just that there really is almost nothing that Anderson isn't good or great at.

-Can't wait for Couture and Big Nog to fight. My money is only Randy, but Nog is always dangerous.

-Gergard Moussasi is a freaking beast. I want to see him fight at 185 against some of the UFC and Strikeforce guys instead of Soukoudjou. Sok is gonna get subbed again.

-Love Fedor, but hate his die hard fans. Nothing wrong with being a big fan of a fighter, but some of those guys take it to the extreme. Not only have I heard such outlandish things like Fedor being better at boxing than Ali, but there's also creepy stuff like this guy getting his autograph tatooed.

-Fedor will crush Barnett. Barnett is okay, but he really benefits from the heavyweight division being the weakest division. His skillset would get him killed if he as smaller. Fedor's just too damn good for him. To beat Fedor you need to be dangerous, and Josh isn't that guy.

-I eventually want to see Miguel Torres fight whoever wins the rematch between Uriah Faber and Mike Brown. That would just be sick to see.

 

[Superark]

Lesnar did take shots from Randy and held up fine, though Randy has never been like a big power striker. Randy did knockout Gabriel Gonzaga though. Lesnar did look a little panicked when Couture cut him.

Randy didnt knockout Gabe, he simply just quit defending himself. TKO and KO are different. And yea, Randy isnt known for his power so his shot on Lesnar are not a good test. You're right though, Lesnar looked liked his was worried when he was cut.

Also, the Herring and Couture fights prove that Lesnar has big heavy hands that can put you down with the right clean shot. Lesnar hit Herring with a huge shot that swolled Herring's eye right up.

Broke his orbital bone. Lesnar definitely has power in his hands.

Mir had much improved standup for the Nogueira fight. So let's see how he can hold up in a standup battle this time with Lesnar.

Also it doesn't matter if you can't choke or armbar Lesnar. Get it to the ground, and Mir's superior ground game could still come into play and he could submit Lesnar with a leg submission just like last time.

Mir could get any number of submissions on Lesnar. I think Lesnar would be very dumb to take it to the ground.

Also, Mir's not a small guy either. He generally goes into fights at around 250+. So he might be able to use some of that to his advantage with more time to train and gameplan on Lesnar. Mir is not a dumb run of the mill fighter despite what his detractors might say. People excuse Nog for his illness recovery, but Mir simply took advantage of a critical problem that Nogueira displayed in MANY fights. That being that Nog's head movement is terrible. Nog doesn't move his head and he takes a ton of shots. Herring fight. Sylvia fight. Fedor fight. Nog just doesn't move his head and gets a ton of headshots. Mir simply took advantage of that instead of making it a ground war where Nogueira would've possibly had the upper hand. It was a brilliant strategy on Mir's part.

100% agreed. You made some great points. Mir will be ready and THANK YOU about the Nog comments. He always takes a ton of shots in his fights. I mean Sylvia was beating the hell out of Nog on the feet until he got stupid and was put into a submission. But many people want to blame his loss to Mirt on the staph. Maybe that did effect Nog, but I think the fight would have went the same way. Mir said he wasnt going to fight him on the ground and was going to keep it standing. I'm sorry but the result would have been the same whether Nog had staph or not. You can only get hit in the head so many times.

If Mir wins it will be a great story for the UFC. Here is a guy who had an accident that could have ended his career. He has worked hard and made some changes and is back in the title match ir what will be UFC's biggest PPV event ever. Lesnar will still be a draw for UFC whether he wins or loses. But Frank Mir's win is a great feel good story! Mir's speech after his win over Nog is still one of the best post fight interviews ever in UFC.

Mir FTW!

Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin will be next!

 

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Oh speaking of GSP. Was anyone else happy as hell when he made BJ's corner throw in the towel because BJ just couldn't go any more? Damn was I happy!

 

[E-Man]

Oh speaking of GSP. Was anyone else happy as hell when he made BJ's corner throw in the towel because BJ just couldn't go any more? Damn was I happy!

What? You didn't want to see them fight "to the death?"

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

What? You didn't want to see them fight "to the death?"

lol.

 

[Superark]

Yes I was so estactic when GSP beat the crap out of Penn! That guy is just so damn annoying, and once again proved he is a sore loser! For the love of God, Kenflo tap BJ Penn out!

 

[E-Man]

You're right about B.J. being a sore loser. I'm not a Penn basher, but the whole grease incident has become a joke. He needs to focus on fighting, because at the rate he's going he won't keep his belt past either Kenflo or Diego. Penn is so talented, but he doesn't live up to it like he should. He just makes excuses. If he isn't careful he could lose a decision to Kenny, and afterwards he'd ***** about being screwed by the judges. I think he'll be Kenny though, but Diego will take Penn's title. Diego has some pretty good sub defense, and his pace will wear B.J. out over the rounds. Penn doesn't train hard enough to beat a guy like Diego right now. Then he'll make an excuse about Diego being on Speed or something. I like to watch B.J. fight, but the man is mostly hype at this point. For every great win he has, he has a ridiculous excuse for losing. He needs to keep his ass in the gym, and become the fighter that he should. He's practically the same dude he always has been. But anyways this is too funny not to post. I'm sure it's been posted, but it's always worth a laugh since we're talking about B.J.

 

[TheVileOne]

Hey stop cracking on BJ Penn! GSP CHEATED! HE'S A GREASER!!!



GSP/Alves fight is very intriguing. A fighter like GSP who is such an ultimate total package is rare. GSP has great wrestling, technical and freaking powerful strikes and standup, and yes he has a good ground game. GSP's game in his last several fights has just been perfect.

Thiago Alves like GSP is a bigger run welterweight. Somehow these guys apparently can cut to 170 for a fight and then go into the fight the next day at like 200 lb, or so Alves claims.

Alves has been able to rely on his size and strength as a bigger welterweight to bully a lot of fighters. He's a powerful striker, great kickboxer, and he has deadly low kicks.

GSP is a good fighter but remember, he's still not unbeatable. Land the right shots and you can put him down. If Alves can protect himself and get in there against GSP, I think he can put GSP down. I think if Alves tries to wrestle with GSP at all, GSP wins.

If you were to bet money on this fight, I'd probably bet money on Alves if GSP was the favorite, just because I like Alves power in this fight.

 

[E-Man]

I like Alves' power too. He's the biggest threat to GSP in a long time. He's certainly come into his own as a fighter, and it wouldn't shock me to see him get the upset. But I think GSP's quickness will be too much for him. Georges is so damn light on his feet that it's hard to tag him like you want. Of course Serra did tag him pretty good.

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Serra got lucky. Anyone can get lucky. With that said Alves certainly poses a huge threat so it will be very interesting.

LMAO and the BJ penn owned video.

 

[CrypticOne]

Serra didn't get lucky. GSP just has a weak chin.

 

[TheVileOne]

I wouldn't say that. The Serra fight is his only like knockout loss in his career.

I just think that if a guy can really hit or land one on him, GSP will go down.

BJ Penn has good standup but he was still outstriked by GSP even though BJ Penn complains about the grease.

And yes, GSP's quickness is also a factor.

So who do you guys think Shogun Rua should face next?

 

[CrypticOne]

I wouldn't say that. The Serra fight is his only like knockout loss in his career.

I just think that if a guy can really hit or land one on him, GSP will go down.

BJ Penn has good standup but he was still outstriked by GSP even though BJ Penn complains about the grease.

And yes, GSP's quickness is also a factor.

So who do you guys think Shogun Rua should face next?

I'd like Shogun to fight Luis Cane next. That'd be an awesome fight. I would say Jardine or Thiago Silva, but those two are already set to fight eachother.

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Serra didn't get lucky. GSP just has a weak chin.

Serra got lucky. He also hits GSP in the back of the head. Not badly but getting hit in the back of the head is still getting hit in the back of the head. Why do you think they do not allow it.

 

[E-Man]

I'm not a believer in someone getting lucky unless there's an injury. Serra threw punches that he intended to land. GSP didn't give him enough credit, and he payed for it in the end.

As for Shogun I think he should fight Cane next too. I would've said Vera, but he's set to face Hammil coming up soon. So I'd go with Cane or Stephan Bonnar. I'd say Cane to test his striking again, and Bonnar to test if he can handle a big guy like Forrest again.

 

[CrypticOne]

Serra got lucky. He also hits GSP in the back of the head. Not badly but getting hit in the back of the head is still getting hit in the back of the head. Why do you think they do not allow it.

True, GSP got clipped on the back of the head, the fact is though that Serra didn't get lucky.

 

[3dman27]

Serra got lucky. He also hits GSP in the back of the head. Not badly but getting hit in the back of the head is still getting hit in the back of the head. Why do you think they do not allow it.

it could cause a concussion?