You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.
Go to Page...
Thank you for crosschecking our sponsors!
About This Page: This is a discussion on Other Sports within the LetsGoKings.com forums, at Los Angeles Kings Hockey Fan Forum. Yay!
(Feb. 18/07)The Kings are going to make the playoffs next year.
Next years' Kings team is going to be outstanding.
From worst to first? Quite possibly.
Alright, I think enough time has passed since UFC 70 to post coherently about MMA. What does everything think about where each fighter goes from here? I'll stop with the top down focusing on the fighters I am intrigued by. Feel free to add your thoughts on these guys as well as some fighters I didn't mention.
Gabriel Gonzaga
This one is easy since the UFC billed the main even as a #1 contender's spot. Gonzaga will fight Couture next probably a few months from now in Vegas. Gonzaga presents a lot of problems to Randy as Randy struggled with bigger guys when he first moved down from HW. Now I know he handled Tim Sylvia, but the guys he struggled with were grapplers that were bigger than him rather than strikers ie Josh Barnett. Gonzaga is a pretty big guy and by all accounts his BJJ is good. Randy will have to fight the perfect fight to beat Gonzaga. He'll have to fight from the top and be wary of submission attempts from the bottom. He'll also have to beat Gonzaga to the punch when the fight is standing. Many think that Dana White is probably pretty pissed that his Couture-Cro Cop match is now delayed. While I think that's true, its not as bad as it seems. With the way Gonzaga won, the UFC can market Gonzaga as a monster and build him up pretty well. So I think its a fight that will still sell. Plus people really love Randy.
Mirko Cro Cop
Well I'm glad to hear that Cro Cop isn't considering retiring. From ibleedkngs' post it seems that Cro Cop hasn't lost motivation and will be a more determined fighter. Maybe this serves as a wake up call to him. I think many of us were worried because in the past Cro Cop has always talked about retiring, in the run up to last year's Open Weight Grand Prix, Cro Cop stated that if he didn't win he would retire. Anyways, I'm going to assume that Cro Cop will need awhile to recover his leg/knee/ankle looked pretty gruesome. Who does the UFC put him in with when he comes back though? Here's an idea, I don't think Dana is in a hurry to bring Tim Sylvia back. With Big Nog, Vera, Herring, etc. in the HW division, Sylvia might be put on the back burner. Plus he has a back injury he needs to recover from. Maybe set up a Cro Cop-Sylvia fight when both guys are ready? If not Sylvia probably a can in the Eddie Sanchez mold to build Mirko some momentum.
Andre Arlovski
AA was a bit disappointing in this fight. The first round was pretty good, lots of action then Arlovski went into Tim Sylvia mode and just stayed away and didn't engage. He did just enough to win the fight so props to him for that but I don't think he endeared himself to Dana White and his fans for that matter. Granted it was a tricky matchup and he didn't want to go to the ground with Werdum. How about setting Arlovski up with Chiek Kongo. Both guys will want to keep the fight standing and Kongo is a dynamic striker in his own right. This fight would be a fight of the year candidate while it lasts I think.
Fabricio Werdum
Why didn't this guy try and shoot and pull guard more? He was clearly outclassed standing. Even when he did try and stand with Arlovski he wasn't very aggressive. Anyways, maybe they can put him in with big Nog to help Nogueira get over with the American fans. Although there are rumors of a Nogueira-Vera matchup. While I think this fight would be exciting, it doesn't make much sense as I don't know why the UFC would want to ruin one of their title contenders when there are other fights they could make. If that fight happens, I'm all for it though.
Michael Bisping
Elvis gave the Brit a scare but Bisping was pretty impressive. His ground and pound was pretty devestating and when the fight was standing he was getting the better of the fight. He got caught with a knee that came out of nowhere but recovered and his submission defense looked really good. I was really impressed by Bisping's cardio. He pushed the fight relentlessly and gassed Sinosic. I think Bisping needs a step up in competition to show whether or not he can do it against upper echelon guys. Maybe a fight with Forrest Griffin? Or with Ryoto Machida who also won on this card.
__________________ "11:19 -- You're not gonna believe this, but J.D. Drew took a called third strike to end the inning.
(Note: Dodgers, Braves and Cardinals fans everywhere are nodding and saying, "Yup ... been there, done that.")
This one is easy since the UFC billed the main even as a #1 contender's spot. Gonzaga will fight Couture next probably a few months from now in Vegas. Gonzaga presents a lot of problems to Randy as Randy struggled with bigger guys when he first moved down from HW. Now I know he handled Tim Sylvia, but the guys he struggled with were grapplers that were bigger than him rather than strikers ie Josh Barnett. Gonzaga is a pretty big guy and by all accounts his BJJ is good. Randy will have to fight the perfect fight to beat Gonzaga. He'll have to fight from the top and be wary of submission attempts from the bottom. He'll also have to beat Gonzaga to the punch when the fight is standing. Many think that Dana White is probably pretty pissed that his Couture-Cro Cop match is now delayed. While I think that's true, its not as bad as it seems. With the way Gonzaga won, the UFC can market Gonzaga as a monster and build him up pretty well. So I think its a fight that will still sell. Plus people really love Randy.
Yeah. Gonzaga looked like the real deal in that fight. Randy is a gamer, but I'm not sure how he'll do in that matchup. Solid striker and good on the ground. Randy's bread and butter is GnP and I don't know how that will play with a sub guy who's four inches taller and 30lbs heavier. Looks like a nasty matchup for him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ASUcruz
Mirko Cro Cop
Well I'm glad to hear that Cro Cop isn't considering retiring. From ibleedkngs' post it seems that Cro Cop hasn't lost motivation and will be a more determined fighter. Maybe this serves as a wake up call to him. I think many of us were worried because in the past Cro Cop has always talked about retiring, in the run up to last year's Open Weight Grand Prix, Cro Cop stated that if he didn't win he would retire. Anyways, I'm going to assume that Cro Cop will need awhile to recover his leg/knee/ankle looked pretty gruesome. Who does the UFC put him in with when he comes back though? Here's an idea, I don't think Dana is in a hurry to bring Tim Sylvia back. With Big Nog, Vera, Herring, etc. in the HW division, Sylvia might be put on the back burner. Plus he has a back injury he needs to recover from. Maybe set up a Cro Cop-Sylvia fight when both guys are ready? If not Sylvia probably a can in the Eddie Sanchez mold to build Mirko some momentum.
I was thinking the same thing as to who he fights next. That was the big talk when he first came in, now it can happen. Albeit for far less on the line. Well, maybe not less in terms of fan base and UFC future earnings. If Sylvia loses this fight, I don't see White making much of an effort to keep him around. On the flip side, if Crocop loses to Sylvia. . .you have to think Dana will be questioning going after him so hard. We'll see what happens, but it makes for interesting talk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ASUcruz
Andre Arlovski
AA was a bit disappointing in this fight. The first round was pretty good, lots of action then Arlovski went into Tim Sylvia mode and just stayed away and didn't engage. He did just enough to win the fight so props to him for that but I don't think he endeared himself to Dana White and his fans for that matter. Granted it was a tricky matchup and he didn't want to go to the ground with Werdum. How about setting Arlovski up with Chiek Kongo. Both guys will want to keep the fight standing and Kongo is a dynamic striker in his own right. This fight would be a fight of the year candidate while it lasts I think.
Good call on that. I think Arlovski would kill him though as he can do stuff on the ground. Nothing fancy, but waaaaaaaaaaay better than Kongo. Sure shapes up to be a fight though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ASUcruz
Michael Bisping
Elvis gave the Brit a scare but Bisping was pretty impressive. His ground and pound was pretty devestating and when the fight was standing he was getting the better of the fight. He got caught with a knee that came out of nowhere but recovered and his submission defense looked really good. I was really impressed by Bisping's cardio. He pushed the fight relentlessly and gassed Sinosic. I think Bisping needs a step up in competition to show whether or not he can do it against upper echelon guys. Maybe a fight with Forrest Griffin? Or with Ryoto Machida who also won on this card.
I'm a big fan of Bisping, but he seems to have a soft chin going on him. He's been rocked several times and he doesn't seem to have good defense of his head. I hope it improves or else he won't hang long with Griffin/Jardine/Evans/Ortiz. I bet they put him up against Machida next. I know Hamill has been calling him out, but I don't see that happening at all.
Check out this article from CBSsportsline. They are one of the few major sports web sites that attempts to cover MMA. The main article is decent, but the news and notes part of the article were what interested me. Good tidbits there.
Check out this article from CBSsportsline. They are one of the few major sports web sites that attempts to cover MMA. The main article is decent, but the news and notes part of the article were what interested me. Good tidbits there.
Mike Swick revealed to CBS SportsLine that for his next fight he will drop from middleweight to welterweight. Swick gave up a lot of size and strength to his opponent at UFC 69, Yushin Okami.
"I plan to fight my next fight at 170," declared Swick. "I came in lighter than ever for this one and I think it's best to drop."
Wow. That division just keeps getting better and better. Swick vs. Sanchez anyone?
Quote:
It was confirmed last week that while Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko has a contract with the company, it's non-exclusive, and allows him to fight for other promotions. Based on Emelianenko's contract status, there had been some reports he was contracted for more fights with Bodog Fight in addition to his April 14 bout against Matt Lindland.
Bodog Fight creator Calvin Ayre cleared up any rumors about Emelianenko by telling CBS SportsLine that Fedor is currently not contracted to the company for any future fights.
"As far as I'm aware, Fedor has a non-exclusive contract with Pride," Ayre confirmed through an e-mail. "But he is not contracted to us for any fights other than the one with Lindland (on) April 14 in Russia."
Obviously, this is the big one. Curious to see how this all shakes down. Will Fedor EVER fight in the UFC? Any thoughts or odds ASU? I think he's going to have to if he wants to keep credibility. I don't think he can go to Bodog and continue to be thought of in high regards in the fighting world if he does.
Wow. That division just keeps getting better and better. Swick vs. Sanchez anyone?
Yea, that is probably the most stacked division in all of MMA. It is interesting that Swick dropped down as he has 2 teammates in that division: Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. Fitch is a really solid fighter who is just stuck behind all the stars in 170, the UFC hasn't been able to give him a big push. But I guess Swick had to do what was best for him. It was pretty clear that he just didn't have the strength to compete at 185. Okami was just that much more powerful than him in the clinch and on the ground.
It'll be interesting to see how the UFC pushes him. Swick is a good fighter but I'd imagine he'd want an easier fight in his first fight dropping down. Maybe the loser of the Pariysian-Burkman fight.
Quote:
Obviously, this is the big one. Curious to see how this all shakes down. Will Fedor EVER fight in the UFC? Any thoughts or odds ASU? I think he's going to have to if he wants to keep credibility. I don't think he can go to Bodog and continue to be thought of in high regards in the fighting world if he does.
I hope he does. I think he will fight in the UFC eventually. Fedor in the cage with the elbows would be even more unstoppable it seems.
Yea, that is probably the most stacked division in all of MMA. It is interesting that Swick dropped down as he has 2 teammates in that division: Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. Fitch is a really solid fighter who is just stuck behind all the stars in 170, the UFC hasn't been able to give him a big push. But I guess Swick had to do what was best for him. It was pretty clear that he just didn't have the strength to compete at 185. Okami was just that much more powerful than him in the clinch and on the ground.
It'll be interesting to see how the UFC pushes him. Swick is a good fighter but I'd imagine he'd want an easier fight in his first fight dropping down. Maybe the loser of the Pariysian-Burkman fight.
Yeah. He got absolutely dominated by Okami in that last fight. I knew he was done after the first when he was talking about how strong he was. Moving down to 170 will be much better for him I think.
You're probably right about the first fight too. Let him get his timing down in a new division. Get comfortable with the weight. I don't see him getting much more than one "easy" fight though. That division is going to be tough to manage with all that quality. If you're Matt Serra, do you just look at those guys chasing you and shake your head? Look at all that talent. GSP, Hughes, Sanchez, Koscheck, Fitch, and now Swick? Those guys are all more than capable of making a good fight. 185 looks pretty thin though now. Franklin and Silva. . .and then a fairly big drop in quality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ASUcruz
I hope he does. I think he will fight in the UFC eventually. Fedor in the cage with the elbows would be even more unstoppable it seems.
After the past couple of UFC's, I'm not sure. I half expect him to be dominated by Big Tim the way it's gone of late. Not only that, I expect him to be GnP'd till a stoppage.
SmytheKing
