The Official MMA Thread

[SmytheKing]

Originally Posted by lath19

My friends are all in to your 909 sport so I give them chances to get me hooked. Every time I go out to watch a UFC fight I come back somehow thinking less of it. I showed up at the start of the Sanchez fight and was ready to leave after it ended. They didn't do anything. The highlight was a single jab. The only time either guy went after each other was at the end of the round when they knew the bell would save them. Weak.

The title fight was a little better but not much. They basically did nothing for a while and then one guy got knocked out. At least it didn't end in a submission hold after 2 minutes (which is pretty much how every previous fight I've seen has ended).

It's a shame you missed the fight right before Sanchez and Koscheck then. Will probably go down as one of the best fights this year and it was a couple of "nobodies". From time to time you get fights like that one last night. To compare it to a boxing fight. . .I'd say it's like any Chris Byrd fight. Technically strong, but leaves a lot to be desired. On other occasions though, you'll get a war where two guys go at it for several rounds. . .like the fight before. Give it some more time. The next card should be good.

Originally Posted by Roody

But the biggest news of the PRIDE show was the return of KAZUSHI SAKURABA!!!! He was all emotional because it was the end of an era for PRIDE, and he says he will fight in the PRIDE ring again.

Personally, even though he is far and away my favorite fighter of all time, he needs to hang them up. He is too broken down to continue fighting and hasn't been the same since Wandy destroyed him. I don't want him to turn into Ken Shamrock. But I think the most fitting thing would be to somehow schedule some sort of exhibition with Rickson. But Rickson won't do it in order to preserve his "aura."

Kazushi is also one of my favorite fighters along with Randy! I would've loved to have seen him live at a PRIDE event but that probably will never happen. He needs to just retire. He is one of the all time MMA greats and doesn't have any more to prove. An exhibition would be great but him getting into the ring again just makes me nervous.

[Crapgame13]

I just found it funny that two guys who hate each other like Koscheck and Sanchez acted like total pussies

now that Zuffa has bought Pride, it's time to bring a little from each into the other.

Time for the Yellow Card in the UFC or elimination of the 10 point must.

[OvertimeHero]

I just finished watching the card. I am totally speechless. I can't believe GSP lost. Never in a million years did I expect that. Congrats to Serra, but he knows he got a little lucky. GSP almost ducked that first shot, just grazed him enough in the back of the head to stun him, but give credit to Serra, his follow up shots were all on the money after that. He didn't back off and give GSP ANY time to recover.

Other than that, the Huerta / Garcia fight was amazing. Both guys just giving it their all. Garcia was getting rocked time and time again, but gotta hand it to the kid, he never gave up and just kept smiling the whole time. Huerta seems to have a great chin too. Several times Garcia landed great shots right on the chin, and Garcia barely moved. Granted, quite a few of these were later in the match when Garcia was tired, but they were good shots nonetheless, and Huerta just shrugged every one off.

The Sanchez / Koscheck fight was horrible by both. They were both p***ies. The hatred was so immense that neither wanted to try ANYTHING for fear of losing. Koscheck was way too happy over such a s***ty win. Yes, he handed Sanchez his first loss, but he only did so by being less crappy than Diego. I think the end of the 1st where Kos shot and Diego quickly transitioned to his back and took it kinda freaked Kos out a bit.

Belcher / Grove: well, it was exactly as expected, with Kendall coming out on top. Belcher just couldn't really get anything started because of Kendall's reach advantage. I'm actually not that big on Grove, but the kid does have talent. I really like the way he uses those straight leg kicks. I just wish he'd stop trying to be Tito Jr. by stealing his "grave-digger" celebration and carrying the 2 flags to the ring with him. Just get your own schtick.

Swick / Okami: was it just me, or did Swick look nervous the whole time? Didn't seem willing to push the pace at all or willing to take a jab or 2 to land some combos. The only real time Swick looked like himself was at the end of the 2nd when he rocked Okami. Too bad he ran out of time. Was he really that worried about Okami's strength?

So, back to the welterweights. Where does the UFC go from here? Personally, I think Sanchez & Koscheck both fought their way OUT of a title shot with their performances. I think both are going to have to come back with a couple of dominant, exciting fights to get a shot, because after that performance, I don't think many fans would be too excited to see either in a title fight if they can't deliver a good performance. That was like watching a Tim Sylvia fight.

I think the next fight should be Serra / Hughes, with GSP getting the winner (most likely Hughes) in Montreal. In the meantime, not sure who you give to GSP as a tune-up. Any thoughts?

[Mr. Irreverent]

Originally Posted by lath19

My friends are all in to your 909 sport so I give them chances to get me hooked.

What part of Brazil is the 909 in? Just curious....

[ASUcruz]

Alright it has been a few days since UFC 69 and I think most everyone has recovered from the shock. So let's talk about what happens now for each fighter. We'll start from the top

Matt Serra

This one is pretty easy. I think the UFC sets up a Serra-Hughes title for the belt. If you watched TUF 4 you know that Serra doens't like Hughes that much and apparently Hughes doesn't like Serra all that much. It's a fight the UFC can sell because Serra is well known now and is talkative and likeable guy who can sell a fight. Hughes gets his quick title shot because he's Matt Hughes and Dana loves him.

Georges St. Pierre

GSP will be back. He's too good and well rounded a fighter to not reclaim the belt. The question is who does the UFC put in against him. Maybe Josh Koscheck? I'm not sure if Koscheck is ready for GSP or if Dana will give Koscheck that fight, apparently him and Joe Silva wern't too happy about that fight. Personally I'd love to see GSP fight Koscheck to see how GSP handles Koscheck's wrestling and to see if Koscheck has what it takes against an elite fighter. Actually I think the UFC will set up a GSP-Koscheck fight since whoever wins will get a title shot.

Josh Koscheck

Like I mentioned above a GSP fight is looming. Even though his fight with Diego wasn't very exciting, whoever they throw at GSP has to be a legit contender only to set up the next fight. For example if they give GSP, Jon Fitch and Jon Fitch wins, the UFC would have to consider giving Fitch a title shot when he doesn't really deserve one and they have one of their stars with 2 ugly losses on his record. Doensn't seem like good business.

Diego Sanchez

What to do with the Nightmare... The UFC can set up a Sanchez-Parisyan rematch. Their first fight was a really good one and it would sell. Plus we haven't seen Karo in awhile. Koscheck's teammate Jon Fitch would be a good opponent as well. Whoever he fights, it is must win for Diego.

Roger Huerta

This guy was really impressive. He could definitley be a force at 155 that gives Sean Sherk some trouble. It seems though that Joe Stevenson is in line for a title shot. The UFC is doing a good job of building up their 155 LB division and there are a couple good fights out there for Huerta. I think a fight against Melvin Guillard would be a great one. Both guys will stand and bang and there would be fireworks in that fight while it lasted.

Leonard Garcia

Garcia showed a ton of heart in his bout against Huerta and will definitley be a player in the 155 LB division. How about a Garcia-Kenny Florian fight. That could be a good one.

Yushin Okami

Okami is a tough, tough matchup for anybody at 185 because of his strength. Rich Franklin is next in line for the title shot if he can get past Marvin Kampmann. So Okami has to wait some for a title shot. Maybe throw him in against the loser of Anderson Silva-Nate Marqhuardt.

Mike Swick

If you watch Sherdog's post fight interview with Swick, you'll hear him say that he thinks he's too small for 185. But if he moves down to 170 there won't be too many fights for him because he won't fight his AKA teammates(Koscheck and Fitch). If he stays at 185, I think the UFC will set up a rematch with Chris Leban, a fight they wanted to do in December but Swick's hand was hurt.

Kendall Grove

Very imressive performance from Kendall. I think the UFC will take the same approach with Kendall that they did with Diego Sanchez. Build him up slowly, because he's a very talented and young fighter. I would like to see Grove fight Jason McDonald

Heath Herring

Didn't see the fight but by all accounts Herring was impressive in a 3 round decision over Brad Imes. Herring is a big name and an exciting fighter. He deserves to be on the main card of a PPV. How about a Herring-Brandon Vera fight. That woould be an exciting one.

[Brodie_5_6_2]

aside for one fight UFC 70 totally sucked balls. 2 idiots acting like bad asses who fought like winnies. and the worst announcers I've ever heard, just as bad if not worse then Hayward. this was my first UFC event and no way this even compares to PRIDE. I don't get the hype that UFC gets. give me Kicks to the head and 10 min 1st rounds!!

[OvertimeHero]

Originally Posted by Brodie_5_6_2

aside for one fight UFC 70 totally sucked balls. 2 idiots acting like bad asses who fought like winnies. and the worst announcers I've ever heard, just as bad if not worse then Hayward. this was my first UFC event and no way this even compares to PRIDE. I don't get the hype that UFC gets. give me Kicks to the head and 10 min 1st rounds!!

Wow, you can see the future? So who won at UFC 70? Cro Cop? Bisping? j/k

But I totally get what you're saying, Pride 34 was SO much better than UFC 69 [/sarcasm]. I do like the 10 min first round, but I am totally not a fan of the kick to the head (on the ground). I was really impressed by Sokoudjou, but other than his performance, I was pretty bored watching that card. And some of their refs should have their eyes checked. Don Frye was f***ing out on his feet for a minute before the ref stopped it. That was totally unneccessary.

Granted, I've only seen 2 Pride cards so far, and the last Pride card was pretty good. But overall, I haven't seen too much to justify all these people, like yourself, who say that Pride by far has the better fighters.

[Diablito93]

Originally Posted by OvertimeHero

Wow, you can see the future? So who won at UFC 70? Cro Cop? Bisping? j/k

But overall, I haven't seen too much to justify all these people, like yourself, who say that Pride by far has the better fighters.

It won't matter much since they are both owned by the same people now. I think there are some better heavyweights in the Pride system but in the lower weights UFC is more diverse. It will be pretty cool to see more mixes and matches with fighters from both systems.

[sarf]

Well, now that UFC has signed CroCop(soon to be UFC HW champion), Quinton Rampage Jackson(could very well beat Chuck), and recently Big Nog...they're probably even on talent right now. But back then, these guys had to take a back seat to better fighters like Fedor, Wandy, Henderson...I would say no question that Pride had better fighters. But now, it doesn't really matter like Diablito said.

[OvertimeHero]

A post-fight urinalysis has revealed that lightweight contender Melvin Guillard tested positive for the banned substance Benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite, following his first round submission loss to Joe Stevenson at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on April 5th. Guillard faces a possible fine and suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

You'd think if he was all doped up, he would have fared a little better. lol