Official MMA Thread

[yachties23]

Originally Posted by ActionAndy

FIREBALL KID!

Did you see his performance against kenny? One knockout isn't going to make up for that.

Jon Jones, however is legit...

[chenvt]

Good, because UFC has already lost one customer on any fight involving Anderson Silva until this crap changes. I truely think that Anderson Silva is pound for pound the best fighter in the world. But after that Maia fight, I've never felt more pissed about spending $60. That and his "I won't fight Machida" bs.

I don't think Sonnen has a chance, but I'd be ecstatic if he pulled off a win against Silva. Then maybe Silva would actually put up a fight again.

Originally Posted by LasciviousXXX

Story BloodyElbow just ran.... interesting



"Will Dana White Really Cut Anderson Silva If He Plays Around Against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117?


Kevin Iole documents the atrocities that have been Anderson Silva's recent middleweight title defenses:

Following UFC 90, which featured little action in the first two rounds before Cote had to withdraw after a third-round knee injury, White came to the post-fight news conference and said, "I was sitting there saying, ‘What the [expletive] is going on?' " He also said, "I was sitting there going, ‘No, this isn't happening,' " and, "If you don't know him and you showed up for the first time, you'd [think] that guy was goofing around. He was acting arrogant and cocky and trying to play with [Cote] like he was a little kid."

It was more of the same at UFC 97, when Silva declined to follow Leites, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, to the mat and turn a fight into a grappling match, leading to a dull five-round fight. Silva didn't understand why he was being criticized and said, "Everything I trained to do, I did."
...

But Silva's performances at UFC 90 and UFC 97 were just kind of a cruel warm-up act to the comedy skit that went on during his title defense against Maia, the first UFC card in the Middle East and the first with the White and Fertitta's new partners, Abu Dhabi-based Flash Entertainment, in place.

Iole also says that had Anderson put on the kind of performances against Cote, Leites and Maia that he did against Rich Franklin (2x), Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt that he'd likely have been rewarded with a mega-fight against welterweight champion Georges St Pierre.

Instead, Silva is being punished by having to beat Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort in conconsecutive MW title defenses before getting any more fights outside his division. That's IF Dana White approves of his performances in the two fights.

Iole continues:

But if there is a repeat, the pressure will shift from Silva to White. White vowed after UFC 112 to cut Silva should he fight as he did that night ever again.

If Silva prances his way to an unsatisfying win, the burden will shift to White to back up his tough talk and ax the man he's touted for years as the best fighter in the world.

That would be far more interesting to watch than any of Silva's last three title defenses have been.

That will indeed be very interesting and could well be a critical fork in the road for Dana White, the UFC and MMA as a sport. If the precedent is established that simply winning is not enough to stay in the UFC, but rather entertaining is the preeminent virtue, White will have indeed set the UFC on a course away from sport and towards sport-entertainment.

On the other hand, if Anderson Silva once again makes a mockery of his opponent and the fight and Dana does not cut him, Dana will look like he backed down in the face of a recalcitrant but supremely talented athlete."

[goalie204]

i think sonnen has a chance.

[ActionAndy]

Sonnen does have a chance. Not a great one, but it exists (and I'm not just talking about the ever present unpredictability of the Puncher's Chance). He can and will get this fight to the ground at least once.

The problem is Sonnen's phenomenal top control has never been paired with vicious ground and pound. He's got pillowy fists for some reason--you'd expect a guy that strong to summon some beast elbows but he either can't or won't. Another problem is Silva's long, lanky limbs. He can snap a triangle up in his sleep, and Sonnen's shown to be vulnerable to subs from the bottom. I'm ignoring Silva's rear naked choke victory against Henderson because I can't imagine the circumstance where Anderson will actually be taking Sonnen's back.

The only person with better wrestling (in MMA) than Sonnen is King Mo and we saw that despite furious effort from the bottom, someone as talented as Mousasi still had trouble. I think it's fair to draw the parallel between the two fights, though one could easily argue that Anderson is more talented on the ground than Mousasi.

[chenvt]

Silva got training from Steven Seagal.. it's all over unless Sonnen was smart and got training from Chuck Norris

Originally Posted by ActionAndy

Sonnen does have a chance. Not a great one, but it exists (and I'm not just talking about the ever present unpredictability of the Puncher's Chance). He can and will get this fight to the ground at least once.

The problem is Sonnen's phenomenal top control has never been paired with vicious ground and pound. He's got pillowy fists for some reason--you'd expect a guy that strong to summon some beast elbows but he either can't or won't. Another problem is Silva's long, lanky limbs. He can snap a triangle up in his sleep, and Sonnen's shown to be vulnerable to subs from the bottom. I'm ignoring Silva's rear naked choke victory against Henderson because I can't imagine the circumstance where Anderson will actually be taking Sonnen's back.

The only person with better wrestling (in MMA) than Sonnen is King Mo and we saw that despite furious effort from the bottom, someone as talented as Mousasi still had trouble. I think it's fair to draw the parallel between the two fights, though one could easily argue that Anderson is more talented on the ground than Mousasi.

I never knew Sonnen was such a elite wrestler. Demian Maia took him down and made it look easy. Any thing can happen in MMA which is why I love watching it. But I expect Silva to make an example of this clown. I didn't like his last fight against Maia but Silva is the most capable person in MMA to absolutely destroy and embarrass people. His fight against forrest was classic. I've been thinking maybee the UFC has not had good competition for him except Hendo, Maybee Belfort or Shields can give him a run. I would and I bet alot of brazilians would love to see him fight Paulo Filho. Also anybody see Roger Huerta knock out a guy who punched a girl outside a club in Austin Texas?

[forgop]

All I can say about Anderson Silva is wow-from getting your rear kicked for 23 minutes to pull it out like that is amazing. How you pummel someone for that long and being 2 minutes from getting the belt, how you even put yourself in position to getting submitted is beyond me.

What a fight, one of the best ever. I don't ever want to hear Dana say a negative comment about Silva again. Eventhough he can be cocky at times he is a champion with class.

team black house is dominating mma. its pretty incredible they have something like 6 current titleholders in their gym if jorge santiago wins later tonight.

Does anybody on here watch mma anymore? Is there another thread I don't know about? I watched shark fights 13 tonight. Don Frye and Bas Rutten made for a funny commentary team. My favorite was on the replay of Houston Alexander finishing Sokudju with Bas singing the Hey Ho song from snow white and the seven drawfs.

[LasciviousXXX]

Yeah it seems that this thread has definitely died down lately. Went to a local show this weekend. Rage in the Cage. Some good fights and some great submissions. Ryan Bader was there so I got to meet him which was pretty nice. The last event we went to I met Ben Henderson. Great local MMA scene here in Phoenix.

[ActionAndy]

Go here for a little list of memorable Don Frye soundbytes from that broadcast.

Originally Posted by ActionAndy

Go here for a little list of memorable Don Frye soundbytes from that broadcast.

thats some great stuff. I dont even care who shark fights has on the card as long as bas and frye are doing commentary, its entertaining.

[ActionAndy]

AUAGHHHHHHHHHHH JUST DO IT ALREADY GOD STRIKE ME DEAD

OK. Nevermind. This turned out to be false information, Dana White tweeted to confirm that Cro Cop's healthy. Sorry to myself for almost suffering an embolism, and sorry God for blaming you.

(just noticed, this is my 666th post...)

chael sonnen supposedly failed his post fight drug test. Does he deserve a rematch?

[ActionAndy]

Originally Posted by Steelergar

chael sonnen supposedly failed his post fight drug test. Does he deserve a rematch?

Remember almost anything can trip these tests. Marquardt says Sonnen was probably on flu medication (sudafed or something similar). I doubt he was juicing.

[yachties23]

Watched TuF last night.

Maybe its me, but I've always had a dislike for GSP, and even though UFC paints him as a hero and Kos as the heel, I've always liked Josh. Dude always takes whatever fight you throw at him, and always puts on a show, unlike the champ, who is a take down, and never finish you fighter.

I know who I'll be rooting for come that fight.

How's TUF this season? Is it entertaining? I gotta check the fighters backgrounds out. Anybody else looking foward to DREAM 16 tomorrow (or very early sat morning). I love watching these live but its a pain in the ace to stay up tha late.

[yachties23]

Originally Posted by Steelergar

How's TUF this season? Is it entertaining? I gotta check the fighters backgrounds out. Anybody else looking foward to DREAM 16 tomorrow (or very early sat morning). I love watching these live but its a pain in the ace to stay up tha late.

I missed the first episode, but the fight last night was entertaining, I think its worth the watch with Kos and GSP as coaches.

[goalie204]

Originally Posted by yachties23

Watched TuF last night.

Maybe its me, but I've always had a dislike for GSP, and even though UFC paints him as a hero and Kos as the heel, I've always liked Josh. Dude always takes whatever fight you throw at him, and always puts on a show, unlike the champ, who is a take down, and never finish you fighter.

I know who I'll be rooting for come that fight.

I like GSP and Koscheck both.

GSP has 20 wins: 8 tkos, 5, subs, 7 decisions (35%)
Koscheck has 15 wins: 4 tkos, 5 subs, 6 decisions (40%)

They're both entertaining fighters, but with somewhat similar stats, i don't know how you can say "unlike the champ who is a take down and never finish you fighter" - unless you just happen to only watch fights that go the distance..