Ufc

[Erik]

Anyone besides me a UFC fanatic? Inordinately popular in Canada and seems to be going that way in the UK too!
I'll start it off haha.... Bisping is a great fighter but needs a good beating to bring him back down to Earth.
I wish Ross Pointon would learn how to grapple so I could see him fight again.
GSP is the greatest 170lber ever.
Matt Serra sucks.
I like Hughes, even though he's past his day.
:ko

 

[arca_tern]

I follow MMA closely (as with cycling), and the UFC being the biggest show around, I follow it.
All canadian fighters rock! (GSP, Cote, etc.), and I enjoy watching it a lot, and might be taking some MMA lessons soon myself...

BUMP

 

[Erik]

Cool! Yeah I was hoping our boy from Vancouver (Kaleb) would do a little better... hopefully they give him a few more fights. I think he's got great skills.
And Cote really took it to McFedries last week!
Hey you should check out the West Coast meet this Summer: http://forums.deeperblue.net/canada/73725-bc-spearing-trip-round-3-2008-a.html

Looks like we'll be going to Telegraph Cove again.

 

[arca_tern]

I would go, but my summer is already 100% booked (from mid-april to december). Its a shame, but oh well.. I'll be doing a tonne of diving anyways....

And I saw that fight with starnes.. SICK cut, pisses me off that he lost like that....

 

[Whopperhead]

UFC Nut down here in Wisconsin (USA)- I like Forrest, Franklin, GSP, Roger Huerta. Huerta the best hands down. But how could we leave out the great one Royce Gracie.

 

[Erik]

UFC Nut down here in Wisconsin (USA)- I like Forrest, Franklin, GSP, Roger Huerta. Huerta the best hands down. But how could we leave out the great one Royce Gracie.

Huerta is amazing! I love that weight class- definitely some of the best fights to watch.
I could easily live without seeing Tim Sylvia or the like fight again. Occasionally you get a guy that can move, but a lot of the time it turns into a 'leaning festival' as the guys get gassed after 2 rounds.
I hope Couture comes back, and am looking forward to the next Anderson Silva fight.

 

[monkeyhatfork]

anyone see the prefight tv show for the wanderlei silva/liddel-gsp/hughs. It featured a lengthy segment on silva's training which was heavily apnea based including dynamic no fins and weights and running with a snorkel. Stoked to see gsp beat up hughs again. Hard to pick a favorite these days with so many talented people going down in flames like-franklin,cro-cop, arlofsky----I grew up in Huntington Beach and whent to school with Tito Ortiz, that dudes been a monster since gradeschool

 

[ILDiver]

Hughes can drop off the MMA face of the earth.

Tim Sylvia should get beat pretty well this weekend. Nog will hopefully take one of his legs with him as he leaves the cage as a trophy!

I really hope Frank Mir can overcome the roid strength of Lesnar and put the RNC on him! If I had to bet, I'd go with Lesnar. Mir has not been the same since his return. I hope this is the turn around. He looks in better shape. And technique can easily beat strength.

Not sure what the other fights are on the card.

Over all favorite fighter...hmmm... Anderson Silva looks to be best pound for pound right now and I love Mauy Thai. I like GSP, good all around fighter. I like Arlovski, but he lost his spark after the second Sylvia fight. I think he believed the weak chin hype and is a little scared.

I really like Royce Gracie, but not really for all around MMA. Summer before last while I was in Florida on Vacation Royce was doing a clinic in Tampa that I attended. He used me for a demo on a choke! Best Jiu Jitsu moment I've ever had! He is a very cool dude!

 

[steff]

Definitely... but am much more of a fan of the 'old' UFCs than the new ones. Bring back the no round limits, and the more 'pure' style fighters I say. These days, just about all MMA fighters are Thai fighters with BJJ. I used to like watching a pure boxer square up against a kung fu practitioner. Also, the ref breaks up the ground fighting way too quickly. I also don't like the points decisions and the rounds. Sorry... call me old fashioned, but I liked it better the old way.

Fav fighters? Royce Gracie (of course) and Igor Vonchanchyn.

steff

 

[ILDiver]

The rounds are for sanctioning. A lot of the rules were set to make the sport more acceptable to the athletic commissions. Gloves to prevent cuts from opening to quick, soccer kicks, knees to the head of a downed opponent and so on. As far as stand ups, some are quick, but they get pressure to keep the fans happy. Most US fans at the events boo at a boring grappling match because they don't understand the techniques involved. Some are stalls, like the fight night live they just showed on spike, it had a hug fest...third fight I think it was.

As far as the pure styles, they don't work. I like the more recent fights with well trained cardio machines who move for all 3 to 5 rounds. You have to be an all around fighter. Cro Cop was known to be a one dimensional fighter. Anderson Silva was thought to be a one dimensional fighter, but he does have a ground game. The more tools you have the more versatile your fighting style, the better you will do. The sport has evolved to this through necessity. Back in the early days it was always a one sided affair. Look at Tank Abbott now...his 30 seconds to a minute all out flurry to completely gassed style does not cut it.

I was so glad to see Chucks looping punches finally countered smartly by Rampage. To see Hughes picked apart by GSP, twice. Anderson Silva walked through every match in the UFC so far.

Rampage should pretty much take Forrest apart too. Also, I will be curious to see Evan Tanner return. Reading his MySpace blog, he is an interesting cat.

 

[steff]

I understand why they did it. I absolutely understand that with the current trend to banning MMA fighting in Australia (hasn't happened yet, however there is a big push towards it) I just prefer the older style.

I enjoyed watching one style pit themselves against another. I enjoyed the long grappling sessions, the long clinches, where you actually got to watch them WORK the clinches, not just get broken up.

I agree with you when you say that now they are probably more versatile fighters in that most of them have stand up skills, and ground skills, but to me, it takes some of the charm away from UFC.

Aah, I guess I just pine for the good ole days... :martial

steff

 

[ILDiver]

I understand your point. And I like the balanced fights. The old way had some mis-matched fights imo, just for the sake of a KO, or action. I like the Pride 10 and 5 minute format. And the point system needs work.

And did I mention I want to see Nog take Sylvia's leg off? Or an arm, I'm not pickey.

 

[steff]

Yeah, Pride was pretty good. How about the old King of the Cage? Tacky in some places... but some good fights to be had.

Balanced fights are definitely good. I'm not a fan of a debutant being pitted against someone with a 10/0 record. What I enjoy watching, personally is 2 fighters, both good, but with very different fighting styles. If not, it's just like watching two fighters from the same gym. Both good, but of such similar styles that the attacks and counters are almost like an sparring exercise as opposed to a fight.

When you get 2 fighters of different fighting styles, that haven't faced off before, you can get some amazing results Absolutely, sometimes that results in a mismatch, but often, it results in a really fantastic fight, with both fighters (and trainers) being kept on their toes, trying to figure out an appropriate strategy. I think it becomes much more a 'thinking' game (especially when you add no time limits, and weight classes)... with the fighter that is best able to adapt getting the upper hand.

That being said, I love a good Thai fight. Don't like boxing, but that's a whole other story.

steff

 

[ILDiver]

Forgot 2 big favorites of mine. Razor Rob McCullough and Urijah Faber. Both fight in the WEC and are current champs.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6VqDyVfPlE]YouTube - Rob McCullough Highlight Reel[/ame]

 

[monkeyhatfork]

the brock lesnar fight is odd, seeing that they just took away the sean sherk belt for roid use, lesnar seems far from natural

 

[ILDiver]

But they don't care if he gets popped for roids. It's been my theory and it's kind of confirmed from the pre-fight show by The Dana, that Brock Lesnar is a WWE or whatever star and this fight will bring Wrestling fans. The same age demographic as UFC. On the show The Dana about peed himself when he said something to the effect of Think of all the wrestling fans that will tune in to watch this guy!

If he wins, Good for UFC, new fans. If he gets poped for roids, it will be after the fight, fans already exposed. If he gets beat, the new viewers still watched and saw what they believe to be one of the baddest men on the planet get beat and are impressed. It's a win/win fight for The Dana and the UFC money machine.

 

[Erik]

I don't think there'll be a steroid test. I don't think everyone gets tested, and I believe tests might be more prevalent for a title fight ie: Sherk.
And you're right about bringing in a 'sports entertainer' as a marketing ploy. Even if Mir hands Lesnar is ass (which I'd love to see!), the ratings/fees for PPVue alone have to be worth it, even if UFC doesn't retain the new fans over the long haul.

I also liked the original UFC fights, but think that the rules now are a better thing. I don't like seeing a 20 minute clinch, or 2 guys lying on the fence for too long.

 

[monkeyhatfork]

I think the old fights were funny to watch, and certainly made for good highlight clips but I think now it is more of a true sport with real athletes, there is an occasional bogus fight but I like it allot better than watching some slob like tank abbot swing wildly for 10 seconds then gasp for breath the rest of the time if he didn't get a lucky KO. A few years ago I was living in Louisana for grad school and one night stumbled on an actual fight club-like the movie, it was very similar to old ufc and incredibly entertaining/surreal, basically a bunch of angry rednecks who took a few karate classes trying to re-enact what they saw on tv, one guy even had the karate kid headband.

 

[ILDiver]

The tests are random for most fights, mandatory for the title fights I believe. I've heard they test on average like 25% of the fighters of the event. That also includes the prelim fights that may not be aired.

 

[ILDiver]

I just looked at the card for this UFC and it actually is a good card for a change. The following card, Dan Henderson is dropping to 185 to fight Silva. I think there will be a new 185 champ there. Hendo is tough! I'm not sure Sylva can take Hendo's GnP style. That will be a fun one to watch!