UFC 54

[DaddyTorgo]

anyone else ordering UFC 54 tonight? for that matter, any other MMA fans here on the board?

[atatange1]

I'm not getting the PPV, but I have started to get into UFC now that its on Spike all the time.

[Yellow5]

UFC is okay, I prefer the Pride events. I am going to order the Pride Final Conflict event on the 28th.

I just noticed that Tank Abbott of UFC fame is fighting against Hidehiko Yoshida on this one which will be interesting. Looking forward to the Heavyweight Championship Match between Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Not into it enough to pay to watch it, but I do think the new Strike! Or! Submit!
tabletop MMA game is pretty entertaining :)

[DaddyTorgo]

UFC is okay, I prefer the Pride events. I am going to order the Pride Final Conflict event on the 28th.

I just noticed that Tank Abbott of UFC fame is fighting against Hidehiko Yoshida on this one which will be interesting. Looking forward to the Heavyweight Championship Match between Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic.
yeah. that is going to be quite the card, i gotta say. i too would have to say i prefer PRIDE, but UFC is watchable, depending on the matches on the card. Looking forward to Liddell vs. Horn on this one.

It's not something where like I order every single PPV, but if the matches are ones that I want to see I enjoy it. Final Conflict on the 28th is going to be a buy, definately.

[DaddyTorgo]

and since this is a text-sim board, here guys, check this out. It's still in development (to some extent) but it's enjoyable.

hxxp://www.nhb-sim.tk/

[JeffNights]

I think Horn will pull of an upset over Liddell. Horn is awesome from the guard and he can stand up as well.

[DaddyTorgo]

agreed jeff. horn is nasty and gets little to no respect over here. much like marquardt. typical "provincial" american-thing, ya know

[Calis]

Didn't get a chance to watch this one, how was it?

I'm very anxious to see the Pride event this weekend, should be excellent. Cro Cop vs. Fedor is a fight that's been forever in the making, should be great.

[DaddyTorgo]

7 or so on a scale of 1-10 maybe? Most of the fights were fairly one-sided though (see Trigg vs. GSP or Sylvia vs. Telligman or Coutoure vs. Von Arsdale), but what there was of it was good. GSP really impressed me in his bout, but I was bummed to see someone else fail to knock off Chuck. I personally am not a huge fan of the "strike strike strike" MMA fighters, so Chuck bores me. plus he has stupid hair.

[Neon_Chaos]

Meh. I'm not a big UFC fan... Pride FC, imho, is better. But that's just me.

[Neon_Chaos]

Didn't get a chance to watch this one, how was it?

I'm very anxious to see the Pride event this weekend, should be excellent. Cro Cop vs. Fedor is a fight that's been forever in the making, should be great.
Let's go Fedor!

[DaddyTorgo]

of course Pride is better! but i was bored and i am getting a promotion at work, so i was like "might as well order it"

[moriarty]

I'm a big MMA fan ... although I missed this weekend's fight.

The Ultimate Fighter 2 starts tonight on Spike for anyone interested.

[moriarty]

and since this is a text-sim board, here guys, check this out. It's still in development (to some extent) but it's enjoyable.

hxxp://www.nhb-sim.tk/

Dola,

I always thought this would make a good sports-sim. Doesn't look like there's a career mode though ... maybe it's under development.

[DaddyTorgo]

Dola,

I always thought this would make a good sports-sim. Doesn't look like there's a career mode though ... maybe it's under development. yeah, according to the website it's under development. I can't find anything saying how much it's actively being worked on though, my application to the messageboard still hasn't been approved so i can't check on there, but i will.

agreed. definately a sport crying out for a good sports-sim. Especially because for the most part it's very "logical" and "chained" ie...not a ton of variables. one thing leads to another leads to another, with possibilities of counters. very...branching if you will.

edit: according to the website, under the "download" link, the career mode is under development. the wrestlers and pictures were also updated earlier this month, so it seems like work is still being done. Which is great!

[Calis]

Yep, MMA is far and away my most wished for Sports Sim to be developed.

I would've liked to have seen something like TNM did for wrestling for it, but with a career mode also.

I'm actually interested in the tabletop game that Jon mentioned, that sounds pretty neat and something to mess around with. Does it have a decent way to play out fights with one person controlling both or is strictly centered around heads up?

So who do people think will take the GP this year? I think Silva vs Arona will be very interesting. I think I'll be rooting for the winner of that one in the finals.

Does anyone think Cro Crop will beat Fedor? I'm just not seeing it anywhere. I really like Cro Crop and think the guy is a beast, but I just don't see him hanging. Should be great regardless though.

Tank Abbott is fighting on the card..that's uhh, hmm. Not entirely sure what to say about that, I think Yoshida who he's fighting is the guy Silva fought in the first round of the Grand Prix isn't he?

[Havok]

GSP really impressed me in his bout, but I was bummed to see someone else fail to knock off Chuck. I personally am not a huge fan of the "strike strike strike" MMA fighters, so Chuck bores me. plus he has stupid hair.


you don't like striking??? thats crazy, its WAY more exciting watching 2 guys throw bombs with those paper thin gloves on then watch them roll around on the floor for 5 mins.

And weather you like him or not... you gotta give Chuck his due. In his last 2 fights he's beatin 2 of the top MMA guys on the planet.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm actually interested in the tabletop game that Jon mentioned, that sounds pretty neat and something to mess around with. Does it have a decent way to play out fights with one person controlling both or is strictly centered around heads up?

I've only had time to play a handful of matches with it (H2H with my son) and my knowledge of MMA is very limited, but within those limitations, I think it would play pretty well solo for anyone who knew the real-life sport reasonably well.

Most of the decisions are tactical in nature (i.e. go for a high-risk manuever or play it safer with lower-impact move) and don't occur on every timed sequence, so it's not like trying to play a H2H football game solo, where there are decisions on every roll.

If you know the sport, I think most of the decisions would be covered pretty well by "what would Fighter A really do in this situation", if you stick to that,
I think it'd be fine.

If you're interested, check out this thread
http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tabletopsports&msg=7126.1

It's got a quick summary of 3 matches I ran a couple of weeks ago & my impressions at the time, at least a couple of other people have added their own match reports with a lot more detail. At $10, it's really a gaming steal IMO if you like the sport.

The only word of caution I might have is that it's an extremely printing-intensive game as print-your-own games go. The file that you receive is actually a Word document & each fighters "card" is one full 8.5x11 page. With over 100 fighters available, that's a lot of printing.

Anybody curious but not interested in the user comments can check out the website at http://strikeorsubmit.tripod.com/

[JeffNights]

Ya know, Chuck Liddell is very good in the UFC. But people please, hes not even in the top 10 rankings for PRIDE at light Heavy. Just watch a tape of two years ago in the GP where Quentin "Rampage" Jackson mauled him so badly that his own corner threw in the towell.

Chuck is a great UFC fighter, but not ever close to the best MMA Light Heavy out there..

[DaddyTorgo]

you don't like striking??? thats crazy, its WAY more exciting watching 2 guys throw bombs with those paper thin gloves on then watch them roll around on the floor for 5 mins.

And weather you like him or not... you gotta give Chuck his due. In his last 2 fights he's beatin 2 of the top MMA guys on the planet.
well that's just my personal preference in terms of not liking striking. to me there's less "art" in striking then there is in positional fighting on the ground, jockeying for position and countering your opponents moves. If I wanted to watch striking (at least in my mind) i'd watch boxing. but to each their own. that's why every organization features a mix of guys.

oh i give chuck his due. he is a good fighter. i would argue though as many others have that horn really didn't belong in that fight at 205. horn is not a 205 pound fighter. he's a 185 who put on 20 pounds to take a shot that was given to him knowing that he might not get many others from dana. horn at 185 is NASTY and would fare quite well in that division (#1, #2 or #3 guy IMO), but Horn at a small 205 was overmatched against chuck who regularly fights at that weight.

chuck fought his fight well though, did what he had to do very well

[SirFozzie]

some really sick KO's at UFC from what I heard/read

[DaddyTorgo]

some really sick KO's at UFC from what I heard/read
yeah there were foz. i've got the whole thing on tape if you ever wanted to find them and couldn't find them online...

[Neon_Chaos]

I want to see Silva vs. Ortiz, in a PRIDE ring. :P

[Calis]

I want to see Silva vs. Ortiz, in a PRIDE ring. :P

Heh, would be interesting..Silva is a MUCH improved fighter from that point, and Tito..who knows what the hell has happened to him lately.

My vote is for Silva vs. Liddell, be a fun one to see.

Count me in the group that much prefers Pride to UFC, and the gap is widening. I've always been a Jiu-Jitsu fan though and love the ground game. I don't mind a good standup fight either though, so I'm not picky. I just think the depth of the talent is much much higher in Pride.

Thanks for the info on that game Jon, I think I'll end up buying that. Have to wait until I get some cash to buy some more ink, but that sounds like fun.

[moriarty]

Ya know, Chuck Liddell is very good in the UFC. But people please, hes not even in the top 10 rankings for PRIDE at light Heavy. Just watch a tape of two years ago in the GP where Quentin "Rampage" Jackson mauled him so badly that his own corner threw in the towell.

Chuck is a great UFC fighter, but not ever close to the best MMA Light Heavy out there..

Nah, Chuck's easily in the top 10 in the world at LHW, and matches up well against Pride's top fighters. I'm not sure about Silva and Shogun (or is it Ninja ... I get them confused), but Chuck's improved vastly.

That fight against Rampage was a while back, and at the time Rampage was Pride's #2 LHW. Unfortunately, Rampage isn't even near the same fighter since he's found "God". Oh well. Rampage's contract with Pride is over (or almost over) so expect to see Rampage vs. Chuck II coming to UFC in the near future ... and I expect Chuck to win decisively.

On a side note for those with Tivo: Spike has been airing alot of past UFC shows (UFC unleashed) and now Fox Sports Net is airing past Pride shows. Good times to catch up.

[Neon_Chaos]

Silva is going to eat Lidell alive.

[moriarty]

Silva is going to eat Lidell alive.

I agree, but at this rate they'll never fight as Silva is locked up with Pride and Chuck is locked up with UFC. Sad, as I'd definitely pay the PPV to see this fight.

[Hurst2112]

54?!

shit, i remember my friend and i buying UFC 3 or 4. this was around 93 or 94.

funny.

[moriarty]

54?!

shit, i remember my friend and i buying UFC 3 or 4. this was around 93 or 94.

funny.

Those were the good 'ole days. No gloves, hitting in the balls was legal ... good times.

Then along came Senator McCain and all was lost.

[Hurst2112]

Those were the good 'ole days. No gloves, hitting in the balls was legal ... good times.

Then along came Senator McCain and all was lost.

maybe some of you fans can tell me which one i got:

hoyce gracie vs shamrock was the main fight. it wasn't part of the bracket. went full time and i think gracie won in ot.

dan severn (sp) beat oleg taktarov(sp) in the bracket matches.

[Calis]

maybe some of you fans can tell me which one i got:

hoyce gracie vs shamrock was the main fight. it wasn't part of the bracket. went full time and i think gracie won in ot.

dan severn (sp) beat oleg taktarov(sp) in the bracket matches.

5

[Hurst2112]

5

cool, thanks.

they were bi-yearly then? i know they were less frequent.

[Havok]

Nah, Chuck's easily in the top 10 in the world at LHW, and matches up well against Pride's top fighters. I'm not sure about Silva and Shogun (or is it Ninja ... I get them confused), but Chuck's improved vastly.


agreed.... Chucks take-down defense is WAY WAY WAY better the it used to be, so he almost forces guys to stand up and trade blows with him. And he might look unorthodox as hell, but he's got that '1 punch' ability everytime he swings.

[FF]

chucks way overrated and just gets lucky as hell.

he shoulda lost against vitor and alistair overeem but got lucky with some big punches. he gets gassed way too early and just resorts to throwing his bombs.

winning against randy is impressive but i cant remember the fight to be honest. apparently horn looked more like a 185er rather than someone at 205.

if chuck and silva fought im pretty sure itd be a slaughter in favor of wanderlei whether it be pride ring or ufc cage.

[JeffNights]

Shit, Dont get me wrong i like Chuck greatly. But people please, Silva would kill him.

[Neon_Chaos]

"THE BRAZILIAN AXE MUDERERRRRRRRRRRRER" VANDERLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEI SILLLLLLLLLLVA!!!!!!!

[Havok]

chucks way overrated and just gets lucky as hell.

he shoulda lost against vitor and alistair overeem but got lucky with some big punches. he gets gassed way too early and just resorts to throwing his bombs.

winning against randy is impressive but i cant remember the fight to be honest. apparently horn looked more like a 185er rather than someone at 205.

if chuck and silva fought im pretty sure itd be a slaughter in favor of wanderlei whether it be pride ring or ufc cage.



I think Silva would win aswell.... but at what point do you stop saying its 'Luck' that he knocks guys out and start giving him credit.

[DaddyTorgo]

I think Silva would win aswell.... but at what point do you stop saying its 'Luck' that he knocks guys out and start giving him credit.
speaking for myself i do give him credit. he's great at executing his gameplan. but i think that a lot of the "johnny come lately's" to MMA give him way too much credit. he is not even a top-10 fighter pound-for-pound in the world, and these people treat him like he could beat anyone in the UFC 10 times out of 10.

[moriarty]

Rather than hypothetically guessing about Chuck vs. Silva which may never happen ...

What the predictions on Cro Cop vs. Fedor?

I'm going with Fedor myself. Cro Cop is dangerous as hell, but despite lasting against Nog, I give Fedor a big advantage if it goes to the ground.

[Calis]

Yep the difference I see, is there's a slight advantage for Cro Crop if it stays standing up, but a bigger one for Fedor if it goes to the ground. I'm going for Fedor in this one. Supposedly Fedor's hand is still messed up, or so I read. Who knows what that means exactly.

Lets go on top of that and make our GP Predictions.

I'm thinking we might see an all Chute Box final. Silva seems to genuinely dislike Arona, and I think that'll give him an extra push in the beginning. If he can keep it standing for at least the first few minutes I think he ends it quickly. He's still got a chance on the ground, but obviously not where he wants to be.

I think I'll go for Shogun over Overeem. I'm still angry about this one, because I really wanted Little Nog in the finals, and Shogun jacked that all up. This is a tough one though, Overeem is the real underdog to be here and he's got a big heighth advantage. I think it's more of a toss up, but I would like to see the two Chute Box guys go at it, so I'll give the nod to Shogun.

I think Silva takes it, which is not a very exciting prediction, but the most likely I think. Should be great though, as I can see any of the 4 guys winning.

[Calis]

So I'll go ahead and complete hijack this into a Pride thread here.

I had wrote a big long review of tonight's Pride but as I was getting ready to hit submit I accidently hit the back button on my mouse. So I'm annoyed and not really feeling like doing it all over again, so just some key points.

Obviously spoilers ahead if you didn't see tonight's Pride, but if you haven't...you probably don't care much anyway. :)



Great card overall, I was really impressed. The gap between Pride and UFC just keeps growing, at least in my enjoyment. This was a pretty stacked card obviously, with some huge fights.

Lets see, the first big thing was Silva vs. Arona. I was extremely dissapointed in this one. I like Silva a lot, but moreso I HATE Arona. I mean, there's cocky guys in MMA, sure almost all of them are, but this guy just comes across as a real prick, I've never liked him. He's damn good though, I'll give him that. Silva was just horribly horribly timid in this fight, one thing I've almost never called him. He had a real fear of being taken down, and the irony is in the end he took down himself twice. Very poor fight for him though all around. Arona further cemented my hatred by his taunting as the fight finished. So I was bummed here, but it made me care a lot more about the Shogun/Overeem fight than I did before, now I REALLY wanted Shogun to win and get a chance to destroy Arona. I did love some of Silva's moves to dodge punches while on the ground, that was something new.

I got my wish. Shogun did exactly what Silva should've, and I don't doubt for a second that Silva would've won using the same strategy. You have to attack Arona, sure Shogun took some chances and it could've bit him in the ass, but man..what an exciting fight, everyone I was with were shouting during the match, all pulling for Shogun to shut him up. What a dominating fight though, great stuff. Arona never had a chance, and Shogun is just a great guy to watch fight anymore. He's not afraid to take chances, and he goes full steam.

The big one, the HW fight. Sure most people thought Fedor would win the fight going in, as the guy is more of a machine than a human, but who thought he would dominte the fight standing up? This guy is unbeatable at this point, who the hell does he fight next? I guess it has to be Sergei, which could be fun, or Nog when he comes back, but he won't beat him. Smart, smart fighter. He completely put Cro Cop off balance by constantly closing the distance and not allowing the room to really fire off those kicks, and being the aggressor throughout the entire fight. Cro Cop did do a good job defending himself on the ground though, he never really made a big mistake, and faired much better than I figured he would upon being down. I was surprised at how winded he got there late. I really don't see a rematch ending differently, barring of course the puncher's chance there. I just think Fedor is on a whole different level than the other heavies right now. I do feel bad for Cro Cop though, I really would've liked to see him get the title at some point. The first round was really great though, that was exciting. It got more lopsided as it went on, but really for all the build up I expected this one to be a huge letdown. It wasn't bad at all, very exciting match throughout.

I enjoyed seeing Tank beaten, not only submitted as expected, but getting the worst end up the stand up game also.

I'm excited for the Bushido Lightweight tourney also. Bushido is really doing well lately I think. I didn't get a chance to see the last one, but I caught 7 and that was one of my favorite MMA shows ever, just great stuff. The lightweight/welterweight tourney should be fun to watch.

Also it'll be great to see what happens next, Shogun vs. Wandy for the title or Wandy vs. Arona for the revenge factor? I want to see both very much, and I wouldn't mind seeing Shogun manhandle Arona again either.

I do grow pretty disgusted with Igor. He used to be one of my favorite fighters to watch, and he is quickly becoming one guy who I dread seeing on a card. He's gone downhill fast.

Good card though, can't thing of any really bad matches.

Let me add also, how much UFC really needs to implement the card system that Pride has, man it helps out a lot.

This still ended up pretty long, my bad. So who watched it and what're your thoughts?

[Neon_Chaos]

FEDOR! FEDOR! FEDOR! FEDOR!

True... he is more machine than man... :)

[moriarty]

Man, I meant to pick up this fight on PPV, but forgot and made the mistake of seeing the spoilers on another web site. Ah well, I might as well wait for DVD now.

Really suprised Silva wasn't more aggressive. Makes me wonder if he really didn't want to face his buddy Shogun in the finals. Then again, Silva didn't really look very impressive in the first round of the tourney either, so maybe he's just lost some interest.

I figured Fedor would win, but really thought CroCop had a chance. Man, who's going to fight Fedor now? Basically he's just going to re-beat up the division until someone new comes along. Mabye his Russian cohort Sergei can give him a battle.