Mixed Martial Arts Thread (UFC and others)

[EagleFan]

Condit/Hendricks has got to be fight of the night.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Condit/Hendricks has got to be fight of the night.

Easily, that was an exciting scrap and Hendricks gets his long overdue shot now.

Main was about as expected, though Diaz had more time standing than I thought and didn't do enough with it. St Pierre's boxing has improved and he did enough to negate any offense Diaz did mount for the most part.

[PilotMan]

Looking back I think I was right all along. Hendricks should have been fighting for the title and Ellenberger and Condit should have gone on. I think Marquart in there was bad. He was beaten soundly by Saffedine. I would have rather seen Saffedine instead.

As much as I hate Diaz the person I really respect his abilities. All this just reenforces my idea that guys like Diaz and Sonnen are bad for the sport in general as they get opportunities where they shouldn't simply because they can sell a fight and have some charisma.

I understand it's a fine line between making money and promoting the sport. That's probably my own personal opinion on where I think it should be.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Condit/Hendricks has got to be fight of the night.

Yes it was good, but I also thought that the Cote/Voelker fight was going to be the hands down winner. Rarely do you see 2 guys just stand toe to toe with both guys taking damage like that.

[PilotMan]

Diaz never got his 1-1-2 going like he has. He broke GSP's nose when he finally did throw it, but never really got it going. He did seem flat compared to other fights. Perhaps it's best if he does call it quits.

[EagleFan]

Not a fan of fighters saying they are calling it quits after a loss. Seems like
"I'm taking my ball and going home"

[bhlloy]

I think Hendricks beats GSP. He has the strength to stop the takedowns and I'm really not impressed by George's stand up game any more.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

I think Hendricks beats GSP. He has the strength to stop the takedowns and I'm really not impressed by George's stand up game any more.

I agree (about GSP not seeming to be the same). I'm starting to wonder if all those 5 round wars are starting to take their toll.

[thesloppy]

I dunno, he's the same in that he's still winning unanimous 5 round decisions. While his power does look like it's declining (and it wasn't so great in the first place), I'm not going to start to doubt GSP until we actually see him in some serious trouble. He's been peppered up plenty of times, but I can't remember the last time I was ever actually worried about him.

That said, I really like the Hendricks match up. His strength and wrestling seem to be the highest level GSP has faced in a while , and he's definitely got the edge in power. George has reach/range though, and I'd imagine his striking strategy would be something similar to what we saw last night, keeping himself at range and using his jabs and kicks to stop Hendricks from closing distance. Would either of them try for the takedown, or do they cancel each other out? Hendricks fireplug frame and low center of gravity might actually work to his benefit as far as takedowns are concerned.

[PilotMan]

Cardio is the biggest disadvantage that Hendricks has. Yes he has the power to KO GSP, and yes, he has the frame and skills to possibly stay upright. However, we saw him fading fast against Condit. I think Condit would have gotten the win if the fight had gone 2 more rounds. A grinding performance against GSP would really favor GSP again, as it usually does. It's going to come down to GSP's ability to move, avoid the rush, and put Hendricks on his back when he charges in throwing uppercuts, and hooks.

I think I'd still put my money on George, but Hendricks has more than earned his shot this time, and I think he posses some serious issues for GSP in a short fight.

[EagleFan]

WTF?

Watching World Series of Fighting 2 and this has got to be the worst performance by a fighter that I have ever seen. It doesn't even look like he is trying to do anything. Three rounds but each round was the same. He gets taken down early and completely pounded for 3-4 minutes. At one point the fighter that won was counting the number of consecutive body shots that he landed to the guy's ribs. You heard 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20...

Only surprising part was that he wasn't cut. He was bruised beyond recognition at the end. It's going to suck to be him tomorrow morning.

[molson]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

WTF?

Watching World Series of Fighting 2 and this has got to be the worst performance by a fighter that I have ever seen. It doesn't even look like he is trying to do anything. Three rounds but each round was the same. He gets taken down early and completely pounded for 3-4 minutes. At one point the fighter that won was counting the number of consecutive body shots that he landed to the guy's ribs. You heard 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20...

Only surprising part was that he wasn't cut. He was bruised beyond recognition at the end. It's going to suck to be him tomorrow morning.

That guy has a history of not showing up for fights, looking confused and uninterested during fights, and of drug and mental health problems. He kind of reminds me of Oliver McCall, and that fight he had against Lennox Lewis where he just kind of gave up, stopped defending himself and started crying. I don't know if it's a coincidence but both guys also have legendary chins, neither has been stopped in about 100 combined career fights despite otherwise not being that successful. Maybe there's some kind of inner physical toughness that comes from being crazy in the head.

[AlexB]

Nasty nasty injury on a Brazilian card over the weekend - warning: very much not for the sqeamish. Apparently there's reverse angles lower down the page, but tbh I didn't fancy watching it again...

How not to check a leg kick | Fightlinker.comFightlinker.com

[Suicane75]

Sweet lord. I have a lot of respect for people mentally tough enough to try and come back from shit like that.

[EagleFan]

Just watching the DVR's TUF for this week. Holy sh*t, Uriah Hall is the real freaking deal.

[SirFozzie]

Uriah Hall Hurts People

[bhlloy]

If he can stay remotely sane enough he's going to be a contender one day. You could see that Sonnen, Condit and Dana all genuinely thought that.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

If he can stay remotely sane enough he's going to be a contender one day. You could see that Sonnen, Condit and Dana all genuinely thought that.

I have a feeling the sane thing may be the biggest hurdle.

[thesloppy]

Yeah, even regardless of mental health, it seems like there's still some question as to whether Uriah even enjoys fighting, so he might even just give it up cold at some point.

Also, he's kind of a dick.

[thesloppy]

GOTdamn, this guy.

Watching him pick Dylan apart for the first part of that fight, the only question I could come up with was "but how is he on the ground?", and I guess that question has been answered. He's got great fast twitch/explosion, but more impressive is what I guess you would call his technique...he gets great leverage behind nearly everything he throws. Dana's obviously in love with him too, which may be the best attribute you can have....what's the over/under on how many fights he has to win (excluding the TUF finale) to get a title shot? 3? The top of 185lbs is pretty tired at this moment too, so not a bad time to be a hot property.

All that said, I think it's safe to say that with each progressive nasty-ass knockout (combined with being kind of a shifty toolbag in the house) he gained a psychological edge on each of those guys that he lived in that house with, that he's not going to have with a seasoned UFC pro (or just anybody who hasn't had to live in fear of him, while he sleeps 10 feet away). All those dudes were clearly terrified of him by the time the show ended, to the point that Dylan seemed to give up immediately after simply seeing the speed of Uriah's hands and feet up close. Someone's going to be happy to at least try and walk through those jabs, and test his chin.

I just looked up his record, and was surprised to see that he's already fought (and lost to) both Weidman and Philippou a couple years ago, so he's already faced a couple of the guys that are 185 contenders at the moment, so maybe one or both of those guys seem like obvious match-ups down the road, with some small history behind 'em.

All of which is a lot of talking about someone who hasn't won the finale. I actually like Kelvin a lot, and think he matches up pretty well with Uriah, provided he constantly pushes forward, and is active and aggressive with his take-down shots. However, I also think he (like Uriah) was one of the dudes who obviously got some real benefit and dramatic improvement out of the Sonnen team's coaching/motivation, the constant practice, and the focused environment of the house, and it will be interesting to see if/how his attitude or motivation is affected by a much different setting.

[EagleFan]

Should be an interesting fight on Saturday. The kid must be tired of hearing how great Uriah is.

I think Uriah's biggest competition will be inside his own head. He is on a roll now but what will happen to him once he hits his next rough patch. Will he go mental at that point and lose his edge?

[PilotMan]

Henderson/Melendez might be a boring 5 round grind fest, but we haven't had this kind of battle between the top 2 fighters no question for the last couple years in a division go at it. Also excited to see what kind of test Mir is for Cormier. He looked a little lackluster in his last fight and I can already tell that Mir is cut differently than he has been in the last couple years. Might be a real change that he has needed.

[PilotMan]

Matt Brown may not be the top fighter in his class but he is an animal and a half, and should scare the crap out of anyone.

[IlliniCub]

Yeah that Matt Brown fight was awesome. Thomson-Diaz looking exciting so far too

[PilotMan]

I respect the abilities of the Diaz boys, but damn, I love to see them get their asses kicked. That was sweet.

[IlliniCub]

I think the ref did too, that was a slow stoppage.

[PilotMan]

I think the UFC must be giving us this shitty 205 title fight to try and get Bones back to being a crowd favorite. Sonnen doesn't even deserve to be in the top 10 at 205.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by IlliniCub

I think the ref did too, that was a slow stoppage.

I was wondering if he was trying to get a gig as a Dwarf somewhere.

[PilotMan]

Fucking fans are booing a fight gameplan made famous by Couture. Seriously?!

[IlliniCub]

Are they using 10 minute rounds for this fight? Sure seems like it snoozefest

[PilotMan]

When did Mir think he was a kickboxer?

[IlliniCub]

Granted I can't fault Cormier cause it's working and I'm all for fighting your fight and not worrying about the fans, but after those last 2 fights the pace just seems to drag.

[IlliniCub]

Mir just doesn't even look like he wants to win at this point

[PilotMan]

great technical and emotional battle for the title so far. Every bit as good as the rest of the night so far.

[IlliniCub]

Yeah both guys are champions and both look it

[PilotMan]

I have it even through 4.

[PilotMan]

If Melendez wins it'll be a Strikeforce sweep. Having said that, unless he really wins the 5th outright, I don't see him taking the title.

[PilotMan]

I want 5 more rounds....tonight!

[PilotMan]

I saw Melendez 48-47.

[IlliniCub]

I'd say Henderson took it but close fight

[IlliniCub]

I'm hoping for Melendez though!

[PilotMan]

I base it on cage control and the fact that Melendez looked like he was dishing more damage through the fight than Henderson. Plus he was able to defend or escape from every takedown.

[IlliniCub]

Rematch!

[PilotMan]

Yeah, I could see that happening. It was fucking close.

[IlliniCub]

Man, the best thing to happen to MMA fans is the UFC-FOX deal it's nice to see a night of quality fights and not pay a bit

[EagleFan]

Could have done without the Mir fight, but the others were good.

[booradley]

Mir didn't even seem to try - he just let Cormier shove him up against the cage and then he didn't scrap to escape. Mid-ring, he looked slow, lazy and maybe even afraid to cut loose. #retire

Good decision in the Henderson-Melendez bout, I had Melendez taking the 1st two rounds, but he faded badly in the last two. Would've been interesting to see if Henderson would make that marriage proposal if he had LOST, since he wouldn't have had the spotlight - Rogan and the cameras would've been focused on Melendez instead. #whatever

Did anyone see the Tyson Fury - USS Cunningham bout on NBC? Fury should've been DQ'd for shoving Cunningham from behind after the 1st. Whaddapunk! #notmmabutthatsok

[Dutch]

I always give the champ the "too close to call" advantage. That's just common courtesy, I think. Bottom line: If you think you are better and deserve to be champ, don't even make it close.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I respect the abilities of the Diaz boys, but damn, I love to see them get their asses kicked. That was sweet.

+1

[EagleFan]

Should be an interesting fight tonight. Sonnen is at least as entertaining as hell to listen to.