Last nights UFC fights

[chillzatl]

man the ufc couldn't have picked a better fight to put out there for free. I don't see how anyone who was on the fence about MMA could have watched those fights and not at least become more interested, if not an out and out fan. The only fight that didn't live up to the hype was Crocop vs. Kongo. All the others were gems.

The championship fight was quite possible the best MMA fight I've ever seen. Both fighters were at the top of their games and the action never let up. As soon as they clinched they were throwing knees and inside punches. If it went to the ground they were trading elbows and body shots. Just a hell of a fight in every respect.

The undercards were pretty great too. Bisping vs. Hamill was an excellent fight, but Hamill got robbed. He clearly won he first two rounds and should have gotten the fight but somehow the decision went to bisping. You could see the surprise on his face too. He knew he lost. Owell....

[vdunkndunk]

A great night of fights. I agree about the reality show finale - Hamill physically dominated Bisping the entire fight. I really can't see any basis for handing that fight to Bisping. Otherwise it was a great night, although Cro Cop has fizzled a bit so far in the UFC: 22-4 in his MMA career before the UFC and 0-2 in the Octagon.

[chillzatl]

I rewatched the fights and I don't disagree with Bisping getting round 2 anymore. Hamill was pushing the pace early on in round 2, but Bisping was the aggressor for the last two minutes of the round. He pretty much controlled round 3 so I can see it.

Crocop was my favorite fighter, but he's lost me. He pretty much came to the UFC for a paycheck and expected (and was expected) to walk through the competition. He's been exposed though. If you can avoid his knockouts he'll get frustrated and if you become the aggressor against him, he fades. None of his fights in the UFC have looked like what we saw in Pride. He can certainly recover, but I'm not sure that he hasn't been mentally broken with 3 bad outtings and that KO from gonzaga.

Rampage is the man now. He's another good fight away from being a legit superstar. I personally expected henderson to win, just based on Rampages history of...sometimes uninspired fighting. He really seems to be back on top of his game and wants to be the great fighter that many have felt he can be. He's a very well rounded fighter and is a media gem. He's showing that he can be a much better face man than Liddell ever could have been.

[vdunkndunk]

Did Crop Cop win one in the UFC?

I only remember the two fights that I saw (he lost both of those), but I haven't been keeping track as close as I used to (I usually just order a fight if I happen to see a commercial for it right around the time it's happening, otherwise I miss a lot of what's going on).

This is definitely the strongest the sport has ever been though. Now that you can matchup fighters from both the PRIDE and UFC pools, there's so much more talent available. And the sport just keeps gaining prominence and legitimacy. A great time for MMA - hopefully it will get coverage on SportsCenter pretty soon as a legit sport rather than just an up-and-coming cult phenomenon.

[chillzatl]

he won his first fight against a can, but even that wasn't the beat down we all expected.

It's been getting press on espn. They are at least giving sportscenter updates on the big name champions. They mentioned Rampage and Henderson leading up to the fight and reported that Rampage unified the titles.

[Blunt91]

I have to disagree with you Chillz about the Championship fight. I thought it was decent but too much of a stalemate. Dan Henderson kind of reminds me of Randy Couture. He likes to press people up against the cage or ropes(Pride) in hopes of taking them down. Rampage was just too strong for Henderson to dominate on the ground. You should watch Mark Hunt vs Wanderlei Silva on Shockwave 2004. This was one of the best matches I have seen. UFC75 was pretty good for a "free" PPV. I think I am going to order UFC76 in a few weeks. It will feature the debut of Maurico "Shogun" Jua. He owns a victory of Rampage in Pride.

[chillzatl]

Then we would disagree on what a stalemate is. Crocop/kongo was a stalemate. Lots of standup with few shots thrown, lots of clinching with little action and when it went to the ground, lots of laying around with little action.

Page/Hendo was the exact opposite of that. When there was a clinch, both guys were constantly throwing flurries, knees, elbows. When it went to the ground, same thing, constant flurries of action. I don't think there was a 15 second stretch in the entire fight where one guy wasn't working the other. Unless you're just in it for wild KO's or fast sub's, it doesn't really get any better than that in MMA.

I'm not a big Shogun fan. I've seen many of his fights and I think he's overrated. He's got a great mix of strength and athleticism for his size, but I think he's sloppy and there are plenty of guys in the UFC who could gameplan him to a victory. I don't think very highly of Forrest, but he's certainly capable of getting the win against Shogun. Especially considering how poorly some of the big names of Pride have faired in their UFC debuts.

In Pride all the Chute box guys gave Page a hard time. His fighting style at the time played right into walking into the clinch and getting destroyed. He also seemed to have faded mentally for a while there. He certainly appears to be back on top of his game though, so we'll see. It'll be a while before shogun gets a title shot.

[Blunt91]

Like I said it was a decent match but not the greatest IMO. I think the lightweights are the most fun to watch. Too bad Dana White didn't and won't sign Takanori Gomi. He & BJ Penn would put on a great show. I hear BJ beat him about 5years ago but Gomi has improved since then.

[chillzatl]

I think the reason for them passing on Gomi is entirely about money. There is a LOT of talent in the LW division so they didn't really need to pay big money for a Japanese fighter that most UFC fans would never have heard about.

Fedor is really the only big Pride name that I want to see them land anymore. Right now it's not looking good, but we'll see.

[Blunt91]

Yup I think you are right. I read that Dana offered a contract to Gomi but it wasn't enough to convince him to come over to the U.S. Now it seems like Dana is trashing guys Gomi saying the U.S. fans don't even know who he is and that we don't need him. I think they will still make a pitch for Fedor although his agents are not being very reasonable.

There is another MMA organization in Japan called K-1 Heroes(not to be confused with K-1 kickboxing. Some of the guys like Gomi, Sakuraba and Sokudju(sp) have signed with them. Maybe K-1 Heros will rise to be the next Pride???

[chillzatl]

yah I know about hero's. They could be the next pride, but UFC has already scooped most of the big names out of Pride. So they're not really left with the cream of the crop in that respect. They're basically another KoC or one of those orgs iwth a few ex-pride names sprinkled in.

Dana is an ass mostly. He'll trash a fighter one minute and then sign him and proclaim him the second coming. Hard to argue with the results he's delivered so far though.

[AHF]

As someone who doesn't watch UFC, this seems a lot like the pro wrestling dynamic with the nicknames and melodrama.

[chillzatl]

Not sure why you'd say that. Football, baseball and basketball players have nicknames. The sport is very real and the fighters are all very skilled. Their nicknames are usually earned and are given by people who follow the sport. They don't just decide "I'll be rampage today", put on a green lizard suit and fly in from the rafters!

If you like boxing, you should give MMA a try.

[AHF]

Quote:

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Not sure why you'd say that. Football, baseball and basketball players have nicknames. The sport is very real and the fighters are all very skilled. Their nicknames are usually earned and are given by people who follow the sport. They don't just decide "I'll be rampage today", put on a green lizard suit and fly in from the rafters!

If you like boxing, you should give MMA a try.

---

I don't doubt the skill or reality of UFC. From an outsider's perspective, when you see names like "Shockwave" and "Rampage" and hear about the drama/feuds with the guy running the league going out of his way to alternatively bash guys who won't sign with him and give over-the-top praise to those who do, it sounds a bit like the "drama" associate with pro wrestling.

However, I don't follow the sport and have no idea if there is a similar pattern of rivalries, trash talking, etc. going on in UFC. I am sure I will watch some as there are more network television events and was just curious.

[exodus]

I don't follow it closely i just started following it casually. There may be some fake buildup/fueding before fights but the action in the ring is no joke.

I was watching a title fight the other day, i wish i would remember the names, where the champ was going against a jujitsu(submission) expert. The commentators were saying the champ had to stay on his feet to win.

The challenger gets him on the ground right away and it looks like he will submit him but somehow the champ gets out. This happened over and over and over in the first round. the champ would look like he was toast in a choke or an arm bar and somehow he would get out.

The challenger just seemed to run out of gas and the champ ended up winning even though the whole fight was on the ground, just what he didn't want. It was quite a show.

[AHF]

The mixed fighting styles seems like it would be the best part.

[codyatl]

First of all let me say that I am in no way a Bisping fan, as a matter of fact, I really dont like him. I also thought hammil got robbed but if you go back and watch the fight closely you will see that bisping scored a lot of pts by standing up so fast after being taken down. Hammil would have won hands down had he been busier on the ground. Bisping landed some big shots but it was the lack of offense on the ground that costs Hammil the fight.

PLEASE GIVE ME FEDOR VS. COTOURE