MMA 2009

[Ser Sean]

Double post - Doh!! :dunce:

[Ser Sean]

Treble post - WTF?!! :blush:

[GSP]

Yeah.

Something funky happened when I tried to post my last post as well.

[Horus Ex Machina]

I gotta start off by giving props to Machida. I've always supported this guy but alot haven't and alot of people like to dog point striking like it can't help an overall MMA game. Joe Rogan said it last night, there are aspects of Karate that are useful in MMA and it takes a smart fighter to identify those things and use them.

Here's a post from Sherdog:
[quote name='Striker22 redo;28551105']For all of us Karate/TKD kids we ar loving this guy. He is perfect on his feet. He is 205's GSP and Anderson Silva right now.[/quote]

And my response:
[quote name='Masterkiller']Don't forget that Florian and Mir have Karate backgrounds. So much for the urban legend that point striking is useless in MMA.

I've always liked the Dragon and hope that he'll get a title shot soon.[/quote]

Now onto the subject of the only other fight that I care to mention, I kinda saw this coming but since I didn't post fight picks I won't claim it. But GSP is getting stronger in all aspects of his fight game and being the naturally bigger fighter I figured that he'd bully Penn a bit. I can't say that I saw it being stopped but I figured that he'd end any prospect of Penn moving up again, at least while GSP is at ww. DW has to make fights with Alvarez, Aoki or Hansen happen after the Florian fight to keep BJ sufficiently challenged. As for GSP, I can see him thinking that he's big enough to challenge Silva but he has to realize that the Spider has height and reach on him and he recently fought at 205. As much as he outsized Penn last night, it will be as drastic a sized difference with Silva. Besides I think he should have to take on Alvez first bc he may be the next greatest challenge in the ww div.

[Meili]

Jesus, enough with the BJ cardio bullshit. All it showed for weeks on his little workout show was him jogging miles and miles on the sands of Hawaii and him talking about how his cardio was top notch. Now his fanboys say it wasn't? If he won they would say the opposite. GSP isn't in my top three favorite fighters but I'll even admit he is one of the most complete, dominating fighters I have ever seen.

Also, I thought Karo looked like shit and I really wanted 'The American Psycho to win. I don't think he expected all the unorthodox moves from Jones which really took away from his stand and brawl style.

Does anyone else think the Diaz brothers are fucking pricks? Every fight I see Nate in he showboats at some point and looks like a prick and Nick is even worse.

[Stego]

Bonnar looked like he was outclassed by a newcomer. I don't know if this says more about Jones or Bonnar as I (like everyone else) have yet to see enough of Jones. But like the earlier poster said, with some cardio Jones could be [i]really[/i] nasty.

GSP was a force, but no one was more impressive on that card than Machida. This guy is unreal. To those who say the belt is just a matter of setting up the title fight, I can't help but agree. He certainly outclasses Rampage, Rashad, Griffin, and Liddell. Perhaps Machida working on his English will make it easier for UFC to push him.

The upcoming cards don't look so sexy at the moment. I am really looking forward to Mir/Lesnar 2, but that seems to be a way off.

[childe roland]

[quote name='Meili' post='1670074' date='Feb 1 2009, 11.59']Jesus, enough with the BJ cardio bullshit. All it showed for weeks on his little workout show was him jogging miles and miles on the sands of Hawaii and him talking about how his cardio was top notch. Now his fanboys say it wasn't? If he won they would say the opposite. GSP isn't in my top three favorite fighters but I'll even admit he is one of the most complete, dominating fighters I have ever seen.

Also, I thought Karo looked like shit and I really wanted 'The American Psycho to win. I don't think he expected all the unorthodox moves from Jones which really took away from his stand and brawl style.

Does anyone else think the Diaz brothers are fucking pricks? Every fight I see Nate in he showboats at some point and looks like a prick and Nick is even worse.[/quote]


alot of hate for bj. did he run over your dog or something.yes he talked shit, its what he does before every fight. did he get dominated? definitly. the botttom line is this it would have been a big upset if he had beat gsp. even the biggest bj fan if they actually watch the sport would have probably told you that gsp would take this fight. was i cheering for bj? yup did i think gsp would win? i believe i picked him and called the round. BJ isthe best fighter in his weight class but he didn't fight in his weight class and got manhandled by a man that looked bigger and stronger

[benderschweiz]

No one at 170 is anywhere near GSP. His strength, size, and reach will all be gone at 185 though. I think he'd be top 5 there, but lose to Silva, Hendo, Franklin and Okami. Alves is going to be on his back the whole fight and probably end up TKOed.

I hope this doesn't kill Penn's drive, because he still has some good fights left in 155, unlike GSP at 170. Florian and Sanchez both will be good fights for BJ. At least it was a top 3 fighter at a higher weight class he ended up losing to. After what I saw last night I don't think he could hang with Fitch or Koscheck either.

Machida looked really impressive, but Silva also played right into his style. Rashad is a small quick LHW and I don't see him chasing after Machida and playing his game the whole fight like Silva did. Don't know who I'd pick between the two at this point, but Rashad is probably the worst match up for Machida at LHW. To bad a fight with Anderson Silva will never happen, because that would really be a dream match-up...

[BLU-RAY]

MMA Fight Night on ESPN did a post-fight show, which you can watch at ESPN.com right now... Florian, Mir, and some anchor dude. It's decent, and they had on GSP for an interview, and his analysis of Penn and his gameplanning were incredibly impressive; details like how he wanted the first two rounds to be mainly wrestling, so that Penn's shoulders would get tired and stiff and he'd lose some handspeed, or that Penn's reaction time is the best in the game, but his reset time isn't as good, so GSP could fake and then attack... it was pretty cool.

[Ser Barry]

BJ did not take the initiative, GSP showed that you can not make any mistakes against him if you hope to win. I don't think BJ's cardio let him down, getting smashed in the face takes it all out of you. GSP dominated him and damaged him and BJ gradually got worse and worse. Once GSP started passing at will there was no way back for BJ. Hugely impressive from George. I hope BJ can keep motivated to dominate LW, I have my doubts. GSP has the game to unsettle Anderson, he might be closer to him than any MW other than Maia right now.

Machida was unreal. I hope he got a lot of new fans because that level has always been there but I think his game has been growing and developing and he has worked out how to work inside The Octagon. Evans, Rampage and Machida all make some great fights between them. His performance saved the night for me.

Jones looked fantastic. Bonnar looked rusty but durable. Jones could be in the top bracket at LHW before too long. I would like to see him fight Thiago Silva.

Karo vs Kim was very hard to call. Kim obviously took the 1st round, after that it was a stalemate. Did Kim's cardio fade again?

Guida hugs fighters around the waist, buries his head between their shoulderblades and prays for a win. I can't stand watching him. I was longing for a yellow card for the annoying prick, if only.

[The Kreb]

I was quite distressed by BJ's unwillingness to punch or kick. This could have been a very different fight if he'd let fly.

[Oorag]

The headliner went pretty much as I thought it would. Penn was bullied and manhandled by a larger opponent who simply doesn't have any holes in his game. I only gave Penn a puncher's chance, but GSP took that chance away with clinches and takedowns. I don't think Penn gassed due to poor cardio, he was simply getting beaten on and overpowered. GSP doesn't need to prove himself against any more flashy lightweights. Fitch was a sterner test for him, and Alves will probably be his most dangerous opponent to date. Penn should be content to dominate his own weight class, which he can still do, if he wants to.

As far as the rest of the fights, I went 0-3 on the first three fights of the broadcast. Guida outworked and outwrestled Diaz, but still hasn't shown any more tools in his arsenal to get stoppages. I don't see him becoming a top lightweight. Jones had some great takedowns, but he didn't do anything with them. Still, at 21, he's got a bright future. Kim looked like crap again, though he did win the first round. I've never been very impressed with Karo and I'm still not, so I was hoping Kim could rise to the challenge. Oh well. And what alternate universe did we step into where Machida is speaking English and getting brutal KOs? The UFC better be satisfied and give him his damn title shot.

[GSP]

I hope Penn sticks around and cements a more logical legacy as 'greatest lightweight champion of all time' or something like that. He is still a pound for pounder, just ran into a pound for pounder who had more pounds to throw around. In fact, if it wasn't for his smack talk, there really wouldn't be anything humiliating about his showing against GSP. At any rate, I am just real glad that we don't have Penn, or anybody else for that matter, monopolizing two belts within the org. I want to see more, not less, title fights!

Machida is due his title shot. It is known.

[Lord O' Bones]

[quote name='BJ Penn' post='1649419' date='Jan 14 2009, 18.01']Huzzah for you[/quote]
Huzzah. ;)

[Analu]

Heard that the Penn camp filed a formal complaint about GSP possibly greasing. To which I have to say.... Penn camp: shut the fuck up. Our boy got destroyed plain and simple. Time to go back home and lick our wounds, not make excuses. *disgusted*

As for those GSP fans that feel the need to keep harping on what a dickhead BJ is, how disrespectful he is, blah blah blah. Whatever. If its your prerogative, go for it. At least there's some GSP fans here that realize how devastated BJ fans already are and don't feel the need to rub salt in the wound.

I'm still marvelling over Machida's performance. It's like he constructed the perfect round to showcase all his talents and display to his naysayers why some of us have been high on him for a long time. That last sweep from Thai clinch was a thing of beauty. Heard a lot of cheers for him last night, which made me happy. At least until the main event...

[Horus Ex Machina]

BJ's gonna be BJ and I wouldn't want him to change. At least he ain't out beating up strippers at night clubs.

Honestly choosing a rooting interest between these two was like asking me which of my sisters I would save in a flood. Sad to see either man lose and I'm sad for BJ. But he's still LW champ and now he's should buckle down and concentrate on that and try to get to 20 wins€ and cement his legacy.

[Oorag]

I wouldn't shed many tears for BJ Penn. Once cooler heads have prevailed, he'll probably laugh his way to the bank. I'm sure he made much more money losing to GSP in a very highly anticipated superfight than he would have by trouncing a LW contender on a mediocre card. Penn helped engineer what might be the biggest MMA event to date. Win or lose, he shot for the moon, came to fight, and earned his pay.

[JGP]

The fights went as expected for me, except for two.

I didn't know much about Jones coming into this fight; I usually tend to give the advantage to experience, and Bonnar is a good scrapper besides. Jone's creativeness proved quite exciting, he actually got me out of my chair with that spinning elbow. Didn't pick Jones to win.

Likewise I am apparently amongst the few who finds Kim impressive. What he needs imo is to get a good boxing coach.

I made a little bit of money on the Machida fight, which I was happy about, but I didn't expect him to [i]destroy[/i] Thiago. It warmed my heart to see it, Thiago needed it. I expect to win some more dosh when Machida is finally paired up against Evans.

BJ came in about as I anticipated, and GSP was, as usual, solid on his feet and a slab of adamantine on the ground. BJ's a spot striker who looks for openings or creates them, pecking away with his jab, but his style doesn't work on fighters who rarely leave holes much less those who continually press as GSP does. It wasn't a matter of BJ not showing up, or initially getting gassed. GSP gave him nothing to work with even when BJ did have some fuel in his tank-- striking to keep BJ on his heels, clinching to wear him out before the take-downs started. The one thing that surprised me was BJ's lack of effort when stood up against the cage, but I'd put that up to a serious miscalculation from his corner.

The weight-class thing, meh, I shrug my shoulders.

BJ was WW champ at one point and didn't give up any obvious size to GSP except in the breadth of the shoulders and legs. For the majority of fighters in MMA, cutting is harder on a body than [i]not[/i] cutting. I say 'not' because I don't think BJ had to eat a single twinkie to come in at welter. Kudos to GSP, but unless he just wants a challenge and doesn't care about winning, I think he should think twice about Anderson. GSP's never fought anyone who strikes like he does, or as hard.

What does this accusation of 'greasing' mean, btw?

ETA: ah, I see. Yet GSP was rarely slipping out of BJ's grip. [i]Weird[/i], yo.

[Stego]

GSP would destroy Anderson Silva. Is that controversial? I don't care. He'd manhandle him and beat him bloody.

[Ken Stone]

[quote name='Stego' post='1671199' date='Feb 2 2009, 12.39']GSP would destroy Anderson Silva. Is that controversial? I don't care. He'd manhandle him and beat him bloody.[/quote]

Around these parts that's a pretty controversial thing to say. You may get a lot of these:

:o :o :o

FWIW I agree with you. We've seen Silva frustrated by wrestlers before so GSP has the style to beat him. I think it really comes down to how the fight with Alves goes. If Alves is able to rough up GSP with strikes then I don't like his chances against Silva.