MMA IV 2009 - Fall into New Years.

[Stego]

Who does Dan Henderson have a better chance at beating Anderson or Fedor? He might have made the right choice, because he'd be buried in the UFC if he lost to Silva again ala Franklin.

Henderson has a punchers chance to beat anyone. But that's all.

[Horus Ex Machina]

I agree with this. He has a puncher's chance to stop anyone, but his striking is not slick enough to actually land anything on Silva. I believe that he has the submission defense to hold off Anderson or Fedor for 3 or 5 rounds, whatever it ends up being. It will be harder for him to out-grapple Fedor but he has the tools to make that aspect of the fight interesting but Fedor will definitely leave him one or two openings to land shots. However, Silva will be a hell of a lot easier to take down and control than Fedor.

[benderschweiz]

I agree he'd be a dog against both. I think his chances with Fedor may be better, because he'd have to lay and pray Silva for 5 rounds to win. Fedor is a better striker, but he cuts easily and has been hit with big shots before. Lindland had a decent fight with Fedor and I think Dan is quite a bit more dangerous than Lindland.

[Horus Ex Machina]

Bobby Lashley to Strikeforce. No doubt his preference to occasionally moonlight on TNA kept him away from the UFC although he's mentioned possibly quitting. Probably that was a negotiation ploy to keep his roads open with the UFC in the future. He said he wants to start slow so he won't be fighting Fedor, Overeem, or Rogers anytime soon. All in all a good signing for Strikeforce and adds another potential matchup for Fedor and co. down the road.

[GSP]

"Who does Dan Henderson have a better chance at beating Anderson or Fedor? "

Silva. Hendo gives up way, way too much weight to Fedor. Last time a middleweight contender/Team Quest founder (Matt Lindland) fought Fedor it was definitively over pretty quickly.

[Ken Stone]

"Who does Dan Henderson have a better chance at beating Anderson or Fedor? "

Silva. Hendo gives up way, way too much weight to Fedor. Last time a middleweight contender/Team Quest founder (Matt Lindland) fought Fedor it was definitively over pretty quickly.

And seeing that Hendo already won a round against Silva it's not hard to imagine him doing it again. It would be a matter of him avoiding (or absorbing) one big strike a round, and taking the fight to the floor.

[Horus Ex Machina]

It's a tough fight either way. Stylistically I think that Fedor would work as a slightly better matchup if Anderson and Fedor fought at the same weight. But with Fedor being a HW, it makes a big difference.

DW made comments that Dan Henderson will likely retire in Strikeforce. Now I don't know what to read into those comments since DW had also recently said that he would be open to signing Hendo back when his contract ended. I'm guessing that he's predicting that Hendo might lose a few fights and start showing his age. Or perhaps it was something that came up during their negotiations. Who knows, if Hendo goes on a run DW will likely make an offer.

[GSP]

DW's just hoping Hendo falls on his face in Strikeforce so he can assure everyone that was why he didn't bother signing him.

Of course, if Hendo goes on a big run DW will disparage every one of his opponents as somehow being cans of some form.

[GSP]

Awesome card!

Ok, who's the biggest threat to bj at lightweight? I honestly don't see someone who'd make me put my money against him in that division. Is there any value in going on about the cardio hole in his game anymore? After that first flurry (how about Sanchez' chin, holy shit!) it really seemed he brought it into the fifth just to prove he could.

[Stego]

If Mir keeps up with the power lifting, he will be back as champion at heavyweight.

No one is a threat to BJ at lightweight. The guy is just unreal when trying.

[childe roland]

sean sherk got cardio?!

[Horus Ex Machina]

If Mir keeps up with the power lifting, he will be back as champion at heavyweight.

No one is a threat to BJ at lightweight. The guy is just unreal when trying.

He'll never be able to out-wrestle Lesnar, but the added muscle will help him neutralize Lesnar's top-position offense long enough to actually go for upper body submissions. Adding strength and keeping the athleticism is key and Mir moved pretty well for the short time-frame that we saw. Good strategy and Kongo really gave him huge opening when he fell for that feinted take-down.

And I agree that there isn't anyone in the UFC or any other org that can beat BJ at the moment. Maybe someone who's unknown and hasn't really entered the game yet. However Diego was just an easy matchup for BJ. BJ looked bored.

[benderschweiz]

It's time for BJ to move up to 170 again. No one wants to see him fight Maynard or Edgar. Koscheck, Fitch, or Alves would all be great fights, especially Koscheck.

[Horus Ex Machina]

It's time for BJ to move up to 170 again. No one wants to see him fight Maynard or Edgar. Koscheck, Fitch, or Alves would all be great fights, especially Koscheck.

I would have to agree with this. Not a permanent move bc I'd like to see him hang onto the LW belt, but I think that those are all guys who can give him challenges bc the UFC WW div is certainly more talent-laden than the LW div, but that said those are all guys who I'd say he'd beat. Maybe the one-off superfight ala Anderson Silva's fights at LHW. BJ really is top 5 in the WW division as well being a former champion there. He definitely is the most complete MMA product out of the Nova Uniao camp to date.

[Horus Ex Machina]

You guys heard about Mariusz Pudzianowski going into mma?

http://mmawaves.com/2009/08/05/worlds-stro...make-mma-debut/

"He began practicing martial arts at the age of 11 and holds a fourth kyu green belt in Kyokushin Karate. He has also competed in amateur boxing for several years."

He also about 300lbs of muscle and bigger and stronger than Brock Lesnar. He is also very fast/explosive.

Did anyone catch this? Here it was. The only problem with him is,... there's no way in hell that he can make weight. He'd have to lose around 40 lbs of muscle, and he doesn't look like a guy who carries a whole lot of bodyfat on him. He's got good striking chops and he'd be a terror to try to hold down or submit, but he'd probably be easy to take-down at the moment. But fighting in the US is out of the question with the 265 lb weight limit in place. Maybe catchweight fights, but he'd never be a champion.

I find it interesting that he chose to wear wrestling shoes in that fight which isn't really allowed in the US anymore as well.

[GSP]

That's a scary dude! You might be right about his chances of cutting to 265 though.

Right now I'm thinking, if the Mir who showed up against Kongo (or an even bigger, better version thereof) eventually shows up to face Brock , I'll put my money on him for the rubber match.

[Horus Ex Machina]

I asked the same question on Sherdog and got some pretty intelligent answers for once.Apparently he weighed in at just 277 lbs for the fight, so it's maybe just a question about whether he wants to compete full-time in MMA or just sporadically. I don't think that going up and down from 300 to 265 will be good for either endeavor.

And someone on Sherdog translated Pudzianowski's post-fight interview where he outlines his plans in the sport. Apparently he is going to try to go back and forth between strongman competitions and MMA. But he does not immediately want to fight in the US or Japan at the moment.

[Analu]

What a clinic put on by BJ. You look at the fightmetricstats, and they're absolutely mindboggling. Outstruck 150-8? 27 takedown attempts by Diego with zero landed? Ridiculous.

I thought Diego was gonna go for the ol "gong and dash" move, and thought it might actually give BJ some trouble, but no problem whatsoever. Just a beast at 155. I actually felt sorry for Diego in the end.

Saw that Pudz fight a few days ago and was very impressed with him. He moves very well for his size. Still think he's way to muscular and would probably gas in less than a round, though.

[Stego]

Still think he's way to muscular and would probably gas in less than a round, though.

That 'too muscular' shit is nonsense. Bigger men just need much better cardio than the tiny guys is all.

[Horus Ex Machina]

What a clinic put on by BJ. You look at the fightmetricstats, and they're absolutely mindboggling. Outstruck 150-8? 27 takedown attempts by Diego with zero landed? Ridiculous.

I thought Diego was gonna go for the ol "gong and dash" move, and thought it might actually give BJ some trouble, but no problem whatsoever. Just a beast at 155. I actually felt sorry for Diego in the end.

Saw that Pudz fight a few days ago and was very impressed with him. He moves very well for his size. Still think he's way to muscular and would probably gas in less than a round, though.

BJ's ability to neutralize Sanchez's takedown game was no surprise really. Sanchez, for all of his wrestling background, is not a strong takedown artist. And his boxing fundamentals have always been questionable. BJ was pretty much taking him apart by using his own aggression against him. He walked into alot of BJ's punches and made it eazy for him. A more tempered, basic approach would have been wise and his own corner wasn't doing him any favors with thier pretty simplistic instructions.

That 'too muscular' shit is nonsense. Bigger men just need much better cardio than the tiny guys is all.

In theory, this is true. Just being in the Marines should tell you that. Also if you look at some of the Crossfit athletes who are so well-rounded fitnesswise or football players. Hell alot of bodybuilders train some tremendous cardio when they're cutting for shows and whatnot. But I wonder how much cardio Pudz has been training before now with his primarily powerlifting background. Then again, WSM competitions are about more than just weightlifting so who really knows how that will translate to MMA-type cardio.