MMA 2010 I - Pride FC re-watch and other combat sports topics.

[Ser_not_appearing_yet]

GSP-Hardy and Fitch-Saunders went more or less how I thought they would. You sure can't fault Hardy for his heart, poor guy. I'm still bummed about Alves. We lost two potentially great fights and got a snoozer. I'm glad Carwin got the win against Mir. Now we'll see how Lesnar can fare against a powerful guy like Carwin. By the way, did anyone notice how Carwin's physical dimensions keep increasing? Now they're billing him as 6'5, despite the fact that he was obviously an inch or two shorter than the supposedly 6'3 Mir. He looks a fair bit smaller than Lesnar.

The UFC is basically copying the wwf in terms of marketing (which makes sense I guess, since they seem to be targeting the same audience). I notice that Carwin's reach is now listed as matching Lesnar's too, which is pretty hilarious.

I have a feeling their fight will be a Brock UD. He'll be cautious of Carwin's power and grind out the rounds in a 'good ole wrasslin' match.

Oh, and British mma fighters suck. Its depressing. :lol:

[Oorag]

The UFC is basically copying the wwf in terms of marketing (which makes sense I guess, since they seem to be targeting the same audience). I notice that Carwin's reach is now listed as matching Lesnar's too, which is pretty hilarious.

I have a feeling their fight will be a Brock UD. He'll be cautious of Carwin's power and grind out the rounds in a 'good ole wrasslin' match.

Oh, and British mma fighters suck. Its depressing. :lol:

It sucks that the UFC is either slacking on its fact checking or willfully inflating some fighters' dimensions. We already know that they will edit various fighters records to make them sound more accomplished.

As far as British fighters go, Ross Pearson will be appearing on Wednesday. He and Paul Daley seem to be the last British contenders remaining since the influx of TUF.

[Stego]

Mir getting demolished made me emo.

Just got done watching it. Not the best card, but I can't ever get enough of GSP. He's like a prima ballerina.

[GSP]

I don't know how inferior Carwin's wrestling is to Lesnar's (NCAA this, Two time All American that, this shit's all greek to me, I don't know what any of it means) but his striking power is otherwordly. When is the last time you saw 'dirty boxing' END A FIGHT!? Couture is a master of dirty boxing, but it is usually more of a wear down and grind technique. I can't remember the last time a dirty boxing barrage ended in tko. I got Carwin all the way for this one.

I'd like to see GSP try a fight or two in 85 land myself. Personally, I didn't find the fight boring at all. I don't know how Hardy survived a couple of those subs GSP had him in. That fight was a thing of beauty in its total one sided dominance. There was literally not a second that Hardy was at an advantage in that fight. He wore a look of palpable hopelessness in between rounds four and five. Hardy was tough enough to hang on, and I don't think GSP deserves all the criticism being heaped on him for that.

I also don't think Palhares deserves all the criticism he's getting or the suspesnion (for 90 days, when there was no possible way the ufc would have booked him within 90 days, talk about a formality, lol) the athletic commission gave him. Honestly, it looked to me like Joe Rogan's commentary manufactured a controversy that was not there.

It is well known that in an MMA fight you don't stop when someone taps, you stop when the ref, seeing the tap, stops you. Palhares stopped within a split second of the ref telling him too. Rogan was commenting on video footage that was going in slow motion at the time, so it looks like there is a much longer delay between the ref interjecting and Palhares releasing the hold than there was. I've seen guys hold on to subs or even keep striking for far longer after a ref has interceded before that, unless the fighter was Babalu stupid about it, never got a mention, let alone a suspension.

[Stego]

Anyone criticizing GSP is retarded. :D

And I agree with the poster GSP that Joe Rogan was way too high to be taken seriously on the Palhares thing. I'm sure it seemed like a month, Joe, but it was two seconds after the tap -- and just as soon as the ref ended the fight, which is his job.

[Stego]

Seems like there would be a significant risk of spine injury doing something like that.

Why state something so obvious?

[Commodore]

Why state something so obvious?

Well has it ever happened?

[Ken Stone]

I also don't think Palhares deserves all the criticism he's getting or the suspesnion (for 90 days, when there was no possible way the ufc would have booked him within 90 days, talk about a formality, lol) the athletic commission gave him. Honestly, it looked to me like Joe Rogan's commentary manufactured a controversy that was not there.

It is well known that in an MMA fight you don't stop when someone taps, you stop when the ref, seeing the tap, stops you. Palhares stopped within a split second of the ref telling him too. Rogan was commenting on video footage that was going in slow motion at the time, so it looks like there is a much longer delay between the ref interjecting and Palhares releasing the hold than there was. I've seen guys hold on to subs or even keep striking for far longer after a ref has interceded before that, unless the fighter was Babalu stupid about it, never got a mention, let alone a suspension.

Take it into context. It was a heel hook, which is a dangerous submission. You hold a choke an extra couple of seconds, or punch a guy a couple extra times on the ground, ultimately it doesn't matter. With a heel hook 2 seconds is enough to end a career.

[GSP]

"With a heel hook 2 seconds is enough to end a career."

Which is why the ref should have been all over that stuff quicker, IMHO. Watch the footage again, and unlike Rogan, take into account the footage is going in ultra slow motion when you determine how long Palhares held it. In the context of a fast paced fight, he let it go as soon as he realized the ref called it over IMHO.

[Commodore]

Big Country!

Who should Nelson fight next? Frank Mir?

[GSP]

Wow, it looks like Nelson has gained a lot of weight since then. The crowd seemed pretty pro Nelson too. Impressive showing against Mir.

Good fights last night. TUF opener was good too. Anybody see that dude's nose get absolutely mangled?

[Commodore]

Yeah that guy's nose was brutal.

Maybe it was the editting, but those were some exciting fights. Great idea to start off TUF rather than the standard tryout.

[awesome possum]

Seven fighters who lied their way to legendary

[GSP]

"Seven fighters who lied their way to legendary"

LOL!!! Just when you figured you've met the biggest bullshitters in life, you read about those clowns!

Fighting to get into the house was the single greatest formatting change in TUF IMHO. Those looked like some pretty good fights to get the season going. That one dude with the afro was real impressive. He tko'd that former Orthodox Jewish fella almost exclusively with kicks. Haven't seen that kind of style outside of a Cung Le fight before.

[GSP]

Hardy's an idiot. He seems he to think he didn't loose that fight with GSP because GSP wouldn't play by his camp's gameplan and keep it on the feet. Dude spent five rounds getting absolutely dominated and almost had his arm ripped off twice. There was not one second of that fight that he had any momentum going for him. Dude, you got utterly outclassed for five rounds. Good for you, your tough enough to have lasted, but you were thoroughly beaten. Not a fan of GSP's gameplan, try to stop it! Oh, yeah, you did, but you couldn't. Fill the holes in your game and stop bitching!

[Oorag]

It really bugs me when one-dimensional MMA fighters start complaining that their opponents weren't fighting them "properly," whether it's Royler Gracie literally begging Sakuraba to come to the ground with him or Krazy Horse griping about "hugging and kissing." If you're only interested in one dimension of fighting, then stick to that sport.

[GSP]

Absolutely. What I can't understand is that Hardy's camp seemed genuinely befuddled that GSP didn't keep it on the feet. They really thought all their "GSP hasn't got it in him to stand with me" reverse psychology shit was going to work to their advantage. If your a striker, GSP makes it a grappling match, if your a grappler he'll force you to stay on the feet. That's how he does it, shouldn't be a shocking game plan.

[Analu]

If your a striker, GSP makes it a grappling match, if your a grappler he'll force you to stay on the feet. That's how he does it, shouldn't be a shocking game plan.

I love GSP and he's amazing, but this isn't true. When is the last time GSP forced a fight to stay on his feet? He takes everyone down, whether they're strictly strikers like Thiago and Hardy, wrestlers/grapplers like Koscheck and Fitch, or all-around badasses like BJ, etc. No one can defend his takedowns, and so that's been his MO in every fight in recent memory and will probably be his strategy for every fight until someone can stop it.

Personally, I'm getting kinda bored with his fights. I'm not knocking him, because he truly is a dynamic fighter and maybe the classiest fighter in MMA, but watching round after round of takedown, GNP, takedown, GNP, rinse and repeat to a decision is a little tedious. Until someone can stop those takedowns, though, can expect to see pretty much the exact same formula in the foreseeable future with his fights.

Anyways, go BJ and Anderson!

[GSP]

Fitch and Hughes are two guys who's best chances were on the ground against GSP. He mixed take downs into the fight equasion in those fights but for the most part made them dance on the toes and suffer for it. Everybody else he took to the ground where they had the least possible chance of pulling off an upset. Koz was more a threat on the feet to GSP than on the ground with that crazy jackhammer overhand right. Hardy, Thiago, and even Serra fit that mold as well (and if you don't think Serra does, ask Frank Trigg). I'm not sure where BJ is more dangerous but GSP made a point of beating him everywhere, including significant time on the feet.

[Analu]

Koscheck fought GSP known as purely a wrestler with mediocre but improving standup. Kos's standup has improved and he has that overhand right, but his striking is still a work in progress.

BJ busted GSP up standing in the first fight. He got destroyed and finished in the second fight, but there was controversy and technically he didn't give up, Parillo threw in the towel. Obviously I'm biased, but aside from size, I think BJ is better than GSP pretty much everywhere except wrestling. But I love both fighters, and don't want to get into a debate about them.

I thought it was already well known that GSP's standup isn't that great, merely good to very good. It's the threat of takedowns that makes his standup look so much better than it actually is. That's his most effective weapon. You saying that "he took to the ground where they had the least possible chance of pulling off an upset" kind of proves the point I was trying to make. Name one fighter that he wouldn't go for the takedown against. All I can think of is maybe Shields, and that's hardly a given.

I love watching fighters like BJ and Anderson, because to me, there's truly a sense of "anything can happen" in each fight. You don't want to miss a second, because they're finishers. GSP is more of a sportsman than a pure fighter (which he himself has said), and I have a good idea exactly what's going to happen in all his fights: he's going to trade with you for a bit, then go to his bread and butter. Nothing wrong with that, that's what he does and has perfected, but it hasn't made for very exciting fights, IMO. At least not recently.

But whatever you want to believe.