UFC, etc.

[azurepred]

Rampage is still the man!!!! ...........great fight though, fight of the night for sure, keith is defn a tough fighter to b able to stay awake for 3rds

 

[King Darkness]

Im wit you King!!

and we all know, that what king says is what king gets ^^^^^es!

 

[Devil_666]

So now it's..

UFC 98
LHW Title: Evans vs. Jackson
WW: Hughes vs. Serra

UFC 100
HW Unification Title: Lesnar vs. Mir
WW Title: GSP vs. Alves
LHW: Henderson vs. Bisping

Looking pretty good.

 

[nash]

I think im the only person glad to see matt hughes back in action

 

[Devil_666]

I use to like watching Matt Hughes fight.. until he suddenly decided he could strike and started boxing instead of wrestling/slamming/using take downs for GNP and submissions. A LOT of ground fighters (wrestlers/BJJ guys etc.) go through this period of thinking they can actually box.. and they can't. Hughes did it, Sherk is doing it, Koscheck is doing it more, etc.

Hopefully Hughes goes back to his roots and slams Serra through the mat and GNP's him.

 

[nash]

I use to like watching Matt Hughes fight.. until he suddenly decided he could strike and started boxing instead of wrestling/slamming/using take downs for GNP and submissions. A LOT of ground fighters (wrestlers/BJJ guys etc.) go through this period of thinking they can actually box.. and they can't. Hughes did it, Sherk is doing it, Koscheck is doing it more, etc.

Hopefully Hughes goes back to his roots and slams Serra through the mat and GNP's him.

I see what youre saying dude. I think when youre at this level you kind of get bored to do the same old thing and without the incentive to actually improve in some ways, your training regimen will suffer.

 

[sscalltheway]

Guys if anyone ever says that the UFC has weak cards deserved to get punched. People on here said that for this one and fight night and the majority of the fights were KO.

 

[Devil_666]

But that's the thing: Matt Hughes could just train in Boxing and striking from now on and he'll never be able to outstrike or even hang with a competent striker. Why try and reinvent the wheel!? Use what you're good at (and in some cases better at than your opponent) to win. Don't suddenly decide to switch up your style this late in the game. Hughes is about to retire. He's already said so because his chances of another WW title run are pretty much zero. He's 1 -3 in his last 4 fights. He would need to string together at least 3 or 4 wins to get a title shot and he's like 35 or 36.. so time isn't on his side. Not to mention if either Alves or GSP are champ, I don't see Hughes beating either.

I honestly think win or lose Matt Hughes will retire after the Serra fight.

 

[nash]

But that's the thing: Matt Hughes could just train in Boxing and striking from now on and he'll never be able to outstrike or even hang with a competent striker. Why try and reinvent the wheel!? Use what you're good at (and in some cases better at than your opponent) to win. Don't suddenly decide to switch up your style this late in the game. Hughes is about to retire. He's already said so because his chances of another WW title run are pretty much zero. He's 1 -3 in his last 4 fights. He would need to string together at least 3 or 4 wins to get a title shot and he's like 35 or 36.. so time isn't on his side. Not to mention if either Alves or GSP are champ, I don't see Hughes beating either.

I honestly think win or lose Matt Hughes will retire after the Serra fight.

Honestly I think if Hughes stuck to his old gameplan and took GSP to the ground for GnP, he'd have a decent shot. what about you?

Standing with GSP is what got him in trouble both times.

It goes back to the saying "evolving". most fighters have evolved since Hughes' hayday, and he hasnt. but if he realizes this, then he has a shot at winning over anyone in his division. IMO of course.

 

[Devil_666]

Honestly I think if Hughes stuck to his old gameplan and took GSP to the ground for GnP, he'd have a decent shot. what about you?

Standing with GSP is what got him in trouble both times.

Their last fight Hughes took a southpaw stance because he wanted to shoot from that angle but he still couldn't take GSP down. Not even close. And it was actually GSP who was able to take Hughes down at will and dominate on the ground. So I'd agree that Hughes would have a better shot at winning on the ground than standing, but I honestly don't think even then, he'd beat GSP.

It goes back to the saying "evolving". most fighters have evolved since Hughes' hayday, and he hasnt.

Which is ironic because when he fought Royce Gracie and dominated him that's exactly would people said about Royce. That he hadn't evolved. And now the same thing is happening to Hughes. His glory days are behind him.

but if he realizes this, then he has a shot at winning over anyone in his division. IMO of course.

If he were younger, I'd agree. But like I said previously: time is against him. WYSIWYG with Hughes. And unfortunately, when it comes to the upper level of the WW division I don't see Hughes beating GSP (Already 2 Losses) Alves (1 Loss) Fitch or even Koscheck, who I think would KO Hughes. I think even Marcus Davis would beat Hughes.

Basically the only thing Hughes lacks is striking: No Muay Tai.. No boxing.. No power. He has wrestling, Submissions, Submission defense, takedowns, GnP and Cardio. And this late in the game I don't see Hughes magically becoming efficient in striking to compete on that level. Especially since you can't learn how to KO people. You either have KO power or you don't.

 

[Shai]

UFC 100 will

 

[Devil_666]

Lesnar and GSP are the 2 biggest draws for the UFC so expect HUGE numbers for that event.

 

[kobayashi93]

Guys if anyone ever says that the UFC has weak cards deserved to get punched. People on here said that for this one and fight night and the majority of the fights were KO.

I'll stick with my original statement. Last night's card did suck, and it wasn't worth paying for. The event was pretty good there was some exciting endings.

In the end though, I don't give a crap about:
-Gray beating Miller
-Hammill's KO on a guy half his size with terrible standup
-Sell or Brown
-any of the undercard bouts

I'm drooling over UFC 98 and 100. I care about every fight on both cards.

 

[Ktjn]

So now it's..

UFC 98
LHW Title: Evans vs. Jackson
WW: Hughes vs. Serra

UFC 100
HW Unification Title: Lesnar vs. Mir
WW Title: GSP vs. Alves
LHW: Henderson vs. Bisping

Looking pretty good.

They should switch GSP Vs Alves with Evans Vs Jackson. Since they've reached the 100th mark, and it gives rampage a little more healing time.

 

[Devil_666]

Well like I said earlier, Rampage (after TUF coaching) asked the UFC to use him more often because he felt like his performance suffered from such a long layoff. Rampage feels like he's better when he's active. With TUF he didn't fight for like 10 months. He said that really hurt him because he basically didn't train for most of that time, that's why he was so out of shape during the taping. He seems to be cool with fighting in that time frame.. so iunno. Seems really short imo.


*EDIT

By Dana White’s account, UFC 96 was Quinton Jackson’s last test before facing off with light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans this summer. But that was before a nagging knee injury took interim heavyweight champ Frank Mir from his rematch with heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar at UFC 98.

White heard the news in Columbus, and spent the next hours confirming it, with matchmaker Joe Silva in one ear, giving updates, and Evans in the other, interviewing people.

Saturday’s fight did not put the UFC president in an awkward position. Jackson edged Keith Jardine in a hard-fought decision; the stage was set. The only problem was May. They were short a main event.

After the fight, White gave Jackson the happy news he may need to do another quick turnaround to save the May 23 show in Las Vegas. It would be the former champ’s third fight in five months.

“He’s really excited and thrilled,” quipped White at the post-fight presser for the Columbus, Ohio event.

Jackson, while excited to face Evans, was non-committal about whether he’d be ready for UFC 98 in May.

“I want my belt back,” he proclaimed. “I’ve got to talk to my manager, see if everything’s cool. I’ll tell Dana in a couple of days.”

For the first time in his career, Jackson felt he’d burned out prior to the fight. The road wear from a long camp over the pond at the Wolfslair took its toll in the first round.

“I’ve been training really hard,” he explained. “I felt like I was a little bit over-trained tonight. I could feel it in my training camp. I want to be the best I could be and I want to show the world that I am one of the best fighters in the world. I don’t want to be one of these fighters that just gets the win… I want to knock people the hell out.”

In the case that Jackson was not ready to fight, White said he had a back-up plan.

“We’re still going to make sure Quinton is 100-percent,” he said. “It’s not a done deal. Quinton’s got to go – he’s got to get some things checked out, make sure he’s 100-percent healthy, and if he is, that will be the fight. If he’s not, it will be Lyoto Machida.”

Machida has already accepted the bout, according to White.

As the press conference closed, Jackson was hopeful for the shot at the title in May. "You know, I'd do anything for Dana. I'm just sitting here thinking, most likely, my black ass will be up in the mountains training in the next two weeks."

White interjected, "If he feels like he can't take this fight, we don't want him to take this fight."

Jackson left it leaning towards a May 23 date with Evans, however, saying, " I'm gonna try though."

https://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=8344&zoneid=2

So if Rampage doesn't feel 100% or isn't cleared etc. it'll be:

UFC 98
LHW Title: Evans vs. Machida
WW: Hughes vs. Serra

 

[Fozzy]

Evans Vs Machida should be really interesting if it happens, I'd rather see that than Evans V Jackson.

 

[LOTRFan]

Evans Vs Machida should be really interesting if it happens, I'd rather see that than Evans V Jackson.

Machida has definately earned it; arguably more than Rampage.

 

[NASEDO]

Machida has definately earned it; arguably more than Rampage.

I agree with that, I feel bad for machida.

 

[Devil_666]

Machida has earned it, unfortunately there's a business attached to the sport. Which sucks, but that's just how it is. If it were strictly a sport, Machida would've already fought for the belt. But because there's a business side to the sport, and because that business is to make money and fill seats/get PPV buys.. you make matches based off that.

Machida is NOT an exciting fighter. He can finish fights.. but his whole style is a turn off to most fans. Especially casual ones. He doesn't speak english.. but beyond that he's very soft spoken and for lack of a better word: dull. A.Silva doesn't speak english too well but he's very charismatic and has A LOT of personality. Which is why he's popular and sells. Machida is the exact opposite. Coupled with his methodical style.. that's a main event disaster. That's why there's a delay with fighting for the title. Dana and the UFC are trying to figure out if he wins HOW to actually promote him.

Look at the current champs: Lesnar/Mir, Evans, A.Silva, GSP and B.J. Penn. They ALL have charisma, personality and most importantly they all have "IT" and can fill seats/get PPV buys and make money.

Now imagine throwing Machida into that mix.

 

[nash]

Machida has earned it with his perfect record, but on the same token imo Rampage has fought way more quality fighters than Machida has.