UFC, etc.

[die]

Never been a fan of Diaz. I still can't believe he won that fight.

 

[nash]

I mean, after the Cung Le fight I don't think Frank had any plans to fight again. But Strikeforce (which Frank considers "his" org.) landed the deal with Showtime/CBS and they needed a main event that would sell in San Jose. Cung couldn't fight because he's been making movies. Strikeforce couldn't sign KJ Noons in time for the event to fight vs. Diaz. They didn't have a lot of options. I mean think about it: this was a catch weight fight. No title on the line. Realistically this fight had one goal: to make a good first impression for Strikeforce on Showtime and to help smooth the whole EliteXC debacle over.

I think they accomplished that. I thought the presentation was professional. I think the broadcast team especially Pat Militech was great. Pat REALLY surprised me. I think the pacing was nice. So overall it was a success. Not so much in ratings.. but they managed to get like 15,000+ fans in attendance.

So Frank did his job. I'm not saying Frank threw the fight, or anything was fixed. Everything was legit. I'm just saying had Strikeforce not gotten the EliteXC deal with Showtime, and this was just another EliteXC show or if it were untelevised.. I guarantee Frank would not have fought.

IMO He only fought to help out the promotion.

Ah i see what you mean, and i completely agree. The whole match up is so out of left field, including the catch weight, so yeah I totally see that.

Yup Millitech was awesome with those narratives to bring in new viewers to the sport. There wasn't so much downtime between matches which I really liked and the whole set up was crisp and to the point.

I dont know man, I really like Frank since I started watching back in the day and when the lion's den was the 'in group'. I hope he can still have a few years left in him....he definitely seems in top conditioning and shape, but he needs to take care of his injuries before he fights.

he said prior to the fight that his ribs were giving him trouble but as you know he also said that he's always had problems with them so why mind it now... but in the fight he was grimacing a lot which leads me to believe that it may have been a factor, and a right hook to the body from Diaz dropped him. I have a tough time believing that Diaz hit him hard enough that would drop Frank without an already pending injury there.

But oh well, it would be interesting to see what's in store for both Diaz and Frank. I'd like to see Diaz vs Lawler again.

 

[Devil_666]

Ah i see what you mean, and i completely agree. The whole match up is so out of left field, including the catch weight, so yeah I totally see that.

Yup Millitech was awesome with those narratives to bring in new viewers to the sport. There wasn't so much downtime between matches which I really liked and the whole set up was crisp and to the point.

I dont know man, I really like Frank since I started watching back in the day and when the lion's den was the 'in group'. I hope he can still have a few years left in him....he definitely seems in top conditioning and shape, but he needs to take care of his injuries before he fights.

he said prior to the fight that his ribs were giving him trouble but as you know he also said that he's always had problems with them so why mind it now... but in the fight he was grimacing a lot which leads me to believe that it may have been a factor, and a right hook to the body from Diaz dropped him. I have a tough time believing that Diaz hit him hard enough that would drop Frank without an already pending injury there.

But oh well, it would be interesting to see what's in store for both Diaz and Frank. I'd like to see Diaz vs Lawler again.

Regarding Frank, honestly I just think he has no desire to fight anymore. He rises to the occasion here and there: his fight with Baroni he was on his A-Game because he really wanted to win that fight because of all the back and forth talking that went on. You have to remember: this is the guy who left the UFC undefeated MW (now LHW) champion because he was bored.

I would like to see Diaz vs. Lawler as well.. which further adds to what I'm saying: Instead of something like that they put Diaz in against Frank and now come June Lawler will be facing Shields who's a WW.

Really odd match ups in Strikeforce. It's like they're purposely matching up the biggest names they have in matches that won't affect them win or lose i.e. Diaz' win against Frank does nothing for his standing in his division and same goes for the winner/loser of the Shields/Lawler fight.

 

[kobayashi93]

Well said Devil, I agree too. The announcement of Diaz vs Shamrock was completely out of left field. They needed a big name quick and Shamrock was healthy, and capable of fighting.

I'm really excited about Strikeforce's future. They have good talent, good production, and they don't seem as gimicky as EliteXC was.

 

[Devil_666]

The only real big problems I see for Strikeforce as far as expansion is:

1. They don't have ANY fighters that could sell a PPV imo. Same problem EliteXC had.

2. They don't have that many top names to consistently put on shows. So they'll probably do like 4 - 6 shows per year at the most. Which isn't good. It's the same thing that's hurting Affliction: there's no momentum when you have like a 2+ month gap inbetween shows (even longer for Affliction shows). So the minute Joe Casual gets interested your promotion disappears. So it's like these orgs are always starting from scratch to build up brand recognition and to build up a following beyond the hardcore fans.

3. The biggest fight they have in the works is Cyborg vs. Carano. And it doesn't matter who wins because Strikeforce doesn't have any other big name female fighters to challenge either one. So it's a one shot deal.


I think Strikeforce can maintain it's local success and even put on enjoyable shows on CBS/Showtime here and there.. but ultimately it's not going to be any bigger than it already is. They mentioned other possible match ups in the future like Overeem vs. Rogers and Ortiz vs. Babalu.. which sound cool. But then what!? Their HW division is worse than UFC's.. and basically every division they have is thin.

So if you're watching it JUST to watch fights (like me) then you'll enjoy yourself. But if anyone out ther is thinking/praying/hoping that Strikeforce will "take over" the UFC.. I got bad news for you.

 

[King Darkness]

Excellent fights

I hate ^^^^ talkers 99.9% of the time, but I have been a fan of Nick Diaz for a long time, and was happy to see him win. Glad he paid respect to Shamrock after the fight.

'Hands of Steel'

Cant wait to see a rematch with him and Lawler!

And yeah, they dont have "big names", but they got a stable of very talented and hungry fighters who put on better shows that a lot of UFC's guys. Elite XC had some really good shows too, but ultimately horrible management led them to ruin. Now under Strikeforce, who has been around forever and run by smart MMA minded people,mainly Scott Coker, it can be a great success. Take over UFC? No, never. Just wont happen. UFC is the WWE of MMA, no one is gonna over take them, but Strikeforce doesnt need too, and really doesnt want too, even ****** bag Dana White has long said that Scott Coker has an excellent MMA mind. Strikeforce will be around for longer than allot of poeple think. Its not being run by fools trying to cash in on MMA becoming more popular like Elite XC and IFL.

Also, Scott Coker and Strikeforce are gonna start bringing in some Dream fighters too. There are soooo many great fighters outside of the UFC. UFC is the big dog, but they dont have every great fighter.



Dream 8 was good too, if anyone watched that.

 

[sscalltheway]

Let's get some picks going for this next fight card.
Mine are:
Anderson Silva vs Thales Leites
Chuck Liddell vs Shogun
Cheick Kongo vs Antoni Hardonk
Steve Cantwell vs Luiz Cane
Denis Kang vs Xavier....
David Loiseau vs Ed Herman
Jason McDonald vs Nate Quarry

The others i could care less.....

 

[LOTRFan]

No way Silva loses, I just don't see how that could happen.

Liddel and Rua is a toss-up mostly depending on Rua's cardio; but I still think Liddel has the edge.

 

[NASEDO]

Cant wait for Chuck and Shogun, been waiting along time for that one.

 

[occulum]

this is Chuck's Do Or Die match.... hope I can see it ...

 

[Morbach]

I am a fan of Chuck but he's been off here lately. I hope he wins this fight.

 

[sscalltheway]

I hope Rua and Liddell are both back so it will be a good fight. I think Liddell has a better camp now and hopefully Rua has been working on conditioning.

 

[kobayashi93]

I'll take Silva, Liddell, Kongo, Cane, Soszynski, Kang, Quarry...don't care about the rest.

I was able to meet Leites and a few others on this card at UFC 74. Leites is a really cool guy, hopefully he doesn't get hurt too bad...that's a hard wish for someone fighting Silva.

 

[sscalltheway]

I swear the whole Browning family should just leave television. Supposubly the dude's drunk but and is almost falling while walking but can talk perfectly fine.

 

[kobayashi93]

I've missed the episodes so far. What's going on? Guys are still fighting to get into the house?

 

[915stag51]

Browning Jr is also a BIZZZNACH!!!!

 

[sscalltheway]

I've missed the episodes so far. What's going on? Guys are still fighting to get into the house?

The ended tonight, the last two did. If you want me to tell you what happened i will.

 

[kobayashi93]

I watched tonight's episode. I figured all the guys would have won their spot, and that tonight would be the begining of the "real competition" fights.

It was a good episode, I was happy with the two fight's endings.

 

[playafree]

Browning Jr is also a BIZZZNACH!!!!

yeah, he got his a$$ kicked tonight! haaha

 

[King Darkness]

Glad Browning lost.