RingofHonorGuard

Igor in his prime versus Wand in middle of his epic PRIDE Middleweight run would be an awesome fight. I do appreciate Igor and realize how sad it is that he gets very little recognition for his early contributions to the sport. But that head kick has beamed my eyes thousands of times and I can't help but smile a twisted smile every time. It's just obscene how well the cameras captured that.

Mirko is one of my top five favorite fighters to watch, win or lose. His fights are always fairly exciting, and at times even controversial. I think my favorite memory of him is when he punted Wand's head off to advance in the Openweight. It was the first fight I was able to actually buy on pay per view from PRIDE, and it was a huge fight because their first fight was exciting. Honorable mention would have to be his first round performance against Fedor, the KO murder train he put on Igor, and of course, breaking the original "Big Baby"(Bob Sapp's) orbital. Good choice on the Nogueira fight... I was on the edge of my seat when I first seen that fight. I thought Cro Cop had it when he dropped Nog... Then Nog does what he does, and pulled the slick sub. I immediately thought of this fight whenever Herring cracked Nog with the head kick in the UFC.

I want to see Rashad beat Rampage. That being said, Rampage will take it pretty easily, which sucks because it would be a real shame to see him get a title shot, beat Machida, and then spend the next few years defending the title as little as possible, and making films. Plus that would have been a really stupid fight for the UFC to put on in the first place... Rashad is working his way back to a title shot, why throw him the middleweight champion who's already stated he won't fight the current champ? Rashad, in his current form, has even less for Silva than he had for Machida.

Okay... So because Roy Nelson and Pe De Pano schooled Arlovski on the ground, he's got a terrible ground game? Wow... You have absolutely no clue of the going on's outside of MMA or you would realize that Roy Nelson can pass to side control on pretty much anyone he wants in the world. He's done it to many top calibur athletes, do a search of the web. Arlovski's jiu jitsu is defensive, much like Wanderlei Silva's. He doesn't want to be on the ground, but he has the tools to survive there with most people... unless they're top grapplers in the world see: Pe De Pano. People put too much stock in "chin strength"... Arlovski's chin might be lagging from a little wear and tear, but his issue isn't a weak chin. The shots he's taken recently that knocked him out would knock out anyone else in the same situation, Mark Hunt included(proven by Melvin Manhoef recently infact). I'm not debating with you that he sometimes lacks discipline and goes free-spirit with his opponents.. But the guy is a warrior, and should never be considered a "bad fighter" by anyones standards. Nope, actually my introduction to MMA was a King of the Cage I rented at my video store featuring Dan Severn when he was past his prime and touting the NWA title. That aside, I don't really care about Fedor. He's a great fighter, and I respect what he's done for building the sport.. And he's done his job because every fighter he's defeated was apparently a can.. And that's the point, he's dominated every fighter he's faced. I guess Mirko Cro Cop must be a complete hack, huh? You mentioned Josh Barnett never facing Fedor... I know MMAth does not compute, but Cro Cop beat Barnett legitly twice, and once by freak injury... So Cro Cop, who was at the time he faced Fedor the #2 heavyweight in the world by many rankings... is nothing? Interesting concept... Explain that one to me please? His absolute obliteration of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on two occasions means nothing, the same Nogueira who is highly regarded by almost every fan in MMA? Yeah, okay... Facing Kevin Randleman, when he was at one of his highest motivational periods, and getting slammed on his head, only to survive and tap him moments later? Yeah... Fedor is a chump. I'm not debating that Fedor has some cans on his record. He's smashed the hell out of a lot of them... But the fact of the matter is this: Anytime a worthwhile challenger steps up, Fedor dominates them. The proof is in the video. People talk about 'almosts' all the time. He -almost- got submitted, he -almost- got knocked out... as opposed to Georges St. Pierre who DID get knocked out, and yet still gets more props than Emelianenko... And I scoff at anyone who says St. Pierre has faced tougher competition over his career, Penn and Hughes aside.

What we have here folks is an "organization fanboi". "If it's not UFC, it must suck" - Daffanka logic Arlovski and Sylvia were both champions in UFC in a very dark age for American MMA Heavyweights. Sylvia's issue is the sport just passed him by. His height and one-dimensional striking became a con instead of a pro. So I will give you that, Sylvia isn't a top heavyweight, and wasn't when he faced Fedor.... However, that's where my agreement with you ends. The fact that you state Andrei Arlovski is a bad fighter shows your ineptitude when it comes to MMA. Arlovski is very well-rounded, and will be a top contender again in the future. His issue isn't a "glass jaw", like many have said. If you watch some fights from his early career, he takes hits just fine. His problem is over-committing and trying for the knockout too early. That's what got him blown up against Fedor, and Rogers. Next, you claim Brett Rogers is also a bad fighter, and claim all he has is punching power. Another point that you obviously just watch the fights, and pay no mind to the actual fighters. Rogers has good wrestling, good ground and pound, and some serious power in his strikes. He's a prospect that was thrown into top competition too early, hardly a "bad fighter". Fedor has annhiliated everyone they've put in front of him, and losing to him certainly doesn't make someone a bad fighter. I suggest you pull your head out of Dana White's treat bag and make an attempt to actually learn about the rest of the sport before you just start spouting off about "bad fighters". I guess by your own logic, anyone that's been knocked out when they were expected to win must be a bad fighter.

Overeem is always going to choose the foreign market over America. He makes big money in Japan to face lesser competition. How can you blame him? And it's not like it's a big deal that Overeem is doing K-1... He is a kickboxer after all.

Yeah, it's pretty sad that so many people think Overeem is a brick house after a few K-1 matches, and steamrolling Mark Hunt. The last time he fought someone Top 10 was back in 07 against Shogun... Pretty sad. Overeem doesn't really present any problems for Fedor as far as I'm concerned, and I'd put money on Rogers to knock him out as well. Couture needs to stay as far away from the heavyweight division as possible at this point. He's been quoted as saying he only came back and fought Sylvia because the heavyweight division was so weak at the time. Now the heavyweight division, by my standards, is quickly becoming one of the deepest divisions in all of MMA. About time... And to make things worse for Randy they're all pretty much fighters that he can't handle... Bigger, stronger wrestlers with controlling top games = Couture is lunch. I'm still up in the air about Bobby Lashley. He beat Hudge Pudge Sims with pillow punches, however, a win is a win. I have no idea what they'll do with Lashley at this point, but getting smashed by Fedor this early into the campaign probably means he isn't in it for the long haul.

Vitor is Vitor. You know what to expect... Belfort is a lot like Arlovski, he's lethal... until he gets hit a few times. His best chance is always early by KO, as he proved again by jacking Franklin's jaw. I was annoyed when they gave the title shot to Vitor, considering he's barely been active in the sport until recently. A victory over a confused Rich Franklin isn't much to brag about these days, I felt Rich lost to Wanderlei as well. However, as the UFC and MMA hype machine usually commands, I got sucked into the pre-fight ongoings between the two. So when Belfort pulled out with injury I was annoyed yet again because I knew that Anderson was either taking out a contender at Light Heavyweight, which is counterproductive, or he'd be facing an even lesser proven fighter for the belt. Sonnen, Marquardt, and Maia have wove themselves into a knit similar to Rampage, Liddell, and Wanderlei.. You can x Marquardt out of the conversation given the fact that he was just recently dominated and has a loss to the champ already... Sonnen has a cut, so it's Maia. It's a cool fight. Stylistically it could be -very- boring, but I'm not sure Maia's heart will allow him to be boring. He's going to be aggressively chasing the takedown instead of just letting Silva come to him like Leites did. Unfortunately that plays right into Anderson's game, and unless Maia lands a hail mary Wanderlei overhand and sinks a sub, I can't see him winning. I think Belfort should fight Sonnen for the title shot when he gets back. That's all for now.

Chris Hero vs. Jerry Lynn I think Hero could be a major player down the line, and a victory here progresses that. Lance Storm vs. CM Punk © Punk takes this, hands down. Monsters Inc vs. the Iron Saints Monsters Inc sort of flounder about and are more muscle than anything. With as much buildup that the Saints have received, it'd suck to see them lose here. Nate Hatred vs. Masato Tanaka Hatred could quite possibly be the most dangerous guy to go into a barbed wire match with. That guy is twisted as f*ck. Tommy Dreamer and Cactus Jack vs. Chris Beniot and Sandman The Canadian Connection vs. The Whole F**kin' Show © Gut feeling. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart Owen by clean Sharpshooter. AJ Styles vs. Rob Van Dam © Gut feeling. Paul Burchill vs. Raven Burchill's ready, but at the same time... Raven's chasing the title more than he is holding it. It'd be nice to see him defend a few more times.