RingofHonorGuard

Again, people taking things out of context. I didn't say just being in SHAPE would ensure he would do well. I said it would help him over the hump that fighters go through early in their career. He's already got a head up on the cardio. Pro wrestling might be fake, but it's certainly not slow paced. Being 40 years old isn't going to help him, but there's also no guarentee it's going to hurt him unless they're pairing him with someone half his age. My point is none of us really have any idea how long he's been training MMA. For all we know this is something he could have been doing as a hobby for years now, or it could just be a publicity stunt that never gets off the ground. Whichever it's going to be it's working, because people are talking about it, and not just on these forums. It's being discussed nationwide. And again, there's no reason the guy shouldn't be able to fight. Let him fight Shaquille O'Neal. But mark my words, if Strikeforce puts Batista on a card against someone, namely Bobby Lashley... I guarentee you the WWE will somehow get their hands in it, and it will probably end up bringing Strikeforce and MMA some new fans from the crossover. Not to mention potentially breaking some records for television.

Oh, alright then... We should just open a hole in the ground and throw away every fighter who's never going to accomplish anything... That way we can just have 30-40 fighters in the world fighting, since you know... not everyone can be at the top. Evan Dunham will most likely never be a champion in MMA, he doesn't really have that much upside aside from putting on exciting fights. Guess he just doesn't matter. See what I'm saying? You're making it too much about where they're going and not what they can do in the now. I don't really care about ten years from now. For all we know they could come out next year from out of nowhere and start enforcing bans of MMA. I want to see people fight, the end. Batista versus Bobby Lashley would be an exciting fight, if you can't see that you're missing the point. Freakshow or not. And you have a pretty good idea, I'd love to watch Minowaman versus Batista. That fight would be monstrous in Japan. Not every fight has to be a technical display of beauty, and 9/10 a fight is sloppy. Hell, two of the best fights in the history of MMA(by many people's standards, maybe not my own) were Forrest Griffin/Stephan Bonnar and Garcia/Zombie... Neither of those fights consisted of much more than just sloppy winged haymakers, and trying to finish. Anything that brings more fans to the sport is -good- for the sport. Every sport has bad fans, it's part of it. So stop spouting jargon about "x fighter doing this is bad for the sport" because it's just becoming inane.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Daffanka" data-cite="Daffanka" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>We're not talking about Brock Lesnar, who had a remarkable collegiate career, only spent a few years pro wrestling and is something Dr. Jekkyl cooked up in his lab when he felt Hyde wasn't muscular enough.<p> </p><p> We're talking about a 40-something bodybuilder who's spent more than a decade pro wrestling, tears a muscle every six seconds, doesn't have any kind of martial arts base and who's just now starting to train MMA.</p><p> </p><p> And for what it's worth, just being in shape doesn't mean you're going to be successful in MMA or even not gas. Look at Pudzianowski's last fight. A fat as hell Tim Sylvia completely outworked, outwrestled and outgrappled him.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Well, I never said the guy would do well. I just said it shouldn't be that big of a surprise that he's wanting to cross over. I just get tired of all these elitists saying what is/isn't good for the sport. The only way Batista testing his feet in MMA would be bad is if he somehow got murdered in the middle of the cage(highly unlikely and at that point it would be the referee's fault), or if he fought, got popular in MMA, and then slaughtered a house full of orphans. I mean I just don't get it. </p><p> </p><p> People say "it's bad for the sport" because they don't want "stupid fans" to watch it. If we spent more time caring about the sport and less time caring about the fans, we'd be golden. Football could learn something from that as well.</p><p> </p><p> I guess my whole point is... A fight is a fight. I'm not saying I want to see Batista against a top level competition or even someone on their way out like a Cro Cop. But there's no reason he shouldn't be able to fight against someone of his similar skillset.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Zoloftjunkie" data-cite="Zoloftjunkie" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So you think you might of heard about him talking about training mma sometime with the undertaker backstage. Right man I can't begin to even take you seriously with your post. I know why strikeforce would do it but it doesn't make it good for mma. I love to watch true fighters fight. I don't love sideshow attractions.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Clearly you've got low level reading comprehension. Batista training MMA has been talked about on wrestling websites and MMA websites alike for a while now, but it was nothing unique because a lot of pro athletes train MMA to stay in shape... I was simply implying that it shouldn't be that big of a surprise that he is wanting to compete if he's ended his pro wrasslin' career. </p><p> </p><p> Furthermore, your blind hatred for pro wrestling is preventing you from seeing that these pro wrestlers might have a handicap at the beginning, but they've already got the athletic part down. It's a lot easier to learn technique and drill through it quickly when you've got the cardio already. Fighters spend most of their early development(and late development) working on their cardio.</p><p> </p><p> I mentioned the Undertaker because he goes to a ton of MMA events, and not just mainstream ones. He goes to smaller shows as well, there's been reports of him being seen at small shows in Texas. So with as much as he's into it, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that MMA is talked about a lot backstage.</p><p> </p><p> Please learn to understand what you're reading.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Zoloftjunkie" data-cite="Zoloftjunkie" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Sorry but there is no way I would pay to see them put on a freakshow.<p> </p><p> At 41 with no history in any martial arts I don't see any good reason for strikeforce to sign him.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> See, that's where you're wrong, guy. And I'm so kind that I'm going to tell you why... This is water dipping, sadly. Nothing more, nothing less. It's long been rumored that Vince McMahon wants to test the waters of MMA, and branch out into a real venue of sports... Hell, the guy just threw an NFL knock off together literally out of no where. Granted it failed, but only because the level of talent on the field sucked. </p><p> </p><p> Batista may not have any MMA experience, but he does have martial arts experience, and trains like a lot of NFL players do, to stay in shape. I couldn't tell you what gym he trains at, or how often, but I do know that I've heard of him training. Undertaker is a monster MMA fan, and I'm sure he is constantly talking about it backstage.</p><p> </p><p> Batista versus Bobby Lashley would sell so many cross over pay per views, and just random yahoos pay per views. Guess why? Because pro wrestling is fake and EVERYONE always wants to know who would really win. Would I pay $35.95 to see it? Absolutely not. Would I watch it guilt-free in front of my computer while feeling sorry for the dolts who did buy it? Absolutely. That would be an amazing fight for the two minutes it lasted. Batista would have one of the most epic MMA entrances ever. Bobby Lashley would finally finish someone in violent fashion. And Shane McMahon will cut a promo in the middle of the cage, challenging Scott Coker to a match. I mean... Tell me you wouldn't order a UFC headlined by a real fight between Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior in their retro Wrestlemania 6 garb. I would. I want to see anyone fight at any time because I'm a fan of FIGHTING. I like anything to do with full contact fighting, it doesn't matter what it is. If there's two people fighting I want to see it, unless they're just going to hug. Then I'm not interested.</p><p> </p><p> Also, I'm aware Batista is no longer signed with the WWE. But it's not very far out of the realms of possibility that Batista is doing this with the WWE's blessing. Could turn out to be really interesting, could just be a publicity stunt. Who knows, but no one should really be that surprised that they're considering signing him. They signed Herschel Walker, that alone in itself was hilarious. It was even more hilarious to see him somewhat succeed and make people want to see him fight again. Age disregarded, that's the guy's job. It's becoming tiresome hearing how people don't want to hear x fighter go anymore because he's old. The fact is some genetics are just amazing with aging. There's too many gifts to even really name in the world. Herschel Walker might be waaaay past his prime, but he's still in better shape at his age than some of the other slobs these promotions hire. And more times than not being in shape wins in a battle of technique/age.</p>

No doubt, Askren would get owned in the UFC right now, he'd probably be a .500 record holder. He is sloppy, but age and technique are what will fix that, and his desire to compete at a high level. Hornbuckle was a good test for him, because Dan's kind of at that level where he could be in the UFC but he'd also be around the .500 mark. So, the sky is the limit for Funky Ben. Also, speaking of Lesnar.. Anyone else hear he hired Randy Couture to train him for Carwin? That seems like a smart thing to do.

I called Askren winning from the point the fight was made. The dude is a beast. It needs to be pointed out that he's going to be one of those guys like Phil Davis who looks more and more dynamic every fight. He pretty much busted Hornbuckle up on the ground, the very place every one(and not just here) thought Hornbuckle would win it. Was a good fight, but I hope more people get into Ben Askren and the evolution of wrestling in mixed martial arts. Matt Hughes was just the prototype, folks. We've got Phil Davis, Ben Askren, and Johnny Hendricks now.

Hoping a company that is giving you a lot of decent/good MMA folds just reeks of you being a bad fan, sorry. I love mixed martial arts, and don't want to see any company go down unless they're promoting a shady business, and for the most part Scott Coker is a stand-up dude. He may not always put on the top notch shows, but he at least tries to give people their money's worth. Last night's show was just kind of thrown together, and I think I remember hearing it was for some cause, or some of the money was going to something. There was a reason they rushed the card together, I do know that. Regardless, Babalu/Lawler could have been a much better fight than it was if Lawler wasn't mentally beaten. And furthermore, you might see Shields in the UFC(in fact I think it's close to 100% at this point) but there's no guarentee on Diaz or Melendez. Diaz loves being able to fight when he wants to fight, being able to take fights in Japan etc. So we'll see... Also Strikeforce is building stars, the same as Bellator. I would much rather see some of these younger guys on a medium stage like Bellator/Strikeforce/Etc before they end up on TUF or UFC. Makes it easier to keep up with them and know who they are when they do surface in the big leagues.... But yeah, sure let's just go ahead and hope they fold just because they put on catchweight fights with title implications for both sides. Waa, waa.

Strikeforce sucked, aside from the Heun/Noons fight. Sucked. Sucked. Sucked. I didn't really have any expectations for anything but Cyborg/Whitemare, which I correctly seen as a finish for Cyborg. None of the fights really pulled the viewer in, because none of the fights really meant anything in the grand scheme of the sport. No one went "OH YEAH! BABALU WON A DECISION, YEAAAAH BOI!"(Okay well some idiot out there probably did)... But King Mo/Babalu have already verbally said they won't fight. So Lawler losing just makes their middleweight division seem that much more shallow, unless Babalu's going to completely make himself worthless and drop to 185.

A broken hand is okay to fight with, most people -do- fight through broken hands. Problem is, Rich didn't have a broken hand, he had a broken arm... Which in most cases means he's unable to make a fist, and also unable to put any force behind any punch he would throw with that arm. He could still use it but it would basically be about as effective as hitting someone with one of those swimming noodle things. Not to mention the psychological effect of being able to hear and feel the cracked bone moving around as you attempt to negate someone trying to punch you in the face. Seriously, the difference between breaking a hand and breaking an arm aren't even in the same ballpark. Rich Franklin is a tough guy, always has been. And I feel like it should be noted that not every fighter that steps into the octagon is tough. There's a difference between being brave and being tough. Being tough is a gift, and in this situation an athletic gift.

It was also interesting for the fact that someone scored it 29-28 Griffin.... My girlfriend got angry with me because I ranted so much at the fact someone with even an EDUCATED GUESS as to what was going on saw that fight as anything but a Dunham victory.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing it. Mirko has always done well against big, slow guys. Rothwell has some power and decent wrestling, but I don't think he'd be able to ground CC like he did Yvel. ---- I was really impressed with Carlos Condit last night. He got beat for two rounds, and came out FOCUSED for one round and completely tore Macdonald apart. Not sure what Carlos' deal has been since he joined the UFC, though he's still 2-1(and I thought he beat Kampmann). He's just looked very tentative since showing up, and I was really glad to see him FINALLY open up and try to finish. Everyone at the arena was calling BS on the stoppage, but Rory himself has claimed in a few different interviews that "he didn't know what was going on, thought the round was over, and Carlos was beating him up." I feel really bad for Mac Danzig too. His career in the UFC has been a roller coaster to say the least. While I don't really agree with his choices as a human being, he's a pretty good fighter and I always like watching him... So when that nonsense happened last night it was just thoroughly disappointing(but not as disappointing as the dude's haircut).

The Cro Cop battle train got some much needed fuel last night when he atleast brought out the remnants of his old self.... First off, I was one of those people that thought Cro Cop was done(even though he's probably top five favorite of mine all time), mostly because of his kicks.. I had heard he had rehabbed his knees, and that's why he wasn't throwing kicks in his last couple of fights. We got a real treat last night with some of those kicks. I can't remember the last time we actually saw an axe kick, that was awesome. Mirko has at least been working on his ground game, and in my opinion completely dominated that fight. I wanna see Rothwell vs. Cro Cop now.

Petition to change Mega Megu's nickname to whatever "Pillowpunches" in Japanese would be. I thought Imada won that fight, but I'm beginning to just not give a crap what the judges say. I'm starting to view decisions as draws, unless it's just absolutely lopsided. Neither of these guys have a squirt's chance of beating Alvarez, so it's moot in the end. Worst Bellator I've watched this season by far... STILL looking forward to next show though.

<p>UFC 115 Predictions:</p><p> </p><p> Franklin over Liddell</p><p> Cro Cop over Barry</p><p> Thiago over Kampmann</p><p> Rothwell over Yvel</p><p> Condit over Macdonald</p><p> Griffin over Dunham</p><p> Danzig over Wiman</p><p> Miranda over Loiseau</p><p> Wilks over Sobotta</p><p> Patrick over Funch</p><p> Pyle over Lennox</p><p> </p><p> Only fights I'm having any real doubts about are CC/Barry and Condit/Macdonald. Macdonald has to the potential to be a big star but not sure if he's ready for someone as emotionless as Condit. Cro Cop/Barry could go either way, especially if Mirko Go Flop shows up. If Cro Cop is hesitant, Barry's going to put the licks on him for 3 rounds, possibly even TKO him. But I'm looking for Cro Cop to come in and win this.</p>

Dustin - The way I've always viewed the Shooto system as being relative to the NWA in wrestling. I haven't kept up with it in a while, but back when I did that's what it seemed like to me... Just a collection of smaller Japanese organizations who flew under one banner because there were too many Chiefs and not enough Indians.

One thing you can say for Rogan is he didn't act like he was the be-all, end-all of knowledge. I realize that was mostly tongue-in-cheek in regards to Rogan, but there really are people out there who feel that way about him. Rogan listens to fighters, he doesn't push his own agenda. Another one of my biggest gripes about Blatnick is whenever one of the fighters would join the announce booth, it was like Blatnick was competing with them for air time. And I wouldn't really be busting Blatnick's balls so much if he had improved, but I was just watching an HDnet fight in the past couple of years, and Blatnick was commentating... Sounded exactly the same, with the same wrestling bias.

Blatnick learned a lot about the sport as he went along, but my issue with him is he acted like he knew it all along. He didn't. He would constantly call something that wasn't even close to happening. He always openly rooted for any wrestler fighting, to the point you just wanted him to have a seizure so he'd shut up. I will admit that he got considerably better over time, and his work outside the sport was unquestionable. But as an announcer he sucked. The only time he ever got excited was when a wrestler was doing well. Say what you want about Rogan going crazy over BJJ guys, but it has nothing on Blatnick's bias. You can't really credit any one person with the unified rules, but yeah he was apart of it. A lot of guys were. McCarthy and Quadros were both very essential in the process as well. And also... If you think Jeff Blatnick and the unfied rules is what caused MMA to become mainstream, you're pulling the wool over your own eyes... Money and big name investors(Fertittas) are what brought MMA to the mainstream. It was pretty much blacklisted all over the country anyway until the Fertittas stepped in and bought it.

Yeah, he's still doing politics though, which means one or the other is going to take a backseat, or he's going to half-ass both of them... Either way he'll probably still dominate the remainder of his career, barring the fight with Overeem happening or him going to the UFC(so yeah, he'll dominate the rest of his career). I'm with you on Cain Velasquez, a borderline nut-hugger. I spiked my soda on the floor, and pumped my fist when he knocked Nog out because it at least showed that he's developing all aspects of his game. I wanna see him go to war with Junior dos Santos. ----------- I've been watching some old UFCs today. Watched 7, Ultimate Ultimate, and 8. I would love to have seen Randy Couture get started earlier and fight Frye in his prime. Fyre was -way- ahead of his time with his clinch work, really the first fighter in the tournament style to really implement every aspect of the game effectively. You can say what you want about the Shamrocks, namely Frank, but Frye was a monster at 8. Also, anyone who wants to say anything bad about Goldberg or Rogan go check out Jeff Blatnick. This dude, at times, believes you can choke someone out when they're on top of you by putting your thumb in their throat... lol, seriously? You know Don Wilson wanted to be like "Dude, you might know how to wrestle but seriously, stfu." Noticed Stephen Quadros was a judge at UFC 8, so that was interesting to see as well. I didn't even know who Stephen Quadros was the first time I saw this years ago. Marco Ruas looks like Don Muraco and Donkey Kong had a baby, and he has the cold-blooded stare of Richard "Night Stalker" Ramirez. Remco Pardoel probably crapped his pants when Ruas was in his guard and they had their epic guard staredown.

His chin, and his overall being are lesser now than what they were when he fought Fedor. The thing is, UFC hasn't been kind to him at all. He's always been the kind of guy to take punishment and come back, but with a withered chin and father time creeping up on him(34 is old whenever you've been through the kind of taxation on the body that he has). I would say battle wise Nogueira is turning the corner on 40, if not older. He's looked slower(than usual) against everyone in the UFC with the exception of Couture. Heath arguably TKO'd him, Sylvia outboxed him and was winning that fight until Nogueira pulled the sub, Mir TKO'd him, Velasquez KO'd him. See what I'm getting at? You can lessen Velasquez' win in comparison to Fedor, because Fedor fought Nog in his prime. Velasquez KO'd a withered shell of a man. As far as Fedor retiring is concerned, seems like a smart move to me. There's always going to be doubters out there. But there are still people that call out Michael Jordan and say he'd have nothing on [insert Top NBA Player Here]. Always gonna happen, but at this point what does Fedor have to prove? He's not at the top of his game anymore, and I really don't want to see him take the Cro Cop approach to training in working a full time office job and then training when he can. That being said, he'll beat Werdum, and after that who knows? I can't see Strikeforce seriously giving him a title shot if he's going to retire at the end of his contract. However, I think he ends his career with a fight in Japan against Josh Barnett. Plus, not to mention Fedor was able to lay in Nogueira's guard and pound the bejesus out of him, essentially beating Nogueira at his own game. Cain wouldn't have been able to do that, even fighting Withered Nog.

Minowa vs. Sakuraba rematch should happen. I just want Saku to avoid anymore brain bashers like Wanderlei and Manhoef. Also Sudo does the robot better than any human being should be able to, so it's no wonder he retired. Dude's probably creating moves for those goofs on Dancing with the Stars. I can't figure out if that one attire he was wearing if he was supposed to be Genghis Khan or Atilla the Hun. I still laugh to the point of tears when I watch his fights with Ludwig and Butterbean. I love how he's just guard walking with his back to Ludwig and Lud is just like "UH, WTF?" Genki's ability to mess with his opponents' heads and entertain were second to none, for sure... Plus the dude can throw a serious dropkick, bell clapper, and wheel kick.

How awesome would Sakuraba have been if drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, who knows what other vices, and Wanderlei Silva never happened to him?

I just started watching DREAM 14 again, and I missed something the first time around... "The Voice" referred to DREAM's "white cage" as legendary. I had to laugh, that's just ridiculous to say. I'm not that big of a fan of "The Voice", especially commentating Japanese events. I really prefer Bas and Quadros or even Bas and Kenny Rice. I thought they were much more tolerable than Trigg... Think it's mostly Trigg. God I hate Frank Trigg. Also, they state Nick Diaz is Brazilian? Did I miss something? O_o Must have just been a graphic error for Diaz. They just showed him a second time and it said USA. But at the beginning, he was totally rocking a Brazilian flag under his name. Could you guys imagine the UFC with the pro-wrestlingesque show of DREAM? It's not going to happen under the Zuffa banner, Dana's pretty much already said that. But if someone bought UFC, like say the McMahons, you -know- DREAM wouldn't even be the #1 flashy promotion anymore.

The Diaz of today would handle Sherk, Karo, and Diego pretty handily. He hasn't worked much on his wrestling, but he's worked extremely hard on his ground game, primarily off of his back with sweeps and submissions. I'd have to agree with Brashley and put him at #4 on the list, and also agree that he can't achieve any higher than that unless some welterweights fall off the UFC bus and make their way to his neck of the woods. But I too believe we'll see him taping up the UFC gloves at Strikeforce's contract end. Where I disagree is on Alves. I think that fight would be an absolute war. Alves is obviously going to land the more powerful shots, but Diaz will -always- land more overall strikes, and 9/10 his opponent is going to come out looking worse in a 3 round stand-up war. Also, I'd give Diaz a better chance against GSP than I do Fitch. Styles make fights. Fitch is the kind of guy to lay in your guard and prevent you from moving your hips, and if you are able to move your hips his damn neck is so small that it's nearly impossible to sink any sort of sub on him. That alone makes him Nick Diaz' poison. I think St. Pierre is too active to win by LNP, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't. Just saying if St. Pierre tried all of those transitions on Diaz that he did on Hardy, he'd have probably gotten submitted by round five. Hughes probably wouldn't even take a fight with Nick Diaz at this point, as he would lose it 9/10 times. Hughes biggest issue has been being unable to evolve in an ever-evolving sport. All the dude has at this point is wrestling, and his explosiveness has tethered immensely since his prime. His standup against Renzo looked like he just started training it a day before the fight, was terrible. I'd say Matt would get overwhelmed with strikes by Diaz early, and be on the defensive the rest of the round, probably mid-second round TKO from Pillowpunches Diaz.