The Official MMA Discussion Thread

[Zoloftjunkie]

Seems White has denied that a deal has been signed yet. We all know it is just a matter of time though.

 

FEG has declared WAR on UFC. Anything that brings me more K1 is a great thing. I really hope they can do it and thier World Cup of MMA comes to life.

 

Another dissapointment from strikeforce. Middleweight tourny has been scraped and will just have the so called two top contenders go at it. They also have lined up another can for Lashley and are trying to work out a ppv with Lashley vs Batista as the main event. Man I wouldn't even waste my ratio on dling that. And fedor is still ducking Overeem. You can say m1 runs his life and blah blah blah but unless this man is a total retard I find it hard to believe he has no idea what is going on. I mean come on put down the bible and pick up a real book for once.

 

I also find it humorous Aoki thinks he deserves a rematch right now with Melendez. Lets hope strikeforce can get one thing right and make the Melendez vs Alvarez fight happen.

 

 

/rant

[Daffanka]

Kampmann - Shields makes me very happy. I think Kampmann can take it because he can punch straight and grapple really well.

 

FEG getting money is good because it means they won't die but it's bad because Japanese combat sports are always at their best when the days of plenty have dried up. You see less Sapp - Nortje and more Saki - Karaev.

 

what are you doing scott coker this is not what made strikeforce successful as a regional promotion

 

Aoki beats Melendez in a ring. There, I said it. The final winner of the trilogy is determined by the location of the fight, unless they duke it out in a YAMMA pit or something.

[brashleyholland]

 

FEG has declared WAR on UFC. Anything that brings me more K1 is a great thing. I really hope they can do it and thier World Cup of MMA comes to life.

 

Don't hold your breath. The Japanese have a history of overblowing press conferences...there isn't going to be a war between FEG and WWE/UFC. How could there be? You can't throw money at the fight game...many have tried, only the UFC have succeeded, and it took them years.

 

If you read between the lines, all this is saying is that FEG have conceded that they've maxed out their potential at home (due to the decay of the Japanese fight game) and are in dire need of a cash injection to move forward. China is potentially a good market, no doubt...but it's far, far from the be-all-and-end-all. Will be interesting to see how this one plays out, thats for sure.

 

 

Another dissapointment from strikeforce. Middleweight tourny has been scraped and will just have the so called two top contenders go at it.

 

It's not been scrapped, it's been put back until later in the year. Texas apparently nixed tournaments when they clamped down on Toughman years back, and are treating MMA in the same regard. Cali allow one-night tournaments (with modified rules), so they're aiming to get something done on CBS/Showtime in November/December over two nights.

 

- Also, Chad Griggs isn't as can-tacular as the rest of the guys Lashley has fought. He's a full time firefighter, tough as nails, finished all his fights with strikes, never gone the distance and only gone out of the first round twice. I'm not saying that the dude is a world-beater, but it might give us a chance to see how Lashley reacts when someone actually hits him properly a couple of times.

[Dustin]

brashleyholland

 

How is the market in China? Can they really do anything there without some Chinese stars? If not, how much will PUJI Capital have to lose before they pull out?

[brashleyholland]

brashleyholland

 

How is the market in China? Can they really do anything there without some Chinese stars? If not, how much will PUJI Capital have to lose before they pull out?

 

Much like anything in China, the potential is huge. There's certainly no shortage of paying customers. Will they pay for MMA? I can't see why they wouldn't in the future. To answer your question though, nobody really knows yet.

 

Combat sports and martial arts are obviously very popular there, so that's a good sign. There is a fairly big MMA show called Art of War that had a big TV slot, but they've not promoted a card this year, so I'm not sure what's going on there. There's also a show in Singapore called Martial Combat that you get a fair few Chinese fighters on. There's even a China Top Team!

 

The rest of it is still a mystery. Chinese MMA is still very much a niche sport behind San Da (Sanshou), but there are apparently a fair few guys who are able to train full time.

 

I'd like to be able to say more...but with China being China, there just isn't a whole lot of information out there. Money will definitely need to be spent though, that's for sure.

 

Here's some Art of War clips:

 

[Daffanka]

Things that own:

 

• This video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfnBZ_0E0S4
  
• UFC's hype for 117 being just clips of Chael Sonnen talking
  
• Jon Jones throwing dudes
  
• Yushin Okami co-headlining a TV card
  
• This video again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfnBZ_0E0S4
  

[Zoloftjunkie]

Things that own:

[*]UFC's hype for 117 being just clips of Chael Sonnen talking

 

[RingofHonorGuard]

I'm ashamed to say I'm onboard for watching Shamrock and Rizzo throwdown tonight.... I can't help myself. As much old school UFC as I've been watching lately, it just makes sense to watch this. Hell, I'd watch Shamrock fight anyone from that era now. Sometimes the fights that matter the least can end up a permanent memory. I think Rizzo is going to absolutely maul Shamrock about two minutes in. It's going to be exciting for as long as it lasts but I see no way Shammy wins it.

 

Plus an overweight Ghost Whisperer is fighting Denis Kang, that in itself should be entertaining enough to warrant watching.

 

This card has all the makings for a night of laughs with some popcorn seasoned with hot salt.

[brashleyholland]

I'm ashamed to say I'm onboard for watching Shamrock and Rizzo throwdown tonight.... I can't help myself. As much old school UFC as I've been watching lately, it just makes sense to watch this. Hell, I'd watch Shamrock fight anyone from that era now.

 

Same here. I was going to hit the hay and watch it tomorrow, as it doesn't finish till 6am my time, but they were kind enough to send me a freebie so I thought what the hell :-p

 

The Daley fight should be decent, and the main event will be some serious car-crash TV :-p

 

Got a soft spot for Bustamante and Ninja as well.

[RingofHonorGuard]

Got a soft spot for Bustamante and Ninja as well.

 

I want Ninja to look dominant and brutal, doubt it'll happen though. I'd like to see him in the UFC, think it'd go over positively considering Shogun's success. They kinda piggybacked Little Nog on Minotauro, they should do the same with Ninja.

[brashleyholland]

I want Ninja to look dominant and brutal, doubt it'll happen though. I'd like to see him in the UFC, think it'd go over positively considering Shogun's success. They kinda piggybacked Little Nog on Minotauro, they should do the same with Ninja.

 

Yeah, for sure. He's not a half-bad grappler when he's on...he'd definitely make a good mid-level guy.

 

He made a meal out of that though!

 

Also, worst ring announcer ever?

[RingofHonorGuard]

Tonight was absolute GOLD standard in how not to run an MMA event.

 

There were times when I really felt like I was watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force with the random yelling microphone guy trying to get the crowd into it... That was so very disturbing. It's like they were making it a circus rather than an MMA event.

 

Every fight was pretty much sloppy and terrible. Everyone that was supposed to dominate underachieved, for the most part, except for Rizzo... Filho and Kang 2 coming up... Oh boy....

 

Some of Daley's "submission" attempts were just embarrassing. At least he's trying, I guess?

 

Ken lasted longer than I expected, but it ended just about how I expected it. Think Pedro seen one of Filho's lost ghost buddies because he hesitated a split second before pounding Shamrock after he went down from the leg kick.

 

Absolute comedic night of MMA, so maybe I shouldn't be so disturbed that they had a ringleader trying to get the crowd in. MMA is a circus in Austrailia, and the fighters did the notion well on this night. I give this event 4 laughs out of 5.

[Daffanka]

<p>I've caught the fights I needed to see. Rizzo - Shamrock was not included.</p><p> </p><p>

Ken might be a maniac but I've watched the guy compete for nearly a decade and I really can't bear seeing him get beat up. It's not like with Nogueira or Wanderlei where you see him lose to young lions, established veterans or just good fighters. He's getting destroyed and after, what, nearly 20 years of pro wrestling and MMA fighting it's astounding that he's even able to walk let alone fight.</p><p> </p><p>

Man... at least Rizzo picked up a win. His fights with Couture are always fun to watch.</p><p> </p><p>

Ninja winning makes me a bit happy as well. Wish he'd stick to B-league shows because he's had two brain surgeries and is being openly mocked by other Brazilians for much he slurs. Kharitonov broke his brain. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/frown.png.e6b571745a30fe6a6f2e918994141a47.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p>

Paulo Filho showing up for a fight is a major victory. It's only a matter of time before the Reward Hunter gets his deserved #1 p4p ranking.</p>

[brashleyholland]

I don't want to be too harsh on Impact FC, despite the broadcast on Saturday/Sunday running the gamut from bad to hilarious.

 

- The matchmaking was ok in and of itself, unfortunately it was just one of those nights where nothing really clicked. Daley-Acacio should have been a stand-up slugfest on paper. JT$ should have been bullying Bustamante around while the crafty vet desperately flailed for armbars and triangles. Ninja vs May should have been a showcase for the Brazilian. Rizzo should have taken Kenny's head off in brutal fashion in the first minute. Not really Impact's fault that the above didn't happen, but thems the breaks.

 

- It was their second show, ever. Their first live PPV. To the best of my knowledge, the guy has never promoted anything like this before. I'm not excusing all the stuff that went wrong or that they could have done better, but it could have been a lot worse.

 

- They were basically forced into using Ken Shamrock, from what I understand. The original plan was for three shows in four weeks, all on PPV. The PPV providers in the US/UK supposedly weren't interested without Shamrock on the bill, so they had no option.

 

- The empty crowd was apparently the fault of the promoter's partner in the event...I'm guessing the name Andrew McManus might ring a few bells with people around here? He was in charge of the ticket sales and promotion for the cards and apparently did very, very little of either, not realising that MMA most certainly does not = UFC when it comes to box office performance.

 

I guess to sum up, mistakes were made...oh boy mistakes were made...but everyone makes mistakes first time out. No point ragging on every new promoter who takes a risk. If their next show isn't a significant improvement...THEN is the time to ridicule them to the end of the earth.

 

Also...this is the funniest thing in MMA this year:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fORS3CtCzrc&feature=player_embedded

[Daffanka]

In lieu of Shamrock getting pummeled by Rizzo I'd like to use this post to post one of my favorite KOs of all time which I saw was recently uploaded.

 

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/Inspectorchao/KOs/BarnettKOd.gif

 

It's a pretty ugly knockout but for some reason it's incredibly aesthetically pleasing to me. I think it's because it's a combination of a beautifully placed punch in such a comparably low level MMA context. Barnett gets hit, tries to clinch up with his hands down, Rizzo dodges to the side and catches him with a huge, Henderson-like punch from a 3'o clock angle. When was the last time you saw that?

[Dustin]

<p>brashleyholland</p><p> </p><p>

How many viewers does a UFC event usually do worldwide? Their programming is available in 130 countries according to the website.</p><p> </p><p>

Take a guess if you don't know.</p>

[brashleyholland]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Dustin" data-cite="Dustin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>brashleyholland<p> </p><p> How many viewers does a UFC event usually do worldwide? Their programming is available in 130 countries according to the website.</p><p> </p><p> Take a guess if you don't know.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I couldn't even guess to be honest. Just because they have programming available in 130 countries, doesn't mean that 130 countries get live (or recent) PPV's. A lot of places just get UFC Wired/Unleashed etc and old highlight shows. I wouldn't even know where to begin. </p><p> </p><p> They supposedly do somewhere between 30-50k for the live airings on ESPN in the UK, but the figures aren't readily available. Hell, even the US PPV numbers are unofficial 'guestimates'. There were some semi-legit people claiming that UFC 100 actually did way less than the reported figure, some say as low as 800,000. Only the UFC know for sure. </p><p> </p><p> Your guess is really as good as mine...</p>

[Dustin]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="brashleyholland" data-cite="brashleyholland" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I couldn't even guess to be honest. Just because they have programming available in 130 countries, doesn't mean that 130 countries get live (or recent) PPV's. A lot of places just get UFC Wired/Unleashed etc and old highlight shows. I wouldn't even know where to begin. <p> </p><p> <strong>They supposedly do somewhere between 30-50k for the live airings on ESPN in the UK</strong>, but the figures aren't readily available. Hell, even the US PPV numbers are unofficial 'guestimates'. There were some semi-legit people claiming that UFC 100 actually did way less than the reported figure, some say as low as 800,000. Only the UFC know for sure. </p><p> </p><p> Your guess is really as good as mine...</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> That's extremely low. No wonder they get the cards they do.</p>

[LoNdOn]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Dustin" data-cite="Dustin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>That's extremely low. No wonder they get the cards they do.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> The reason it is that low is because when it is aired live it is usually 3am!</p>

[Dustin]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="LoNdOn" data-cite="LoNdOn" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>The reason it is that low is because when it is aired live it is usually 3am!</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> It makes sense.</p>

[Daffanka]

<p>Rampage has verbally agreed to fight Machida.</p><p> </p><p>

I love you Rampage but there's no way in hell you're going to win this fight if Machida is anywhere near as good as he was in his last, like, seven fights and you keep using nothing but your hands. It's a terrible style match up for him and I think the only thing that's going to save him from a TKO loss is his chin.</p><p> </p><p>

I still think Machida is one of the best fighters in the world and I'd still give him a fair chance against Shogun in a third fight. Maybe that makes me a relentless optimist.</p><p> </p><p>

e: BREAKING NEWS NUMBER 2 *explosions*</p><p> </p><p>

Paulo Thiago is fighting Diego Sanchez. I would have thought Sanchez wanted to drop down to 155 after Hathaway mauled him but either way he's probably going to lose this fight as well.</p>

[LoNdOn]

Rampage has verbally agreed to fight Machida.

 

I love you Rampage but there's no way in hell you're going to win this fight if Machida is anywhere near as good as he was in his last, like, seven fights and you keep using nothing but your hands. It's a terrible style match up for him and I think the only thing that's going to save him from a TKO loss is his chin.

 

I still think Machida is one of the best fighters in the world and I'd still give him a fair chance against Shogun in a third fight. Maybe that makes me a relentless optimist.

 

e: BREAKING NEWS NUMBER 2 *explosions*

 

Paulo Thiago is fighting Diego Sanchez. I would have thought Sanchez wanted to drop down to 155 after Hathaway mauled him but either way he's probably going to lose this fight as well.

 

 

Call me crazy but I think that should that fight occur, Diego could do to Thiago what Hathaway did to him.

[Daffanka]

Call me crazy but I think that should that fight occur, Diego could do to Thiago what Hathaway did to him.

 

Diego is still a lightweight who's only appreciable skill is getting the crap kicked out of him and somehow not dying. At welterweight he doesn't have the strength to be as dominant in scrambles either so I don't really know what he's supposed to do.

 

In far more important news two titans of the sport are colliding.

[LoNdOn]

Diego is still a lightweight who's only appreciable skill is getting the crap kicked out of him and somehow not dying. At welterweight he doesn't have the strength to be as dominant in scrambles either so I don't really know what he's supposed to do.

 

In far more important news two titans of the sport are colliding.

 

Diego is still a talented fighter and I was surprised how useless Thiago looked against Kampmann. I think that Diego has a fair shot.

[brashleyholland]

Rampage really, really wanted Nogueira. It's still a winable fight for him, but I think Machida will be the favourite going in. He'll be able to use his speed and footwork to keep out of the pocket, but on the same note he doesn't have the wrestling to shut Rampage down like Rashad did. Will he need it? Who knows. Where will Machida's head be after his first loss? Who knows.

 

It's a very well-matched fight. Could go either way. As a fan I'm very much looking forward to seeing them go at it.

 

I've never rated Sanchez to be honest. He's one of those guys who just doesn't have 'it' in terms of breaking the proverbial glass ceiling. That said...Thiago doesn't react well to pressure...so (phrase of the day) who knows?