MMA/UFC thread

[dudeabides]

I'm glad there's so many MMA fans among rugby fans I had know idea. I thought the only times the two sports joined up were when those Wallabies trained on TUF and when my nation's captain talks about training at Team Quest.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Random MMA/rugby fact:
Michael Bisping used to play rugby, but when he started getting close to a UFC contract they told him to give it up as it's too dangerous.

Sent from my HTC Incredible S using Tapatalk 2

 

[Teh Mite]

I find that suspicious - Scousers play mungoball and he doesn't have a mullett!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

He's from Burnley, not Liverpool.
Not sure whether he played League or Union, either is likely as there's a massive amount of Union played up north (more than any other region I think?) and then flat-cap-wearers love League too!

 

[admartian]

I didn't say all of them are thugs, of course Anderson Silva has never done any knees to the head on downed opponantes or face kicks on them (Sarcasm) I'm surprised none of you have mentioned Georges St-Pierre as he's probably one of the most talented fighters.

Are you referring to the second Chael fight? Because that was clearly to the chest.

I find that suspicious - Scousers play mungoball and he doesn't have a mullett!

I don't know why, but everytie I see/hear that word (Scouser) I can't help but think of Karl Pilkington (even though I know he's from Manchester).

 

[Larksea]

Anderson Silva is one of the most gifted fighters and I would go as far and say athletes on the planet. To call these guys simply thugs is moronic.

Even at Heavyweight their are lots of good dynamic fighters:



Old and not in MMA anymore but Crocop is one of my all time favorites



Frank Mir who is a gifted Jiu Jitsu fighter, he dislocated nogueira's should in this btw



Another all time fav ... Fedor Emelianenko



Anthony Pettis

Heh wicked Gifs

Anderson is just a freak, and he's now like 39 years old? Still amazing.

Cro Cop was awesome in pride, shame he did not do well in UFC. Should have dropped to light heavyweight.

Fedor was/is just awesome. I am one of the people that think he is a 1 in 7 billion fighter who was at and around his peak basically on another planet good. His Pride Debut was epic, this unknown chubby Russian guy comes out and everyone expects him to get his arse kicked but he completely dominates. mobility, speed, technique and temperament. Epic. Shame about some late carrier losses to BigFoot (HUGE size difference) and Dan Henderson (Ref stopped it too soon - herb dean I think, apparently he's never seen a fedor fight). IMO he still goes down as clear best of his generation.

Pettis is pretty awesome, he recently vs. donald ceronie (sp?) and totally dominated him, finished him with a kick to the liver

 

[RyotoTheDragon]

big machida fan here, guy imo just embodies a true mixed martial artist.

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

Heh wicked Gifs

Anderson is just a freak, and he's now like 39 years old? Still amazing.

Cro Cop was awesome in pride, shame he did not do well in UFC. Should have dropped to light heavyweight.

Fedor was/is just awesome. I am one of the people that think he is a 1 in 7 billion fighter who was at and around his peak basically on another planet good. His Pride Debut was epic, this unknown chubby Russian guy comes out and everyone expects him to get his arse kicked but he completely dominates. mobility, speed, technique and temperament. Epic. Shame about some late carrier losses to BigFoot (HUGE size difference) and Dan Henderson (Ref stopped it too soon - herb dean I think, apparently he's never seen a fedor fight). IMO he still goes down as clear best of his generation.

Pettis is pretty awesome, he recently vs. donald ceronie (sp?) and totally dominated him, finished him with a kick to the liver

Cro Cop was finished after he won the 2006 Pride GP and should have retired, classic example of a guy who hung around too long. He won fights based on his speed and athleticism and unfortunately those are often the first things that go in a fighter and we saw that in his later fights. The old Crocop like the one that smashed Josh Barnett, Igor Vovchanchyn, Aleks Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, etc... was nowhere to be found in the UFC. I don't think the cage did him any favours either as his style was far more suited to a ring.

People tend to hammer Fedor for his three losses in Strikeforce but for one he smashed Werdum and was unlucky to get caught in that submission, if they fought again I would pick Fedor to win 9/10 times. The Bigfoot fight he got hammered in the 2nd round but that is the norm for Fedor. I do not think the doctor should have stopped that fight as Fedor always bleeds a lot and he almost had bigfoot caught in a leglock at the end of that 2nd round, Bigfoot was putting up his hands and saying I am ok but the wincing on his face said otherwise. I would have liked to see it go three rounds. Against Dan Henderson he was all over Henderson and got caught but again I thought the fight was stopped far too early and would have liked to see a re-match as I guarantee, like Werdum, Fedor would smash him 9/10 times.

When Fedor first came on the fight scene he was epic, I still remember watching his first pride fight against then top ranked Heath Herring, who everyone expected to smash Fedor and instead Fedor absolutely demolished him. Some Gifs, with a nice suplex:

Fedor has also fought some big guys such as Semmy Schilt (you can`t tell me this guy is not skilled he is a multi-time K1 GP champ), Tim Sylvia (who when they fought was in his prime) and Big Nog multiple times

I completely agree that Fedor Emelianenko like Anderson Silva and Georges St Pierre is that 1 in 7 billion fighter that you will not find anywhere else and what made him so great was Win or Lose he always brought it in the cage and he didn`t give a **** who you put infront of him he would fight them, no matter how big or strong they were.

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

One thing that I miss about Pride FC that I think the UFC does a poor job of replicating is the lack of desire of fighters to look for finishes. Watch Pride matches and fighters continuously looked for finishes where as because of the rules in the UFC and the size of the octagon "stalling" is actively encouraged by guys like Greg Jackson.

 

[Larksea]

I dont actually think GSP is an especially special fighter. What he is, is an amazing elite level athelete who can manipulate the weight limits like no other and ends up having a massive physical and fittness advantage over his opponent on fight day. He is totally epic yes but most of his fights he looks like he has 15lbs+ of pure muscle advantage over the other guy and he just dominates them physically. Of Course he also has great skills.

Actually John Jones is similar, he walks around at 230+ he weighs in at 205 and on fight day he will be 220

I personally really like the other side of the coin.

Frank Edgar
Anderson Silva
Jnr Dos Santos
Fedor

they have basically spent their carriers beating bigger opponents.

Other Big News:

Alister Overeem has injured his Knee and MARK HUNT will take his place and fight Jnr Dos Santos in May.

This is pretty epic, a New Zealander fighting in what is effectively UFC heavy weight ***le qualifier. I am a big fan of JDS I dont know how you can't like this guy. fantastic to watch abasing record and he just happens to be the coolest dude. South Americans tend to be a bit macho, confident and sometimes a bit up themselves (no offense to our Latin members ) but JDS is just the nicest most humble guy ever.

I expect JDS to win but as we have seen Mark hunt has the most dangerous hands of anyone. he can finish with either hand and any number of different strikes. He's won 4 in a row and if he wins two more he will be ufc champion.

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

I am on the Super Samoan Bandwagon after his epic knockout over Struve!

 

[powerfulduck]

Great an MMA thread, I started watching around 2 years ago and haven't missed a UFC event since (unless ESPN fails to record). I don't feel Boxing is inferior at all, in a mess 100% agree but boxing at professsional level is better striking than MMA imo.

 

[Larksea]

I don't agree with that, I don't want to be a beech and just totally dis boxing.

But in MMA you have kicking, knees and elbows - which are all striking and , plus gloves are smaller and much harder to defend with putting a bigger emphasis on movement and range with and you can't just go in and hug the other guy to get a rest in MMA if you do you risk getting taken down or be put in a plumb and get a knee in the face.

For pure striking actually kickboxing is pretty awesome. IMO literally the only thing boxing has going for it is it's rich history and the status it has held in the past.

I actually look at a guy like Josh Parker and think it's a real shame he's boxing and not doing MMA there is another young kiwi boxer coming through - can't remember his name but same story with him.

 

[admartian]

I am on the Super Samoan Bandwagon after his epic knockout over Struve!

This.

That was an epic KO.

I don't agree with that, I don't want to be a beech and just totally dis boxing.

But in MMA you have kicking, knees and elbows - which are all striking and , plus gloves are smaller and much harder to defend with putting a bigger emphasis on movement and range with and you can't just go in and hug the other guy to get a rest in MMA if you do you risk getting taken down or be put in a plumb and get a knee in the face.

For pure striking actually kickboxing is pretty awesome. IMO literally the only thing boxing has going for it is it's rich history and the status it has held in the past.

I actually look at a guy like Josh Parker and think it's a real shame he's boxing and not doing MMA there is another young kiwi boxer coming through - can't remember his name but same story with him.

PLus if you "Hug" that other guy, it's either a knee to the face or you get slammed or tripped to the ground to either be a) punched in the face repeatedly or b) get choked or c) get one of your limbs disjointed.


Who do you guys have this weekend with GSP/Diaz?

 

[nickdnz]

I don't agree with that, I don't want to be a beech and just totally dis boxing.

But in MMA you have kicking, knees and elbows - which are all striking and , plus gloves are smaller and much harder to defend with putting a bigger emphasis on movement and range with and you can't just go in and hug the other guy to get a rest in MMA if you do you risk getting taken down or be put in a plumb and get a knee in the face.

For pure striking actually kickboxing is pretty awesome. IMO literally the only thing boxing has going for it is it's rich history and the status it has held in the past.

I actually look at a guy like Josh Parker and think it's a real shame he's boxing and not doing MMA there is another young kiwi boxer coming through - can't remember his name but same story with him.

Do you mean Joseph Parker?

As it is - I'd say obviously boxers are far better strikers. There isn't any MMA fighter who win in a boxing competition against a HW competitor - but you do get the odd boxer K.O great MMA fighters. Look at Ray Mercer vs Tim Sylvia. Mercer was older by almost 15 years - but his knocked him out with a punch (nearly 50 at the time). MMA strikers have less padded gloves (4 ounce as opposed to 10) and still rarely get clean K.O's. The only reason boxers have limited success is because they don't have a ground game - if it was purely stand up I'd be suprised to see many MMA fighters win.

 

[powerfulduck]

I can only go on my own experiences I've trained at my local boxing gym for a number of years, in that time we've had MMA/Kick boxing gyms bring guys over for a boxing class etc and having sparred with a few under boxing conditions their nothing special, having said that i'm sure if you put a boxer in MMA/Kick Boxing conditions the same would apply.

 

[admartian]

I can only go on my own experiences I've trained at my local boxing gym for a number of years, in that time we've had MMA/Kick boxing gyms bring guys over for a boxing class etc and having sparred with a few under boxing conditions their nothing special, having said that i'm sure if you put a boxer in MMA/Kick Boxing conditions the same would apply.

MMA is not just boxing added in with Kickboxing/Muay THai etc. There's grappling aspects too.

MMA striking in a boxing context is often seen as 'deficient'. But you have to remember that since it includes ALL
aspects of combat (save for weapons) they have to account for a wider base in stance to defend a potential takedown. MMA striking is a significantly different animal.

Much like MMA Jiu Jitsu is different to traditional BJJ.

 

[Larksea]

Do you mean Joseph Parker?

As it is - I'd say obviously boxers are far better strikers. There isn't any MMA fighter who win in a boxing competition against a HW competitor - but you do get the odd boxer K.O great MMA fighters. Look at Ray Mercer vs Tim Sylvia. Mercer was older by almost 15 years - but his knocked him out with a punch (nearly 50 at the time). MMA strikers have less padded gloves (4 ounce as opposed to 10) and still rarely get clean K.O's. The only reason boxers have limited success is because they don't have a ground game - if it was purely stand up I'd be surprised to see many MMA fighters win.

errr yes Joseph Parker, bit of a mix up...

Mercer vs. Sylvia was pretty embarrassing for MMA Mercer basically knocked Sylvia out with the first punch of the fight. Sylvia was so hot and cold, I mean he was UFC champion but he was also crap at times. Fedor made him look like a loser, so did Mercer, mercer looked like he had one big pinch in him and it just happened to land because sylvia was and idiot. I don't think it should be considered the rule to compare the two sports buy. I with a lot of confidence would say that Jnr Dos Santos would quite easily crack the top 5 heavyweight boxers in the world if he tried.

In terms of quality and entertainment I feel like I have to watch a hell of a lot of boxing fights to see at least 1 good one yet every single UFC card ends up having fantastic battles. I mean look at that last UFC on FOX, Struve vs. Hunt was awesome and then the very next fight wanderlei silva vs brian stann was awesome too.

DSP vs. Diaz will be interesting though to be honest Dias is one fighter I have not seen very much of even though he obviously has a long history and because he's been out for a while he's a bit of an unknown quantity.

On that card actually the two fights I would want to see would be Condit vs. Hendricks and Rici vs. Fletcher plus an Aussie guy Cruikshank on the prelims who looked pretty good on TUF and I think should have gone further than he did.

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

Boxing is a great sport and I am a big fan but saying boxers are better strikers then MMA fighters is kind of retarded. People are always like put an MMA in a boxing match and he wouldn't last a second, well the same can be said for boxers in an MMA match so really the argument is really not applicable. Conveniently people always bring up Mercer vs Sylvia but I can bring up Couture vs Toney which for me was basically the same thing. For one the stance a boxer uses is different to that of an MMA fighter because he doesn't have to worry about sprawling for takedown's, having to work from the clinch and checking leg kicks.

Personally, I think the best strikers in the world are kickboxers, preferably guys that do K1. Guys like Semy Schilt, Badr Hari, Remy Bonjasky, Tyrone Sponge, Gohkan Saki, Peter Aerts, etc. Not to mention when these guys fight for the K1 Grand-Prix they end up fighting 3 to 4 kickboxing matches in one night to win the championship. Overeem actually has excellent striking for an MMA fighter and he won the last K1 Grand Prix although in my opinion he got lucky because of the draw he received and the fact that Badr Hari was suspended.

 

[RyotoTheDragon]

I with a lot of confidence would say that Jnr Dos Santos would quite easily crack the top 5 heavyweight boxers in the world if he tried.

omg I disagree completely. Top heavyweights of boxing would have their way with JDS in a boxing match. JDS's defense is horrible, especially his head movement. Imagine JDS vs wladimir or vitali, JDS's face would look even worse than it did when he fought Cain. He'd get jabbed from the first to last round unless he got tko'd in between.

He was dropped by Cain. If Cain can find his chin, you can bet that the top heavyweights would have no problem tagging him all day. Boxers box, that is what they do.