MMA (UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, Invicta, etc.) Discussion Thread -- Version II

My biggest question is whether or not Silva will actually care enough to take this fight seriously. Also, I hope Weidman isn't dumb enough to try to stand with him again. Sure, he caught him last time, but against top form Anderson Silva, his best chance is still taking him down.

I'm also hoping Josh Barnett is on top of his game. He's really the only legitimate challenger to Cain's belt. Just hope he can do it with clean piss, lol.

And as long as Ronda doesn't let her emotions get the best of her, she should be fine. Personally, I'll be shocked if Miesha can keep her back off the mat.
 
Ditto, was cheering for Meisha the whole time. I can see alot of improvement on her part (and unf, Ronda's too)

She looked like she hit her hard with that upkick. I was like woo finish her!

 
All of the Ronda hate is hilarious. Such media manipulation. I'm not saying there weren't instances where Ronda showed poor form. But she thinks Miesha is fake and hates her for it. Why is this some shocking revelation about how women are? lol. The thing for me is does she act like that toward everybody? And I don't think she does.

Personally, I wish she was less emotional. Her letting Miesha get up numerous times was pure hubris and ego...and it was playing with fire. Miesha can land a punch just the same as Ronda can. I don't know. Maybe she wanted to see if she could take a shot and test herself the way Jon Jones did a few fights ago. Either way, she needs to keep working. Her cardio looked a little suspect and had her grappling not been light years ahead of Miesha's, that could have caused problems. Really glad she got the win though.

In other news, Chris Weidman is just one lucky guy. Not that he didn't deserve to win, but that guy just seems to catch all the breaks (wakka wakka). Chael Sonnen could have been champion in a very similar fashion 3 years ago...but he wasn't in the right place at the right time. Weidman just seems to be. Crazy world.
 
One other point to raise on the Rousey - Tate craziness...for the most part, Miesha brought this on herself. Let's not forget back when Tate had the Strikeforce belt and Ronda was given the title shot, she said Ronda didn't deserve it and it wasn't justified. Then, even on TUF, she was talking shit saying Ronda didn't know how to hit pads. So, yeah...not terribly surprising that they don't get along and that Ronda had a point to prove. She basically beat her at her own game...and then still got the armbar.
 
Really impressed with Browne's performance. He went in there and destroyed Barnett, man. With Cain being out for a while it's possible they will try Browne vs Werdum to determine who Cain will fight on his return. Something I would definitely like to see.

Crazy ending to the Weidman Silva rematch too! Never would have guessed that outcome in a million years. I almost thought the fight would be over in the first with the GnP which would have probably been more satisfying for Weidman. None the less it's over now and the division can continue now with the Silva reign over. Hard to say if Silva will come back or not but it would be nice for him to be able to recover but definitely hard to say.

Next big event I'm looking forward to is the February 1st card with Cruz vs Barao, Aldo vs Lamas and Mir vs Overeem. Very solid line up. You gotta figure the Mir vs Overeem might be a deciding factor of either of them staying in the UFC. Also very curious to see how Cruz will perform after being off for 2 years.

 
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Faber and Barao for the Bantamweight title in early Feb.  Dominick Mr. Glass Cruz got hurt again, gave up the belt.  I'll definitely be cheering for Faber over Barao, though I don't really think he'll win.

 
tylerh1701 said:
Faber and Barao for the Bantamweight title in early Feb. Dominick Mr. Glass Cruz got hurt again, gave up the belt. I'll definitely be cheering for Faber over Barao, though I don't really think he'll win.
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Was just coming here to post this, haha. Really sad that all that time was wasted with Cruz being stripped anyway. Just reinforces why the UFC needs to use our system, Tyler, lol. You get 2 "goofs" and then you're stripped. That's it. I hate that THIS ends up becoming Faber's shot though. As hard as he's worked to get back into contention, it would really suck to waste it because of having no notice and just having fought somewhat recently...but not recently enough that he probably didn't let his weight creep back up a little.

Meanwhile, Barao has been primed to get the "real" belt for some time. I'm really going to be pulling for Urijah in this one...but I have to say the odds aren't in his favor. Win or lose, you have to say the guy is one of the best ever though and doesn't shy away from anything...even if it might not be in his best interest. As much as I hate them, I almost hope this fight warrants an immediate rematch just to give legitimate prep time to both fighters.

 
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Damn, I was really looking forward to Cruz/Barao  :cry:

Barao killed Faber in their first fight and I expect the same thing to happen again. It doesn't help that Faber has only three weeks to get ready for this fight. I do like Faber and will be pulling for him, but Barao is just too damn good. I feel bad for Faber's legs in this fight cause Barao is going to be chopping at them all night.

 
n8rockerasu said:
Was just coming here to post this, haha. Really sad that all that time was wasted with Cruz being stripped anyway. Just reinforces why the UFC needs to use our system, Tyler, lol. You get 2 "goofs" and then you're stripped. That's it. I hate that THIS ends up becoming Faber's shot though. As hard as he's worked to get back into contention, it would really suck to waste it because of having no notice and just having fought somewhat recently...but not recently enough that he probably didn't let his weight creep back up a little.

Meanwhile, Barao has been primed to get the "real" belt for some time. I'm really going to be pulling for Urijah in this one...but I have to say the odds aren't in his favor. Win or lose, you have to say the guy is one of the best ever though and doesn't shy away from anything...even if it might not be in his best interest. As much as I hate them, I almost hope this fight warrants an immediate rematch just to give legitimate prep time to both fighters.
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Yeah the two "goofs" and you're stripped rule is perfect. Dana seems to be a little more aware of how much people hate belts being on the sideline for so long. I'd bet good money that there's never an extended holdup as long as Cruz' has been in the UFC again.

Agree with everything about Faber too. Dude's definitely a hall of famer, and taking this fight is definitely going to be tough for him. I would have no problem with an instant rematch if Faber loses a close one.

 
blueweltall said:
Wow, I hope in the end they don't charge him with anything.
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What's stupid is the law becomes so gray on when you're allowed to defend yourself and when someone is "no longer a threat". Hopefully, because of the fact that they forced their way into his home, and they clearly meant to do him physical harm, he'll get a blanket "self defense" judgment.

I guess New Mexico doesn't have a castle law, which is bullshit (though they do have an "extended domain" law which allows you to openly carry a firearm while riding a bicycle...lol, wtf). I don't know how courts ever thought the burden of proof should be on the person sitting in his house minding his own business. If you don't break into my house while I'm with my famiily...I won't kill you. That seems fair enough to me.

 
I wish UFC Fight Pass was similar to the WWE pass that they're going to be putting out.  I understand UFC does more than 12 PPV per year, but even if they charged $15 or $20 per month and included all the PPV cards it would be a tempting deal, even more tempting if myself and a local friend could split an account (we watch all the PPVs together anyway.)

 
tylerh1701 said:
I wish UFC Fight Pass was similar to the WWE pass that they're going to be putting out. I understand UFC does more than 12 PPV per year, but even if they charged $15 or $20 per month and included all the PPV cards it would be a tempting deal, even more tempting if myself and a local friend could split an account (we watch all the PPVs together anyway.)
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I saw somewhere they would need a locked in 650k subscribers and need to charge $58 a month to cover what they make on ppv now.

I share your dreams though, would be nice...

 
paz9x said:
I saw somewhere they would need a locked in 650k subscribers and need to charge $58 a month to cover what they make on ppv now.

I share your dreams though, would be nice...
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Whoa.

I wonder if WWE PPV numbers are so far down that $120 for a full year of PPVs sounds good to them.

 
tylerh1701 said:
Whoa.

I wonder if WWE PPV numbers are so far down that $120 for a full year of PPVs sounds good to them.
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It probably really does. You have to figure the number of people who order every single PPV is a relatively small group. Not to mention, I doubt sports bars get WWE PPVs the way they do with UFC PPVs. UFC probably appeals to a wider audience as a whole (even the female crowd), so that probably makes for a substantial difference.

 
The sports bar income is probably a huge amount of money that the UFC sees that the WWE doesn't.  I'm not sure if I've ever seen a bar advertise or show a WWE PPV.

 
I don't think the WWE's ppv numbers are down too much, I believe they average between 175,000 - 250,000 buys for their regular "filler" ppv's, while the Royal Rumble and Summerslam average closer to 300,000 - 400,000. Wrestlemania is still king for them usually getting right around 1,000,000 buys.

I think this move to the WWE Network is more a visionary, future-looking move than one out of desperation. Vince McMahon can be called a lot of things and visionary should be one of them. That guy is a financial and marketing genius IMO. I would bet money that once this thing takes off (and it will I think) you will see the UFC adopt a similar business model within the next 2-3 years. Their video library will be plenty big enough to support a 24/7 network like this, they have thousands of hours of fights and reality show material to go around.

The WWE Network is the first step in PPV as we know it dying imo. It is a very old antiquated system when you think about how television and movies are now consumed in this country.
 
This is not going to be a popular opinion, but I'm starting to feel like Henderson is either overrated or doesn't try hard enough. In his last 5 fights, he's had 3 split decisions and 1 loss. Talk about the "Office Space" mentality of working just hard enough to not get fired. As soon as Thomson injured his hand, it looked like Bendo was content to just coast.

The first round was incredible with them going back and forth...but after that, damn did it drop off fast. I really think Henderson is a talented guy, so I don't know if he needs better coaches or what...but one solid win in your last 5 fights isn't going to do it for me. And for the love of God, fix your fucking hair, lol. If Ronda can manage it, so can you.

 
n8rockerasu said:
This is not going to be a popular opinion, but I'm starting to feel like Henderson is either overrated or doesn't try hard enough. In his last 5 fights, he's had 3 split decisions and 1 loss. Talk about the "Office Space" mentality of working just hard enough to not get fired. As soon as Thomson injured his hand, it looked like Bendo was content to just coast.

The first round was incredible with them going back and forth...but after that, damn did it drop off fast. I really think Henderson is a talented guy, so I don't know if he needs better coaches or what...but one solid win in your last 5 fights isn't going to do it for me. And for the love of God, fix your fucking hair, lol. If Ronda can manage it, so can you.
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I think he definitely just doesn't try hard enough. He's the most trigger shy guy in the UFC. He's got a lot of unique talents that I know I've seen before, but he's just not interested in using them. You're office space mentality comment is exactly right, it's like he knows exactly how much he needs to do get by, and isn't interested in doing more than that. I guess that works as a champ, but now that he's no longer the champ performances like that aren't going to endear him to Dana or anyone else. It absolutely isn't going to win him any fans.

He braided his hair for the first time for the Pettis fight and lost badly. I doubt he does it again just based on the psychology and superstition of it.

Also, reading other sites on the web, the MMA fanbase really needs to lose the word "robbery" from their vocabulary. Every close major fight is now a "robbery", especially when it's the underdog coming out on the losing end. I scored it like one of the judges, 49-46 for Bendo but I'm the guy with him in my avatar. 48-47 Bendo is not an unbelievable score by any means.

(To be honest, I was shocked it wasn't a unanimous decision. I really don't see anything that Thomson did after the first round that was even close to dangerous or damaging. He climbed his back a little bit and that was it. They basically drew in the grappling area and Bendo dominated in the striking area)

 
I agree with mostly all of this. I'm not a huge Henderson fan, but I know he has more than what he's been showing lately. It's just pretty bad when 3 of his last 4 WINS have been like the last GSP/Hendricks fight, where the judges aren't exactly sure if he won, and you're left with an uneasy feeling in your stomach.

Now, I think he did "enough" to beat Thomson...but it left me thinking "Well geez...I guess he's lucky Thomson broke his hand." And Henderson needs to do better than that. The MMA world shouldn't be thinking that he was fortunate his opponent messed up his hand. It might be smart for him to leave MMA Lab and get with a team that pushes him a little more.

Also, I agree about the hair thing. Probably psychological. He lost to Pettis because he braided his hair, lol. It's just really obnoxious seeing him have to brush it out of his face 100 times per fight...especially when he's squeaking out split decisions.

As for Miocic, I really like him, but I worry he's going to be Andre Arlovski 2.0. Fast, athletic, ripped guy who punches hard, but has terrible head movement and drops his hands a lot. One of these days, somebody is going to find the button on his chin and turn his lights out. And after that, he'll be garbage. Hoping he learns to stop eating punches before that time comes, but I'm not counting on it.

 
Looking over more of Benson's numbers, he hasn't finished an opponent since 2010, when he choked out Cerrone. So, almost 4 years without a finish. Not sure how people were all over GSP about this, but Henderson has gotten a pass. He definitely needs to change something up. Goldberg and Rogan were talking about him "only getting better', but I'm not seeing it. Send him over to Team Alpha Male or something where those guys actually fight with hunger.

 
In Benson's defense, the only guy he's fought in the last 2 years that hasn't been a current or former champion was Nate Diaz, and that's the one fight he most dominated (though he never showed interested in finishing that fight either).  Maybe giving him someone a little bit lower on the food chain might help him a bit.  

I'm guessing Benson gets Cowboy next.

 
Oh and I really don't want to see a champ vs champ Aldo/Pettis fight yet, unless Aldo abdicates the title in 145 and moves up to 155 permanently.  Pettis needs to defend the title within the division before looking for a super fight.

Oh and if Pettis is out past August he needs to get stripped.

 
Triple post.

Maybe I need to rewatch last night's fight.  At the end of the fight, I was more confident that he had won than I was at the end of either of the Edgar fights or the Melendez fight.  But the internet is sure doing its best to try and convince me Tompson won.  The Benson hate must be really strong if it's really disillusioning this many people.

For the record, I had Benson losing the 2nd Edgar fight.  And for the recent "robberies" that everyone's been talking about, I had Jones, Hendricks, and Henderson.

 
Seriously?  This thread is beyond dead anymore.  Maybe it will liven up a little for 169.

Anyways, here's an interesting article about the Bendo/Thomson fight, and how Bendo is so great at helping his cause by not looking phased by what his opponent is doing to him.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/1/29/5346386/ufc-fox-10-benson-henderson-josh-thomson-tim-bradley-marquez-the-art-of-bullshit-bs-gif

The author made some good examples.  It sounds like originally he thought Thomson won the fight easily, but after rewatching it kind of sounds like he gives almost every round to Bendo after the first, basically for his striking and the fact that he neutralized most of Josh's attacks and constantly made himself look like he was in no danger.  If you don't want to read the whole article, take a look at this gif where Bendo absorbs a leg kick (albeit not the strongest one) without even looking like he got kicked.  That's basically what the whole article is about.

josh+thomson+kicks+bendo.gif

Also, Josh only got a 15 day medical suspension despite having a "broken thumb" and being in a sling in the post fight press conference.

 
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I agree. We should make a new thread and just call it "Tyler and Nate Talk About MMA", lol.

That's an interesting article...and it makes good points if you're coming from the perspective that Thomson won. But if you have the perspective that Henderson did enough to win, the article almost becomes more damning, showing how he dicked around (not being active, brushing his hair back constantly, letting Thomson outwrestle him, etc). And really, this argument for his "style" would only work on dumb judges. And personally, I'd rather see Henderson improve and fight to his potential, instead of just taking advantage of judges who are impressed that he "doesn't seem bothered".

At the end of the day, it's still a points system...and whether he reacted to the kick or not...it's still a point for Thomson. That's almost the same argument people used when he fought Edgar...how "beat up" Edgar looked. It's not a "Don't Show Pain" competition. Henderson wasn't that beat up when he fought Pettis either...but we see how that went.

Again, I won't dispute that Henderson is a good fighter...but if 1 out of 3 people don't think you won....and people are questioning your fighting style, then you've got something to work on. Dana even said himself that that fight wasn't good enough to earn Benson a title shot.

http://msn.foxsports.com/ufc/story/dana-white-benson-henderson-not-likely-to-earn-ufc-lightweight-title-shot-012514

As for Thomson's thumb...it could have been dislocated. Jon Jones technically didn't break his toe either. Doesn't mean it wasn't a very painful injury. And he definitely fought differently in the last 3 rounds, so it's hard to say something wasn't going on.

 
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Benson has somehow regressed since winning the title in the first Edgar fight, which was an excellent showing by Benson.  I heard right after the fights that Dana wasn't impressed, no surprise that Benson isn't getting another shot yet.  It's just one of those things where if anyone else had the belt, he'd be right up there.  But no point making a Henderson/Pettis 3 right now, maybe the end of the year if Benson wins 1 or 2 more fights and Pettis actually fights someone.  

There are guys that deserve a shot but if Pettis can't fight then more than likely they'll get Henderson instead, and it's very possible they'll lose to Henderson and lose their shot, like what happened to Thomson.  Say Pettis beats Grant in July and Bendo knocks off a couple more guys like Dos Anjos, Khabib, or Gil again over the course of the year, then there's no way they can't give him a shot late 2014/early 2015.

 
n8rockerasu said:
Oh my damn...

NSFW...for sure, lol.

http://thechive.com/2014/01/28/brittney-palmer-and-arianny-celeste-heat-up-for-the-big-game-hq-video/

This is even pretty liberal for "body paint". I know the SI swimsuit issue does this all the time...but they don't get shots like this one. Wow.

[customspoiler='Schwing!"]
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Haha not sure if you came across this browsing r/mma, but I did and this is exactly what I watched after I read the Benson article which I also found there. Very enjoyable. Brittney's new new boobs look better than ever.

 
Definitely going against both champs, but both will probably win.  I'd love if Faber somehow won though, would love to see him with the UFC belt.  

It's possible (though unlikely) that there are no Brazilian champs at the end of the night.

Anyways, super excited for tonight!  Way more excited than for the Super Bowl, where the only way it could possibly be worse is if the Jets were playing the Seahawks.  I can't stand Denver or Seattle (or the Jets, obviously).

 
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I really like Lamas and hope that he gets that belt. I was there when he mauled Koch and I would love for him to do the same to Aldo, but it probably won't happen.  

WAR LAMAS!!!!

 
Good God. Nice to see Jamie Varner carrying on Chris Leben's legacy. Stupid fight. Entertaining...in the same way Kimbo Slice's backyard brawl videos were entertaining. But stupid and sloppy. He had Trujillo out on his feet, and then is content to trade wild ass haymakers. Rogan even said he should step back and throw some kicks. Instead, he stays within striking distance and drops his hands. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
 
Frank Mir is so terrible. It's incredibly obvious he's only there for the paycheck now. He hardy even tries. The bad part is Overeem isn't much better. No hunger in either of them. Heavyweight division is such a damn joke. I'm falling asleep over here.
 
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