posted
Machida's made that top 3 into a top 4. I don't see too many guys at 205 who can beat him. Rampage is up next, but his best shot to beat Machida is to take the fight to the ground, and Machida's a BJJ black belt. You're gonna need someone who's willing to swarm Machida, neutralize his speed, and outmuscle him. An in-fight really, because Machida will beat anyone on the outside. He's too elusive.
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posted
I'm not sure if Rampage will be able to take him to the ground, if Rampage is next against Machida.
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posted
Big night this Saturday. Anyone picking Lesnar? I'm going for Mir. His boxing was beautiful against Nogueria, which may be his best chance against Lesnar. Couture whooped Lesnars ass with his striking til he got caught. I don't think Lesnar is going to fall for another ankle lock.
Also have to pick GSP. I think is is the best mma fighter behind Fedor.
I'm not impressed with Bisping, so I'm picking Henderson.
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posted
This Saturday IS a big night. I'm picking Lesnar, although I get very nervous when I see him fight. So far (at least from what I've seen) is that Lesnar does not do much until he grounds someone and just pounds on his head until the ref gets him off of his opponent. He seems like he gets tired very easily. I think the guy on the opposing corner is too intimidated by his physique and aura. The fact that he's such a huge attraction can certainly play into someone's mind when facing him. I always liked him, even when he was in WWE. I hope he wins.
posted
I don't think Mir is intimidated by Lesnars size. He already has a win over Lesnar with an ankle lock that nobody gets submitted by any more. Mir probably knows he has the advantage standing up and the skill to submit him. He justs needs to avoid getting hit. Lesnars punching power might be more powerful than Crocops left head kick.
Contemplating whether or not I should spend $40 to go to the UFC fan expo Saturday when all I'm going to get is a "whats up" and maybe a photo.
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posted
You're right about Mir making Lesnar submit. I have to keep up with the UFC more if I want to make more sense in what I'm talking about. I was a HUGE fan of it when that thing FIRST came out in 1994 or 5. Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Tank Abbott were quite prominent then. What happened was that Time Warner Cable (where I live in NYC) thought that shit was too violent and decided not to air anymore of its events. It's been back on my pay-per-view provider for a long time after that hiatus. But I've been very slow into getting to know who the fighters are and all that.
I should watch that event this weekend and it's going to be quite nerve-wrecking!
But with Lesnar having a few fights under his belt, he should know how to avoid Mir's attack methods.
As far as going to that expo, I would think most of the others there will get a "what's up" and a photo. Give it a shot! I would look for a fight if I were you. That way, you get the full experience of what fan expo is about.
...Just joking with the last sentence. But flip a coin. Heads, you go; tails, you stay.
posted
I can't wait for this event. I can't believe it's finally only 2 days away. I've been watching the UFC top 100 show on spike all week counting down the 100 best fights as we head toward UFC 100.
Also the Countdown show that promotes the pay per view really got me even more hyped as if that was necessary with Brock and Mir's comments and views on their first fight and on eachother. Like National, I'm real nervous about the fight. I think Lesnar will win, I hope Lesnar wins but Mir is such a good technican all it takes is one mistake by Brock and Mir will submit him again. I think his only chance is to win by submission, I disagree with Ftlcker that Mir has the advantage standing up. I think Mir's a much more technically sound striker and a far better boxer than Brock but I don't think that it matters one bit because Brock is such a monster that I don't think he can be rocked or dropped or hurt badly in an exchange with anyone. He can take two or three shots from Mir in order to land 1 of his own and if he lands that one, it's game over, lights out, good night irene. Nobody has ever hit as hard or as viciously as Lesnar does, it's almost freakish the strength that man has. I think if the fight is standing up, Mir will pick him apart for a little while, but it's just a matter of time before Lesnar catches him and knocks him out. What I fear is that the same holds true but in favor of Mir on the ground. Lesnar is the superior wrestler and can take Mir down at will but the question becomes, "what's he gonna do when he gets him there?" Hopefully he can ground and pound him and defend the title, I'm sure he'll be must more patient and calculated this time around, as he got overzealous in the first fight and made a rookie mistake, but will an improved display of patience and a more strict attention to positioning & submission defence first, administering ground and pound second prove too much for Mir and provide Brock an oppertunity later in the fight to finish him off with the ground and pound or win a decision, or will it simply mean a longer fight, a more involved chess match, where Mir will simply defend the ground and pound, continue to look for submission oppertunities until one presents itself...In a 5 round fight which is only Lesnar's 5th professional fight overall, if he wants to take the fight to the ground but favors patience and poise over a quick finish, he'll have to go 25 minutes without making a single mistake against a BJJ whiz. That's a tall order and I don't know if he can do it. What I do like though is that the anklelock and kneebar are probably the two main things he has to watch out for and he's such a good wrestler he should be able to control the positions and keep his lower extremities out of trouble. I don't know if Mir can pull off upperbody submissions on Brock because he's so freakin' big. How do you choke a guy with no neck? Instead of a neck, Lesnar simply has a second set of shoulders. How to armbar that guy? You latch onto his arm for the kimoura and Lesnar would just start doing curls with your entire body. Brock should be able to overcome, he has too much power for Mir to exchange with him in the standup, and his wrestling ability is such that it should allow him to get top position on the ground so that as long as he's patient and worries about his positioning and submission defence first, then once he's sure he's in a position to defend any kind of submission hold and only then he looks to patiently ground and pound when oppertunity allows, he'll eventually win the fight either by decision or at such a point when the damage done will cause a stoppage or daze Mir enough for Brock to finish him. The thing is, I can easily see Lesnar falling victim to a sweep and being totally lost if he finds himself on his back on the bottom, or if he thinks he has Mir hurt and looks to finish recklessly he could get himself caught in another submission like last time. As long as he's patient and sticks to a solid game plan he should be able to win but it's going to be an electric fight and I can't fucking wait to see it go down. I'm picking Lesnar by knockout in the second round to defend and become the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion.
I'm also a little nervous about the GSP fight as well. St. Pierre is my favorite fighter, and in my opinion he's on another level to Alves and can outstrike him standing by proving too elusive for the much stronger and harder hitting Alves to lay a hand on. He's also such a great wrestler, he's got phenominal ground and pound, great submissions and ju jitsu and he may be the most athetic guy in all of MMA he really is the total package and he should be fine, but that Alves hits like a truck, and with all the Hype surrounding the Lesnar-Mir fight, and people talking about GSP moving up to fight Anderson Silva in a superfight, I just hope he's fully prepared because Alves is definatly for real. I don't like the way this fight seems to be flying under the radar, that could be dangerous for GSP... Remember the last time everyone took a dominating GSP performance resulting in an easy win for granted against a guy without alot of hype behind him? Matt Serra shocked the world...hopefully GSP will never let that happen again and he'll be motivated, ready and up to the very tough challenge Alves will present. I'm picking GSP by stoppage due to ground and pound in the 4th to defend the Welterweight Championship of the World.
Henderson and Bisping should be explosive as well. Not only are they the coaches from last seasons TUF show clashing in an international confrentation, the winner should likely become the number 1 contender for Anderson Silva's middleweight title. Bisping's looked great at 185 and he's a good striker, and exciting striker, which paired with Henderson should make for a hell of a fight. I think Hendo's a much more well rounded and better overall fighter than Bisping though and that will prove to be the difference. I think Henderson's got the better chin so if they keep it standing I think Dan will knock him out. Bisping might have an advantage in conditioning being much younger, but Hendo's a tremendous wrestler which should allow him to control the takedowns and ground work if he needs to conserve energy, plus he's a former champion whose proven he can go 5 rounds if need be, so even against a younger guy with tremendous cardio, 3 should still be a piece of cake for Henderson. I think Dan will either win a decision or knock Bisping out in the third round in a very exciting tussel.
The storylines, the contrasts in styles, the magnitiude of the matchups, the milestone 100th event, the card is remarkable and history is going to be made. I can't wait to see this show Saturday night.
posted
Did the Carano/Cyborg fight already happen. I really want to see that but don't know when it is. I'm staying with my mother-in-law until I get my place and almost all the channels are Spanish and I'm browsing the web with my phone.
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posted
The Carano vs. Cyborg fight is on the next Strikeforce card August 15th. It will also feature Nick Diaz vs. Joe Riggs II and possibly Alistair Overeem vs Brett Rogers as well. It'll cap off a phenominal 3 week run for MMA. The previous weekend is UFC 101 featuring Penn vs. Florian and Silva vs. Forrest on August 8th. The week before that on August 1st Affliction 3 goes down and features Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett, Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Jorge Santiago vs. Vitor Belfort, Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel and Dan Lauzon vs. Chris Horodecki in an increadably stacked card.
What a dumb, dumb fucking dummy Josh Barnett is. I'm pretty liberal in my view of steroids in sports. I had given Josh not so much the benefit of the doubt on his UFC steroid deal, but I really didn't care, I looked at it as a young guy who was doing everything he could possibly do to get to the number 1 spot in his sport, he took a calculated risk and got caught. It happens. I always thought he was a cool guy and a great character and just like pouge, I too have been looking forward to this fight for years. Now at this stage of his career under these circumstances I just think he's a selfish prick, a born loser and a total asshole for not only blowing the biggest oppertunity of his career, but for also quite possibly taking an entire company down with him thanks to his own selfishness and inability to stay clean.
I guess he realized he couldn't beat Emelianenko on his own, so he tried to gain an extra advantage to give himself a chance even though he of all people should have learned from his first incident that it's very difficult to be on the roids near fight time in the US and get away with it. Now he's disgraced himself for life. Even if he lost the fight, a good performance would have gaurenteed him work in other promotions going forward, it would have possibly opened the door to a UFC return or made him likely the number 1 guy in Affliction if Fedor goes to the UFC now that his obligations with Affliction will be met following his fight next Saturday. If Barnett won the fight, it would make him either the instant face of Affliction or if they went under it would possibly force Dana to put their past behind him and resign Barnett to the UFC for a huge fight with Lesnar.
...Not to mention it was an oppertunity to face the greatest MMA fighter in history in a huge fight scheduled to headline a card that was designed to try and keep an entire organization above water. Barnett threw it all away and let a hell of alot of people down. He'll never see the inside of the UFC octogon again after this and it wouldn't surprise me if he were to end up blacklisted from any promotion in North America. Who's going to want to take a chance on building an event around a guy who may or may not be allowed to compete come fight night?
I don't think Barnett was going to beat Fedor but for a long time I've been of the opinion that he posed the biggest threat to him since the Cro-Crop fight. I figured Barnett was the last real challenge left for Fedor outside of the UFC and I was looking forward to this fight at being a great test to gage Fedor heading into a potential matchup with Lesnar. This wasn't a gaurenteed victory by any means, in fact yesterday I would've ranked Barnett as the number 2 heavyweight in the world behind only Fedor and just ahead of Brock Lesnar. Now he ranks nowhere and will fade into obscurity like a nobody with nobody to blame but himself. What a shitty, shitty deal.
I wonder if Affliction and Barnett knew when the testing was going to be done. You'd think there would have been some sort of heads up as most fighters don't get caught until post fight random tests. For a professional fighter to fail a pre fight test is about the most careless, inexcusable and stupid fucking thing that he could possibly let happen. Barnett had a chance in this fight, not a great one, but probably a better chance than anyone else in the world except for maybe Brock Lesnar. He had a chance at greatness and he selfishly fucking blew it. Fuck him.
As for the replacements, whoever is asked should jump at the oppertunity. They're not likely to win but anything can happen in a fight and to get in there with the best in the world at your profession is a chance that doesn't come along everyday. Vitor Belfort is a phenominal fighter but he's jumping 3 weight classes to face Emelianenko. He's too small to beat him. He's got great power for his size and is capable of knocking out a heavyweight but probably not the best heavyweight in the entire world. I think Fedor will shut him down, take him down and take him out. I know Vitor is eyeing a UFC showdown with Anderson Silva so he may not want to take a beating right now, but to face Fedor, I don't think he can pass up that oppertunity. Losing to the greatest fighter in the history of the sport in a fight you jumped 3 weight classes to take on 10 days notice is nothing to be ashamed of and does nothing to deminish your reseme no matter the outcome.
Plus you never friggin know what could happen, Vitor will be the fastest man Fedor ever fought, he's explosive and dangerous and everything about his style is basically the exact opposite of Josh Barnett who Fedor's been training for. Matt Lindland was doing pretty well with Fedor for awhile before it was curtins so you never know. I suppose there's the crazy and insane possiblity that Vitor could pull off the miracle and what would that do? He'd be a free agent comming off a win against the universally recignized greatest fighter in the world. He could then go to the UFC and fight Anderson Silva tops amoung many pound 4 pound lists, and if successful he could potentially fight GSP at 185, and Machida at 205 and if he beat Fedor, he could probably fucken try Lesnar at some kinda catch weight as well. He's in a position to try and run the gauntlet of most people's entire MMA best pound for pound list. Why not take a shot, even if you lose, you're in the main event and going back down 3 weight classes for your next fight. If it's against Silva in the UFC, you're in there against possibly the greatest fighter of all time in that class which is a gaurenteed chance to redeem yourself. Vitor's gotta take the fight if it's offered. He'll likely get smoked, but he's gotta go for it anyways.
Bobby Lashley would be a great fit as well, and would likely attract lot of viewers based on his WWE backround. He'd probably get smoked but nothings a total given in a fight. Lashley's a strong dude that could rock anyone if he catches them, he's got great wrestling and he's looked awesome so far in his MMA career. That being said, he's not ready for Fedor just yet. He's similar in style to what Barnett would bring to the table, and I think Fedor would submit him rather quickly and rather easily due to Lashley's inexperience but still it would make for an intriguing matchup that I'd like to see, and it'd be a tremendous oppertunity for Lashley. You can't even begin to prepare for fighting Fedor Emelianenko on 10 days notice, but a loss wouldn't be a big deal for Lashley. Lesnar lost his first fight to Frank Mir and is now the champion and the most dominant fighter in the UFC. Fedor is the champion and most dominant fighter in the world, so if you have a chance to fight him, you've gotta take it no matter the circumstances. I'd rather see Lashley in there than Vitor because Vitor's just too small to have as much of a chance as Lashley, although both guys chances would be so slim it's probably not worth trying to work out. I'd give Lashley about a 3 in a million chance as oppose to the 1 in a million odds I'd give Vitor. Still, Lashley vs. Fedor is an interesting matchup and a pretty fan friendly way to make the most of a bad situation at the last minute. Plus by having Lashly fill the spot you don't needa cancel Belfort's scheduled fight at 185. Apparently Lashley just signed a deal with TNA wrestling that will let him continue to persue MMA but they don't know if he'd be allowed to take the fight on such short notice. If there's any chance of him getting this fight he should do everything in his power to fill the spot left open by that douchebag Barnett.
Brett Rogers would also be a good fill in. He just knocked out Arlovski and is probably the next best Heavyweight in Affliction besides Barnett so I wouldn't mind seeing them give him a shot. He'd have a punchers chance, nothing more. Fedor would likely take him down and tap him out in short order as well.
I dunno, I just can't believe this happened right now, 10 days away from the event. I can't see Affliction surviving beyond this show, but a Fedor-Lashley main event would be a fun and entertaining last hurrah. It would likely be a clinic by Fedor and a good learning experience for Lashley, but you never know what could happen. I'd still buy the ppv if they manage to pull that fight off. If it's Vitor, I'll probably watch it online, because I was looking forward to seeing both Vitor and Fedor fight in seperate fights and kick ass. If they fight eachother it'll likely be easy pickins for Fedor and as a Belfort fan I don't wanna see him get obliterated in a fight he doesn't have much of a chance in to being with.
posted
Man, that is a shame. I too thought Barnett would be Fedors biggest challenge. Call me crazy but I felt Barnett would be a tougher challenge than Lesnar. Whoever faces Fedor now, doesn't have much of a chance. Who is going to be 100% ready to fight. I know they constantly train, but when you're preparing for a certain fight, that training intensifies and you have a gameplan.
I wonder how Dana will attack once the Affliction card is done and Fedor is free from his contract? Dana said Fedor will be in the UFC once his fight with Barnett is done. I have a feeling Fedor will resign with Affliction.
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posted
Apparently it's going to be Vitor that replaces Barnett which is the worst scenario for the fans because it ruins two good fights and replaces them with one fight that shouldn't be much more of a challenge than a sparring session for Fedor.
Belfort is a great middleweight who was supposed to fight at 185 on the card against Jorge Santiago, which was also his last contracted fight with Affliction. He was then expected to sign with the UFC and challenge Anderson Silva. Now that his middleweight fight is off, and he's going to be in the main event, it's a great oppertunity for him and a must see for his die hard fans in case he were to pull off the miracle, but instead of adding an explosive knockout to the card which he probably would have done if he fought Santiago, that fight is off, and instead he will likely lose to Emelianenko in a fight far less competitive than Fedor vs. Barnett would have been.
Lashley was on last nights TNA wrestling program at the end of the show and they were talking about him being there next week, so he probably couldn't have taken the fight due to commitments with them. However Affliction should have given the fight to Brett Rogers, the next best heavyweight under contract with them. Fedor said that he wanted Rogers to fill in, and although that probably wouldn't be a great fight either, and an easy submission win for Emelianenko it would be the best, fairest, and most logical thing to do for the fans who got sucked in buying tickets or ordering the ppv advanced expecting to see Fedor vs. Barnett. It would be the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World Fedor Emelianenko facing the next best available heavyweight in Affliction, a guy comming off a huge knockout win over Arlovski and guy with devistating one shot knockout power in Rogers...plus you'd have one of the top 5 middleweights in the world in Vitor Belfort fighting in the undercard. Instead they've traded two exciting fights for in for one mismatch that few people will have any interest in. Nobody's going to care about Fedor beating Belfort, he's supposed to beat any middleweight in the world, and nobody's going to care about Vitor losing to Emelianenko, as he has no business being in there in the first place.
I think Fedor's had it with Affliction after this. Had the Barnett fight happened, he may have resigned with them, defended against Rogers, maybe Werdum or Overeem down the line in cross promotional fights with Strikeforce, but if the best they can line up for him is a man not in his weight class, not in the next weight class, but in the one below that, I think he's gotta realize that the promotion is a joke and finally move on to the UFC to challenge Lesnar. Fedor vs. Lesnar is where the money's at right now in MMA.
I heard today talk that the entire show may be cancelled though, I'm flipping around on the internet right now trying to get confirmation or find out if it's just a rumor. I wonder what cancelling the event does...would Fedor still owe them a fight or would Affliction have give up their rights to him for breaching his contract by cancelling his scheduled fight...I'll post more if I can get some clarification on what the hell is going on with this talk that the whole event is off.
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