1463 replies to this topic

[Infield Infidel]

http://espn.go.com/b...of-the-equation

Video with Rashad really talking shit about Greg Jackson and Jon Jones. I'm pretty psyched for this one

[Myt1]

Is it just the beard, or doe Jones look waaaaaay thicker in the skull recently? I really want Evans to win this fight.

[Snowplow]

Is it just the beard, or doe Jones look waaaaaay thicker in the skull recently? I really want Evans to win this fight.

Agree. I know when I watch Jones fight I'm seeing greatness. I just don't like the guy, he seems like the A-Rod of mma. Evans is an intelligent man who easily got into Jones' head. i just hope he can back up all the smack talk.

[MikeM]

Agree. I know when I watch Jones fight I'm seeing greatness. I just don't like the guy, he seems like the A-Rod of mma. Evans is an intelligent man who easily got into Jones' head. i just hope he can back up all the smack talk.

Heh, the A-Rod of MMA really is the fit there too imo.

That said, Rashad did a pretty fine job there in putting his own shallow attitude on display. Can't realistically see him giving Jones more of a fight then Machida put up in his loss either.

[Infield Infidel]

I'll third this. Jones is a premier combatant in the UFC, but I think a lot of his success has gone to his head image-wise. He seems much more concerned about his image in ways most other fighters aren't. I've always been a fan of his game, but I'm less so of his personality lately.

It's so tough to pick against Jones here. The only knock on him is can he go five rounds? Eons ago, when he beat Bonnar, he won the first two rounds but Bonnar got the third because Jones was a bit winded. This could be a war. I'm still rooting for Rashad though, and the longer it goes the more it benefits the better wrestler.

[Infield Infidel]

Per ESPN, Overeem is out. Dos Santos v Mir.

[sachmoney]

Did anyone think Rashad was going to make this a fight?

Good, but not great performance from Jon Jones. BTW, MacDonald is going to be a superstar.

[MikeM]

Went down pretty much how i figured it would.

Not to take anything away from Jones there, but to me Rashad basically conceded that fight to "ok, i'm just going to take the lose and not risk getting ko'd here" status after the second. But i guess that just seems to be par for the course nowadays once these "elite" guys establish their name and start raking in the real per/appearance money.

[MikeM]

Awesome night of free fights on Fox. Dana has to be stoked about that showcase.

Diaz is so taking that 155 belt too. Not gonna knock him out, getting frustratingly good in the stand-up, and absolutely lethal if/when any fight goes to the ground.

[Infield Infidel]

Size wise, he's basically a 3/4 size Jon Jones. No one can really get range with him, and as he figures things out more (like using elbow strikes and knees) he's going to dominate. Could you imagine him fighting against 5'6" Frankie Edgar? He has 6 inches of height and 8 inches of reach on Edgar.

A Diaz-Henderson fight would be pretty great though, since Henderson is a total powerhouse who won't get pushed around

[SeoulSoxFan]

Another wicked, wicked win for the Korean Zombie.

Takes a pounding in the 3rd round, then lands a vicious uppercut, a flying knee, and chocks out a very impressive Poirier in the 4th.

Like a real life zombie, he says he almost gave up, but kept going.

And he calls out Jose Aldo!!!

Edited by SeoulSoxFan, 15 May 2012 - 10:08 PM.

[beezer]

Zombie looked great. He just keeps improving and his ground game looked phenomenal tonight from the mount-armbar-triangle transitions to the backward rolling sweep off Poireir's double leg takedown. I'm a big fan, I do think Aldo destroys him, but I'd love to be proved wrong.

[Curtis_Lesspanic]

I do think Aldo destroys him, but I'd love to be proved wrong.

Aldo probably beats him. But the key with Zombie is that he won't be content to Rashad his way through a title fight to save face (literally and figuratively). Zombie will bring it in victory or defeat.

[NickEsasky]

Nick Diaz suspended for a year for smiking weed and Chael Sonnen allowed to use synthetic testosterone. Interesing juxtaposition.

http://www.mmafighti...erone-silva-mma

Edited by NickEsasky, 22 May 2012 - 09:31 AM.

[Curtis_Lesspanic]

I am still pissed they made his epic win against Gomi a no-contest because of weed. why they even test for weed is mindnumbingly stupid.

[Curtis_Lesspanic]

Am I the only one who thinks Mir is going to snatch an arm and take home the strap tonight?

[Infield Infidel]

Mir just got obliterated. JDS is the real deal.

[sachmoney]

Mir just got obliterated. JDS is the real deal.

Looked like a terrible game plan from Mir. His clear advantage would have been on the ground. He shot at JDS once. Then he nodded at him and just tried to kick that lead leg every once in a while. Meanwhile, JDS was landing punches high and low. It's like Mir said "fuck it, I hope he breaks his fist on my face." Really disappointing performance from Mir, but you've got to give JDS credit for putting him away. He is one bad man.

Overall, the card was pretty solid. I was just underwhelmed by the Main Event.

[Curtis_Lesspanic]

Looked like a terrible game plan from Mir. His clear advantage would have been on the ground. He shot at JDS once. Then he nodded at him and just tried to kick that lead leg every once in a while. Meanwhile, JDS was landing punches high and low. It's like Mir said "fuck it, I hope he breaks his fist on my face." Really disappointing performance from Mir, but you've got to give JDS credit for putting him away. He is one bad man.

Overall, the card was pretty solid. I was just underwhelmed by the Main Event.

No idea why Mir thought that was a prudent corse of action. I figured the one guy that wouldn't fall into the stand up trap would be Mir. Man, so dissapointing. If Struve can figure out how to jump gaurd and tap a guy you would think Mir would have tired a couple more times to get the fight to the ground.

After Cain JDS II can we get JDS vs. Roy Nelson II?

[Infield Infidel]

Wow, that escalated quickly

"What I'm going to do inside the Octagon is something that's going to change the image of the sport," Silva said. "I'm going to make sure every one of his teeth are broken, his arms are broken, his legs are broken.
"He's not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself. I can guarantee that."

http://espn.go.com/m...arms-legs-teeth

[hunter05]

Wonder how many buys that PPV will do. I don't recall Silva ever calling out an opponent like that. Hopefully it lives up to the hype.

[MentalDisabldLst]

Anyone else watching/watched UFC tonight?

[Infield Infidel]

Yeah, matches haven't been too great, but Cung Le and Cote has been fun

[LuckyBen]

Here we go, no matter the outcome, this should be worth it.

[Infield Infidel]

As much as I respect Silva and wanted to see him go down, Silva is so damn smart and used Sonnen's over aggressiveness against him to get him down. Sonnen was so smart in the first round and so dumb in the second. He should have kept distance until going for the power double. Silva is so tough on his feet near the cage

I doubt they'll fight again, sonnen will probably go up to 205. But damn I'd love to see these two fight 10 more times

[mikeford]

Sonnen can't do jack shit on the ground in terms of delivering damage. He had to do something reckless to beat Anderson. But Anderson is a living god, so Sonnen failed and got kneed in the sternum for his troubles.

[BrazilianSoxFan]

Thing is, who is left for Silva? GSP would be willing to go up for a super fight, but he is hurt. Silva doesn't seem willing to go after Jon Jones. And at 185 there is no one left.

At 38, I think he has only one or two fights left before retiring as GOAT.

[BrazilianSoxFan]

[rembrat]

Rashad Evans? I don't know either.

[BrazilianSoxFan]

Anderson Silva before the fame:



This photo is making the rounds here in Brazil. It was taken in 96 and has been confirmed as real.

[BrazilianSoxFan]

Shogun wins, but will need a lot more cardio if he wants a chance at Jon Jones...

[Infield Infidel]

Dana just said Machida vs the winner of Hendo-Jones.

[Infield Infidel]

I'm more of a Benson fan, but I thought Frankie won it.

I scored it as it went 49-47 I gave Frankie 2, 4 and 5. I gave Benson 1st and the 3d was a draw to me, both kind of coasted.

[kelpapa]

Dana just said Machida vs the winner of Hendo-Jones.

So Henderson gets injured (partial mcl tear, I think), chael sonnen takes the fight on eight days notice, and bones turns it down.

UFC 151 is. cancelled and machida fights bones at 152. Dana is pissed.

[kelpapa]

@arielhelwani tweets: (out of order, posting from phone)
@arielhelwani: UFC started planning the promotion and then Jon Jones said, I'm not fight Chael Sonnen on 8 days notice.
@arielhelwani: Dana calls this one of the most selfish, disgusting decisions he's ever seen.
@arielhelwani: Dana said Greg Jackson said there is no way you take the fight. "it would be the biggest mistake of your entire career."
@arielhelwani: Dana: good for you Jon Jones that you have money but there's a bunch of guys that needed to fight to feed their families.
@arielhelwani: Dana: one guy said he would fight Jon Jones and that was Chael Sonnen. He said he would fight him last night.
@arielhelwani: Dana: me and Lorenzo are both disgusted. ... Chael is a lunatic (in a loving way, it seems).

[kelpapa]

@sonnench: 30 min to cement your legacy. Champ or Coward? I make a lot more than you do... Show up in 8 days I'll give you my purse.
@sonnench: Times up

Bones comes off like a selfish prick, and Dana makes a great point about the other fighters needing to fight to feed their family.

I have no doubt that Dana will try to take care of those guys, but all the fighters on small contracts trying to progress their careers are fucked.

Sometimes you have to take fights on short notice. He was already prepping for a wrestler. Chael fought last month and was at a much larger disadvantage.. Step up. He had the option of fighting another guy or canceling the whole event, and he chose to protect his belt and cancel the event.

[Snowplow]

He certainly is the A-Rod of MMA.

[kelpapa]

http://mobile.mmafig...enderson-injury
Link to the audio for the conference call where this was announced.

Notes from the audio:
First time in 11 years of current ownership that a fight has been cancelled.
First time a fighter has turned down a fight like this.
Dana has no idea how much money this cost them, but it's massive.
Jackson told jones it would be the biggest mistake of his career to take this fight, and that was the only reason jones turned it down.
No idea what will happen on undercard fights.
Blunt Dana ties awesome sound bites.

Edited by kelpapa, 23 August 2012 - 03:28 PM.

[LuckyBen]

Too bad Shogun didn't turn down Jones when he took him on at the last second. I will never root for that prick.

[hunter05]

Chael is going to eviscerate him. For someone who is concerned about his image as Jones is, the backlash from this is going to crush him.

[beezer]

I'm completely against you guys here. I think Jones did the right thing. He's the champ and taking the Sonnen fight on 8 days notice is a lose-lose proposition. He's supposed to beat him, so if he does (in Chael's first fight at LHW) then so what. If he loses, its a huge deal. Additionally, he's been training for the past 12 weeks to fight Henderson, a fight where he doesn't have to worry too much about being taken down and has been training on how to avoid Henderson's right hand. Now he'd have 8 days to prepare for a true all-world wrestler who would be looking to take him down and grind him every chance he got. No way, too different of a style and not enough time to prepare.

Additionally, about the other guys on the card. Honestly, its not Jones' responsibility to feed them. He really shouldn't care about making sure that they other guys on the card get a chance to fight, he's got a career to build. LuckyBen mentioned Shogun not turning down Jones on short notice, well I bet you in hindsight he wishes he absolutely had.

[hunter05]

He's the champ and taking the Sonnen fight on 8 days notice is a lose-lose proposition.

Fighters take fights on short notice all the time, I don't buy that because he holds a belt that he is above taking a fight on short notice. And its not like Chael has been training for Jon Jones, who is arguably the most dangerous man on the planet. Or Chris Weidman.

He's supposed to beat him, so if he does (in Chael's first fight at LHW) then so what. If he loses, its a huge deal.

He was supposed to beat Henderson as well, it'd have been a huge deal no matter what.

Additionally, he's been training for the past 12 weeks to fight Henderson, a fight where he doesn't have to worry too much about being taken down and has been training on how to avoid Henderson's right hand. Now he'd have 8 days to prepare for a true all-world wrestler who would be looking to take him down and grind him every chance he got. No way, too different of a style and not enough time to prepare.

Again, neither has Chael. I just don't see how that is a valid counter-argument. Its not like Henderson isn't a wrestler himself. I'm sure he was working on TDD and clinch work.

Additionally, about the other guys on the card. Honestly, its not Jones' responsibility to feed them. He really shouldn't care about making sure that they other guys on the card get a chance to fight, he's got a career to build.

This is where I think its fair to criticize the UFC. They could have set up a better card, injuries happen. But that isn't an excuse for Jones. The UFC has helped him build that career.

LuckyBen mentioned Shogun not turning down Jones on short notice, well I bet you in hindsight he wishes he absolutely had.

I doubt this very much.

[beezer]

Fighters take fights on short notice all the time, I don't buy that because he holds a belt that he is above taking a fight on short notice. And its not like Chael has been training for Jon Jones, who is arguably the most dangerous man on the planet. Or Chris Weidman.

Chael's stepping in because he has nothing to lose. He was supposed to be fighting Forrest Griffin and Dana said even with a win, he wouldn't earn a title shot, so why not take your chance on fighting for the title even if its on short notice.

He was supposed to beat Henderson as well, it'd have been a huge deal no matter what.

He was supposed to beat Henderson, but Henderson is coming off wins over Shogun and Fedor, Chael just lost to Anderson at 185, so if he were to beat Jones, I'd argue its a bigger deal than Henderson beating him.

Again, neither has Chael. I just don't see how that is a valid counter-argument. Its not like Henderson isn't a wrestler himself. I'm sure he was working on TDD and clinch work.

C'mon Henderson hasn't used his wrestling other than in TDD for years now. He's followed the Chuck Liddell school of thought for a long time now in using his olympic caliber wrestling to keep the fight standing and look for the H Bomb

This is where I think its fair to criticize the UFC. They could have set up a better card, injuries happen. But that isn't an excuse for Jones. The UFC has helped him build that career.

The UFC has helped him build his career, but if he were to lose and take a endorsement/ppv revenue/ championship pay hit, would the other fighters chip in to help him cover that because they got to fight on the card since he was nice enough to take the fight?

I doubt this very much.

You seriously doubt if Shogun regrets taking the Jones fight on short notice after what Jones did to him and since he hasn't been able to work his way back into a title fight since?

Edited by beezer, 23 August 2012 - 04:48 PM.

[hunter05]

Chael's stepping in because he has nothing to lose. He was supposed to be fighting Forrest Griffin and Dana said even with a win, he wouldn't earn a title shot, so why not take your chance on fighting for the title even if its on short notice.

Chael does have something to lose, like getting mangled and beat up.

He was supposed to beat Henderson, but Henderson is coming off wins over Shogun and Fedor, Chael just lost to Anderson at 185, so if he were to beat Jones, I'd argue its a bigger deal than Henderson beating him.

He fought Fedor over a year ago, who is now retired. As fun as that fight was, its not a selling point to the average MMA fan. Chael is a MUCH bigger draw then Dan. If you think that a story line of Jones stepping up to fight the biggest heel in the UFC, and thus saving the card wouldn't be a huge win for him, I don't know what to tell you.

C'mon Henderson hasn't used his wrestling other than in TDD for years now. He's followed the Chuck Liddell school of thought for a long time now in using his olympic caliber wrestling to keep the fight standing and look for the H Bomb

Henderson is nothing like Liddell. Liddell was 10x the striker Dan is, much more diverse. But if you think that Jones wasn't seriously training his TDD and clinch work, again, I don't know what to tell you. I'm quite sure Jones would have looked to keep the fight standing against Chael and work his stand up, which I doubt very seriously he'd have a problem with.

The UFC has helped him build his career, but if he were to lose and take a endorsement/ppv revenue/ championship pay hit, would the other fighters chip in to help him cover that because they got to fight on the card since he was nice enough to take the fight?

He just signed a deal with NIKE, he's going to be OK. He'd also have gotten a rematch right away if he did lose. He has nothing to worry about money wise.

You seriously doubt if Shogun regrets taking the Jones fight on short notice after what Jones did to him and since he hasn't been able to work his way back into a title fight since?

He was on the verge of getting a title shot after the Vera fight. If Machida didn't embarass Bader, Shogun would have gotten it. I cannot for the life of me, knowing what we do about Shogun, picture him regretting a fight.

Edited by hunter05, 23 August 2012 - 04:56 PM.

[hunter05]

[kelpapa]

I'm completely against you guys here. I think Jones did the right thing. He's the champ and taking the Sonnen fight on 8 days notice is a lose-lose proposition. He's supposed to beat him, so if he does (in Chael's first fight at LHW) then so what. If he loses, its a huge deal. Additionally, he's been training for the past 12 weeks to fight Henderson, a fight where he doesn't have to worry too much about being taken down and has been training on how to avoid Henderson's right hand. Now he'd have 8 days to prepare for a true all-world wrestler who would be looking to take him down and grind him every chance he got. No way, too different of a style and not enough time to prepare.

Additionally, about the other guys on the card. Honestly, its not Jones' responsibility to feed them. He really shouldn't care about making sure that they other guys on the card get a chance to fight, he's got a career to build. LuckyBen mentioned Shogun not turning down Jones on short notice, well I bet you in hindsight he wishes he absolutely had.

Chael didn't have a fight scheduled until December 29. A whole event was hinged on his acceptance of a fight against someone he had every advantage against. Worst case scenario is he loses the fight and then gets a rematch.

Fights change on short notice all the time. Granted, This is a little shorter notice than most.
Regarding The part about him fucking over the rest of the card; He's going to at some point train with some of these guys. He's going to have teammates train with these guys. Agreed that it's not his responsibility (and perhaps the UFC should have had a better co main event), but it's going to come back to him down the line.

And chael is going to kill him in the press.

First line in the UFC press release
@arielhelwani: "UFC 151 will be remembered as the event Jon Jones and Greg Jackson murdered.” Yikes.

[kelpapa]

Serious question. If that fight happens, what are chaels chances of winning?

[hunter05]

Can't see anyway he could. Jones is bigger, stronger, and faster. With the way Jones uses his length I dont know how Chael could take him down. He'd have to engage and that'd be a disaster.

[kelpapa]

Yea, but he has a chance. Does he have a better shot of beating jbj than he did heading into the last Anderson fight, in your eyes (and beezers).

[beezer]

I'm not saying he had a great chance against him. I'd put the odds at less than 2% with Jones having a full training camp, but I'd say he'd have closer to a 5% chance with Jones having only 8 days to prepare. Not much of a chance, but enough that its a real risk to take on such short notice. Jones has the longest reach in UFC history at 84.5 inches, but Anderson Silva had a 4 inch reach advantage over Chael (78 vs 74), but still couldn't keep him at distance for 6 of the 7 rounds they fought. Other than an ill-timed spinning backfist, Sonnen's wrestling completely dominated Silva and I'd argue that Anderson has better footwork than Jones does right now. I just think it was training for a fighter who's a complete 180 from Henderson. I'd be joining the chorus if he turned down Shogun/Machida/Gustaffson, I just think fighting Sonnen requires a completely different training camp than any of those other fighters.

The other part of this now is if Jones gets past Machida and Sonnen past Forrest, you could be looking at a huge event with a full couple of months of Sonnen just smack talking Jones about being scared before they finally fight. This could end up being a cash cow for the UFC in the end as 151 was a pretty poor event on paper (no clue how Hieron is co-main eventing a PPV). Having an 8 day ramp up wouldn't allow Chael to truly sell the fight and use one of his biggest assets, his mouth.