Baculus

A pretty good event - Randy beating Tim was great. He just dominated the big man in every facet of the fight. Now, it'd be interesting to see if CropCop will be Couture's next opponent, or if they'll have something such as a rematch next. Actually, I'd like to see Couture fight Fedor: I think that would be a great match-up. How great is that, though: In two back-to-back weekends, two classic fighters in Henderson and Couture win belts against known fighters in Silva and Sylvia. Fanastic stuff, and why MMA is one of the best sports around.

PRIDE 33 was an awesome event, which I watched over the last couple of nights. The Silva KO was stunning, as well as Gomi being smacked around so much. An excellent event - 2007 is going to be a great year for MMA!

Great post, tkatz. Well done!

UFC 67 was n OK event. Thhe CroCop fight was pretty fun: He was relentless and just dominated his opponent. The Silva fight was good, too - he is a monster and a difficult opponent. I hope we get to see CroCop - Sylvia after a couple of more HW fights (if Sylvia beats Couture...)

CroCop coming to the UFC? That's something! Sherdog.com isn't a bad source - they have some good information and some cool information. I think the forums just become a little silly with the PRIDE vs UFC debates. I look forward to the UFC HW division becoming a bit more exciting.

CropCop has beat Josh before, but sometimes, some folks match up stylistically better than another fighter. Josh has a very solid ground game, so for that reason, he may match up better than another figher against Fedor. But, as I said earlier, I do believe CropCop is a better match-up, but I still want to see Josh give it a go. If he can fare well against a good Brazilian fighter, then he can probably do well against the Russian. I heard about Aleksander Emelienko moving to the UFC. That can be only be good for that league since I believe PRIDE has better heavyweights and this can only improve the heavyweight division of the UFC. I really hope that Dana does agree to more PRIDE vs UFC fights, but I Dana has said in the past that PRIDE can be a tough negotiation, possibly because of the Japanese style of negotiation. Maybe it is just me, but fighters with "Sylvia" somewhere in their name just seem to be jerks (But good fighters as well).

Yes, CroCop beat Barnett in the last PRIDE GP. Of course, Barnett had some tough fights, in particular against Big Nog, and he was a bit gimpy for the CroCop fight. I don't think, though, that Barnett would have beat CropCop on that night, anyway - it was simply CroCop's event for the taking. Barnett has a decent chin and is a pretty well rounded fighter, having a decent ground game, and for that reason I think he would make a pretty good opponent for Fedor. That last fight Barnett had in the latest PRIDE event was pretty exciting and I was rooting for Josh the whole way. I don't think that a Barnett - Fedor fight, though, will happen until at least CropCop fights the Ruskie.

I do agree that, either way, the Fedor match will be tough for CroCop, partially because Fedor is such a well-rounded fighter, and CroCop has had to improve his ground game this year to match up with some of the better, well-rounded fighters. But, as exhibited by his last Grand Prix fight, he is a better ground and pounder then previously and seems to have a better sprawl as well, so his take down defense has improved. That is an added plus to his matchup with Fedor, where he previously ended up more on his back in the last fight. I think Fedor's hands are good, not simply because of technique, where he is solid, but because he just throws such hard punches. CroCop has very good hands, but he doesn't throw the same hard delivery such as Fedor. I'd like to actually see Josh Barnett fight Fedor. Barnett is one of the better balanced fighters in Pride and has beat some good fighters, showing the ability to at least challenge Fedor.

CropCop is a better fighter than in the first fight, and I also think he is a smarter fighter, too. He was in great form in the last PRIDE GP, and if Fedor was in the building that night, I truly believe he would have had a real run for his money. Just because two opponents have fought before does not mean it will be the same fight with the same results in the next fight! I do think, though, Fedor is incredible - I think CroCop is one of the few that have a chance to beat him. Both men are great fighters.

Aw man, Butterbean and Mark Hunt would have been awesome. I really dig Mark Hunt, especially in K-1. Some pretty good matches - what is the current status of CroCop? How come he isn't on this ticket? I assume they'd really want the Fedor vs CropCop fight, after all. Coleman is a pretty good fighter, but Mirko is a much better opponent for Fedor. I guess that is perhaps for the New Year's ticket.

I personally don't see PRIDE folding. They have a big audience with their Grand Prix matches and they have some fanastic fighters. Also, their matches are still shown on some channels, such as ESPN - they will probably become picked-up by someone. MMA and PRIDE are too popular to be ignored.

I think the UFC could play some of these fighters good contracts. Just for the Ultimate Fighter, some of these guys are receiving six figure contracts, and this is for fighters who have never even fought in the UFC. Do you really think that the UFC would let Fedor, CroCop, or Big Nog slip away if they could sign them to a contract? No way.

I'd like to see more PRIDE vs UFC matchups. I enjoy watching the UFC, but I really enjoy, in particular, the heavier weigh classes of PRIDE. I believe PRIDE has better fighters, but I do believe that some of today's UFC fighters would fare well PRIDE matches. Josh Barnett is a former UFC fighter that did very well in the recent PRIDE Grand Prix.