NoCalMike

Thank you doublestroker. I have been echoing those same sentiments from your last couple of replies for awhile now.

Shorter rounds will also hurt BJJ guys though too, because they will have a lot less time to try and work submissions.

So Anderson Silva is 2-0 against the weight division above his regular division, and GSP is 0-0 with a "Umm guys, I'm not really sure cause uh ya know I would have to prepare and change for dat transition in my career and life, ya know" Come on. I don't care who Silva beat at 205, the fact is, he went up in weight, and Forrest is a guy who probably walks around like a HW by the time the fight starts and he was absolutely clowned. Forrest was specifically picked as an opponent for Silva cause Dana wanted to see Silva pressured into a fight, and Silva just whooped him and made him look like a goof. He didn't grind out a 5 round decision. You know why I question the 170lbs division caliber of opponents? What has any of them done since losing to GSP? Have any of them even looked like they got remotely better since GSP steamrolled them? Nope. Nick Diaz is there, and I suppose if Rumble Johnson won another fight, you could throw 20million dollars of hype behind him to make it appear to the casual fans like he is a valid opponent, but he isn't. The Caliber at 170lbs is just not there right now for GSP. He can continue to take fights with inferior opponents and ride out his career with a nice fat win streak, or he can actually try and go challenge himself elsewhere with a higher caliber of opponent. The ball is in his court.

Ok what is this nonsense that I have heard repeated twice now in this thread that "Silver refused to go to the ground with Maia" ??? I mean are you serious? So wait a sec....Damien Maia LAYS ON THE GROUND....literally just lays there....and Silva is supposed to willingly just lay down on top of him? Yep, because that is definitely how you execute a game plan. Go re-watch the fight, Maia had enough of Silva, basically had his will broken during the first couple of rounds, and all but gave up without actually ending the fight. Now, I agree that Silva probably could have finished the fight, and instead wanted to play around and act like like a dummy, but you are actually saying that when Maia just laid on the ground refusing to fight, that Silva should have laid on top of him and rolled around for some BJJ? Seriously WTF? GSP is faster than Sonnen, not disputing that, stronger? I doubt it, a better wrestler, no to that as well. Also, Sonnen + HGH, vs Anderson Silva with torn rib cartilage probably had something to do with Silva's performance in which he still chocked Sonnen out, showing the guy can win a fight off his back, something none of GSP's opponents can do. So lets say GSP scores a takedown. He is dealing with a much longer guy who can work off the bottom and potentially submit him. I am not giving GSP zero chance here, I am just saying I think that Silva would be my pick and I am laying out reasons why. Also, Anderson Silva has dominated his own weight division and made 2 guys from a higher weight division look like fools, and Forrest is easily one of the heavier LHW's in the conference, so it wasn't like he was beating a slouch.

Until Anderson Silva loses, I don't see how he can't be considered #1 P4P right now considering he is the champ at 185 lb, and basically CLOWNED the two opponents he has faced at 205lbs, including one that was the champion. GSP did clown BJ Penn in their rematch but there is a huge difference in fighting someone coming up in weight, and you, yourself going up in weight. Since Sonnen has been clowing GSP on twitter lately, "before UFC 129 he called St Pierre, "Grease SP" maybe Dana could set up a GSP vs. Sonnen fight and the winner gets Silva. I still say GSP wants no part of Silva for a couple of reasons. Not only do I think that he thinks he has a real shot of losing, but I also feel at this stage in his career he is a business-minded individual. He looks at the 170lb division and sees no real threat, and feels safe building his legacy as champ, where as moving up, he sees guys who are bigger and stronger at the natural weight, one guy in Sonnen who can watch his wrestling, and the other in Silva who could knock him out before he ever gets a hand on him, and sees little benefit in the move. For those that are saying "GSP is a big WW so fighting at 185 is no big deal" do realize that fighters usually put on 10-15 lbs between weigh-ins and the fight, so while GSP might actually be 180/185lbs at bell time, a guy like Silva is probably hovering just above 200lbs at the same time. Never underestimate, someone's weight gain for a fight with true-walk around weight. It isn't the same thing and it definitely effects the fighter. BJ Penn's fighter against GSP and then next fight against FLorian are a good example of this. GSP was able to out-muscle and bully Penn because even though Penn moved up in weight, that weight is not where his natural strength and speed are. Every time he and GSP were in the clinch, Penn was helpless to stop the take down. Then a few months later he goes back down to his natural weight, and fights Florian, who was watching the film on Penn. He tried the GSP tactic, he would tie up Penn against the cage the same way GSP did, except at 155, where Penn is natural, he easily fought off Florian. Now I understand some of this is wrestling technique itself, but it also has to do with the difference in strength when you simply put on "muscle mass" in order to be bigger. It doesn't necessarily translate into strength. We have already heard Silva say he would fight GSP, but there has been no indication from GSP he is interested, quite the opposite actually as he almost seemed to go out of his way post-fight the other night to say "Umm, naw, but thanks for asking" The problem with UFC's 170lb division right now is that there are no contenders that are willing to push the fight against GSP. They all seem willing to get into the octagon and just go with the flow and sit back and see what GSP does, and then they just try to work with it. Why on earth Jake Shields thought he could ever win a jabbing match with GSP is beyond me. Just make GSP vs. Nick Diaz. GSP probably still wins, but because Nick Diaz pressures and presses the fight always moving forward, at least it could be over in 2-3 rounds instead of having to endure 2 guys fighting at each other's range for five rounds.

Besides the Main Event, this card was pretty much the ****, best I can remember in a long time. Aldo/Hominik was amazing easily FOTY so far. I was so sure the fight would get stopped when McCarthy called time, and then again after the round, but Hominik fought on and almost won the damn fight himself. I thought I might have been hearing things but I see in this thread it was confirmed 50-43 was an actual score from a judge? WTF? Seriously. Machida's Crane kick was epic. Made me think immediately, "Point Larusso.....WINNER" And Couture handing him a big fat trophy "You're all right Larusso" GSP vs. Shields. Well. What can I say, almost pretty much what I expected. The weird thing, it seems like Greg Jackson is so good at game planning, combined with GSP's willingness to always stick with what is working that it translates GSP never going outside of his comfort zone to try and actually end the fight. I was hoping Shields would try and push the fight more, instead it looked more like Kos all over again where Shields would just stand out there in GSP's range and take jabs, trying to time them. One thing that baffled me was whenever Shields had a hold of GSP's leg,(and there was a handful of times) why wasn't he using one of his free legs to sweep GSP? I didn't really see GSP doing anything in his defense that was preventing Shields from throwing a sweep, at least ATTEMPT a damn sweep in that situation. But nope, not once. I must say though, if a guy like Shields and his uninspiring standup game can touch up GSP's face like that, imagine what Anderson Silva would do if he made contact. Did everyone listen to GSP post-fight? Either dude is being super-coy, here or he is basically saying again he wants no part of Anderson Silva and/or 185lb division as a whole. If there was anytime to declare it, it was right there, Rogan even laid out the path and GSP was basically like "umm....naw...but thanks for flattering me" I agree with the sentiment here, that GSP might wreck Nick Diaz, but I think Nick Diaz in the process will actually be the first person in years to PRESS THE DAMN FIGHT, and move forward, not just stand six feet away and try and throw jabs. Nick might get taken down and GNP'd out for his efforts, but at least it would save us from another five rounds of what we just saw. GSP is the champ, so you can kind of make the argument that he isn't going to do anything to put his belt in jeopardy, however his opponents seem to really lack any sense of urgency themselves as well when fighting him, especially after it has to be obvious even to them they are down 0 rounds to 2/3......You'd think there would be a Plan B,C,D,E etc....especially in a title fight. Shields came out every round and seemingly just did the same thing, waiting for GSP to "make a mistake" Assuming GSP isn't fighting Silva, and Nick Diaz is not up next. What compelling fight is there for GSP next at 170?

Zuffa will do whatever makes sense business-wise. If Having crossover fights next month makes them the most money, they will do it. Believe that. Dana said the same exact "Gonna keep them separate" line about PRIDE as well, but it didn't work out, and I doubt it will work with Strikeforce. It could be viable for a little while because not everyone follows the sport as closely and still actually thinks they are not the same company anymore. However as it starts to sink in, and more people become privy to it, and what the implications are, they will no longer be so accepting of the Elite fighters of Strikeforce, fighting mid-level fighters, instead of at least the gate-keepers of UFC, to test and progress their careers.

The question though is: Is Nick Diaz actually not good enough, or has he just not shown it yet? Watching Anderson Silva in Pride, no one would have guessed he would have ended up as the unstoppable badass he ended up being in UFC. Nick hasn't got the opportunity to prove it yet, but everytime the competition level steps up, he sure answers the question. Also, as the competition steps up, he probably will have the opportunity to bring in an even more well-rounded roster of coaches and sparring opponents to round out his game even more. If you ask me, that is the bigger X-factor as to how far Nick Diaz can go at becoming a better fighter.

I wouldn't mind seeing Diaz vs. Fitch. Penn looked pretty against Fitch and Diaz has a similar skill set as Diaz, but he is younger and hungrier, and the 170 lb division in UFC really needs some young blood in there.

This really makes me wonder if say Jake Shields had never signed with UFC a few months back, would it be in fact Nick Diaz getting the title shot instead. Assuming Zuffa was willing to put on a crossover match this quickly, but to those who say they wouldn't, I think Melendez has certainly pushed the door open and kind of demanded it...haha. Shields may very well be a better fighter than Diaz right now, but I think Diaz vs. GSP would easily sell more tickets and bring in much more pre-fight hype. Also, if Shields does pull off the impossible and submits GSP on the 30th, then you basically have two of the top WWs saying they won't fight each other. Diaz is 10-0 in his last 10 fights. They can keep him fighting in Strikeforce for now, but unless Dana is willing to let UFC guys fight Diaz, the Strikeforce WW division could be running thin on talent that is quality enough to give Diaz a good challenge.

Yeah. I think the main point I was trying to make is that Diaz is out there seemingly to put on a show first. He is in the fight game to fight, and by that I don't necessarily mean stand there and throw sloppy haymakers. He also seems to still be in the "getting better every time he fights" stage of his career. Every new he fight he takes on, people have reasons why he just won't win. Even those most of their peers picked Diaz, buy a very lopsided amount, the press and a lot of viewers seemed to go with Daley, however no one really thought it would be a TKO, let alone a 1st round TKO in that fashion. As a fan of Diaz, I will concede I think as the level of competition starts to heat up, his style of fighting is going to cost him a fight, and probably sooner than later, because it seems he tries to challenge his opponent specifically at THEIR STRENGTH, which is 9/10 times a suicide mission on the professional level. Once that strategy costs Diaz a fight, lets see how he reacts. Who he brings in to train and get better and evolve.

The thing I love about Diaz is that he is always going to press the fight and look for ways to finish. I have yet to see him (win or lose) decide that he is winning on points and just kind of rest on his laurels and try to ride the wave to shore. He is willing to put himself in harm's way as well. He knew damn well it was a risk to come forward and have to deal with Daley's left hand. He even got a taste of Daley's power a few times. Did that matter? Nope. These performances by Nick Diaz tend to make me pay attention to the stuff he says more closely and give him respect for his opinions about fighting itself (I am eluding to the video posted a few pages back where he is explaining how the rules of UFC heavily favor wrestlers and the strategy to just take people down and hold them down while throwing lazy elbows) He did kind of ramble a bit in his explanation, but he made a bunch of good points. Hell, seeing Nick Diaz's performance tonight, makes me think Shields has more of a chance vs. GSP, if only for the fact that Shields is facing Nick Diaz every day in training camp.

I think Diaz makes some good points in the last few minutes of the interview. Try to survive through some of the nonsensical ramblings he starts off with, but when the conversation turns to technique and rules and differences between the way UFC gears its rules towards. Hard to disagree. http://video.aol.com/aolvideo/aol-sports/nick-diaz-pre-fight-interview/895503668001

The thing is, I question Penn's motivation moving forward. It seemed he was giving Fitch the rematch, almost as a benefit of the doubt to him, because he felt that Fitch had a good case for winning their first match, so it was almost like a favor to Fitch. Is Penn motivated to fight someone else? As a huge Penn match, the last thing I want to see is an out of shape, unmotivated Penn show up and get worked by someone else at 170.

Yeah. I think Elbows overall are a tricky area. For example, in the Bones/Shogun fight, when Bones performed the spinning back Elbow, it was obvious Bones was trying to take Shogun out with it, and in theory I don't really have a problem with it in that kind of case. Then you look at other situations, two guys in the clinch, up against the fence, and one is throwing these weak elbows that have no spacing or area to wind up to even damage their opponent, it is obvious they are just doing it to try and open up a cut on their opponents eye.

To clarify my last comment, what I meant to suggest was; Even though knees can be dangerous, at least they usually end a fight decisively. Elbows, do not usually end fights do to KO power, what they do, do....is open up cuts that change the course of the fight, usually handicapping one of the opponents for the rest of the way out, and then sometimes they will end a fight due to the severity of the cut, even though, otherwise the fighter is not injured and/or gassed or anything. All that training, gone to waste due to a cut.

I think if anything Elbows are just as dangerous due to their habit of opening bad cuts that effect the rest of the fight, if not cause it to end right then and there. Most times if a knee connect with your head, squarely, you are getting KTFO, not just cut.

I agree to a certain extent but it seems like takedown defense in itself is overlooked a lot by judges. A fighter can stuff 4/5 takedown attempts, but if he gets taken down on the 5th attempt, it is looked at as something that can steal a round. ---------- Post added March-21st-2011 at 03:15 AM ---------- I agree to a certain extent but it seems like takedown defense in itself is overlooked a lot by judges. A fighter can stuff 4/5 takedown attempts, but if he gets taken down on the 5th attempt, it is looked at as something that can steal a round.

Yep. You could make a case that the last decade has been heading in that direction. The thing is, guys with a strong wrestling base, are simply bring in BJJ guys to learn how to defend submission attempts. They aren't worried so much in being on offense from a BJJ standpoint, they just want to learn how to avoid being subbed on the ground, especially being in the top position. 15-20 years ago, a BJJ being on the bottom position was really no big deal, because as soon as the fight hit the ground, BJJ guys always had the upperhand. The sport is now changing so that no matter what your background discipline is being on the bottom spot is bad. Just look at how much tougher it is now a days for a BJJ to try and go from full guard to try and slip his legs up over the guy's head/neck. Wrestlers are specifically training how to rise up and make sure their legs never make it up that far. Also the wrestlers tend to be stronger overall, so it is a touch matchup to keep with that pace having a bigger stronger dude on top of you. If Machida can get back in position for a title shot, I think that it is an intriguing fight for Bones. Machida works well going backwards, is known for being tough to hit. If Jones tries some of those flying maneuvers against him, I could see Machida avoiding some of them and countering with hard shots to the body, which could weaken Bones throughout the fight. I'd still give the edge to Bones because, well....I just witnessed greatness last night....but I still think it is a good matchup. Also, a motivated and in shape Rampage could probably match his strength. Of course reports are Rampage is walking around at 240 these days....so yeah umm....probably not. ---------- Post added March-20th-2011 at 10:48 PM ---------- How do current Strikeforce contracts now work for guys like Overeem, Moussassi, King Mo, Mayhem Miller, Aoki, Melendez and the various other guys who often go overseas to Japan to fight in DREAM or K1 and the Tourneys/Grand Prix? Will they be allowed to still do that until their Strikeforce contract runs out, or will Dana try to "suggest" to them that they better not do those fights anymore?

Taking nothing away from Bones Jones, that was an amazing performance, one for the books, at 23 to dominate a title fight like that, however is it me or did Shogun not look right from the very beginning? Shogun routinely stood there at Jones's range, and even settled for fighting backwards, which is not his style at all. He is not a counter-puncher like Machida, he is best when moving forward, pressing the action and a ferocious pace. Dude looked sluggish even before he took any damage. By the end of round he quite frankly already had a "well I'm losing tonight, but let me try to make it look respectable" look on his face. Like others have said, Bones was so good tonight, that I don't even know if it would have made a difference anyway, but Shogun definitely looked off, either that or his trainer's gameplan going into the fight was not very good. Nice to see Faber putting a couple of wins together, and bringing back his wrestling. I appreciate Faber's wrestling because he doesn't just settle for taking his opponent down, he makes a good effort to land punches and create damage while on top. Cro-Cop. Retire. Please. Dana said post-fight, he is done in UFC. I hope that sends a big enough message. Overall, pretty good night of fights. Buffalo Wild Wings was more packed than usual, but that was because of March Madness which I totally forgot to take into account. Luckily enough space opened up that we got seats inside, cause it was raining and windy as a mutha****a, and it would have been a ***** having to watch the card outside. How was everyone night? My interest in a Silva vs. GSP fight kind of has hit an all-time low, and I am officially on the Silva vs. Bones Jones match bandwagon. Seems they are the only guys that can really neutralize each other's reach advantage. I give Silva the edge in striking, but Jones's wrestling could definitely present a problem for Silva, especially since he is stronger. I think in the clinch he could muscle Silva down. With that said, Silva has shown that he can submit someone who is physically dominating him on the ground. @lorenzofertitta Lorenzo Fertitta *Slightly heard beyond the horizon....the drums of war slowly beginning to beat* Also, given his appearances the last week on MMA Live, and admitting he is in Dana's doghouse, and his post-fight confrontation tonight, is it me or does Rashad look like he is rather uncomfortable in his current position. Not in a "OMG I am afraid to fight Bones" way, but more of the situation itself and how it seemed to change overnight from both guys agreeing to never fight each other, to all of the sudden Bones doing a 180 on that, and then Rashad was kind of forced to say "okay, fine" in order to not look like he was ducking anyone. I wonder if there was pressure put on Bones at all behind the scenes to soften his stance on not fighting training partners. We all know Dana was none to pleased back when Machida was champ and he seemingly was eyeing a Machida vs. Silva possible match, and the two said they would never fight each other. I wonder if Dana or some other people made an effort to get to Bones early, before he had solidly made up his mind, and sway him. It is just weird how Bones did a 180. You can see it in Rashad's body language, he doesn't seem to feel "right" about it.

EDIT: Oops double post! Well...UFC Time....leaving for the sportsbar in about an hour.....are the prelims airing on tv for tonight's card?

Is there still a boxing thread in tailgate? Vitali is defending his HW title on EPIX network right now.....just started..... ---------- Post added March-19th-2011 at 10:18 PM ---------- OMFG...more bad luck for boxing...Cuban dude rolls his ankle at the end of round 1......fight over. Wow.

If Bones Jones upsets Shogun, and Anderson Silva beats GSP, I wouldn't mind seeing Silva movie up to take on Bones Jones. Hell, even Anderson Silva vs. Shogun is an attractive matchup to me.

My only fear is that Shogun comes out and just beats the living hell out of Bones, due to him not being ready for this type of competition yet, and it leaves a mental scar on his brain that he can't ever get over. He wouldn't be the first athlete that got pushed to the moon too soon (not his fault) and then kind of got put out there for "the good of the company" before they were ready and WHAM....... In the big picture, Bones Jones losing SHOULDN'T mean much in the long term of his career, but with a fighter so young, and so much hype and building around him you can never truly tell how much of it has gone to their head, and this is regardless of what the personify in public. However we the public have no idea what the negotiations where backstage or anything. I mean according to most sources, Rampage was offered the title shot first, but turned it down because it wasn't enough time to prepare for it, and then Bones is kind of put on the spot right after his match, I mean he just came off a big win, is live in front of a live crowd and in front of millions on PPV, what is he going to say right then and there "Wow....umm no thanks guys" It comes off as an exciting moment, no doubt, but it also seems like kind of a sly business-like way to try and force the fighter's hand. If in fact that was really the first time Bones heard about it. The fact that he trains with 'Shad makes me think he already knew something, or at least knew about the injury going into the fight.

I think Shogun will win, but I am not convinced. Bones Jones is such a wildcard for any opponent at this point, because he seems to improve and pull out new tricks in every fight. I like what I see from that girl in that video above. I think it is time for Strikeforce to go out and get some real competition for Cyborg. Ever since she won the title, it seems like all her fights have been with women from smaller weight division, just trying to add on some weight for the fight. There have been questions about how good she really is, and that most of her wins being because she is simply bigger and stronger than her opponents, while lacking the elite skills her camp claims she has. If you re-watch her fight with Gina Carano. Carano had her mounted, I believe twice, but seemingly was willing to give up the position for what reason, nobody knows, could be her own inexperience!?!