tkatz

With all due respect, I think your analysis of Tim Sylvia was a little limited. Although I am not a fan of Silvia, I respect his abilities. I will concede that his style is not fan friendly. In his fights against Jeff Monson and Brandon Vera he lacked that killer instinct tenacity. Often times his fights seem to drag on without excitement. Yet with that being said, I think Tim Sylvia is one of the best heavyweights in the world. You are right in the sense that he is not a dynamic fighter. His style is rather one dimensional. While he may not have an array of weapons, he understands his strengths and utilizes them. He uses his size to his advantage and often smothers his opponents. Because of his girth he can literally impose his will and control the pace of the fight. Silvia is also a very solid striker. His combinations are crisp and he has a very accurate straight right. Despite his mass the guy can deliver effective kicks. Despite losing to Minotaro Nogeira, he was dominating the fight for two and a half rounds. Nogiera was knocked to the canvas with a vicious one-two combo. Silvia is one of the better strikers in the division. Clearly the man does not have a well developed ground game. Three of his four losses have come via submissions. But Silvia knows this and to counter his weakness he has incorporated an excelent take down defense. Most of the time Silvia is able to keep his fights standing which is what he wants. Silvia also boasts an impressive resume. He holds victories over elite fighters such as Ricco Rodriguez, Andrei Arlovsky, Brandon Vera, and Wes Sims. Lastly, Silvia is an intelligent fighter. Before every match he creates a crafty game plan which he usually implements. With Monson, Sivlia tried to keep his distance to avoid the takedowns. When fighting Vera he overwhelmed him with his size. For the majority of his career Silvia has remained composed in the ring and hardly strays from his strengths.

Great grapplers and Brazilian jiu jitsu practioners are a joy to watch. The skill and intricacies involved make for chess like fights, in which the first person to make a mistake is usually the one who loses. While I respect and admire the skill, discipline, and talent that goes into these types of techniques I find myself drawn more to Muay Thai fighters and strikers. Watching guys like Anderson Silva, Shogun Rua, and Wanderlei Silva keep me on the edge of my seat and exemplify the pinnacle of excitement. At the same time watching phenomenal flexibility, take down defenses, and submissions from the likes of Bj Penn, Royce Gracie, and Minotaro Nogueria is what originally got me involved in MMA. Because the sport encompasses striking, grappling, BJJ, and other mixed martial arts is what makes it so brilliant and mesmerizing.

Skill and talent wise, Rua and Liddell are above and beyond, far superior fighters then the opponents they will be facing. What I do believe though, is that styles make fights. Both Griffin and Jardine are exciting fighters. While they are not the best in their divisions, they put on good shows and good fights. They want to give the fans what they want and there is only one speed with these two, 100% straight ahead. Based on the fact that both these guys enjoy a good slugfest, I think fans will be in store for two great action-packed fights regardless of whether or not it will be a blow out. Both fights should result in a knockout and I think any true UFC fan can appreciate that. Those two fights will be action packed and Fitch vs. Sanchez has major title implications and features two rising stars in the UFC. I think the card will answer a lot of questions and will have a serious affect on the title scene in the UFc.

So Chuck Liddell vs. Keith Jardine is not deserving of main event status. This is very true and I couldn’t be more disappointed that Chuck is not fighting Wanderlei Silva, which is every MMA fans dream match-up. None the less, Jardine is going to step into the middle of the octagon and bang with Liddell. There is going to be a first round knockout and probably a high-light reel of big punches and serious action. While Chuck should be facing stiffer competition, I do believe the fight will be entertaining. What I like about the UFC is that since the fight is being looked upon as a low quality main attraction, they are padding the card to make up for it. Rumored fights on the same card are as follows: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is making his UFC debut against Forrest Griffin—the fight will be exciting. I love Shogun and think he is the best light heavyweight in the world right now. Griffin always comes to fight and enjoys putting on a good show for the fans. This fight will have fireworks from the outset and think it is a good tune-up fight against a solid competitor for Shogun. Diego Sanchez vs. Jon Fitch—after an extremely disappointing and lack luster fight, Sanchez needs to redeem himself. I am a big advocate of Sanchez but was astounded by his tentative and boring fight against Josh Koscheck. He has his work cut out for him because Fitch is another up and coming fighter similar to Sanchez himself. He is looking to make a name for himself and would propel himself into title contention by beating Sanchez. Both of these fighters have something to prove and Sanchez has a lot on the line which should make for an exciting fight. Light heavyweight Jason Lambert, lightweight Tyson Griffin, and former middleweight champion Evan Tanner are also rumored to be on the card. All three fighters are extremely fun to watch and often have fight of the night caliber matches. Griffin is young and flashy but I love his style and the way he fights. Despite not having the huge main-event attraction that fans have become accustomed to, the UFC has put together a well rounded card from top to bottom and it should be well-worth the money.

Well DAMN! I guess i need to start editing my work a little more for you smart fellas

I couldnt agree with you more about Silva. The guy is an old 30, he has been through wars and his body has taken a schilacking. I think there are clear signs of a decline and his best years are behind him. That being said, if her were to take six months off to let his body heal and then spent a three months getting back into shape we could see a rejuvenated fighter, sad to see such a good fighter decline though. But in regards to your comments about his actions against Marc Coleman and Phil Baroni, I think he was completely justified. Coleman was in a rage and cotinued to attack and try to get to Rua after the fight had been stopped. Rua seriously injured his arm in a freak accident during the fight and Coleman was to outraged to realize the severity of the situation. Silva came in strictly to defend Rua and Baroni and Coleman made took it to the physical level. I think both Coleman and Baroni were really out of line and Coleman showed a complete lack of class or respect for MMA when he stepped on the throat of Silva when he had already been taken down by Baroni and was unable to defend himself. It goes against everything that I respect so much about MMA. Afterwards Coleman did apologize but Silva was still angry and didnt accept. He has vowed to get even.

Pride 33 was the best mixed-martial-arts card I have ever seen. Some incredible matches and just an overall fantastic display of talent, I sincerely hope UFC puts together a few exciting cards such as this. My thoughts on the night are as follows: Wanderlei Silva vs. Dan Henderson: I'm going to be forthright from the get go, Silva is one of my favorite MMA fighters of all time. Ever since he left the UFC and joined PRIDE he has impressed me with his striking and clinching abilities. Yet ever since his loss to heavyweight Mark Hunt in 2004 I have seen a steady decline in his abilities. He allows himself to get taken down too much and doesnt do enough on the ground. Sadly, I think the fight with Hunt shook Silva and he has never regained his charisma and fire that he was so well known for. He landed several hard shots but Henderson dictated the fight. Henderson is a well-rounded fighter. He has a good chin, can stand up and swing (has fought good heavyweights) plus he can wrestle and grapple. The guy would be a serious player in the UFC but is getting up there in age. Gomi vs. Nick Diaz This fight was one of the oddest I have seen in a long time. Gomi has always been a smallish lightweight, he doesnt even drop weight before fights usually, he just stays around 155. Diaz is naturally 175ish so there was a clear physical advantage for Diaz. But none the less I thought Gomi was the HEAVY favorite and also the best lightweight in the world. I was impressed with Gomi's chin, he took some MONSTER shots but I think the reason he lost the fight was that he didnt have the endurance. The guy was completely gassed mid-way through the first round, he was so tired he couldnt even keep his hands up. I dont quite understand what happened b/c he has fought through some three rounds wars and has always had a lot of gas in the tank. I was stunned by the way Gomi fought, incredibly wreckless and without a game plan. I really dont understand. To his credit Diaz put on a show, he took some shots himself but didnt really show much of a defense. None the less he is a solid fighter and should be praised for his win. There is an upcoming lightweight tournament and I think Diaz should be apart of it. His size and strength will give opponents a tough time. On the topic of Liddell: Samuels, you said it beautifully, "chuck has serious power in both hands, even off-balance." Great point. What makes Liddell so unique as a striker is that he is able to come with incredible power going sideways, backwards, or forwards at the most unusual angles. Its hard to explain, you just have to see it for yourself. But he is one incredible striker and also shows skills avoiding take downs, like when he fought Tito last time. I think two years ago Wanderlei Silva would have been a problem for Liddell. He is stronger and more conditioned while also being faster. Silva is also a monster in the clinch but allows himself to take big punches. Liddell would have the opportunity to knock him out but it would have been a great fight. Sadly, Silva is beginning to decline and show signs of wear and tear. Liddell is none the less a great fighter. Not very many fighters in the UFC could challenege him. There are two major players in MMA that would give him a run for his money though. Quinton Jackson- Obviously the UFC recruited him partly because he is the last person to beat Liddell and a match between the two would be a huge PPV attraction. Rampage is a very good fighter but he isnt great. His game has some flows, his lack of versatility in MMA being a major one. Yet the man is a physical beast who can strike well and wear his opponents body down. Rampage is an upper echelon fighter who embarassed Liddell in there first fight, Liddell was confused and didnt seem to have the methodical calmness he usually displays. Although Liddell can strike with anybody in his weight class I think it would be in his advantage to work a lot of leg kicks. It has proven effective against Rampage before and Wanderlei Silva took advantage of that when he fought Rampage (twice). I'd work the leg kicks and use the jap if I were Liddell, pre-ocupy Rampage with the constant jab and leg kicks and then drop an overhand right on him. Would make for a great fight. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua- This guy is one of top three in the world hands down. I think he is a better fighter then Rampage in all aspects (despite not being as strong and physicaly gifted). When the two fought, Rampage was thoroughly dominated in several minutes by big punches and big knees. Pure strikers like Rampage always seem to have trouble against well Muay Thai trained fighters which Rua is. He is great in the clinch, has an array of kicks, and is very good striker. He would give Liddell major problems and could be the number one light heavyweight in the world in my opinion. On the statement made by KRSONE: While I do agree that there is some major talent in Pride I do think the UFC is beginning to slowly emerge as the better orginization. In terms of top talent in each division it is pretty close with Pride having the slight edge possibly. But UFC has tremendous depth in almost all divisions. They are stock-piling talent and breeding young up and comers. Prides heavyweight division is pretty spectacular but UFC is catching up. Pride has the number one heavyweight in the world, Fedor Emelianenko who is a warrior as well as Josh Barnett (formerly of the UFC who is still one of the best and a great brawler) and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria. All three may be better then both of UFC's best (before Cro Cop), Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovsky. Yet with the addition of Cro Cop, who in my opinion is the #2 heavyweight in the world, the UFC has one great fighter and two very, very good fighters in Silva and Arlovsky. They also have Brandon Vera who could end up being great. Lastly, they just added Fabricio Werdrum from PRIDE who was one of their top fighters as well. The Heavyweight division has always been Prides best arguably but they have taken two massive hits by losing two top-ten heavyweights in the world to UFC. UFC has also made giant leaps in improving their middle weight and light heavyweight divisions and while they have made improvements in both, I do believe PRIDE has the slight edge overall. But the UFC dominates the 170 pound weight class. They have some of the most marketable and talented fighters in the world compiled into one incredibly competitive weight class. Georges St.Pierre, BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, and quickly improving Diego Sanchez are all unbelieveable and so is Karo Parisian. That gives UFC some points as well. Overall i'd say both orginizations are very close in terms of talent.

Impressive, comprehensive, informative post. Dad Katz

Started thinking about UFC and have some thoughts: I was looking at RUMORED upcoming fights for the next few UFC events and was a little disappointed with the fights. I feel as though with the array of talent they are starting to collect they should be signing slightly better fights and overall more interesting match ups. (although there are several other fighters outside the organization THEY MUST get in order to have the best talent in the world). Here are some of the ones that I found to be intriguing or notable in the UFC. (Some may be rumors) Randy "The Natural" Couture versus champion Tim Sylvia---Couture is one of the faces of the industry and truly a legend in the sport so the match at least grabs my attention. I am a fan of Couture and hope he makes it a fight but I think Sylvia has too much reach and a very solid take down defense. Couture will clearly try for the takedown because he knows he can’t strike with the bigger and stronger Sylvia, whether or not Sylvia can evade the takedown with his trademark sprawl (he used this constantly against Monson) might be a deciding factor in the fight. Nostalgic fight with everyone pulling for the old school hero with heart rather then the occasionally boring Sylvia. Against Monson he didn’t have the killer instinct a true champion and fighter must have. He had Monson reeling but would not risk a possible submission attempt in order to go for the knockout. Matt Hughes versus Chris Lytle---My problem with the fight is that the UFC is clearly giving what they consider, an opportunity for an easy win in Hughes favor. Hughes is coming off a crushing defeat against St.Pierre in which he looked awful and a controversial win against BJ Penn where he was losing decisively and looking confused until Penn injured himself going into the third round. I think Hughes should be fighting a competitor of a little more caliber then Lytle. I as a fan want to know whether or not Hughes is still the fighter he once was? Has he lost it completely or is he still a top guy? I don’t want to see him beat up some pushover in order to get an undeserved title shot. I would be interested to see him fight a high talent guy like Karo Parisyian in a possible title eliminator or even Hughes square off against a quality fighter like Josh Burkman. Hughes has been a mainstay and fan favorite in the UFC for years and has a highlight reel of huge slams and perfectly executes “shootes” (type of takedown) so I would rather see him in a highly competitive Hughes so we as fans can decide where his career is heading. Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez versus Josh Koscheck---Right away I’ll let it be known I think Sanchez is a terrific fighter and I am a big fan. I think he has all the tools necessary to become a champion in this sport. He has heart and fantastic work ethic. The man has incredible stamina, heavy hands, solid wrestling abilities, exceptional grappling skills, and good speed. And maybe most importantly he is able to turn on the kill switch in his head and becomes disturbingly intense. If he becomes well-versed in terms of Jiu-jitsu and other MMAs then he could be something special. A pure striker, with great wrestling and grappling abilities, who can defend takedowns, and submit you sounds unstoppable on paper. On the other hand Koscheck doesn’t impress me. He is a world class wrestler who is a pure athlete but simply doesn’t have any other skills. The man will try and take you to the ground all day long. That’s all he can do, he cannot strike and leaves himself susceptible to punches. The guy can only do one thing and although there first fight was close Sanchez has improved his all around game where as Koscheck has remained stagnant in terms of improvement. Sanchez needs to avoid the take down and knock him out. Sanchez should continue fighting top tier fighters, work hard on diversifying his fighting, and bide his time until a title shot. UFC 70 which is taking place in Britain is reportedly having Michael Bisping, Mirco Cro Cop, Andrei Arlovsky, and Forrest Griffin on the same card. If Bisping were to fight Griffin and Cro Cop was to fight Arlovsky I’d be thoroughly impressed and excited for the event (hopefully they would add one more decent fight to round the card off very nicely). If Griffin ever wants to establish himself as a dominant fighter and continue to be in the championship hunt then he needs a win. He did not look impressive against Jardine who was the underdog. Griffin has a huge heart and is a solid fighter but I am not sold on the fact that he is great. He will have the opportunity to prove me wrong bc Bisping is the future of Light Heavyweight division. The man has not been training in MMA very long but already looks impressive. Apparently the guy is a work out warrior, tirelessly pushes himself, and trains for staggering numbers of hours. Beating him is a task and it would be a good test for both fighters. But Arlovsky fighting Cro Crop would be a huge fight. Arlovsky had risen through the sport with huge hype and he has all the skills and is one of the most well rounded and athletic fighters I have ever seen. Yet he has suffered some disappointing losses and this would be his biggest test to date. If Arlovsky could win it would be huge for his career and thrust him right back into being known as one of the very best in the world. Cro Cop is simply a beast. The guy has the most vicious leg kicks I have ever seen, great striker with a good chin, methodical as all hell, he will keep coming and continue sticking to his game plan the entire fight, very smart and always calm. He is one of the very best in the world and without question one of the top three Heavyweights in the world. This fight would be huge for the sport and for the UFC and I can see this fight forcing Arlovsky to rise to the occasion. Lastly I decided to make a list of the top few fighters UFC has in each division (in terms of talent and skill) and who the company should base their fights around. Heavyweights: 1. Mirko Cro Cop 2. Tim Sylvia 3. Andrei Arlovsky 4. Brandon Vera ...and maybe little known Gabriel Gonzaga. Beyond that the division is pretty weak. Yet there is some major hope. Rival organization PRIDE has the best heavyweights in the world. By adding their top three heavyweight fighters it would give the UFC seven of the legitimately best heavyweights in the world and the division could become the most talented and most popular in all of MMA. Adding PRIDE’s champion undefeated and incredible Fedor Emelianenko, dangerous and deadly Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, and finally Josh Barnett (formerly of the UFC, beat Coutoure) would round out a newly impressive division. Light Heavyweight: 1. Chuck Liddell (for the time being he remains number one but Rampage is a close second) 2. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson 3. Tito Ortiz 4. Renato Sobral (i feel there is a significant drop off in talent at this point, but Bisping and Evans have potential while the others need to prove their elite and not just good). 5. Michael Bisping 6. Rashad Evans 7. Forrest Griffin 8. Keith Jardine 9. Stephan Bonnar The division has the biggest star in the sport in Liddell and with the addition of Rampage the division has two legitimately great fighters. But it does tail off somewhat after that. Yet what’s great about these fighters is that they are talented enough that proper training could cultivate some of them into being huge names and high quality fighters. Several have the potential to be very good if not great. A lot of interesting match up possibilities as well. Evans/Bisping, Evans/Jardine, Sobral/Ortiz, Ortiz/Bisping could be solid. Lots of options and I like that. The division would be complete with the addition of two Pride fighters. Mauricio Rua who dismantled Rampage similarly to how Rampage ran through Liddell and Wanderlei Silva (one of Prides biggest starts who lost to Ortiz in 2000 but has gone on a straight tear in Pride and improved his game vastly). Silva has beaten several very good fighters and many notables since his lost to Ortiz such as Guy Mezger, Dan Henderson (very good fighter), Kazsushi Sakuraba, Rampage (twice), and Ricardo Arona (very good fighter). While he is on the downward end of his career he is still an incredible fighter and would offer so many great match ups. One of the most fun fighters to watch, very intense and has tremendous heart. Tries to put on a show for the fans. Middleweight Division: 1. Anderson Silva 2. Rich Franklin 3. Nate Marquardt 4. Mike Swick 5. Yushin Okami 6. Kendall Grove 7. Chris Leben This is one of the weaker divisions in the UFC. They have two top guys, Silva and Franklin but neither of them are beasts. Silva is very talented and one of the most feared strikers in the game but he has lost fights he shouldn’t have and makes mental mistakes, he doesn’t not fight intelligently at times. For example when fighting Lutter he allowed him to take him down the same way more then once. Lutter set up the takedown twice and Silva ignored the signs. A few more acquisitions are necessary but there are several good fights out there, Swick/Franklin or Silva, Marquardt versus one of the top guys. Dan Henderson and and Matt Lindland would provide a few more very top guys and the division competitive but not spectacular. Welterweight Division: 1. George St.Pierre 2. BJ Penn 3. Matt Hughes 4. Diego Sanchez 5. Karo Parysian 6. Jon Fitch 7. Nick Diaz 8. Josh Koscheck The top four in this division are all some of my favorite fighters to watch. I think some of the things BJ Penn does are amazing and St.Pierre can be an all-time great wrestler. Sanchez has such a huge future in the industry and Hughes is a legend. I could think of more exciting fights then a Penn versus Pierre again or versus Sanchez. Some really great match ups could take place. Anyway, that’s my input on the current state of the UFC.

The Diego Sanchez fight produced an incredible knockout but I wish I could have seen a little bit more in order to decide whether I think Diego's striking has improved. He took a major shot from Riggs pretty well although it clearly hurt him (maybe broke his nose?) and delivered a solid strike in return but in the opening seconds he looked tentative. If I were Sanchez I would take one more tune-up fight before I ask for a title shot. He should continue to work on his striking, improve, fight someone who would force him to work and keep it competitive like Frank Trigg or Josh Burkman and maybe even consider a rematch with Riggs. One more fight and I feel like he is ready. I give the man his due, he has continually defeated quality opposition; Nick Diaz is a good boxer whose well versed in BJJ, John Alessio is a tough striker, and Karo Parisyian is a real good fighter. Despite a decent resume I think a little more work is necessary for Sanchez to become a great fighter and challenge for the belt.

Park City Skins...are you from that Park City in Utah?? Have some good friends in Park City /Deer Valley....ski there every year?

Yo Thito I am only 18 but i'll definately chill with you before a game. It looks like you party hard my man

True.

Me a year ago just pimping, big pimping...