StillUnknown

based on these pics, i'm goin to say that Franklin actually saw the Grim Reaper:

Difference is Rashad danced when nothing was being thrown at him. Anderson made Rich look like he was shadow boxing. Almost a choreographed dance.

anderson's was much better because it was actually used for defensive purposes. rich threw about 5 punches that didn't land at all. at that point i knew Franklin had no chance in this fight :laugh:

Sloppy punches? That's funny. Hendo's hooks are elite. Simple as that.

his punches are elite because the power they pack, technically his style isn't that great. He ducks his head and swings for the fences. When it connects its deadly and most likely fight ending, my point is that i think silva is too good technically to get caught by that, but if he did, it would be night night.:2cents:

I did'nt read Hendo saying that. I don't see where Spida would beat Hendo??

Do you seriously think he can ko Hendo, seriously? Hendo has eaten huge shots from devasting punchers that are much bigger and stronger then Spida. He would have a huge strenght advantage and would take him down and work him with his greco wrestling. The only chance i see Spida having would be to pull a sub, but i don't see it happening..

Spida is extremely accurate striker that has been devasting.. But in reality i always felt like Franklin was overrated.. Leben is a wishy washy bum who loses to scrubs. Nate the great? please.. Travis i won the ultimate fighter Lutter lol??

Thier is a huge jump up to Hendo from the guys..

I think Lindland would have a great shot at beating him has well or gasp GSP moving up he is huge anyway at 170 and has great strenght.. I'd love to see that matchup not sure if GSP has the chin for it but it would be exciting..

Any of those 3 is a huge huge jump in talent.

Okami might get the next shot he gave Spida fits in thier 1st fight it might be marketable..

I think that Hendo very well could beat him, but i think A.Silva would find a way to win. Silva could win the fight standing. Obviously if hendo takes him down, silva will have a hard time getting a victory. Hendo's main problem is that he thinks he's a better striker than he really is. He has devastating power in his right hand, but his striking isn't really technical at all. Its actually a little on the sloppy side. I think that Silva is far to talented a striker to be beat by Hendo's style of striking. I actually think that Hendo would want to prove he could stand would silva and although his chin is granite, i think Silva would crack it. :2cents:

He is defintely sick but Henderson will beat him. I'd say that will probably be his next fight. Henderson was/is the pride 185lbs champion they already had thier lil unify 1 champion stuff at 205lbs with Rampage,Hendo. I see them doing the same thing at 185lbs.

Henderson will beat him and thats probably the only guy who can at 185lbs. He has a granite chin and is a supremely strong wrestler and has serious KO power that is a terrible matchup for Spida..

Big Tim just disgust me, i hate him, but he fought smart and smothered Vera.

Hendo has stated in almost every interview that he's done that he is not dropping down to 185. He wants to stay at 205.

and i think Silva would beat Henderson if they did fight at 185 :2cents:

silva apparently learned from the master of the dance:

Silva didn't even look like he broke a sweat.

one of the announcers made the comment that with Silva, his opponents begin to get the feeling that its not if Silva will catch them, but more of WHEN will silva catch them.

i don't see how anybody can avoid silva for 5rds.

Both guys are nothing but class

quoted for truth, i hate the situation this puts rich in because he basically has to wait for Silva to lose the title before he gets another shot, or either go back to 205.

Silva is a God in the Game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what is wrong with this crowd? I wish I had a crowd noise control so I could mute these freaks. Did Sylvia go around Cinci kicking dogs last night or something?

he lost what little fans he had left when he blamed his loss to Randy on an injury

they just announced Brock Lesnar has been signed

He's probably banking on Henderson to drop down to MW. He will especially want that if Silva dominates Franklin.

Hendo has stated that he has no intentions of goin back to 185. and some rumors have said that hendo is not happy with his contract or ufc management right now, so it may be awhile before he fights again.

on another note, the sopcast channel is 24267 for those who need it.

I rarely actively root for a fighter (I usually just enjoy watching the fight), but I'm pulling for Franklin. He's all class. Don't get me wrong, so is A. Silva, but I think a win by Franklin would be great for the sport, and it means we would most likely get another rematch.

i like Franklin as well, but A.Silva is my favorite fighter out right now. I hope he dominates again.

another win by silva would force dana to actually sign some mw's for that division.

Is this why Arlovski hasn't faught in a while? The UFC is getting more and more volitile, seemingly every day. The henchmen better watch their step, or a more professional organization will start giving them problems. They don't want this to become WCW/WWF, I'd hope.

Arlovski was supposed to get a shot at the title if he beat Werdum, but since it was boring fight, that plan was scrapped.

my predictions for UFC 77:

Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin: Franklin will put up a better fight. He will come in with a better gameplan, and will be competitive in his hometown. That being said, i can't think of one single area in which Franklin has an advantage over Silva. Franklins best chance to win would be to get Silva on the ground and try some ground and pound, which is no easy task as Silva is extremely active off his back. I say Franklin makes it out of the first round before Silva finishes him off in the 2nd via KO.

A.Silva by 2nd Round KO.

Tim Sylvia vs. Brandon Vera: a match up of power vs. speed. Timmy outweighed Vera by close to 40lbs at weigh-in which will only increase come fight time. Its important that Vera comes out and establish some combinations that incorporate leg kicks to get Sylvia out of his timing. Sylvia on the other hand should look to keep Vera at a distance with his reach advantage. I hope Vera wins in devastating fashion, but my mind is telling me the ring rust will be a bit much for Vera, and in a 3 round fight thats not a good thing.

Tim Sylvia by UD (i'll be rooting heavily for Vera though)

Kalib Starnes vs. Alan Belcher: pretty even match up here. not much separates either fighter. i'll go with Starnes as he has shown to be a little more consistent in his last few fights.

Starnes by SD.

Stephan Bonnar vs. Eric Schafer: i'm not sure i care enough about this fight to go into details.

Bonnar by UD

Yushin Okami vs. Jason MacDonald (why is this fight not being shown on the main card?????): tough match to call, Okami's strength will present problems for macdonald. when it goes to the ground, i expect macdonald to relentlessly go for submissions from his back, but Okami's ground n pound will be too strong.

Okami by ref stoppage due to strikes in the 2nd.

Yeah, I remember that now. Franklin better have learned some Muay Thai clinch defense or he's in for a very short night again.

i remember in interviews since the fights, Franklin said he thought he would have the advantage in the clinch because of his strength and when he couldn't controll Silva from the clinch, he was surprised. i highly doubt Franklin will attempt to clinch with silva in this fight.:laugh:

I just think that the kind of domination shown by Spider over Rich the last time they fought is not going to be easily overcome by Franklin this time. I'm sure it will be a closer fight because Rich will make himself harder to catch, but once they start to mix it up, this fight will start to look a lot like the first.

I was amazed at how easily Silva overpowered and outclassed him. Perhaps it was the broken nose. I'm not sure at this point if that happened before or after Franklin went down. If the nose was what did Rich in last time, maybe he'll do much better this time. I just doubt it.

Silva's knees to Franklins body led to the broken nose. Franklin lowered his arms to protect his ribs after being knee'd repeatedly, thats when Silva pulled down on his head and brought his knee up to break his nose. Silva's body attack on franklin is what killed him more than anything in my opinion.

I think he took the last guy lightly. Teasing with standing southpaw after having that kind of surgery doesn't impress me. Sure, he's a great champion, and I'm an Anderson Silva fan, but he was taken down in his last fight against, uh, whoever the heck that guy was. Taken down more than once. Yeah, right after the takedowns Anderson threatened about 5 triangles and punched from the bottom. But he also tried a karate kid kick that got caught. It was like he was trying to put on a show. THAT, is taking someone lightly.

It was even said on here before that previous to Anderson gaining control and putting the fight away, he may have been losing. If he's focused and in the pocket, he's unstoppable. But we may not have seen Rich at his best yet. And he embarassed Rich by moving his nose to his temple last time. Rich will be out to prove to HIMSELF that he's better than what people saw. And c'mon, he just helped write "The Idiots Guide to MMA". He's gotta win! :laugh:

Marquardt is the last guy Silva fought and he is extremely strong on the ground. Sure Marquardt got him down, but he had to work for the takedown. Even still Silva was able to neutralize Marquardt's ground game and even managed a beautiful sweep that led to the ground and pound victory:

to me this proves how much Silva prepares for each opponent. The main knock on Silva is his ground game, but he submitted a bjj black-belt in Travis Lutter and controlled another world-class guy in Marquardt and finished him. The fact that he tries diffrent types of flying kicks in a match is more of him trying to be a showman for the crowd, not a sign that he takes his opponents lightly.

I like Rich, but technically he's not great at anyone one area of fighting. He good at all, but not great in anything. His main advantage in his fights is that fact that he is a huge MW and can overpower most others in the division. he'll have problems with anyone who can match strength with Franklin (which Silva surely can).

Solid point, but my logic comes from the observation that at least Brandon Vera has had a string of UFC victories at all. Minotauro has 1 UFC fight under his belt and he had to come back from la-la land to squeeze that one win. I say Vera is more deserving than Nog, but let's say for the sake of analysis that you and I are both wrong. Should we endure another Sylvia-Arlovski fight? Should we throw Cro Cop another bone when he's clearly undeserving?

Wow, Randy really threw a monkey wrench in the UFC HW picture. Perhaps the Sylvia-Vera fight will produce one contender and an Arlovski-Nog fight would produce another. I just don't see where Kongo can fit in at this early stage in his development.

I agree with you about Kongo, he hasn't done enough to earn a title shot yet. i say match him up with Gonzaga to help clear things up.

Arvloski has kinda shot himself in the foot since being knocked out by Timmy. he hasn't been that exciting lately, he could've finished Werdum if he pressed the action but he was content to get a decision victory.

I would say that Minotauro did more than squeeze past Herring. He got caught with a great kick in round 1, he dominated the fight besides that kick and flurry that followed by Herring.

Silva vs. Franklin: Franklin by ref stoppage in 3rd. Everything points to Anderson being an unstoppable force. I believe the hype has gotten to his head. Rich will pull out an upset.

Silva doesn't take anyone lightly, since winning he's been respectful and classy to all of his opponents. He knows that Rich is a good fighter and fighting in his hometown. Silva will come out looking to finish.

my predictions for the fight will after i see the weigh-ins.

Thanks, Sebowski..

IMO, Neither Kongo or Minotauro has earned a title shot yet. Kongo should have to fight someone better than Assuerio Sylva and a greatly-reduced Cro Cop. Big Nog looked un-champlike against Herring.

Sylvia v. Vera should be the title match. Tim just lost the belt to Couture and didn't get a rematch. Vera has had a most impressive string of wins and deserves it more than Nog.

a list of fighters Vera has faced and beaten:

1. Frank Mir (shell of his former self when they fought)

2. Assuerio Silva

3. Justin Eilers

4. Mike Whitehead

5. Fabiano Scherner

6. Andre Mussi

7. Don Richard

8. Adam Rivera

you say that Nog or Kongo shouldn't get a shot at the title, yet you say Vera has an impressive string of victories. Vera hasn't fought in a long time, and he still hasn't faced anybody remotely close to the top 10. I like Vera, but he doesn't deserve a shot over Nog at this point. Once he starts to beat people who are actually ranked, then give him the shot (which i expect him to do).

Not Vera? Nog may have beaten Herring but he certainly didn't impress vs. a guy who many think is well beyond his best days. Brandon, however, seems to dominate all comers. I'd like to see this matchup for the vacant title.

Vera has been dominant in his fights, but he hasn't faced anybody in the top 10. i like vera alot, but he doesn't deserve a titlte shot at this point.

A disappointing turn of events, but I suppose it had to eventually happen, though the events surrounding Couture's retirement are a little questionable. First, I wonder why they could not sign Fedor - do you think he is scared? Second, is Randy really the second best paid fighter in the UFC, or is Dana White incorrect? Also, is this similar to a situation in football, where you play the contract you have and that you signed? Perhaps Randy could have renegotiated the contract?

1. They offered Fedor an obscene amount of money (7 figures per fight), but the sticking point was that Fedor wanted to still be able to compete in Russian Sambo tournaments, Dana would not bend on that.

2. its been reported that ufc fighters get their fight checks, and if they a big star (hughes, liddell, franklin, and at least i thought couture) they receive a little on the side that is never reported. from what i understand, as far as fight checks go, Randy was 2nd (only behind Liddell), but he was mad that he wasn't getting as big a side cut as some other fighters. Add to the fact that ufc wasn't goin to give him the same amount as they were goin to give Fedor to fight, you can kinda understand why he feels disrespected.

3. Fighters usually have to honor their contracts simply because they really have no leverage. Couture is an exception to that rule because of who he is. He helped build and launch the sport to where it is today. He has other avenues for money so he doesn't NEED to fight. The downside is that he can't fight for any other org. until his current contract expires, if you believe Randy, the contract ends in 9months, Dana has said that he contract is for another 2years though.

Wow.

So with Vera fighting Sylvia and Nog fighting Kongo they will probably have the two winners fight for the vacant title.

Looks like Nog will be the next UFC heavyweight champion.

sounds about right

the mmaweekly article said that couture can't fight for 9months. still a slim chance that he goes to M-1 to fight Fedor, we can only hope. dana would probably committ suicide over having the biggest fight in the sport, not happen in the UFC. :laugh:

some words from Couture on the matter: http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=9455

His success outside the ring is proof of his success inside the Octagon. But Couture said it was a lack of respect by the UFC, in particular its president Dana White, that led him to resigning.

"I think the final straw for me was meeting with White and Lorenzo (Fertitta, UFC co-owner) where they claimed I was the No. 2 paid athlete in the organization, which I know is a bold-faced lie," Couture said. Polling other athletes, said Couture, he learned that his compensation -- some $250,000 a fight with pay-per-view bonuses, according to the Couture camp -- was nowhere near what other top UFC fighters were making.

"All us athletes are all pretty tightly intertwined," he said. "You hear what other guys were paid signing bonuses and what other guys were paid on the record and off the record with bonuses. I've heard Chuck's numbers. Tito's numbers. Hughes' numbers. Quinton's numbers. Cro Cop, Wanderlei. I heard what they were offering Fedor, and it's insulting."

I knew that **** would come back to bite Dana in the ass one day

RANDY COUTURE QUITS THE UFC!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=4867&zoneid=2

Randy Couture has resigned from the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Not only has he relinquished his heavyweight title, he will also no longer be providing on-air fight analysis for the mixed martial arts juggernaut.

MMAWeekly on Thursday confirmed the resignation, first reported by The Fight Network’s Brian Knapp, through both Sean O’Heir and Valerie Haney, representatives of Couture’s Las Vegas-based Xtreme Couture training facility.

The focal point of his resignation appears to be the reports that Fedor Emelianenko, highly regarded as the No. 1 heavyweight fighter in the world, has agreed to forgo offers from the UFC and fight elsewhere.

A statement released by Haney, Couture’s personal assistant, read, “Fedor Emelianenko was Randy's last great challenge and with that prospect gone, he feels he's accomplished all that he can in mixed martial arts.”

wow........................

But even though Houston said he "slipped", it wasn't the case. So while I do think Houston may get caught, the guy has an offense up there with the best in the weight class.

Joe Rogan: Did he hurt you with punch that knocked you down?

Houston Alexander:

if houston said he slipped, then he slipped dammit!!!! :laugh:

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=4828&zoneid=13

Since joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Clay Guida has put on some of the most exciting fights the lightweight division has ever seen. Now he gets a chance to ply his craft in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter Finale on Dec. 8, as he faces popular fighter Roger Huerta.

“I think it was more timing than anything,” said Guida of his sudden rise to main event status. “I was out at Ultimate Fight Night a couple weeks ago at the Palms and Joe Silva approached me and mentioned it. It sounded like a good fight for the both of us. This has fight of the year written all over it.”

Huerta's getting his first true test in the UFC in this fight. I think Guida will get a decision against him though.