mvisit1

Wanna sig bet me Sebowski? I'll take Alves. His takedown defense will be fine, and even if he does end up on his back, don't forget that his BJJ trainer is Ricardo Liborio, one of the most decorated BJJ players ever and the late Grandmaster Carlson Gracie's top student.

You all know I'm a huge fan of American Top Team and a distant part of their family and we are all excited about UFC 85. Din Thomas used to be their top UFC guy and Marcus "Maximus" Aurelio in his Pride days. They're star right now is Thiago "Pit Bull" Alves and we're excited to see what he can do against Hughes after that awesome knee KO against Parysian. Also, if you're a hometown MMA fan, you know that even though Brandon "The Truth" Vera fights out of CA, he got his start with Team Lloyd Irvin out of Camp Springs, MD and that Irvin can still be seen in Vera's corner for every fight.

I watched the first UFC on PPV too, does that make me a fan for 20 years? I ACTUALLY train Muay Thai Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and MMA, and I AM TELLING YOU, Jens Pulver does not suck. He may be old and past his prime, but he DOES NOT suck. You have NO IDEA what you are talking about. Faber has pretty much walked through all of his opponents. Pulver went the distance. Pulver's takedown defense was the best that Faber has ever seen and Pulver's skillful ground game helped him avoid Faber's sick ground and pound. In the very beginning, when Faber had Pulver on his back and against the cage, it would have been over for many lesser opponents, but Pulver didn't get ground & pounded and even got back to his feet. This was Faber's greatest test, it forced him to bring his A game, and Pulver proved that there's still gas in his tank. If the Pulver from a few years ago showed up, he might have been the one squeaking out the decision.

Just because he couldn't beat the champ, doesn't mean he should give up altogether. Faber is THAT good. I guess you think all of the UFC Middleweights should just give up at life as long as Silva's fighting too? Tertiary organization? The WEC is THE place to showcase your talent if you plan on fighting at 145 or 135. How long have you been a casual MMA fan? One month? Are you really 38? You sound more like you're 8.

"I just glanced at a CBS.com article which basically was playing to the "Freakshow" angle of things, compound that with the "Thug" or "Street Fighter" reputation that Kimbo has and I just don't see him doing anything positive for the sport. I know that a lot of people are saying that he is a great guy/ hard worker/ etc... but I don't think that any amount of positive press at this point will ever outway the street brawler image. I also don't think that EliteXC listing Kimbo's fighting discipline as "BRAWLING" does very much to help the situation. He may bring some new fans to the sport, and hopefully some of them will grow to appreciate the sport, all it aspects, but I tend to think that the more likely truth is that he will bring more ignorant low lifes to the sport who expect to see human ****fighting, boo ground wars and have zero appreciation for jiu-jitsu, strategy and the finer points of MMA. i understand that Kimbo is a draw, but for him to be a headliner in a mainstream company, which like it or not, EliteXC is by way of being televised on CBS... it gives the wrong message to the masses, it gives fuel to the arguments against MMA, makes it easy for idiots like Bill O'Reilly to discredit the sport, and ultimately makes it much harder for MMA to become accepted and respected as a mainstream sport. To play devil's advocate, MMA is being talked about a lot right now, many new people were exposed to it, and those people could take it upon themselves to become educated. But I honestly don't think that is likely, I think Kimbo draws a lot of attention to MMA, but it is basically the wrong kind of attention and bad for the public image of the sport." http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f61/kimbo-bad-mma-790857/ I agree with this Sherdogger. I used to think Kimbo was good for MMA because he brought new fans and more attention, but it's the wrong kind of attention.

Interesting, I hope this is true, otherwise it looks like Jens was instructed not to give full intensity. His big left he's known for was barely there, his flurries and power looked tentative, and the few times it looked like he had Faber hurt, he didn't jump on him like he wanted to win. Speaking of fixed fights, on Sherdog they're saying that Kimbo tapped at some point during his fight last night but the ref didn't stop it, all of the fans saw this, thought the stoppage was BS, and that's why the fans were booing him at the end. They're saying they used the 15 second delay to edit it out and that's why there was that wierd pan out way away from the cage during the fight, I know I remember it and was confused by it.

My sentiments exactly.

I wouldn't consider that falling...isn't this the first live nationwide airing of MMA on network TV ever? Not counting Spike TV. And I think not everyone has the Versus channel.

If ANYONE thinks that cardio didn't come into play in the Penn/Sherk fight JUST because it didn't hit the ground, they're on crack. They've obviously never boxed anyone for rounds. And let's not forget that boxing rounds are 3 minutes long, not 5. People said Penn has no cardio, and I'm sure he knows that and that's probably the very reason why he thought it would make a statement not to take a seat in between rounds against Sherk, a cardio freak...and people still find SOMETHING to say...absolute crap.

Anyone else notice that Penn didn't take a seat in between rounds? How's that for improved cardio?

No one should cast their vote on Kimbo yet. YES, he doesn't deserve the credit because he hasn't seen any REAL competition yet. BUT, he's an MMA a noob and doesn't deserve to be put in front of any of the top competitors yet. It's a double edged sword.

I have a good example we can all use for this "desperation" debate...Remember Nate Diaz's last victory? (The last UFC Fight Night on Spike) He wasn't getting GnP'd as bad as Mir, but from what I recall, he was sure losing the striking game. He was also slammed/taken down quite decisively a few times...I definitely had him losing on my scorecard. But there was just that one time where he got slammed, but locked up the triangle on the way down and won the fight. If it weren't for the triangle and things continued the way there were going, Nate would have either been TKO'd or lost a unanimous decision...Would you call his triangle a "desperation technique"?

Anyone wanna take me up on the Gouveia/Reljiic match? I won't bet with you guys on anything else as you're all picking who I think are the favorites. ATT FOR LIFE

Anyone wanna do a sig bet with me for the next UFC? I like Penn. I'll do a separate one with someone else if you wanna take Goran Reljiic. I don't know anything about him but on paper he is taller and has a better W/L Record than his opponent, Wilson Gouveia. Gouveia is ATT and you all know how much I love ATT.

Hmmm...I can agree that Mir was in a desparate situation, he had to do something different other than continually eat shots to the face or risk ref stoppage, but I can't agree that the kneebar was desparate. That's like saying he knew he could win with a kneebar all along but didn't use it until he "had to". If this were the case why did he not go for the kneebar from the opening bell and save himself all of those full force shots to the face from a very large, very strong Lesnar?

He saw the opening and he took it, that's what your supposed to do. Would it have been more valiant in your eyes if he just sat there and ate shots to the face until the ref stopped it? Desparation is using a cheap technique you would not normally use because you're getting your ass kicked. Desparation is punching the throat, kicking the groin, bending fingers/toes, NOT a kneebar. A kneebar is a legit BJJ submission.

Did not know that. Thanks. Just figured there was no ceiling because of the size difference between those two and a couple of other HW fights I've seen.

That wasn't a desparation kneebar, he was looking for the submission the whole time, as I would have been too if I knew I was up against a BJJ noob, I just would have tried a little harder not to eat so many shots to the face. But I'm pretty sure he couldn't help it as there is no weight ceiling in the HW class and Lesnar was so much bigger and stronger.

I call this the American Idol Effect. In the first season of American Idol they set out to find the best unsigned talent America had to offer. They found it in Kelly Clarkson. No other season winner has had a career as successful as hers since. Could the same thing have happened with The Ultimate Fighter? Have they already done a season for each weight class?

I disagree. I'm a sherdogger (mvisit1 there also), and I don't think their forums suck. If you ignore the posers and keyboard warriors, there is some good info on there. I've been a member for months and I read more than anything...I think I've only posted once.

Sure Sherk is clean...now. But he still USED TO juice. Here is my idea...you use steroids, you make unfair gains in size, speed, strength...you stop taking steroids...aren't you now still better off than someone who never took steroids in the first place?

Some people are phenoms. Some are so good that they think they don't have to train hard. They just go off of their raw talent. BJ Penn is one of these people. He was great before, but once he realized this fact and started ACTUALLY training hard he became amazing. If his cardio sucked before it's because he thought that he would submit or KO the guy before he got tired...This was true most of the time. He knows that his only losses are because he had no cardio and he hired a strength and conditioning coach so that it would never happen again. How crisp will Sherk look after the layoff? More like how crisp will he look without THE JUICE?

BJ Penn WILL NOT lose. Sig bet anyone? Wanna go again QBKiller?

I'm pumped about Alves/Hughes! ATT! Glad to see Thiago "Pit Bull" Alves get a shot at another big name after beating Karo. I think he beats the crap out of Hughes and then should fight Serra. If he wins, give him a title shot. Don't sleep on Alves' ground game, BJJ is American Top Team's bread and butter. One more thing...is anyone else annoyed at how ugly this year's draft day hats are? The '06 ones were awesome (solid color, small logo centered on front, big logo off center printed over mesh on back) AND I'm REALLY pissed about my 75th Anniv. Authentic Portis that I thought was a steal at $150 down from $305 now going for $79.99

Question: I might be giving Serra too much credit because he got lucky last time against GSP, but did anyone else think he looked kind of pale and sickly walking out of the tunnel that night? I wasn't expecting him to win, but I certainly thought he'd put up much more of a fight.