Anything MMA, except thumb wrestling

[Sebowski]

I finally caught up on the WEC and Strikeforce cards. As big as MMA has gotten it is still easier to DVR and avoid news than soccer is. I wonder how long that will last.

The Thomson-Melendez fight was amazing. Another comeback KO for Scott Smith. King Mo easily dispatched Whitehead. Jacare subs Linlund.

Scott Smith. Wow. Crazy part is that I wasn't that surprised. Nobody can coast against him. You have to go for the kill when there is an opening. I hope Le fights Lawler or Diaz soon. Probably not Diaz since he is fighting for the vacant 170 title in a month, but that would be a great fight.

We have to see Melendez-Thompson III at some point.

It still really bothers me that Thompson calls himself "The Punk" and then come out to techno music. He might as well call himself Grand Master Hip Hop and come out to The Sex Pistols.

i seriously want to know what the hell Horodecki was thinking. he turned his back and ran. what was he expecting to happen? strong candidate for Dummy Move of the Year

Turning and running happens way more than it should. I always scream at the tv for the other guy to throw something. They hardly ever do. Melendez had a couple chances to pop Thompson in their fight when Thompson kept reaching down fix his knee brace.

[Special K]

Just wanted to jump in and give props to SU for all the links. Thanks so much!!!

And to all the other regulars in this thread, Merry Christman, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Years. You guys always make this thread fun and intersting...one of the better threads in the ES TG....and a LOT more fun to come here for solid information than wading through the loads of crappy-dappy on Sherdog.

[StillUnknown]

Just wanted to jump in and give props to SU for all the links. Thanks so much!!!

And to all the other regulars in this thread, Merry Christman, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Years. You guys always make this thread fun and intersting...one of the better threads in the ES TG....and a LOT more fun to come here for solid information than wading through the loads of crappy-dappy on Sherdog.

agreed

Merry Christmas to all the regulars & strangers who make this thread what it is

[#98QBKiller]

Just wanted to jump in and give props to SU for all the links. Thanks so much!!!

And to all the other regulars in this thread, Merry Christman, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Years. You guys always make this thread fun and intersting...one of the better threads in the ES TG....and a LOT more fun to come here for solid information than wading through the loads of crappy-dappy on Sherdog.

Amen to that! Merry (late) Christmas to you guys, this is definitely one of the best threads on ES...and soooo much better than dealing with the internet tough guys at Sherdog.

[Sebowski]

Great post SU. I've been thinking about the awards and I will cop out a little and wait till the year is over.

UFC pics of the year

Some cool ones. Not necessarily the best. Check them all out.

Edited December 28, 2009 by Sebowski

[Chachie]

Judge in Machida-Rua fight now reconsiders...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=AqfjSxgE0udSni2gl7yt4WQ9Eo14?slug=dm-judging122609&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

When UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida got his hand raised on Oct. 24 after his title defense against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, in a fight where most polls showed about 80 percent of the public believed the title should have changed hands, it set off a series of three straight major-show UFC main events in which judging became a hotly debated issue.

But some of the most vehement response has come from a surprising source: the judges themselves, some of whom feel handcuffed and frustrated with the system in place.

The most vocal is veteran official Nelson “Doc” Hamilton. Hamilton was one of the three judges who controversially scored that fight 48-47 in favor of Machida. Yet after watching tape of the fight, Hamilton now believes Rua was the winner.

(See link for more..)

Some good points for and against what happened that night and about a couple fights since then. I saw Shogun beat the Dragon but I know others saw Lyoto keep his title justly.

Edited December 28, 2009 by Chachie

[StillUnknown]

that was a good read. Mma is incredibly hard to judge, no system will ever be without controversy.

[Sebowski]

Judge in Machida-Rua fight now reconsiders...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=AqfjSxgE0udSni2gl7yt4WQ9Eo14?slug=dm-judging122609&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

When UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida got his hand raised on Oct. 24 after his title defense against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, in a fight where most polls showed about 80 percent of the public believed the title should have changed hands, it set off a series of three straight major-show UFC main events in which judging became a hotly debated issue.

But some of the most vehement response has come from a surprising source: the judges themselves, some of whom feel handcuffed and frustrated with the system in place.

The most vocal is veteran official Nelson “Doc” Hamilton. Hamilton was one of the three judges who controversially scored that fight 48-47 in favor of Machida. Yet after watching tape of the fight, Hamilton now believes Rua was the winner.

(See link for more..)

Some good points for and against what happened that night and about a couple fights since then. I saw Shogun beat the Dragon but I know others saw Lyoto keep his title justly.

Another inherent problem is that while judges are told they can give 10-10 scores, they also believe if they do so with any frequency, they won’t be asked back.

“I’m not going to die on that sword,” said Hamilton.

There is also a reluctance to give 10-8 rounds unless a fighter is completely dominant in the round.

“Judges think that if they give a 10-8 in a three-round fight that they’ve made it almost impossible for the other fighter to win a decision,” said John McCarthy, MMA’s most well-known referee, who frequently works as a judge and teaches seminars in judging the sport.

I hate the scoring system too, but this section bothers really me. The current system as flawed as it is still isn;t as bad as the judges are making it. If they think it is a 10-10, score it 10-10! Want to give 10-8's just a decisive but not dominating round? Do it! Give 10-7's for dominant rounds. That half point proposal is pointless. It is the same thing as just giving out more 10-10's, 10-8's, and 10-7s.

I also hate Kizer's explanation of why they don't want to use monitors.

He said he’s noticed that when he has watched fights on monitors while at ringside, sometimes he’s still looking at the monitor when the fight is front in front of him.

You aren't the judge! Hopefully the judges are good enough at their job to look up when the fight is in front of them. If they aren't, get ones that are. Don;t keep a tool away from them because you are afraid they are too incompetent to use it properly.

[#98QBKiller]

Judge in Machida-Rua fight now reconsiders...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=AqfjSxgE0udSni2gl7yt4WQ9Eo14?slug=dm-judging122609&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

When UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida got his hand raised on Oct. 24 after his title defense against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, in a fight where most polls showed about 80 percent of the public believed the title should have changed hands, it set off a series of three straight major-show UFC main events in which judging became a hotly debated issue.

But some of the most vehement response has come from a surprising source: the judges themselves, some of whom feel handcuffed and frustrated with the system in place.

The most vocal is veteran official Nelson “Doc” Hamilton. Hamilton was one of the three judges who controversially scored that fight 48-47 in favor of Machida. Yet after watching tape of the fight, Hamilton now believes Rua was the winner.

(See link for more..)

Some good points for and against what happened that night and about a couple fights since then. I saw Shogun beat the Dragon but I know others saw Lyoto keep his title justly.

I forget which round it is but Doc Hamilton scored Rua's most dominant round for Machida...the scorecard is in this thread somewhere, SU posted it after the PPV.

[Chachie]

I hate the scoring system too, but this section bothers really me. The current system as flawed as it is still isn;t as bad as the judges are making it. If they think it is a 10-10, score it 10-10!

10-10 if both fighters show aggression. If they dance around for 5 minutes, 9-9!

[StillUnknown]

http://mmajunkie.com/news/17347/phil-davis-vs-brian-stann-added-to-ufc-109-josh-koscheck-reportedly-out.mma

Former collegiate wrestling standout and recent UFC signee Phil Davis (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will make his organizational debut on Feb. 6 in a preliminary card matchup with Brian Stann (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC).

The UFC today officially announced the matchup for "UFC 109: Relentless" at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

During just 14 months of pro MMA competition, Davis has posted a 4-0 record. The past three victories, which came in organizations such as Palace Fighting Championships and Ultimate Warrior Challenge, have all come via first-round stoppages.

The Pennsylvania native currently trains at the Alliance Training Center in San Diego and the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif.

Meanwhile, former WEC champ Stann looks to build on a two-fight win streak. After dropping his final WEC contest to Steve Cantwell and his UFC debut to Krzysztof Soszynski, Stann has since avenged his loss to Cantwell and earned a unanimous-decision win over UFC newcomer Rodney Wallace.

The addition to the card comes just as AOL FanHouse reports that welterweight contender Josh Koscheck (14-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) has been forced to withdraw from the event due to an undisclosed injury.

Koscheck has since confirmed the report on his official Twitter account.

"I am not fighting Feb. 6, UFC 109, due to injury," Koscheck stated. "I will be good to go back to training in a couple weeks, I hope."

Koscheck was originally set to face Brazilian Paulo Thiago (12-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a rematch of the pair's February meeting, which Thiago won with a shocking first-round TKO.

Thiago was scheduled to face Brazilian slugger Thiago Alves at UFC 107 earlier this month, but a scheduling shuffle left the submission fighting Jacob Volkmann at November's UFC 106 event. Thiago earned a unanimous-decision over Volkmann and ran his record to 2-1 in the UFC.

AOL FanHouse said the UFC plans on arranging an alternate matchup for Thiago at the event.

phil davis is supposed to be a pretty good prospect, but i'm surprised he made it to the UFC that fast

on another note, injuries have moved from the 108 card to the 109 card

[StillUnknown]

UFC 108 countdown tonight at 11pm(est) on spike

[#98QBKiller]

Looks like it's going to be 5 losses in a row for Goodridge.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Mousasi-Goodridge-Added-to-Dynamite-21752

Mousasi-Goodridge Added to ‘Dynamite’

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Loretta Hunt

Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi and Gary Goodridge will meet in a heavyweight MMA-rules bout at K-1 “Dynamite Power of Courage 2009” this Thursday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

The last-minute matchup will be Mousasi’s return engagement to Japan, where the 24-year-old Armenian-Dutch striker breezed past jiu-jitsu ace Ronald “Jacare” Souza and striker Melvin Manhoef to win Dream’s middleweight title in 2008. In 2009, the rising talent relinquished the title to move up a weight division and trampled former Strikeforce champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral in one minute last August to take the U.S. promotion’s crown. Mousasi earned a second-round technical knockout against Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in a non-title affair for Strikeforce on Nov. 7. The bout was televised to nearly five million homes live on CBS.

Noted for a calmness and poise reminiscent of his sometimes-training partner Fedor Emelianenko, Mousasi hasn’t lost since August 2006, when he was submitted by Akihiro Gono with a second-round armbar in Pride Bushido’s welterweight tournament quarterfinals.

The grizzled 43-year-old Goodridge has led a storied career in the sport dating back to UFC 8 in 1996. The former Canadian world arm wrestling champion-turned-brawler has fought 45 MMA bouts as well as 35 kickboxing bouts, mostly in Japan. On December 2008, Goodridge was defeated by Cătălin Moroşanu in a kickboxing match at Lokal Kombat 32 in Romania. Goodridge dropped all five of his MMA bouts in 2008, which included losses against current Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem and Paul Buentello. He has not fought yet in 2009.

[FanboyOf91]

Oy, just retire already Gary.

[Chachie]

UFC 108 countdown tonight at 11pm(est) on spike

I honestly can't see myself paying for this card, especially after spending so much money over the holidays.

[lovetoaster]

I honestly can't see myself paying for this card, especially after spending so much money over the holidays.

With everything being so busy recently, I actually forgot about it. I was going to go to a basketball game because I did not think anything else was going on. I am probably going to order it, but it is certainly not the best card on paper. I still want to see Silva-Evans and am intrigued by Dos Santos-Yvel, Daley-Hazelett and Lauzon-Stout, so I guess it is worth it to me. Plus, I will probably have a few people over to offset a little of the cost.

I am not going to get into opinions over things like sopcast and streaming of fights, but I just can't get into doing that, so I will likely go ahead and get it.

Edited December 30, 2009 by lovetoaster

[lovetoaster]

Oy, just retire already Gary.

Haha...that's essentially the same thing I thought. I love watching Mousasi fight, but when I saw this news yesterday, I wondered if I could be less excited for a fight.

[StillUnknown]

I honestly can't see myself paying for this card, especially after spending so much money over the holidays.

me either, i'll probably find a stream online. this card is more Fight Night than PPV quality

on another note, for the insomniacs amongst us, Dream/FEG's Dynamite card is on HDNET at 3am(est):

Location: Saitama, Japan

Venue: Saitama Super Arena

Broadcast: HDNet (North America)

• Masato vs. Andy Souwer (K-1)
  
• Gary Goodridge vs. Gegard Mousasi (MMA)
  
• Shinya Aoki vs. Mizuto Hirota (MMA)
  
• Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Alistair Overeem (MMA)
  
• Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (MMA)
  
• Masanori Kanehara vs. Norofumi "Kid" Yamamoto (MMA)
  
• Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazunori Yokota (MMA)
  
• Marlon Sandro vs. Hideo Tokoro (MMA)
  
• Melvin Manhoef vs. Kazuo Misaki (MMA)
  
• Akihiro Gono vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (MMA)
  
• Michihiro Omigawa vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (MMA)
  
• Hiroshi Izumi vs. Katsuyori Shibata (MMA)
  
• Hiroya/Noiri winner vs. Ishida/Shimada winner (K-1 KOSHIEN final)
  
• Yosuke Nishijima vs. Ray Sefo (K-1)
  
• Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (MMA/"Super Hulk" finale)
  
• Katsuki Ishida vs. Shota Shimada (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal)
  
• Hiroya vs. Masaaki Noiri (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal)
  
• Tsukasa Fuji vs. Ryuya Kusakabe (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal reserve)
  

there a couple of fights i want to see on this card. especially Ishii's (2008 Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo) debut

Edited December 30, 2009 by StillUnknown

[#98QBKiller]

there a couple of fights i want to see on this card. especially Ishii's (2008 Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo) debut

Between him and Yoshida, someone's getting thrown in that fight.

[Sebowski]

me either, i'll probably find a stream online. this card is more Fight Night than PPV quality

In the UFC's defense here are the fighters that were attached to this card at some point:

Anderson Silva

Brock Lesnar

Vitor Belfort

Shane Carwin

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Cain Velasquez

Rory Markham

Tyson Griffin

Sean Sherk

Carlos Condit

Gabriel Gonzaga

[StillUnknown]

In the UFC's defense here are the fighters that were attached to this card at some point:

Anderson Silva

Brock Lesnar

Vitor Belfort

Shane Carwin

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Cain Velasquez

Rory Markham

Tyson Griffin

Sean Sherk

Carlos Condit

Gabriel Gonzaga

the fights that are still on the card are well matched. i dont see any terribly one-sided contests. i actually think it will be a good card of fights, just not one i'm willing to drop money on

Between him and Yoshida, someone's getting thrown in that fight.

i hope Ishii doesn't crack under the pressure. Japanese MMA are basically looking to him as their savior right now

Edited December 30, 2009 by StillUnknown

[Chachie]

In the UFC's defense here are the fighters that were attached to this card at some point:

Anderson Silva

Brock Lesnar

Vitor Belfort

Shane Carwin

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Cain Velasquez

Rory Markham

Tyson Griffin

Sean Sherk

Carlos Condit

Gabriel Gonzaga

Absolutely true, but I'm not shelling out sympathy money.

[#98QBKiller]

i hope Ishii doesn't crack under the pressure. Japanese MMA are basically looking to him as their savior right now

Me too. I've got pretty high hopes for this fight because I enjoy Judo, and there aren't many guys that have found a way to make it work for MMA. Some of the names that you hear associated with Judo in MMA don't use it very much (Sokou/Manny/even Karo these days).

[StillUnknown]

Me too. I've got pretty high hopes for this fight because I enjoy Judo, and there aren't many guys that have found a way to make it work for MMA. Some of the names that you hear associated with Judo in MMA don't use it very much (Sokou/Manny/even Karo these days).

i'm a fan of judo as well, especially since the throws usually end with the person in a dominant position, as opposed to a typical takedown where you end up in the person's full guard.

the only top level guy i think that still uses Judo as his base is Akiyama (although i think he might be a bit undersized for MW's in the states)

Dana White tried his hardest to get Ishii directly into the UFC, but Ishii wanted to fight in his homeland. if he can deal with the pressure, he should be okay

[#98QBKiller]

i'm a fan of judo as well, especially since the throws usually end with the person in a dominant position, as opposed to a typical takedown where you end up in the person's full guard.

the only top level guy i think that still uses Judo as his base is Akiyama (although i think he might be a bit undersized for MW's in the states)

Dana White tried his hardest to get Ishii directly into the UFC, but Ishii wanted to fight in his homeland. if he can deal with the pressure, he should be okay

Yep, this throw from Yoshida comes to mind first:

Pretty sweet when you go straight from standing in the clinch to side-control.

I think it will be a while before we see dominant Judo guys in MMA that aren't from Japan. They virtually own the Olympics and the World Championships in Judo medals.

Jimmy Pedro is the only American I can think of that has placed in Olympic Judo in the last 10 years.