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Extremeskins

Anything MMA, except thumb wrestling


SUNSTONE

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Okay, moving on from the initial shock, who thinks Chuck is done?

He's out of shape all the time, relies on his old and studied bag of tricks, keeps his hands too low, guys are just way more athletic and well rounded now. Rashad turned from a percieved wrestler to a dynamite handed KO artist tonight. I think LHW is too stacked for Chuck. He better run to heavyweight or retire right now.

All I know is that Chuck has to be considered the absolute pioneer of MMA in the U.S. Every career has to end, and judging by the talent in his division, he should be just about ready to wrap it up.

I would say I think Chuck is nearing the end of the road. I'm hesitant to say he's done, as I have too much respect for him to say that, but I did think he was going to lose this fight to Rashad. You're right that he's just using the same M.O. in the octagon and his opponents are not overlooking that anymore. I'll be interested to see how Chuck performs his next fight, but I'd say he's close to being done, particularly in this division. And I honestly don't see him faring much better in HW division either.

Could not agree more.

WAHOO! :cheers:

Edited by Special K
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i think Liddell is done to be honest. its not like Liddell is going to learn any new tricks to his game, especially when his current form has been so successful for him for so long.

he would be better served moving up to heavyweight if he wants to have some success before retiring. not as much competition as compared to the 205 division.

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Chuck needs to get back to more kickboxing if he wishes to stay in this MMA world now. Much like Tito when his ground and pound was unstoppable, eventually the competition caught up to him and he was exploited because he was one dimensional. Chuck is a one dimensional fighter and has been for awhile, it was truly only a matter of time. With that said, I still dont' like Rashad, humility helps make a champion, Penn had to learn it, Tito had to learn it, they all do, his time just hasnt come yet.

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Liddell never picked his hands up one time. He should know better, especially after the Rampage II fight. It shows he's not willing to change. Like an old dog, Evans put him to sleep. I was shocked. Rashad proves me wrong every time. I won't pick against him again. He keeps getting better.

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Liddell never picked his hands up one time. He should know better, especially after the Rampage II fight. It shows he's not willing to change. Like an old dog, Evans put him to sleep. I was shocked. Rashad proves me wrong every time. I won't pick against him again. He keeps getting better.

If Chuck wants to keep fighting it would be a good idea for him to try a different training camp and a new boxing coach. His "hands down" style just doesn't work for him anymore with his age and all. His reflexes aren't as fast and he's going to keep getting caught.

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not at all surprising, but Rashad will get the first crack at Forrest Griffin's title: http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=7051&zoneid=13

With his devastating knockout of former champion Chuck Liddell, his shoulders now bear only the weight of keeping his undefeated record intact, as the title shot is now within his grasp.

Talking about the possibility of a title shot after his stunning performance, Evans said, “I’m a patient man. I’m just enjoying the ride and whatever happens, however long it takes, it takes.”

He didn’t have to be patient for long, however, as UFC president Dana White informed the media at the UFC 88 post-fight press conference that Evans would indeed be tapped to challenge UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin in the first defense of his title.

Griffin won the belt in a five-round battle with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 86 in July.

Although White stopped short of confirming when the title bout would take place, it is believed to be part of a planned twin bill, sharing the spotlight on Dec. 27 with a heavyweight interim title bout between champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and challenger Frank Mir.

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99 you are dead on here, his hands down style just isnt going to work any more because of how old he is.

keeastman is dead on too in that rashad is a ***** and i cant wait for someone who isnt almost 40 to knock his ass out and dance over him. showboating amongst gladiators is just lame and matt hughes called him out properly for it a long ass time ago.

rashad does have good hands though and his wrestling cant be questioned either but someone like griffin will eat him up if he comes out like he did against chuck. he ran for 1 1/2 rounds and then caught him with a haymaker that hit the button. griffin wont fall for that, and i dont know of too many other legit 205s that will either.

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Regardless, I don't like athletes showboating when their opponent is on the ground being attended to by physicians. Rashad's attitude is one of the reasons I've never taken a liking to Evans, even with his talent.

That was my problem too. I don't care if someone dances around, but wait until you make sure your opponent is OK. I know it was a huge win, but your celebration can wait a few minutes.

I do not like Phil Baroni at all, and we all know how he likes attention. But after he knocked that kid out in Cage Rage a few months ago, I was happy that he was genuinely concerned about his opponent and went to check on him before anything else.

But then he got head-butted, so maybe that was not the best call either. :)

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keeastman is dead on too in that rashad is a ***** and i cant wait for someone who isnt almost 40 to knock his ass out and dance over him. showboating amongst gladiators is just lame and matt hughes called him out properly for it a long ass time ago.

Not to mention Forrest is still hungry and one of the most motivated fighters in the sport. He's not going to take the fight lightly like Chuck tends to do with opponents.

Showboating like that was a ***** move though (what do you expect from a fighter with the nickname "sugar" though?)

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Not to mention Forrest is still hungry and one of the most motivated fighters in the sport. He's not going to take the fight lightly like Chuck tends to do with opponents.

Showboating like that was a ***** move though (what do you expect from a fighter with the nickname "sugar" though?)

i think Rashad has a good chance early against Forrest. i could see Rashad's speed and quickness giving Forrest some problems early on. i think as the fight extends itself, Forrest will takeover because his gas tank is far superior to Rashad's

i could see Rashad stopping Griffin inside the 3 rounds, or Griffin stopping Evans late or getting a decision.

its actually a pretty good matchup all things considered. seems like everytime time you think either of these fighters are going to lose, they come up huge and shock people. :2cents:

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i think Rashad has a good chance early against Forrest. i could see Rashad's speed and quickness giving Forrest some problems early on. i think as the fight extends itself, Forrest will takeover because his gas tank is far superior to Rashad's

i could see Rashad stopping Griffin inside the 3 rounds, or Griffin stopping Evans late or getting a decision.

its actually a pretty good matchup all things considered. seems like everytime time you think either of these fighters are going to lose, they come up huge and shock people. :2cents:

This fight will be good because both are from the new breed of fighters. They both are well rounded (for the most part) and both do a good job of gameplanning for specific opponents.

Also, didn't Rashad win the season of TUF following Forrest?

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yeah he won TUF #2 as a heavyweight ironically. he had the hardest road of any TUF fighter. he had to fight 4 times to win the title, that same season, Jardine made it to the semi-finals without fighting a single match. thats why they switched up the rules.

i think of the HW's that competed on that show, only Rashad & Jardine are still employed by the UFC

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Just some thought from last nights main card:

- Marquardt looked awesome. He did the same thing Rashad did, sharpened up his boxing so much that he out-punched the puncher. Kampmann did not expect that. Good gameplanning. The great thing about being well-rounded is that you can sharpen the tools you will want to use according to the dominant style of your opponent. I'd like to see Nate take on anyone in the MW division, he makes for an exciting fight. Nate Quarry would probably make the most sense right now.

- Henderson has a great sprawl, but Palhares started to fake some shots later in the fight and should have immediately followed with strikes. There was one Palhares shot-fake that Dan totally fell for, and Palhares just stood there. Palhares has good power in those kicks, but they rarely hit their mark. Don't know what to make of this fight except that Palhares needs to round himself out rather than focusing on being a dominating ground fighter. Hendo doesn't look like he's changing his style, and why would he? It's not like he's Chuck, keeping his hands at his waist, leaving his chin out. In fact, Dan probably keeps his chin tucked better than anyone I've seen. He could religiously work on his jiu jitsu, but at this point, I think he knows father time will arrive before he's squiggling out of Anderson Silva's back control.

- Franklin looked very, very sharp. The question coming in to this fight was his being undersized for the division. Well, he took on a pretty darn big guy and kept him at bay. Hamill hasn't really been tested. Boetch is pretty good and Bisping wasn't his best in LHW, so you can't really judge where Franklin can go with this win under his belt. Franklin has always been a great technical striker and a savvy ground fighter, so he has a good shot at beating some big names.

- Chuck Liddell is probably finished. Not everybody is Randy Couture, and even Randy had to come back when the HW division was at its weakest to snag the belt. Randy totally changed his style when he came back, and everybody knows Chuck will never get rid of that ridiculously wide-legged, wide-armed stance. He's basically daring people to hit him, and, well, they do. It's obvious to everyone that the boom of MMA has made fighters stronger, more athletic, smarter, and it's happening at a very fast rate. Chuck has always had a huge belly, skinny arms, and no chest muscles. His body looks like my dad's after a Thanksgiving dinner. He turned from a wrestling kickboxer, to a kickboxer, to an unorthadox boxer, to a careless unorthadox boxer. At 37, in that kind of shape, with that kind of style, it is time to hang them up. His style is a novelty, like a homerun hitter that strikes out all the time. Imagine Babe Ruth at 38. That's what Chuck is. Chuck is 1 for 4, with two strikeouts, a ground-out and a base hit in his last 4 fights.

When Rashad stepped in to the octagon, I was taken back by the shape he was in. His legs looked powerful, his arms were pumped, he had calm-focus in every interview he had before this fight. He was faster than ever, jumping around the octagon instead of just bobbing and weaving, and he slipped in punches while dodging most of Chuck's. Rashad earned my respect last night. I think Forrest will take him, but it certainly looks like Rashad is the real deal.

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That was my problem too. I don't care if someone dances around, but wait until you make sure your opponent is OK. I know it was a huge win, but your celebration can wait a few minutes.

I do not like Phil Baroni at all, and we all know how he likes attention. But after he knocked that kid out in Cage Rage a few months ago, I was happy that he was genuinely concerned about his opponent and went to check on him before anything else.

But then he got head-butted, so maybe that was not the best call either. :)

Well you must hate half the UFC cuz almost EVERYONE celebrates

first and then walks over to see how the other person is doing.

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Well you must hate half the UFC cuz almost EVERYONE celebrates

first and then walks over to see how the other person is doing.

There have not been that many brutal knockouts in the UFC in a long time though. That one looked like it could be bad.

Again, no problem with celebrating. I do though when someone may be seriously hurt.

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