Anything MMA, except thumb wrestling

[StillUnknown]

I think the true fight fans would much rather see Silva-Bones.

Also, Silva is probably past his prime already, which makes what he is doing that much more impressive. He would be 37 by the time they fought if it was GSP's next fight after Diaz.

I just hope Silva retires on top. IMO, the only thing that will beat Anderson is father time, and that **** is undefeated. Anderson's game is so heavily predicated on reflexes and precision, that when it goes, it will probably go drastically (i.e. roy jones jr).

I doubt he and Bones fight though, Anderson has stated he has no desires to go to 205, plus he & Bones are friends. I give Bones the best shot of beating him though.

Edited August 28, 2011 by StillUnknown

[Sebowski]

I really love this series. Here is UFC 134 minus 100

I remember this whole card very well. Maybe the craziest UFC finish in the Hughes-Newton fight.

http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/8/27/2385819/ufc-34-matt-hughes-carlos-newton-UFC-History-Randy-Couture

Matt Hughes, Carlos Newton And The Sport's First Photo Finish

Hughes

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By Jonathan Snowden - Feature Writer

One hundred shows ago, the UFC was live in Las Vegas for one of the most legendary events in the promotion's history. Jonathan Snowden talks to the fighters themselves to relive the magical highlights and history from UFC 34.

Follow @MMANation on Twitter, and Like MMA Nation on Facebook.

In just over a decade, Zuffa has promoted more than 100 numbered UFC events. Before every new UFC event we'll take a look back in time to a show 100 UFC's prior. With input from the athletes who were in the cage, we'll bring you the history of the Zuffa era one event at a time.

UFC 34

Date: 11/2/2001

Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Attendance: 9000 (Gate: $502,550)

PPV Buys: 67,000 (estimate)

Announcers: Mike Goldberg, Jeff Osborne, Jens Pulver

Main Event: Randy Couture (Heavyweight Champion) vs. Pedro Rizzo

Best Fights: Carlos Newton (Welterweight Champion) vs. Matt Hughes; Phil Baroni vs. Matt Lindland

UFC 134: Results | Weigh-In | Fight Card

This show was everything the UFC wanted their inaugural return to pay per view to be. Packed from top to bottom with action packed fights, it was a spectacular night of mixed martial arts. Unfortunately, it followed the abysmal UFC 33, the actual first show back in front of the nation, and any chance of gaining significant momentum had already been lost.

The show also marked the first time cracks began to show in the united "pro Zuffa" stance. The industry had embraced the UFC's new owners, but this event was rife with controversy. Initially the top two fights were going to be Randy Couture taking on top challenger Pedro Rizzo for the heavyweight crown and Pat Miletich looking to regain his welterweight title from the charismatic Carlos Newton. A great card on paper, but there was one small problem - those fights were the headliners for UFC 31 and Zuffa didn't want to run an exact replay.

Miletich was pulled from the fight. In his place? His own protege, wrestler Matt Hughes.

Matt Hughes: I told (manager) Monte (Cox), I'm not taking this fight unless Pat tells me it's okay. Period.

Miletich was upset not to get the shot, but decided it was better to have the shot go to Hughes, a teammate, rather than a randomly selected fighter from outside the camp. Hughes left the farm to train with Pat and the Miletich Fighting Systems team in Bettendorf, Iowa, confident he would be Newton's downfall.

Couture was also upset about Rizzo's immediate rematch. He felt the UFC was once again looking to push him to the side. Zuffa was betting big on Rizzo. Couture, after all, was 38 years old. No one knew how long he could keep fighting and the new team running the UFC felt strongly that Rizzo was the future of the division. They signed him to a $175,000 a fight contract, the biggest in UFC history at that time, and hoped to turn him loose once again on Randy.

Things were tense between Couture and the new owners already, before Rizzo was put across the cage from him a second time. The two parties had trouble coming to an agreement for a new contract and Zuffa paid big bucks to have Couture airbrushed out of a national ad campaign. It was a problem that would fester for years until the two sides temporarily parted ways in 2007.

Results:

Frank Mir def. Roberto Traven, submission, 1:05 R1

Matt Lindland def. Phil Baroni, majority decision

Evan Tanner def. Homer Moore, submission (armbar), 0:55 R2

Josh Barnett def. Bobby Hoffman, submission (strikes), 4:25 R2

B.J. Penn def. Caol Uno, KO, 0:11 R1

Ricco Rodriguez def. Pete Williams, TKO, 4:02 R2

UFC welterweight championship: Matt Hughes def. Carlos Netwon, KO, 1:27 R2

UFC heavyweight championship: Randy Couture def. Pedro Rizzo, TKO, 1:38 R3

Fighter Recollections:

The only fight of the night that went to a decision was perhaps the best bout on the undercard. Phil Baroni and Matt Lindland went after it for three full rounds before the Olympic silver medalist had his hand raised in the end. The two were like oil and water, the classic battle of red and blue states, the loud mouthed New Yorker versus the mild mannered man from Oregon, the striker versus the wrestler. It was a feud ahead of its time, a ground breaking battle of trash talk and internet hype that the UFC has since turned into an art form.

Phil Baroni: The first time I was having fun with it. I always watched pro wrestling growing up and that's what the guys did. I was a fan of mixed martial arts and boxing too and I always wanted to see the fights with the guy that talked sh*t. I always wanted to see that guy fight. When I had the chance to become a professional athlete, I wanted to be that guy. The guy that people wanted to come see fight.

Matt Lindland: UFC wasn't highlighting the athletes like they are now. They didn't do the pre-fight build up. That stuff wasn't going on so we had to create that hype ourselves. I think we made it a lot of fun. And those fights, they were great fights.

Baroni: It was my second UFC fight, my big opportunity to talk sh*t. I did my first fight too, but not many people were listening.

It was a closely contested fight. Baroni dropped Lindland with a left in the first round, but the Olympian got several big slams and did some serious damage on the ground. Lindland was announced as the winner and the crowd gave both fighters a standing ovation.

Lindland: Phil was a great athlete. He was a great fighter. As far as getting in there and competing against him, I was really new to the sport. I remember eating a lot of straight right hands trying to walk in and clinch him. Anytime I tried to do anything, he would throw a straight right. He connected with a lot of punches.

Baroni: The judging sucks now, but it was so bad back then and they counted a takedown more than anything. I scored knockdowns and both times finished the fights with him just hanging on. I think they were 10-8 rounds, the last two rounds of both fights. At worst the fights should have been a draw, but I think I definitely won those fights.I really think I got screwed. People talk about the judges now, but it's night and day.

Lindland: He really doesn't think that. But it sounds good. I spent more time riding Phil and pounding him than any other position. I was in controlling positions and there was a lot of damage being done. He's certainly a tough guy and was able to endure a lot of damage. There is no way you could make an argument for him winning either of those bouts.

The other highlight of the night was B.J. Penn's 11 second destruction of top contender Caol Uno. Penn, unbeknownst to almost everyone, had injured his leg training for the fight and was worried about how it would hold up.The short fight was a god send for the proud Hawaiian who had decided not to drop out of the fight. The two were fighting for a shot at Jens Pulver's lightweight title. Pulver was on commentary duty, so he had the best seat in the house to see his two potential rivals in action.

Before the bout, Uno went crashing to the mat; the Japanese star thought laying on the mat put him in a mental state to fight at his best. Penn remembered thinking something else.

B.J. Penn: He was there on the ground and I thought 'You're going to be right back down there soon when I knock you out.

Uno shocked everyone by dashing across the cage and throwing a leaping high kick. It looked like a move straight out of a martial arts movie. Penn had expected the Japanese star to approach the fight methodically, not like a Bruce Lee clone.

Penn: So much for him being cautious in the early rounds right?

He backed Uno up against the fence and obliterated him with a right uppercut. After some vicious shots on the ground, referee Larry Landless jumped in to stop the fight. The whole thing had barely lasted 10 seconds, perhaps the most exciting 10 seconds in UFC history. Penn made the knockout even more memorable by springing out of the cage and sprinting to the back. Then he came running back to the cage when they told him he still had to do a postfight interview.

In the semi main event, Carlos Newton was set to defend his welterweight title for the first time. He couldn't have been more different from his opponent, Illinois's Matt Hughes. The divide was symbolized perfectly by their entrances. Hughes came out with a serious expression, Kid Rock's "American Badass" blaring. Newton, by contrast, danced his way to the cage wearing an afro wig to the beat of Destiny Child's "Bootylicious." Newton was having fun, but Hughes was deadly serious. Carlos had taken the belt from Pat Miletich, the long time champion, something that didn't sit well with Pat's students.

Matt Hughes: I didn't like that a bit, the guy beating my coach and mentor. It was very important to me to go out and avenge that loss and come back and beat Carlos.

Hughes warmed up hard in the back, not just to prepare his body for the strenuous activity to come, but to build up enough of a sweat that it would be hard for Newton to lock on one of his vaunted submissions. After an exciting first round that saw Hughes score several takedowns and Newton manage a couple of sweeps and reversals, the action really picked up in the second round.

Hughes opened the stanza with a giant takedown, but Newton was able to weather it and lock on a tight triangle choke. Hughes stood to his feet, hoping the threat of a slam and the power of gravity would make Newton let go of his hold. But the Canadian was persistent. Hughes felt consciousness begin to fade as he pulverized Newton with a powerbomb fans could feel all the way through their televisions.

No one seemed to know exactly what was going on. Newton was out cold, but Hughes was sitting still with a glazed look on his face. While referee "big" John McCarthy was checking on Newton and calling off the fight when he saw the submission specialist was clearly unconscious, Matt's teammates were trying desperately to get him to wake up. He was dazed and confused - teammate Jeremy Horn had to tell him that he had won the fight. Then the celebration began.

Hughes: I don't think I was out. I was dazed. In the first round I was winning pretty handily, I think all the judges had me winning the round. In the second I came out and took him down and he slapped me in a triangle. To get out of the triangle I lifted him up and he tightened the triangle up even more. Now the triangle's starting to get to me a little bit and I can feel pressure on my neck. So I take a step back and slam him down. The triangle was hurting me so bad it took me probably two seconds to know what was going on. After I slammed him down. It was a couple of seconds before I realized he was unconscious. By no means was I l knocked out I was just groggy from him having a chokehold on me. Me hitting the floor and slamming him had nothing to do with the triangle. I jumped up and ran around for a little while. When I got done running around he was still laying on the ground. He was hurting.

Carlos Newton: I won that fight. I know I did. Because Matt told me, pretty much, ‘Yeah, I was out.’ He made it pretty clear to me that he thought it was a lucky break. That fight was a great fight and it’s shows why this sport is so appealing. It’s so unpredictable. You have to consider so many variables. At the end of the day, when a guy really does dominate in this sport, he isn’t just the better man. He’s the guy that has the wind to his back, making it happen.

Excerpt from The MMA Encyclopedia

In the main event,heavyweight champion Randy Couture defended his title against Rizzo. The Brazilian striker had whalloped Couture's legs in the first match, a close decision win for Couture at UFC 31. Many were surprised to see Couture's hand raised. To this day, Rizzo is insistent he was the rightful winner.

The fight spurred Couture to make some changes to his game. He and Team Quest teammate Nate Quarry traveled to Seatle, Washington to train with kickboxing legend Maurice Smith. They brought a much more refined striking game to their home base in Oregon and Couture was able to deal with Rizzo's pounding leg kicks much more effectively in the second fight.

Couture: I went back and analyzed his other fights, especially the Kevin Randleman fight. Neither guy was really willing to engage and Rizzo had a lot of trouble executing any offense. He relied completely on the other guy's aggression. Once I figured that out, I just tried to be patient. I wasn't going to move into range unless I was going to go all the way.

Couture was clearly much more comfortable standing against Rizzo, opening with his own pair of leg kicks and taking the challenger down out of the clinch. In the second round he opened a cut that McCarthy thought was bad enough to demand a doctor's inspection. The cut seemed to spark life in Rizzo, who landed a crushing leg kick early in the third round. But when Couture again took Rizzo down, the fight seemed to go out of the Brazilian star.

Couture: I figured that if I could get an underhook, get in the clinch, then I could take him down whenever I wanted to. He was cut and tired by the third round and when I took him down the fight was over.

It was a tremendous night of fights, perhaps the best single card in UFC history. Zuffa was on a roll, artistically at least. The sole exception was the hideous UFC 33 - unfortunately the one that mattered most.

UFC 134 airs tomorrow night live on pay per view. Check back at MMA Nation for up to the minute updates in real time as the show goes on.

[StillUnknown]

Anybody else score Barboza/Pearson for Pearson?

It was a extremely close fight, but I thought Pearson slightly edged him. Barboza has stop being so passive in the cage, he fights in bunches and its making rounds closer than it should be with him. Either way, Pearson is alot better than I gave him credit for, the Cole Miller fight had to be an off night.

Edited August 28, 2011 by StillUnknown

[Patrick86L]

UFC 134 RIO – Teh Gifs

[#98QBKiller]

I just hope Silva retires on top. IMO, the only thing that will beat Anderson is father time, and that **** is undefeated. Anderson's game is so heavily predicated on reflexes and precision, that when it goes, it will probably go drastically (i.e. roy jones jr).

I doubt he and Bones fight though, Anderson has stated he has no desires to go to 205, plus he & Bones are friends. I give Bones the best shot of beating him though.

I hope he doesn't make the same mistake that Fedor has and not know when to quit.

Anybody else score Barboza/Pearson for Pearson?

It was a extremely close fight, but I thought Pearson slightly edged him. Barboza has stop being so passive in the cage, he fights in bunches and its making rounds closer than it should be with him. Either way, Pearson is alot better than I gave him credit for, the Cole Miller fight had to be an off night.

I thought it was extremely close so I wasn't surprised at the split decision. I thought Barboza came on late though and that helped his cause w/ the judges.

That was a great card overall though. I was jumping off my couch when Nog KO'd Schaub.

[styx491]

I thought the Barboza fight was super close, but the edge would go to Barboza for home field advantage.

UFC NEEDS to go back to Brazil. American crowds only know how to cheer, boo, and shout USA USA. The Brazil crowds are dynamic and super energized. I loved it when after the fights Florian would interview the fighters and they would start in English but then their emotions would take over and they would switch to Portuguese and the energy would just shift. I didn't even care what they were saying, it was more just how they were saying it.

[StillUnknown]

I thought the Barboza fight was super close, but the edge would go to Barboza for home field advantage.

UFC NEEDS to go back to Brazil. American crowds only know how to cheer, boo, and shout USA USA. The Brazil crowds are dynamic and super energized. I loved it when after the fights Florian would interview the fighters and they would start in English but then their emotions would take over and they would switch to Portuguese and the energy would just shift. I didn't even care what they were saying, it was more just how they were saying it.

They're definitely going back, they want to do an event in one of Brazil's 100k arenas to break UFC attendance records.

[styx491]

They're definitely going back, they want to do an event in one of Brazil's 100k arenas to break UFC attendance records.

I say we have an "ES Anything MMA thread" trip to Brazil. I'll chip in 5 dollars!

Edited August 28, 2011 by styx491

[StillUnknown]

I say we have an "ES Anything MMA thread" trip to Brazil. I'll chip in 5 dollars!

Man I would've given just about anything to be in that crowd last night. That atmosphere had to be one of the best in MMA's history.

---------- Post added August-28th-2011 at 02:45 PM ----------

Loved this sequence, Pearson is tough for shaking that one off.

[Chachie]

Silva would destroy GSP, imho. The man walks around at 205 comfortably so even if GSP could get up to 185, he'd be fighting a LHW by the time they got in the cage. For God's sake, Anderson was bigger than Okami last night.

Not to mention that if Jake Shields could mess up GSP's face then Silva could behead him. It's not even close and for Georges' sake I hope it doesn't happen.

Edited August 28, 2011 by Chachie

[Bifflog]

Crowd was intense, really added to the mystique of this show. I do wanna stand up for the American crowds and point out that such a one sided audience in the States would get chastised for being disrespectful of foreign fighters. It's a lame double standard, but oh well. Historic night, can't wait for them to return next year, maybe Machida and Aldo?

[Sebowski]

They're definitely going back, they want to do an event in one of Brazil's 100k arenas to break UFC attendance records.

I saw that too. I plan on being in Brasil in 3 years for the World Cup. That would be perfect timing for them to put on a massive show. I really doubt they wait that long t go back, but they would crush any records if they did a super show there while the country is loaded with a few extra million people to draw from.

---------- Post added August-28th-2011 at 03:01 PM ----------

Anybody else enjoying those UFC minus 100 stories I've been posting? I absolutely love them. Especially the ones when they were off ppv. The contrast of those stories and what they are doing now is great.

[herrmag]

I think the true fight fans would much rather see Silva-Bones.

/QUOTE]

I would think any fan of MMA would agree. Silva beats GSP, plain and simple. He probably beats Bones right now, but Jones is just as gifted. Jones is certainly not more talented, just bigger. But maybe just as talented. Maybe.

Edited August 29, 2011 by herrmag

[styx491]

[NoCalMike]

GSP wants no part of Anderson Silva. You don't need to take any of our words for it, just listen to how vague, mumbly and over-all disinterested GSP sounds about the superfight whenever he is pressed about it. He has been giving the same reason for a few fights now which is that he considers a move to 185 something that would require a completely different training regimen which would be hard to do at this point in his career. I kind of agree with him in a way, but I also think that if he felt in his heart he could beat Anderson Silva, he would do what it took to move up in weight and take him on. I'm rooting hard for Nick Diaz in his fight with GSP, but I still think GSP is likely going to win, and I am sure if GSP wins the question will be asked during the post-fight interview. Lets see what he says this time.

As far as Silva vs. Bones goes. I think in 2011, and maybe even 2012, Silva wrecks Bones. He is too experienced and sly for Bones right now.

I also happen to think a lot of people are putting the cart before the horse when it comes to Bones Jones. Don't get me wrong he has the potential to be great and has a bright future, but besides the Shogun fight, in which he took on a fighter who had not fought in over 18 months and has a history of being a less dangerous fighter coming off surgery. (Remember the first Forrest fight and even the Marc Coleman fight?) what has he done that is so impressive that is making people bow at his feet? It's true, he has had some early success and is deserving of same praise for that, but if he loses to either Rampage or 'Shad, he will simply just be the next guy that everyone predicted would rule the 205 lb division for years to come, only to be humbled.

And a brief word on Fedor. I don't think the mistake Fedor made was not retiring, I think the mistake he made was continuing to let a promotion team handle him and his training. Fedor is notorious for not training for the opponent he is facing and more just about honing his own skills. The big departure from this was when he fought Cro Cop back in the day, he actually brought in kickboxers specifically to train for Cro Cop, and you can see how it paid off in the actual fight.

True, Fedor looked old and tired against Bigfoot Silva, and got caught by Werdum, but his fight with Henderson was pretty even. It's not like Fedor got his butt handed to him or anything. Two guys went into the cage swinging for the fences, both connected with significant shots, Henderson himself was nearly KO'd, but recovered and then KO'd Fedor. To me that fight speaks more about Henderson's skillset than Fedor needing to retire.

[#98QBKiller]

Silva would destroy GSP, imho. The man walks around at 205 comfortably so even if GSP could get up to 185, he'd be fighting a LHW by the time they got in the cage. For God's sake, Anderson was bigger than Okami last night.

I think Anderson would knock him out but IMO the size difference between the two is exaggerated. GSP cuts down from about 195 so if Anderson really does walk around at 205 then GSP isn't that much smaller than him.

[StillUnknown]

As far as Silva vs. Bones goes. I think in 2011, and maybe even 2012, Silva wrecks Bones. He is too experienced and sly for Bones right now.

I also happen to think a lot of people are putting the cart before the horse when it comes to Bones Jones. Don't get me wrong he has the potential to be great and has a bright future, but besides the Shogun fight, in which he took on a fighter who had not fought in over 18 months and has a history of being a less dangerous fighter coming off surgery. (Remember the first Forrest fight and even the Marc Coleman fight?) what has he done that is so impressive that is making people bow at his feet? It's true, he has had some early success and is deserving of same praise for that, but if he loses to either Rampage or 'Shad, he will simply just be the next guy that everyone predicted would rule the 205 lb division for years to come, only to be humbled.

With Bones I think it comes down to the way he's beating people and his rapid improvement. His fights have gotten more dominant and one sided despite facing better opposition. If you watch his fight against Gusmao from about 3 years ago, its hard to believe he's gotten this good, this fast. Against Gusmao, Bonnar, & O'Brien, the flash was there but he had holes in his game. Since joining Jackson's camp, those holes are becoming smaller and smaller. Its almost unheard of for a fighter to have as many fights as he's had in the UFC without a weakness being exposed.

He'll lose eventually because its MMA and nobody gets out unscathed, but its not that hard to see why people talk about him the way they do.

[Sebowski]

True, Fedor looked old and tired against Bigfoot Silva, and got caught by Werdum, but his fight with Henderson was pretty even. It's not like Fedor got his butt handed to him or anything. Two guys went into the cage swinging for the fences, both connected with significant shots, Henderson himself was nearly KO'd, but recovered and then KO'd Fedor. To me that fight speaks more about Henderson's skillset than Fedor needing to retire.

Henderson is a middleweight!!!!

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

I can imagine a 178 catchweight bout against GSP next spring, but I wouldn't bet on it. If that doesn't happen, I'd personally still love to see Anderson vs. Shogun. Because as far as LHW goes, you have to let Rashad Evans get his turn after Jones/Rampage, that little love triangle is going to take a while to sort out. In the meantime, throw two of the best ever at each other, who just happen to have eerily similar skill sets. Talk about a barn burner, whoosh!

Shogun noticeably dropped pretty much all that belly fat between his fight with Jones and his fight with Forrest. The dude looked "himself" again, physically and technically. He heads in to a fight with Anderson at 100% (God willing), and we'll have one a hell of a show to watch.

Put that together, let things sort themselves out at LHW. The X factor is Anderson's age, which yes, it is a ***** that he's 36. Can you believe that? But even more depressing, Shogun is 29!!! What??? That little kid?

So Anderson is 36, but how much damage and battle wear has he suffered throughout his career? It has to be the least out of anybody. How many injuries has he suffered? The rib injury? Is that it? Don't remember a time that he backed out of a fight due to injury. Reflexes will go and he'll slow down eventually, but he's an especially fresh 36 years old.

So I'm no Joe Silva, not really good at thinking up matchups that would work in the current landscape, but here goes nothing...

Put the middleweight belt on "hold". Have a Middleweight tournament, Pride rules, Quadros and Rutten in the booth, Pride lady, Stefan Struve vs. Minowaman somewhere on the main card. While that tourney pans out, Anderson can fight Shogun...if he wins, he can fight the LHW champ. Time it so that by the time Anderson is done with his LHW campaign, the tourney should be finished at MW, and Anderson can go face the winner for the belt.

The only people I can see this screwing are Machida and Brian Stann (if they are to win their next fights). They're on the cusp of a title shot and would probably have to wait in the wings a little longer than they'd like to. Whatever. I'd just love to see Anderson vs. Shogun, and they'll both be looking for a big fight soon.

Edited August 29, 2011 by d0ublestr0ker0ll

[StillUnknown]

[artmonkforHOF]

Put that together, let things sort themselves out at LHW. The X factor is Anderson's age, which yes, it is a ***** that he's 36. Can you believe that? But even more depressing, Shogun is 29!!! What??? That little kid?

So Anderson is 36, but how much damage and battle wear has he suffered throughout his career? It has to be the least out of anybody. How many injuries has he suffered? The rib injury? Is that it? Don't remember a time that he backed out of a fight due to injury. Reflexes will go and he'll slow down eventually, but he's an especially fresh 36 years old.

The only other injury that I can think of was the surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow sometime after the Forrest beat down. He was scheduled to fight Vitor @ 108, then it got pushed to 109 due to the surgery and then the 109 fight got pushed to 112 since Anderson's healing was not going well. Then Vitor went Vitor, got injured and missed 18 months so we got Maia as the replacement and another fight with Chael before Belfort got his shot.

Dana will throw Chael another shot at Anderson, even though he does not deserve it, since the idiot public actually believes some of what comes out of Sonnen's mouth and think he actually stands a chance of beating Anderson. The hype around the supposed super fights are just that, hype and I doubt any will materialize. The closest thing to a super fight will be a catchweight fight vs Henderson.

[Samuels]

I still think GSP beats Anderson easily over 5 rounds by just smothering him. GSP won't trade with him or stand in front of him. I also think Jones can beat him the same way and it would'nt shock me if he pounded him out.

Anderson will outstrike anybody but styles make fights, period. Anderson can't stop GSP or Bones from taking him down repeatedly and they are of a much higher caliber then guys like Lutter,Sonnen etc that won't be caught in a submission.

Edited August 29, 2011 by Samuels

[#98QBKiller]

Anyone else going to this event? I can't make the one here on Oct 1st

I'm seriously thinking about flying out to Vegas for this card

http://mmajunkie.com/news/25013/ufc-137-tickets-on-sale-next-week-for-las-vegas-st-pierre-vs-diaz-event.mma

UFC 137 tickets on sale next week for Las Vegas' "St-Pierre vs. Diaz" event

Tickets for the UFC's October return to Sin City go on sale next week.

UFC 137 takes place Oct. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, and in the pay-per-view headliner, UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) takes on ex-Strikeforce champ Nick Diaz (25-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC).

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, Sept. 9, at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT local time).

However, pre-sale periods are set for UFC Fight Club members (Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 1 p.m. ET) and UFC.com e-newsletter subscribers (Thursday, Sept. 8, at 1 p.m. ET).

In addition to the headliner, which resulted from Diaz vacating his Strikeforce title to rejoin the UFC for the first time in five years, UFC 137 features a welterweight co-headliner of Carlos Condit (27-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) vs. B.J. Penn (16-7-2 MMA, 12-6-2 UFC).

As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently reported, the event also will have a two-fight "UFC Prelims" broadcast on Spike TV, and the remaining preliminary-card fights are expected to stream on Facebook.

The latest UFC 137 card includes:

Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz (for UFC welterweight title)

Carlos Condit vs. B.J. Penn

Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Roy Nelson

Dennis Siver vs. Sam Stout

Hatsu Hioki vs. George Roop

Eliot Marshall vs. Brandon Vera

Tyson Griffin vs. Bart Palaszewski

Tim Credeur vs. Brad Tavares

Jeff Curran vs. Scott Jorgensen

Danny Downes vs. Ramsey Nijem

[lovetoaster]

Anyone else going to this event? I can't make the one here on Oct 1st

I'm seriously thinking about flying out to Vegas for this card

http://mmajunkie.com/news/25013/ufc-137-tickets-on-sale-next-week-for-las-vegas-st-pierre-vs-diaz-event.mma

I had honestly thought about it for a second, but there is no way I could make it work.

That card is a little out of date as Cerrone has stepped in for Stout against Siver.

[Destino]

I still think GSP beats Anderson easily over 5 rounds by just smothering him. GSP won't trade with him or stand in front of him. I also think Jones can beat him the same way and it would'nt shock me if he pounded him out.

Anderson will outstrike anybody but styles make fights, period. Anderson can't stop GSP or Bones from taking him down repeatedly and they are of a much higher caliber then guys like Lutter,Sonnen etc that won't be caught in a submission.

GSP hides an average chin behind tremendous speed, technique, and wrestling. Silva is one of the few fighters in the world that has figured out how to put tremendous power in a punch without sacrificing accuracy. Personally I don't think GSP could last long enough to set up a takedown 5 rounds in a row. Unless he's grown a stronger chin his usual speed game wouldn't be enough to save him from catching some of the hardest strikes in MMA.

Bones Jones has a different advantage. He has the longest reach is UFC history. Consider this: Anderson Silva's reach is listed at 77.6 inches. As far as I can tell the only fight in the UFC he's had in which he had a reach disadvantage was against Thales Leites and that was by 0.4 inches. Bones Jones has a 84.5inch reach.

Let's compare that to... the NBA? Kobe Bryant 83inches.