Anything MMA, except thumb wrestling

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Here's a really good interview with Big John McCarthy where he says some truth about UFC Pay Per Views and how he thinks the UFC will lose the court battle with Randy. He starts talking about it at around 14:25 of the interview. But real good interview overall. John has great perspective on everything.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/story/2008/1/21/85158/9957

[mvisit1]

I thought Burkman got "sort of" robbed. He wasn't dominant, but he was the aggressor for most of the match and neither fighter did anything spectacular.

Yeah I thought he should have won too. If no one gets knocked out or submitted, whoever landed more blows (takedowns should count as part of this) should win. If that's a toss up, it should go to the agressor, or whoever appears to control the pace of the fight.

I feel Burkman threw more punches and kept moving forward, controlling the fight. He looked good throwing those combos and backing Swick up against the cage, but failed in every takedown attempt from there. If I were his corner I would have told to to quit wasting time going for the double leg and back him up against the cage and just keep throwing bombs.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Yeah I thought he should have won too. If no one gets knocked out or submitted, whoever landed more blows (takedowns should count as part of this) should win. If that's a toss up, it should go to the agressor, or whoever appears to control the pace of the fight.

I feel Burkman threw more punches and kept moving forward, controlling the fight. He looked good throwing those combos and backing Swick up against the cage, but failed in every takedown attempt from there. If I were his corner I would have told to to quit wasting time going for the double leg and back him up against the cage and just keep throwing bombs.

I agree. Burkman controlled the center of the octagon and Swick was running away all night. A couple kicks from Swick won the fight for him. Pretty sad. Burkman was frustrating me after Swick would underhook him and stall against the cage. Josh should have let go and threw some elbows or fists. Takedown attempt, stall against fence, knees to the thigh, breakup. That must have happened more than 5 times in the fight. It was Burkman's fight to win and he didn't really capitalize on anything, which probably rubbed the judges the wrong way.

Question: If someone tries to take you down, you defend it and the fight stalls in a clench, who is that better for? You'd think the guy that defended the takedown gets credit, but what has he exactly tried to do? It's like asking if a boxer that blocked 400 out of 400 punches never threw 1 punch. Who wins?

[mvisit1]

Question: If someone tries to take you down, you defend it and the fight stalls in a clench, who is that better for? You'd think the guy that defended the takedown gets credit, but what has he exactly tried to do? It's like asking if a boxer that blocked 400 out of 400 punches never threw 1 punch. Who wins?

I'd say if you defend the takedown and the fight stalls in a clinch, it makes you look good because the other fighter is not able to execute the technique on you that he is attempting. However, if you're not doing anything but defending takedowns and the other guy is making all of the effort and initiating all of the exchanges, the simple fact that you have a good takedown defense is no longer enough to win the judges' approval.

[herrmag]

The Swick fight overall was terrible. Burkman is really not in the same class, but Swick was so timid it drove me nuts. I walked away knowing that Swick is definitely the better fighter, but that fight should've been a draw.

[#98QBKiller]

The Swick fight overall was terrible. Burkman is really not in the same class, but Swick was so timid it drove me nuts. I walked away knowing that Swick is definitely the better fighter, but that fight should've been a draw.

I agree. I actually didn't see the 3rd round though because Fight Night went over it's time limit and my DVR didn't record it.

The 1st and 2nd rounds were pretty boring though, all of those clinches against the cage hurt both fighters' score IMO. But Swick didn't look dominant in the 1st two rounds to me.

[Chachie]

I got 3 out of 4 right, too. If Burkman got the nod it would'a been 4/4.

[StillUnknown]

i was disappointed overall in the fight night, i expected better fights based on the names in the card.

[mvisit1]

I crack up everytime I see your sig QBKiller. How's it treatin ya? Are you a tailgater for life? I don't believe I've seen you in the Stadium.

[Sebowski]

Looks like Fedor and his management is at it again. Next in line to fight the "best" fighter in the world is none other than 25-14-1 Semmy Schlit. A fighter Fedor has already beaten :doh:

Meanwhile Fedor's management is bringing in the real heavyweight #1 contender (in my book), Josh Barnett to fight Fedor's brother Alexander. Another rematch. Barnett owned Alex in Pride subbing him in the first round. I'm hoping maybe they are setting up a storyline of some sort that ends up being Barnett-Fedor next, but it is looking less and less likely that Fedor will ever fight a top 10 heavyweight.

http://mmajunkie.com/2008/01/24/aleksander-emelianenko-expects-april-11-fight-with-josh-barnett/

[Sebowski]

Is anyone else pissed off at Coutre for what is happening, or is everyone siding with him?

The way I see it Dana gave Randy a title heavyweight title shot straight out of "retirement" after having lost 2 of his last 3 fights. Then Randy decides he has no need to defend his belt against anyone the UFC can face him with. If Randy wants out of his contract so bad, then why doesn't he just fulfill it? He could have already fought once and have one fight left. He could be fighting Fedor in in 3-4 months if he wanted to. The only reason I can think of is that Randy is afraid to lose before he can fight Fedor.

[Chachie]

Is anyone else pissed off at Coutre for what is happening, or is everyone siding with him?...

...The only reason I can think of is that Randy is afraid to lose before he can fight Fedor.

All UFC fighters are underpaid AND Randy Couture is afraid to lose before fighting Fedor Emilianenko.

And both are sadly understandable.

The Fertitas are trying to keep the tentacles of a real fast-growing animal under control. You can't set big purses too quickly if want it to survive. They are going too slow though. Fighters like Randy DO deserve more security. They have given their bodies and souls for years in front of the world.

As for Randy being afraid to lose before fighting his career-finishing grandstand against an unbeatable opponent? How would you or I feel on that threshold?

The problem for Dana is that he can't have a champion sitting on the title belt waiting for a match-up with a guy who won't even join the league.

I understand everyone's position as I view them. (I can't claim to truly know what's going on.)

All I can say is, "Sigh."

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

All UFC fighters are underpaid AND Randy Couture is afraid to lose before fighting Fedor Emilianenko.

And both are sadly understandable.

The Fertitas are trying to keep the tentacles of a real fast-growing animal under control. You can't set big purses too quickly if want it to survive. They are going too slow though. Fighters like Randy DO deserve more security. They have given their bodies and souls for years in front of the world.

As for Randy being afraid to lose before fighting his career-finishing grandstand against an unbeatable opponent? How would you or I feel on that threshold?

The problem for Dana is that he can't have a champion sitting on the title belt waiting for a match-up with a guy who won't even join the league.

I understand everyone's position as I view them. (I can't claim to truly know what's going on.)

All I can say is, "Sigh."

Yep, ya speak the truth there. In Randy's mind it's obvious he wants to do one last big push. I think he left the UFC for several reasons, but Randy has always been the guy to set the bar higher. And it isn't stopping with his retirement. He has exposed the UFC, he has forced them to either make an eventual change or suffer a collapse. I remember Dana and Lorenzo Fertita on 60 Minutes talking about the incredible loss of money they suffered in the beginning stages of owning the UFC. Dana said that they are still trying to make up for the amount they lost, which says to me that they're shortchanging fighters to make up for their losses.

I get the feeling, they will drag out paying fighters BS as long as possible. But I think that 5 or 10 years from now, Randy will be looked at as not only a great champion, but a pioneer for the equality of fighters compared with other professional athletes.

He left because no Fedor

He left because he wants to be fresh for Fedor

And he carried out a grudge that he held in for years along with it.

In reality, I think it was inevitable Randy was going to crap on Dana and the Fertitas.

[#98QBKiller]

I crack up everytime I see your sig QBKiller. How's it treatin ya? Are you a tailgater for life? I don't believe I've seen you in the Stadium.

No way dude, I've been all up in the Stadium (carefully avoiding the idiots talking about this coaching mess though).

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

The UFC 81 website is up, remember it's the weekend after this one. Feb 2nd.

http://81.ufc.com/

Lesnar is intimidating. Like a Silverback Ape. But if Mir is fully recovered, I dunno. Two great HW fights that night...good for the UFC. Does anybody know if the winner of the big Nog/Sylvia fight really gets the belt? Sounds like it to me! Guess it makes sense the UFC doesn't want someone they're suing to have the belt.

[Sebowski]

All UFC fighters are underpaid AND Randy Couture is afraid to lose before fighting Fedor Emilianenko.

And both are sadly understandable.

The Fertitas are trying to keep the tentacles of a real fast-growing animal under control. You can't set big purses too quickly if want it to survive. They are going too slow though. Fighters like Randy DO deserve more security. They have given their bodies and souls for years in front of the world.

As for Randy being afraid to lose before fighting his career-finishing grandstand against an unbeatable opponent? How would you or I feel on that threshold?

The problem for Dana is that he can't have a champion sitting on the title belt waiting for a match-up with a guy who won't even join the league.

I understand everyone's position as I view them. (I can't claim to truly know what's going on.)

All I can say is, "Sigh."

My problem is that Randy was sitting on his couch "retired" after losing 2 of his last three and 3 of his last 5; he hadn't fought at heavyweight in years, and Dana handed him a shot at the heavyweight title and a new contract. He fights twice under his new deal and then walks because he only wants to fight Fedor. Guess what? Fedor wasn't signed to the UFC when Randy came back. He wasn't even on his radar. All of the sudden Randy beats Sylvia (who no one has ever really loved as a fighter) and a guy with only one notable win on his record in Gabriel Gonzaga, then Randy annoints himself as the clear cut number 2 fighter in the world and that Fedor is the only guy deserving to fight him.

Nog and Barnett would both kill Randy and he knows it.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

My problem is that Randy was sitting on his couch "retired" after losing 2 of his last three and 3 of his last 5; he hadn't fought at heavyweight in years, and Dana handed him a shot at the heavyweight title and a new contract. He fights twice under his new deal and then walks because he only wants to fight Fedor. Guess what? Fedor wasn't signed to the UFC when Randy came back. He wasn't even on his radar. All of the sudden Randy beats Sylvia (who no one has ever really loved as a fighter) and a guy with only one notable win on his record in Gabriel Gonzaga, then Randy annoints himself as the clear cut number 2 fighter in the world and that Fedor is the only guy deserving to fight him.

Nog and Barnett would both kill Randy and he knows it.

I wouldn't say Nog would kill Randy in the octagon. If Heath Herring can soccer kick Nog in the noggin, Randy can surely handle his business. It IS a different game in the octagon, and we know Randy is great against that fence. It'd be a tough fight to predict, but Randy knows how to prepare for cats to in order to beat them. Barnett doesn't really impress me. Yeah he beat Randy 4 years ago, but he was caught with steroids in his system after that bout. He then left like a ***** and fought some softies in Pride. Lost to Cro Cop 3 times.

I don't think Randy is in any rush to get these fights in. Dana gave him the red carpet to fight Sylvia, yeah. But in a way, Randy was doing Dana and the UFC a favor by bringing anything but Sylvia vs. Arlovski. For the love of God, nobody should be thanking anybody but the UFC to Randy. That division was asleep until he became champion and Gonzaga fwapped one upside Crocop's head. Now, he is taking out a personal vendetta against the UFC and Dana for something he believes in. And it's becoming clear that he's right.

Again, Randy should be let off the hook with his contract. The man turns 45 this year. It would be a sour note for him to lose to a Big Nog or Barnett for simply giving a contender a title shot. He wants to do the right thing and see who is the best in the sport, then get out. It's like if the Patriots just keep playing teams in the AFC until Tom Brady retires. Play the Super Bowl, for god's sake.

[mvisit1]

I agree with everything you said except about the Patriots. The AFC is the more dominant conference and the NFC is always the underdog. They might as well give them the Lombardi trophy now.

[Sebowski]

I wouldn't say Nog would kill Randy in the octagon. If Heath Herring can soccer kick Nog in the noggin, Randy can surely handle his business. It IS a different game in the octagon, and we know Randy is great against that fence. It'd be a tough fight to predict, but Randy knows how to prepare for cats to in order to beat them. Barnett doesn't really impress me. Yeah he beat Randy 4 years ago, but he was caught with steroids in his system after that bout. He then left like a ***** and fought some softies in Pride. Lost to Cro Cop 3 times.

I don't think Randy is in any rush to get these fights in. Dana gave him the red carpet to fight Sylvia, yeah. But in a way, Randy was doing Dana and the UFC a favor by bringing anything but Sylvia vs. Arlovski. For the love of God, nobody should be thanking anybody but the UFC to Randy. That division was asleep until he became champion and Gonzaga fwapped one upside Crocop's head. Now, he is taking out a personal vendetta against the UFC and Dana for something he believes in. And it's becoming clear that he's right.

Again, Randy should be let off the hook with his contract. The man turns 45 this year. It would be a sour note for him to lose to a Big Nog or Barnett for simply giving a contender a title shot. He wants to do the right thing and see who is the best in the sport, then get out. It's like if the Patriots just keep playing teams in the AFC until Tom Brady retires. Play the Super Bowl, for god's sake.

You need to do some research on what happened with Barnett and the steroids. You say he doesn't impress you. I am curious to know what fights of his you have watched. Please let me know. You mentioned him losing to Cro Cop 3 times. Did you see those fights? Suffered an injury in one. The last one was at the end of the GP where Barnett was coming off a war with Nog in the same night and Cro Cop was as fresh as could be. Randy has zero advantages over Barnett. Can't hang on his fight, and certainly can't hang on the ground with him.

Herring landing one kick on Nog. A kick that would have knocked out most of the division. Everyone gets caught. He rebounded and won the fight. How you can hold that against him is beyond me.

Randy vs. Fedor would NOT answer anything. Randy is NOT the number 2 in the world. He is 16-8. with one top ten win in the last 5 years (Sylvia. Jury is still out on Gonzaga). Randy and his people have done a wonderful job in the publicity department. They have everyone believing he is the number two guy in the world when he hasn't earned it. It wasn't even that long ago that Randy struggled with Mike Van Arsdale. :doh:

[StillUnknown]

You need to do some research on what happened with Barnett and the steroids. You say he doesn't impress you. I am curious to know what fights of his you have watched. Please let me know. You mentioned him losing to Cro Cop 3 times. Did you see those fights? Suffered an injury in one. The last one was at the end of the GP where Barnett was coming off a war with Nog in the same night and Cro Cop was as fresh as could be. Randy has zero advantages over Barnett. Can't hang on his fight, and certainly can't hang on the ground with him.

Herring landing one kick on Nog. A kick that would have knocked out most of the division. Everyone gets caught. He rebounded and won the fight. How you can hold that against him is beyond me.

Randy vs. Fedor would NOT answer anything. Randy is NOT the number 2 in the world. He is 16-8. with one top ten win in the last 5 years (Sylvia. Jury is still out on Gonzaga). Randy and his people have done a wonderful job in the publicity department. They have everyone believing he is the number two guy in the world when he hasn't earned it. It wasn't even that long ago that Randy struggled with Mike Van Arsdale. :doh:

i'm with you 100%.

i respect and admire Randy as a fighter, but as good as he is, people overrate him.

[Dance04]

I still respect the HELL out of randy for whooping ass at 44 years old. Overrated or not, dudes a beast.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

You need to do some research on what happened with Barnett and the steroids. You say he doesn't impress you. I am curious to know what fights of his you have watched. Please let me know. You mentioned him losing to Cro Cop 3 times. Did you see those fights? Suffered an injury in one. The last one was at the end of the GP where Barnett was coming off a war with Nog in the same night and Cro Cop was as fresh as could be. Randy has zero advantages over Barnett. Can't hang on his fight, and certainly can't hang on the ground with him.

Herring landing one kick on Nog. A kick that would have knocked out most of the division. Everyone gets caught. He rebounded and won the fight. How you can hold that against him is beyond me.

Randy vs. Fedor would NOT answer anything. Randy is NOT the number 2 in the world. He is 16-8. with one top ten win in the last 5 years (Sylvia. Jury is still out on Gonzaga). Randy and his people have done a wonderful job in the publicity department. They have everyone believing he is the number two guy in the world when he hasn't earned it. It wasn't even that long ago that Randy struggled with Mike Van Arsdale. :doh:

How am I supposed to research what happened to Barnett and 'roids, go up to him and take a blood sample? Is this another one of those, "they put 'roids in my supplements" deals? Guess what, everyone suffers injuries in fights. But they keep on fighting. I know he got a bad one against Cro Cop, but maybe he should do a few more situps so that **** doesn't happen. And Barnett's ground game didn't look that good against Cro Cop who is atrocious on the ground.

For the record, I saw him fight Fedors brother, Mark Hunt, Pawel Nastula, the Cro Cop fight where it went to a decision, and his last one against Nog. You wanna talk about Mike Van Arsdale? Pawel Nastula is 1-3. ONE AND THREE. Barnett had to get to the second round to put him in a toe hold. Everyone gets caught? Everyone has bad nights, too.

Big nog didn't just get caught, he should have lost that fight. He was about 95% knocked out. He was more KO'd than Chuck was when Rampage stuck him. It was Herring's fault he didn't go after him. 27-13 Heath Herring, who struggled with Giant Silva. Everybody will struggle with a bum from time to time. So don't try bringing Randy's luster down because of Mike Van Arsdale. Do you think any of these cats would do any better at age 42? We'll see.

It doesn't matter if Peyton Manning is a better quarterback than his brother - he should have won his last football game. Now ELI is the one that gets the shot at being a champion. As far as I'm concerned, Barnett lost his last fight, Big Nog underperformed in his majorly-hyped UFC debute, and while Randy got a free title shot - it's all the UFC could have hoped for at that time. A little common sense has to come in to play here, too. Randy is 44 and throwing cats around the ring...give the man a break. It's not like we're trying to say he's the #1 guy, it's just that people get mad that he's the champion and it's like -- duh. This is news, he can be beat by a younger guy.

The point is, no matter what would happen with Barnett or Nog against him, it's time for him to go smoke his grandfather pipe with his grandson on his lap. He wants one more fight, unify the Pride and UFC belts, and get out. He didn't bust his ass at 44 to just fade out with a struggle against a contender. He knew where it would get him and now he's going to pretend he's 33 again? Randy knows where he stands, he's got one last push.

And I dunno what Randy's "people" have done, they didn't get the belt for him. Randy has the belt, simple as that. Nobody thinks he's the number 2 guy in the world...we just want to see him give one last push. And I think if he puts every last drop of gas he has in to his next fight, it won't be easy for anybody.

i'm with you 100%.

i respect and admire Randy as a fighter, but as good as he is, people overrate him.

I dunno about overrate. Who says he's #2? We just want Randy to give it all he's got and go after a guy who we think he's earned a shot at. It's not that we overrate him as much as we admire his heart.

And don't worry guys, the "interim" belt will be won a week from now...and will eventually become the official belt when Randy's contract expires. You guys make me want to route for Tim. :laugh:

[herrmag]

Again, Randy should be let off the hook with his contract. The man turns 45 this year. It would be a sour note for him to lose to a Big Nog or Barnett for simply giving a contender a title shot. He wants to do the right thing and see who is the best in the sport, then get out. It's like if the Patriots just keep playing teams in the AFC until Tom Brady retires. Play the Super Bowl, for god's sake.

Why? The only reason anyone thinks that he is a good HW is because the UFC allowed him to fight Sylvia. So now they should allow him to walk and give some other organization all of the money for the featured fight? That makes 0 business sense. He signed a contract. He should be MAN enough to live up to it, or STFU and retire. Sorry, I've lost tons of respect for Randy over this. Dana may very well be a jackass, but he's doing nothing wrong in expecting a fighter to live up to their end of the deal.

[#98QBKiller]

Ricco Rodriguez talking **** about Kimbo slice:

http://www.mmafightline.com/news/2008/125/kimbo_slice_314532.shtml

Didn't Rodriguez get booted out of the UFC for cocaine use?

[StillUnknown]

Showtime EliteXC comes on tonight. its basically a show that allows propsects coming up in mma to get a little exposure. nobody major will on the cards, but the couple of times i've watched in the past, the fights have usually been good.