The MMA General News & Events Thread

[jimufctna24]

I think if Frankie is determined to stay at 155 they shouldn't try to force him to move down. Let's face it, he's racked up a very impressive record there and even in losing to Benson it's not like he was completely overwhelmed to the point he looked out of place in the division. He's only lost twice at the weight and he avenged one of them. It's not like he looks out of his depth.

 

Saying that, I would like to see him give 145 a go, the Aldo fight especially is really interesting. But with what he did at 155 I don't see why he can't still hang with the other top lightweights and I wouldn't be surprised to see him with the belt again in the not too distant future. The talent pool is so deep in that division I find it hard to imagine the title staying with one fighter for any long run.

 

I think at 145 he beats everyone bar Aldo maybe. Lightweight is the tougher division for him so fair play to him for wanting to challenge himself.

I think that is a big reason why Dana wants Edgar to move down.

 

Lightweight is not exactly in need of challengers for the belt. Featherweight has contenders but none as marketable to fight Aldo as Edgar. Cruz has Faber to draw big money with, Bendo could have Pettis, Nate Diaz and others to draw with. Aldo needs a big name to face and Edgar would fit the bill perfectly as he is a credible challenger and quite a big name being a former champion and one of the best Lightweights ever.

 

I am not sure which way Edgar vs Aldo would go, I maybe lean slightly towards Aldo but not by much.

[TildeGuy~!]

Nate Quarry has retired

[wandshogun09]

I won't pretend I was a massive fan of Quarry but he was alright. His agony aunt act with Leben on TUF 1 was a bit too Dr Phil for me. And he nicked Roddy Piper's 'kick ass and chew bubble gum' line on that season aswell.

 

But his fights were usually fun to watch and that's what matters. The Starnes fight was a shockingly shit 15 minutes we all want back but to be fair Quarry had nowt to work with there, all he could do was chase and he did provide the only entertaining bits of that one

 

 

and of course his post fight Rocky IV tribute interview after which got the Canadian crowd on his side.

 

Sadly he'll probably be remembered mostly for that 'fight' and getting lamped by Rich Franklin. But his fights with Pete Sell (the second one), Jason MacDonald and especially the blinder he had with Tim Credeur in 2009 were his best stuff. The Credeur fight has become a bit of a forgotten gem apart from coming up on here and other forums from time to time.

 

He was a bit of an underachiever really. On TUF 1 everyone pretty much said he was one of the favourites to win the whole thing before he injured his foot. Then when he got in the UFC he had his back problems and between that and him pushing 40 he couldn't really get up the ladder.

 

Shame he had to go out so quietly but that's common with fighters. Would have been nice to see him have one last moment like the Lytle and Rivera send offs recently.

 

I think if Frankie is determined to stay at 155 they

Saying that, I would like to see him give 145 a go, the Aldo fight especially is really interesting. But with what he did at 155 I don't see why he can't still hang with the other top lightweights and I wouldn't be surprised to see him with the belt again in the not too distant future. The talent pool is so deep in that division I find it hard to imagine the title staying with one fighter for any long run.

 

I think at 145 he beats everyone bar Aldo maybe. Lightweight is the tougher division for him so fair play to him for wanting to challenge himself.

I think that is a big reason why Dana wants Edgar to move down.

 

Lightweight is not exactly in need of challengers for the belt. Featherweight has contenders but none as marketable to fight Aldo as Edgar. Cruz has Faber to draw big money with, Bendo could have Pettis, Nate Diaz and others to draw with. Aldo needs a big name to face and Edgar would fit the bill perfectly as he is a credible challenger and quite a big name being a former champion and one of the best Lightweights ever.

 

I am not sure which way Edgar vs Aldo would go, I maybe lean slightly towards Aldo but not by much.

 

Yeah I can deffo see why the UFC would want him to move down. It makes perfect sense from a business POV and like you say, Aldo needs some fresh opponents. But at the same time I can see why Frankie thinks he should stay where he is. Aside from the Aldo fight there's not a whole lot of big name fights for him at 145 compared to at Lightweight where he could have a rematch with Benson, a 4th Maynard fight (they're at 1-1-1 so a 4th makes sense down the line), and guys like Pettis, Guida, Diaz etc. I suppose he thinks there's more money to be made at 155 in the long run. Plus he's the type of guy if he loses he won't rest until he avenges it, 155 is unfinished business for Frankie.

 

I think once some contenders start making noise at 145 the division might get more interesting. In the last couple of years the division lost a big star in Urijah Faber and guys like Florian and Tyson Griffin who were expected to make waves have fell off. Florian's future's uncertain and Griffin's career's gone to shit so it never helped the weight class like expected. Below Aldo, there hasn't really been a whole lot going on in the way of memorable fights. The upcoming Zombie/Poirier fight could change that and guys like Hioki and Pearson are lurking, Hominick and Mendes could bounce back and Siver has moved down. It's starting to become a stronger division.

 

Maybe Edgar will be more open to going down when the division has some more depth? Or maybe Frankie just wants to stay at 155. As much as I get why Dana wants it, I just think he's a bit too quick with these type of decisions sometimes. As long as the fighter can make the weight and perform (which isn't an issue here) then the decision should ultimately be up to the fighter imo.

[METAL ON METAL]

He retired about two months ago actually, thought everyone knew. He is now doing broadcasting for the new MMA chat show on Spike TV.

 

But yeah great post Wand, he had some great fights (the Credeur one is easily in my top 10, I love that fight). Shame he got into the game as late as he did, could've made more of a mark if injuries hadn't hampered him.

[TildeGuy~!]

[Chest Rockwell]

That looks crap. Poor effort.

 

What is the interest in these rubbish fan-made things?

[wandshogun09]

Gene LeBell has thrown his 2 penneth in on MMA officiating

 

"I have a beef with judging and refereeing. To me, I don't think you should ever be able to judge or referee unless you have a physical background in that art. I'm a big fan of professional football, but I'm not qualified to be a judge. In MMA, it's the flavor of the month and everyone wants to be a judge or a referee. I see a lot of referees that could use a little bit more instruction. I think it should be mandatory for these judges to go to Mauy Thai schools, go to Judo schools, go to Greco Roman schools, go to freestyle wrestling schools, Kempo, Shotokan, Taekwondo, all those schools and learn a little bit of everything. You want to know if a body slam hurts more than a left hook and how much damage can something get? You have to be on the mat or in the ring to know the difference. It's my humble opinion."

 

Makes sense to me. I'd love to see 'Judo' Gene stretch some sense into Cecil Peoples.

 

 

Also, Josh Barnett's license in California has been reinstated by the CSAC. On the condition that he's required to give "random biological fluid testing" before any fight in the state.

 

Let's hope he's learned his lesson and doesn't fuck up again. At 34 he'll be wanting the big paydays now but one more stupid decision could kill his career in the big leagues. With all the Strikeforce heavyweights being moved to the UFC he's got a chance to get back there which it didn't look like he'd ever get so hopefully he stays away from the bollock shrinkers from here on in.

 

Barnett in the UFC now would open up loads of fresh fights in the division. Him vs JDS, Overeem, Velasquez, Mir etc would all be interesting. Maybe even a rubber match with Big Nog if Nog can get back on track.

[mikey]

Cecil Peoples is a longtime martial artist though.

[Dead Mike]

Meh, to me that just reads like Gene LeBell is doing that standard, Triple H 'Unless you've been in the ring you can't comment' bollocks that people come out with when someone they see as less qualified than themselves is granted an audience. By this logic Harry Carpenter knows fuck all about boxing & Murray Walkers opinion on F1 is worthless.

[ajmcstyles]

Rampage is set to retire after his next fight according to UG

[chokeout]

Meh, to me that just reads like Gene LeBell is doing that standard, Triple H 'Unless you've been in the ring you can't comment' bollocks that people come out with when someone they see as less qualified than themselves is granted an audience. By this logic Harry Carpenter knows fuck all about boxing & Murray Walkers opinion on F1 is worthless.

 

Neither of those people go up and decide who won at the end though do they?

 

The problem is the sport is still young and the amount of people who have a background is only getting bigger now. At the minute the majority of judges have a background in boxing or stand up. Hopefully in the next 5 years we will get more people with a background in the sport applying to be judges. Would love to see people like Randy Couture being sanctioned judges

[Dead Mike]

The logic still applies though. You don't have to have practical experience of something to understand it, it helps but to discredit someone purely on the basis that 'they've not been in the ring' is bullshit. As Mikey pointed out, Cecil Peoples is an experienced martial artist.

 

Lister's already given an excellent account of MMA judging & the associated problems in the other thread.

[rohpete]

TUF Live will be broadcast LIVE on espn uk. The season premiere will air at 2am in the morning of Sat 10th March

 

From mma weekley

 

Good news for fans of the new Ultimate Fighter Live in the U.K. as the show will broadcast in England with no tape delay.

 

The show will begin airing on ESPN in the U.K. starting Saturday morning March 10 at 2 am local time in England.

 

It

[wandshogun09]

The logic still applies though. You don't have to have practical experience of something to understand it, it helps but to discredit someone purely on the basis that 'they've not been in the ring' is bullshit. As Mikey pointed out, Cecil Peoples is an experienced martial artist.

 

Yeah I agree you can know about something without having actually done it and I know Peoples has a longtime background in karate. Still, I don't think LeBell's point should be discounted. He's not saying they should actually compete he's just saying that a bit of training in a wide variety of disciplines could help judging and reffing in MMA. At least that's how I read it I could be wrong maybe he is doing the old Triple H thing for all I know. Regardless, I'd still love to see him choke the piss out of Cecil.

 

Something obviously has to change and I thought Lister's posts on the matter were spot on aswell.

[Rey_Piste]

One thing I do think they should consider changing when it comes to scoring fights, is if someone takes someone down, but then it gets stood back for inactivity and it keeps happeneing they could deduct points for that. There are some fighters that are too happy to just take someone down and then just wait to be stood up before doing it again.