Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 27, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 27, 2012 yeh you're probably right, i forgot the steroid thing for a min. After the Mir and Arlovksi losses Timmy never really did anything of note other damn near killing Tre Telligman. I still feel he deserves another UFC run though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 If they did a comeback series of TUF with HW, he would be ideal. UFC should do another comeback season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 27, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted March 27, 2012 Yeah his career deffo took a turn for the worse after he got caught roiding. I agree with Ebb though, he was exciting to watch in his early UFC days. The Cabbage and Ricco Rodriguez fights and the 2nd Arlovski fight in particular were great fun. I think he just got a bit lazy after being champ for a bit. If they did a comeback series of TUF with HW, he would be ideal. UFC should do another comeback season. I would fucking love another comeback season. I bummed TUF4 and I loved the comeback format, would be good to see again. TUF can do with a few twists now and then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 One thing I will give Big Timmy as much as I dislike him is he beat a prime Ricco, a prime Arlovski and a prime Monson. For the standards of the time, and his limited talent that is pretty good resume. He is the best example of just how good Pat Militich was as a trainer back in the mid noughties, Hughes had the natural talent and skill to be a champion, Slyvia did not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 27, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted March 27, 2012 Yeah Sylvia was Miletich's biggest success story as a trainer in some ways. It's widely known that Sylvia came to that gym with no skills and he was fat as fuck, as high as 350lbs I've seen as his weight at the time. Miletich got him down by about 100lbs and literally made a champion out of him from scratch. Like you say, he wasn't naturally gifted or athletic, it was all on hard work and the guidance of Miletich. I've always thought that after he had a little run as champ he lost the hunger to put all that hard work in and got lazy. And when he wasn't dedicated he was rotten to watch. Guys like BJ Penn could coast on natural talent back then, Sylvia didn't have that to fall back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 I can get behind that. He was in espicially lazy form in the 1st Arlovki fight and the Ray Mercer fight. He came in both in terrible shape. Another "where did he lose it" is Ricco Rodriguez, after the Slyvia and Big Nog fights, the latter in which people felt he was robbed fucking hell he went of the rails. Shame because he could have made the UFC HW division at least a bit more watchable in that era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members chokeout Posted March 28, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted March 28, 2012 Slyvia is the best example of a guy who got the title then did just enough to keep hold of it, never trying to actively win, just trying not to lose. He just looked like a fighter that wanted to do as little as possible to keep hold of the belt and everyone knew it. Hes one of the first fighters I can remember Dana openly slating in interviews (probably about the same time he was calling BJ lazy) Plus he can never be forgiven for his fight against Jeff Monson which was just shit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 28, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 28, 2012 (edited) . Edited March 28, 2012 by Ebb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 29, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 29, 2012 Another "where did he lose it" is Ricco Rodriguez, after the Slyvia and Big Nog fights, the latter in which people felt he was robbed fucking hell he went of the rails. Shame because he could have made the UFC HW division at least a bit more watchable in that era. oh yeh, Ricco Rodriguez for me is like the 'forgotten' good heavyweight of the era. Everyone MMA an knows who Ricco is, but i think people forget how good he was back in the day, one of the most well rounded heavyweights at that time, and i'd wager a bet that a 2003 Ricco would compete quite handily in today's heavyweight division. It's just like people forget everything he achieved because of what he became... Ricco admits that the fame that went with the title of UFC Champion went to his head and he battled with substance abuse for years, it's a shame because Ricco possibly could have gone on to have a Hall of Fame career and sit comfortably next to Randy, Tito Ortiz etc. There was a short time a few years back where it looks like Ricco was going to make a bit of a fairytale comeback to the UFC after whipping himself into the best shape he'd been in for years, wasn't be though it seems the KO he suffered against Seth Petruzelli in Bellator last year royally put the nail in the coffin, Ricco's lost 5 fights since. Wanna go back and watch some old Ricco stuff now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Agreed he could have been a Hall of Famer. I will be honest and say that I did not know he won 3 fights in Pride before coming to the UFC, he must be one of the few to make the jump that way in that era. The Rizzo fight was where you could tell he had given up, I guess his demons got the best of him after that. In hindsight, if the judges had given him that win over Big Nog things may have been different, maybe he would have not fallen of a cliff. The story about him leaving a girlfriend for dead is shocking. I also was not aware what a losing streak he was currently on, also I was shocked to read he is still only 34. What a waste, even in 2007/2008 I could see him beating most of the UFC Heavyweights like Couture, Gonzaga and Mir on his 2002-2003 form. As for today? I have to agree he could as well he took Big Foot to the limit a few years back when Ricco was still a bit of a fat knacker. I remember the rumor that they wanted him to comeback in 2005 against Arlovski at UFC 52 but it never happened, so the grudge Dana is meant to have maybe because of somthing he did or said after that I presume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 29, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 29, 2012 he was originally kicked out of the UFC due to a sponsorship argument. Rememeber when the fighters would come in with them sponsorships painted on their backs? Well the thing Ricco had on his back was an illegal sponsor and that's why he was chucked out of the UFC. I'm pretty sure he knew he was being released before his fight with Rizzo, that was more of a 'last fight on the contract' deal, that's why it was buried on the prelims. I remember being gutted at the time cause i really wanted to see the fight (though it did end up being a stinker). As for Ricco/Nog fight, i only ever saw it when it happened and i couldn't believe what i was seeing. At the time i thought Nogueira was going to destroy Ricco, but Ricco f'n handled him, i couldn't believe it when Nog got given the decision, didn't he basically win the fight off his back? i need to see it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I do envy you EBB, watching Pride at the time in its glory years. I was around for the last few years 2005-2007 I had to travel to Manchester to pick up the events though. Everything else I watched from Pride I watched after the company folded Makes sense about the sponsorship thing, I do recall them having sponsors on their backs now you mention it. Rizzo left as well didnt he, seemed like the UFC gave up for 6-9 months on Heavyweights once Slyvia got busted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted March 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) Yeah I never really got to watch much Pride in it's day, I saw Wand vs Hendo 1 and then the odd fight after that I'd hear about. Mainly Wand, Cro Cop, Shogun, Rampage fights that I'd download weeks, sometimes even months later. Had to play catch up on full events. The Nog/Ricco fight was an outright robbery. I saw it first a couple of years after it happened and I'd never heard anything about it. It's a real shame they took that win from Ricco because I firmly believe that was the best performance of his career. Nog was in his prime back then despite the loss to Fedor, he was the legit #2 and Ricco had his number that night. Ricco was always hot and cold for me. Like Sylvia though it was usually bad conditioning that held him back, if he came in shape he was a handful for most guys. I had high hopes when he dropped to 205 that he might be able to go on a little run there, especially when I saw the pics online of the weight he'd lost. that's a big improvement on this... Off the top of my head I really enjoyed his fights with Randy Couture and Pete Williams. Them two and the Nog fight where his best outings for me, at least from what I've seen of him. Edited March 30, 2012 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted March 30, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 30, 2012 I do envy you EBB, watching Pride at the time in its glory years. I was around for the last few years 2005-2007 I had to travel to Manchester to pick up the events though. Everything else I watched from Pride I watched after the company folded im not actually 100% sure which Pride event was my first. I pretty much got into MMA on my own, so i just went on a mad spree of watching everything i could, i picked up the old region 1 Delta releases of the Pride FC shows (1-18 were available) and i worked my way through those. But the first show i watched in time, as in avoiding results and waiting for a ropey VHS copy to drop through my door i think was Pride 25. Back when you first get into MMA you obviously latch on certain fighters and my main man was Kazushi Sakuraba, so to see him get destroyed by Nino Schembri fucking killed me, i coulnd't believe what i was seeing. That's my main memory of that first show. I pretty much saw them all after that save for a couple of the Bushido shows. I got into Pride at a decent time because it was midway through Wanderlei's run, Crocop was just coming in, Rampage was at his peak, Shogun, Nogueira. I got in there just as the quality of the shows was at an all-time high really so i was lucky. One of my fondest memories of Pride is the new years eve mega shows, cause this was before downloading and shit i followed live pbp's on the sherdog boards as the event was happening, the live feed was early in the day so id follow them then hit the town for a night out. Looking back i can't believe i didn't just wait for the tape but at the time the pbp was exciting stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 12, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 12, 2012 watched Rickson Gracie - Choke for the first time in probably 7-8 years last night. If your someone that considers themselves a hardcore fan, you need to see it. It's probably the oldest MMA documentary there is, as in the time it was made. It's not strictly Rickson documentary as it is behind the scenes look at the Japan Vale Tudo tournament of '95. It focuses primarily on Rickson but also follows American Todd Hayes and some Japanese freestyle wrestler. The documentary touches on the Rickson legend but the best thing about it is it offers the most unique look behind the scenes look at one of the old 8-man tournaments, showing the guys between fights and stuff, also some of the infamous Gracie rule-bending. As for the Rickson 'legend' or 'myth', it's not so evident these days but back when i first got into the sport there was always talk of a possible Rickson comeback, some even declared him the greatest ever, it's a shame he never really put his reputation on the line and to some people is a bit of a joke but the whole story is still legendary as far as MMA goes. It's dated poorly but it's a must see if you're a fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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