MMA: Past Fight Discussion

[jimufctna24]

I agree, its more about the fighters than the brand name these days in MMA, you can not slap UFC on the marquee and expect a sell out crowd and a huge PPV Buyrate. Its been the same in Boxing as far back as I remember.

 

I also agree both have been excellent in 2013, I have not enjoyed UFC as much since 2010, and my interest in Boxing has gone up a bit. I do think they co-exist better these days, there is no sense of treading on turf which was present for a while when UFC was growing.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, I love both. I never get why some fans on both sides feel the need to bash the other sport. They're both great.

 

2013 has indeed been ridiculously brilliant in terms of both sports just consistently banging out fantastic fights all year. I've never known a year quite as good all round for both as far as fight quality goes.

 

Look at this lot we've had this year;

 

Boxing

Tim Bradley vs Ruslan Provodnikov

Brandon Rios vs Mike Alvarado 2

Anthony Crolla vs Derry Matthews 2

Tyson Fury vs Steve Cunningham

Amir Khan vs Julio Diaz

Ricky Burns vs Jose Gonzalez

Denis Lebedev vs Guillermo Jones

Carl Froch vs Mikkel Kessler 2

Erislandy Lara vs Alfredo Angulo

Marcos Maidana vs Josesito Lopez

Omar Figueroa vs Nihito Arakawa

Artur Szpilka vs Mike Mollo 1 & 2

Carl Froch vs George Groves

 

MMA

Dennis Bermudez vs Matt Grice

Tom Watson vs Stanislav Nedkov

Wanderlei Silva vs Brian Stann

Johny Hendricks vs Carlos Condit

Cat Zingano vs Miesha Tate

Junior Dos Santos vs Mark Hunt

Frankie Edgar vs Charles Oliveira

Carlos Condit vs Martin Kampmann 2

Dustin Poirier vs Erik Koch

Jon Jones vs Alexander Gustafsson

Gilbert Melendez vs Diego Sanchez

Michael Chandler vs Eddie Alvarez 2

Georges St Pierre vs Johny Hendricks

 

You could throw any of them on right now and they're all excellent fights. And I know I've missed some out from both sports. It's worth remembering as well, when it comes to MMA and the UFC in particular, they're putting on more shows than ever so that could be part of the reason why the shine has seemingly come off a little bit. Some fans have just probably got burnt out, others watch everything, some are in between like Jim and just watch the stuff that grabs them. Boxing in a way is an easier sport to follow because the bigger shows, and even just the domestic Sky Sports/BoxNation cards, seem a little bit more spread out at times. There's breaks in that there'll be a bunch of shows and then a few quiet weeks or a quiet month before it picks up again. With the UFC it's non-stop.

 

The popularity over here, I think you've hit the nail on the head Jim. Boxing have a lot of domestic shows on Sky, BoxNation and 5 at prime time hours. The UFC come here once or twice a year tops, so to be a full time UFC fan you have to either stay up until 6am to watch live, or record the shows and watch on delay, which means avoiding spoilers as well. And when the UFC do come here, because of the time difference, we aren't getting the big fights. The shows are good, but when compared to what say Canada or Brazil get (strong markets where the time zone isn't a problem) the cards as a whole are a lot weaker for the most part. And a big part of it is still, as mentioned, the history boxing has here. The UFC have only been coming here regularly since 2007. Six years. That's nothing compared to the boxing history here.

 

They can easily co-exist though. And I think both sides have realised that. Aside from isolated incidents (Tyson Fury mouthing off about Cain, JDS' ludicrous talk about fighting the Klitschkos), the Boxing vs MMA debate seems pretty much dead. No doubt there's still mongy arguments going on in the comments section on YouTube videos but among the fighters and promoters it's been quiet lately. Dana White and Floyd Mayweather seem on good terms now, Tyson is a semi-regular attendee at UFCs, Floyd's even hinted at possibly promoting some MMA and was at the GLORY show this past Saturday. And when there's a fight night with both Boxing and UFC on the same night, they don't step on each others toes and usually they both benefit and do good numbers.

[jimufctna24]

I still watch pretty much every UFC fight cards (the troops card was the first I had missed 100% in 6 years disturbingly), but I have become more choosy with my content, and I am better of for it. I do not watch TUF, the BT shows or any Non-UFC MMA, I still follow stuff like Bellator on this site (thanks guys) but other than special occasions like Alverez vs Chandler, I give independent shows a miss. I will watch UFC prelims if I am home when they are on and in the mood.

 

It sounds like I am jaded with MMA to a degree as I in many ways become more conservative with my viewing, but I am really not. Like I said, big fights like Hendricks vs GSP, Anderson vs Weidman and Gusty vs Jones, achieved on both a sport and spectacle level to a enormously high level. The undercard of most PPV's are still worth watching, if you look at some of the fights Wand posted above, the fights (that I saw) I greatly enjoyed.

 

Its reached a point where the sport has grown enough in my eyes as well, do I want it to do better? Yes, and I do miss the thrill of watching a pastime grow in terms of popularity, but if it stays as it is now, I am still very happy to be a fan in this climate. Its easy to forget that a decade ago UFC was a niche as it gets, now at least people know what it is. Things grow and progress, not to get all preachy but I am past the thing of wishing for previous era's, as much as I appreciate UFC/MMA past.

 

So erm yeah, UFC in 2013, a good year all round lads.

Edited November 27, 2013 by jimufctna24

[Marshmallo]

Long time reader first time poster, this is the best place I've seen for MMA discussion and news over the last couple of years so thought I should eventually sign up.

 

 

I'm relatively new to MMA (first full event I watched was Machida-Rampage, although I've revisited some older stuff and done a fair bit of reading), and I missed the Japanese boom and in general haven't seen a lot of fights from Asia. I saw a lot of buzz about Kawajiri so checked his record and saw he'd fought Alvarez, who's never in a bad fight so I checked this out tonight:

. Absolutely awesome, unsurprisingly given Eddie's there. Cracking watch if you've got a spare 10 minutes. Makes me annoyed that Alvarez didn't get the move to the UFC though, we got the fantastic Chandler rematch but beyond that it's looking grim, certainly not comparable to potential fights with Cerrone, Miller, Sanchez, Pettis, Barboza, Grant, Bendo, Melendez, Pearson, Johnson... I'll stop now before I make myself cry.

 

Anything else worth a quick look before tomorrow's show? I see his fight with Gomi won Pride fight of the year so might try and track that down.

[jimufctna24]

Anything else worth a quick look before tomorrow's show? I see his fight with Gomi won Pride fight of the year so might try and track that down.

Welcome

 

I remember his first fight with Melendez in late 2006 being pretty good. I actually forget Melendez was in Pride.

 

Here is the link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZiCxrGvKJQ

[Egg Shen]

don't watch the rematch from Strikeforce though, not a good night for Kawajiri.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, for Kawajiri, definitely watch the Gomi fight and first Melendez fight. Those two and Alvarez were his best fights in my opinion. Although I haven't seen some of his recent stuff. I'd throw in his fight with Charles 'Krazy Horse' Bennett on one of the Pride Bushido shows as well.

 

Nothing to do with the Singapore show but since his name's come up, if you haven't seen it I'd strongly recommend the Eddie Alvarez vs Joachim Hansen fight from DREAM 3 as well if you're visiting old fights. I thought it was even better than Alvarez vs Kawajiri myself.

Edited January 4, 2014 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

thought i'd keep this in here...

 

watched The Striking Truth last night, documentary that follows the careers of GSP and David Loiseau. It's set over a good few years so it's probably a documentary that took shape as it was being made considering both careers took, but its basically focuses on GSP's career taking off and surpassing the career of one of his heroes in Loiseau's who's very much on the way down. The Loiseau part is by far the most interesting showing just how difficult it can be for a fighter to come to terms with the fact that he simply isn't the top man anymore, there's one especially poignant moment showing Loiseau in hospital after taking a beating in his return to the UFC.

 

It's worth a look, it was on of them documentaries that sort of came and went a few years back, it's worth tracking down. The documentary hurts from the fact they aint allowed to use any UFC footage in there but if you've seen all that stuff it shouldn't really harm your enjoyment of it.

[Carbomb]

So downloaded UFC 165, solely for the purpose of watching Jones/Gustaffson. May watch the rest later, when I have time, but really wanted to catch this fight on the basis of the praise it got.

 

One of the best I've ever seen. Still think I prefer Aldo/Hominick as to my personal tastes thus far, but objectively this was definitely a greater match, an absolute belter. I know there's a lot of controversy as to whether or not Jones was rescued by the judges, but, much as I would've rooted for Gustafsson (not a fan of Jones for a few reasons), I have to say I wouldn't have known how to call it. Gustafsson hit Jones more, with a lot more speed and frequency, not to mention taking Jones down in the first round, but it did feel like Jones landed the "meatier" and more dead-on strikes.

 

Either way, a massively enjoyable fight, and I look forward to what must surely be the inevitable re-match. And I hope Gustafsson takes it this time (although, that said, Fate hates me and, now I've declared my preference, will set the opposite forces in motion - you should place your bets on Jones now).

 

Got Hunt/Bigfoot to watch next. Maybe Bermudez/Grice afterwards.

[wandshogun09]

If you haven't seen it definitely watch Wanderlei Silva vs Brian Stann as well. And Gilbert Melendez vs Diego Sanchez. And Eddie Alvarez vs Michael Chandler 2. As well as the ones you mentioned. 2013 was full of fantasticness.

 

I was planning to do a top 10-15 fights of the year in here, like I did last year. And looking over the year's cards there's so much stuff I'd want to include I'd have to extend it to a top 40 or 50 to shine light on everything. Seriously, 40-50. I might still do the posts as a kind of Countdown soon, if I can be arsed.

[jimufctna24]

2013 is terms of quantity of great fights, is perhaps the most rich since I became a fan of MMA.

[Carbomb]

I do intend to watch them all at some point. It's just a matter of finding the time. I haven't even watched any wrestling for the past few weeks, I've got so much on - got a diploma in Digital Marketing to study for, got some work, got writing, song-writing and rehearsals to do as well.

[Rey_Piste]

I do think a big part of the increase in quality has to do with the fact there were so many more shows. The more shit you thro the more of it that will stick. To use a phrase from my old boxing coach, though that was more to do with throwing punches than anything else.

[wandshogun09]

Just stuck on The Smashing Machine for the first time in a while. And I got thinking, I haven't heard anything about Mark Kerr in years. I just did a bit of Googling and found stuff about him becoming a car salesman in Arizona. Fuck knows if he's still doing it. He looks happy enough;

 

 

Contact Mark Kerr and he'll help you find your next vehicle. Infiniti of Scottsdale is proud to have him represent us and you'll be very well served as you sort through car choices. Let Mark fight through the maze of options and red tape for you. He'll make it easy and you'll enjoy having this powerful man on your side. Call Mark at 480-240-3527 or email him at mkerr@infinitiofscottsdale.com

 

The article says he won Salesman of the Month in 2010 as well.

 

Seeing what a state he was in the Smashing Machine at times and how fucked up things got for him, it's nice to hear he found a normal life after MMA. Hopefully it's still going well for him.

[jimufctna24]

Mark Kerr is the definition of underachiever.

 

If he could have kept himself in check, he would have been a monster in Pride in the early to mid 00's. Possibly threatening Fedor and Nog (although one has to wonder if his brute strength could have cancelled out his questionable submission defense)

 

Kerr was essentially a better and younger version of Coleman. Watching a washed up Coleman and Randleman have patchy success in Pride, makes you wonder how well Kerr could have done. It is an overused expression, but he had the physical tools, but the mental tools prevented him from becoming the fighter he should have been.

 

Glad he is doing well now though, it was depressing watching him getting beat in Cage Rage.