MMA: Past Fight Discussion

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, Brock Lesnar UFCs were always a big deal. He's just got that look and proper star aura about him, larger than life that just makes people want to see him fight. The pro wrestling/MMA crossover just added to it. The threads on here for Brock's fights were fun aswell, seemed like pretty much everyone on the forum was caught up in Brockamania.

 

Them threads gave you a bit of a sense of what Brock really brought to MMA. The crossover appeal he had got a fuckload of new eyes on MMA, obviously some were only interested in Brock and wouldn't watch again but I'd bet there's a good number of 'hardcore' fans today who originally tuned in just to watch Brock.He was great for the sport. I just wish he'd been able to overcame his problems with striking and more importantly, not had his health problems. I'm convinced that really fucked him.

 

Wish he'd been able to stick around longer. He was like a tornado. Swept through, caused a load of chaos, got a shitload of attention and then fucked off in a short time.

[wandshogun09]

Oh and UFC 116 is one of the best top-to-bottom cards they've ever done. Aside from the craziness of the Lesnar vs Carwin main event you also had;

 

The Crippler vs Sexyama

An absolute corker of a co-main event. It was meant to be Akiyama vs Wanderlei originally but Wand got injured and Leben stepped in on very short notice and after fighting Aaron Simpson just a couple of weeks before.

 

I fucking love this fight. It had everything. Akiyama's epic entrance, the crowd was mental, both got rocked a few times, Leben's nutter face in the corner before the last round and to top it off a surprise submission finish.

 

 

Awesome fight. It gets the odd mention in passing but I don't think it gets enough praise myself.

 

Chris Lytle's nifty submission on Matt Brown

This was a pretty good scrap. Matt Brown might not be a contender but he's one of the most aggressive fighters in the 170lb division and Lytle made his career of tough scrappy fights. So this was good stuff. Lytle had the advantage on the ground though and the mounted triangle/armbar combo he ended it with was a hell of a finish...

 

 

Bonnar vs Soszynski 2

The first fight in Australia was a proper war but ended on a cut which was really disappointing. So this was a nice rematch to settle it. And they picked up right where they left off. Both swung for the fences, both bloody, both took big shots. Really good fight. The two Bonnar vs Soszynski fights are pretty overlooked and forgotten I reckon. I wish they'd done a trilogy to be honest.

 

Oh and Bonnar's celebratory pose

 

Sotiropolospsosososolsls vs Batman Pellegrino

This wasn't really anything too special but it was a good little PPV opener. I've always liked Sot but the knock on him is his punch resistance isn't too good. And I think there's some truth to that. Pellegrino rocked him and dropped him late and he's no big striker. But aside from that Sot put in a very good showing here, top notch grappling as always, and pulled out a decision.

 

The prelims weren't too shabby either. Schaub (the twat) got a quick KO, Seth Petruzelli vs Ricardo Romero had a fun back and forth fight.

 

Highlight of the prelims was this though...

 

 

Gerald Harris' amazing slam KO on Dave Branch.

 

So yeah, UFC 116 was more than a one fight show. It delivered pretty much from start to finish. The Brock/Carwin fight being as dramatic and exciting as it was just took it to another level above the usual good show.

 

And of course, it was nice to see this lot turn up

 

 

Bet they enjoyed the slobberknockers.

[jimufctna24]

The UFC put on 2 cards in a row that were two of their best, remember 117 was a excellent card. The Sonnen vs Silva classic, JDS looking top draw against a tough as nails Big Country and Matt Hughes last great performance.

 

The only dud was Fitch vs Alves 2.

 

The Summer of 2010 was so fun to be a MMA fan.

[wandshogun09]

I'd even throw in UFC 115 to that. It was a run of 3 incredible PPVs.

 

115 had Chuck Liddell's last fight, and it was a really exciting one rounder with him and Franklin. They didn't even seem to bother with a feeling out process, they just went right for the finish from the opening bell.

 

Also, you had Cro Cop vs Pat Barry which was a fun fight and a nice feel good win for Cro Cop. Carlos Condit vs Rory MacDonald was another belter that rarely gets brought up. Evan Dunham vs Tyson Griffin on the prelims was really good aswell.

 

Only things dragging that one down a notch were the shitty Rothwell/Yvel fight and a slightly, and surprisingly disappointing Kampmann vs Thiago fight. It was OK, good technical fight but I really thought it would be a potential FOTN. But there was a lot more good than bad and I really enjoyed the show.

 

3 great shows in a row. Of course, we paid for that with the dull as fuck UFC 119 a few months later.

[jimufctna24]

115 past me by, it may have been good by I was ending College and needed to do well to get to Uni, that and other stuff meant my head went west with MMA for a while.

 

For example, I was nowhere near as hyped for Rashad vs Rampage as I should have been. I remember being hyped and watching Machida vs Shogun 2, but I could not tell you if any of those cards were good or not. Without looking at wiki I could only tell you that Kimbo vs Meathead was on the undercard of Machida vs Shogun 2.

 

UFC 118 with Edgar vs Penn gets mixed reviews, some really think Toney vs Couture was a waste of time and a freak show too far. I was just amazed with how Edgar handled BJ.

 

119 had Durham vs Sherk that I enjoyed, despite thinking the judges fucked up. The Main Event was horrible.

Edited July 25, 2012 by jimufctna24

[wandshogun09]

119 was pretty rotten for me. For fight quality and results. Mir vs Cro Cop being the most obvious, that was total utter shite. And Cro Cop losing, especially losing to Mir in maybe the worst fight in UFC history. Also, Nog losing to Bader disappointed me. As did Hunt getting subbed by Sean McFuckingCorkle in about a minute. Even the Melvin Guillard vs Jeremy Stephens opener was lacklustre. That looked like a surefire slugfest on paper. Just a bit of a drag of a show all around.

 

Sherk vs Dunham was a cracker though, forgot about that. And there was a good Meathead vs Beltran brawl on the prelims so it wasn't all bad. Much like 149 though, most of the top fights didn't deliver.

Edited July 25, 2012 by wandshogun09

[jimufctna24]

I think a lot would agree with you that Cro Cop vs Mir is the worst fight in modern UFC history. For me though it is Jordan vs Gonzga at UFC 55.

 

A lot of people say Ken Shamrock vs Dan Severn 2 is the worst, "the great dance" they call it. I have not seen it mind, but it sounds horid.

[wandshogun09]

[jimufctna24]

 

All because Ken Shamrock was scared to go to jail.

[Egg Shen]

was Mir-CroCop really that bad? i only saw it once and it was at the end of a pretty heavy beer session so my memories hazy on the end of that show, the Jordan-Gonzaga fight was the one time i remember Joe Rogan really having a pop at the guys in the cage.

 

Ironically both fights ended with highlight reel KO's

 

Isn't Ortiz/Matyushenko also seen as being one of the worst fights in the promotion's history? never seen it.

 

any others pop to mind?

[jimufctna24]

Ortiz vs Vlad is by no means a classic, but it gets a lot of shit based on how it ran over and cost UFC millions when the PPV cut out before it ended. The Pulver vs Hallman fight was quite dull before it, it was a night of fights with no finishes and not many memorable moments.

 

I saw it years ago and it was dull, but not offensive. I may have a different opinion if I saw it now.

[wandshogun09]

Along the same lines as the talk of Lesnar's comeback vs Carwin, me and my mate were on about MMA comebacks today. So I thought I'd look back at some of the more memorable and some of the forgotten ones.

 

Silva vs Sonnen 1 (UFC 117 - Aug 2010)

 

This is one of the recent examples and probably the most well known comeback. One of the most dramatic come from behind wins in MMA history. Four and a half rounds of total, complete dominance from Sonnen, including a shitload of takedowns, a couple of surprise knockdowns and hundreds of shots on the ground. Sonnen was 1:50 away from becoming the UFC Middleweight champion and the man to finally dethrone Anderson Silva. Then this happened...

 

 

Lawler vs Manhoef (Strikeforce: Miami - Jan 2010)

 

This one only lasted about 3 minutes but for those 3 minutes, Melvin Manhoef absolutely battered Robbie Lawler. It seemed like he was just too much for Lawler to handle, too quick, too explosive, too aggressive and too accurate. He was destroying Lawler with combinations and brutal leg kicks which were actually lifting Lawler's leg on impact. It just seemed like a matter of time until Manhoef scored a big KO.

 

Then out of nowhere

 

 

Nogueira vs Sapp (Pride/K-1 Dynamite - Aug 2002)

 

This was fucking ridiculous. Nog's a big guy but he looked like a little boy next to the monstrosity and cartoon-like Sapp. Sapp was 2-0 at the time of this fight and was a massive star in Japan. They loved him over there. Nog at this time was considered the #1 heavyweight in MMA.

 

Anyway, Sapp totally battered him from the opening bell of this one

 

 

He was just too fucking big and strong. They might as well have put Nog in there with a wild grizzly bear. Sapp was throwing him about with ease and clubbing him with Hulk Smash hammerfists. To this day I don't know how Nog got through it.

 

 

Nog couldn't do anything to him. His strikes were just bouncing off him and he couldn't lock a submission on Sapp's tree trunk arms and legs.

 

They even had a power failure with the lights during the fight

 

 

But it didn't stop Sapp, he kept the beating going into round 2. But Nog's insane toughness meant he wouldn't go away and Sapp got knackered. That's when Nog pounced with the armbar that shocked the world...

 

 

One of the nuttiest comebacks ever. Nog made a career off coming back from a pasting to pull out the submission but this is where it started.

 

Kazushi Sakuraba vs Kestutis Smirnovas (K-1 Hero's 6 - Aug 2006)

 

No-one ever really talks about Hero's much but they had some great fights in the short time they were going. This was maybe the most unbelievable/scary to watch fight I've seen in MMA.

 

Smirnovas beats the absolute shit out of poor old Saku here. The fight goes 6:41 according to Wiki and about 6mins of that is Saku getting obliterated. It's actually hard to watch at points, with Saku going limp and taking shots he never should have taken.

 

 

This was another case of dodgy Japanese reffing at it's worst. Make no mistake, this fight really, really, really should have been stopped. The ref let it go, and let it go in the hopes that Saku would make a miraculous recovery or that Smirnovas would gas going for the kill. Both happened.

 

Smirnovas ran out of steam and Saku somehow had just enough left to do just enough damage to stun him and slap on another armbar that shocked the world.

 

 

Insanity. Japanese refs letting Saku take ungodly punishment in the hopes of a comeback happened all too often a few years ago for my liking. But bad reffing or not, and this certainly was, you have to give huge credit to Sakuraba for pulling through that and coming out with a win.

 

Here's the full fight

 

Watch it if you haven't seen it.

 

Josh Koscheck vs Drew Fickett (UFC Ultimate Fight Night 2 - Oct 2005)

 

This is a little talked about come behind win. Reminiscent of Silva/Sonnen 1, Koscheck totally dominates Fickett with takedowns and controls him with his superior wrestling for 2 rounds. The third is no different. Then with just seconds left in the fight Kos shoots in for the final takedown to seal the one sided decision and Fickett catches him with a perfect knee which stuns him badly, then chokes him out.

 

 

"Errr...where...what happened?"

 

Stefan Struve vs Denis Stojnic (UFC 99 - Jun 2009)

 

Rarely ever an easy night's work for the Dutch Giraffe that is Stefan Struve. Stojnic, despite only standing at about the height of Struve's ballbag, had no problems with getting the better of this fight early on. He put a nasty beating on the big man and bloodied him up bad. It looked like some gore movie. One of the bloodiest fights ever, so much so that the UFC brass were probably getting worried about how it looked being that it was their first time in Germany where they'd had some opposition from the media.

 

Look at the state of him

 

He came through it though to secure a second round submission victory.

 

 

Mir vs Nogueira 2 (UFC 140 - Dec 2011)

 

After being the first man to TKO Big Nog in 2008, the constant talk ever since was that Nog was riddled with injuries and staph infection going into that fight. A rematch would surely be different. And it was, kind of.

 

Revenge for Nog sounded sweet to me. And for a few minutes this was shaping up to be maybe the most satisfying fight I ever watched. Nog was schooling him, and I was smug as fuck. Safe in the knowledge that the first fight was indeed a fluke because Nog wasn't right.

 

 

Ha!

 

It went badly wrong. This gif tells the whole story...

 

 

From a winning position, just a couple of good shots away from a TKO win, Nog went for the ill fated guillotine choke and wound up getting his arm mangled

 

 

As much as I begrudge to admit, incredible comeback from Mir.

 

Fedor vs Kevin Randleman (Pride: Critical Countdown 2004 - Jun 2004)

 

Well...

 

 

...And seconds later Fedor has him tapping to a kimura.

 

Andrei Arlovski vs Tim Sylvia 2 (UFC 59 - Apr 2006)

 

Arlovski ran through big Tim in their first fight with a leg lock submission in less than a minute. This one looked like Arlovski was going 2-0 up in almost as quick time when he levelled Sylvia with a big right. But within seconds the ref was pulling Sylvia off the Pitbull in a dramatic turnaround.

 

 

Boetsch vs Okami (UFC 144 - Feb 2012)

 

One of the most talked about. Okami looked well and truly on another level in this fight. He got at least one 10-8 round, totally dominating Boetsch who looked out of his depth in all areas.

 

Then in round 3, two rounds down and needing a finish to win, Boetsch just came out and went for it and delivered one of the most amazing and spectacular finishes you'll ever see.

 

 

Joe Rogan almost cacking himself with excitement over it is one of my favourite bits of commentating on anything ever. There used to be a video of it on Youtube but it's been removed by the UFC copyright bastards

 

Pete Sell vs Scott Smith (UFC The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale)

 

Two of the more likeable housemates from TUF 4. These two were friends but they didn't hold back one bit trying to take each others heads off. Both landed a bunch of hard punches and had each other hurt. The real craziness started in round 2 though when Sell caught Smith with a body shot that doubled him over in agony. Just when Sell looked to take advantage and put him away this happened...

 

 

Sly Stallone couldn't have scripted that one any better.

 

Cheick Kongo vs Pat Barry (UFC on Versus 4 - Jun 2011)

 

The common prediction before this fight was that Kongo would probably look to exploit the grappling weakness of Barry and not risk the stand up game with the more technical striker. He didn't get much chance to grapple...

 

 

But it worked out alright in the end. Unbelievable.

 

Joachim Hansen vs Caol Uno (K-1 Hero's 1 - Mar 2005)

 

Now this one's a bit hazy, haven't seen it in a few years. I remember it being a great fight though. Hero's again, check some of these shows out if you haven't seen them.

 

Anyway, like I said it's hazy. But from what I recall, Uno was winning this fairly comfortably. Then in the last 20 odd seconds Hellboy lands a knee...

 

This knee..

 

It was over. Shocker. I didn't know anything about this fight when I first saw it and that knee totally caught me by surprise. Not as much as it did Uno though.

 

Todd Duffee vs Mike Russow (UFC 114 - May 2010)

 

Duffee was thought of as the next big thing in the heavyweight division after coming off a 7 second knockout win in his UFC debut. So to most fans, when they saw him matched up with some fat bloke in his next fight the 'Duffee by murder' predictions were coming in thick and fast.

 

And for about 2 1/2 rounds Duffee had his way. Battered Russow about the cage with little coming back at him. Russow appeared to be just looking to survive. It seemed like he might do just that and people were already getting ready to give him his due for being tough and losing by decision instead of the KO they expected.

 

But Russow had other plans, about halfway through the last round;

 

 

Cung Le vs Scott Smith 1 (Strikeforce: Evolution - Dec 2009)

 

Smith was always known for his heavy hands but the thinking here was Le would be too technical and too experienced a striker to get caught with a haymaker and would most likely stop Smith at some point.

 

Smith took a serious kicking for two rounds and the ref looked on the verge of stopping it a few times. Smith once again toughed it out though and in the third round, with Le slowing down and wondering what he would have to do to finish 'Hands of Steel' off....

 

 

That happened. At the time that was one of the most shocking KO's in MMA. Everyone knew Smith always had a punchers chance but Le had so much hype around him and was one of Strikeforce's top stars. Losing to Scott Smith didn't seem on the cards.

 

Houston Alexander vs Sokoudjou (Shark Fights 13 - Sep 2010)

 

Lot of comparisons were always made between these two. Both hugely powerful strikers, both were touted at one time as potential contenders and big stars. Both had a cracking look aswell. But both guys careers just fell on their arse for one reason or another.

 

Sokoudjou was on top of the world after back to back underdog KOs over Little Nog and Ricardo Arona but he got found out later on. He seemed mentally weak and if he couldn't blast opponents out of there quick he seemed to fade. Alexander's problem was he had zero ground game and with him being a late starter to MMA, there wasn't really much chance of him catching up. Both were let go by the UFC after less than impressive runs.

 

But it was a fight that was often talked about. Despite their weaknesses, their styles always seemed to match up well on paper. The fight was finally made and took place in Shark Fights, on an event with both Don Frye and Bas Rutten commentating. Which was as hilarious and fantastic as it sounds.

 

Anyway, Sokoudjou seemed to have the measure of Houston and had him in all kinds of bother. There had been doubts on Houston's ability to take a punch for a long time, he'd been KO'd in about 10 seconds by James Irvin in the UFC and rocked in a few fights.

 

But he took a complete mauling from Sokoudjou here and hung in there. True to form Soko faded and Houston put him away in a fun back and forth brawl

 

 

Andreas Spang vs Brian Rogers (Bellator 66 - Apr 2012)

 

From just a few months back, this one was out of the blue. I'd never seen Spang fight before and Rogers was starting to run away with the fight when he got clobbered to fuck

 

 

Really exciting fight aswell that was. I'd recommend anyone who hasn't watched it to give it a look.

 

Shonie Carter vs Matt Serra (UFC 31 - May 2001)

 

Blast from the past here. This was a great fight. UFC debut for Serra and he looked phenomenal throughout 99% of this fight. It was probably the first real display of really aggressive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the UFC, totally different to the usual BJJ style fans were used to from the likes of Royce Gracie. Matt Serra and Frank Mir slightly later were the ones who really first showed that BJJ can be an attacking style as well as defensive.

 

 

Serra gave Shonie hell, and he tied him up in knots on the ground. He was heading for a clear decision win no questions asked. It was in the bag. Then with 9 seconds left in the fight....

 

 

9 fucking seconds!

 

There's loads more I wanted to mention but this post has already gone on way longer than I planned. I might do another post over the weekend if I get time, or if I can be arsed. What's everyone's favourite MMA comebacks?

Edited July 27, 2012 by wandshogun09

[jimufctna24]

Great Post.

 

I have fond memories of the Lawler vs Melvin, my best friend stayed over and I made him sit through the entire card. He never got my MMA fandom, but he got it after that fight.

 

The best and actual comeback is maybe Smith over Sell, he was going down from that body shot and the fight most likely stopped, if Sell would have not rushed in and let Smith drop it may have been stopped. If they scripted that you would not believe it.

 

The best comeback technically is Mir with Big Nog, to tap a top BJJ Black Belt like Nog when you have been knocked down and are on queer street and he has you in a submisison of his own, is just pure insanity.

 

The most famous and dramatic is Silva vs Sonnen, with the clock ticking down in such a big fight with high stakes that was unbelievable and in many ways very cruel for Chael.

 

My favorite is Brock over Carwin due to me going mental with joy.

Edited July 27, 2012 by jimufctna24

[Egg Shen]

oustanding work again wand!

[jimufctna24]

Been watching the Pride GP 2005 boxset that I got for my Birthday last month the past few days, here are some of my thoughts.

 

Wanderlai was starting to slump even at this stage, Bas notes that he had lost some of his aggression and he is right. The Yoshida fight was very close, and Yoshida whilst a decent fighter was not expected to get close to Silva. Arona handled him in their semi final, now I know Wanderlai won the rematch which I should rewatch but this first fight was clear cut. Arona shut him down. The man that only 9 months earlier destoyed Rampage seemed human again, I will ignore the Hunt fight as I have not seen it proper and some think Silva won despite the weight advantage.

 

Fedor was outstanding against Cro Cop, fucking brilliant. The last great performance in my eyes and one that ensured he was without doubt the best HW of his time. If you see how good Cro Cop's game was in the warm up fight before he fights Fedor, it gives you some insight to how good Fedor was to beat him clearly. Cro Cop was deadly, his punches crisp and fast and his kicks are still the best HW MMA has ever seen including Pat Barry. His game was like a HW version of Chuck Liddel just with more diverse striking, he used his range to perfection.

 

Whilst I felt Cro Cop should have thrown more bodykicks to the tender mid section of Fedor, even the ones he landed Fedor took well, the way Fedor made Cro Cop uncomfortable and then clinch him was nothing short of brilliance. Both at this stage were as good as they ever were, Cro Cop would go on to beat the best Pride had to offer the next year (other than Fedor) whilst Fedor for me was never the same, the Hunt fight he showed weakness that we had not seen since Fujita clipped him then came the Affliction/Bodog fights against inferior fighters before Werdum finally beat him and Bigfoot destroyed him. Does not matter though, watching Fedor against Big Nog and Cro Cop recently has made me appreciate how great he was.

 

Shogun was top draw at this stage, the 4 fights he had 2 were just impressive (Lil Nog and Overeem) and the other 2 were scary destruction jobs that Jon Jones would be proud of (Rampage and Arona) Shogun could wrestle as well, very well in fact he tossed Lil Nog and Arona around at times, he was not just a great Muay Thai fighter with TDD, he was the overall package at this stage. The Lil Nog fight whilst back and forth is a great fight, as is the Overeem fight. The whole tourney is pretty good in fact other than Dean Lister vs Arona.

 

Sakuraba has his last stand as a serious fighter as well, it is sad to see Arona destroy him which leads to Saku having novelty fights and moving to FEG where he stayed for years as a special attraction. People for right reasons remember Chute Boxe, but Top Team with Arona, Nog brothers and Filho were not far behind in terms of camps. Arona in his prime was one of the very best.

 

I would highly suggest you either buy or download this set if you have not seen it, I great time in MMA history, Pride was the very best at this point and no rewriting of history could ever tell me otherwise.