MMA: Past Fight Discussion

[Egg Shen]

Sadly, i still tune in to have a look

[wandshogun09]

MMA stars before they were MMA stars;

 

Anderson (with hair!)

 

Bas

 

GSP

 

Sakuraba

 

Forrest

 

Tito

 

Wand

 

BJ Penn

 

Dos Santos

 

Randy

 

Hendo

Edited May 24, 2013 by wandshogun09

[deathrey]

Aww how cute was Bas?!

 

Tito and Wandy look kind of similar...

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, Wandy and Tito were rocking the Clay Guida 'do before Clay was probably even born. Some more;

 

Shogun and Ninja

 

Nick and Nate

 

Fedor and Aleks

 

The Nogs with Mamma Nog

 

And last but not least, the evolution of Dana Fucking White;

 

Edited May 26, 2013 by wandshogun09

[jimufctna24]

http://www.mmabay.co.uk/2013/05/30/chuck-l...d-chael-sonnen/

 

Speaking via Fighters Only Magazine, Liddell said about Anderson

 

“I would beat him, I always said that I would. I have the advantage in weight and height, so it would be more likely that I would beat him. But Anderson is one of my favorite fighters.”

 

As for a hypothetical fight with Chael Sonnen, who recently failed to take the light-heavyweight crown from Jon Jones, Liddell was even more emphatic.

 

“Sonnen has nothing to offer me (in terms of risk).”

 

Interesting, for the record though I think Anderson and Chuck were the same height at 6,2, so Chuck has misread that one. In Liddel's short prime of 2004-2006, he was arguably the best in the world, only Shogun at this stage could give him a argument in retrospect and Rampage may have always been his bogeyman. The Liddel who turned up to fight Keith Jardine a year later was not the same fighter who knocked out Couture in 2005 or who tooled a prime Tito Ortiz in 2004.

 

So lets take this prime version of Liddel, what does he present to Anderson? Both like to counter and neither like to make the first move, that is crucial to me as Liddel loved to be on the back foot, whilst Anderson loves to move his head and makes his opponent miss before countering. So fireworks may not be a cert if these two fought each other.

 

Technique wise, I give edge to Anderson as he has a lot more weapons and is a lot more refined. It is unlikely that Anderson would go chasing Chuck, whilst it is possible Chuck even in his prime would leave a opening that Anderson could exploit. Anderson's striking was/is a lot more refined and accurate, and came with a lesser risk of getting caught whilst executing (remember though in his prime Chuck had a chin of granite) . Chuck was far from a one-dimensional striker, but Anderson just has too much too offer and is a better athlete. I think Anderson could polish off a prime Liddlel quite handily and I say this as a Liddel fan. Anderson could even target Liddel's body, which went untested in his prime due to Chuck fighting limited strikers who would head hunt like Horn, Ortiz and Couture.

 

I agree though that Liddel is a nightmare for Chael. I think Chuck would defend Chael's takedowns and be able to catch Chael, as Chael has a tendency to rush in and attack on the front foot, Chuck would love this and be able to counter quite easily. I like Chuck by knockout if they fought prime vs prime.

Edited May 30, 2013 by jimufctna24

[Twatters]

Clearvision have lots of cheap ufc and pride dvds atm. Including buy 2 get 1 free.

 

So what are the best events to get? I only own UFC's yearly best of's and I generally just keep up to date with results and watch occasional fights on youtube.

 

So any help would be appreciated.

[Egg Shen]

if you dont keep up i recommend you pick up the yearly 'best of' comps...might have to pay a wee bit extra but its worth it for the content.

[wandshogun09]

Someone asked for recommendations in the MMA news thread recently, here's mine;

 

I'd definitely recommend getting the Forrest Griffin and Chuck vs Tito - Bad Blood DVDs.

 

As for the rest, looking at the ones on offer, off the top of my head you can't go wrong with UFC 146, 144, 136, 132, 129, 116, 115, 110, 84, 52, 49, 47 and 40. All stellar events pretty much top to bottom.

 

The TUFs to get are Season 1, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 10.

 

Pride - get the 2003 and 2005 GPs. Shockwave 2004, Pride 28, Bushido 6-9 (9 especially is absolute quality) and Pride 13/14 and 9/10 (10 is awesome).

 

Obviously you won't get them all, well maybe you're loaded I don't know, but you can't go far wrong with any mixture of that lot. Stuff like the Pride GPs, Bushido and TUF are great value here, especially with the Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal.

 

I know just listing numbered UFC and Pride events doesn't tell you muchbut trust me the one I've listed there you can't go wrong with. The Pride GPs are a must though and great value.

 

[Twatters]

Thanks for the advice.

 

Ive ordered UFC 132, 144, 146, Best of 2011, Forest Griffin, Ultimate Fighter Season 1 and Pride 9 & 10, GP 2003 and 2005.

 

All for a little under

[wandshogun09]

Good bunch of stuff on that lot. Best Of 2011 is great choice, loads of great fights on there, especially Shogun vs Hendo. And you've also got Shogun vs Little Nog 1 (worth a watch with the rematch coming up in 2 weeks) on the 2005 GP. They are the best fights in UFC and Pride history respectively in my opinion. And TUF 1 is always worth revisiting. For

Edited May 31, 2013 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

MMAMania are sporadically doing great little pieces called Fighter Redux, it visits an old UFC and is basically a 'where are they now?' type deal, some stories you will know others you won't. Great little tidbits of infomation:

 

UFC 1

UFC 2 (Part 1)

UFC 2 (Part 2)

UFC 3

Edited June 13, 2013 by Ebb

[Twatters]

I've been watching some of the dvds I got. The first disc of ufc best of 2011 is a bit annoying as it's mainly highlights and not full matches. Plus some 'highlights' are 20 seconds of literally nothing happening lolI'm enjoying the first Pride one so far. But the situation when two guys on the ground grappling and end up in the ropes, so the ref moves them to the middle of the ring in the same position. It looks so weird and just kinda awkward. I understand why it's done but it's definetly a downfall of using a ring.

[wandshogun09]

Nice find Ebb, I'll look through them later.Yeah, the rope break thing in Pride could be annoying. You get used to it after a bit though and I don't remember it being so bad on the later events when you had a more well rounded and active roster for the most part.

[Egg Shen]

I'm enjoying the first Pride one so far. But the situation when two guys on the ground grappling and end up in the ropes, so the ref moves them to the middle of the ring in the same position. It looks so weird and just kinda awkward. I understand why it's done but it's definetly a downfall of using a ring.

the rope break is the reason why i always prefer the cage over the ring. You find that many fighters prefer the ring (Nick Diaz is the most vocal about it), but i always find the 'Stop - move to center' thing just completely kills things, i know guys are put back in the same position, but it's not the same is it? there's a 5-10 second rest before it happens and guys are never gonna start exactly as they were...it also gives the guy up against it time to think. I don't like it, and i never will.

[jimufctna24]

Rashad Better Than Pride

 

I will be honest and say I have never been a Rashad Evans fan, quite the opposite in fact. From his stint on the sub-par TUF 2 up until he he finished off Check Liddel's run as a serious fighter, Evans did not really impress me as a fighter. I felt he was a decent yet undersized wrestler at 205lbs with basic stand up and not a lot of upside to compete at the highest level. Now in 2013, I feel he has done enough to be considered in the all time list above any of the highly thought of Pride mainstays, such as Dan Henderson, Wanderlai Silva, Shogun Rua and his rival Rampage Jackson.

 

Rashad has a resume of wins that is most impressive including Rampage Jackson, Dan Henderson, Tito Ortiz, Forrest Griffin, Thiago Silva , Michael Bisping and Chuck Liddel. Evans even outclassed young gun Phil Davis for 5 rounds 18 months ago, which is a underrated scalp to say the least. His losses are very few and two come with no shame attached. The loss to Machida was when the talented Karate Master was full of confidence, make no mistake Machida in 2009 was the best 205'er to ever enter the Octagon other than Jon Jones. Rashad also dropped a points verdict to Jones, but unlike Machida, Shogun and others, he managed to go the distance which is a victory in itself. Only the Lil Nog loss I think Rashad slipped up as he came out flat and did not fight to the best of his ability.

 

Rashad would look better in some fights than others, but except the Lil Nog fight he would always do enough to grind out a win unless he was out-classed by the very best. Consistency is a reason why I think he has passed the Pride mainstays. Hendo would lose to the likes of Misaki and Shields and at times look sub-par against Kondo. Rampage was also a streaky fighter, as was Shogun. Wanderlai I think does not have the resume to compete with Rashad, as a lot his wins were over mid-level fighters with wins over Saku, Rampage and Arona being his only big-fight wins.

 

As a fighter, I think Rashad is more talented than the Pride offerings. His crisp boxing and at times explosive wrestling is on another level to Henderson's unrefined one shot power, at times on Saturday Night it was like watching a Pro fight a Club fighter. Rashad despite winning on Saturday should have won by a wider margin, he played to Hendo's game at times and looked disinterested at times like he did not feel he was fighting to the best of his ability (which he was not). It was Rashad's fight to lose last Saturday night, and thankfully to justify his greater talent he did just enough.

 

Rampage may be as talented as Rashad, but Evans has proven to be the more all rounded and the smarter fight of the two. If you watch the commercially and critical success that was UFC Primetime that starred Evans and Rampage building up to their blockbuster fight, Rashad trained like a professional modern athlete whereas Rampage seemingly trained very basically with a camp that is questionable at best. The result was Rashad was a octagon general come fight night and despite the third round where Rampage had him in trouble, Rashad survived and did more than enough to show he was the better fighter.

 

Wanderlai and Shogun to date have never fought Rashad. I would think Rashad vs A Prime Wanderlai would be a lot like the T-Silva fight, I think Rashad would have to be on his top game and maybe survive a few dicey moments but come away with a modest points win due to his wrestling game. Shogun? That would be hard, both at there best I may go for Shogun, but Rashad would win more often than not if they crossed paths several times due to Shogun's injuries hampering his consistency. Style wise, Shogun would offer Rashad the most problems.

 

Evans may have peaked as a fighter a good year or so ago, his career if he chooses not to venture to 185lbs may have hit a ceiling as well. But, from 2008 when he entered his peak to 2012 he had a run that quietly made me think he surpassed some of the all time greats of the past decade or so. Competing against top level UFC competition for 7 or 8 years in the post-Pride era and producing the record he has is nothing short of outstanding.

 

On a personal level I may finally becoming a fan. Away from the unlikable Greg Jackson, it is hard for me not to like Rashad. I feel he is good for MMA, he is very smart, well spoken and his fighting style is refined and technical and paints the sport in a good light in my opinion. So here is to you Rashad, the neckbeards and anoraks on the forums in 2006 are rolling in their World Of Warcraft graves with what you have achieved.