Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 21, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 With the additions of Barnett, Cormier, Werdum and Del Rosario and others. The UFC may have the strongest heavyweight roster of all time, even stronger than Pride in 2005 and 2006 at its peak. Really exciting times for Heavyweight MMA/UFC, the big guys have traditionally drawn big in boxing aside from this generation with the Klitchskos in the States, despite drawing in Europe. UFC having a decent and stacked Heavyweight division will help them tremedously with the casual audience.  The Tim Sylvias of the world are thankfully a dieing breed in the UFC, sloths who have little to no technical or atheltic ability and are embarassing to watch for many. So is freakshow MMA which was a big part of Japanese Heavyweight MMA even in its pomp, which I dont actually think is a bad thing for the sport as it would be a hinderence in making MMA be taken seriously by the mainstream in America.  Deffo the best Heavyweight division in MMA history for me.  In 2012 we're looking at almost a dream HW division we never thought we'd see.  Dos Santos Velasquez Lesnar Overeem Mir Carwin Nogueira Barnett Werdum Cormier Nelson Bigfoot Sergei (is he still under contract?)  Then lower down the card you've got  Kongo Travis Browne Dave Herman Struve Barry Gonzaga Hunt Meathead Beltran Lavar Johnson Del Rosario Griggs Schaub Einemo De Fries Miocic Russow Rothwell  That's fucking crazy stacked. Really the only big name we'd have wanted there who's missing is Fedor. And Randy if he was still active.  Pride was awesome but really if you look at their best heavyweight years (2004-06) you had the big 3 of Fedor, Nog and Cro Cop. Then a collection of good fighters like Barnett, Herring, Werdum, Sergei, Aleks, Hunt, Coleman etc.  It was a great division but even as gold as it was you still had the bottom of the weight class littered with shite like Giant Silva, Sentoryu Miller and Zulu. That second list of UFC heavyweights above is the bottom of UFC's current/likely HW class for the next 12 months. That's the bottom. Fuck me. Pride was magic and looking back at them glory days of Fedor, Nog and Cro Cop ruling at HW brings back warm memories but top to bottom I'd rate today's HW as even better.  So yeah, I'd go ahead and declare the current HW division the strongest in MMA history. And to think Jon Jones could be thrown into that mix in the next 2-3 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 I'm still a bit suspect of Josh Barnett if I'm being honest. I'll probably believe that he's a UFC fighter when I see him step into a cage in Vegas or California. Wasn't his previous US fights with Strikeforce all conveniently staged outside of both states mentioned above? Â Saying that, Overeem passed a drug test in Nevada apparently, so anything is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatseeker Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 What's the story with Heath Herring? Has he retired? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Snake Plissken Posted December 21, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 So what happens to the end of the SF tournament then? Will Cromier and Barnett face off in the UFC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted December 21, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 no, the tournament will end in Strikeforce, then they'll move over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted December 21, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 What's the story with Heath Herring? Has he retired?There was talk of a comeback not so long ago, but i aint heard anything since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pryko Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 no, the tournament will end in Strikeforce, then they'll move over. I thought Dana said the winner will fight one more time in Strikeforce then the Heavyweight division will be gone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swift89 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 no, the tournament will end in Strikeforce, then they'll move over. I thought Dana said the winner will fight one more time in Strikeforce then the Heavyweight division will be gone? Â He did, that's what will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I'm still a bit suspect of Josh Barnett if I'm being honest. I'll probably believe that he's a UFC fighter when I see him step into a cage in Vegas or California. Wasn't his previous US fights with Strikeforce all conveniently staged outside of both states mentioned above? Saying that, Overeem passed a drug test in Nevada apparently, so anything is possible. Barnett did once pass a test in Vegas  In late 2006 when he fought Pawal Nastula, ironically it was Nastula who tested positive that time and I dont think he has fought since. People forget that after he sunk Affliction which was in 2009 I believe, that feels more than 2 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Pride was awesome but really if you look at their best heavyweight years (2004-06) you had the big 3 of Fedor, Nog and Cro Cop. Then a collection of good fighters like Barnett, Herring, Werdum, Sergei, Aleks, Hunt, Coleman etc. It was a great division but even as gold as it was you still had the bottom of the weight class littered with shite like Giant Silva, Sentoryu Miller and Zulu. That second list of UFC heavyweights above is the bottom of UFC's current/likely HW class for the next 12 months. That's the bottom. Fuck me. Pride was magic and looking back at them glory days of Fedor, Nog and Cro Cop ruling at HW brings back warm memories but top to bottom I'd rate today's HW as even better. I own the 2004 Grand Prix and god there is some shite on there. A blown up Ninja Rua, a washed up Gan Magee and Stefan Leko in addition to some of the cans you mentioned.  This was before Barnett and Werdum turned up mind, so I guess it did get better in 2006, when the only two cans I can think of where Butterbean and Zulu. The more I think about it the more I appreciate what we have today, I loved Pride but fucking hell they could serve you some shit sometimes, if you wanted serious world class fights and not freakshows.  It is forgotten that Ogawa and Giant Silva produced one of the biggest ratings in Pride history and that Fedor was not actually that big of a draw in Japan, it was all about the Yoshidas and Bob Sapp's ratings wise. For the MMA purist who wants it to be a serious sport, 2011 pisses all over 6 or 7 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METAL ON METAL Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Phil De Fries vs. Stipe Miocic announced for the UFC on Fuel TV 1 show on 15th February. Â Very tough fight for Phil, going to be hard to take down a NCAA Division 1 Wrestler down to the ground - not to mention Miocic is also a Golden Gloves champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted December 21, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 This was before Barnett and Werdum turned up mind, so I guess it did get better in 2006, when the only two cans I can think of where Butterbean and Zulu. The more I think about it the more I appreciate what we have today, I loved Pride but fucking hell they could serve you some shit sometimes, if you wanted serious world class fights and not freakshows. It is forgotten that Ogawa and Giant Silva produced one of the biggest ratings in Pride history and that Fedor was not actually that big of a draw in Japan, it was all about the Yoshidas and Bob Sapp's ratings wise. For the MMA purist who wants it to be a serious sport, 2011 pisses all over 6 or 7 years ago. yeh, i loved all that stuff though, it's what Japanese MMA is all about. It's one of the reasons why the old new years eve shows are some of my favorite MMA shows ever, so much random crap littered amongst the legit MMA fights, fun showw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 This was before Barnett and Werdum turned up mind, so I guess it did get better in 2006, when the only two cans I can think of where Butterbean and Zulu. The more I think about it the more I appreciate what we have today, I loved Pride but fucking hell they could serve you some shit sometimes, if you wanted serious world class fights and not freakshows. It is forgotten that Ogawa and Giant Silva produced one of the biggest ratings in Pride history and that Fedor was not actually that big of a draw in Japan, it was all about the Yoshidas and Bob Sapp's ratings wise. For the MMA purist who wants it to be a serious sport, 2011 pisses all over 6 or 7 years ago. yeh, i loved all that stuff though, it's what Japanese MMA is all about. It's one of the reasons why the old new years eve shows are some of my favorite MMA shows ever, so much random crap littered amongst the legit MMA fights, fun showw. Yeah I miss the New Years Eve shows when they were a big deal in Japan.  The freakshow aspect was partly responsible for the boom in Japan with Sapp being as big as Mike Tyson if you believe the hype. I guess you could look at it as harmless fun, while Tito Ortiz made me a regular MMA viewer with his colourful and extravert personality, it was Bob Sapp and Cro Cop who I first knew as modern day MMA fighters, not just through PowerSlam I remember The Sun printing a pic of Sapp walloping Akenbono and I must admit it got me interested, so I guess the freakshow aspect does get non-fans interested.  Unfortunatly for Japan they didnt have anyone to keep the audience there once the freaksow novelity wore of. Sakuraba got old, Yoshida lost too many times and we all know what happened to Sapp. The last hope is Ishi who I will admit I have not seen fight as I have not kept a eye on Dream or K1 for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 22, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 Phil De Fries vs. Stipe Miocic announced for the UFC on Fuel TV 1 show on 15th February. Very tough fight for Phil, going to be hard to take down a NCAA Division 1 Wrestler down to the ground - not to mention Miocic is also a Golden Gloves champion.  Yeah that's a good fight there. I really liked the look of Miocic in his fight with Joey Beltran. De Fries didn't look great against Broughton but it's hard to look good against the Bear. This is a good chance to show what he's got, I expect this will be a better fight but like you say a very tough test for De Fries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 22, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 Anyone been watching the UFC PPV repeats on ESPN this month?  They're showing UFC 136 tonight at midnight which was one of the best PPVs this year with Edgar vs Maynard 3, Aldo vs Florian and Sonnen vs Stann.  Then they've got  Sat morning 24th Dec at 12am - UFC 139 (Hendo vs Shogun / Wand vs Cung Le / Faber vs Bowles) Sun morning 25th Dec at 12am - UFC 132 (Cruz vs Faber 2 / Wand vs Leben / Tito vs Bader) Weds morning 28th at Dec 12am - UFC 134 (Silva vs Okami / Shogun vs Griffin 2 / Big Nog vs Schaub) Fri morning 30th Dec at 12am - UFC 117 (Silva vs Sonnen / Fitch vs Alves 2 / Dos Santos vs Nelson)  Sky+ these if you missed any of 'em the first time round. Some of the best UFC cards over the last year plus 117 which was one of the best of last year. And Lesnar vs Overeem is live on the 30th aswell obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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