Shane O' Mac Version 2 Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 UFC on Fox 2 can be summed up as "great prelims, shitty main card". I liked Bisping vs. Sonnen, I have to start giving Bisping credit as a top tier guy despite the loss. Weidman vs. Maia was awful with them gassing like heavyweights. Weidman had 11 days to prepare and cut 30+ pounds, but Maia has no excuse. Rashad was on cruise control, hopefully he realises he can't do that against Jones. Â Highlight of the prelims- Charles Oliveira. God, if you want me to be happy, have Oli win his next 3 fights like that and challenge Jose Aldo for the FW title. Amen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Highlight of the prelims- Charles Oliveira. God, if you want me to be happy, have Oli win his next 3 fights like that and challenge Jose Aldo for the FW title. Amen. Â Yeah if he keeps this up and gets another 2 or 3 quality wins then by the end of the year they could build that fight into something big. Especially if they did the fight on a Brazil show. They could bill it as 145's most dangerous KO artist vs 145's most dangerous Submission master. Â Aldo's only loss is by submission aswell so they could hype that up. I think Aldo would win the fight in the end but it would be a different style opponent for him and could make for an interesting clash. And although Aldo has excellent takedown defence, Oliveira's shown in past fights that he doesn't necessarily have to take you down to submit you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted January 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 I suppose I will add a few of my thoughts to this thread. Â The Maia/Weidman fight was a bit of a damp squib. However, Weidman cutting 35 llbs in 11 days deserves some credit and the fact he made Maia look awful, who had obviously a lot more notice, should be commended. Â Sonnen/Bisping was a decent match. I had Sonnen winning it by 29-28 with him taking rounds 1 and 3. Whilst round 1 was competitive, Sonnen landed more of the flusher shots and had a takedown and a few take down attempts. Bisping had him up against the cage for a portion of that round as well but I would have Sonnen take it and it was this round that ultimately proved to be the clincher for Sonnen. Â It's actually the best possible outcome for the UFC as Bisping's stock rose considerably and there is now interest in him in a number one contenders match with hopefully Munoz. If Bisping came out with a win against his original opponent (Maia), in my opinion there still would have been question marks over the legitimacy of his number 1 contender ranking. Â I actually thought Evans was impressive against Phil Davis. Apart from the finish, he made an undefeated guy, who is an advanced level wrestler, look like a complete amateur. Davis is a bigger guy and Evans handled him like a rag doll. He had Davis in several awkward positions and really should have finished it. The only disappointment is that he didn't. There is no way his stock has fallen and I still believe he will give Jones a difficult night come April time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 If Anderson Silva faces the same Chael Sonnen in Brazil that Bisping just faced he'll make short work of him.  I'm not sure about that. Not saying Anderson won't win, I picked him by submission before their last fight and I'll probably pick the same again. But Bisping's defensive wrestling has always been good, that is the only area that I think he is tougher in than Anderson. Takedown defense and the ability to get back to his feet.  The Anderson/Sonnen/Bisping triangle is all about how their styles match up for me. And even before the fight at the weekend I saw it as;  Anderson subs Sonnen Sonnen beats Bisping in a close fight Anderson destroys Bisping quick  I just think Bisping was a tricky match for Sonnen with his takedown defense, good striking and great cardio. Whereas with Anderson, I don't think he'll be as effective defending Sonnen's takedowns. But Anderson is more of a 'danger' than Bisping in that he's a better striker and more dangerous off his back.  I do think Anderson beats Chael again but the way they match up I don't think it would ever be an easy fight. I see it probably being another submission and playing out similar to last time to be honest. Sonnen tapping Brian Stann doesn't convince me he can suddenly defend submissions but I think he's got a solid chance if he's more careful in Silva's guard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dead Mike Posted January 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Agree on everything you said re: Bisping & Sonnen, Bisping's a very hard person to hold down & his wall walking is amongst the best in the UFC. IMO Sonnen didn't look at all explosive & seemed hesitant. The most interesting thing (for me at least) about their rematch is that Silva has the psychological advantage. He's taken the best that Sonnen's got in his locker, whilst injured & still came away with the win. He knows exactly what Chael's strategy will be whereas Anderson is so versatile he can beat Sonnen standing or from his back. Â A lot of peeps on here have commented on how awesome the build up to this fight will be, I honestly can't see Silva getting into the trash-talking. He'll do the bare minimum that the UFC tell him he has to do & the rest of it will be water off a ducks back. Sonnen's building a rod for his own back in this fight. I suspect the pre-fight banter will get pretty boring pretty quickly being one-sided. Last time Sonnen's hype talk was still a novelty. I'd bet for every pro-wrestling fan who saw Chaels post fight speech on Saturday & thought 'Amazing' there were 4 sports fans watching & cringing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted January 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Agree on everything you said re: Bisping & Sonnen, Bisping's a very hard person to hold down & his wall walking is amongst the best in the UFC. IMO Sonnen didn't look at all explosive & seemed hesitant. The most interesting thing (for me at least) about their rematch is that Silva has the psychological advantage. He's taken the best that Sonnen's got in his locker, whilst injured & still came away with the win. He knows exactly what Chael's strategy will be whereas Anderson is so versatile he can beat Sonnen standing or from his back. Â A lot of peeps on here have commented on how awesome the build up to this fight will be, I honestly can't see Silva getting into the trash-talking. He'll do the bare minimum that the UFC tell him he has to do & the rest of it will be water off a ducks back. Sonnen's building a rod for his own back in this fight. I suspect the pre-fight banter will get pretty boring pretty quickly being one-sided. Last time Sonnen's hype talk was still a novelty. I'd bet for every pro-wrestling fan who saw Chaels post fight speech on Saturday & thought 'Amazing' there were 4 sports fans watching & cringing. Â A few points I need to raise regarding this post Mike. Do you honestly believe that Silva was truly injured? I know that it was reported afterwards but I personally felt it was more of an excuse for Anderson's performance. I just don't believe that Anderson Silva would go into a fight with a major injury. Â Regarding your statement about Chael's post fight interview, what is puzzling me is the opinion that Chael is coming across too pro wrestling. All these pre and post fight statements are nothing new in combat sports. Obviously the perfect example is Muhammed Ali who was the king of promos. Chael isn't doing something that is mutually exclusive to professional wrestling here. Â However, my concern at this moment is not what he is saying, but it's the actual delivery of his lines. Whilst before his trash talking felt like it was coming from within and felt spontaneous, in the build up and post Bisping fight his lines actually felt rehearsed and scripted. This ultimately for me is the slight issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I have to agree Sonnen did not look good Saturday night. I think Anderson will stop him with stikes when they meet over the summer, time is catching up to Anderson but I do not feel that Sonnen or Bisping will catch him in the next few years. Â Bisping will get a title shot at some point in the next year or so I think, most probably against Anderson and will get blown away in a few rounds which will look very similiar to the Okami fight with Anderson countering Bisping at will and putting on a show. The guys to watch to beat Anderson are the Chris Weidmans or Mark Munoz of the world, both of them have the wrestling to trouble Anderson, Weidman also has decent BJJ, beating Maia at such short notice is not to be sniffed at, if he gets in better shape in a full training camp he could be a real force. Â I also agree that Sonnen did not look as explosive, I feel Silva can keep it standing and Sonnen can only trade with Anderson for so long and survive. Sonnen also looked pretty gassed at points against Bisping, against a more powerful and effective striker like Anderson he cannot afford any such weakness as Anderson can put fighters away when he wants to with those killer knees from the clinch. Sonnen being overpowered by Bisping is also a bad sign for us Sonnen fans as his strength is one of his main advantages over Silva, maybe it is the weight cut, lack of PED or age that made Sonnen not look at strong and explosive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 The most interesting thing (for me at least) about their rematch is that Silva has the psychological advantage. He's taken the best that Sonnen's got in his locker, whilst injured & still came away with the win. He knows exactly what Chael's strategy will be whereas Anderson is so versatile he can beat Sonnen standing or from his back. Â Very good point that. And I think it will probably come into play. I'm not sure exactly how much the injury effected the first fight but Silva knowing he was hurt and still pulling out the win has gotta give him a lot of confidence. Â A lot of peeps on here have commented on how awesome the build up to this fight will be, I honestly can't see Silva getting into the trash-talking. He'll do the bare minimum that the UFC tell him he has to do & the rest of it will be water off a ducks back. Sonnen's building a rod for his own back in this fight. I suspect the pre-fight banter will get pretty boring pretty quickly being one-sided. Last time Sonnen's hype talk was still a novelty. I'd bet for every pro-wrestling fan who saw Chaels post fight speech on Saturday & thought 'Amazing' there were 4 sports fans watching & cringing. Â Yeah that's probably right. I like it but even I've gotta admit it does go a bit over the top at times. I like the ridiculousness of some of his claims but sometimes at press conferences and stuff someone will ask him a question and he'll go off in another direction totally unrelated just to get a clearly pre-planned line in. I still get a kick out of his interviews for the most part though. Â I can see why people who weren't into pro wrestling wouldn't like his talking but even they probably end up buying the PPV hoping he gets battered. It all works out for the UFC I suppose. Â It certainly beats what he was like before he started mouthing off. After the Maia loss he was pretty irrelevant and it was only then when he started talking shit that people took an interest for or against him. Before that he was just there. Now he's getting title shots and being talked about for headlining shows at soccer stadiums in Brazil. It's helped his career that's for sure, even if a lot of it is an act. I can deffo understand why he rubs some people the wrong way though. If nothing else it's created some interest in the division that wasn't there for a while with Anderson dominating everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dead Mike Posted January 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 A few points I need to raise regarding this post Mike. Do you honestly believe that Silva was truly injured? I know that it was reported afterwards but I personally felt it was more of an excuse for Anderson's performance. I just don't believe that Anderson Silva would go into a fight with a major injury. Â Absolutely. Remember, this was before the UFC changed their medical policy. Since doing so fighters have pulled out of events with injuries they would've previously fought through. It's also worth considering the fact that Anderson was coming off the Maia fight in which he (wrongly imo) took the vast majority of flack for it being an unentertaining fight. Pulling out of a title match last minute would've been a very unpopular move within the company for him at that time. It's strange that people would think he'd need to make an excuse for what's essentially 'not beating Sonnen more easily' when Sonnen failed the PED test. Anderson got held down for 5 rounds but still managed to do more visible damage to Chael than he received (watch the post-fight again). Â Regarding your statement about Chael's post fight interview, what is puzzling me is the opinion that Chael is coming across too pro wrestling. All these pre and post fight statements are nothing new in combat sports. Obviously the perfect example is Muhammed Ali who was the king of promos. Chael isn't doing something that is mutually exclusive to professional wrestling here. Â However, my concern at this moment is not what he is saying, but it's the actual delivery of his lines. Whilst before his trash talking felt like it was coming from within and felt spontaneous, in the build up and post Bisping fight his lines actually felt rehearsed and scripted. This ultimately for me is the slight issue. Â Very true, talking smack is nothing new in fight sports & it'll always be there. Sonnen's is just so blatantly fake though it's cringeworthy. There's plenty of people who'll buy into it 'ZOMG! Did you hear what he said about the Nogueira/Wandy/Anderson/insert name here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 I have to agree Sonnen did not look good Saturday night. I think Anderson will stop him with stikes when they meet over the summer, time is catching up to Anderson but I do not feel that Sonnen or Bisping will catch him in the next few years. Bisping will get a title shot at some point in the next year or so I think, most probably against Anderson and will get blown away in a few rounds which will look very similiar to the Okami fight with Anderson countering Bisping at will and putting on a show. The guys to watch to beat Anderson are the Chris Weidmans or Mark Munoz of the world, both of them have the wrestling to trouble Anderson, Weidman also has decent BJJ, beating Maia at such short notice is not to be sniffed at, if he gets in better shape in a full training camp he could be a real force.  I also agree that Sonnen did not look as explosive, I feel Silva can keep it standing and Sonnen can only trade with Anderson for so long and survive. Sonnen also looked pretty gassed at points against Bisping, against a more powerful and effective striker like Anderson he cannot afford any such weakness as Anderson can put fighters away when he wants to with those killer knees from the clinch. Sonnen being overpowered by Bisping is also a bad sign for us Sonnen fans as his strength is one of his main advantages over Silva, maybe it is the weight cut, lack of PED or age that made Sonnen not look at strong and explosive.  I really think the reason Chael didn't look so good was a credit to Bisping more than a discredit to Sonnen personally. Bisping has insane cardio and I think the pace he sets is often overlooked. He's made a lot of guys fade under his constant pressure and that combined with his takedown defense was always gonna be rough on Chael.  I don't think Anderson will be clinching and kneeing Chael because that would put him at a higher risk of being taken down but I could certainly see him catching him coming in with a knee or kick. Not ruling that out but I don't this will be on the feet long enough for a KO, I don't think he'll be able to stop the takedown so I think a submission again is the more likely ending. I'm picking Anderson with a late sub from the bottom again. Given their styles/weaknesses that's the most likely outcome I think.  I agree that with more experience, guys like Munoz and Weidman will be a threat. Especially with Anderson getting older and the fact they're great wrestlers combined with Weidman's BJJ/Munoz' ground and pound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Yeah I can give Bisping credit, he is quite underated in the wrestling department, I just did not feel that Sonnen looked at energetic and explosive as he usually does. Maybe Bisping is just a lot stronger than I think he is and has better takedown defence than Anderson, we will find out over the summer  I think Anderson will use that clinch on Sonnen, I think when pressed up agaisnt the cage he will be able to clinch and deliver knees on occasion and not get taken down.  I honsetly think also if Sonnen can takedown Silva like he did in there first fight, he will be a lot more conservative and not allow Silva the chance to grab submissions. For me the question of wheather or Sonnen can takedown Silva and keep him there decides the fight.  I am picking Silva by TKO after Sonnen's takedowns are mostly stuffed and Anderson is able to cause enough damage on the feet to finish. If not that I will go with Sonnen on points, if Sonnen gets subbed by Silva while on top again he is as bad as Melvin Guillard for not learning from his mistakes in the octagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dead Mike Posted January 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 I'm, unsurprisingly going for Silva by T/KO in the 2nd. There's just some fighters, namely Anderson, GSP & possibly Edgar that I refuse to bet against....Jonny Bones isn't quite there yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted January 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 On top of giving credit to Bisping for his performance, I also believe Sonnen may have been incredibly nervous (Despite the bravado front). Sonnen can pretend all he wants that he doesn't care about Silva, but we all know he lives and breathes for that rematch. He has talked himself into a corner and if he lost to Bisping I believe Sonnen would have had nowhere left to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 30, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 I'm gonna go Silva by triangle again as crazy as it sounds. It's probably Silva's best submission and it's Sonnen's achilles heel.  This is Sonnen's nightmare   I bet he's allergic to Dairylea triangles, Toblerone and Doritos aswell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajmcstyles Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I'm gonna go Silva by triangle again as crazy as it sounds. It's probably Silva's best submission and it's Sonnen's achilles heel. This is Sonnen's nightmare   I bet he's allergic to Dairylea triangles, Toblerone and Doritos aswell. Some fuckers gunna count all of them triangles. Would it hurt Bisping to learn more of his submissions there was the odd moment he could of gotten a submission on Sonnen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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