Paid Members Bus Surfer Posted April 23, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 I was massively disappointed with Rashad. After the first round, it was clear Jones was finding his range and starting to get comfortable, Rashad didn't really change up his gameplan at all, and remained on the defensive the next 4 rounds without ever really seriously committing to any type of takedown attempt. In the end it just seemed he was content with just making it through the fight without being finished. Â I don't really see Jones having any trouble with Hendo either. It's incredible to think this dude has dominated 4 (arguably Hall of Fame) Light heavyweights in such a short time, and may clear out his Division before he is 25 years old. Â Rest of the show was ok. Rory MacDonald and Michael McDonald both looked great while Rothwell and Browne throw their names into the 146 HW pile. I was gutted to see Chad Griggs get completely engulfed by Browne though. A little let down with the Njokuani and Brimage fights too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 23, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 i agree with Silky. I think the thing i was most disappointed with was Rashad's inability to change his approach to the fight, it's like he was relying solely on landing that overhand right, i think he landed it once in 25 minutes for a round or two he looked sharp but once Jones cleary took control Rashad just went into his shell and didn't do anything. There were two extremely half arsed attempts at a takedown and that was about it. Â I know people get on Rashad's case about the showboating, but in this case it would be fully understandable, i was just thinking 'well fucking follow it up!'. Extremely frustrating fight to watch. Â oh by the way, anyone catch the post fight show? Brian Stann was great on that, fully deserving his full time place on the panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 23, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 so how does everyone think the 205lb division stacks up now? Jones is not far from cleaning it out, you've got the Hendo fight next but other than that the only guy who's in the mix for my money is Gustaffson. Gustaffson needs to fight again thought whilst Hendo/Jones takes place, so who does he fight? i think the logical thing to do is put the Gustaffson/Lil Nog fight back together, even though i think it's step back rankings wise for Gustaffson. Â There aint much else around for Jones. The Phil Davis fight is one, but Davis needs to come back and win big at least 2-3 times before he can be considered. Rematched with Shogun, Machida, Evans are gonna be hard sells at this point, those guys need to get back in there and win fights, the Machida fight holds the most interest for me but Machida needs to get busy. Â The only other guy of note is Ryan Bader and Jones has already whooped him. Â 205 is a bit of a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METAL ON METAL Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 so how does everyone think the 205lb division stacks up now? Jones is not far from cleaning it out, you've got the Hendo fight next but other than that the only guy who's in the mix for my money is Gustaffson. Gustaffson needs to fight again thought whilst Hendo/Jones takes place, so who does he fight? i think the logical thing to do is put the Gustaffson/Lil Nog fight back together, even though i think it's step back rankings wise for Gustaffson. Â Â I like the sound of Gustaffson vs. Shogun, personally. It could really show if Gustaffson is for real or not, plus it'll progress his development rapidly. If he managed to beat Shogun, then he'd be ready for a crack at Jones. Â Â Absolutely nothing left at 205 after that though, which is very worrying for UFC. They should be trying to bring the likes of Rockhold, Mousasi, Feijao & possibly even Mike Kyle over from Strikeforce to shore up the division if anything, sure they probably won't amount to being viable contenders (bar perhaps Rockhold/Feijao) but it'll be some fresh faces UFC really need at this stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 23, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 but what if Shogun beats Gustaffson? what then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METAL ON METAL Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Then they can try and build Shogun back into a viable contender. Â They haven't really got many options and they can't afford to protect the older big named guys any more by putting them against each other, they've gotta focus on developing the new breed of guys now more than ever and to do that they've gotta put guys like Gustaffson in with the veterans like Shogun - alot of times it may not pay off but sometimes it will and you're never gonna know if hes got what it takes until he fights someone of Shogun's or even at a push Machida's standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 23, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 yeh i see what your saying but outside of Gustaffson there's no much going at 205. The bigger name guys are all still around the top and whenever a young up and comer gets in there and fights one them they end up losing (Bader, Davis). So you're left with the guys next in line that Jon Jones has already destroyed. Gustaffson the best thing to happen to the division in a while, the problem is that if he loses they are left with the hard sell of trying to put Jones back in with someone he's already handled...of course the name value probably helps out in terms of buys, but as a fight fan i wanna see a different kind of challenge for Jones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pryko Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 yeh i see what your saying but outside of Gustaffson there's no much going at 205. The bigger name guys are all still around the top and whenever a young up and comer gets in there and fights one them they end up losing (Bader, Davis). So you're left with the guys next in line that Jon Jones has already destroyed. Gustaffson the best thing to happen to the division in a while, the problem is that if he loses they are left with the hard sell of trying to put Jones back in with someone he's already handled...of course the name value probably helps out in terms of buys, but as a fight fan i wanna see a different kind of challenge for Jones. To be fair Bader's only losses are to Jon Jones, who everyone bar Matt Hammil has lost too, and Tito Ortiz, which was a freak knockout that hardly anyone expected and could happen to anyone. He is coming off a win over Rampage too. Bader could do with fighting Shogun, Machida or Rashad to see where he stands at getting another crack at Jones one day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted April 24, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 24, 2012 Gustafsson vs Shogun makes sense. I've got a feeling they're gonna stick with Shogun vs Rampage 2 though. They wanted to do that fight anyway and Rampage said he wouldn't be out long. Â I'd do either Gustafsson vs Little Nog or Bader. Either of them would be logical next fights for the Swede I think. Only problem there would be if Bader won, Jones vs Bader 2 doesn't exactly sound appetizing, but what can you do? You've gotta have him fight someone. Â I'd go with Phil Davis vs Thiago Silva maybe aswell. And Machida vs Rashad 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Snake Plissken Posted April 24, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 24, 2012 I was reading that they were trying to get Gustafsson Vs. Rampage for his next & Quintons last fight in the UFC. Looks like an easy way to build Gustafsson up as a top 10 fighter without any real risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1SinN6 Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I love that fight! Gustafsson has the reach to hit the lazy big guy right between the eyes for 5 rounds Give it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 24, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 24, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 so how does everyone think the 205lb division stacks up now? It's went from being one of the hottest divisions in the sport to being one of the most stale. It's going through a transition at present, with a lot of the top talent over the past few years all getting old at the same time. Â Henderson isn't really a 205lbs fighter, and he's 41 years old. Shogun hasn't really been the same since the PRIDE days and has been plagued by injuries, Machida is the wrong side of 30 and has lost 3 of his last 4, and Rashad just isn't big enough to compete with Jones. Â We have some younger guys coming through, such as Gustafsson, Davis, Mo Lawal & Gegard Mousasi, but whether any of them step up to replace the older guys remains to be seen. Â It's certainly not the division it once was, that's for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 24, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 24, 2012 yeh, i think it's gone from being the hottest to arguably the shallowest in MMA, it isn't just the UFC either. Strikeforce division is stupidly thin and Bellator's 205lb roster is by far the weakest in the promotion. Â Odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 yeh, i think it's gone from being the hottest to arguably the shallowest in MMA, it isn't just the UFC either. Strikeforce division is stupidly thin and Bellator's 205lb roster is by far the weakest in the promotion. Odd. A lot of the talent in the division all came from the same era, in both the UFC & PRIDE, and as such they have aged together as well. Hopefully it'll turn itself around as more talent emerges over the next few years.  Until then we'll just have to make do with all the other weight classes we have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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