Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 2, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2012 I wish Bonnar was more active/higher up the card. He could be used in that spot to enhance up and comers, but in featured fights, ala the card placement of Griffin/Ortiz. He's on a 3 fight win streak, has name value and hardly ever in a boring fight. Bonnar vs Davis, Gustaffson and Lil Nog would be fun, it's a shame that a guy like him isn't used more prominently in a shallow division. Hoping UFC grant him the 3rd Griffin fight, it's very winnable for him given his career resurgence of sorts while Forrest has had regression. It could give him the confidence to continue in the division as an mid-upper contender, given his recent form I'd give him a chance against anyone, save maybe Jones. Â Yeah, I'd like to see them. I don't think Bonnar would be interested in Davis or Gusty though. He's said he's got no interest in fighting up and comers now. He's mentioned Forrest, Rampage and Shogun as fights he'd jump all over if he was offered. I've brought up Bonnar vs Little Nog before as well, that would be fucking great. I think Bonnar would go for that as well. Â I don't get why they won't give him a fight he wants to bow out on. He's not asking for title shots just a good fight against a name. They bend over backwards for Forrest even when he's being a massive bellend. Yet Bonnar, who's been great for them as a fighter, commentator (WEC), panelist on FX/FUEL, great ambassador for the UFC. And he was the other half of that 2005 fight they bum so furiously which tends to be forgotten. All they bang on about is Forrest. Â Forrest runs out the cage in tears every 2 or 3 fights and still keeps getting name fights and Bonnar can't get shit. I'd love to see him main event a FX or FUEL card in his hometown against one of the above and call it a day there with a Lytle-like sendoff. Â Â yeh great shout! Bonnar deserves more love! I don't really see why they won't give him the marquee fight he wants? Bonnar's one of the bigger names outside of the title picture and he's had no end of pleasing fights, plus as you said he does lots of TV work and all that good stuff. I think he deserves the chance to go up against one of the bigger names in a headline fight on say an FX show. They could surely market a Bonnar/Griffin 3 as well...it still baffles me why they didn't go down the TUF coaching route with them 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I think Forrest vs Bonnar will co-main event a PPV or Headline a Fox show in the next year. At this stage of their careers it makes sense, it will be like most saw Ortiz vs Forrest 3, a fun trip down memory lane with no title implications. It would not shock me if both retired afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 2, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted August 2, 2012 yeh, that's what everyone thinks...except Dana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Not only that, but he deserves a decent crack on merit. Since he dropped the fight with Coleman he's been on top form, losing the fight with Soszynski on a cut, and winning the rematch pretty comprehensively, and beating both Pokrajac and Kingsbury. Â In fact, aside from a cut stoppage I don't think he's ever been stopped, has he? He even went the distance with Jon Jones. Â Considering the lack of decent talent in the 205lbs division at the moment they really could do with throwing Bonnar into the mix as far as top level, non-title fights go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I think Dana believes that Forrest and Bonnar do not need anymore promotion and are maybe a little overexposed, that is why they did not get the TUF gig as to that casual audience they have been around a long time. Â Whatever his theory, I think he will have his arm twisted for for letting them at least fight again. They are not going to be let go, as Dana is loyal to the first cast of TUF, plus I also feel Forrest would not appreciate being fed to Gustaffsen, both Griffin and as said Bonnar I think will only take special attraction fights with name fighters at this stage. Â Their legendary first fight whilst very exciting, is slightly overated however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 3, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 3, 2012 There's an article up on MMAJunkie with quotes from Dana saying he thinks Forrest Griffin and Matt Hughes should retire now. I agree Jim, that the first Griffin/Bonnar is a bit overrated. I still love it but 'Best UFC fight eva' it is not. There's a good handful in the last year alone I'd rank higher.  Ok so who's everyone picking for tomorrow night then? I've gone with Vera by decision and Machida by KO in the polls.  And I actually fancy Varner to beat Lauzon if he can weather the early storm. Lauzon is awesome for a round or so but he's always faded after that. I see Varner taking over later in the fight and winning a decision.  Swick/Johnson is tricky. Swick's been gone so long he's a bit of a tough one to predict. Who knows how the time off will play into this. And I've been impressed with Johnson since his stint on TUF, he's made massive strides, especially in his grappling under Jeremy Horn. Got a feeling Swick might catch him early though for some reason.  So I'm having  Vera - Dec Machida - KO Varner - Dec Swick - KO  I'm really hoping I'm wrong on the main event. I don't know if I really believe Vera will win or if everyone counting him out has made me think he's actually going to pull off the upset. I defo think this is a much, much harder fight for Shogun than a lot think. And I can't shake the feeling that Vera will win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane O' Mac Version 2 Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 My picks: Â Shogun by 1st round KO. I'm sticking with the popular opinion of Vera getting blitzed. I don't care what Vera says, if you have that much trouble against Eliot Marshall, you're gonna struggle against a guy like Shogun. MMA math doesn't always work, but we've seen what Shogun does to lesser opponents in the 2nd Forrest fight. He closes the distance and beats down Vera against the cage for the stoppage. Â Machida by decision. The classic Lyoto gameplan wins him this one. He stays elusive and picks Bader apart from the outside, darting in and out with jabs and leg kicks. Bader won't be able to get close to him, and even if he does, Machida's TDD is fantastic. I have a feeling the fight itself won't be that exciting due to Machida trying to avoid Bader's power, but he will get a clear victory. Â Lauzon by 1st round submission. Lauzon is a strong starter, and Varner has said he's fighting like he's got nothing to lose, which is true. So I'm picturing a crazy 3 or 4 minutes before Varner gets over eager and gives Lauzon an arm for the sub. Â Swick by decision. Despite the long layoff, Swick has shown to be a very dangerous fighter in the cage. Although he hasn't fought since February 2010, he's been in multiple training camps for fights that fell through due to injury, so I don't see him being as rusty as many are predicting. Johnson is a durable fighter and has been more active, so I think he'll keep it competitive and won't come close to being stopped, but I see Swick outstriking him through 3 frames. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajmcstyles Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Did I hear that right 201lbs for Lyoto he should be fighting at Middleweight. He didn't really looked ripped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane O' Mac Version 2 Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 And 203.8 for Vera! Didn't actually see the weigh ins, but I can only assume that means he's in tip top shape, which is a good thing regarding the potential fight quality. Crazy to think he fought at HW now, guess he's really fucked off the CM Punk ice cream bars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 4, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 4, 2012 Just saw the weigh ins. Surprised at Machida coming in so light, thought he looked good though. Probably means he trained more for speed and cardio is all. He won't be dropping to 185 anytime soon. Â Shogun looked good as well which raises my hopes a bit. My main worry with him the last few years has been his condition injury wise, he's always had the skills. He looked good though. Â Come on Shogun, time to fuck that poor man's Tong Po up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METAL ON METAL Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Just saw the weigh ins. Surprised at Machida coming in so light, thought he looked good though. Probably means he trained more for speed and cardio is all. He won't be dropping to 185 anytime soon. Â He was asked by Ariel after the weigh-in if him coming in light meant he was thinking of dropping to 185 and his response was "Maybe". Â I would LOVE to see Machida down at 185 if he is capable of having a good cut down, though shame he'd never fight Anderson - that would've made an interesting match-up stylistically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane O' Mac Version 2 Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Hmm. Why would Machida drop to 185 when he would never fight the champion? Makes me think Anderson is thinking of retirement. He's certainly getting to that age, and would want to retire on top. His camp has called for the GSP superfight, but that couldn't realistically happen until the middle of next year. If I had to guess, I'd say Anderson defends the title one more time against a Weidman or Bisping at the end of the year, then retires on the GSP fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 4, 2012 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 4, 2012 Really? Seems a bit pointless to me because as you say he won't fight Anderson. Why go to a division where you won't challenge for the title? Unless Anderson told him he's thinking retirement? Â Plus, Machida was on about doing TUF Brazil with Shogun leading to a third fight. A fight with Hendo or rematches with Jones/Rashad would be good as well. Â Can't really think of many interesting fights for him at 185 aside from Sonnen. Not sure he'd fight Belfort or Wandy as he's trained with both in the last few years. And a Machida vs Sonnen fight could happen at 205 anyway. Â I hope he stays put. He's still got a better shot than most vs Jones I think. Â edit - fucking hell Shane O said pretty much the same. Â On GSP/Silva, both Dana and Lorenzo have been hinting at it. Dana actually said they're thinking about doing GSP/Silva next for Anderson if GSP beats Condit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METAL ON METAL Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Here is the actual tweet, it was from Kevin Iole of Yahoo: Â Machida just said "could be" when he was asked by @arielhelwani if he was going to go to 185 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 4, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted August 4, 2012 i think Machida's on his way down there, i think we'll get his decision depending on how the fight goes tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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