UFC on FX 6/ TUF: The Smashes (Aus vs. UK) Discussion Thread

[jimufctna24]

I have Palhares, Pearson and Freakshow all winning tonight.

 

Palhares striking is not that bad, and if it goes to the mat I think he can out-grapple Lombard. He just needs to be less predictable like he was with Belcher.

 

Pearson has a good style to beat G-Sop, he has enough wrestling to starve of Georges weak takedowns, and decent enough boxing to outscore the Aussie. Give me Pearson on points or late stoppage.

[jimufctna24]

The Neslon/Carwin show maybe wasn't as exciting, but it had better talent on show, that's for sure.

I got told the talent is that bad, Dana is not taking fuck all on afterwards.

 

Only Mike Ricci has meant to have stood out. Again, just what I have heard I gave up after episode 2.

[cleslie92]

The Neslon/Carwin show maybe wasn't as exciting, but it had better talent on show, that's for sure.

I got told the talent is that bad, Dana is not taking fuck all on afterwards.

 

Only Mike Ricci has meant to have stood out. Again, just what I have heard I gave up after episode 2.

 

That's true, none of the contestants are on the finale bar the two finalists. With the Smashes, there's four.

[wandshogun09]

That's what I'm thinking with Pearson vs Sot. But Sots isn't a bad boxer himself to be fair. He seems to lack power but he actually did very well against Siver (people only remember the knockdowns but he landed a lot on Siver). He's slightly underrated on the feet I reckon. But he doesn't have a good chin and I think Pearson has him beat for power. If Sots can drag it to the ground though he has a big advantage there. Pearson isn't bad but Sots is on another level on the ground.

 

Lombard vs Palhares is a weird fight to call. Everyone put Lombard's crap effort in the Boetsch fight down to Octagon jitters but in a way there's even more pressure on him this time to live up to the hype. He has to deliver tonight. Remember, Lombard has Olympic calibre Judo, he won't be easy to get to the ground. But they don't have stunted Incredible Hulks trying to rip your leg off in Judo It's an interesting clash of styles. But I favour Hector.

 

I know MMA maths doesn't work but if Dan Miller was able to drop Palhares I'd be pretty sure Lombard can. And if Lombard drops you you usually stay dropped. I'm assuming Boetsch was an off night and Lombard will score an early KO. He won't have time to fuck about with Palhares.

[jimufctna24]

You know, with the emotion of the two not liking each other and with Sop's temper, I think they could have a few wild exchanges early which you would think would lead to Pearson knocking George out, with the power/chin advantage for Ross.

 

I can agree, with Lombard and jitters to a extent, the media were all over in his last fight. Where as this one, even I did not know it was happening until last night!

 

I still favor Palhares, but it could be a close one or go the other way.

[wandshogun09]

The Neslon/Carwin show maybe wasn't as exciting, but it had better talent on show, that's for sure.

I got told the talent is that bad, Dana is not taking fuck all on afterwards.

 

Only Mike Ricci has meant to have stood out. Again, just what I have heard I gave up after episode 2.

 

That's true, none of the contestants are on the finale bar the two finalists. With the Smashes, there's four.

 

There'll probably be a couple of others brought back as well. I can see Richie Vas getting a call up at his natural weight at some point, wouldn't be that surprised if Michael Pastou (went out with injury early in the series) got a shot as well. He was one of the favourites for Team UK going in.

 

And even with the phone thing, it wouldn't really shock me if Bola and Luke got on a UK card in the future. Remember, Brendan was involved in that as well and he got on the finale. Nothing would really shock me. Dana's brought back guys who've done a lot worse than text their Mrs.

[wandshogun09]

I can agree, with Lombard and jitters to a extent, the media were all over in his last fight. Where as this one, even I did not know it was happening until last night!

 

Yeah there's defo been less media hype on his fight this time. But I'm sure he'll be feeling the pressure from his employers. Even if they're not outright saying "look good or you're out", he'll know he can't afford another UFC 149 effort (or lack of).

 

I hope you're right about Pearson vs Sots. I'd love to see Ross deck him early doors like Dos Anjos did. If it ends quick maybe we can get that massive twat of an Aussie striking coach in there with whoever smacked Sots in the carpark.

[Egg Shen]

Ill be rooting for Lombard tonighf but im a big fan of both guys. If the rumor that Lombard could be gone off a loss is true ima be gutted, so many good fights for him to potentially have. Im rooting for Hector.

[David]

The Neslon/Carwin show maybe wasn't as exciting, but it had better talent on show, that's for sure.

I got told the talent is that bad, Dana is not taking fuck all on afterwards.

 

Only Mike Ricci has meant to have stood out. Again, just what I have heard I gave up after episode 2.

That's true, none of the contestants are on the finale bar the two finalists. With the Smashes, there's four.

That doesn't really mean anything, does it? The UFC are always in need of international talent, especially now they're branching out so much. I'm willing to go out on a limb right now and predict that none of the fighters on the smashes series goes on to do anything of note in the UFC.

 

I'm not saying that the Nelson/Carwin series was bursting with talent, but even if only Ricci does anything (which I think he will at 155lbs) that's one more than I'd give the smashes lot. They have a little appeal because of their nationality, but thats about it. It had more shit between the coaches and stupid nonsense in the house, but the fights, whilst exciting, were technically inferior to what we usually see on TUF I think.

[Egg Shen]

Its hard to say at this point. If you look at past seasons alot of guys that did poorly on the show go on to have decent UFC careers, i think it has a lot to do with most guys dedicating themselves fully to fighting post-TUF whilst beforehand alot of the guys fight part-time. TUFs a gamechanger for anyone thats involved.

[David]

Its hard to say at this point. If you look at past seasons alot of guys that did poorly on the show go on to have decent UFC careers, i think it has a lot to do with most guys dedicating themselves fully to fighting post-TUF whilst beforehand alot of the guys fight part-time. TUFs a gamechanger for anyone thats involved.

Maybe. I just think that the fights on the Smashes were a bit like the fights you see on lower end shows. Exciting, but lacking in actual ability.

[wandshogun09]

But it depends what you mean by "doing anything of note" as well Dave. I think guys like Freakshow, Brad Scott and Rob Whittaker will probably do alright on the FX and FUEL cards and PPV prelims level. Maybe Manny too. And let's be honest, before John Dodson (who's really only broke into the title mix so quick because the 125lb division is so shallow) no-one from TUF since Nate Diaz on TUF 5 has made it into title contention. If we're not talking title contention then everything else you may consider "of note" is subjective.

 

Guys like Ross Pearson, G-Sot, Roy Nelson and Meathead have had decent UFC careers in my opinion, despite mixed results. I think some of the Smashes lot could potentially go on to do similar.

 

I like Ricci but is he that good? Or is it simply that the rest of the TUF 16 field was weak maybe, which made him look better? Like Mac Danzig on TUF 6. Good fighter and I'm a fan but the opposition on that season made Danzig look like a world beater which he clearly isn't.

 

Ricci's going to find himself thrust into perhaps the deepest, talent rich division in all of MMA. The UFC lightweight division is so strong from top to bottom, there's not many, if any, easy fights. Really good fighters like Mark Bocek, Gleison Tibau and Evan Dunham are struggling to make any headway in that shark pool. Ricci looks good against the TUF 16 crew but he's going up several levels as soon as it's over.

 

It's hard to judge how good anyone on TUF really is because we don't really know how good the guys they were fighting on the show were. When we see Ricci or Freakshow in there with a tried and tested UFC vet like a TJ Grant or Matt Wiman we'll be able to better judge how good they really are.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

All the guys who made the Smashes Finale card have a chance to do well in the UFC IMO. Loughnane surprised me on the show, as an alternate I wasn't expecting him to do that well. I've still picked Wilkinson to TKO him, Wilkinson seems to be a bit of a nasty bastard. I like Manny, and he showed a fair bit of toughness in his fight against Bola, but let's remember he got put on the ground with ease. I think Alloway's better on the ground and will be able to control where the fight goes for a UD. It's obvious but the guys with the most promise on the Smashes are in the finals. Sometimes you get a case where guys who are less talented make it further through the competition, but in this case I think the fighters are where they should be.

 

Whittaker: Really explosive striker, and that's really all we know right now. I don't think we've seen him grapple at all. Looking at his Sherdog MMA record, he actually has several submission victories to his credit, possibly against lesser fighters, but those techniques are there. Interestingly, he's beaten Alloway with a RNC in 2011. He clearly works very hard, and I think he'll be the most promising prospect coming out of the show. He's only 21, with his 22nd birthday next Thursday, so time is on his side.

 

Scott: He's tough and scrappy, I think the Forrest Griffin comparisons are apt. Hard to say how far he'll go, he hasn't been as dominant as his opponent in the Finale, and beating Xavier isn't really a huge achievement based on what he showed in the season. I think he gets beat here and becomes a staple of the prelims of UK UFC cards.

 

Freakshow: By far the most interesting character of the season, I think he finds success in the UFC. His unique size and frame, and more importantly, his ability to use those attributes to his advantage make him a dangerous opponent for any LW. I think he stops Parke with another crazy submission.

 

Parke: Decent fighter, and the UFC doesn't have too many Irish fighters (if any now Marcus Davis is gone), so he'll probably get a few fights. He has good wrestling and aggressive GNP, but as a LW, I don't think he's as quick and dynamic enough to keep up with the more elite fighters in the division.

[wandshogun09]

I agree with pretty much all of that, except;

 

Parke: Decent fighter, and the UFC doesn't have too many Irish fighters (if any now Marcus Davis is gone), so he'll probably get a few fights. He has good wrestling and aggressive GNP, but as a LW, I don't think he's as quick and dynamic enough to keep up with the more elite fighters in the division.

 

Marcus Davis is about as Irish as Cheick Kongo. If they'd gone to Italy he'd have probably changed his name to Marco "The Sicilian Pizza Knife" Davioni or something. Plastic Paddy.

 

I fancy Wilkinson to stop Brendan as well. I've gone with Manny by sub (pure hunch and also what I hope happens), Lombard by early TKO, Freak on points, Pearson by TKO.

 

I've actually picked Brad Scott to catch Whittaker in a late sub as well. But I'm totally guessing and assuming that Brad's size might wear him out down the stretch. Bit of a shot in the dark just based on not seeing Whittaker's ground game/cardio. Looking at his record though, Whittaker is a finisher. All his wins are by stoppage. I've got a feeling this might be a sleeper on the card.

 

Prelims are just about to get started by the way.

[cleslie92]

Anyone have a link to watch the prelims?