UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski - May 8th

[wandshogun09]

I'd be up for a drink with you bastards if timing works out. The Dublin show falls right between my birthday and my wedding so might be tricky but I'm going to try to find a way to get to that show so if I do, yeah, I'll have a drink with whoever.

 

Fucking hell lamby, two and a half weeks?! That's really flown by. Have fun mate.

[Rey_Piste]

I finally got around to watching the show tonight, still felt slightly weird without Goldy and Rogan, but it was a decent show. Dan Hardy was very good as a commentator, but Christian O'connel was lacklustre. Seery put in a good show, though he obviously needs to work on his ground game. Johnson's improved a fuck ton over the past year or so, Gillard looked like a bum, which is more how good Johnson is now. I watched the show with my mate who is bit of a casual MMA fan and looking at Manuwa thought Gusty was going to get demolished. Which to be fair physically, Jimi looked like a beast. Of course skill wise he wasn't anywhere near to being up to snuff.

 

I'd love to get to Dublin considering it's on the day of my birthday, but I want to go to Sonisphere which is a couple of weeks earlier. Never mind the fact my passport ran out years ago and I not bothering to renew it any time soon.

[Guy Bifkin]

I could be up for Dublin - is there a date/venue firmed up yet?

[wandshogun09]

July 19th is the date. They haven't announced a venue yet, I don't think, but I imagine it'll probably be the O2.

[JNLister]

Bit late on this one but Danny Mitchell, who was on the undercard of the UFC in London, is the nephew of former British pro wrestling heavyweight champion Albert 'Rocky' Wall.

[Chunk]

Chunk - Not seen you around these parts before, so welcome to the MMA threads.

 

Thanks mate - what a friendly bunch you MMA guys are!

 

Wand: you must be getting married at a similar time to me. Dublin show clashes with my honeymoon.

[wandshogun09]

Congratulations!

 

Yeah I'm getting married on August 2nd. And it's right in between mine and the missus' birthdays as well. Mine's July 13th, hers is August 12th. So yeah, I better get doing some overtime/saving if I'm planning on going to the Dublin show. I'm bleeding money for the next six months.

[wandshogun09]

Shogun vs Hendo 2 then. It's only a few days away, let's talk about it. Who wins? Will it live up to or be anything even close to their first fight? What happens next for the winner/loser?

 

I know they've both seen better days but it's a shame this fight is getting pretty much no buzz whatsoever. As far as rematches we didn't really need to see go, this is about as good as it gets. Shogun vs Hendo is enough. Then add in how desperately they both need a win, especially Hendo. Then add in a mad Brazilian crowd. It has all the ingredients of another classic.

 

Not massively jazzed about the rest of the card but I seriously can't wait for the main event.

 

Oh yeah, don't forget this is on Sunday night, not Saturday.

[David]

Four votes thus far and not one for Dan. Despicable.

[wandshogun09]

Why don't you throw a vote his way then?

 

I think some of the lopsided poll is down to how their most recent fights went. When the freshest thing in your memory is Hendo getting his face kicked off by Belfort, and Shogun's left hook making Te Huna sit down at 100mph, it's hard to look too far past a Shogun win.

 

But I agree, it's kind of a pick 'em with these two. I do think that, assuming they're both on form, Shogun wins though. I thought that before their first fight as well. I just think he's got more tools as a striker and although they both have a tendency to gas, Shogun remains dangerous even when he's exhausted (see him rocking Hendo in the 4th, KOing Vera in the 4th). Whereas once Hendo gasses, he seems to lose a lot of his weapons.

 

People will look at the three fight skid Hendo is on but still, it's not like he was blown away by Machida or Rashad. He didn't look great in either fight but they were both competitive. Some even had him edging Machida as I recall, and he dropped Rashad. It was only against Belfort that he really just got battered.

 

And you never know what you're getting with Shogun these days. From fight to fight he can be completely different. Look how shit he looked against Chael, just totally flat, didn't look good physically, and just got run over. Then compare how he looked four months later against Te Huna. Granted Te Huna isn't the fighter Chael is, and the styles are completely different so that plays a part - but in terms of Shogun's own performance it was night and day. Looked in better shape as well. I think a lot of it with Shogun's performance now is just what kind of camp he's had. If he can scrape through camp, put in the work and remain healthy he generally performs and looks better. Then other fights you can just tell he's had a poor camp. It's really hit and miss.

 

If Shogun comes in like he did against Te Huna (and I'm hopeful now he's back with Eduardo Alonso in Sao Paulo), I like him to win this one, either by decision or a stoppage after the third round. If he comes in like he did against Sonnen, it'll be a rough one. He'll fight hard but probably will be in as bad or worse nick than last time post-fight.

 

Hendo is clearly on the way out, but I don't think Shogun's many steps behind him if I'm being honest. I favour Shogun in this one but I wouldn't sleep on Hendo. I'm about 60/40 in favour of Shogun.

[Egg Shen]

its a card loaded with Brazilian-card favorites, guess this is to Brazilians what UK fight shows are like to us now, its very heavily geared towards that market...audiences lap it up though.

 

Im going in blind with a few of the fights but im always excited to see Mutante, Jason, Pepey etc. fight, those guys always bring it.

 

im just gonna let the main event play out, im excited but it surely cant match the first, here's hoping though...

 

Theres never a duff Brazilian card.

[wandshogun09]

Since I've mentioned him there, here's a quote from Shogun's manager Eduardo Alonso about Shogun's preparation for this fight;

 

He will be ready to fight on March 23rd and with tools to win the fight, I like to think of this run as a work in progress. He started training camp this time in a much better condition than he got to us to start the camp for Te Huna, which is good since this is a 5 round fight, and I'm sure he can only get better for the fights following this if he stays healthy and keeps building from camp to camp.

 

Sounds promising. Shogun was with Alonso during his 2009/10 run where he went from Coleman to Liddell to the two Machida fights. And he did seem to get better with each camp. After watching how bad he looked at times against Coleman, you'd never have thought he'd be the one to solve the Machida riddle over the next year or so. I think Alonso is a good influence on Shogun when it comes to training camps, prepping for fights, strategy and stuff. He's had Shogun working with a Brazilian boxing coach called Ivan de Oliveira (who is apparently the son of the first Brazilian boxer to win Olympic gold), and he was said to be very instrumental in the techniques Shogun used to beat Te Huna.

 

It's good stuff. I'm not delusional or anything, I don't see Shogun ever reaching UFC title level again (he'll never beat Jones no matter what he does, nor Gustafsson or Cormier), but I like that he's got Alonso back, that he's working on more technical boxing and training with Demian Maia on his grappling. He's doing the right things at least.

[Chunk]

Shogun / Henderson I is online now as a free fight:

 

Link

[Egg Shen]

its due a re-watch

[wandshogun09]

Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani

 

Shogun essentially spent 8 weeks away from his fam for this camp. His wife gave birth to their 2nd baby girl on 2/26.

 

Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani

 

Shogun is also officially back with @eduardo_alonso 100%. Notable he'd spend that much time away with a nine-month pregnant wife.

 

Shogun's had his critics over the years when it comes to dedication to training but this shows just how dedicated he is right now. He's probably barely even seen his kid yet. This is Alonso's influence again, I reckon. When Shogun was left to his own devices over the last few years, if his wife gave birth then he'd probably have just fucked off camp for a couple of weeks. He was his own boss in training camps back then.

 

If he's got through camp with no setbacks injury-wise, it won't be easy but I like Shogun to stop Hendo. He didn't take much time off after the Te Huna fight and he looked in great condition for that fight. So if he's built on that and stayed healthy, coupled with the extra motivation of a new mouth to feed, then add in he'll be fighting at home, the timing just seems right for a Shogun win to me. Plus Shogun's yet to lose a rematch in his career. I expect Hendo will come in guns blazing though. He badly needs a win here. Basically I think we're in for another wild fight. I don't think it's going to the cards this time though.

 

I'll say Shogun by KO, round 3.