Ultimate Fighter: Rousey v Tate

[hbk4life]

I liked this season. The fights were good and I enjoyed the Rousey/Tate interaction. Pena & Holdsworth to win for me as well. I think Pena will run through Rakoczy, 1st round sub.

 

I thought Beal and Wooten might of been given fights on the finale. I'm glad all the women get a shot now or in the future.

 

Diaz/Maynard is 50/50 for me. At the moment I'll pick Maynard via decision, but it's tough to pick a winner in that one.

[Egg Shen]

i imagine Wooten will show up on the UK card in March.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. I think a couple of guys might get another crack on future cards. Beal being one. Maybe that Goreman bloke who got hurt early on as well. They didn't make the finale but I'm sure Joe Silva kept a couple of guys' numbers handy in case he needs them sometime, like if someone pulls out injured maybe they'll get an opportunity to step in.

 

I just watched the last episode, loved the face off with Ronda and Miesha at the end. From watching interviews with Miesha she really seems in a good mindset for this. I think she genuinely has gained confidence from the show and sees Ronda as more beatable. I don't think it'll matter on the night of the fight but if she's coming in really believing she's got this one nailed, then it should be another cracking fight. I guess the fear after a fight like Ronda vs Miesha 1, especially how brutal the finish was, is that Miesha will come in too cautious in the rematch and it'll be a letdown. But I get the sense Miesha genuinely fancies this. Can't wait. Fuck it, I'll say Miesha is the first to drag Ronda to a second round, fights valiantly, but ultimately gets armbarred again.

 

Loved the wiping arse line from Ronda which Silky quoted.

 

Jessica Rakoczy really impressed me. I think too much was made of what Raquel Pennington didn't do there and not enough credit was given to Jessica. Pennington just had no answer for Jessica's boxing. Well, her answer was probably to grapple but Jessica's takedown defence was excellent. And on the feet she just completely shut Raquel down.

 

I'm a bit more interested in the Pena vs Rakoczy final after seeing that. I think Pena's one weakness is the standup and of course, that's Rakoczy's bread and butter. If she can stuff Pena's takedown it could be a bad night for her. I think Pena will prove too strong in the end though. Maybe it's just me but she looks huge to me for 135, really strong. And as we saw against Moras, her BJJ and ground and pound is dangerous. Still got Pena by sub, but I think it's a better fight on paper than I originally thought.

[JNLister]

I've got a horrible feeling Rousey gets the armbar, Tate taps, Rousey breaks her arm anyway, then there's a major scandal because she doesn't get fired like Palhares.

[wandshogun09]

Fuck, I hope nothing like that happens. That would set Womens MMA back at a time where it's coming off a real high in 2013. I wouldn't rule it out with someone like Ronda sadly, but surely even with the rivalry she wouldn't do something that severe.

[jimufctna24]

I've got a horrible feeling Rousey gets the armbar, Tate taps, Rousey breaks her arm anyway, then there's a major scandal because she doesn't get fired like Palhares.

I know where you are coming from, it has car crash written all over it. I like Rousey, but she is not the most mentally stable.

 

I actually think Tate could surprise people, I know people have said this every fight, but get beyond the armbar, and Rousey could be there for the taking. I expect this fight to go a lot longer than people expect.

[wandshogun09]

I just don't see the path to victory for Tate at all.

 

A KO is probably her only hope. But then, she's not exactly a KO artist, doesn't seem to have all that much power and Ronda's style is such that she's not likely to get much time to get many solid strikes off.

 

So if that's her best bet, the other options are

 

A submission - Tate has a good submission game but it's highly unlikely she catches Ronda. It's just different levels.

 

A decision - hard to see how this works. She's a wrestler but she's not going to outgrapple Rousey for 25 minutes. No way she wrestles and stays out of danger that long. And I don't see how she keeps it standing and picks Ronda apart. Tate's striking isn't anything special really, it's better than Ronda's sure but I don't think this is going to be a stand up fight.

 

I just don't see where Miesha threatens Ronda. She's kind of like a Bisping type in a way. Solid in all areas but not a massive threat in any one area. I guess the X-factor could be cardio. Tate is tested and has had the long fights. She tapped Marloes Coenen in round 4. We haven't even seen Ronda on the stool between rounds yet. And with how explosive a sport Judo is, it's hard to imagine she can keep up the pace we've seen down the stretch. But I'd be surprised if she has cardio problems. We just haven't seen it put to the test yet.

 

Who really knows? I also said I wouldn't give Gustafsson a chance against Jones and look how that went! I don't think Ronda is unstoppable, no-one is. But I can't see Miesha having the tools to be the one to stop her. If she was fighting someone like Cat Zingano, Holly Holm or even Amanda Nunes, those are fighters who are physically imposing and dangerous strikers. A punchers chance with those three is a higher percentage punchers chance than what Miesha brings IMO.

 

I very much doubt Ronda is just armbars as well. That's all we've seen because that's all she's needed. It's certainly her go-to move. But someone with such an extensive Judo background, who's also trained MMA for a few years and has mixed with Gene LeBell, Karo Parisyan, Manny Gamburyan, Nick and Nate Diaz etc, she'll have way more tools on the ground than she's shown. I'd wager her chokes are top notch at least. Any Olympic level Judo practitioner will know what's what with chokes.

[METAL ON METAL]

What intrigues me most is seeing what type of mind set Rousey comes into the fight with, on the back of doing those two movies back to back and being away from MMA for a little while. It'll be interesting to see if shes as prepared/determined as usual, given her Olympic background/upbringing you wouldn't think it'll affect her but you never know.

[wandshogun09]

True. She's had a hell of a schedule this year. I think she'll be alright though. Apparently she was telling people that she was burnt out from the non-stop schedule and that her time away doing The Expendables 3 was great for her. That she felt refreshed again with the break from MMA and the media. Who knows? The next month is the media is going to be all over Ronda again so we'll see how she handles it.

 

Weigh ins are done

 

MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET)

 

Nate Diaz (156) vs. Gray Maynard (156)

Julianna Pena (134) vs. Jessica Rakoczy (132)

[Egg Shen]

Really interested in the prelims for this one, especially the debut of Jared Rosholt, big, powerful NCAA div. 1 heavyweight...Marc Laimon guy too.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, brother of Jake Rosholt as well, ex UFC and WEC fighter who beat Chris Leben in the UFC.

 

EDIT -

 

Just watched the weigh in, another bit of info on Jared Rosholt - his nickname is 'The Big Show' and his hero is Hulk Hogan. Got to root for him now.

 

Just stumbled upon this as well;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&a...p;v=f-3eCfDWMZU

 

Nate Diaz appearance on TUF 18 helping Team Rousey out with some BJJ drills. This wasn't in the show was it? I don't remember seeing Nate on there. Comes across well here.

 

Chael commented that Nate looked sucked in at the weigh in and that he's saying he's going up to 170 after this fight. He's been complaining about the cut to 155 for a while now. He's obviously finding making the weight harder as he's got older. Kind of makes his recent callout of Anthony Pettis even more odd though if he's just fucking back off to 170 after this.

[JNLister]

Dreamt the Tate-Rousey fight last night. Tate got an immediate takedown, then transitioned into a pro-wrestling style leg-scissors on the neck, cranked up and Rousey tapped out in under 10 seconds.

 

I wouldn't recommend placing a bet based on this insight.

[Egg Shen]

yeh Wand. Diaz was on TUF, there may be more online but it definitely showed him working with Team Rousey.

 

Nate at 170's a weird one, whilst he can compete he was just outmuscled last time we went up.

[wandshogun09]

Dreamt the Tate-Rousey fight last night. Tate got an immediate takedown, then transitioned into a pro-wrestling style leg-scissors on the neck, cranked up and Rousey tapped out in under 10 seconds.

 

I wouldn't recommend placing a bet based on this insight.

 

Dirty sod.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Diaz was also complaining about money recently, on two accounts, the first being the Thomson fight. He defended his corner throwing in the towel saying, "I don't get paid enough to take that much of an ass whooping," now it's "I don't get paid enough to make 155". I know the Diaz's aren't the sharpest knives, but that sounds very diva-esque. Nate is firmly in the UFC's mid-tier at this stage.