Paid Members Egg Shen Posted January 23, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 Â What happens if Velasquez wins? Whom does he face? Probably straight into the rubber match with Werdum. Â It should be Miocic or Overeem but they do love them some immediate rematches these days. Â We need another Todd Duffee type case. A musclebound, chinny, one trick pony who just flails his overly pumped up arms about? Duffee was never much cop. He just looked like he should be. He never beat anyone of note and even 2015 Frank Mir knocked him spark out. Â Â Â i didn't mean in that way. I just mean a heavyweight who comes into the sport and creates an actual buzz with hype surrounding him. Has there been another case since Duffee? Cole Conrad had a little of it but his fighting style killed any momentum he ever had.There's no heavyweights even outside of the UFC that im hearing about and that people want to see come to the UFC, it's a pretty dire state of affairs up top. The fact that every heavyweight in the UFC top 10 has been in the UFC for around 6 years or more and several are still leftovers from the classic Pride division says it all about the level of talent about at heavyweight. Â The UFC did recently sign a former M-1 Heavyweight king Marin Tybura, he's 13-1 (11 stoppages), interested to see how he fairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 23, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 What also seems a little odd on the UFC's side of things is that, if their HW division listings are anything to go by, they actually have a lot of people in their roster. Yet we don't often see HW fights on the cards in general. Surely they should be booking more fights to try and give challengers the chance to emerge? Â A quick look would suggest that Ruslan Magomedov should be close to getting himself into consideration, given that he's 14-1 in MMA and 3-0 in the UFC. His last fight was back in October, but he doesn't appear to be scheduled to fight anyone. As the guy is 29, I'd say UFC matchmakers need to get off the pot - feed him some jobber like Walt "The Big Ticket" Hill to keep him ticking over and build up his record - and start making matches for these guys, to inject new blood into the HW title scene, or we're just going to be talking about the same guys over and over - the UFC are going to end up how WWE's main event is now. Â I also see Francis Ngannou has a decent 6-1 record, won his only UFC match last month, so here's hoping they don't wait too long in lining up another match for him. Â There's a guy called Shamil Abdurakhimov, he's 15-3, and he not only hasn't even fought yet, he doesn't appear to be scheduled for anything, and he doesn't seem to be the only one in that situation. Â I understand that match-making isn't some easy thing to do in the UFC, and I am aware that injury has probably been the biggest bar to scheduling some of thesr guys, but given the sheer lack of depth in the HW division at the mo, and the sheer number of matches scheduled at lower weighrs by comparison, it strikes me that the UFC aren't really as bothered about the division as they could be. Â EDIT: Well, I feel sheepish. It seems that some of those fighters are scheduled, just that their matches are listed on just their opponent's pages rather than both. Abdurakhimov is fighting Anthony Hamilton, though it doesn't say when or where. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 23, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 Oh I get you now, Ebb re: Duffee. Â Yeah, it's a sad state of affairs alright. There's no new blood whatsoever coming through at heavyweight. Â I'm actually hoping that Jon Jones adding muscle at the moment is in prep for his move to heavyweight. I think the time might be ripe for him to sweep up at heavyweight soon. If he beats Cormier again, what's even left for him at 205? Of course I'd be well up for a Gustafsson rematch sometime but if he goes 2-0 over DC, I can't see what's left to do at light heavyweight really. Â And with Cain collecting injuries, JDS evaporating before our eyes, the old guard like Hunt and Barnett getting up in years, no new faces emerging...Jones is in prime position to clean house at heavyweight, become a two weight UFC champ and add to his already ridiculous legacy. Â Without even checking, he'd instantly be one of the youngest heavyweights on the roster as well, wouldn't he? Aside from Stefan Struve there aren't many heavies below 30 in the UFC, are there? Â Â Heavyweight division...y'all in trouble, as the Yanks say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 23, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 I wouldn't quite say none at all. As I mentioned, it seems Ruslan Magomedov has potential, although admittedly this is just on paper. Â EDIT: A quick check on the UFC site - Magomedov is 29, Luis Henrique is 22 (perhaps he has some time to improve?), Viktor Pesta is 25, and Ngannou is 29. Those are the only HWs under 30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 23, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 I'm not convinced by Magomedov. What's he done really? Decent record but he's 29 and his best wins are Shawn 'Elmer Fudd' Jordan and 2013 Tim Sylvia. And he didn't manage to finish either of those guys. I also notice he's beat two other Magomedovs. Family scuffles after Sunday dinner shouldn't count on your MMA record, should they? Â Seriously, he could be alright. I just think at 29 you want to be looking better than he has if you're ever going to make waves. If he can't stop Fatty Sylvia in 2013, I don't hold out much hope of him becoming anything special. Â Edit - looking closer at his record, he's got 14 wins and 7 finishes. But nearly all those finishes are at the start of his career against Russian Some Fuckers. He hasn't stopped anyone since 2012. That's fine if you're Georges St Pierre and you're being fed a steady diet of killers but Magomedov's been fighting lower level fat heavyweights and has-beens like Sylvia and Ricco Rodriguez. Â If he's going to make any noise, he better get a move on before Jones gets sick of cutting to 205. Then it's over for guys like Magomedov. The game's up. Shut it down, it's done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 23, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 See, that's what I mean about it being only on paper - I need you guys to flesh out the gaps in my knowledge! Â To be honest, it seems like all HWs not currently in the title scene are on a hiding to nothing, as they all seem to be beating nobodies or each other; nobody's progressing to the next level with the scalps they're taking. Â What do you know about this Francis Ngannou guy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 23, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 EDIT: A quick check on the UFC site - Magomedov is 29, Luis Henrique is 22 (perhaps he has some time to improve?), Viktor Pesta is 25, and Ngannou is 29. Those are the only HWs under 30. Of that lot, Ngannou is the only one I'm keeping an eye on. Yeah, he suffers from the same criticism I've given of Magomedov in that he's pushing 30 and hasn't really done anything yet but at least with Ngannou you can see the obvious potential there that he could make a splash. He showed in his UFC debut that he's dangerous as fuck, if he gets the right coaching they can work with that to maximise his potential and build on his overall game. And he definitely has the look. He looks like what a heavyweight fighter looks like in your head. He looks like a star. He's a monster physically. Â Â A 6'4" brick shithouse that can do this... Â Â Â Obviously, there's a long way to go and loads of questions that need asking of him, but first impressions are good. So yeah, I guess I was harsh saying there's no new blood whatsoever. There's one. Â Or he could just be an overgrown Sokoudjou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 23, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 It's a shame about Lashley. He's avenged one of his only two losses, but his record isn't much to write home about in terms of names, and the guy's 39 - not exactly an investment for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted January 23, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 I think he'd fair pretty well in the UFC. Lashley's basic but he's winning fights with ease now. He should be getting a crack at the Bellator belt soon. Still now sure how committed he is given his TNA duties though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Heavyweight fighters are a rare breed. Most talented big men in the States head to the NFL these days. Hence why Heavyweight prize fighting gets lumbered with a lot of rejects (I'm not going to bring up Tim Sylvia again, it's too obvious). Plus, men standing 5ft 10 inches tall and who have a medium sized frame are dime a dozen, men who are 6ft 3/6ft 4 inches tall, and have a frame to match the Heavyweight bill are much rarer. Â However, when a decent Heavyweight athlete comes along, they do have longevity. Heavyweights usually peak in performance a lot later than lighter weight fighters. As demonstrated in Boxing, Heavyweights can compete at the highest level well into their mid/late 30's (provided they manage their career correctly). Werdum is a prime example of peaking late. Josh Barnett has been a top-flight Heavyweight for 15 years. Arlovski made a big-league comeback in his mid-30's, and after years of toiling in the doldrums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted January 23, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 I'm surprised we haven't seen more heavyweight wrestlers come into mma. I remember during the London Olympics seeing some incredible heavyweight wrestlers (especially from America) and thinking that we could see the next Brock Lesnar or Cain but nothing ever really materialised. Â You would think that a lot of those guys would be giving mma a go after seeing the success of the likes of the above plus Hendricks, Cejudo etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 23, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 You would think that a lot of those guys would be giving mma a go after seeing the success of the likes of the above plus Hendricks, Cejudo etc. You'd think so, wouldn't you? Hopefully the UFC will send some recruiters to the Olympics this year to entice some of those guys over, using the tried and tested lure of money, fame and the Vegas ladies of the night. Â They need someone like that guy who played the Don King ripoff in Rocky V to tempt these guys over to MMA. Â Â "Do you like feelin' hard up? Do you like reachin' into yo' pocket and only feelin' yo' leg? Give my friend Lorenzo a call. And we'll put some hustle behind that muscle". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 23, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 I'm thinking possibly a big barrier to that is that Iran tends to dominate wrestling, especially HW - being a country on the US shitlist for so long might have had an adverse effect on the emergence of new talent from wrestling. Â What surprises me more is that we don't see so many coming over from judo. I get the feeling that judoka would be closer in mindset to MMA, viewing judo as a martial art while wrestlers view wrestling as a sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 23, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 Yeah I think judo is closer to MMA than wrestling, despite wrestling obviously being more entrenched and having more history in MMA. Judo incorporates the throws, trips, takedowns and submissions. I'm often surprised that judo isn't more strongly represented in MMA. Before Rousey's success brought it to the forefront, you could probably count on one hand the MMA fighters in America who had much of a judo style or even really trained it. You had Karo Parisyan, Manny Gamburyan, Rick Hawn...I'm struggling. Of course, in japan there were more like Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida etc but in the US companies you rarely saw it. Â Actually the Diaz brothers were a rare example of American fighters who trained judo before it became cool in MMA. I think that's how they became close with Ronda later on (she was even referred to as the 'Diaz sister' sometimes) as well, because they're big judo marks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted January 23, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2016 Agreed in regards to Judo and the martial art reference. I was thinking of Judo too when typing the above but its more really to do with seeing more wrestlers at the top of mma making the big money. Â After wrestlers are finished their careers, and covered brilliantly by Mark Schultz in his book, there's not much option for them once they finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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