jimufctna24 Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 I'm have mixed feelings. I'm thrilled that Bisping will finally get his title shot. A few years ago it seemed like a pipe dream.  On the other hand, I think he's going to get butchered. Rockhold is just on another level these days. I've gone back and forth with Bisping over the years - liking at times and disliking him others - but it's reach the point where I really don't want to see him get battered. It's the Sakuraba and Big Nog thing, where an established fighter has been around that long, that they worm their way into your affection. A beatdown is just unpleasant.  I could be under-estimating Bisping though - I didn't think he had a sniff against Anderson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted May 20, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted May 20, 2016 Yeah, but the difference between Silva and Rockhold is their previous performances and periods of activity. Silva's previous matches before Bisping were unconvincing, wins against not such impressive opposition, and these were following a return from serious injury; plus, he's 40 now. Â Rockhold has just smashed up a previously-undefeated Weidman, and prior to that had choked out a still-dangerous Machida. He was also pretty active while Silva was recuperating. Â I don't want to write Bisping off, but I just don't see how he wins this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 21, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 21, 2016 I've voted BJ Penn by KO/TKO. Sod it. Â Yeah, he's a shell of what he was but look at his last few fights as well. His last three opponents were Frankie Edgar, Rory MacDonald and Nick Diaz. Edgar is/was in the best form of his career when they fought. Rory is way bigger and it was a terrible matchup for him, that fight should've never been booked in hindsight. And Diaz is also bigger, that was a competitive fight but Penn just couldn't hang with him as the fight wore on. And those three fights had huge gaps between them. He fought Diaz in October 2011 then didn't fight Rory until December 2012 then never fought again until the Edgar fight in July 2014. Â There's the layoff problem again this time but at least a) he's in the right weight class this time and b) his opponent in several levels down from the guys he was in there with the last few years. No disrespect to Miller because he's a decent fighter for where he is on the cards. But he's a guy who isn't going to trouble the top fighters in the lightweight division and will almost certainly never be a title contender. As shit as BJ looked against Edgar, I doubt Cole Miller can put that kind of beating on him. I wouldn't be massively shocked if Miller managed to nick a decision or something but I don't think it's outrageous to think BJ Penn, even this diminished version, could beat Cole Miller. Â I think at that level, BJ can still win some fights. I just don't see the point in it. What's the end game here? Say he beats Cole Miller. Then they might re-book that Dennis Siver fight maybe. Just say he beats Siver as well. Then what? He's 2-0 since his return and you have to put him in with one of the better fighters in the division. And you know he'll start calling for big names and fights he can't win again. You just know he will. I'm half expecting that if he beats Cole Miller he'll be calling out Robbie Lawler or Yoel Romero or some other fucking suicide mission fight. Â But yeah, Penn by KO/TKO for me. Not confident in that pick but I think people are looking at the Edgar fight and thinking everyone can do the same, forgetting that although Penn is shot, he was also up against a fucking beast that night. Not everyone is going to be able to recreate that. I just hope Penn leaves the stupid meerkat stance at home this time. Â Gone Rockhold KO/TKO and Cruz by decision as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted May 21, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted May 21, 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=uVY21BPyL_I Â Bisping selling this fight like a champ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members John Matrix Posted May 21, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted May 21, 2016 The best but of that video by a mile, is at the end where everyone is talking over one another to the point it's inaudible, before everyone seemingly stops at the same time and you just hear Bisping go "WEAK AS PISS!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted May 21, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted May 21, 2016 Â I think at that level, BJ can still win some fights. I just don't see the point in it. What's the end game here? Say he beats Cole Miller. Then they might re-book that Dennis Siver fight maybe. Just say he beats Siver as well. Then what? He's 2-0 since his return and you have to put him in with one of the better fighters in the division. And you know he'll start calling for big names and fights he can't win again. You just know he will. I'm half expecting that if he beats Cole Miller he'll be calling out Robbie Lawler or Yoel Romero or some other fucking suicide mission fight. Â Â yeh, considering what we know about Penn he'll surely want a big fight if wins. If it was a division like Flyweight, i would say Penn could win one, maybe take another very favourable style fight then go into some kind of fairytale comeback title fight...unfortunately, Penn fights at 155 and the top of the divsion is just jam packed full of beasts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 For all the talk about UFC 198 and 200 - this is a really solid card.  The only downside is that a lot of fights might be one-sided. I can see Lombard finishing Hendo early, Cruz dominating Faber for 5 rounds, and Rockhold polishing off Bisping with relative ease. I want to pick Penn, but I just can't trust him, even against Cole Miller.  Holloway vs Lamas should be gold though. Always enjoy watching Holloway fight. The loss to McGregor led to him becoming slightly underrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 21, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 21, 2016 Yeah, Holloway was underrated for ages. I think him completely tooling Cub Swanson on the feet then submitting him changed that though. At least it should've. He'd shown promise before that but that fight was his breakout performance. Â Holloway vs Lamas and Guida vs Ortega are the two fights I'm expecting to deliver quality wise. Like you say, I can see a lot of the fights being one sided. Â Then again, although I'm fully expecting Rockhold to destroy Bisping, it should be exciting however long it lasts and Bisping will be game up for it. One thing about Bisping is he never loses confidence in himself, he'll go out swinging. I think it'll just be a nice moment to see him fighting for the title. He's not going to win it, he's basically playing Tim Henman to Rockhold's Pete Sampras here. Always the bridesmaid etc. But it'll be nice to see him get his shot. It'd have been a shame if he retired having never had a crack at the title. Â And Cruz vs Faber - I can't see Faber having much for Cruz now but I think it'll be a good fight all the same. Their rivalry at least makes it more fun to watch, plus the fact they're 1-1. I think this is actually the kind of fight that could bring out the best in Faber. His dislike for Cruz should be a huge motivator for him. If Faber has one last great performance in him, this could be the time for it. If he pulls this win off he gets the last word in the Cruz vs Faber trilogy, and wins the nine year feud, plus wins the UFC title. That'd do Faber, I think. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually retires if he wins this fight. He'd probably stick around for that Dillashaw payday first but I think if he finally wins that elusive UFC title and conquers his arch nemesis Cruz in one night, he'll be more than content with that. Anything after that - the Dillashaw fight, maybe even that McGregor fight (longshot, I know) - is all a bonus. Â So although they're both likely to be blowouts, I like these two main events. There's enough backstory there for me to get me invested in both fights. It won't happen but if both Bisping and Faber win it'll be proper fairytale stuff for two of MMA's ultimate nearly men. Â Hendo's getting butchered though. That's not going to be pleasant viewing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted May 21, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted May 21, 2016 Yeah, Holloway was underrated for ages. I think him completely tooling Cub Swanson on the feet then submitting him changed that though. At least it should've. He'd shown promise before that but that fight was his breakout performance. Â Â Holloway for a long time was just seen as one of the guys Conor McGregor beat, it didn't help that McGregor haters were discrediting all his wins when he was on his way up. No one really noticed how good Holloway was even when he kept winning after that, it probably was the Swanson win that people really started to take notice, there were some good, dominant wins before that point though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted May 21, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted May 21, 2016 The best but of that video by a mile, is at the end where everyone is talking over one another to the point it's inaudible, before everyone seemingly stops at the same time and you just hear Bisping go "WEAK AS PISS!"That's exactly what tickled me. Everyone is talking over each other, it's bedlam, and then out of nowhere you hear Bisping clearly shout, "WEAK AS PISS! KISS MY ARSE!" Hilarious. Bisping is the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 21, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 21, 2016 Holloway for a long time was just seen as one of the guys Conor McGregor beat, it didn't help that McGregor haters were discrediting all his wins when he was on his way up. No one really noticed how good Holloway was even when he kept winning after that, it probably was the Swanson win that people really started to take notice, there were some good, dominant wins before that point though. Definitely. He's looked good since he debuted in the UFC. I remember being impressed with him even in defeat against Poirier in his UFC debut. You could tell that he was going to be good back then, he gave Poirier a good fight as a 19/20 year old greenhorn. And I think I had him winning the Bermudez fight. He stopped the little bit of hype around both Justin Lawrence (who I think was undefeated at the time and had looked good on TUF) and Andre Fili (also unbeaten) as well. But the Swanson win was his first real signature win over a legit name contender. Previously, whenever Holloway had stepped up to that next level (Poirier, Bermudez, McGregor) he'd walked away with a loss. The Swanson win was not just a tremendous performance, it was like he'd gotten over a hump and had enough seasoning to where everything was starting to really click for him. The win over Jeremy Stephens since then just cemented that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Faber is talking a good game, but he's lost too many times in big fights for me to take him seriously. In the space of 6 years, he's lost against Barao twice, Aldo, Cruz and Edgar. He did beat Cruz, but that's almost a decade ago now. Since 2010, the general rule is that he wins against good and very good fighters, but loses to the elite.  That being said, I like watching Cruz fight, and with it being a grudge match, there's a bit of spice to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members herbie747 Posted May 21, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted May 21, 2016 Holloway is a good fighter, but I can't ever get behind anyone with shit angel wing tattoos. Â Bendo, Ferguson, Holloway... Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 22, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 22, 2016 Come on though, Herbie. If we're holding having shit tattoos against fighters then McGregor is a worse offender with Tony The Tiger on his abs and the PG Tips monkey on his chest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members John Matrix Posted May 22, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted May 22, 2016 Although now you've said it, that's one hell of a way to circumnavigate the sponsorship embargo post Reebok deal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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