Re: UFC 77 Discussion thread
 

So, in news that may seem off topic, but potentially has a huge impact on UFC 77...Couture retired today. Is Silvia-Vera now a title fight?

Re: UFC 77 Discussion thread
 

Not anymore - Randy just left the UFC at 11am today. Methinks we may see Fedor/Randy in 2008... [img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]

Re: UFC 77 Discussion thread
 

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So, in news that may seem off topic, but potentially has a huge impact on UFC 77...Couture retired today. Is Silvia-Vera now a title fight?

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Couture didn't retire, he resigned from the UFC. His contract runs up in 9 months, so maybe we see Fedor/Randy then?

I seriously hope Sylvia/Vera doesn't become a title fight.
Nogueira is the most deserving fighter, though I don't know who you throw him in with. Winner of Vera/Sylvia? Gonzaga? Arlovski? Kongo? The HW division is a mess with Cro Cop's losses, the failure to sign Fedor, and Randy leaving.

Re: UFC 77 Discussion thread
 

I think winner of Verra/Sylvia and the winner of Kongo/Noguiera at UFC 79 should get the title shot.

Re: UFC 77 Discussion thread
 

My God... just found out now. The HW division's really screwed now.

The thought of Timmah being champ again made me throw up a little in my mouth.

Ouch. The guys in UFC marketing are SOOOO cheering for Vera this PPV.

Here's my viewpoint:

Nogs beats Kongo 75% of the time. Nogs gets on top easy enough, and rides to a decision. Kongo is pretty short on the ground-bottom department.... Nogs may even pick up a sub.

Sylvia beats Vera what, 60% of the time? (that one's a crapshoot, Vera hasn't been tested by anyone with skills)

If Kongo upsets Nogs, I say Kongo and Sylvia are 50/50. And all you need is a couple of bent judges to make it advantage Kongo.

Vera vs. Kongo ... does Vera have takedowns and wrestling? I haven't seen enough of him to know. If yes, he's the fav. If he's a striker only, he's gonna get mauled.

Sylvia beats Nogs 85% of the time. Nog has neither sufficient takedown skill, or a large enough BJJ skill gap to get a tapout within 5x5min rounds.

Nogs and Vera? Once again.... does Vera have any ground game? No idea.


Thoughts?

Re: UFC 77 Discussion thread
 

Mikey: Hey man, what's shakin?

I gotta disagree on who the front office wants to win.
Absolutely, Silva puts on exciting fights. He's one of my favorite fighters, in fact. (The skinny guy can fight, too!)

From a marketing perspective, the ability to give a good interview is more important than the ability to give a good fight.

Tito, for example, gets paid what, 10 times as much as the other B class LHW fighters? Why? Because he gives great interview.

The casual fan pays to see exciting talkers like Tito kick ass or get killed. Not to see exciting fighters like Roger Huerta.

Sure, after the PPV the casual fans will say "Man, that lightweight fight was f*ckin' awesome! Fight of the night! What was that lil Mexican guys name again?"

Silva doesn't speak English, and therefore, can't promote PPVs on Good Morning America, or Regis and Kelly, Letterman, etc. If I remember correctly, that was(is) Nick Diaz' and CroCop's beef with the UFC... they were uncomfortable doing so much promotional stuff, they just want to fight.

Of course, that's just my opinion. And opinions are like [censored]. Everyone's got one.

Re: UFC 77 Discussion thread
 

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My God... just found out now. The HW division's really screwed now.

The thought of Timmah being champ again made me throw up a little in my mouth.

Ouch. The guys in UFC marketing are SOOOO cheering for Vera this PPV.

Here's my viewpoint:

Nogs beats Kongo 75% of the time. Nogs gets on top easy enough, and rides to a decision. Kongo is pretty short on the ground-bottom department.... Nogs may even pick up a sub.

Sylvia beats Vera what, 60% of the time? (that one's a crapshoot, Vera hasn't been tested by anyone with skills)

If Kongo upsets Nogs, I say Kongo and Sylvia are 50/50. And all you need is a couple of bent judges to make it advantage Kongo.

Vera vs. Kongo ... does Vera have takedowns and wrestling? I haven't seen enough of him to know. If yes, he's the fav. If he's a striker only, he's gonna get mauled.

Sylvia beats Nogs 85% of the time. Nog has neither sufficient takedown skill, or a large enough BJJ skill gap to get a tapout within 5x5min rounds.

Nogs and Vera? Once again.... does Vera have any ground game? No idea.


Thoughts?

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Vera has great mid-level BJJ and is an awesome wrestler.

Nog's BJJ gap between Sylvia is more than enough to submit Sylvia in 3X5 rounds let alone 5X5, did you mean his overall game and ability to bring it to the ground?

Re: UFC 77 Discussion thread
 

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Sylvia beats Nogs 85% of the time.
Thoughts?

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i think you may have just uttered the single most ridiculously inaccurate piece of handicapping in the entire history of 2+2's sports betting forum

Re: UFC 77 Discussion thread
 

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i think you may have just uttered the single most ridiculously inaccurate piece of handicapping in the entire history of 2+2's sports betting forum

[/ QUOTE ]Oooo... I love fan mail.

Civility is something that happens to other people, huh? Fair enough.

No talk for you! Come back, one year!



BadBeat: hey man, sup?

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Nog's BJJ gap between Sylvia is more than enough to submit Sylvia in 3X5 rounds let alone 5X5, did you mean his overall game and ability to bring it to the ground?

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Both. Timmah managed to keep Randy from securing a choke on his back for almost a full 5 minutes... and he was never in danger with Monson. Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying Timmah will be tapping anybody out anytime soon, but it certainly appears he's got good enough submission defence to survive any takedown that comes through the pipe.

Timmah's got great takedown defence. The best way to put him on his back is to tag him on the nose. Nogs doesn't have those kind of skills.

On the other side of that sword... who has Nogs tapped out that has any credible submission experience?

Zuluzihno don't count. Butterbean tapped him out.
Tamura? OK, perhaps.
2004 Herring?
2003 Crocop?
2002 Henderson?
Schilt? Sapp? Coleman? Goodridge?

This is not exactly a list of stellar submission fighters.

If you can point me to some evidence of Nogs tapping out guys skilled in submission defence other than Tamura, I'd be all ears.

The evidence I see points towards him being the submission version of Crocop. A guy great in his day, but time has passed him by. The game has caught up to him. Nogueria is no Couture.

But I'm trying to handicap, not stubbornly cling to my assertions.

If you can show me why, I'd happily change my opinion.

Hit me.

Re: UFC 77 Discussion thread
 

You act like Nog has no striking. Timmay can be outstruck, both by getting tagged and TKO'd (Arlovski, almost Arlovski again and almost Randy), and by just being outclassed on his feet the entire fight (Randy).

I don't see why you think Sylvia's striking is ZOMG so much better than Nog's. Nog's striking is not that bad.

Also, keep in mind that Tim was just raped by a guy who many thought couldn't strike with him and would have trouble taking him down. Which is what you are saying about Nog.