UFC 64

[JoeAbrams]

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The more I think about it, the more I understand Dana's grief:

Franklin didnt just get beaten, he got completely and utterly outclassed. It took 60 seconds for Silva to realize that Franklin couldnt hurt him at *all*, he literally sauntered up to Franklin to put on that MT clinch. And once he got it, Franklin literally had no answer to it. *No* defense, *nothing*.

The fallout:

- The UFC now has a middleweight belt holder who cant even speak english. How do you market a Brazilian who cant speak english to todays UFC target audience?

- Xience endorsement deals are thrown into chaos. Franklin was synonymous with forward-facing advertising related to the UFC brand. As of now, the world is left with the haunting image of Franklin's busted ass nose hanging off his face while he meekly holds up a can of energy drink.

- This is probably the worst one; if Silva could demolish the undisputed MW top of the pyramid at Zuffa, what could other barely top-ten fighters in Pride do to UFC beltholders? How does the UFC pursue pan-org fights if they are almost guaranteed to get clowned each and every time? Hughes might survive but Sylvia is on the critically endangered species list and Chuck has a great deal to worry about with Shogun, perhaps only slightly less to worry about from Silva.

All in all, there is a real chance that Anderson's win may be viewed in the future as the beginning of the end to the UFC's credibility in the domestic fight scene. If Sylvia or Liddell get brutalized by their DSE counterparts, the entire US MMA market will have to accept that UFC fighters are *not* direct descendents of God and that Xience aint [censored], at which point we can expect Zuffa to go IPO, with the top 3 floors of the Zuffa building cashing out en masse and retiring to someplace warm and sunny.

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Slow down there buddy. The UFC is doing just fine. In the United States the UFC is synonomous with MMA. In fact, most Joe's on the street refer to MMA as "Ultimate Fighting." 90% of UFC fans know nothing about Pride and could care less whether Chuck Liddell could beat Shogun or Wanderlei as long as CHuck keeps racking up knockouts.

Moreover, your statement about barely top 10 fighters in Pride embarassing the UFC is untrue and has nothing to do with Silva beating Franklin. Silva does not fight for Pride anymore and has gotten much better since than. His win is in no way a black eye for the UFC. They arguably have the best MW in the world right now. And Franklin is still top 3 or 4 and the UFC will probably sign Lindland soon as well.

We all know that Tim Sylvia is not as good as Fedor Crocop, Nog, etc, but there are not any "barely top 10 fighters" in Pride who who would be favorites against him. Furthermore, Pride does not have a single fighter who could even hold a candle to Matt Hughes, GSP, or BJ Penn at 170 pounds. And Liddell v Shogun or Wanderelei would be very comptetive fights and there's a good chance Chuck could win either of those.

I'm so sick of hearing all this trash talk about the UFC. It is not perfect but they are definitely trying to improve and there have been some great fights this year. And at least the UFC has its fighters defend their belts against the best competition in the UFC. How many title fights has Pride had in the past couple of years? And how many of them were joke fights with their champ fighting a Japanese can? I love watching Wanderlei soccer kick some Japanese guy back into WWII as much as the next guy, but he has definitely had a lack of competive fights in his weight division.

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First, I just want to say I appreciate and enjoy swope's posts about MMA, but I have to say I agree 100% with this post. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[swope]

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None of Pride's champs speak Japanese and it hasn't hurt thier popularity in Japan one bit. Lets put that whole argument about Silva not speaking English to rest right now. mmmmkay?

The guy is a dominant knockout artist, people love to see highlight reel knockouts.

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there is no comparing the MMA fanbase in Japan with the one in the states. In Japan, the difference between full and half guard is learned by the time they leave high school. They dont need to understand the language spoken by the champs in Pride.

Regarding the % of UFC fans who dont know about Pride, I think they got an education on what Pride is about 2 minutes into the first round of Franklin's fight. And lets assume they still dont care; how long do you think they will continue to believe that the UFC is the epicenter of the MMA universe after 2 or 3 US Pride shows?

Look I respect everyones opinions but my point is that Zuffa might have a real problem on their hands if Chuck and/or Sylvia lose to Pride reps, and anyone who doesnt think that its a distinct possibility should stop composing their response now and save it for sherdog. Its outrageously myopic to believe that the UFC is immune from brand damage should their WW division be the only one that hasnt had its sh!t pushed in by a Pride fighter.

Oh and name one single top ten HW in Pride who wouldnt finish Sylvia within 30 seconds of taking him down. Seriously, because I cant think of one.

[Aicirt]

From Matt Hughes' blog:

"Thursday night, my wife and I leave for Las Vegas for the UFC. I hope Rich wins, but if Anderson wins I would consider bumping up to 185 and fighting him."


This needs to happen.

[goodsamaritan]

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Oh and name one single top ten HW in Pride who wouldnt finish Sylvia within 30 seconds of taking him down. Seriously, because I cant think of one.

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Nice loaded question. You can't just assume the takedown. And even if he did get taken down, he would not automatically be dead once he was taken down. MMAweekly, which is by no means a shill for the UFC, has Sylvia ranked as number 5, and none of the guys ranked behind are exactly wizards on the ground (Hunt, Kharitonov, A. Emelianenko, etc.)

[swope]

Aleks is a combat sambo champ, I think he would demolish Sylvia on the ground if he didnt gas first (ok granted thats a big "if"). Kharitonov is also very strong on the ground (strong combat sambo creds), providing he doesnt dislocate his shoulder on the way down and get kneed into pudding by Overeem immediately thereafter.. Hunt wouldnt need to take Sylvia down, he would just press the action for the entire match and shrug off everything Sylvia hit him with while destroying Sylvia's flabtastic midsection with bodyshots, as I see it.

Btw I cant wait to see if Monson can take Sylvia down. Any and all questions about Sylvia on the ground will be answered then.

[swope]

Whoa. With respect to Hughes considerable skills, I think he needs another year or two of standup training and experience before he gets in the cage with Silva..

[antifish225]

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From Matt Hughes' blog:

"Thursday night, my wife and I leave for Las Vegas for the UFC. I hope Rich wins, but if Anderson wins I would consider bumping up to 185 and fighting him."


This needs to happen.

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Now that would be something to see - I would love to see Matt move up.....

[JasonK]

Hughes should just worry about beating GSP or he's going to end up just like Rich.

[milesdyson]

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From Matt Hughes' blog:

"Thursday night, my wife and I leave for Las Vegas for the UFC. I hope Rich wins, but if Anderson wins I would consider bumping up to 185 and fighting him."


This needs to happen.

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Now that would be something to see - I would love to see Matt get his head caved in.....

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this fight never happens.

[Utah]

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The more I think about it, the more I understand Dana's grief:

Franklin didnt just get beaten, he got completely and utterly outclassed. It took 60 seconds for Silva to realize that Franklin couldnt hurt him at *all*, he literally sauntered up to Franklin to put on that MT clinch. And once he got it, Franklin literally had no answer to it. *No* defense, *nothing*.

The fallout:

- The UFC now has a middleweight belt holder who cant even speak english. How do you market a Brazilian who cant speak english to todays UFC target audience?

- Xience endorsement deals are thrown into chaos. Franklin was synonymous with forward-facing advertising related to the UFC brand. As of now, the world is left with the haunting image of Franklin's busted ass nose hanging off his face while he meekly holds up a can of energy drink.

- This is probably the worst one; if Silva could demolish the undisputed MW top of the pyramid at Zuffa, what could other barely top-ten fighters in Pride do to UFC beltholders? How does the UFC pursue pan-org fights if they are almost guaranteed to get clowned each and every time? Hughes might survive but Sylvia is on the critically endangered species list and Chuck has a great deal to worry about with Shogun, perhaps only slightly less to worry about from Silva.

All in all, there is a real chance that Anderson's win may be viewed in the future as the beginning of the end to the UFC's credibility in the domestic fight scene. If Sylvia or Liddell get brutalized by their DSE counterparts, the entire US MMA market will have to accept that UFC fighters are *not* direct descendents of God and that Xience aint [censored], at which point we can expect Zuffa to go IPO, with the top 3 floors of the Zuffa building cashing out en masse and retiring to someplace warm and sunny.

[/ QUOTE ]Wow. You are reading a hell of a lot into a bunch of nice knees.