The Ultimate Fighter / UFC thread - Page 5

freck · #41 09-28-2007, 07:27 PM

Matt showed a pretty decent chin when he didn't hit the deck after that flying knee right at the start of the fight. I'm definitely interested to see him fight again.

Mizzmazz · #42 09-28-2007, 08:20 PM

What was up with Hughes' bible study thing? Study the book of Esther and tell me who Coach Hughes is in the story?? All the fighters looked a little perplexed by his request.

Hey guys, study your bibles and let me know how great I am and what a nice guy I am! - Matt Hughes

Serra seems like a nicer guy of the two from what I've seen in the past on TUF and this season. That said, he's definitely not as good of a coach as Hughes.

pig4bill · #43 09-29-2007, 03:09 AM

Yeah, when he walked out of a training session to go to the house and bitch out Joey, that seemed really stupid. Why not wait until the training session was over?

MikeyPatriot · #44 09-30-2007, 01:21 AM

re: Hughes Bible study

It was definitely weird, but I read his blog entry for episode 2 and his explanation makes sense. These dudes live in the house and train. That's it. No TV, no phones, no internet, no books, nothing. Hughes was able to convince Dana/the producers to let him get Bibles for his team (they wouldn't allow anything else, according to him). I'm sure it isn't totally altruistic, but he did want them to have something to do and wasn't really that pushy about it.

I'm a pretty strong atheist/agnostic, and I probably wouldn't have minded just having something to read, honestly.

MikeyPatriot · #45 09-30-2007, 01:24 AM

Oh, also, Lyoto Machida is awesome and "Lay and Pray" is a poor description of how he fights.

Also, apparently Shogun had pretty major knee damage which [censored] up a lot of his training. He had or is having surgery shortly.

Overall, UFC 76 was the bomb even though 1) Shogun lost and 2) Wandy/Chuck might get delayed AGAIN. Awesome fights from top to bottom.

Dana should put Wandy/Chuck on in December anyway. He looks really [censored] stupid after criticizing Pride for setting up Hendo/Wandy (which was a much better fight than Jardine/Chuck on paper). Chuck looks like he has 2, maybe 3 fights left in him. Just get it done.

slickpoppa · #46 09-30-2007, 05:14 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, also, Lyoto Machida is awesome and "Lay and Pray" is a poor description of how he fights.

Also, apparently Shogun had pretty major knee damage which [censored] up a lot of his training. He had or is having surgery shortly.

Overall, UFC 76 was the bomb even though 1) Shogun lost and 2) Wandy/Chuck might get delayed AGAIN. Awesome fights from top to bottom.

Dana should put Wandy/Chuck on in December anyway. He looks really [censored] stupid after criticizing Pride for setting up Hendo/Wandy (which was a much better fight than Jardine/Chuck on paper). Chuck looks like he has 2, maybe 3 fights left in him. Just get it done.

[/ QUOTE ]

Some random thoughts:

Ryoto is a good fighter, but there's no question that his style is the standing equivalent of lay and pray. 6 out of his last 7 fights went to decision, and he wasn't exactly fighting the best competition in those fights either. It's his prerogative as a fighter to win anyway he can, but I have little sympathy for his lack of popularity or notoriety.

The whole Wandy-Chuck thing is a mess from a business perspective. I'd still love to seem them fight, but the UFC probably doesn't want to set up a fight that will automatically result in one of their highest paid fighters losing 3 times in a row. Given how fickle most MMA fans are, the loser of a Chuck-Wand is almost guaranteed to be labeled as washed up. Also, the UFC essentially conditioned the Chuck-Wand fight on Chuck beating Jardine. Although Dana has reneged on his word in the past, the aforementioned issues with that fight make it less likely that Dana will say "Oh well, Chuck lost, but he still gets to fight Wanderlei."

205 is just a mess in general now. A year ago it was the most stacked division in MMA, but since then nearly all the top fighters have had some kind of embarrassing loss: Wand KOed twice, Shogun gassing and getting choked out, Chuck getting KOed and outstruck by a TUF fighter, Rogerio KOed, Arona KOed, Jardine brutally KOed, Forest getting KOed then crying about it, etc. Rampage has looked good recently, but it wasn't that long ago he got brutalized by Chute Box and struggled against a Japanese can. Sokodjou and Houston Alexander haven't had any embarrassing losses recently, but they're still untested. MMA hype and marketing depends upon two seemingly invincible fighters being matched up against each other. Thats kind of hard when all the top fighters have recently gotten their asses kicked.

MikeyPatriot · #47 09-30-2007, 12:16 PM

Slickpoppa,

The "standing equivalent of lay and pray" would be something like Randy Couture pushing you up against a fence and dirty boxing for the whole fight, IMO. Machida fights more like a Floyd Mayweather Jr., effective striking without getting hit. I understand why it may be boring for some, but it's pretty fun to watch a guy throw and throw without being touched.

re: Chuck/Wandy

I heard Hackleman (Chuck's trainer/manager) in an interview after the loss (and before it was known that Shogun had a pretty serious knee injury) saying that Dana/Joe Silva were thinking about matching up Chuck with Rua in December. Like I said above, I don't think Chuck has many more fights left in him. That's not to say that he's lost a ton of skill, but he doesn't have a style like Randy that translates well to aging. The UFC would be best serve to throw him into two or three really big fights. If I'm the UFC I throw him against Wandy in Dec. followed by Tito and/or Randy (assuming he loses the HW belt and can cut down to 205) in his final fight(s). I think a retirement fight between Randy and Liddell could be an extremely big money main event.

I don't see how 205 isn't stacked still? Even though some big names have fallen, they don't look so bad in hindsight, and now you have even more stars. You've got Rampage and Henderson (who may end up fighting exclusively at 185 now), Wanderlei was KO'd by two top guys, Rogerio and Arona were knocked out by someone who may be legit. I don't know how you can say Sok is "untested" when he's knocked out 2 top 10 guys. You still have Chuck and Tito as credible opponents. Up and comers like Rashad, Jardine, Forrest, Machida, Bisping, and Hamill.

slickpoppa · #48 09-30-2007, 01:03 PM

To clarify, 205 is still stacked, but the matchups are somewhat less compelling now that several of the fighters have lost their auras of invincibility. A fight is always more exciting when both fighters are on huge win streaks and look unstoppable. Like I said, I'd still love to see Chuck fight Wanderlei, but it's not nearly as big of a fight as it would have been a year ago. Some parity is a good thing, but there can't be true super bowl caliber fights without dominant fighters.

traz · #49 09-30-2007, 03:13 PM

205 is very very good still, we're just in a period where nobody is stepping up to take the top spot. Everyone is losing to anyone, but eventually someone will come out and work up a streak again.

MikeyPatriot · #50 09-30-2007, 04:25 PM

I think Rampage is pretty clearly the top guy at 205 right now. He's looked better and better with every fight since he started training with Jaunito Ibarra.

I get what you're saying about the division now. Obv, Chuck/Wandy is nowhere near as high caliber as it was one year ago, but I really think if they decide to delay it again it won't happen.