Wanderlei Silva vs Dan Henderson

JasonK · #1 01-08-2007, 10:54 PM

Pride 33 happening 2/24 in Vegas. This fight is for Wandy's MW belt. I think it'll be an exciting fight, but I have to question the decision to give Hendo a title shot. Not only are there other, more deserving middleweights, but Pride already has way too few title fights, and having Hendo hold 2 belts simultaneously would just make it worse.

I know it'll probably never happen, but I would love to see Wandy vs Shogun.

IronDragon1 · #2 01-09-2007, 12:03 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Pride 33 happening 2/24 in Vegas. This fight is for Wandy's MW belt. I think it'll be an exciting fight, but I have to question the decision to give Hendo a title shot. Not only are there other, more deserving middleweights, but Pride already has way too few title fights, and having Hendo hold 2 belts simultaneously would just make it worse.

I know it'll probably never happen, but I would love to see Wandy vs Shogun.

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Whatever you may think about UFC-and I really don't care for it much at all-you can't argue with the fact that they handle their titles much better than Pride.

zer0 · #3 01-09-2007, 02:27 AM

This is incredibly stupid. Their first fight was awesome, one of the defining fights of pride, but it really makes no sense for them to have a rematch. Henderson lost his last fight at 183, even though he's still the "champ" (a whole different topic), then beat a very disappointing Belfort at 205, and all of a sudden he's getting a title shot? How about giving Filho a shot at 183? Or have a trilogy fight w/ Misaki for the real champion. Why has Wandy still not fought Lil Nog? Why isn't there an Arona/Wand 3? There are too many matchups in each division for this imo.

JasonK · #4 01-09-2007, 01:05 PM

Both guys are supposed to be on Best Damn Sports Show today.

recipro · #5 01-10-2007, 02:44 AM

UGH. Obvious match with it being in America and all, but I'd much rather see Hendo lose his belt to Misaki, Kang, or Filho, and Wandy fight Lil Nog.

Oh, and stop dreaming about Wandy vs Shogun. At this point, you might as well dream about Little Nog vs Big Nog. They're about as likely. Hopefully either Wandy or Shogun goes to the UFC, so each can be atop a division.

Oh, and Wandy/Arona 3 would be a HORRIBLE match for Wandy's US debut. Yes, Arona deserves a shot, but the first two fights were boring. Put that fight in Japan, where the fans will respect it.

BriMc · #6 01-10-2007, 12:04 PM

I love Pride Rules, and many of the fights are awesome. Their matchmaking and the way they handle the titles leaves alot to be desired. The belts get defended once a year, often with an easy fight for the champ. The champs fight tons of non-title fights, lose them, and stay the champ? How does that makes sense? Wandy, Gomi and Hendo have all lost during their "reign", how is that respectable? Its just a more refined version of Pro Wrestling where the org picks the champs outright.

recipro · #7 01-10-2007, 06:23 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I love Pride Rules, and many of the fights are awesome. Their matchmaking and the way they handle the titles leaves alot to be desired. The belts get defended once a year, often with an easy fight for the champ. The champs fight tons of non-title fights, lose them, and stay the champ? How does that makes sense? Wandy, Gomi and Hendo have all lost during their "reign", how is that respectable? Its just a more refined version of Pro Wrestling where the org picks the champs outright.

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Pride, and Japanese MMA as a whole, is much less centered on title than US MMA. I mean, K-1 Hero's doesn't even have belts and they're one of the biggest MMA promotions in the world. So basically, no, they don't take the belts as seriously as UFC etc do, although this may be changing. I expect the belts to come into more prominence as Pride tries to break into America.

As for Wandy, he has only lost once during his reign to someone in his division. His loss to Arona wouldn't likely have caused a title change in an American MMA promotion either, since the fight was fought with (slightly) different rules, due to being during a tournament--it was a two-round fight rather than the non-Bushido normal 3. Arona also immediately received a title shot after this loss.

Henderson's loss was also in a tournament, although, in his case, the fight would have been two rounds anyhow. Gomi's loss, well, yeah--they just don't take the belts seriously, and tend to fight alot of non-title matches.

In any case, Gomi and Wandy are both still deserving of being the champ in my opinion. Henderson will lose his belt next chance he gets.