The one thing i loved about pride is the pace of fighting and the diversity, and how much more arsenals they had at their disposal. Also how you can hear the impact of the slams or punches since the audience were so respectable and silent. The pace can be attributed to stuff the fighters were “ingesting” since it is in japan.
yes the NSC is a pain in the ass, rumors has it japan is planning something again but who knows. Dana didn’t do as much to the sport then the gracies or frank shamrock did. Those two allowed opportunity for dana to market it where its today. However he has a don king mentality and wants money and greed.
At this point I don’t think I want to see another Crocop fight. He has sucked in all 3 of his UFC fights. Where is the guy who won Final Conflict last year?
That Bisping decision was maybe just because the fight was in England. The post fight talk was a joke too – does he really think he won?
Who does Houston Alexander fight next? I hope it’s not going to be knocking out some TUF guy.
Matt Serra is talking so much crap about Matt Hughes that he comes off as more of an ass than Hughes did. I predict Hughes will G&P him, then lose to GSP again.
Crocop was great in Pride and K1. When he entered UFC he said that he only planned to have four more fights before he retires. I think psychologically he already is retired.
Bispang 15-0, what a joke!!! Anderson Desilva even fighting at 185 would destroy him.
Houston Alexander would be a good match for the top light heavy weights. He is very strong inside.
I was also disappointed with the Bisping/Hamil decision, clearly Hamil won that fight. Bisping was also an A** after, he must have known that he lost. Rampage/Hendo could have gone either way, I expected more from Dan on the ground, or maybe Rampage has just improved a lot.
I was surprised at Kongo’s strategy, but it was effective. He really neutralized Crocop. What’s next for Bisping? The UFC must feed him someone tougher now, and if he can’t beat Hamil, he will definately lose to some of the other guys at LHW.
75 was funky, rampage won so that decision was fine.
Rampage improved tremendously from what i saw in his fight. His footwork improved and his boxing is more honed then before , he is also thinking and thinking strategically rather then focusing on his power. However since he is naturally bigger then hendo and cuts to get to 205 he has a weight and strength advantage which is why hendo had a hard time keeping him down and getting reversed. Rampage is also very explosive and strong enough to keep hendo down as all have witnessed. Hendo gains to 205 and should fight IMO at 185 where he would reck havoc and give those guys a run for their money. Rampage landed more jabs and kept aggresive, he took hendo down and controlled him there and he rocked hendo on a few occasions, hendo was good in the first round, and okay in the last the rest was all rampage.
hammill/bisping on the other hand was not so good.
i thorougly enjoyed Houston “we have a problem” Alexander
I think everyone including Henderson thought he could neutralize Jackson’s size and strength by being much more technical. I thnk Jackson’s skill and strategy are being underrated as he was positioning himself carefully so as to not get caught in a sub. and moving to postitions where he could use his strength advantage, while picking the right moment to use his power to escape and not just thrash about as some expected.
Rich got beaten badly by AS again, considering that Rich is the clear no2 Middle weight I see no challengers for the spiderman. Dan Henderson or Shogun would both have to step down one division if AS is going to be dethroned.
Thoughts ?
The first round was even until Rich starting turning away from the clinch and fighting backwards. This was the begining of the end, as he got tagged badly. The best approach to neutralize the Muay Thai clinch is keep moving forward with quick hands.
that spinning back kick did him in imo. Then a upkick to the face of franklin as he was trying to ground and pound silva gave him a stun which lasted teh whole first round.
He knocked out frankling twice in one fight, hehehehe.
AS can be beaten by an in your face fighter, Dan Henderson would be good match up. I don’t see many middle weights who are willing to fight AS this way. Rich is still a great fighter, he just cant handle the Muay Thai skills of AS.
never seen an elbow strike like that!
what’s this one called???
I’ve only been taught the cross, the downward one, and the upward one that looks like an uppercut (obviously I dont’ know the technical names for them…)
Watching the reply, most of the damage was done during the clinch. I believe Henderson Greco Roman skills would be a very hard match up for AS. Under Rride rules ( no behind the head clinch) Franklin v Silva would be an even match up. Plus AS found himself in a dangerous guard position in the first round, under pride rules he would have been open to down kicks or stomps, clearly Franklin was in position to utilise these techniques. AS has been beaten in Pride from guard. UFC rules make AS almost unbeatable at midddleweight.
Did you see either of the Wanderlei Sliva – Quentin Jackson fights?
Who cares what might have happened under PRIDE rules? They both would adjust to that so who knows. UFC fight, UFC rules.
bible boy Hughes has gotten really annoying lately so I’d like to see him move up and get KTFO by Silva in the first round, which is what would likely happen.
Edit: I should mention that Serra is grating a bit too so I’ll be glad to see him dominated by Hughes. I predict Hughes by 2nd round TKO.
