T1B

I like Liddell by KO 1st round over Wandelei

I'll call Hughes by decision over GSP

I'm gonna plunk down the $49 for this one

Wasn't it supposed to be Hughes Vs Serra? Even saw that advertised. Also saw Hughes Vs GSP advertised. Either way I am confused.....

Serra was hurt while training. I believe a couple of herniated discs that may require surgery and a fair amount of time in rehab... so much so that he might have to actually relinquish his belt to the Hughes/St. Pierre winner.

Anyhoo...
GSP round 2 TKO
Silva round 1 TKO

I'm fuckin psyched for Saturday. Pats go 16-0 and GSP gets to lay another beatdown on the farmboy. Oh yeah, the rest of the card is probably the best top to bottom all year.

Cueball wrote:GSP gets to lay another beatdown on the farmboy.

Hopefully.

I always root for whoever is fighting the guy that's taken passing drug-tests to a whole new level.

Hughes pretty much makes a mockery of the sport. I mean, sure, everyone is doing it... but Hughes flaunts his ability to pee clean. BY FAR the worst offender, and eventually the hammer will srop on him. Not that I really care, but if some guys are getting suspended for not being as skilled at cheating/passing the pee tests, it creates an issue of fairness. Stick to the roids that clear quickly (since some of the more adept continuously give themselves tests, and know exactly how long their body takes to get down to passing levels), and HGH.


Hell, Lame-Ass Hughes even inspired Royce Freaking Gracie to hit the sauce.

Why all the hate on Hughes?

I've known some Iowa wrestlers, dudes all looked like potential roid freaks, yet none ever popped in World Championships and Olympic testing.

Yea, I'm sure there are some that can pass almost everything, but still, not to even catch one?

Dinsdale wrote:

Cueball wrote:GSP gets to lay another beatdown on the farmboy.

Hopefully.

I always root for whoever is fighting the guy that's taken passing drug-tests to a whole new level.

Hughes pretty much makes a mockery of the sport. I mean, sure, everyone is doing it... but Hughes flaunts his ability to pee clean. BY FAR the worst offender, and eventually the hammer will srop on him. Not that I really care, but if some guys are getting suspended for not being as skilled at cheating/passing the pee tests, it creates an issue of fairness. Stick to the roids that clear quickly (since some of the more adept continuously give themselves tests, and know exactly how long their body takes to get down to passing levels), and HGH.


Hell, Lame-Ass Hughes even inspired Royce Freaking Gracie to hit the sauce.

There has never been one iota of rumors that Hughes is juicing, let alone any evidence to back it up. No reason to hate on Hughes for anything other than his arrogant persona.

Royce started juicing because he finally realized that he was an over-the-hill, one dimensional weakling whose ego couldn't deal with it. Hughes' decimation of him was probably the inspiration for that realization - I'll give you that.

KC Scott wrote:Yea, I'm sure there are some that can pass almost everything, but still, not to even catch one?

Yeah, kinda helps when they only get tested at most twice a year, while knowing the exact date and time they'll be tested.

Shall I post a list of athletes that have never failed a steroid test? How about a short one --

Barry Bonds
Jason Giambi

'Nuff said?

Dude -- I can pass a drug test, if you give me an exact time and date two months ahead of time.


But if you want to stay under the viel of naivete, I can't say I blame you -- it makes enjoying sports a much more simple experience.

But to dismiss it out-of-hand due to "but he gets tested" is so far beyond basic ignorance, it belies your ability to type complete sentences on the internet.

C'mon, dudes. A non-enhanced 175 pound man can't throw semi-trucks 300 yards.


But if this is some weird sore spot for you, I'll just back off to "I can't stand Hughes because of the complete lack of any scrap of class whenever he runs that oh-so-big fucking mouth."

KC Scott wrote: I've known some Iowa wrestlers, dudes all looked like potential roid freaks, yet none ever popped in World Championships and Olympic testing.

How about Indiana fighters... do they count?

Sin,
Stephan Bonner



Minnesota isn't too far from Iowa, is it?

Sin,
Sean Sherk


OK, so maybe Seattle isn't quite in Iowa.

Sin,
Josh Barnett



How fucking dare somebody accuse members of the MyLittleBitch Fighting System of juicing up? That's not tolerated here.

Sin,
Tim Sylvia



I don't really have the education to tell you whether Hawaii is in Iowa or not.

Sin,
Kimo



Ohio is pretty close to Iowa, isn't it?

Sin,
Kevin Randleman



I may not be from Iowa, but I've been juicing for 10 freaking years.


Sin,
Vitor Belforte



I'm not from Iowa, but my roid use has transcended multiple sports.

Sin,
Johnnie Morton





But you're right -- it's only a widespread problem with people from every corner of the world besides Iowa.

Whatever works for you.

A buddy from work ordered the event and I'll be heading over there to catch the big fights tonight. I'm picking Silva and St-Pierre.

Dins,
It's certainly possible that Hughes has or is using performance enhancing drugs and has the system beat. The possibilty exists. That said, no one has been tested more in the UFC than Matt Hughes because of the sheer number of title fights that he has been involved in. Title fights come with a mandatory test, the other fights are random tests. This will be his 19th fight in the UFC - 12 or 13 of which have been title fights. A conservative estimate would be that he has been tested 15 times. Odds are that he would've been caught by now. No one is that good at beating the system.

My Silva pick is going against my normal line of thinking that Wandy is way too aggressive and susceptible to getting KTFO by someone who is a power striker like Liddell (also the best counter-puncher in MMA). I've said for years that Liddell would knock Wandy's head off if they ever fought. Although both are coming off of two straight losses, Liddell seems to have taken a few more steps back than Wandy. I think Chuck is ready to ride off into the sunset while Wanderlei is getting pumped for the second coming of his career. He wants a third opportunity to beat the bejesus out of Rampage. Silva is Rampage's kryptonite. I'll probably end up eating my words as Silva walks straight into one of Chuck's right hands and goes unconscious.

Dinsdale wrote:

KC Scott wrote:Yea, I'm sure there are some that can pass almost everything, but still, not to even catch one?

Yeah, kinda helps when they only get tested at most twice a year, while knowing the exact date and time they'll be tested.

Shall I post a list of athletes that have never failed a steroid test? How about a short one --

Barry Bonds
Jason Giambi

'Nuff said?

Dude -- I can pass a drug test, if you give me an exact time and date two months ahead of time.


But if you want to stay under the viel of naivete, I can't say I blame you -- it makes enjoying sports a much more simple experience.

But to dismiss it out-of-hand due to "but he gets tested" is so far beyond basic ignorance, it belies your ability to type complete sentences on the internet.

C'mon, dudes. A non-enhanced 175 pound man can't throw semi-trucks 300 yards.


But if this is some weird sore spot for you, I'll just back off to "I can't stand Hughes because of the complete lack of any scrap of class whenever he runs that oh-so-big fucking mouth."

Funny shit Dins - but you're casting the net way too wide. Hughes is strong, but so was Gable, The Brands Brothers and Cael Sanderson so all of them must be juiced too? Hell, I'll toss the Oklahoma boys in there too; The Shultz brothers annd John Smith (4 time world champion)

How about your homeboy Couture? is he juiced?

Shit - pretty soon we're gonna just say everybody who succeeds at anything is juiced.

There's a part of me wishes they'd just legalize it all ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrCGYtFAQ2U

KC Scott wrote: There's a part of me wishes they'd just legalize it all ....

Oh, don't get me wrong -- I couldn't care less what those freaks do to their body.

But -- it's against the rules.

And you guys DO realize that guys who've retired from the MMA world claim somewhere between 90-100% of MMA fighters are on the sauce, right?


Fu -- I actually can totally get with your non-judgemental, "innocent until proven guilty" standpoint. It's admirable. Completely freaking naive, but admirable.

I don't know about anyone else, but I know Zyclone cavorts with some high-profile names in the sport. Although it's been many years, I have as well. And Zy can give his own commentary, I'll give mine -- those actually involved with the sport will tell you it's EXTREMELY widespread. [Zysdale] I knew Vitor was on the juice long (like 9-10 years) before the UFC did.[/Zysdale] Just like I heard a firsthand account of pre-Dana Douchebag UFC matches being rigged, by a guy who watched the check change hands (which may or may not have been made out to one Mark Hall, before a fight with Don Frye). While there's been no credible accusations of match-fixing since White took over, no one has backed off the rampant-steroid-use allegations.


As far as "he would have been caught by now"... I'll just go with "Oh dear god... BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!" I might even have the restraint to sign it: Sin, Dins' buddy the truck driver, the biggest stoner he knows, who's been tested more than Matt Hughed ever thought about... but he should have been caught by now, right?


Should I include an extra "BWAHAHAHAHA!!!! Fu just fell off the freaking turnip truck!!!" for æffect?


Again -- if you can spell your own name correctly at least 8 times out of 10, you can pass a drug test if given the exact date and time months in advance... I wasn't speculating -- I was stating FACT. Hell, give me a few hours, and I'll pass any piss test you've got. MANY different ways to do so... but fighters do it by giving themselves test and knowing how long it takes to flush.


Oh... and I seriously, seriously doubt that The Natural has been clean. Athlete's don't get better when they break 40... tell me (and George Mitchell) you knew? Let's see -- Renzo Gracie, one of the greatest to ever play the sport... what happened to his non-juicing ass as he hit his mid/late 30's? Maybe started getting rolled by everyone younger than him, while still overwhelming guys in his age range? Kinda of like non-juiced baseball and football (sup Rodney Harrison) really take a dump after birthday #35 or 36?



But don't get me wrong -- I'd just as soon live in a fantasy world... it would be better. Unfortunately, my brain won't let me do that. If yours can, then more power to you.

Dinsdale wrote: I don't know about anyone else, but I know Zyclone cavorts with some high-profile names in the sport. Although it's been many years, I have as well. And Zy can give his own commentary, I'll give mine -- those actually involved with the sport will tell you it's EXTREMELY widespread. [Zysdale] I knew Vitor was on the juice long (like 9-10 years) before the UFC did.[/Zysdale] Just like I heard a firsthand account of pre-Dana Douchebag UFC matches being rigged, by a guy who watched the check change hands (which may or may not have been made out to one Mark Hall, before a fight with Don Frye). While there's been no credible accusations of match-fixing since White took over, no one has backed off the rampant-steroid-use allegations

First off, I think the level of testing in the International arena (ie; world championships, olympics, etc) is way beyond what UFC, MLB, NFL uses. When they can detect an antihistimine someone took 4 months prior, I'm thinking they can nail roids regardless of cycles. Blood doping? that's another matter (sup' Lance?)

What I'm interested in hearing are the match fixing stories - I remember Frye - don't remember Mark Hall.
Any other good ones?

The wife got a little pumped up over the fight

GSP put on an MMA clinic last night. What an asskicking.

Props to Liddell for a smart fight. Luckily for him it wasn't a five rounder as he was completely spent. Not that Wanderlei had much left either. Good fight. Did I actually see Chuck Liddell get a couple of takedowns?

Can we finally get some love for Lyoto Machida? That guy may not be the most exciting fighter, nor is he a household name, but he's really good. Dude has never lost. His style will give anyone trouble. I say let him fight Liddell or Jardine next. Winner gets a title shot against the Rampage/Forrest winner.

KC Scott wrote:What I'm interested in hearing are the match fixing stories - I remember Frye - don't remember Mark Hall.
Any other good ones?

Sounds like it was fairly common in the days of Art Davie and SEG, or whatever the ownership was called back then (1993-2001?). I don't believe White's version has ever been accused of such things.

But can't give any other confirmed rigged matches besides Mark Hall and Predator (Hall never won much of shit, and had very limited skills, but was so freaking tough, he could take a beating better than just about anybody the sport has ever seen -- which tired out his opponents in the days of the tournament-style events... which were sooooo much cooler than the boxing-style cards of today). And I only know about that one because a very credible source (BJJ trainer) saw it happen firsthand, and even encouraged us to "ask anyone who was there -- they didn't even try to hide it."

Thoughts on last night

Hughes - Is done. If he was on roids it didn't show as GSP out muscled him the whole match. Jack and I laughed at the Ow! Ow! Ow! verbal tap. Time for him to hang it up.

GSP - Just dominant. Would destroy Serra if / when Serra comes back - if his head is on straight. Jack and I both thought he could easily add 15 lbs and move up to fight Spider Silva - that would be a great match.

Liddel - Chuck is 38 and it really shows. If that's the best shape he can get in, then he's finished also. Totally lacked the killer instinct when he had Silva in trouble. Fell down 3 times on wild haymaker shots. On the plus side, first time I ever saw him shoot a takedown.

Silva - What was he thinking? Chuck on his butt 3 different times and Silva just stood there? Silva not forcing any clinches? WTF? On the plus side, he can take a shot. Still wondering how he owns Rampage like he does.

Clementi - Guillard: What a punk ass bitch both are. Way to drop MMA to WWE
Sojuduka vs. Machida - Machida looked great - first time I've seen him

Watching the promos for the upcoming cards I saw nothing that excited me.
The card in england is a joke - Where's Bisping?
If the UFC wants to keep getting the $39,95 they're going to have to make some better matches.
For me anyway,there's got to be at least 2 premium matches otherwise, I'll wait for the DVD to hit Redbox

KC Scott wrote:Where's Bisping?

Hopefully retired.

Dude fought like crap in his home country, where he was seen as a very valuable marketing tool. Came out on the good end of a very questionable decision, then decided to be verbally abusive towards everybody and their brother, and physically threaten reporters.

Not what the UFC needs, especially when they're trying to establish an international market.

And with Dana White being soooo petty, you definitely don't want to slap him and his massive ego in the face, and then expect a payday.

Dinsdale wrote:
And with Dana White being soooo petty, you definitely don't want to slap him and his massive ego in the face, and then expect a payday.

Just found this: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-ufc ... &cset=true

Had wondered what happened to Couture - sounds like things are going to fragment even more (sup' Boxing)
Too bad, since MMA has captured the 18-34 demographic like nothing else.

Like I was saying, I'm not paying to watch fighters I haven't heard of - those are the dudes they need to trot out on Unleashed or fight night to build a following. I'm thinking White may want to rethink a deal with HBO down the road

White making a deal with HBO?

BWA!

White has to try and manipulate everyone he comes in contact with. The folks at HBO sports would laugh in his freaking face, which would be a blow to Douchebag Dana's ego, which has become more important that getting deals done.

The man who revived the sport is killing it with equal passion.

Then there's the part where after the new folks purchased UFC from SEG, White begged Couture, Liddel, and Ortiz to stay, hooking them with a "we'll split up the money fairly, once we start making money." Those Big 3 took him at his word, and worked fore chump-change to rebuild the brand. Now that's happened, White now says "It's a business, and I'm allowed to make money."

White is a fool, since Mark Cuban and Co have plenty of capital to compete, and with many of the stars being unhappy with UFC, the stage is set for a shift in power. And bear in mind, that Couture and Lindland have their own promotion company in the U&L doing regional stuff, and they're starting to see some popularity and success -- with the right investor, it could take off, being run by actualy fighters. Actually, there's some pretty badass up-and-comers coming out of Sportfight -- I wonder if UFC-haters Couture and Lindland (talk about White's ego getting in the way of business) are trying to steer "their guys" away from the UFC?


Should make for good theater in the coming months, regardless.

According to White, they were close, according to HBO not so much:

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/tem ... 4&zoneid=4

I wonder if DW will take Couture out of their HOF? Bwa

Bottom line, the Stars make the shows.
Without the Stars the ratings go south, the PPV drops, Harley's Logo gets replaced by Nutrisystems and tickets go back to $30 ea.
That said, the Stars should hire agents, if they can't negotiate suitable deals.

Showtime has had some fights, with some outfit called EliteXC - I watched a couple and they had some decent fights: http://www.sho.com/site/sports/flash.do ... shocom_nav

UFC may think now Pride is gone they don't have any competition, I think they'll find out just wrong that is

I think if rathjer than fractured competition, that if Cuban hooked up with Couture/Lindland's Sportfight, they could get something going.

I'm sure most of the big-name fighters would love a chance to get away from Douchebag.

And if they could get the Japanese networks on board, and maybe get some old Japanese Pancrase stars, maybe Masa Funaki and/or Bas Rutten and/or a Shamrock, I think that would be the end of UFC.

Then again, I thought the UFC went to shit with the weight classes, rounds, standups, and single-fight cards. Vale Tudo, it's not.


I've sure had a jones on to get my washed up old ass back to the gym one of these days. Much tougher to hang when you're old and brittle, but damn... everyone thinks they're a badass these days. And in TV fights, particularly the lower-tiered ones, I see some absolutely SHIT grappling (even though Rogan constantly calls it "sick jiu jitsu"). Fuck, I'm not very good -- but I'm good enough to not make some of the first-week-of-class fuckups some of these idiots do, and I'm good enough to take advantage when someone does something monumentally stupid (which should NEVER happen in a pro fight). I think it was the WEC I was watching, when some dickweed locked his ankles going for the rear-naked. If I would have done that In The Day, the guys would have taken me behind the woodshed and beaten me unconcious for it, to assure I remembered to not do that again.


Aaaaand another thing -- to any MMA announcers... shut the fuck up with constantly saying "rear naked choke." Newsflash to those who don't do the Japanese thing -- every choke ever done in UFC (post UFC 9, or whatever) is a freaking "naked choke"... every last one of them... unless I missed the one where somebody ripped their trunks off and wrapped them around someone's neck. How about "rear choke," so as not to insult people who actually know what those terms mean? (Although RACK Frank Mir on WEC, for constantly having to correct himself after referring to moves by their Japanese name... thought I heard him bust off "sankaku jime"... san=3, kaku=shape, jime=choke..."triangle choke").

Dins and Fu, Watch the fight with the sound off and tell me if Wandy didnt out point chuck in the first 2 rounds. I just didnt see Chuck winning. Either way it was a great fight but you cant give points to chuck for opening up scar tissuie on wandys scared face.

Joe Rogen was sucking chucks cock and his commentary would lead anyone to belive Chuck destroyed Wandy. Watch it without the sound and you will see a different fight.

As far as fixing fights in the UFC, I wouldnt put it past Dana and Zuffa. BJ Penn will never get a decision over anyone because Dana hates BJ. Also find it strange that Chuck would spend X-mas day with Dana. Thats like Belicek having dinner with Roger Godell the night before the superbowl. Very unethical if you ask me.

Ive known Art Davie for years and Arts about as honest as they come. the UFC was born in the basement of a friend of mine Les smiths house. Art and Rorian put all together the one thing they did do was at first they were gonna have Rickson fight instead of Royce but decided it would be better for Gracie/BJJ if the smallest of them would come in and destroy all commers. Remember nobody had a clue on how react to the Gaurd and submissions.

Zyclone wrote:at first they were gonna have Rickson fight instead of Royce but decided it would be better for Gracie/BJJ if the smallest of them would come in and destroy all commers.

The other day, my buddy (who has never chased belts, but has done some sort of grappling, starting with Wally Jay's old partner at age 12, at one point was being groomed to be Carlson's first big-name American after he and much of his clan moved to california... long story)... my buddy and I were speculating, and are both pretty confident that under old school/Vale Tudo rules, at age 51 (or whatever), Rickson would still take Anderson Silva at 185.

But in any event without the rounds and standups, which allow the lay-and-pray (hate that term), I'll still take Rickson at 185 (I believe Rickson used to carry more weight, but the wrong side of 50 makes it hard to stay bulky).

And besides Rickson, at that weight, in a BJJ/submission/gi match, I'd bet the rent on the guy on the left:






That's his old buddy/protoge' on the right... Vitor Belforte. Rodrigo (who I've had the honor of both training and partying with) got the competitive urge a couple of years back, and went and won the Pan Am Games... again. But the cage-match type stuff has never been his deal -- he's quite the BJJ Purist... but he seems to do one hell of a job training others for it. I believe he wouldn't have anything to do with his friends giving Carlson the shaft, and instead stayed in the USA and did his own thing, after the Carlson Team dissolved (over money). He's much like Renzo (who I believe is a good friend of his) -- he leaves a trail of good friends wherever he goes... great guy.

One more pic:





Dang -- talk about a Hall-of-Fame lineup. I'm guessing Zy has met a couple of those guys. Although I thought the way Brazilian Top Team came about was a little on the lame side.


Dang, that whole generation of the Gracie Clan is aging beyond their prime all of a sudden.

Zyclone wrote:Remember nobody had a clue on how react to the Gaurd and submissions.

Which was pretty cool in a bar/street fight 10 years ago or so. The ability to negotiate a settlement, rather than beating someone's face in after an altercation was pretty priceless, back in the day.

Like when my bro sank a choke, and told the big-talking douche who swung on him, in a soft, calm voice, "The next thing you're going to remember, is waking up with my dick in your ass." Then the lights went out.

Zyclone wrote:Dins and Fu, Watch the fight with the sound off and tell me if Wandy didnt out point chuck in the first 2 rounds.

I thought round 1 was close with the edge to Liddell. He hurt Silva more than Silva hurt him. I gave round 2 to Silva. Round 3 was all Liddell.

I had no problem with the ultimate decision. Silva had a couple of opportunities to pounce on Liddell and didn't take them. He was TOO cautious and it cost him. Chuck fought a good fight.

Zyclone wrote:Dins and Fu, Watch the fight with the sound off and tell me if Wandy didnt out point chuck in the first 2 rounds. I just didnt see Chuck winning. Either way it was a great fight but you cant give points to chuck for opening up scar tissuie on wandys scared face.

Watched it again, and I'd have given Rd. 2 to Silva, even with the elbow that Chuck opened him up with.

That said, I'll go back to my original thought of what the fuck was Silva doing not pouncing on Chuck when he slipped / fell those three times?