UFC 81

[ChadTower]

Anyone want Rich Franklin's H2?

[CCM]

Lesnar to face Mark Coleman at UFC 87 in August.

[ChadTower]

Lesnar to face Mark Coleman at UFC 87 in August.

Yeah, when he announced it, I sure hadn't seen that one coming.  Coleman better find the fountain of youth fast.  He's a great similar style matchup for Lesnar, but at such an age and size disadvantage, Coleman is going to have to rely on his huge experience advantage.  One thing we do know - Coleman will bring whatever is left of his A game.

Did Kongo show a dramatic improvement or what?  The guy looked like a one trick pony a year ago.  Now Kongo looks like a legit monster without substantial weakness.  Herring looked as good as I've seen him in years, too, so all of a sudden the weak UFC HW division is looking like one of the more stacked. 

[CCM]

Herring really surprised me with his performance.  It looks like he's finally taking this stuff seriously. 

Silva is a beast.  I don't think any middleweight in the world could beat him right now.

Tanner should have kept drinking beer...

[shardian]

I assume pairing Lesnar with Coleman, they are hoping again that he can dominate a washed up fighter with name recognition. Hope it doesn't backfire on them. I really think it is a bad draw on both ends at this point.

[ChadTower]

They need Lesnar to get a win in the UFC.  They found out the hard way that while he has the raw stuff to hang with Mir he just wasn't ready - they threw him in against his weakness in a situation that was not great for Lesnar but was win-win for the UFC.  Now they're putting him in with a name that plays to Lesnar's strength - and IMO he pretty much can't lose.

Coleman sounded more like a guy looking for a paycheck than a guy looking for a fight.  That's fine - so long as we see a real effort from him.  I think we will.  The top wrestlers don't lie down for anyone the way Abbott did for Kimbo.

It was funny that even with all of that extra air time at the end they still didn't show Arlovski's fight - normally a TKO would get on the air.

EDIT:  Just noticed... the guy Arlovski knocked out was 10-0 and only 23.  Way to top tank the UFC on your way out, Arlovski.   

[odysseyroc]

Yeah, when he announced it, I sure hadn't seen that one coming.  Coleman better find the fountain of youth fast.  He's a great similar style matchup for Lesnar, but at such an age and size disadvantage, Coleman is going to have to rely on his huge experience advantage.  One thing we do know - Coleman will bring whatever is left of his A game.

Did Kongo show a dramatic improvement or what?  The guy looked like a one trick pony a year ago.  Now Kongo looks like a legit monster without substantial weakness.  Herring looked as good as I've seen him in years, too, so all of a sudden the weak UFC HW division is looking like one of the more stacked. 

Kongo's takedowns looked better, but his grappling/bjj game was beyond terrible. He got caught with the same white belt sweep something like 4 times and was clueless once his guard was passed. I'm sure he'll keep working at it and get better by time his next fight comes around.

[odysseyroc]

EDIT:  Just noticed... the guy Arlovski knocked out was 10-0 and only 23.  Way to top tank the UFC on your way out, Arlovski.   

This was win/win for the UFC. They bury Arlovski by having him fight on the undercard and also hand a loss to a very boring, unmarketable, undefeated fighter. Rumor has it that Arlovski is close to re-signing with the UFC.

[clanggedin]

EDIT:  Just noticed... the guy Arlovski knocked out was 10-0 and only 23.  Way to top tank the UFC on your way out, Arlovski.   

This was win/win for the UFC. They bury Arlovski by having him fight on the undercard and also hand a loss to a very boring, unmarketable, undefeated fighter. Rumor has it that Arlovski is close to re-signing with the UFC.

They pay Arlovski too much to have him fight guys like that. He should be fighting Kongo and Herring, Gonzaga and others.

Herring looked better than he has in a long time, but he does not compare to the upper tier of the heavyweight class. He turtled up way too much in his fight and barely eeked out a win against Kongo. What's funny is the sweep that Herring used isn't used much in the UFC for some reason.. I was surprised that he was so effective with it. I guess not many fighters let their arm get trapped while having someones back.

As for Coleman... I have not liked this man EVER. He is boring to watch and I hope Lesner puts him into retirement for good. Lesner needs to pull a Pete Willaims and kick him in the head.

[ChadTower]

They pay Arlovski too much to have him fight guys like that. He should be fighting Kongo and Herring, Gonzaga and others.

They don't pay Arlovski at all anymore.

[odysseyroc]

Herring looked better than he has in a long time, but he does not compare to the upper tier of the heavyweight class. He turtled up way too much in his fight and barely eeked out a win against Kongo. What's funny is the sweep that Herring used isn't used much in the UFC for some reason.. I was surprised that he was so effective with it. I guess not many fighters let their arm get trapped while having someones back. 

You don't see that sweep that often, because it's mostly effective against noobs. The trapping the arm is only one part of it, the second part of the sweep requires you to push your body toward your opponent and fake like you are going to try to stand up. Of course this is just to bait him into pushing you back down, that's when you use his momentum to turn him over. Most experienced grapplers don't take the bait and it's not a sweep that you can really muscle your way into.

[CCM]

I just read that Shogun blew out his acl and won't be fighting Liddell in June...

[ChadTower]

I just read that Shogun blew out his acl and won't be fighting Liddell in June...

Liddell - Silva in June!


(Anderson)

That would be sweet.

[clanggedin]

Herring looked better than he has in a long time, but he does not compare to the upper tier of the heavyweight class. He turtled up way too much in his fight and barely eeked out a win against Kongo. What's funny is the sweep that Herring used isn't used much in the UFC for some reason.. I was surprised that he was so effective with it. I guess not many fighters let their arm get trapped while having someones back. 

You don't see that sweep that often, because it's mostly effective against noobs. The trapping the arm is only one part of it, the second part of the sweep requires you to push your body toward your opponent and fake like you are going to try to stand up. Of course this is just to bait him into pushing you back down, that's when you use his momentum to turn him over. Most experienced grapplers don't take the bait and it's not a sweep that you can really muscle your way into.

I understand that technique, I was a purple belt under Pedro Sauer before he moved to Virginia from Utah. There are alot of noob techniques that people get caught in that aren't noobs to BJJ/submisison fighting. IE (Guillotine, Armbar)

[clanggedin]

I just read that Shogun blew out his acl and won't be fighting Liddell in June...

Liddell - Silva in June!


(Anderson)

That would be sweet.

They'll probably sign Kevin Randleman now to fight Chuck.

[odysseyroc]

Herring looked better than he has in a long time, but he does not compare to the upper tier of the heavyweight class. He turtled up way too much in his fight and barely eeked out a win against Kongo. What's funny is the sweep that Herring used isn't used much in the UFC for some reason.. I was surprised that he was so effective with it. I guess not many fighters let their arm get trapped while having someones back. 

You don't see that sweep that often, because it's mostly effective against noobs. The trapping the arm is only one part of it, the second part of the sweep requires you to push your body toward your opponent and fake like you are going to try to stand up. Of course this is just to bait him into pushing you back down, that's when you use his momentum to turn him over. Most experienced grapplers don't take the bait and it's not a sweep that you can really muscle your way into.

I understand that technique, I was a purple belt under Pedro Sauer before he moved to Virginia from Utah. There are alot of noob techniques that people get caught in that aren't noobs to BJJ/submisison fighting. IE (Guillotine, Armbar)

True, I guess sweat plays a big part in that too. Of course if your good enough you can get any technique to work. Even after 6 years of BJJ, Roger Machado would catch me in those stupid first week type of techs.

[clanggedin]

I just read that Shogun blew out his acl and won't be fighting Liddell in June...

Liddell - Silva in June!


(Anderson)

That would be sweet.

They'll probably sign Kevin Randleman now to fight Chuck.

It looks like it's going to be Rashad Evans.. I am worried this fight will be somewhat boring now.

[ChadTower]

You know what?  I want to see Liddell fight Evans.  That is a good fight in my eyes.

[odysseyroc]

Liddell vs Evans will probably be a quick KO for Chuck or a 3 round blanket fest for Rashad.

[ChadTower]

Evans did win 2 of his last 4 fights by KO.  One of those was a single blow KO with the opponent (Sean Salmon) being fully out for several minutes - carried off on a stretcher straight to the hospital.

The guy can finish now.

[ChadTower]

Fedor is a free agent again... I wonder if the UFC will spend the dough to not only get Fedor but to get Couture back as well.  The question, I guess, is would Couture have to fight Nogueira first?

[clanggedin]

What sucks is the Monte Cox (M-1 CEO) has been busting his butt for Fedor, but the russians have been PITA and want to run everything without any regard to Monte, so Monte is letting Fedor and his entourage go.

[ChadTower]

the russians have been PITA and want to run everything without any regard

Russians are as Russians do.

[CCM]

I haven't been following things at M-1 that closely, but according to the sherdog link Chad provided they haven't event had a single event on their own yet...   

So, given that, what exactly has Monte Cox been busting his butt at since October?

[havic626]

I miss Pride FC.  In my opinion, they may have not had the best fighters but they had the best fights.

[CCM]

Anyone want Rich Franklin's H2?

Apparently not, the auction ended with zero bids...

[shardian]

I miss Pride FC.  In my opinion, they may have not had the best fighters but they had the best fights.

I don't miss them. Their cards were like WWF Saturday Night back in the day. The Main event would be good, but the undercard was like pros Vs. Joes.

[havic626]

I miss Pride FC.  In my opinion, they may have not had the best fighters but they had the best fights.

I don't miss them. Their cards were like WWF Saturday Night back in the day. The Main event would be good, but the undercard was like pros Vs. Joes.

  you could look at it that way

[clanggedin]

I haven't been following things at M-1 that closely, but according to the sherdog link Chad provided they haven't event had a single event on their own yet...   

So, given that, what exactly has Monte Cox been busting his butt at since October?

M-1 had their first event on December 31st 2007, called Yarrenoka. It was a co-promoted with former executives from Pride FC.

Monte still manages his fighters like Matt Hughes, Tim Silvia, Jeremy Horn, Jens Pulver, Joe Riggs, Ben Rothwell, Mike Whitehead, etc...

[CCM]

Wow, Ken Shamrock needs to hang it up.  I just watched him get KO'd in the first round by Buzz Berry!

[shardian]

Wow, Ken Shamrock needs to hang it up.  I just watched him get KO'd in the first round by Buzz Berry!

If he would have won, he would have been put in a fight with his adopted brother, Frank. That would have been a neat fight.

Ken Shamrock was he man back in the original UFC. Now it is embarrassing to watch him get out there. I saw him get his head bashed in by Tito Ortiz... nuff said.

[CCM]

Wow, Ken Shamrock needs to hang it up.  I just watched him get KO'd in the first round by Buzz Berry!

If he would have won, he would have been put in a fight with his adopted brother, Frank. That would have been a neat fight.

Ken Shamrock was he man back in the original UFC. Now it is embarrassing to watch him get out there. I saw him get his head bashed in by Tito Ortiz... nuff said.

Yea, he was a beast in his day, but his day is long gone...

The announcers last night were saying that there was talk of Shamrock vs. Kimbo, if Shamrock had won last night.  Kimbo may actually kill Shamrock for real in that fight.

[clanggedin]

Wow, Ken Shamrock needs to hang it up.  I just watched him get KO'd in the first round by Buzz Berry!

If he would have won, he would have been put in a fight with his adopted brother, Frank. That would have been a neat fight.

Ken Shamrock was he man back in the original UFC. Now it is embarrassing to watch him get out there. I saw him get his head bashed in by Tito Ortiz... nuff said.

Yea, he was a beast in his day, but his day is long gone...

The announcers last night were saying that there was talk of Shamrock vs. Kimbo, if Shamrock had won last night.  Kimbo may actually kill Shamrock for real in that fight.

Ken was good when he was King of Pancrase and in the first UFCs. He started becoming washed up once they had to make a title for him (Superfight Champion) just so they could promote him because he couldn't win the tournament format... His game has not evolved like the fighters of today.  I used to really like Ken, but that was when he was KOP. Now he is a tin can.

They need to stop feeding Kimbo tin cand and give him someone who will really test him. Tank is not a test.

[shardian]

[They need to stop feeding Kimbo tin cand and give him someone who will really test him. Tank is not a test.

If Tank would have trained seriously, it could have been a good slugfest. He is deceptively strong. I would bet money he can bench more than Kimbo...at least he could a few years ago.

[ChadTower]

Tank at least used to be world class strong.  I remember seeing him bench 600lb back in the day.

[ChadTower]

M-1 had their first event on December 31st 2007, called Yarrenoka. It was a co-promoted with former executives from Pride FC.

So I looked up this event... Fedor fought a 7-2 (that's 7 foot 2, not 7 and 2) guy that had only 1 pro fight and tapped him in under 2 minutes.  I think this is the same freak Lesnar was supposed to fight but was injured in training.

What a great time with M1 Fedor had!  Those checks better have been large because he wasted a full year of his prime on those guys.

[shardian]

Tank at least used to be world class strong.  I remember seeing him bench 600lb back in the day.

Yeah, they showed him training in the intro to a UFC fight once. I was watching with my brother-in-law, who benches like 375. He was just starting to say that Tank was a fat ass and shouldn't be there when it showed tank benching an ungodly amount, then lifting freeweights that were like 150 lbs over his head - all without apparent effort. His opinion of Tank changed pretty quick.

[clanggedin]

Tank at least used to be world class strong.  I remember seeing him bench 600lb back in the day.

During Tank's stint in the UFC when he was popular he was hired as the lifting coach for the University of Utah football team. I think he only lasted 1 season with them.

Fedor has to return his $1.5 million dollar signing bonus.. It wasn't M-1 who dropped the ball on this partnership it was Fedor and his crew. I bet you they tried to line up a fighters for him, but he probably wanted tin cans so he could add more wins to his record.

Whoever gets him will not get big PPV buys unless he fights someone who is already really popular in the US like Couture. Otherwise it will be a bad investment to sign him IMO.

[ChadTower]

If they sign him they get Couture back.  That is worth more than just getting Fedor.  They can't sign him for the money he wants, of course, but looking at how much they just threw at Lesnar, they may have to pay him quite a bit.