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karasu
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Waychel said:I was downloading some K-1 fights recently and was introduced to Kaoklai (Muay Thai fighter from Thailand); what do you guys think of him? This guy has some AMAZING kicks from what I've seen of his fights with Ignashov and Mighty Mo (downloading his fight with Musashi as I write this).
??? Hey why aren't images working...
Kaoklai is godly. His match against Mo was so perfectly played.
In MMA news for the day:
Hawaiian phenom BJ Penn has announced his next fight: Renzo Gracie.
This fight should surely cement Penn as a fighter who takes risky fights as he challenges the legendary Renzo Gracie. Renzo, with a record of 10-5-1, who hasn't fought in nearly two years and is 1-6 in his last 7 fights, should surely establish Penn once and for all as the best fighter in the world in the 170lbs division.
Way to take on the best, BJ!
Hawaiian phenom BJ Penn has announced his next fight: Renzo Gracie.
This fight should surely cement Penn as a fighter who takes risky fights as he challenges the legendary Renzo Gracie. Renzo, with a record of 10-5-1, who hasn't fought in nearly two years and is 1-6 in his last 7 fights, should surely establish Penn once and for all as the best fighter in the world in the 170lbs division.
Way to take on the best, BJ!
You're not seriously knocking BJ for taking easy fights are you? In addition to jumping three weight classes in two years, he's faced some real tough guys. Lyoto, Rodrigo Gracie, Matt Hughes, and Gomi are all top guys in their respective weight classes. Now, there are a lot of things you could accuse BJ of but taking easy fights definitely isn't one of them.
Minotauro said:
Yep, I am knocking him for it. Lyoto and Rodrigo are NOT top guys in their weight classes. In fact, I wouldn't say that either of them are even top 20 in their weight class.
I'm not saying that Machida and Rodrigo were "easy" fights for him, but they weren't risky fights for him. His last two fights were basically "win-win" for him. If he wins, he's this amazing warrior who defies weight classes (as was the "case" in the Rodrigo fight). If he loses, no big deal, because he was jumping up against larger opponents (as with the Machida fight).
Contrast that with Hughes, who just systematically fights the TOP guys in his division, steamrolling through everyone. Hughes takes risky fights, because he's always fighting people who could dethrone him from the championship, like when he fought Penn.
And it's not like Penn is doing all of this to be an exciting fighter, either. I haven't watched the Machida or Rodrigo fights myself, but from the accounts that I've heard, they were fairly boring fights anyway.
RE: Cesar vs. Shamrock. Well, for a long time, this fight has been a joke, since it never looked like it was going to happen. I blame most of that on Shamrock, I think most of the theatrics were on his part, trying to keep his name "out there". But now that it looks like it's actually going to happen, I must admit that I am intrigued. The fight itself doesn't mean anything, but it should be interesting. Shamrock has the experience, but he hasn't fought in a while. Cesar's never fought, but he's proved to be a top-notch trainer, and is able to train with some amazing guys (Terrell, Diaz, etc.).
If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Shamrock, but it should be interesting.
Boogie said:
So, Lyoto, who handed the current UFC MW champion Rich Franklin his only loss in 18 fights isn't a top guy in his weight class? Hmph, coulda fooled me...
Rodrigo might not be in the top 20 but he's still competitive in his weight class. Plus, he was undefeated when BJ beat him. Granted, his toughest fight prior to the BJ one was probably against Mach Sakurai but still.
Good job ignoring my mention of Gomi as well.
I may've misinterpreted your original post. I read it to mean that you were saying he has a tendency to take easy fights. Then again, you did conclude your post with a snarky comment about him taking on the best which I think led me in this direction. I guess the Machida and Rodrigo fights weren't particularly "risky" but I don't think you can say the same thing about his fights with Gomi, Jens Pulver, Bang Ludwig, Matt Serra, or Caol Uno all of whom are first rate fighters in his original weight class.
So, you're saying George St. Pierre, Frank Trigg, and Renato Verissimo are fighters of a higher caliber than the ones Penn has faced?
While I fail to see what this has to do with anything, I can say that the Rodrigo fight most definitely was not boring. It may've been a bit one-sided but it was in no way slow or tedious. The crowd was hot througout. Then again, that may've had more to do with the fact that it was at an ROTR event.
I haven't seen the Lyoto fight so I can't comment on that.
Minotauro said:
A heavyweight beating a Light-Heavy (now Middleweight) as his only big win is not enough to put him in the top of his weight class. He's only 6-0, having beaten 2 K-1 fighters, Penn, Franklin, and Stephan Bonnar off of a cut. That doesn't put him in the top 20 of the heavyweight division.
A tough fighter? Yes. A competitive fighter? Yes. But not a top fighter. 5-1, with a good win over Sakurai, but otherwise his wins are against scrubs.
My criticism of Penn consists only of his actions post-Hughes fight. I cannot criticize him for anything he did before that.
My snarky comment was directed solely towards the Renzo fight.
Nope, like I said, I have no complaints about BJ before he beat Hughes. (though the circumstances of the Bang fight makes that fight a little less impressive though, but I do believe Penn would beat him any day of the week regardless). Penn is an awesome fighter. But I want to see awesome fighters fight the best.
Yeah, I do. Especially because Hughes isn't picking his opponents. He fights whoever the UFC puts against him, even if the person might be a bad matchup style-wise for him. On the other hand, Penn is picking his fights, and I just can't respect the man who picks his own fights more than the man who fights whoever is put in front of him.
Yeah, that wasn't a main point, but I just meant that you can cut a fighter a lot of slack for taking bizarre matchups if he's really trying to entertain the fans (ie. Sudo's freakshow fights).
If you say the Rodrigo fight was good, then ok. But yeah, that's not the main point, I agree.
Well, I think his choices are really somewhat limited. I mean, he's basically limited to fighting people who are either independent or affiliated with K-1. Since K-1 only haphazardly runs MMA shows, there really is a dirth of quality opponents for him to face. Plus, with the ROTR shows, he has to has take into consideration what will draw. BJ Penn against a Gracie in Hawaii has a much higher drawing potential than something like Penn vs. KID Yamamoto (probably a bad example--looking through past K-1 and ROTR didn't reveal a lot of potential opponents for him). Personally, I think he'd be great in the Hero's tourney but he seems to have moved past that weight division. Either way, I really don't think he's dodging tough or risky opponents. If he is, it's certainly a new attitude for him.
Hughes's situation and BJ's are vastly different though. Hughes has a lengthy UFC contract and he's their current champion. Of course he's going to face whoever they put in front of him. I would've expected nothing less of BJ had he been allowed to defend the title after winning it.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong but BJ doesn't pick his K-1 fights. He only chooses his ROTR opponents because he has a financial stake in the show.
I understand that Penn's opponents are limited, but he really only has himself to blame for such a situation. And I can't really respect him for thinking more like a promotor than like a fighter. He has every right to, of course, I'm just not going to give him props for it.
And I can't say whether he picks his K-1 opponents or not, I doubt that there's much solid information to say for sure. I know it's speculation, but I believe that he does have a significant say in who he fights in K-1. I thought when the Machida match was announced that Penn's camp was saying about how they decided he would be a fight to pick for Penn, but I can't be sure.
And I can't say whether he picks his K-1 opponents or not, I doubt that there's much solid information to say for sure. I know it's speculation, but I believe that he does have a significant say in who he fights in K-1. I thought when the Machida match was announced that Penn's camp was saying about how they decided he would be a fight to pick for Penn, but I can't be sure.
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