parrotbeak
Member
You don't know if your defs down anymore?
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
MMA |OT3| When you lose you're a can, when you win you're unstoppable.
- Thread starter Heel
- Start date
dream
Member
totes unsure. In fact, I was so conflicted that I wrote some essays.
The question coming out of the UFC on Fuel show on 7/11 in San Jose, was, was Chris Weidman that good, or was Mark Munoz that bad?
Weidman, an undefeated middleweight was battling Munoz in one of a series of matches to determine who would be the next challenger for Anderson Silvas middleweight title. Weidman completely dominated the match, taking Munoz, the 2001 NCAA champion at 197 pounds, down easily and having him under control virtually the entire fight.
Munoz didnt land one significant strike in what was as one-sided a top-contenders match as youll ever see. To say Munoz did nothing in the fight would be giving him more credit than he deserved. The finish came at 1:37 of the second round when Weidman countered a punch and landed an elbow to the forehead that knocked Munoz down. Munoz may have been out from the blow, but took 17 more hard punches by Weidman on the ground before ref Josh Rosenthal stopped it. Rosenthal later admitted he stopped it way late after he had a ton of criticism directed at him.
Weidman was a two-time All-American wrestler at Hofstra, finishing 6th at 197 in 2006 and 3rd in 2007. Hes transitioned well into MMA, training under Matt Serra and Ray Longo. Hes got a crisp striking game and a superb grappling game. Immediately after winning, he issued a challenge to Anderson Silva, saying that whenever hes had a full training camp, hes finished his opponent, and if he gets a full training camp for Silva, he predicted he could submit him on the ground.
Weidman had struggled in his previous fight on 1/28 in Chicago against Demian Maia. Weidman was a late injury replacement for Munoz on the card, which got changed around. He was 217 pounds, his normal off-season weight, ten days before the show when he was called. So he not only had to lose 32 pounds in ten days, but had to figure out a way to get into cardio shape. He said he felt he was at 10-20% condition, got tired quickly, but still managed to win.
Weidman as a contender exemplifies a major problem UFC faces. This show did the second biggest rating in the history of the Fuel Network, but thats an 0.5 rating and 211,000 viewers. Actually, the main event did an 0.7 rating and 291,000. The highest rated show in the history of Fuel was the 2/15 card headlined by Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Ellenberger, which averaged 217,000 viewers for its three hours and peaked at 315,000.
The reality is the vast majority of the UFC audience didnt see the fight, and thus werent impacted by Weidmans performance, nor did Weidman get over to them. Sure, the super hardcores saw it, and hardcore Internet audience either saw or read about it. But the people who make the difference between a 300,000 buy show and a 700,000 buy show arent aware any of this even happened.
If that audience even knows Weidman, its as the guy who struggled against Maia in a boring fight that luckily most people who saw it have long since forgotten about. If this fight had been on the PPV four days earlier, people would be clamoring for Silva vs. Weidman right now. Instead, even today, there is more interest in Michael Bisping as a contender, and quite frankly, even Chael Sonnen getting another shot (which isnt going to happen). Silva vs. Weidman wouldnt draw any more than Silvas baseline number, which isnt very large. Thats the problem with guys looking great on Fuel and making stars on Fuel, and just making stars in general.
It becomes a deal where the Internet feedback may be big, and for those who saw it, like those in the company, the impression is strong. But in reality, it was a giant tree falling in a nearly empty forest and you can debate all day if it really made any noise when it landed.
The middleweight picture looks like this. From a sports standpoint, Weidman, at 9-0, should be a tentative No. 1 contender. Munoz was generally ranked as the No. 2 contender behind Sonnen, and he wasnt just beat, but was handled ridiculously easily. Munoz looked so bad that within a minute of the fight, I was wondering about a serious injury because he looked like he wasnt there mentally or physically and wasnt doing anything. But nobody said anything about it.
On 7/21 in Calgary, Hector Lombard, who held the Bellator title when he recently signed with UFC, debuts against Tim Boetsch. Lombard has a 31-2-1 with 1 no contest record, and hasnt lost a fight since November 5, 2006, against Gegard Mousasi on a Pride show, some 25 fights ago. In his 24 wins, they include 13 first round finishes. Lombard has the reputation for being a bully, but he comes out fast and knocks people out. Hes a killer against guys who arent at the UFC level, but he sometimes can burn himself out by going out so fast. He was signed with the idea of parlaying that long, unbeaten streak into a title fight once he gets exposed to the UFC audience. But Weidman has raised the ante. Lombard needs to look very impressive here.
Bisping vs. Brian Stann is now official for 9/22 in Toronto. So it depends when Anderson Silva is ready to fight again. Stann, if he beats Bisping, no matter how, should take a backseat to Weidman from a sports standpoint, plus Weidman has a better shot at winning. However, Stann at this point is the more marketable and famous of the two. A Bisping win, ideally, could set up a big event in the U.K. or Brazil for Silva vs. Bisping for next year.
Right now, the match that would draw the most money is still Bisping. Its also the match that would be the most criticized because Bisping is one of the most hated fighters in the U.S. Bisping has been beating tougher competition than Lombard, and has been around since 2006 with only a few losses. But he still doesnt have that big name victory. He could have had it with Sonnen but the judges went the other way in a very close fight. The fact is, nobody knows Lombard yet, and most who know Weidman know him from the Maia fight. Everyone knows Bisping and most feel strongly about him one way or the other.
Stylistically, Weidman has the best shot of winning, but weve already seen Sonnen and Yushin Okami fail at out-grappling Silva. Weidman has more tools than Sonnen and is better than Okami. But Im still not sure that the only guy who beats Silva isnt Father Time, and not another human.
On the flip side, the show was the lowest paid major arena event in years for the UFC. The show drew 4,250 fans paying $163,495 to the HP Pavilion in San Jose. We dont have the paid attendance, but it was likely in the 1,500 to 2,000 range.
Keep in mind this show was advertised locally like crazy. I saw a lot of television ads for this fight, more than for many of the big drawing shows in the history of the arena. But it didnt matter, because nobody except the super hardcores saw Munoz as a main event star (to be fair, he did get a very big reaction in the building), and nobody knew who Weidman was.
Nobody brought it up to me, and when I brought it up to MMA fans who were regulars in the past, there was no interest. This city is long past the point where having an MMA show is a big deal and there were no marquee names on the show. Plus, they just ran here on 5/19, less than two months earlier, with a better show, and that only did 2,804 paid. This is a city that has a long history of drawing well for MMA.
Dana White said that doing a TV card for Fuel on a Wednesday afternoon (the show started at 2:40 p.m. local time) and doing a $163,000 house was fine. It was the smallest house for a major arena UFC show in recent memory. Some of the minor shows in Las Vegas at The Pearl have sold fewer tickets but since they got on TV on Spike, this would be the lowest for a major arena show for the UFC brand, and one year ago, San Jose would have been figured to have been the last market in the U.S. to set that kind of standard.
That said, this was a very good show. For actual fighting, it was better than UFC 148, but it obviously couldnt touch the atmosphere.
The highlight was a match that wasnt even televised, between Rafael Natal and Andrew Craig. Natal won the first round, landing punches and kicks and taunting Craig to do something. Craigs left eye was looking bad in the first round.
Natal knocked Craig down three times early in the second round. Craig was one step from done. Natal then went for submissions and dominated the entire round, but out of nowhere, Craig landed a left high kick and Natal went down like that big tree in the forest, but even with the small crowd, that tree made a ton of noise because the place exploded. This was a total Scott Smith level comeback performance.
Then to cap it off, when Joe Rogan interviewed Craig and talked about it being a great comeback, Craig dead panned back, You say comeback like I was losing.
It was too bad this fight wasnt fit into the live broadcast. When it was over, I thought it was a lock they get both the $45,000 fight of the night (which went to James Te Huna vs. Joey Beltran, also an entertaining fight) bonus and Craig would get another $45,000 knockout of the night (which went to Weidman). White did say Weidman robbed Craig of a knockout of the night bonus.
Some minor changes were made in the MMA scoring criteria this past week at the annual Association of Boxing Commissions convention.
Along with the minor modifications of the criteria, the decision was made to maintain the current point scoring system. Talk of introducing half points to the scoring system, as proposed by Nelson Doc Hamilton, as well as scoring criteria in the event of a draw when it came to points, first came up two years ago. California experimented with half point scoring on amateur shows to see its effectiveness in practice. The decision was made last year to gather another year of data and make a decision. The decision was made to keep the current system after reports from commissioners in Georgia, California, Colorado and in Edmonton, to see what kind of a difference adding half points had made in fights over the past year.
Both Georgia and Colorado came to the conclusion that there was no reason to change. Colorado noted they had judges score bouts with both the current system and the half-point system and in 550 matches, no results changed. They noted that most of those 550 matches, they did not go to a decision. Josef Mason of Colorado said using half points allows for more variations of scoring but he believes it would lead to more draws and also that he didnt believe other commissions would use the system until they have enough qualified officials to correctly do it. He said they would no longer evaluate the system.
California presented the most extensive documentation over the past two years in amateur fights and said it made a difference in 2% of total fights when it comes to the winner, but that 10% of individual judges had come up with a different winner in fights that went the distance using half points instead of the current method. They argued for the change saying they believe it is a better system even though it wont change results of that many fights. They also believe its a better system for a good judge, but it may make more telling judges who lack the ability to be good judges.
Edmonton presented a report where 5% of the fights would have had a different winner, although their sample size was smaller than California. But they thought inexperienced judges would not understand near submissions. They also submitted data showing 87% of fighters favored the half point system. They also had 66% of fighters say they would like scoring to be told to the participating fighters after the third round in a five round fight. 53% favored fighters being told the score after every round of a fight. However, only 10% were in favor of scores being announced after every round to the public.
The judging committee ruled that they felt changing the outcome of 2% or 5% of fights was not enough to change the system in place, and they pushed that the commissions need to train and use competent judges who understand the sport and understand the current system, and that commissions should also have ongoing training of their judges.
Everyone knows my feeling on the system. Without question, bad judges will screw up any system and bad judges are more of an issue than the scoring system. If you give bad judges more of an opportunity to be wrong, theyll be wrong more often. The scoring system is an issue in close fights. One of the differences is that when you are testing a system out on amateur fights, in amateurs, my feeling is that due to lack of experience of the competitors, youre not going to have as many close fights. In UFC in particular, when you have so many close fights, the percentages may be higher. But nobody has run the data to be sure. In the end, I didnt think there was any chance at this time the half point system would be adopted, just because change comes slowly.
You dont have to do a half-point system to improve the scoring. You can judge use more points, in the sense allow 10-10 scores, use 10-9 only for close rounds, and make 10-8 the score for a regular round, and 10-7 or even 10-6 for one-sided rounds. The idea of half-points is because the current judges are so indoctrinated to the current method of awarding almost every round a 10-9, that youll never get them to change to normally awarding every round a 10-8 unless its either very close or very one-sided.
The two main differences in scoring criteria are that effective defense has been removed. The judging committee believes that it should only be offensive attacks that are given credit. Defense allows you to avoid offensive attacks, but defensive tactics alone are not to be scored positively. The other change is that effective grappling and effective striking are considered equal in value. Before, effective striking was considered of slightly higher value than effective grappling.
Strikeforce presented a lackluster show on 7/14, with seven decisions in the eight televised fights.
The show featured two title matches, with Luke Rockhold retaining the middleweight title over Tim Kennedy and Nate Marquardt stealing the show beating Tyron Woodley with a fourth round stoppage to win the vacant welterweight title. In the case of Marquardt, this was his first match in 16 months. He first was fired by UFC when his testosterone level was too high (he had been approved for testosterone replacement therapy and his doctor gave him more than was allowable), signed with BAMMA in the U.K., was released after BAMMA couldnt put together a show with him, and then was brought back, but put on the Strikeforce brand.
What was notable is Marquardt had said before this fight he was giving up testosterone replacement therapy. In theory, if his natural levels were so low that he needed it for medical reasons, that he would need it just to function, let alone to train at the level necessary to fight. Yet, he showed up in great shape, got through camp, didnt get tired, and ended up being the most impressive fighter on the show.
Im one of the best in the world and actually, I feel like Im the best in the world, the best welterweight, said Marquardt, who even said he would fight Georges St. Pierre, a former training partner. Like all Strikeforce champions, they want the UFC champions, but politically those matches are impossible to put together because they can only happen at this point if UFC would sent its champions to fight on Showtime, and that makes no economic sense. Scott Coker after the show hinted at new acquisitions, including champions from other promotions that may be coming in, but also noted that UFC and Strikeforce fighters will not be fighting anywhere but on their own brand.
However, after a controversy shitstorm started when I, in discussing the idea that a prospective Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg match, should Rousey beat Sarah Kaufman, would be best served on a UFC PPV in December as opposed to on Showtime because of the added exposure it would get to the fighters and make them theoretically more visible and more valuable to Showtime from that exposure, where I talked about the politics behind Strikeforce fighters being exclusive to the Showtime brand under the current deal unless Showtime gave their blessing otherwise. Stephen Espinoza was on the MMA Hour and said he was open to champion vs. champion fights. Espinoza has the right of approval on all fights involving Strikeforce fighters and Showtime events and if UFC wanted to put the big womens fight on a PPV, or on a FOX show, it would be something both sides would have to work out.
Maybe at some point with all the creative minds thinking about this issue, we can come up with a solution and something which satisfies the fans who want some sort of unified champions, or essentially to answer the question who is the No. 1 best in the cage, at a particular weight class?, Espinoza said on the MMA Hour. I would love to see that happen at some point as well. Im no different than any other fan. Id love to answer that question, too.
To clear everything up as best we can, anyone under contract to Strikeforce cant fight in UFC right now, at least without Showtimes approval. The big question is whether, if Gilbert Melendezs Strikeforce contract expires, can he then sign with UFC. Dana White said he can. Epinoza was asked, and wouldnt give a direct answer, saying he didnt know and youd have to ask Zuffa because he hasnt seen the contracts with the fighters. I had said differently based on what I was told by one fighter who was a star in Strikeforce. They are claiming its incorrect. Thus far, every fighter of any significance whose Strikeforce contract has expired since the deal went into effect was signed to stay in Strikeforce and those decisions of which promotion they would compete in when their contracts expired were not up to the fighters. If the relationship continues, I guess well see when more contracts start expiring if any significant stars are moved to UFC while they are still marquee players in Strikeforce. At that point there will be two scenarios. Either UFC wont want to take a champion or star Strikeforce fighter and hurt their television partner, or they will move a fighter over when their contract expires, which hasnt been done yet.
As far as how things work, if the decisions go in one way, Strikeforce becomes a feeder system. In another, it becomes a separate entity, but either way they negotiate their contract with the same people, make their deal, and those people decide where they are going to be booked. The fact Dana White wont do any promotion of Strikeforce fights past one obligatory mention on his Twitter the day of the shows, and has said hes washed his hands of Strikeforce and left it to others after failing to get changes done that he wanted, speaks volumes
To me, I would hope it can be a separate entity, but with movement in the sense both sides would work together now and going forward to make the most interesting fights possible, with occasional crossover in both directions when fights make sense. The key would be all those great lightweights in UFC not in the title picture would make for great foes for Melendez, and would bolster interest in his Strikeforce defenses.
If one was to win and take the title, since its the same ownership, theyd defend on Strikeforce shows and theyd have main events. That would also give them a jump start in doing a title vs. title match. The negative is no matter who wins a title vs. title match, you have an issue. If the Strikeforce guy wins, hes going to have to defend the unified title on UFC shows and Showtime doesnt get the title dates, and it becomes a feeder title. If the UFC guy wins, then the Strikeforce champion isnt a real world champion, even in discussions and theories, so from a business standpoint the way things are structured there are arguments about not doing such a fight. Plus, right now no Strikeforce champion facing a UFC champion is going to be a bigger match then the UFC champion against a UFC guy.
There wasnt much in the way of other major happenings. Rockhold had issued challenges all week to Anderson Silva. While he handily won the fight against a tough guy, it wasnt the impressive win needed to make him come across as a superstar to viewers.
The other note was after beating Robbie Lawler, Lorenz Larkin got down on his knees and begged Lorenzo Fertitta to start giving Strikeforce fighters performance bonuses for best match, best knockout and best submission. He said he wasnt even asking for himself, but for all the fighters in the brand who fight their hearts out.
Larkin and Roger Gracie both got wins on the main card and have to be looked as regarding as possible foes for Rockhold. Larkin is undefeated technically as a light heavyweight (he was knocked out by King Mo, but that decision was overturned when Mo tested positive for steroids) and looked good dropping down. Gracie, who actually started as a heavyweight and has moved down to 185, is a guy who, if he can get someone to the ground, because of his ground control and Jiu Jitsu, is a threat to finish anyone or at least control them to win a round. By no means is he the all-around fighter Rockhold is, and Gracie certainly wouldnt be favored going into a five-round fight, but his takedowns are good and his ground game may be the best in the world in that weight class.
The only fight really talked about as far as the future title picture saw Pat Healy grind out a win over Deep lightweight champion Mizuto Hirota, who is best known for the guy who had a gruesome arm break in the Dream vs. Sengoku series on a New Years Eve show in Japan a few years back against Shinya Aoki. It was a close decision, with Healy taking the second and third rounds. While the judges had it unanimous and I had Healy 29-28, our poll had it almost a dead heat with 43% for Healy, 40% for Hirota and 17% having it a draw. He was talked about as a likely next opponent for lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez. In the case of Melendez, with UFC overloaded with great lightweight fighters who just due to sheer numbers arent going to be in their championship picture any time soon, there are all kinds of interesting fights for him that could be made, but right now dont appear in the cards.
They announced the next two shows as 8/18 in San Diego, which is headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Sarah Kaufman for the womens bantamweight title, and 9/29 in Sacramento at the Power Balance Pavilion (formerly Arco Arena), where the only thing announced is Daniel Cormier will headline. For what its worth, Cormier and Josh Barnett, who are friends, have good-naturedly gone back and forth on Twitter hinting of a rematch. This is the promised final Cormier match in the agreement with Showtime where they would get one last fight with the heavyweight Grand Prix tournament winner before the division is dropped and Cormier moves to UFC.
The rest of the matches thus far announced for 8/18 are Miesha Tate vs. Julie Kedzie, Ronaldo Jacare Souza vs. Derek Brunson, Roger Bowling vs. Tarec Saffiedine, T.J Cook vs. Ovince St. Preux, Germaine de Randamie vs. Hiroko Yamanaka and Adlan Amagov vs. Keith Berry. Tate vs. Kedzie, which to me is the second biggest match on the show given Tates part in promoting the fight with Rousey earlier this year, was announced as the main event on Showtime Extreme instead of airing on the main Showtime card.
bone_and_sinew
breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
Go for it. If it won't be you, someone else will eventually.
dream
Member
I realize this but, as a total degenerate, her genuine innocence confounds me. So much so that I wrote a bunch of disparate paragraphs that are too small to be essays.
The biggest thing at the Fighters Summit is the UFC announced that even though it has greatly increased the company premiums, it had increased the insurance coverage to all fighters to include pre-existing conditions. The best example of the problem had to do with King Mo, even though he was fired and has signed with Bellator and this won’t apply to him, but it would have under this plan. Mo didn’t have the company’s insurance pay for all of his knee problems with staph that nearly cost him his leg because his knee problems dated back before he had started with the company or got the insurance so it was ruled a pre-existing condition.
Forrest Griffin became the sixth fighter to be approved for testosterone replacement therapy in Nevada in history (and the third in the last three months). Griffin, like Chael Sonnen, had to submit to regular blood testing before and after his 7/7 fight with Tito Ortiz to make sure his levels were within the allowable parameters. The other five approved were Shane Roller (who got off it prior to his fight on 7/7 and, like Nate Marquardt, still was able to win), Dan Henderson, Todd Duffee, Sonnen and Frank Mir. It is absolutely wrong for people who have significantly low test to not be able to supplement as far as functioning in life. Whether they should be allowed to do so in competitive sports is another issue. Even though UFC and MMA have gotten the microscope because the cases are commission approved, public record and part of the news, these do exist in many other sports. But Marquardt and Roller being able to give it up and perform at a high level makes you question if they ever really had a true medical need for it. And if they didn’t, how many others really don’t? It’s a really worrisome issue that is only becoming bigger because fighters are always looking for any edge.
Ortiz was on Inside MMA and very upset because he didn’t know Griffin was approved for testosterone until it came out days after the fight. Given Ortiz lost on a close decision that could have gone either way, you could really see why he would be upset if Griffin was allowed something that helped his strength, training, recovery and aggressiveness. Ortiz really didn’t understand the subject, as he believed Griffin was allowed to have six times the testosterone in his system that a normal person like him would have with the therapy. In theory, you are supposed to test at normal levels with the therapy, and get tested, both urine and blood, at the time of the fight as well as at times before the fight.
The schedule is really crazy over the next two-and-a-half months, with shows almost every weekend except 7/28, 8/25, 9/8 and 9/15 and for the first time ever, two shows on 9/29. With Calgary this week, what follows is 8/4 on FOX from Los Angeles (Shogun Rua vs. Brandon Vera), 8/11 UFC 150 in Denver (Ben Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar for the lightweight title, 8/18 Strikeforce in San Diego (Ronda Rousey vs. Sarah Kaufman), 9/1 UFC 151 in Las Vegas (Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson), 9/22 UFC 152 in Toronto and 9/29 UFC in Nottingham, England afternoon show (Stefan Struve vs. Spike Miocic) on Fuel and Strikeforce in Sacramento (evening show on the two Showtime networks).
Penn was still talking about VADA drug testing for his fight with MacDonald. He said he would agree to do it and pay for all the testing himself, but only with the agreement that the results don’t get announced until after the fight. As noted last week, he doesn’t want to do anything that risks the fight taking place. The problem is, how can VADA and even UFC agree to keep results quiet if someone does fail a pre-fight test? I don’t see that as plausible.
Sonnen said it would be a few weeks before he makes a decision on his future, but is contemplating moving to 205. Sonnen trains and is in shape at 230 pounds and cuts from 215, so he won’t be that small at 205, but he’ll be facing guys significantly bigger than he is used to facing. I’ve been around him, and he is bigger than most middleweights, but would be a little below average size wise next to most light heavies. That 20 pounds is a huge gap. He talked about making a challenge to Jon Jones, but I don’t know that he’d be able to put together the streak at 205 to get to Jones. Too bad this isn’t pro wrestling with contrived storylines, because the best use of Sonnen would be for him to start his own camp of middleweights and he play the trainer obsessed with finding the man to take down Silva. That way he can go out there and cut promos for the new guy of the month and it’ll keep the Silva vs. Sonnen storyline going which is one of the most successful the company’s ever had.
On the flip side, Rashad Evans this week told ESPN.com that he was 50% or more of the mindset of cutting to 185. He said he would discuss it with management and probably do a test cut to see how he feels because he didn’t want to take away from his athletic ability. Evans started in UFC as a heavyweight on Ultimate Fighter, but moved down to 205. His actual frame is closer to that of a UFC middleweight than a light heavy, but he’s been successful at light heavy his entire career. When he was in college, he wrestled 174. He would likely have to get one or two good wins to get a title shot. But of all the people on the horizon, if he moved down, he’d be the most looked forward to opponent for Silva, unless somebody beats Evans and then people would see them as a real deal.
Junior Dos Santos has not admitted an injury, but in an interview on UFC Tonight, said he was targeting November to be back in action. If that’s the case, that means he won’t make it for the Brazil show. The November PPV is Montreal with GSP vs. Carlos Condit tentatively and it makes no sense to put that and Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez on the same card unless GSP isn’t ready by that date or there is an injury delay. That would seem to time it as either the FOX show on 12/8 or the 12/29 Las Vegas PPV.
Cung Le suffered a bruised bone in his foot so he may not be ready for the 11/10 show in Macau, where Dana White was hoping to have him headline.
Phhft. If not you It'll be the next guy. I say godspeed good sir.
parrotbeak
Member
The only reason not to is because you don't know what she will be like once she starts drinking or dating or whatever she hasn't done yet. Like there is no way I would want to hang out with someone who just started drinking, cuz I have 20+ years from that period of my life. Also how old is this girl?
On the other hand, Mak winning against Hector would derail a fight to Silva, but the marks in the 300k to 700k buy rate range probably know Mak much better than Hector. Wouldn't that be interesting if it led to Silva/Mak?
On the other hand, Mak winning against Hector would derail a fight to Silva, but the marks in the 300k to 700k buy rate range probably know Mak much better than Hector. Wouldn't that be interesting if it led to Silva/Mak?
feed on her to regain your youth friend.
bone_and_sinew
breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
-Hold up, Chris Weidman is being trained by Matt Serra? My perception of reality has just been shattered.
-Hmm, so Bisping v. Stann is official now? Yeah Weidman is definitely going to get screwed out of a title shot after Bisping decisions Stann.
-Hmm, so Bisping v. Stann is official now? Yeah Weidman is definitely going to get screwed out of a title shot after Bisping decisions Stann.
Jordanlaughing.gifthe wall said:
The UFC will never allow mak to fight anderson unless mak cleans out the division instead.
whatthe smaller wall said:
TheNatural
My Member!
Have you heard Weidman speak? Nice guy, listened to him on MMA Hour, but he sounds exactly like Serra. 110% New Yawker.
Also, thanks for the essays dream. LOL @ the West Coast gate for Fuel, too bad there's not info on the Strikeforce gate yet, its probably just as bad or worst. West Coasters lose their time listing privileges for a reason.
parrotbeak
Member
He beat #3 ranked mw in the world Yushin Okami and TUF winner Kendall Grove! Mak is the walking definition of ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN! WHO CAN BEAT ANDERSON SILVA?! [cut to highlight of Mak ko'ing Okami]
I think that would be the perfect fight to wrap up UFC 2012.
parrotbeak
Member
Shall we move on to the next recommendation in the suggested reading list or did people want to talk about Hinterlands? Looks like people just started commenting yesterday. I don't have more to say about it but would be interested to read what others got out of it.
dream
Member
I've been busy but I will read Hinterlands quickly so I can contribute.
By the way, did yall see the latest trouble our serpentine former friend got up to in the OT?
edit: I should mention, though, that I am not a fan of scififantasy at all, so I may go into our book club meeting with much anger and resentment.
By the way, did yall see the latest trouble our serpentine former friend got up to in the OT?
edit: I should mention, though, that I am not a fan of scififantasy at all, so I may go into our book club meeting with much anger and resentment.
Trouble? Do go on.
TheNatural
My Member!
There should just be a pussy PC board here where people with the fragile sensitivity of a snail can go hang out and argue semantics over the slightest little phrase or word taken out of context to get offended about.
TheNatural
My Member!
Haha, in what way? Serra is a black belt under Renzo and seems to be a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable BJJ coach from what I've seen. Weidman also talks about training under John Danaher tha Gawd. Curious to know how he splits his training.
I've got a lot of respect for what Ray Longo is doing too. Weidman, Philippou and Iaquinta have all looked damn good on the feet. Plus without him there's no way Serra lands that "lucky punch" on GSP. He has a huge hand in perhaps the biggest upset in MMA history.
parrotbeak
Member
The Serra-Hughes TUF season was the last one I enjoyed.
In the nba thread?
I haven't read enough to be biased against genre fiction, but I also haven't read much at all. But I've tried to read Gibson before and I was biased against him and I hated it. I started skimming towards the end.
Strikeforce should try and put together a few battles that are only aimed at the mainstream/casual watchers. With the dissolving of the heavyweight, they should have given Herschel Walker another match -- this guarantees ESPN coverage, at the very least.
Bringing on Dave Batista (probably going to suck, but WWE fans would watch nonetheless) and Kimbo Slice would do wonders for publicity for 2012. While neither would be in the long-term plans, it at least helps sell seats and gain the company viewers to help with the ratings to keep Strikeforce afloat.
Bringing on Dave Batista (probably going to suck, but WWE fans would watch nonetheless) and Kimbo Slice would do wonders for publicity for 2012. While neither would be in the long-term plans, it at least helps sell seats and gain the company viewers to help with the ratings to keep Strikeforce afloat.
bone_and_sinew
breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
Well I was simply having trouble with my mental picture of 200 pound Matt Serra grappling with Weidman. I still think of Serra as a fighter and not a coach. I don't know how good a coach he is since I didn't watch the TUF season he did with Matt Hughes. Weidman has some pretty damn good coaches though now that you mention them. It's no wonder he's so well rounded.
parrotbeak
Member
That's a funny idea but I'm not convinced that Sonnen was the heel in that storyline. A lot of cheers for him in weigh in and at fight, and my casual friends wanted him to win (although didn't think he would).
TheKaeptain
Banned
I'm avoiding the internet until I see TDKR.
Edit: I've been awake for around 40 hours now. Protip never have children.
Ignore it.
GungHo
Single-handedly caused Exxon-Mobil to sue FOX, start World War 3
I know this is a joke, but the XFL failed in part because no one believed Vince would give over creative story control to the vagaries of athletic ability. If Vince ever were to get into the "real fight" business, he'd probably need to do it as a distant, investment role. There is nothing he (or his family) can do at this point in athletics as a controlling partner that wouldn't be immediately decried as a work.
Being coached by Serra would make me laugh. I'd be thinking of Linda Richman the entire time. "Hammafistelbow! Noice. Put em into a troiangle. Noice! That troiangle is like buttah. Ohkay, now toighten up on his galektapuss and squheeze!"
TheNatural
My Member!
Help me friends. I woke up today with Two Hearts stuck in my head.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SidxJz94Svs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SidxJz94Svs
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
Has anyone seen Chael Sonnen's "response" to Rampage?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5jkhlkWeXM
The look on his face around 1:22 reminds me of that "I've made a huge mistake" gif.
Vince is one of those CEOs/Owners that it is just impossible for them to do that. This is mainly due to him micromanaging every aspect of his business with the justification that he created it and it grew to what it is under this environment. I don't mind this if the business is still being maintained, growing and changing with the times, but fundamental project management requires change at all levels of management in order to keep the project going at maximum efficiency and for new ideas to form and circulate. And when a CEO/Owner like Vince lets their pride control them into refusing to walk away when it's time for them to step aside then I lose all respect for them. My last job was a living hell due to that kind of CEO/Owner.
Hopefully Dana White will know when it's time for him to step aside when he's accomplished everything he can. Luckily we have the Fertitta Bros. to fall back on just incase Dana goes full crazy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5jkhlkWeXM
The look on his face around 1:22 reminds me of that "I've made a huge mistake" gif.
Vince is one of those CEOs/Owners that it is just impossible for them to do that. This is mainly due to him micromanaging every aspect of his business with the justification that he created it and it grew to what it is under this environment. I don't mind this if the business is still being maintained, growing and changing with the times, but fundamental project management requires change at all levels of management in order to keep the project going at maximum efficiency and for new ideas to form and circulate. And when a CEO/Owner like Vince lets their pride control them into refusing to walk away when it's time for them to step aside then I lose all respect for them. My last job was a living hell due to that kind of CEO/Owner.
Hopefully Dana White will know when it's time for him to step aside when he's accomplished everything he can. Luckily we have the Fertitta Bros. to fall back on just incase Dana goes full crazy.
TheKaeptain
Banned
Apparently yes.
bloodydrake
Cool Smoke Luke
Thats great! LOL love Page but thats a perfect reply.
TheKaeptain
Banned
parrotbeak
Member
Foot stawmps Shonee, thea thea! Been hea befoa, you know!
Fascinating? Yea sure lets go with that one..
bone_and_sinew
breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
Of course but its fascinating learning the reasons why. Nolan on the other hand is a hack.
TheKaeptain
Banned
No he isn't. One of the better American directors working today. You want Hack look no further than Joss Whedon.
RBelong2Us
Member
Sooooo, tomorrow?
I had to be careful with my words man, who knows who is watching!!
TheKaeptain
Banned
Youre right. Us lowly proles should know better.
Similar threads
- Poll