The MMA Thread

[Sullybob]

Good fights last night.

Joe Lauzon's self stoppage of Gomi was kind of strange. I'm glad Joe didn't keep pounding him though. Herb looked confused by the whole thing.

I agree with you Orville about Lawlor. He isn't getting very far in the 205 division especially if he isn't cutting much weight to make 205. He weighed in at 203.

It seems like Tate needs to warm up more before she gets in the cage or something. She seems like a slow starter to me, but once she was ready to go she looked pretty good. She is getting the next shot at Rousey but I don't think it's going to end any different than the last two times they fought.

How about those switch kicks? Edson Barboza looked great. Did anybody notice that Felder was bleeding from his side? I think Edson just abraded the skin right off Felders ribs.

Dillashaw looked fantastic.

 

[MrLara]

Agree with both of you, Orville and Shawn. On all counts

That beating of barao from tj against the cage, was reminiscent of phil baroni against dave menee (brutal). Barao should either move up in weight and stop cutting so much (although i don't think that's the problem, tj just has number). or he can change camps.

I thought the miller fight was close, it could have gone either way. Miller has to change something, because he's getting a run for his money from journeymen. Felder is such a sore loser, in my eyes i thought Barboza took all three rounds. And felder was acting like it was close, you can't just motion a guy to keep kicking you and keep taking kicks and think that just because you're moving forward you are 'controlling' the pace. I will root against this guy from now on.

i'd like to see Pettis/Barboza next, the kicking showcase should be great.

Sad to see Gomi lose, nothing against Joe though.

i thought it was weird to hear the pronunciation of bethe correas name. It sounds like their saying *****.

 

[Toothpick]

Some great fights, and some sad outcomes . . .
Dillashaw is CLEARLY much better than the field at this point. Not sure who they can put in their to challenge him based on how effectively he just obliterated Barao.
Tate is going to present an interesting challenge to Rousey should she win over Correia next week (lol). She has enough grappling savy that she might actually be able to defend well enough to avoid the arm bar. and her striking is very much improved on the feet.
Joe Lauzon just sent Gomi into Bellator. The Fireball Kid is running on empty at this point . . . WAY too one dimensional, and no ability to keep the fight in that milieu.
Lawlor made a pleasing return, but he is delusional if he thinks his "run" is leading him to a title shot at 205 . . .
and Jim Miller just guaranteed himself another contract.

I watched the card last night and really enjoyed it. It was PPV caliber in my eyes. Great fights.

Tate's only chance to win a belt is if Rousey wins over Correia. If Correia wins then forgetaboutit. I don't believe Tate stands a chance against Correia.

Rousey vs Correia will be a great fight.

 

[MrLara]

I don know man, i think tates chances against correia are way better than her chances with ronda. I recently watched two of correias fights and in her fight with shayna basler, she was completely dominated on the ground by bazler and almost submitted a couple of times. Tate has pretty good grappling and will have a slight size advantage against correia.

Pair that up with tates newfound striking improvement snd she might as well dominate correia.

 

[Toothpick]

I don know man, i think tates chances against correia are way better than her chances with ronda. I recently watched two of correias fights and in her fight with shayna basler, she was completely dominated on the ground by bazler and almost submitted a couple of times. Tate has pretty good grappling and will have a slight size advantage against correia.

Pair that up with tates newfound striking improvement snd she might as well dominate correia.

You sound like you have a better understanding of the fighters. To be fair my assumption is only based off the promo of the two fighers.
I haven't seen either fight in a very long time.

Correia just looks like a beast of a fighter!

 

[MrLara]

Its all good man, she did go on to obliterate baysler in that fight and she is undefeated. Her stand up seems decent enough, and i think she can hang with Ronda on the feet, i just hope shes been working on that armbar defense.

 

[Orville]

I watched the card last night and really enjoyed it. It was PPV caliber in my eyes. Great fights.

Tate's only chance to win a belt is if Rousey wins over Correia. If Correia wins then forgetaboutit. I don't believe Tate stands a chance against Correia.

Rousey vs Correia will be a great fight.

I don know man, i think tates chances against correia are way better than her chances with ronda. I recently watched two of correias fights and in her fight with shayna basler, she was completely dominated on the ground by bazler and almost submitted a couple of times. Tate has pretty good grappling and will have a slight size advantage against correia.

Pair that up with tates newfound striking improvement snd she might as well dominate correia.

You sound like you have a better understanding of the fighters. To be fair my assumption is only based off the promo of the two fighers.
I haven't seen either fight in a very long time.

Correia just looks like a beast of a fighter!

The ONLY hope Correia has is if she lands a devastating shot early against Rousey . . . and by early I mean the first minute of the fight, if not the very first EXCHANGE. She has devastating power, but is sorely lacking in grappling ability, ESPECIALLY against Rousey. Rousey is on record as saying that she wants to punish Correia for her comments in the lead up to the fight so, if she follows through on that, it plays to Correia's strnegths. If Rousey keeps this a striking contest for more than the first round, the Correia has the proverbial punchers chance. Of course, if she DOES land a significant series of strikes, but fails to get the KO, Rousey will clinch, throw, and submit Correia in under a minute.

Tate v. Rousey III is the more intriguing fight from my point of view. Tate has improved her striking, to the point that she is likely the better of the two in terms of power, but certainly no worse.

Tate v Correia would probably look a LOT like last night's fight. Tate would test Correia's stand up for a time and, if it was not going well, would try to take it to the mat. Likely a full time decision, but probably a better chance of submitting Correia than she had against Eye last night.

Honestly, with the 135lb women's division, a Rousey win against Correia, and then Tate would be the WORST thing that can happen. If Rousey wins her next two matches, the ONLY contender with ANY kind of interest to a rematch would be Zingano. The quick finish was a bit of an outlier in terms of the result, so a rematch there has intrigue. No other fighters are even close to ready.

 

[brucered]

I know they say don't stop until the ref tells you, but I have great respect for Lauzon for knowing it was over as it even looked like Gomi was tapping.

Just watching the fights now as I missed them live.

Spinning round house from Barboza to the groin

 

[Orville]

I thnk Barboza and Felder got told before the fight that they would be paid extra for every spinning strike landed. It was like watching Dancing with the Stars combined with a FIGHT.

 

[TimmyBoston]

That beating of barao from tj against the cage, was reminiscent of phil baroni against dave menee (brutal). Barao should either move up in weight and stop cutting so much (although i don't think that's the problem, tj just has number). or he can change camps.

I was so bummed, DVRed the fight, but the feed cut out 1:00 into the first round, didn't get to see any more.
Love the Baroni reference, what a great KO that was and of course Phil on the cage screaming "I"m the best EVAH! I'm the Man!" Classic.

I thought the miller fight was close, it could have gone either way. Miller has to change something, because he's getting a run for his money from journeymen.

Miller has been in so many wars, I just think it's catching up to him. He never seemed to be that good at anything, well maybe BJJ, but was always so tough and gritty.

Felder is such a sore loser, in my eyes i thought Barboza took all three rounds. And felder was acting like it was close, you can't just motion a guy to keep kicking you and keep taking kicks and think that just because you're moving forward you are 'controlling' the pace. I will root against this guy from now on.

The first loss is a tough one to swallow, I did read online that Felder apologized via Twitter to Barboza for storming off and congrulated him on the fight.

i'd like to see Pettis/Barboza next, the kicking showcase should be great.

If they don't make this fight, Mr. Lara needs to replace Joe Silva. That's the best idea I've heard in a long time.

Sad to see Gomi lose, nothing against Joe though.

Gomi's in the same boat as Miller, so many wars and that dude just bangs so it's been even harder on him. Great sportsmanship by Lauzon.

i thought it was weird to hear the pronunciation of bethe correas name. It sounds like their saying *****.

Youtube Rousey saying in an interview, "I have 99 problems, but a Bethe ain't one."

 

[TimmyBoston]

The UFC sued Wanderlei over his claims that they fix fights. It's sad to see him become a caricature of himself.

 

[MrLara]

Thanks Tim, i get one right evey once in a while.

whoa! At the Wand situation. Its gonna be very interesting how this play out. Imagine if he actually has some shred of evidence that the fights were predetermined.

I know its unpopular opinion, but the mendes/conor fight looked suspect to me.

 

[brucered]

Fights or judges or both? Sometimes the judging sure looks funny.

I have no doubt there is some type of corruption in the UFC.

 

[MrLara]

The fight.

if boxing can fix fights, and major sport orgs can do it. A niche sport like mma can surely do it as well. The ufc is not beyond corruption, no matter what dana says. His superiors own and operate casinos!!

 

[Orville]

IF the UFC were EVER determined to have "fixed" a fight, the sport would be DEAD. Zuffa would be done, and NO other organization would be able to grow quickly enough to keep it from falling back into the niche that the UFC rose out of. I doubt Wandi has anything beyond a desire to be released from his contract, so he can fight somewhere else.

I think THAT is the more likely genesis of his rants.

 

[poison]

Can't wait to watch Ronda smash again. Correia better land a shin to the head quick, or she's done.

 

[TimmyBoston]

I hope Saturday some of the Brazilian legends retire. I have desire to see them all go out on a string of knock out losses.

Rousey submits Bethe in the first. I wonder if she'll hold on too long....

 

[Orville]

I honestly think that Rousey will try to keep this standing. she knows that EVERYONE is aware of how good she is with respect to grappling. She has also said she wants to make an example out of Correia. What better way to do that, than to take a page from GSP, and best your opponent with their strong suit?

I still think Ronda flips the switch if she takes any damage, because she does NOT like getting punched, but I think she will look to keep this on the feet for a good while and showcase what everyone sees as a weak spot in her game, namely the stand-up.

 

[The Nid Hog]

At this point, I think that Rousey can do whatever she wants. There isn't much reason for her to put on a show because there are no potential challengers for her to intimidate. Short of hitting Correia and having her explode, I don't think she can do anything to attract more fans either. If she's smart, she'll get in and get out with as little damage as possible. See if she can beat her fastest submission time. Why risk a stray power shot to the head that scrambles your brain when you are obviously already working on your post fighting career?

On a related note, I watched Furious 7 at the hotel this summer when I was on vacation. Seemes like Ronda's fight scene is the longest stretch of combat that she's had in her career.

 

[Orville]

Agree with you to a point. Ronda is not likely to be a "draw" much longer. I said earlier that she will likely have defeated all reasonable challengers by this time next year with no NEW fighters to put before her. There just ISN'T anything left for her after Tate3 and Zingano2. The ONLY thing that most fight fans WANT to see is a fight with Cyborg, REGARDLESS of (catch)weight.

For the record, I think Ronda takes the win inside the first round against Justino