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Anyone Catch Gina vs Cyborg Last Night?

Yes Chris, I did. I don't remember his name but the Iranian sounding chap put a real arse whipping on Babalu. He looked like a scared kid when he entered the ring. Then went straight to work. Machine like I would say.

Regards, Todd

Gegard Mousasi, he's Armenian. Very talented guy and I think he's only 24. I underestimated him when he fought Dennis Kang, then I did it again when he fought Manhoef, and Jacare, and Hunt...he rose to the occasion every time, put the fight where he wanted it and finished.

I won't say I underestimated him against Babalu, but I definitely didn't expect him to make it look easy. Babalu, while he's been somewhat inconsistent, is top shelf...he can finish anyone at 205 if he's given the opportunity, and he's generally pretty durable. Mousasi destroyed him...this was his most impressive performance yet imo.
 
I think that conditioning was a problem too. Gina obviously looks great and she didn't seem to have any problems making weight this time. Still, her energy seemed to wane as the round went on. Whether it was the extra two minutes or ring rust, who knows.

I know that they're talking tournament, but I'll bet that Scott Coker is trying to find out how to get Gina a couple of high-visibility fights with some convincing tomato cans en route to a rematch. In the meantime, they're probably looking for a good stylist for Cyborg. After getting Gina in Maxim, they probably don't want to settle for a feature on Cyborg in Iron Horse.

Gina is in an odd situation of sorts. Her Contract with American Gladiators stipulated that she would maintain her weight at something like 160 or 165 and come fight time she has to lose it all and then gain it all again before filming a show. I'd say that's a great deal of stress for any body.
 
Gegard Mousasi, he's Armenian. Very talented guy and I think he's only 24. I underestimated him when he fought Dennis Kang, then I did it again when he fought Manhoef, and Jacare, and Hunt...he rose to the occasion every time, put the fight where he wanted it and finished.

I won't say I underestimated him against Babalu, but I definitely didn't expect him to make it look easy. Babalu, while he's been somewhat inconsistent, is top shelf...he can finish anyone at 205 if he's given the opportunity, and he's generally pretty durable. Mousasi destroyed him...this was his most impressive performance yet imo.

Babalu is good, but not top shelf. At 205 I would say if he cracks the top ten it would certainly be in the latter half and close to 10. In Strikeforce he was the champ, in UFC he wouldn't even be a contender at this point.

Gina is in an odd situation of sorts. Her Contract with American Gladiators stipulated that she would maintain her weight at something like 160 or 165 and come fight time she has to lose it all and then gain it all again before filming a show. I'd say that's a great deal of stress for any body.

That's definitely a lot of stress for the body to take, but truthfully it's what most fighters go through all the time. Most of them shed a lot of weight for evey single fight and some of them extremely high amounts. The most I've heard of is Mike Whitehead who supposedly went from 270 to 205 in a matter of days and the day after weighing in at 205 was back up to 236. Extremely hard and I'm sure not healthy for your body.
 
Gina is in an odd situation of sorts. Her Contract with American Gladiators stipulated that she would maintain her weight at something like 160 or 165 and come fight time she has to lose it all and then gain it all again before filming a show. I'd say that's a great deal of stress for any body.

That may be true, but the last episode of American Gladiators was filmed at this time last year. Was she still under contract after that? If not, I think that she was just doing lots of other things that kept her out of the gym. Now if she hadn't been doing all that stuff, maybe nobody would have been all that interested in seeing her fight--it would have been the same die-hard fight groupies who promoters take for granted. As it is, I think that she suffered from being pulled in several different directions, doing publicity for the fight and training at the same time, while Cyborg could just punch people at Chute Boxe. The question is--will the outcome be any different if Gina--now a known quantity--really submits to a professional training program? Honestly, I'm not much of a women's MMA fan so I'm not dying to learn the answer. I do suspect that Cyborg won't be relaxing at the beach before their next fight and the outcome will be the same.
 
Babalu is good, but not top shelf. At 205 I would say if he cracks the top ten it would certainly be in the latter half and close to 10. In Strikeforce he was the champ, in UFC he wouldn't even be a contender at this point.

I'd rank him similarly, but I would consider anyone in the top 10, and a few guys out of it, "top shelf." He has the skills to finish anyone at 205 if they give him an opportunity. He's past his prime and doesn't seem to really care anymore, thats his problem...he's a lot sloppier than he used to be, and he was never a particularly technical striker. But to a guy fighting his first fight at 205, Babalu is most definitely top shelf.
 
Yes Chris, I did. I don't remember his name but the Iranian sounding chap put a real arse whipping on Babalu. He looked like a scared kid when he entered the ring. Then went straight to work. Machine like I would say.

Regards, Todd

Mousasi didn't look scared at all. He was calm and relaxed. And it showed in the ring. Babalu isn't really that great, he'd get destroyed by any of the top ten light heavies. Poor guy's just had too many vicious knockout blows to the head, Saturday night didn't help that.
 
I think that conditioning was a problem too. Gina obviously looks great and she didn't seem to have any problems making weight this time. Still, her energy seemed to wane as the round went on. Whether it was the extra two minutes or ring rust, who knows.

I know that they're talking tournament, but I'll bet that Scott Coker is trying to find out how to get Gina a couple of high-visibility fights with some convincing tomato cans en route to a rematch. In the meantime, they're probably looking for a good stylist for Cyborg. After getting Gina in Maxim, they probably don't want to settle for a feature on Cyborg in Iron Horse.

I don't think that conditioning was her problem...she could have gone another 4 if she'd wanted to. She was flat on her feet...she had to move to win that fight, and she simply didn't. Stand right in front of a fighter like Cyborg and she's going to punch you in the face...over and over again. Circle, change distance, jab, teep and throw leg kicks, and all of a sudden its a fight.

And the same story when she started taking punches...instead of putting her guard up and circling away from her opponents power, she covered up and turned her back. Theres only one reason a striker as accomplished as Gina Carano makes that mistake...she wilted under the pressure. I don't think she's ever had someone put power like that on her before...she tasted a little and she wanted out of that fight. She could have easily ridden out the first round if she'd wanted to...roll, grab a leg, try to get to guard...she just turtled and covered up, she didn't want to fight anymore.
 
I've never seen Carano fight before, Is she really that good? Most everything I saw about her during the fight seemed to be more focused on how good looking she is, how she's the face of women's mma, etc? She's obviously a tough gal, but is she really a great fighter or is she put in a high profile arena simply because she is gorgeous and nearly all of the rest of the women look like dudes?
 
Mousasi didn't look scared at all. He was calm and relaxed. And it showed in the ring. Babalu isn't really that great, he'd get destroyed by any of the top ten light heavies. Poor guy's just had too many vicious knockout blows to the head, Saturday night didn't help that.

According to most lists, Babalu is, still, one of the top ten light heavies in the world. He's been knocked out twice in 12 years/44 fights, and TKO'd twice...and his record is a who's who list of legends and champions. Not to mention he was carrying a 5 fight win streak in to his bout with Mousasi. He's one of the most dangerous submission fighters in the game, still...and he's always been durable.

Like I said above he's past his prime...but he's still very dangerous to any opponent at 205. He's fought the best, and no one has done to him what Mousasi did.
 
I've never seen Carano fight before, Is she really that good? Most everything I saw about her during the fight seemed to be more focused on how good looking she is, how she's the face of women's mma, etc? She's obviously a tough gal, but is she really a great fighter or is she put in a high profile arena simply because she is gorgeous and nearly all of the rest of the women look like dudes?

She's legit. Her muay thai is excellent, she's got good submission defense, etc. She really hadn't been tested before yesterday though.

I've been watching her closely since she fought Elena Maxwell back in like 2006. I cornered on that card, and her fight blew everyone away. Maxwell had more hype surrounding her at the time...she was from Cung Le's school, known to be an excellent grappler, etc. Gina manhandled her on the feet (and Maxwell was game), but got caught in deep submissions twice and escaped both times. She won a clear cut decision and absolutely stole the show.

The thing is, after that Coker realized he had a star on his hands and he started building her up. He basically laid a path of smaller, less dangerous girls for her to run through. She got the American Gladiator gig, her weight started to be an issue, etc.

With that said, I still haven't seen any ladies I think can beat her with the exception of Cyborg of course, and Megumi Fuji. Doesn't mean they're not out there...but I haven't seen 'em.
 
That's definitely a lot of stress for the body to take, but truthfully it's what most fighters go through all the time. Most of them shed a lot of weight for evey single fight and some of them extremely high amounts. The most I've heard of is Mike Whitehead who supposedly went from 270 to 205 in a matter of days and the day after weighing in at 205 was back up to 236. Extremely hard and I'm sure not healthy for your body.

Oh I know. I've had 6 fights. At the time of my first couple of fights I was walking around at 205 and fighting at 185. By my last 4 fights I was walking around at 195 and fighting at 185. I know it is tough. Now I'm down to 185 and hoping to fight next at 170. That is a much more comfortable fight weight for me. I just can't imagine how tasking it would be to be obligated to drop 15 lbs in a tight deadline and then regain that 15 in short order.

That may be true, but the last episode of American Gladiators was filmed at this time last year. Was she still under contract after that? If not, I think that she was just doing lots of other things that kept her out of the gym. Now if she hadn't been doing all that stuff, maybe nobody would have been all that interested in seeing her fight--it would have been the same die-hard fight groupies who promoters take for granted. As it is, I think that she suffered from being pulled in several different directions, doing publicity for the fight and training at the same time, while Cyborg could just punch people at Chute Boxe. The question is--will the outcome be any different if Gina--now a known quantity--really submits to a professional training program? Honestly, I'm not much of a women's MMA fan so I'm not dying to learn the answer. I do suspect that Cyborg won't be relaxing at the beach before their next fight and the outcome will be the same.

Very true. I wasn't making excuses for her or anything like that. It was just commentary about how tough that must be for her at other times. She's had issues as a result of these two differing professions. As far as Gina is concerned, I think she is the real deal. I also think that if she trains properly she could avenge that loss.

I've never seen Carano fight before, Is she really that good? Most everything I saw about her during the fight seemed to be more focused on how good looking she is, how she's the face of women's mma, etc? She's obviously a tough gal, but is she really a great fighter or is she put in a high profile arena simply because she is gorgeous and nearly all of the rest of the women look like dudes?

+1 Agree with Mejnoon below...

She's legit. Her muay thai is excellent, she's got good submission defense, etc. She really hadn't been tested before yesterday though.

I've been watching her closely since she fought Elena Maxwell back in like 2006. I cornered on that card, and her fight blew everyone away. Maxwell had more hype surrounding her at the time...she was from Cung Le's school, known to be an excellent grappler, etc. Gina manhandled her on the feet (and Maxwell was game), but got caught in deep submissions twice and escaped both times. She won a clear cut decision and absolutely stole the show.

The thing is, after that Coker realized he had a star on his hands and he started building her up. He basically laid a path of smaller, less dangerous girls for her to run through. She got the American Gladiator gig, her weight started to be an issue, etc.

With that said, I still haven't seen any ladies I think can beat her with the exception of Cyborg of course, and Megumi Fuji. Doesn't mean they're not out there...but I haven't seen 'em.

I agree 100%. It's somehow easier to market women's MMA if there is a baby face. Gina is legit and with the right focus and camp I believe she can take Cyborg.
 
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