UFC Ultimate Fighting Championship

[Hammy]

^ But a complete novice with no knowledge of MMA could have just looked at the bookies odds and picked the ten favourites and they would have got the exact same result  Now if it was an event with a load of upsets and you saw them coming, that would have been impressive 

Rampage has struggled before with guys with good leg kicks, Forrest game him no end of trouble with them and in PRIDE he could often be upset by them, clearly he is in a better place at the moment and I expect him to win, but I would not be shocked if Jardine squeaked out a Split Decision victory.

[D]

U also have to pick how they are going to win and I got a lot of those right also!

[Hammy]

UFC 94 this weekend, can't wait.

Predictions?

Georges St-Pierre via stoppage, 3rd round
Lyoto Machida via decision
Dong-Hyun Kim via TKO 2nd round (Normally I'd never go against Karo but I read he looked out of shape at the weigh-ins and they even have a replacement on stand by if he has a panic attack)
Nate Diaz via Submission 2nd round
Jon Jones via decision (Bonnar has to have ring rust)

[slash666]

It's a hard one to predict but I'm going for

GSP by Stoppage
Machida by Decision
Diaz by KO
Karo (May not be in his best shape but I ain't never going against my man!) by Sub
Jones by KO
Fitch by Sub

[D]

BJ Penn via 4th round RNR

Machida by boring running decision

Bonnar via decision

Id love to see Clay Guida win but I think he dominates the fight only to do like he did against Huerta and get caught by a sub

so Diaz 3rd round armbar

kim  by UD over Karo

Fitch by domination

[Hammy]

I wasn't "feelin" UFC 94, maybe it was just me, maybe I wasn't in the right mood, it seemed most matches had great elements, but also their dull elements.

I see to my surprise Guida vs Diaz got Fight of the Night, despite some fast paced action, and good takedowns and submission attempts I really felt Guida's neutralising up against the cage, despite being smart, kind of killed the fight a bit.

Parysian vs Kim, great first round for Kim, he totally dominated and the fight was going well, Parysian got back into it in the 2nd, and then we had an awful 3rd round, with both guys clearly tired the result was a dull finish.

Onto Bonnar vs Jones.  This Jones guy blew me away, his takedowns were superb, breaking out fucking German Suplexes and double underhook belly to belly suplexes haha, and the spinning back elbow, we had 2 superb rounds, and if they had kept this up it would have easily been fight of the night, what tainted the fight though was both guys gassing, Jones gassing tremendously infact, the 3rd round was pretty much dead, especially when Jones spent the last 2 minutes on the dodge.

Machida had a lovely round of dominance with the most hilarious finish I have seen in ages.  Yves the ref pulls him off because the round has ended, turns to look at Silva, then after a brief second realises Silva has actually been knocked out so he waves the fight off, the look on the refs face was priceless..."Oh shit, he's out"

With the Main Event, GSP showed his dominance and why he is so great, but I guess with all the hype, a lack of a back and forth classic battle, as predicted made it a slight let down.

So all in all, there were many enjoyable elements, but some slow and dull moments seemed to pull it down a bit for me, definately an improvement on UFC 93, looking ahead to UFC 95, it is a stacked card of lesser name fights which I think will be a great card although it won't get anywhere near the same hype.

Main card
Lightweight bout:  Diego Sanchez vs.  Joe Stevenson
Welterweight bout:  Rory Markham vs.  Dan Hardy
Middleweight bout:  Demian Maia vs.  Chael Sonnen
Middleweight bout:  Nate Marquardt vs.  Wilson Gouveia
Welterweight bout:  Josh Koscheck vs.  Paulo Thiago

Preliminary card
Heavyweight bout:  Junior dos Santos vs.  Stefan Struve
Welterweight bout:  Troy Mandaloniz vs.  Paul Kelly
Lightweight bout:  Justin Buchholz vs.  Terry Etim
Lightweight bout:  Per Eklund vs.  David Baron
Heavyweight bout:  Justin McCully vs.  Neil Grove

Sonnen, prepare to tap....or Maia is gonna snap 

[Hammy]

Fuck UFC 93 and 94, that last night was a superb card!  Danzig vs Neer was my FOTY (Yes its early but its the best we have had so far).  Great back and forth stuff on the ground and standing, and it looked good, it wasn't a back and forth car crash in the form of Coleman and Shogun.

[slash666]

I agree it had way better fights than UFC 93 & 94 combined. Neer/Danzig was great, although I really don't like Neer (comes off as a bit of a twat). Heavyweight fight was going great until what I think was a premature stoppage. Stojnic can really take a beating, reminded me of Wesley "Cabbage" Correira against Sylvia. The next fight I see Velasquez having is against a higher class fighter a veteran type, someone like Heath Herring would be a good call.

Anthony Johnson looked superb! If he continues to improve and gets his cardio upto scratch, then maybe early next year I could see him vs GSP which would be pretty awesome.

First match for UFC 100 has been announced (no shock): GSP vs Thiago Alves. Should be a cracking fight.

[D]

Fight Night was excellent and better than all the PPV's so far.

I will say this, Cain is no where near ready for Brock Lesnar.

He has lots of potential, but he didn't do anything Saturday against a jobber, that would lead me to believe he could do good against Brock.

Great fight coming in 2 weeks, Joe Stevenson vs Diego Sanchez

both guys are 2 of my favorites and this has been a dream match of mine if Diego someday dropped down. Now he has, I cannot wait for this.

[slash666]

A very good show I thought.

*Maia's BJJ looked suberb, a shining example to any new MMA fans.

*Paulo Thiago's hand speed looked impressive, other than that he didn't really show much. Many will question whether it was a premature stoppage but Koscheck looked dazed and unprotected once he was down.

*Marquardt looked good, hopefully he can mount a challenge against Silva next time (taking Silva wins next). Shame to see Gouveia lose, he's a likeable guy who just needs to get his head down and improve his cardio.

*Hardy continues to impress me, you can really tell UFC are trying to market him as next Bisping.

*Kelly looked great, all his fights have been explosive and having Rampage in his corner can never be a bad thing. He didn't try and force the stoppage which could have opened up an opportunity for Troy, similar to how Lesnar fought for the decision with Herring. Troy's face was brutal!

*Main event was good, Stephenson just doesn't stand out for me. You could tell with his stand up(while improved), he just never threw any leg kicks and Sanchez knew that he wouldn't which made his defence a whole lot easier. Sanchez looked assured and never really in trouble.

*Etim, although being favoured, looked great with his standup. Very presise kicks.

*Grove's ankle was looked sick and was just about to break if he didn't tap sooner.

Other than Grove it was a good night for the Brits. Hopefully Kelly takes Rogan's advice and drops down cause with that standup he could be a force soon. Nice for us to get all 10 fights broadcast. Best show this year in my opinion.

[Hammy]

*Maia's BJJ looked suberb, a shining example to any new MMA fans.

Agreed, great quote from sherdog:

At this rate, Maia can retire off bonus money alone.

The 31-year-old Brazilian, perhaps the sport?s premier ground fighter, earned a $40,000 ?Submission of the Night? bonus after he coaxed a tapout from Chael Sonnen with a first-round triangle choke. Maia (10-0) has submitted all five of his opponents inside the Octagon, earning ?Submission of the Night? bonuses in four of those five fights. All told, he has banked nearly a quarter of a million dollars ($215,000) in post-fight bonus money.

*Paulo Thiago's hand speed looked impressive, other than that he didn't really show much. Many will question whether it was a premature stoppage but Koscheck looked dazed and unprotected once he was down.

True his eyes rolled back but compare that stoppage to the Per Eklund stoppage.  Eklund got knocked down, looked out, was allowed to eat a punch, then it was stopped.  Koscheck got knocked down but did not get the chance to take a shot, there needs to be some consistency.

*Marquardt looked good, hopefully he can mount a challenge against Silva next time (taking Silva wins next). Shame to see Gouveia lose, he's a likeable guy who just needs to get his head down and improve his cardio.

He looked great, for me that should of been given the Fight of the Night award.  Simple solution, Marquardt vs Maia and the Winner gets a shot.  As for Okami, he gets the same reaction Machida did hence they keep delaying his shot at the belt, he has history with Anderson Silva but he could do with facing a contender in the Division, people who aren't tied up at the moment and are credible, well their names escape me.  I mean Wanderlai Silva has dropped the weight but he's facing Franklin at '99 and Bisping takes on Hendo at UFC 100.

*Hardy continues to impress me, you can really tell UFC are trying to market him as next Bisping.

Yeah and give it a fight or two and they'll train him to not sound like such a twat.  Remember when Bisping used to swear and be much more aggressive post fight but now they've trained him to appear to be more professional, Hardy in interviews comes across as an angry chav, good fighter though.  More guys should take a leaf out of the Maia book of professionalism; "I am showing you can win fights without hurting your opponents"  Well maybe not that much....

*Kelly looked great, all his fights have been explosive and having Rampage in his corner can never be a bad thing. He didn't try and force the stoppage which could have opened up an opportunity for Troy, similar to how Lesnar fought for the decision with Herring. Troy's face was brutal!

Entertaining to watch, yes, but he was fed what was meant to be an easy fight and he wasn't dragging it out he struggled a fair bit, I still don't rate him to be honest.

*Main event was good, Stephenson just doesn't stand out for me. You could tell with his stand up(while improved), he just never threw any leg kicks and Sanchez knew that he wouldn't which made his defence a whole lot easier. Sanchez looked assured and never really in trouble.

Joe Stevenson just looked dumb; "I'm losing - smile", "The fights nearly over - smile", "I've done fuck all to win but I'll wave my hands around to get the crowd cheering maybe that will sway the judges - smile".  Sanchez looked very good mixing it up and clearly his cardio wasn't a problem but he wasn't tested much either.

*Etim, although being favoured, looked great with his standup. Very presise kicks.

Big improvement, Etim looked extremely good!

*Grove's ankle was looked sick and was just about to break if he didn't tap sooner.

Yeah shame he lost; interesting note: His only other career loss was to Rob Broughton who fought at a Grappling Competition I went to yesterday, Woo!

Nice for us to get all 10 fights broadcast. Best show this year in my opinion.

Definately, although the only thing that's come close to competiting with it for quality was Fight Night, '93 and '94 were less than stellar.

And now, onto UFC 96.

Jardine by vicious leg kicks!  You heard it here first.





....I tell a lie.  Rampage by passing the beard to expose the weak chin.  TKO Round 1!

[slash666]

Word is Frank Mir has injured his back & may require an operation so Lesnar/Mir 2 isn't happening, atleast not in May.

[Hammy]

Word is Frank Mir has injured his back & may require an operation so Lesnar/Mir 2 isn't happening, atleast not in May.

Dammit!

Well out of Carwin and Gonzaga whoever wins, assuming they don't take much damage, give them the shot at UFC 100, monster matches work, Mir gets more time to recover so he is definately good to go and faces Lesnar (probably) towards the end of the year.

[slash666]

Word is Frank Mir has injured his back & may require an operation so Lesnar/Mir 2 isn't happening, atleast not in May.

Dammit!

Well out of Carwin and Gonzaga whoever wins, assuming they don't take much damage, give them the shot at UFC 100, monster matches work, Mir gets more time to recover so he is definately good to go and faces Lesnar (probably) towards the end of the year.

Nobody has a clue what/if anything is wrong with Mir. Mir says he had his knee scoped afew weeks back & can't train for 1-2 month, yet Dana hasn't heard a thing about anything wrong with Mir and says it will go ahead & well Lesnar has refused to comment. Very confusing stuff, hopefully they'll address it at UFC 96 tonight.

[D]

Mir is playing mind games.

I am hearing the fight is still on


Had his knee scoped, outpatient surgery

he should be able to fight

[Hammy]

Word is UFC 100, Stephan Bonnar vs Mark Coleman.

That seems strangely intriguing and totally wrong all at the same time.  I mean considering Dana White released Shamrock despite knowing he could get a big money fight out of him on name value alone, keeping Coleman seems odd, in many ways its contradictory because the dude really should just retire, heck I could be wrong, maybe his last fight he had Octagon jitters and this fight he'll demolish Bonnar, but I kind of doubt it.

[D]

Word is UFC 100, Stephan Bonnar vs Mark Coleman.

That seems strangely intriguing and totally wrong all at the same time.  I mean considering Dana White released Shamrock despite knowing he could get a big money fight out of him on name value alone, keeping Coleman seems odd, in many ways its contradictory because the dude really should just retire, heck I could be wrong, maybe his last fight he had Octagon jitters and this fight he'll demolish Bonnar, but I kind of doubt it.

Why? HE kicked the shit out of Shogun before gassing. Shamrock got absolutely destroyed twice.

[Hammy]

Word is UFC 100, Stephan Bonnar vs Mark Coleman.

That seems strangely intriguing and totally wrong all at the same time.  I mean considering Dana White released Shamrock despite knowing he could get a big money fight out of him on name value alone, keeping Coleman seems odd, in many ways its contradictory because the dude really should just retire, heck I could be wrong, maybe his last fight he had Octagon jitters and this fight he'll demolish Bonnar, but I kind of doubt it.

Why? HE kicked the shit out of Shogun before gassing. Shamrock got absolutely destroyed twice.

He looked a complete mess, they both did, Shogun had him beat and gassed himself, Coleman looked like a heart attack waiting to happen in that fight and appeared to move in slow motion.

[slash666]

UFC 100 is looking pretty damn good at the minute:
Lesnar vs Mir
St. Pierre vs Leites
Henderson vs Bisping
Coleman vs Bonnar

Also word is Matt Hughes will be inducted into the UFC hall of fame, thats just a rumour at the minute though.

Word is UFC 100, Stephan Bonnar vs Mark Coleman.

That seems strangely intriguing and totally wrong all at the same time.  I mean considering Dana White released Shamrock despite knowing he could get a big money fight out of him on name value alone, keeping Coleman seems odd, in many ways its contradictory because the dude really should just retire, heck I could be wrong, maybe his last fight he had Octagon jitters and this fight he'll demolish Bonnar, but I kind of doubt it.

Why? HE kicked the shit out of Shogun before gassing. Shamrock got absolutely destroyed twice.

He looked a complete mess, they both did, Shogun had him beat and gassed himself, Coleman looked like a heart attack waiting to happen in that fight and appeared to move in slow motion.

Gotta agree that match was a shambles, God knows how it got Fight of the Night!

Oh UFC 98 main event is now Evans vs Machida, as Rampage has a hyperextended elbow and has to get surgery for his Jaw ligaments and won't be able to train for 5 weeks. Also he was only told that the fight against Evans was at UFC 98 at the post-fight interview and said he didn't want to fight so soon after that fight.

[Hammy]

St. Pierre vs Leites

If ever anyone had their mind on 2 title fights at once, I think this is a perfect example.... War MiddleWelterweights! 

But yeah, stellar card.

Also word is Matt Hughes will be inducted into the UFC hall of fame, thats just a rumour at the minute though.

He deserves it, GSP may well go on to be the best Welterweight of all time, but Matt Hughes' reign at the top is still the one to beat.

Gotta agree that match was a shambles, God knows how it got Fight of the Night!

Because lack of quality aside it was still entertaining in a car crash who's going to win/lose sense both these guys are so gassed and passed it.

Its the one fight you would NEVER show to someone you were introducing to the sport, they'd think it was a joke.