UF?C 113...did anybody see it

[Jstas]

See it meaning didja watch the Koscheck v.Daley fight? Daley, for all his efforts at taking the cheapest shot he could and solidifying his reputation as a punk with a big mouth and even bigger chip on his shoulder, he was booted out of the UFC.

That's fine, I was tired of watching the "one hit wonder" win fights over a lucky left hook and have his ego grow exponentially because of it.


As much as I was disappointed in the Mittrione v. Kimbo fight, I thought Kimbo showed more ring presence than he did against Houston. He needs to step up his conditioning and stop leaving himself open to submissions. That and Mittrione might think he's spectacular now but I really can't wait until he comes up against someone with some talent like, as much as I hate to say it, Frank Mir. Either that or a gunner with big weapons like Lesnar or Carwin. Dude needs to get taken to school and shown what embarrassment is.

I was disappointed in Sam Stout. He had that fight won and he let it slip through his hands. He should have made jelly out of Jeremy's knee and got the TKO at least. Instead, it danced around and did a whole bunch of nothing.

It was an entertaining event overall. There waqsn't a real snoozer in the bunch. It was one of the better UFC's I've seen in a while.

[Sami]

I only went because of the main event, Shogun - Machida 2. I do agree with most of what you say, except maybe the Stout fight. Granted I missed the latter part of it due to us being at Baby Dolls, and the more interesting boxing match being on other channel, but he was also done at 1st round. If anything, Stephenson let him back into the fight.

Although I like Machida very much, I was very glad to see Shogun take what was his. This time he didn't leave it to clowns like Peoples to decide. Well done and I think he made a big statement of being the best LHW of all times, and current p4p king as well. Others might find it debatable but IMO Shogun is the best fighter currently in UFC, dare I say, maybe even better than Fedor.

[mantis]

I watched it last night and the Machida-Shogun fight sucked. Machida looked tired or drugged or something. He looked slow and didn't look like he wanted to be their. Shogun is a great fighter and worthy to hold the belt but I wish Machida would have at least gave him a fight.

[Sami]

I think he did look like himself, just that his style is opposite to Shogun's aggression. He was waiting for a mistake and instead got clocked couple times himself. I believe the problem is he has not met someone of Shogun's caliber before and even before this fight he was not feeling confident of himself. He knew he lost their first fight and maybe his training camp did not find a good strategy in time for this fight?

It sucked that it ended so soon, I agree, but I believe that had more to do with Shogun's determination of not playing it safe and letting it go to the card this time. He had the confidence from their first fight to push the fight and get inside. I was amazed how easily Machida lost his ground position, I think he needs to work on his strength and ground game next.

[Jstas]

Dana dropped Kimbo too.

Sucks for Kimbo. But he' sitting on a pile of cash. Made about 2.2 million from his fights in Elite XC plus a big pile from merchandising for Elite XC and UFC as well as appearance fees for TUF and his fights in the UFC. I'm sure he's not hurting but it will be interesting to see who picks him up.

Strikeforce would be most likely but someone at work already said that DREAM is interested in him. Most of the talent that signed with Elite XC ended up at DREAM so it would honestly make sense if Kimbo went that way. But Strrikeforce will probably throw the money at him. Strikeforce will make him some serious bank but DREAM is where he could learn what he needs to learn to become a better fighter. Then again, at 36 and with a bum knee, I'm not sure how much more he has in him.

[concealer404]

Slightly unrelated, has Dana announced what James Irvin's fate was going to be? There was talk of him getting dropped after losing to Sakara, but i'd be pretty disappointed if that was the case. He came off of 20 months of not fighting, in a weight class that was new to him (although i don't see how he thought he could have possibly fought at middleweight, this is a dude that used to fight heavyweight with no fat on him), and got rocked. I know Dana is a big fan of his, so i'm hoping that plays in his favor.

[Sami]

Why would anyone pick up Kimbo now? Everyone has already seen what he truly is. Do we really need another Bob Sapp?

[Jstas]

Bob Sapp is still fighting. He's in Japan fighting for DREAM. But Strikeforce and DREAM could both use the positive press that a known name like Kimbo brings. Whether he's good or not.

The other thing about Kimbo is he's a "household name" so to speak. You talk to people who aren't UFC fans or who don't even know what MMA is and you mention Kimbo Slice and they have at least heard of the YouTube sensation. He brings visibility to an audience that you would otherwise not reach. Dana already exploited him for TUF and they had something like a 30% increase in viewership/ratings over any other season of TUF. When the numbers come in, I'll bet that UFC 113 will be in the top 10 of PPV events for the UFC and a good part of that will likely be attributable to Kimbo. Wether you love him or hate him, he makes you want to watch.

[Sami]

Kimbo needs to be setup as a show fighter. Dig up some old names from the sport and put him against them. If the fight goes beyond first round, Kimbo gasses and it becomes a snooze fest. When the ref stopped the fight, we agreed he did it to save the audience from brutal death by boredom.

Would Tank Abbott still take a fight for money? :)

[Jstas]

Tank Abbott lost to Kimbo in 43 seconds in February of 2008.

He's always had a weakness to being submitted but since about 1998, a large portion of his losses have been to KO or TKO by punches. None of his fights have gone past round 1 either. His fighting style is to go out swinging and hope he connects. But he's sportin' a glass jaw anymore. He's got 10 wins and 14 losses, he's about 45 now and his physical conditioning could not keep up with the talent that is out there now. I doubt we'll see him in the ring again any time soon if ever.


But Kimbo was a show fighter for Elite XC. He was supposed to fight Ken Shamrock and Ken got a "cut on his eye" a couple hours before the fight and backed out. Elite was going to have Frank Shamrock fight him but Kimbo's handlers said no way Jose! So Seth Petruzelli took the fight. Seth destroyed him like 10 seconds in to the first round. Controversy came out of it because Seth let slip in an interview that Elite offered him a "bonus" if he stood and threw with Kimbo instead of taking him to the ground. Well, Seth landed a good shot, Kimbo buckled and the ref called it. I don't recall Kimbo landing one shot on Seth.

Well, the Florida board investigated the fight. Went to court and everything. They found no wrong-doing because the fight wasn't necessarily fixed. In the end it likely is what did in Elite and parent company Pro Elite. They were in crazy debt and nobody would throw money their way because their "top flight" fighter got jacked by a "kid" who couldn't hack it in the UFC. Add to that the investigation costs as well as the red letter on the Elite shirt because of it and they folded at the end of 2008.

Kimbo is an attraction but you can't base an entire sanctioning body's championship race around him. He doesn't hold up. Then again, fighting thugs with big mouths and even bigger egos in backyards doesn't hold up to someone actually trained in a martial art or two. Kimbo displays a propensity to pick up skills quickly but he gasses too quickly and when that happens, he forgets what he knows and goes back to swinging. He has no conditioning and he's honestly too big to last the 3 rounds. His body needs too much air to keep those muscles going at that rate for that long. If he dropped 20-25 pounds and dropped down to Light-heavyweight, he'd probably be a better fighter.

[Sami]

I agree that Kimbo isn't a natural HW, and that's his problem. Then again, it's his built that got him there in the first place. Any way you look at it, he's nothing more than backyard brawler and the current state of MMA is well beyond them now. Him against some other one dimensional brawlers might be a good undercard fight to bring in some audience but he's a sideshow at best.

If this was one of the biggest UFC shows, it was because Shogun - Machida 2. The first fight build up this to be a can't miss fight. Too bad for LHW division now is that I don't see anyone in this weight class they could bring for Shogun. Maybe a rematch with Forrest just so he can avenge the loss?

[concealer404]

I agree that Kimbo isn't a natural HW, and that's his problem. Then again, it's his built that got him there in the first place. Any way you look at it, he's nothing more than backyard brawler and the current state of MMA is well beyond them now. Him against some other one dimensional brawlers might be a good undercard fight to bring in some audience but he's a sideshow at best.

If this was one of the biggest UFC shows, it was because Shogun - Machida 2. The first fight build up this to be a can't miss fight. Too bad for LHW division now is that I don't see anyone in this weight class they could bring for Shogun. Maybe a rematch with Forrest just so he can avenge the loss?

I'd love to see a Forrest/Shogun rematch.

With the exception of his fight against Silva, Griffin seems to be able to make any fight a good fight, win or lose, and personally i never count him out. (Though i did call Jardin mauling him weeks before that fight. :p)

[Sami]

Forrest was getting beat up pretty badly on their first fight, until Shogun gassed out. I don't think it will last very long now that Shogun is back healthy again. Granted, I have to give him kudos for surviving Shogun's assault for as long as he did, I bet that's what Shogun was not expecting and took the fight.

[Jstas]

Forrest is pretty beat up last I heard. He's canceled for the May 29th fight he was supposed to be in against Little Nog and has been for a week or so now. He has a shoulder injury. It was announced that he was canceled last week but like the 3rd week of April they were saying he was doubtful. I don't know what the injury is but I've heard rumors of surgery being needed. I don't think I want to see another Forrest/Shogun fight. I'm a big fan of Forrest but he was just out-classed by Rua...that is until Rua gassed. But Rua was coming off of injury and hadn't fought in a long time. I'd rather see Dana punish douchebag Silva for his antics, make him go back to 205 and see how good he is against Rua. Who cares about GSP.


I think Kimbo was a bigger draw than you think. He was scheduled to fight Mittrione who is just as bad as Kimbo. The big deal there was that Mittrione was the one that the coaches wanted to fight Kimbo in TUF but it didn't happen because Evans had the choice and pull Roy "Fat A...Big Country" Nelson instead. It started the argument where Rampage ripped the door down. Mittrione was also the one, the only one, who got under Marcus' and Kimbo's skin on TUF. So this was a grudge match that alot of fans wanted to see as well. I agree, Machida v. Rua was a big draw. That was the reason I wanted to watch it but once I found out Kimbo was fighting, that sealed the deal.

[Sami]

You might be right, I might be underestimating his draw. I don't watch TUF so I'm not familiar with the reality TV drama they have caused. :)

I have to admit I am not MMA junkie, I only want to watch the good fights. Machida - Rua I was the fight of the year candidate for me, and it didn't disappoint, only the end result. The more reason to wait for a rematch. If it wasn't for this fight, I would have skipped this event.

[Jstas]

You know, I totally forgot to mention, UFC 114, Rampage vs Evans! That's one I have been waiting to see since TUF last season!

As much as Jackson can be a douche, I hope he stomps a mudhole in Evans big enough to drive his truck through!

Also, winner of that fight gets 1st dibs on a title shot at Rua.

[Sami]

Good fight hopefully. I don't think either will have much more than a punchers chance against Rua but either would make an interesting fight nonetheless.

I think the biggest fight in the horizon is still Silva vs Belfort. If Vitor loses to Anderson like the rest have, then we can close the book on MW for a while. On the other hand if Silva wants to play games with Vitor he could very well take a nap. I believe Belfort is finally in his natural weight class.

[Jstas]

I dunno. Jackson faced Rua before and lost. But Jackson is a better fighter now than he was then. He's also bigger. He can out power Rua but he's not a big jiujitsu guy. He has the power to knock Rua's head off but Rua's so fast he might not get a chance. Evans is a world class wrestler and while Rua is very good off his back and has a ground game to cause any fighter concern, Rua has never faced a wrestler like Evans. Evans can counter Rua's ground game. He's beaten some good jiujitsu guys and he can stand and bang with the best of them. He's pretty well matched to Rua.

[Sami]

Jackson needs to learn to check the low kicks, otherwise he's gonna be in similar position he was in their first fight. I believe the MT kicks in their first fight broke his ribs, it was brutal. With low kicks he's going to be immobile quickly. He has a chance but Rua has to be a big favorite here based on everything we've seen in the past and recently.

Evans got toyed by Machida and Rua matched Machida's standup on two fights. Unless it goes to the ground, Evans has no chance other than a lucky bunch. If it goes to the ground, Rua has been there with guys stronger than Evans (Randleman), and I don't think skill is going to be issue. I believe his aggression will make short work of Evans, and with his improved head movement will decrease the chances of a lucky shot.

We will see, anything can happen in MMA but barring injury I see a long run for Rua in LHW. If it wasn't for Rua, Machida would have had a long run unless Jackson would have been determined to make it a ground game.