MMA News and Discussion Thread

[KCC]

I'm saying Brock by a quick TKO. He's caught both Frank Mir and Heath Herring in the first round and nearly knocked them out so I have a feeling he'll do the same to Randy who will most likely be knocked out due to his age. I'm not saying he can't take a punch, I'm saying he may have a hard time taking a Brock Lesnar-sized punch.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

If Brock wins, its going to be by knock out. There's no way the fight goes to decision and Brock wins, if it gets to the judges Couture will almost definately have done enough to win.

I'm thinking more like Herring/Lesnar where Brock will control the fight all the way through, but be completely unable to finish Randy, and Randy will catch his opportunity at just the right moment for the TKO.

[Quom]

If Brock wins, its going to be by knock out. There's no way the fight goes to decision and Brock wins, if it gets to the judges Couture will almost definately have done enough to win.

I'm thinking more like Herring/Lesnar where Brock will control the fight all the way through, but be completely unable to finish Randy, and Randy will catch his opportunity at just the right moment for the TKO.

That's the way I see it. I can't see Randy managing to keep it on the feet for 5 rounds and I can't see him dominating on the ground, so I'm thinking if he wins it will be either Mir style whilst being Herring-ed or he will have to submit him clean or knock him out. Either of which will be possible if it goes to the fourth or fifth.

I can see Lesnar gassing; carting around that sort of muscle takes a toll and you know Randy is going to push the pace. I think if it goes to the judges it will be Lesnar's unless Randy somehow manages to evade him whilst he's still fresh which I don't see happening.

This is one of the most intriguing fights I remember. Add to the fact that we haven't seen Randy in ages and it adds to the questions. Super hyped.

[tristy]

Couture via TKO in the 2nd round is my prediction.

[MyKILLv2.0]

I think Lesnar will catch Randy off guard, and land a TKO in Round 1, or early in Round 2. Like MPH, I think if there is a later round TKO, it will be Couture after gasping Lesnar, however unlike a lot of people... I am just not ready to concede that Lesnar can't win this fight. In fact, I'm going in the other direction and picking him as the victory.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

WWE.com in an article on Lesnar winning the title on the front page: "Critics have noted that many of the fights on the UFC PPV ended in the first round leaving UFC producers scrambling to fill the three-hour event with content. The dearth off hearty competition left many viewers to watch less prestigious undercard fights and only served to bolster claims that UFC pay per view events can often be a `crap shoot' in regards to filling the full three hours."' Just wow. They also credited Lesnar taking advantage of the encouragement of the WWE Universe and all the hard lessons he learned in WWE for his win. They also called his win an upset, even though Lesnar was a 7-5 favorite.

I'm speechless.

[IDOL]

I read that on WWE.com yesterday. A little biased, yes?

[ZJ Penn]

Haha, that's great. It's actually a fair point that UFC events are unpredictable and can sometimes be made worse by how the fights finish but they picked the worst time to make it. Everyone whose seen it has called it a great nights card from top to bottom and if you're getting 8 great fights rather than 4 or 5 then even better.

Edited November 17, 2008 by Zombie 'The Natural' Jesus

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

And I'm not sure if this is still the case since they stopped the split-brand PPVs, but WWE went a few years where the vast majority of shows would finish in the 2:30-2:45 range.

[Ananas]

It's not a valid point by them at all though, since the fight of the night bonus went to a prelim fight on an already strong card. And the submission of the night came in a fight that would have otherwise been a prelim had it not been for a midweek injury to Amir Sadollah. Now the article I believe has already been pulled by WWE.com, but it was so full of bullshit. They complimented Lesnar so as to spite UFC, talking about how he went from newcomer to champion in "roughly six months". Actually, it was 9 months from his first UFC fight and 17 months from his MMA debut. But hey, didn't Brock win the WWE title after 4 months on the WWE roster? Guess there must have been a real dirth of talent on the roster. I think they did the right thing pulling that article. No need to draw attention to the fact that the most talented newcomer your industry has produced this decade completely rejected your industry and became a star elsewhere.

[Thrilla]

lol, Fedor lost in a Sambo tournament against a nobody. And for those interested, Fedor will be doing a interview with Meltzer and Alveraz today and he wants to speak about Brock Lesnar.

[ZJ Penn]

It's not a valid point by them at all though, since the fight of the night bonus went to a prelim fight on an already strong card. And the submission of the night came in a fight that would have otherwise been a prelim had it not been for a midweek injury to Amir Sadollah.

Which is exactly why I said it was the worst time to make the point. It is a valid point that MMA cards in the past have been hurt by the fight finishes, such as a lot of the Pride shows, the car wreck that was UFC 33 and more recently UFC 89 if you want examples. Obviously it works both ways in that a lot of the time we get great shows like on Saturday.

What do you think Fedor is going to say about Lesnar? I imagine it'll be all the same stuff we got with Couture/Fedor.

[Thrilla]

I imagine Fedor is just trying to keep his name in the mix, he'll say that while Brock is big, he can beat him, yadda yadda yadda. Fedor missed his opportunity to make an impact in the UFC, the heavyweight division is becoming more and more stacked and there is no need for Dana to splash the cash to bring him in, I think he realises this and is trying to stir up interest. Unfortunately no one outside of Sherdog gives a shit about him and probably never will.

[Thrilla]

Lesnar's inclusion into MMA has taken MMA into a pre-World War 2 wrestling mindset. Not only is Lesnar the monster heel of Mixed Martial Arts but Affliction read a prepared statement at the start of the Meltzer/Fedor interview claiming that Lesnar cannot call himself the undisputed Heavyweight Champion until he beats Fedor and until someone defeats Fedor they (Affliction) are recognising Fedor as the true undisputed Heavyweight Champion. They then called for a cross-promotional match between the two men to decide who can legitimately be called the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion.

Edited November 19, 2008 by The Man Called NBT

[Gabriel]

I'd love to see them work out something to have a card with UFC fights and Affliction fights on the same show... and a main event of Lesnar/Mir/Nog Vs Fedor being the only interpromotional fight. Of course, it'll never happen, and even if it were ever considered, Dana White and the UFC would have to be 100% positive that their guy would beat Emelianenko, because the risk is definitely not worth the reward. The only good to come out of it for them would be if they win and they can finally claim that they are, without any doubt, the best in the world.

[ZJ Penn]

Yeah it'll never happen though, mainly because Affliction can't really offer anything other than Fedor. The majority of their stars are UFC veterans anyway like Belfort and Sylvia so that's not really appetising for the UFC. Arguably the only other guy of real worth there is Arlovski and depending on the magazines you read or websites you visit he'll be back in the UFC by the end of next year anyway, perhaps even as early as after the Fedor fight.

[Ananas]

There is zero reward to UFC for agreeing to promote such a fight. If Brock wins, then he basically wins the support of smark MMA fans, people who already buy UFC PPV's anyway. By even promoting the show, they acknowledge the legitimacy of Affliction, Fedor and the WAMMA belt. And if Fedor wins? A huge embarrassment for the company and Fedor becomes a marketable star for Affliction to promote shows with. From UFC's perspective, the only way they want Fedor to become a star is if they get him.

[Thrilla]

Exactly. And given that Affliction isn't long for this world from most reports, Dana might as well just wait this one out and see what opportunties arise.

[Fitzy]

Dana White said, during a UFC 94 press conference in Toranto, that he would be willing to use Gina Carano in WEC to "test the water for women's MMA."

"Gina Carano is a star, and I think she's talented," White said. "I think she has all the tools, so what I'm willing to do is bring Gina into the WEC. We could do fights whenever there's a challenge for Gina. That's how I'll test the waters and see how it goes."

As long as i tbrings on Carano vs. Cyborg I am all for it. Putting them in WEC is a smart move. With them dropping Middleweight and Light Heavyweight that brings down the amount of fighters they already had. Bringing in the women will help add new faces to the cards and more matchups to see. I hope it ends up happening.

[Thrilla]

That is a pretty smart move from Dana. WEC is really lacking a big draw at the moment (Faber is doing alright but nothing spectacular) and Gina could really help pull in big numbers for the shows. Will they pull the trigger on Carano/Cyborg straight away or dare to put them up against a few other fighters to build up to it on their own shows? Both ways have their inherent risks.