Mixed Martial Arts

[hellhound]

The Last Emperor has retired from MMA!
After a match against Pedro Rizzo in Russia.. Russia President Putin joined Fedor in the ring. Fedor said he was retiring to spend time with his family so that he doesnt miss anymore of his children growing up. He also said that he'll still be fighting in the Combat Sambo World Championships and doing some instruction.
After going nearly undefeated for almost 10 years in the Pride and Affliction organizations, Fedor did a 1 and 3 stint in Strikeforce before Zuffa cut his contract and his last 3 fights were w/ Dream and M-1 Global.. He finishes his MMA career with a record of 34 wins - 4 losses - and 1 No Contest.

Last nite's UFC on FX 4 - Maynard vs. Guida thoughts and maybe some spoilers but I'll try to keep some of the results vague and comment more on basics of the fights...

I REALLY liked ALL of the bouts that aired.
Cub Swanson vs Ross Pearson was a great show of speed and technique vs power and a good chin.
Ebersole vs Waldburger was (maybe) my favorite match to watch.. I cant remember seeing Waldburger before.. but he's one to watch... SUPER active off his back.. switching from rubber guard to butterfly guard.. almost getting triangle chokes and arm bars (but just not enuff exp to finish w/ them). He even got an Omaplata and I could see in his face alittle bit of surprise as if saying "Holy shit, I got the oma.." but then w/ the surprise... he didnt capitalize quick enuff and Ebersole was able to worm his way out.
Sweet Jits work from the bottom might not be all that exciting for many (wasnt for me at 1st when I was a newb to all the diff fight styles/orgs.. Shotto, Dream, Vale Tudo, ADCC, etc).
Sam Stout vs Spencer Fisher was the war that was expected.. these guys are so evenly matched that I bet they hate matching up against each other... its a coin toss on who is that micro-bit healthier or just catches their "groove", etc..
The main card...
Maynard vs Guida ... is alittle more difficult to call w/o spoilers... I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it..
Guida was his super cardio, hyper movement, bobbing and weaving, backing out to not get hit, self.. but at 1 point he got a warning for not engaging (but isnt not getting hit 1 point of a fight?). Octagon control and agression went to Maynard... he was always moving forward, throwing strikes (that many missed because of Guida's bumblebee movement).. He even did Diaz/Quarry showboating to point out that Guida was running around and (mostly) not engaging, just picking shots. It was an Ali vs Foreman type fight.

Good nite of free fights on FX.

[heyseuss]

Originally Posted by hellhound

The main card...
Maynard vs Guida ... is alittle more difficult to call w/o spoilers... I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it..
Guida was his super cardio, hyper movement, bobbing and weaving, backing out to not get hit, self..

No, that was his UNusual self. He's never moved quite that much before. I was perplexed. It was as if his footwork and head movement was being controlled by a kid with a videogame controller. He was horrible, technically horrible. Head movement doesn't mean that you tilt your axis of balance so far over the pivot points of your shoulders and hips. Yes, he normally does have a style similar to that, but it's as if he took his style and put it on cocaine and speed. He does move a bit like that, but he also does it while going gung ho straight at a guy. He's taken some big damage in his career, even with the fights he's won, maybe he adapted his style, or had an injury or something, whatever it is, that was the most unusual amount of movement ever. I mean he was ducking and angling when Maynard wasn't near striking distance.* I got tired watching Guida, by rnd 2 I was exhausted sitting on my couch.

but at 1 point he got a warning for not engaging (but isnt not getting hit 1 point of a fight?).

Yeah, but hard to win that way.

Octagon control and agression went to Maynard... he was always moving forward, throwing strikes (that many missed because of Guida's bumblebee movement)..

Maynard should have dealt with it. Gray Maynard ain't a bright dude, his career is where it is because of it. Even when he's winning fights, he looks confused. He is highly skilled, an in amazing shape, he should have won many of the fights he's lost over time, and he shoulda done better dealing with Guida.

He even did Diaz/Quarry showboating to point out that Guida was running around and (mostly) not engaging, just picking shots. It was an Ali vs Foreman type fight.

I thought Quarry/Starnes was the benchmark ? Did he ? I lost interest in the fight and went about preparing dinner. I saw Maynard spread his arms, 'WTF?' style but I didn't see him ridicule/showboating on Guida. I saw the ref 'warn' Guida, seemed a bit aggressive and unprofessional and I wanted to punch the ref. ( I want to punch all the refs except Herb Dean, and maybe only slap Mario Yamasaki ..... I also want to punch all the judges ). It really seemed like Maynard wasn't doing the right thing, he took the center of the ring, and then waited....not that I'm defending Guida. I'm gonna go Sherdogging and see what the news says about that.

Good nite of free fights on FX

Wasn't bad at all, it's been a while. Anticlimax main card, but any real fan will tell you, don't believe the hype - undercard/prelims are just as good as main cards. Speaking of non-fighter pp involved with UFC, dumbest fucking commentators ever.

*This is how you make 'em miss, and make 'em pay. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1Z7ROoc6eQ
BTW a great HL visually, but the original was edited to The Prodigy to sync perfectly. This was the only version I could find online, the one on my hard drive is better.

[heyseuss]

UFC 147 Prelims sucked. Some takedown defense by one dude, other than that, no show of technique by anybody. I didn't even know there was a Vitor VS Vanderlei TUF Brazil. D- fighters mostly, and I'm suspicious of alot of those physiques.

[hellhound]

I didnt see any of UFC 147... I did go to bloodyelbow, sherdog, and the site that you dont talk about.. I was mostly interested in Franklin/Silva,, sounds like I'd have liked to see rd 2.. but after that there wasnt much of a battle.. thats what I got from the play by play and the comments.
I did D/L a torrent of the 1st or 2nd TUF Brazil ep.. and it was only a set of individual fights w/ no translation... so I abandoned the effort to try to follow it.

on Maynard/Guida... in a post fight interview Dana White said that it was the worst fight so far in Zuffa UFC history... beating the Quarry/Starnes fight because it was a 5 round main event and you expect more from the main card... I can think of some bad fights.. but I kinda gotta agree w/ Dana that you expect more from a main event.

To paraphrase Dana... "Guida usually comes in and pushes the action w/ his cardio and comes to fight.. Even if he loses his warrior spirit is prepared to get carried off on his shield..
but not this time.. He didnt come for a war".. (carried off on shield is a direct quote but rest is paraphrase).

[heyseuss]

Fabiano Iha came to see my play last weekend. That was weird.

[slanier]

I'm surprise! though everyone can't appreciate in UFC battle, many of us love watching UFC fight,it is my favorite past time..extreme

[hellhound]

Last week's TUF shoulda gone to a 3rd round. There wasnt a 10-8 round in that fight IMO

[brenden99]

Surprise that he is giving more importance to his family, because we see lots of people giving more importance to their professions.