Let's Talk UFC 77

[Tallguyy76]

You’d think people would have learned by now that fights aren’t won on paper. People keep saing that fighter A is going to beat fighter B because of X. You could have given me a thousand reasons why Arlovski should have wrecked Sylvia because on paper he’s faster, more athletic, more technical ect ect but when they actually fought Timmy took 2 out of 3.

At this level all it takes is one mistake or lack of gameplan and anybody can beat anybody. I’m no fan but if the hungry aggresive Tim who knocked out a prime Ricco shows up he is going to prove to Vera that he needs to move down to 205.

I’m just not sold on Vera yet. He’s obviously very talanted but what’s he about? How does he handle adversity? Can he handle Sylvia trying to plod and jab his way to victory. Arlovski and Monson couldn’t Randy could but Randy is one of the best ever at executing a gameplan.

It will be interesting to see how Rich shows up for this fight. You could see by the look on his face that Silva had him beaten before the last fight was even over. Rich just looked in over his head. He is a smart guy though and I give him all the credit in the world for giving it another shot. He seems to recover from defeats very well.

He went on a tear after Machida beat him that eventually led him to the championship. I’m pretty sure that he’s been working on that thai clinch. He will never be on the level of Silva but I bet he will be better in the clinch then he was in the first fight.

As was stated earlier Silva has been inconsistent throughout his career. Brilliant at times but getting caught in flyiny f’in heel hooks by B listers like Ryo Chonnan at others. Even Lutter had him mounted at one point in their fight.

The same people that keep saying that Vera and Silva are going to wreck Sylvia and Franklin are the same people who were saying that Shogun was going to wreck Forest, Chuck was going to work Jardine. Gonzaga was going to maul Couture, The list goes on and on. That’s the funny thing aout MMA. In boxing if someone is a better boxer then you unless you can out work them your fucked.

Same with wrestling, jui jitsu, kickboxing ect. There are so many dimensions in MMA though that all it takes is a slight advantage in one area to pull out a victory.

[StevenF]

I have faith in Franklin, I think even if he doesn’t win he will at least put up a much better fight than last time.

[Sentoguy]

[quote]Tallguyy76 wrote:
You’d think people would have learned by now that fights aren’t won on paper. People keep saing that fighter A is going to beat fighter B because of X. You could have given me a thousand reasons why Arlovski should have wrecked Sylvia because on paper he’s faster, more athletic, more technical ect ect but when they actually fought Timmy took 2 out of 3.
[/quote]

Well, you’re right of course. But Arlovski did wreck Sylvia in their first fight, had him rocked in the second and just got over zealous (one thing I will say about Timmay is that he always has a puncher’s chance). The third fight it just looked like Arlovski was fighting to not lose, rather than fighting to win. Poor game plan, not lack of superior skills/talent.

At this level all it takes is one mistake or lack of gameplan and anybody can beat anybody. I’m no fan but if the hungry aggresive Tim who knocked out a prime Ricco shows up he is going to prove to Vera that he needs to move down to 205.

Once again completely agreed. Having and executing a good gameplan is crucial in MMA. No one seems to be better at this right now than Randy. But, we don’t really know what game plan Sylvia or Vera is going to bring into this fight, we can speculate, but we don’t know for sure. And even then, who is able to execute their game plan more effectively will most likely come out with their hand raised.

I’m just not sold on Vera yet. He’s obviously very talanted but what’s he about? How does he handle adversity? Can he handle Sylvia trying to plod and jab his way to victory. Arlovski and Monson couldn’t Randy could but Randy is one of the best ever at executing a gameplan.

I’ve only seen a couple of Vera’s fights, and he did look solid. But to be fair, he wasn’t exactly facing world class competition either. Honestly though, I think that they want Sylvia to get knocked down even further along the rankings, because they know that he’s not a very entertaining fighter to watch and they know they can make much more money on other match ups.

It will be interesting to see how Rich shows up for this fight. You could see by the look on his face that Silva had him beaten before the last fight was even over. Rich just looked in over his head. He is a smart guy though and I give him all the credit in the world for giving it another shot. He seems to recover from defeats very well.

He went on a tear after Machida beat him that eventually led him to the championship. I’m pretty sure that he’s been working on that thai clinch. He will never be on the level of Silva but I bet he will be better in the clinch then he was in the first fight.

As was stated earlier Silva has been inconsistent throughout his career. Brilliant at times but getting caught in flyiny f’in heel hooks by B listers like Ryo Chonnan at others. Even Lutter had him mounted at one point in their fight.

Silva is and has been for the most part dynamite on his feet. He is one of the most accurate and devastating strikers at 185 in the world. But, he’s also shown some weaknesses in his armor. Like you stated even an out of shape Lutter was able to take him down pretty much at will. It was obvious from that fight that Silva has (or at least had) some pretty piss poor takedown defense.

Now whether Franklin can capitalize on that comes down to once again gameplan and execution. But it’s certainly possible.

The same people that keep saying that Vera and Silva are going to wreck Sylvia and Franklin are the same people who were saying that Shogun was going to wreck Forest, Chuck was going to work Jardine. Gonzaga was going to maul Couture, The list goes on and on. That’s the funny thing aout MMA. In boxing if someone is a better boxer then you unless you can out work them your fucked.

Same with wrestling, jui jitsu, kickboxing ect. There are so many dimensions in MMA though that all it takes is a slight advantage in one area to pull out a victory.

This has been a crazy year in MMA. Probably more upsets than any other year in MMA history. At this point I’d say that it’s anyone’s guess who will come out on top of any fight. But, what we can say is what advantages/disadvantages certain fighters have over others, what those fighters must do in order to win their fights, and which fighters (judging by fight history) is more likely to execute their game plan more effectively.

If you’ve predicted all of the fights (upsets) that have occurred this year, then my suggestion would be to start betting and retire early. Otherwise, cut the rest of us some slack and admit that you’ve been surprised by a lot of the fight outcomes that have occurred this year as well.

Good training,

Sentoguy