Looks like an interesting card.
Looking forward to Ortiz vs Bader, Silva’s fight, Wiman vs Siver and of course Cruz vs Faber.
Pulling for Tito on this one. Not sure why, cos I hate his style, but I think he’s due for a win.
Cruz by death. Too unorthodox, too quick. I don’t think Faber can figure him out.
Silva by TKO in 3rd.
[quote]rundymc wrote:
Pulling for Tito on this one. Not sure why, cos I hate his style, but I think he’s due for a win.
Cruz by death. Too unorthodox, too quick. I don’t think Faber can figure him out.
Silva by TKO in 3rd.[/quote]
I got Faber face fucking Cruz to become the new/rightful Bantamweight Champ.
I dont get how people seem to think Cruz is fast…he’s not. He is awkward I’ll give him that, which makes him appear fast. His boxing is not as great as the commentators have made it out to be. In my opinion Faber is faster and punches are more crisp and precise. we will find out tonight though, and I hope Im not wrong
Worst predictions ever, fuck my life.
I was surprised Faber hung in there like that. You’re right cutthout, Cruz isn’t technically sound as a boxer, but personally I think his unorthodox style is very well thought out, along the same lines as Machida. He puts his upper body at weird angles coming in, and controls distance well. Some of the stuff he pulled off tonight were setup perfectly.
If there’s one thing about his style that gets to me, it’s that he never pushes forward and ALWAYS throwing from far out. Lyoto actually covers the distance and engages. Cruz seems to stay just out of range, and was constantly missing, though yes, Faber’s defensive skill played a part.
Anyway I gave Cruz 49-46, though I could see it go 48-47. The judge that gave Cruz all rounds was smoking some shit.
Tito pulled through for me. That was awesome. First ‘real’ submission he’s scored in ages. First win in 5 years. He’ll probably recrack his skull from all the partying he’ll be doing tonight.
Wanderlei is where Chuck was a few fights ago. His chin is pretty shot compared to his prime, and he probably can’t hang at MW anymore. It’s sad, but true. I think he’ll probably take 1-2 more fights before retiring. I DON’T think he’ll take the same route Chuck did and keep fighting.
Dos Anjos gave a shout out to Singapore! LOL. The dude trains at the Evolve fight team down here. Too bad he beat my boy Sotiropolous.
Condit is a killer. Who sees another split in the Jackson camp if he ever makes it to a title shot?
Great card overall! Aside from the 4 fights shown on Facebook it was a near perfect event.
I’m not a Guillard fan due to his past attitude and antics and even though he’s apparently matured, I refuse to cheer for him. That being said, it’s hard to deny his place as one of if not the most exciting lightweights. I still think we need to see him against someone who’s going to put the pressure on him and I don’t see him getting by Frankie, Gray, or Jim Miller.
Props to Dos Anjos, hard to believer people were calling for G Sot to get a title shot a little less than a year ago. Safe to say he’ll never get close to the gold now
Condit = Beast Mode, and he rightfully deserves a shot at the WW title. I doubt this will cause a split in the Jackson camp as Greg has stated he simply won’t corner either fighter if two of his guys are matched up. GSP already spends 95% of his time at Tri Star anyways so Condit will just have to find a new place to train for this fight, and then all goes back to normal. This is how grown men handle things like this, not like the pre-teen drama we saw with Rashad and Jones.
I don’t think I’ve ever been happier for a fighter then I was for Tito after seeing him get that win. While I’m not sure he’ll be able to get a good streak going, it’s just nice to see one of the classics pull out a win against a young guy.
Siver and Wiman was scored correctly, Siver won rounds 1 and 3. Wiman acted like a chump post fight, not really sure why people are into the guy as he’s been overachieving lately and rightfully will be back at the bottom of the heap now.
Wanderlei and leben are both big favorites of mine and while it sucks to see Wanderlei go out like that, I knew it was coming. He needs to hang it up. Hopefully leben doesn’t let his personal problems get in the way now and he can put together a little run.
Cruz ans Faber was excellent. I had Cruz winning rounds 1, 3, and 5. A lot of people are saying Faber should have won due to the knockdowns he scored, but he didn’t capitalize on them at all so they’re basically the equivalent of a takedown where the other fighter pops right back up. A good performance by both and I’d have no issue if the rubber match was booked as there really is no one else worthy of a shot right now.
I felt bad for Wanderlei. 27th second KO, man… it was so hard to watch him go down like that. And he was still fighting the referee out cold 
I would like him to have one last fight though, like a retirement fight, but I fear the result might be the same…
Condit and the awesome flying knee… no comment.
Well done to Guillard. Awesome pounding finish.
Well done to Tito. Damn, that guillotine choke was neat. Dana will have to hold off cutting him off UFC, haha!
Cruz vs Faber was an interesting fight. Pretty close. I’m glad Cruz didn’t let Faber pussy whip him this time. The win could have gone to either guy…meh, I’d say that was a draw.
Guillard need some serious opposition. Stud.
Cruz completely deserved that win. He looked heroic in this fight.
His standup cannot be measured by comparing it to pure boxing.
Setting, timing and combining your attacks and strikes like that IS fantastic technique.
Seriously, what should he improve?
Tito should still retire. It won’t get better from here on.
Wanderlei, too, should go. How long should a career last?
Old Wanderlei would have never flinched from that shot and the clinch would have been secure and tight.
He cannot change his bad habits that his athletic ability would cover a few years back.
So please retire, Wand.
I’m relieved for Siever. I scored it a draw.
I hate those ellbows on the ground, they open your face and look gruesome with relatively little effort, but true ground and pound is more risky.
I found it a douchy move from Wiman to act like that after the fight.
Ellbows have to go, or knees to grounded opponents should get back in.
I screamed like a mother fucker when Tito won, i love underdog stories, it was epic him doing the “coffin stuff” and Chuck and Randy on the audience, he is truly the last Mohican of the old generation in the UFC.
Wandy Wandy, 14 years and you still don’t have any strategy and go straight forward to a guy with a hell of a punch with your looping hooks =(
He can still fight if he gets lettuce hands fighters like Bisping, Chael, etc.
Agreed, Wandy should retire.
Nice to see Tito get a win. Hopefully he’s finally got his body back to a healthy state and perhaps he’s even been working on his mental toughness. I honestly think that (at least on paper) he can still hang in that division and depending on who is holding the belt at the time, perhaps even possibly regain it (not gonna happen against Jones though IMO). So, I think he might still have some good fights in him and should hold off on retiring for the moment.
Wiman was a bit unsportsmanlike at the end of his fight with Siever, but I actually had the fight going to him, so I can’t really blame him for being upset.
Nice KO by Dos Anjos. Not sure what’s up with Sot; dude looked really solid for a while there, but the past couple fights have shown that he may not be top tier material after all.
Also nice to finally see Guillard starting to live up to his potential. I’d still like to see how he does against some of the better wrestlers in the division (even someone like Guida) who like to really push the pace and grind things out. Melvin’s MO has always been that he’s very good if he’s winning, but once the going gets tough, his will to continue is gone. Hopefully his change of camp has helped him with this.
Cruz must be one of the hardest fighters in MMA today to emulate in training. Also, gotta love those running knee taps of his, dude makes those look effortless. Props to Faber for hanging in there and making it a close fight though. Would love to see a rubber match between these two (though I think that Cruz would still win that).
[quote]kaisermetal wrote:
He can still fight if he gets lettuce hands fighters like Bisping, Chael, etc.
[/quote]
Bisping likely beats him in a rematch considering the first fight was close. Chael has his way with Wanderlei, seriously it wouldn’t even be competitive. Just a straight beating over 3 rounds or less if Chael pounds him out on the ground.
The only people Wanderlei can feasibly beat at MW are journeyman brawlers like Sakara and Rivera and even then there’s the chance they connect first and Wand goes out. I’m an Axe Murderer fan to the death, but he has to hang it up now. He’s of better use training fighters and being an ambassador in developing areas.
If they have to give him one more, put him on the rumored Japan card against some Japanese can for old time’s sake…
Wand will definitely be put on hold till japan card.
If he loses to Vitor in August, Akiyama vs Wand in Japan? Even though Akiyama likely deserves to be cut if he loses another fight, he needs to stick around for the Japan card at least. The loser of that fight should either be cut/retired…
Sad to see Bader choked out like that. 2 losses in a row, if he loses 3 straight, will UFC drop him?
[quote]fnf wrote:
Sad to see Bader choked out like that. 2 losses in a row, if he loses 3 straight, will UFC drop him?[/quote]
They should move him to Strikeforce until the eventual talent merge, the SF lhw division needs more talent and it’s not like Bader is a draw for the UFC
Wandi losing makes me sad.
[quote]JaseHxC wrote:
If he loses to Vitor in August, Akiyama vs Wand in Japan? Even though Akiyama likely deserves to be cut if he loses another fight, he needs to stick around for the Japan card at least. The loser of that fight should either be cut/retired…[/quote]
Akiyama will get the W over Belfort, he must use his judo and ground control and not focus only on that big right.
[quote]JaseHxC wrote:
[quote]fnf wrote:
Sad to see Bader choked out like that. 2 losses in a row, if he loses 3 straight, will UFC drop him?[/quote]
They should move him to Strikeforce until the eventual talent merge, the SF lhw division needs more talent and it’s not like Bader is a draw for the UFC[/quote]
I don’t think they will drop him, Bader lost to very SOLID opponents, there is no shame in that, plus he’s touted as a prospect on the LHW division.
[quote]kaisermetal wrote:
[quote]JaseHxC wrote:
If he loses to Vitor in August, Akiyama vs Wand in Japan? Even though Akiyama likely deserves to be cut if he loses another fight, he needs to stick around for the Japan card at least. The loser of that fight should either be cut/retired…[/quote]
Akiyama will get the W over Belfort, he must use his judo and ground control and not focus only on that big right.[/quote]
Man, I don’t know about that. Akiyama is a very tough fighter, but I don’t know how well he’s going to be able to deal with Belfort’s hands. If he can consistently close the distance, get to a superior clinch position and take Belfort down (all without taking substantial damage in the process), then maybe, maybe he can control Vitor on the ground.
Akiyama couldn’t even control Leben on the ground though, so I see him having a hard time with Belfort. Not to mention that Vitor is a black belt in BJJ under the late Carlson Gracie, as well as holding a black belt in Judo, so might actually have the advantage on the ground.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]kaisermetal wrote:
[quote]JaseHxC wrote:
If he loses to Vitor in August, Akiyama vs Wand in Japan? Even though Akiyama likely deserves to be cut if he loses another fight, he needs to stick around for the Japan card at least. The loser of that fight should either be cut/retired…[/quote]
Akiyama will get the W over Belfort, he must use his judo and ground control and not focus only on that big right.[/quote]
Man, I don’t know about that. Akiyama is a very tough fighter, but I don’t know how well he’s going to be able to deal with Belfort’s hands. If he can consistently close the distance, get to a superior clinch position and take Belfort down (all without taking substantial damage in the process), then maybe, maybe he can control Vitor on the ground.
Akiyama couldn’t even control Leben on the ground though, so I see him having a hard time with Belfort. Not to mention that Vitor is a black belt in BJJ under the late Carlson Gracie, as well as holding a black belt in Judo, so might actually have the advantage on the ground.[/quote]
I do not see Akiyama even trying to do that. Lately all Akiyama seems to want to do is throw big right hands. I know it often works for Henderson, but Hendo also has a decent left hook. Akiyama does not even try to throw a jab to set up his right. He definitely does not use his clinch and grappling skills as tactically as has been suggested above.
I predict/fear this fight will go the way Carwin vs Dos Santos did, but even more lop sided. Akiyama couldn’t get it done against Bisbing’s stand up, or Leben’s ground skills. Belfort has better skills than either. Akiyama’s hope is that Vitor rushes in and keeps accidently forcing the clinch. Actually, that could happen, since Vitor is not exactly a tactical genius himself. Still, I see Akiyama getting beat, badly.
mmm… that’s really possible, but if he comes with a strategy of taking the fight to the ground it will be pretty interesting, since when was the last time we saw belfort bjj in action?
Plus there are some rumors down here from Brazil that Carlson jumped him from blue belt to black.