I am curious how Sherk who could not finish Kenny Florian
or Hermes Franca is going to finish Bj Penn.
Lyoto Machida will inherit the Earth. I’m kind of disappointed that other people are on the Lyoto bandwagon now, it was fun being a superfan of someone nobody knew or everyone hated.
The UFC website has a new video of Wand talking about Jardine and breaking down the fight. I think it’s currently the 4th video (click on the 4th little box, with his face on it, under the main video on the front page). www.ufc.com
[quote]Donut62 wrote:
Lyoto Machida will inherit the Earth. I’m kind of disappointed that other people are on the Lyoto bandwagon now, it was fun being a superfan of someone nobody knew or everyone hated.[/quote]
I agree Machida is super talented and very canny , and smart.
Tito has not been relevant in a few years. The only If here
is how good is Machida’s wrestling.
kmc
Tito is the worst match-up for Lyoto, in that we haven’t seen him against someone like that. But I think Tito is going to have a lot of trouble getting his style of takedown on a backwards moving counter striker like Lyoto, just as he did with Chuck. I’ve watched every Machida fight, and he’s never been hit clean once, and he never lets anyone set up any sort of shot.
Great Post
Machida is the master of evasiveness and he has not faced someone like ortiz- a semi decent wrestler that likes to push the pace.
I think Machida takes this, Ortiz hope is to fight his style of fight,
which might not ever happen. Machida will keep it on the outside. and use careful strikes, to take it.
kmc
Sherk v Penn: Sherk wins UD in a fight very much in the vein of Hughes V Penn II, only Sherk is unable to inflict the same amount of damage as Hughes did, due to Penn being stronger at 155. Penn will be dangerous early, & I could see Penn catching Sherk early causing cut, which makes for a disappointing fight as Sherk grinds out the decision to protect further damage. Much respect to Sherk though, best conditioned hardest working fighter on the planet, so deserves to win by any method.
Wand v Jardine: - Toss a coin. Jardine confidence sky high, thinks he can keep taking down legends. Wand confidence rock bottom (or he may have just brushed off the ring rust). I say they go toe to toe, Wand gets wild in desperate search of much needed victory, gets clipped. (hey he has more power than appears, just ask Forrest and Chuck). Jardine by TKO or KO in 2nd.
Ortiz v Machida: Tito goes out on top in UFC swansong. Love him, hate him, he did heaps for the sport and deserves respect. Was denied legend status by spending his prime as the 3rd best 205 on the planet, below 2 true legends. Contrary to most I think Machida’s style suits Tito perfectly. Tito is stronger, better wrestler, Machido is quick but is a counter puncher. Machido has to clip Tito coming in to win, can’t see it happening, it rarely does. With the UFC 10-9 system, Tito grinds out a UD, 29-28 (he gets caught with a few flurries in the 2nd, plays it safe and lays & prays the 3rd). My two cents.
Delightful Press Conference highlights;
http://blogs.chron.com/fighting/2008/05/bj_penn_and_dana_white_hold_no.html
ok…here my take for the 3 big fights…
Considering i finished in the top 100 on the ufc site fantasy pool…just short for the free gifts…
-Penn vs Sherk;I take Sherk but i dont know why…should be hell of a fight, im expecting a great match,i go with a split decision.
-Silva-Jardine;Silva by ko,longshot first round
-Ortiz-Machida;Unanimous decision for the HUNTINGTON BOY,im talking with my hear, i know he is not the favoryte but TITO is the guy that brought my interest back into MMA,i was a big fan first few ufc but then lost some interest. Tito i think was one of the best showman in the ufc…
Cant wait to see those 3 fights anyway!!
Good post Rasslore, got a vid for it??
Anyone watch the Countdown show last night? I thought it was really well done.
Gotta love Dana (not). Guy talks shit about Tito all over the place, then comes on the show last night and says he has no “ill will” (how creative, btw) towards Tito.
Also found it funny how they, at least to me, pushed Machida-Oritz as the co-main event on the show, above Jardine-Silva. They supposedly want nothing to do with Tito, yet it won’t stop them from giving him more air time to try and hype the PPV.
I really hope Tito wins this fight, just to stick it to Dana White. Guy needs to understand he’s not a star (no matter how hard he tries to convince himself) and that he needs to start treating his upper-level fighters better, or else his roster is going to take a serious hit. The HW division is already in shambles…
Does anyone think there’s any chance (however remote) that when the dust settles, Tito will remain in the UFC? Guy isn’t the best fighter in the world, but he’s still one of the biggest draws, and that should count for something.
The show last night was really well done. The Ortiz Dana White thing is being blown up for ratings. White is no idiot and continually finds ways to make himself part of the big picture. Watching the show last night, I have a new found respect for Jardine as a man. He comes off as very respectful and humble. He also used the word “scary” or some variation thereof a few times in describing Silva. Silva is gonna decapitate Jardine, and I’d be surprised if it goes past the first few minutes of round one.
i will be shocked if BJ doesnt beat the shit out of sherk
Is it just me or is this a totally different production style for their Countdown shows? They usually have Joe Rogan and Dana White alternately blabbering about how amazing each fighter is and why each of the fights is such an interesting one, etc., etc. This time Rogan and White were both absent, replaced by a calm and serious-sounding narrator’s voice.
Interesting.
[quote]Damici wrote:
Is it just me or is this a totally different production style for their Countdown shows? They usually have Joe Rogan and Dana White alternately blabbering about how amazing each fighter is and why each of the fights is such an interesting one, etc., etc. This time Rogan and White were both absent, replaced by a calm and serious-sounding narrator’s voice.
Interesting.[/quote]
I believe it’s a new production crew that’s been putting together the last few Countdown shows. They made the wise decision of eliminating Rogan and White from pretty much the entire show, and instead focused on the fighters. They also took out most of the training footage, which was getting highly repetitive.
Still not at the level of HBO’s 24/7, but it’s a definite improvement from what the shows used to be.
[quote]kmcnyc wrote:
I am curious how Sherk who could not finish Kenny Florian
or Hermes Franca is going to finish Bj Penn.
[/quote]
Quite honestly, I think that both Florian and Franca have better conditioning than Penn. I think that Penn will be very dangerous during the first two, maybe halfway into the third, rounds. But after that, he’s gonna run out of gas due to Sherk’s relentless style and strength. That’s when I think that Sherk has a chance to finish him (via TKO).
Well, yeah, he certainly has to train harder than he did at welterweight, but even in his recent lightweight fights his conditioning has looked less than stellar (though it’s not really like he needed it to be against Stevenson).
Like I said, Penn’s talent will give him the advantage early on (which is when I think he’s got a chance of winning it), but the longer the fight goes, the more the advantage shifts in Sherk’s favor.
Well, he’s certainly no GSP or Kid Yamamoto, but he is as you said very strong, explosive, and has incredible conditioning. No, he’s not the best technician, but he out-works practically everyone who he fights, which many times makes up for it. Not sure that I agree with you about him lacking KO power though, if he connects with a solid blow I bet he’d drop most guys. Penn does have a great chin though, so whether he could KO Penn is certainly in question.
Which in this fight is pretty much gonna be his strategy as well. Very, very few guys in MMA can get the better of BJ in a striking match. Not only that, but Penn will have a huge reach advantage.
What Sherk would need to do would be to try to smother Penn’s reach advantage and get on the inside where he has the advantage of strength and leverage. So, I agree with you in theory. I also agree that early on, he’s going to have a hell of a time both taking Penn down and keeping him there. But, as the fight goes into the later rounds, it’ll become easier and easier.
Honestly, that is one outcome that I just don’t see happening. If the fight goes the distance, I see Sherk getting his arm raised at the end. If it ends early, I see Penn winning it.
Agreed.
This looks to be a awesome card…can’t wait. Also…don’t know if its been mentioned,but two interesting prospects are making their debut on this card:
Goran Reljic(Gracie Berra UK,Gracie European 205lb champ…trained with Wanderlei for Jardine)…fighting Wilson Gouveia on main card.
Shane Carwin(a “potential” HW beast for those who don’t know about him…physically matches Brock Lesnar…but with more fight experience)…not on main card though.
Both guys will be good additions to the UFC.
Goran Reljic is going to be something pretty big I think. Gouviea is a damn tough octagon debut.
[quote]Donut62 wrote:
Goran Reljic is going to be something pretty big I think. Gouviea is a damn tough octagon debut.[/quote]
I agree…Gouveia is no “warm-up” fight…and Reljic is a “huge” LW also…6’4"…heard he cuts weight from 230-240 range. Damn he was training with Cro Cop,Fabricio Werdum,and Roger Gracie at 19 yrs old…he has to be tough SOB.