Yeah , thanks much!
What’d you think of fitch vs. alves? I had no hope for Alves the entire time! Fitch is just too relenthless on the ground.
damn, i never thought chael would push him that hard…stellar performance despite the losss
True that. It was almost depressing watching Silva being repeatedly hammer fisted. Hendo didn’t even give him such a hard time.
Damn that was crazy. Was Anderson saying his rib was hurt in the first?
Damn it! Sonnen was so close to ending silva. Frigin silva and his pompous attitude. Not to say I like Sonnen, but he sure as hell won my vote. That’s the damn olympic spirit he showed tonight.
Too bad he got so gassed out at the end, he either wasn’t thinking straight and not arching his back or he just got cocky.
[quote]dles91 wrote:
Damn it! Sonnen was so close to ending silva. Frigin silva and his pompous attitude. Not to say I like Sonnen, but he sure as hell won my vote. That’s the damn olympic spirit he showed tonight.
Too bad he got so gassed out at the end, he either wasn’t thinking straight and not arching his back or he just got cocky.[/quote]
if you do what silva has done and continues to do in the octogon, it aint cocky, it’s just a realistic view of his abilities
Silva is crazy good. This fight proved he is a great great fighter. Reminded me off old school Royce Gracie
[quote]slimjim wrote:
[quote]dles91 wrote:
Damn it! Sonnen was so close to ending silva. Frigin silva and his pompous attitude. Not to say I like Sonnen, but he sure as hell won my vote. That’s the damn olympic spirit he showed tonight.
Too bad he got so gassed out at the end, he either wasn’t thinking straight and not arching his back or he just got cocky.[/quote]
if you do what silva has done and continues to do in the octogon, it aint cocky, it’s just a realistic view of his abilities[/quote]
Word.
Chael backed up 99% of his shit-talk. Considering Silva has only lost 2 entire rounds during his UFC stint , it’s even more impressive. Too bad he got caught. So glad to see Silva tested an put back into his place…
[quote]Zeppelin795 wrote:
So glad to see Silva tested an put back into his place…[/quote]
As a proven champ? Or am I missing something?
He looked off, no timing, distance was way off. What a weird fight.
Pretty good night of fights:
Nelson needs to go to LHW. He may not presently have the tools to threaten in the division, namely his sloppy striking, but if anything his doubles/singles will gain speed and his ground game will remain dangerous. That fight showed that while he has one hell of a chin, his lack of athleticsm, cardio and striking will get him nowhere at HW.
Hughes proves that while his striking still sucks (heh), he is still one dangerous top control fighter.
Guida has to improve his striking if he really wants to get to the top of LW, a division where every other guy is a wrestler with an above average to excellent ground game.
The first two rounds of the Alves/Fitch fight were actually pretty interesting to me, guess Fitch is less of a sleeping aid when fighting a guy who can match him off his back. Still, Alves seems to have lost a lot of size, and much of speed and dynamism which gave Koscheck and Hughes hell. Not sure how I feel about a Fitch rematch with GSP, which will probably happen whether or not Kos pulls off a win.
Chael, WTF. It was almost surreal when he took Silva down at will and grinded the fuck out of him. He has got to be the best ‘one dimensional’ fighter in MMA right now. Still he isn’t a finisher, and when you choose to grind out someone with a ground game as dangerous as Silva’s, you get subbed. My heart sank, when that armbar landed. If he doesn’t call it quits, I think we’ll see another title fight from him very soon.
My take on it is that he panicked and tried two escapes in one, tucking the trapped arm in, but going for the leg over counter instead of posturing like a mofo, pretty much pulling himself into an armbar. The guy’s tapping brain circuit must be disconnected from his conscious mind, lol.
Silva showed that while his striking is sharp, quick and powerful, his defense isn’t all that. He fought, for once, a wrestler/grappler who was not afraid to move forward and eat a shot or two to close the distance and catch him off balance with a double.
Also, what the fuck was up with that broken rib nonsense. Everyone just saw one of the most beautiful underdog performances in a long time, and one hell of a come from behind sub, and he drops that? Damn, give Sonnen the credit he deserves.
He wasn’t making the rib injury up you can hear him tell his corner it was hurting in the first. Props to Chael but even more to Silva. Rib injuries are no joke just ask BJ Penn.
ok ok ok, while im all for giving sonnen his due, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and ignore the fact that silva gutted out a ridiculous come back and alls anyone wants to do is talk about how sonnen fucked up. sure he did, but you arent exactly going to posture out of that triangle given silvas length…and how about silva’s conditioning? wear sonnen for 4 and a half rounds and tell me you can put a triangle up after that. if anything, this fight and his struggles in it only served to further cement silva as one of the greatest ever.
[quote]rundymc wrote:
Silva showed that while his striking is sharp, quick and powerful, his defense isn’t all that. [/quote]
So this is the fight that finally exposes that?? Really? Maybe his defense was affected by an injury?..as he didn’t even seem like himself in Round 1. Also…did Silva show that he has a solid chin…OR does Sonnen just have marshmallow hands?? He took everything Sonnen had.
[quote]
Also, what the fuck was up with that broken rib nonsense. Everyone just saw one of the most beautiful underdog performances in a long time, and one hell of a come from behind sub, and he drops that? Damn, give Sonnen the credit he deserves. [/quote]
So letting it be known that he had an injured rib takes credit from Sonnen?? How? Silva showed his “fake” respect to Chael. How much more credit does Chael deserve? Regardless of his great,underdog performance…he lost…by SUBMISSION.
I agree that Sonnen backed up a lot of his talk. He took it to Silva and made him look very mortal. Obviously he ended up losing to a pretty textbook triangle/armbar combination. Silva has the goods, but he’s been proven vulnerable. I think after this fight, Chael Sonnen’s stock goes up for being able to do exactly what he said he was going to do. Even in loss, he proved he was a pretty close #2 in the division.
If GSP is anywhere near the wrestler that Sonnen is, this makes a superfight between him and Silva a lot more interesting.
While a lot of people wrote him off, I think Matt Hughes proved tonight that he’s still capable of roughing up some of the division’s young and hungry. Even if he retires, he made a lot of people seem a little foolish tonight.
@slim: Yeah, you’re right, Silva deserves rep for gutting it out and pulling out that triangle. It was a long ass post and that shit slipped my mind, lol. I was actually waiting the whole fight for the triangle, and kind of lost hope half-way through the 4th.
When I get caught in a triangle like that (not fully synched) and attempt that escape (arm tucked) one of two things happen:
A) The opponent, pulls the head down. This tends to give me a lot of difficulty breathing (as I’m sure Sonnen felt), but no blood-choke.
B) The opponent opens the submission and attempts a transition to the omoplata/inverted armbar, in which you scramble out, or counter the submission.
Anderson did the right things. Once Sonnen tucked his arm in he focused on pulling the head down, knowing he’d risk losing the sub if he attempted to adjust his legs. From there, Sonnen kind of gave him the armbar, but the alternative was to sit and wait for Silva to loosen up before posturing, which at that point of the fight would be a giant pain in the ass. I wouldn’t say he ‘fucked up’, more driven into a corner.
@Boss: Yes I’d say this fight ‘exposes’ it, even if the broken rib thing is completely verified. When he was on the offensive, he looked as fluid and quick as he ever does. When pushed back with the takedowns mixed in, he seemed unprepared for the pressure, and started to give up TD opportunities.
As for the takedowns, again, could be the rib, but my opinion is at least some of it was Sonnen’s pressure. Looking at his past fights, the two guys with no success on the TD were also unsuccessful offensively and defensively with their striking. Hendo was somewhat a threat, and surprised Silva with a bodylock trip. Chael had the most success on the feet out of all four defensively (correct me if I’m wrong) and mounted offensive pressure.
Marshmallow hands? He knocked the guy down twice, surprising as it was. Plus, yes, Silva has an iron chin (check out the Riveira and Murray fights).
On the topic of announcing an injury taking credit from an opponent, I think it does. If I had just rolled with someone competitively, regardless of the outcome, I wouldn’t want him to tell me he was hurt. It serves no purpose other than an excuse for a below par performance or as a way to rub a win in someone’s face. I can understand why someone would compete with an injury, but not why they would not keep it to themselves. My 2c.
[quote]XiaoNio wrote:
If GSP is anywhere near the wrestler that Sonnen is, this makes a superfight between him and Silva a lot more interesting.[/quote]
Was just thinking about this. They’re application of the TD are different. I’ll have to watch Sonnen a few more times to confirm this, but what he seemed to do is exchange strikes while driving into range. GSP doesn’t get into those exchanges. He trades with you in or just out of the pocket and catches you off-balance (throwing a leg kick/jab/straight).
Part of it is that GSP has the speed to close that gap in time, Sonnen likely does not. Silva will make it harder to attempt that gameplan, long reach/movement and all, but I think it’s possible given that he had the speed to shoot from the outside against Hardy. Alternatively, he could adapt Sonnen’s aggressive game-plan.
[quote]rundymc wrote:
@Boss: Yes I’d say this fight ‘exposes’ it, even if the broken rib thing is completely verified. When he was on the offensive, he looked as fluid and quick as he ever does. When pushed back with the takedowns mixed in, he seemed unprepared for the pressure, and started to give up TD opportunities.
[/quote]
Well…I wouldn’t say it exposes it…because like I mentioned,he didn’t seem as fluid and quick as he usually is too me. 1) He was flat-footed a lot…which never happens. 2) He moved backwards a lot…which never happens. At the beginning of each round…Silva would show his usual lateral movement and defense…with success…BUT then he seemed to flatten out with desperation…as if he was hurt and/or gassed. Which of course made it easier for Chael to capitalize with takedowns.
I agree the pressure by Chael was successful for his takedowns…I will give him that. He did back his talk up in that department. But his stand-up and strike defense was nothing to swoon over…a healthy Anderson KO’s/TKO’s Chael. We saw glimpses of that…mainly when he rocked Sonnen with reverse elbow.
Sonnen knocked down Silva…once. The second “knock down” was a slip…which Rogan verified from a replay. Regardless of that, Sonnen also hit him flush on the chin other numerous times…even with his G-n-P. And Sonnen has never been known as a heavy-handed fighter…as he’s never really finished anyone in recent years. So yes…Chael has 'mallow hands AND Silva has an iron chin. Also…you claimed that Sonnen fight finally showed Silva’s weak striking defense…so how did Riveria and Murray test his chin??
The only area we might agree on with this is the fact that Silva doesn’t cover up and leaves his chin up a lot. He has gotten away with it because of his superior footwork and head movement(which is a better defense than just covering up,imo)…which was absent for whatever reason against Sonnen.
[quote]
On the topic of announcing an injury taking credit from an opponent, I think it does. If I had just rolled with someone competitively, regardless of the outcome, I wouldn’t want him to tell me he was hurt. It serves no purpose other than an excuse for a below par performance or as a way to rub a win in someone’s face. I can understand why someone would compete with an injury, but not why they would not keep it to themselves. My 2c.[/quote]
What difference does it make…if said injured competitor defeats his opponent anyways?? IF it upsets anyone…it’s only because the loser can’t accept he couldn’t better his injured counterpart even when they’ve given all they have. That’s just the way it is…I’m sure Anderson accepts the fact that he still took a beating.
[quote]Big_Boss wrote:
Regardless of his great,underdog performance…he lost…by SUBMISSION.
[/quote]
I agree, Silva gets much credit for hanging in there and making a great comeback. Just like Lesnar did with Carwin. Tell me were you that quick to point it out in Lesnar’s favor? Hmm, let me think back.