MMA Thread

[zenryan]

I love Lesnar. I cant stand that d-bag Mir. Mir talked a lot of crap about Lesnar since the day the first fight was signed. Mir was a broken man after last night and he knows he has nothing for Lesnar. Most MMA fans cant get over the fact that the best UFC heavyweight is a former WWE wrestler. I wish Lesnar would have talked even more s*** about Mir.

 

Hendo is awesome. That post fight interview saying he knew Bisping was out but still wanted one more shot was great. Hopefully this will shut Bisping's mouth for good. I want to see a Silva/Henderson rematch now. Henderson is the only guy who is a threat to Silva at 185.

 

I dont see how Belcher got robbed. I had Aki winning 29-28 but it could have also gone 29-28. Too close to call it a robbery but that one judge who had it 30-27 was smoking crack.

 

GSP was dominant but is becoming boring IMO. Ever since Serra KOed it seems GSP fights very cautious. He seems to be getting the mentality to fight not to lose. Likes to get top position and just play safe. Also sounded like GSP is ducking Anderson when Rogan asked him about that and GSP replied with saying he wanted to stay at 170 because its so deep. HAHA, deep? Who is at 170? I hope it was a joke when Goldie was saying that the Kampmann/Swick winner is next in line.

 

Fitch looked alright but it was a borefest. Maybe it had to do with no one caring since it came after the main event.

 

Coleman baby! $$$$

 

 

[MHizzle85]

I love Lesnar. I cant stand that d-bag Mir. Mir talked a lot of crap about Lesnar since the day the first fight was signed. Mir was a broken man after last night and he knows he has nothing for Lesnar. Most MMA fans cant get over the fact that the best UFC heavyweight is a former WWE wrestler. I wish Lesnar would have talked even more s*** about Mir.

 

Hendo is awesome. That post fight interview saying he knew Bisping was out but still wanted one more shot was great. Hopefully this will shut Bisping's mouth for good. I want to see a Silva/Henderson rematch now. Henderson is the only guy who is a threat to Silva at 185.

 

I dont see how Belcher got robbed. I had Aki winning 29-28 but it could have also gone 29-28. Too close to call it a robbery but that one judge who had it 30-27 was smoking crack.

 

GSP was dominant but is becoming boring IMO. Ever since Serra KOed it seems GSP fights very cautious. He seems to be getting the mentality to fight not to lose. Likes to get top position and just play safe. Also sounded like GSP is ducking Anderson when Rogan asked him about that and GSP replied with saying he wanted to stay at 170 because its so deep. HAHA, deep? Who is at 170? I hope it was a joke when Goldie was saying that the Kampmann/Swick winner is next in line.

 

Fitch looked alright but it was a borefest. Maybe it had to do with no one caring since it came after the main event.

 

Coleman baby! $$$$

I'd agree with you on GSP if all he did was lay on the guy like Sean Sherk used to do. GSP has a gameplan that works and until someone figures out how to beat him...he has no reason to stop using it.

 

Forgot about the Coleman/Bonnar fight...so does Bonnar get walking papers soon or is he kept around because of the fight with Griffin.

[SoxFan562004]

I love Lesnar. I cant stand that d-bag Mir. Mir talked a lot of crap about Lesnar since the day the first fight was signed. Mir was a broken man after last night and he knows he has nothing for Lesnar. Most MMA fans cant get over the fact that the best UFC heavyweight is a former WWE wrestler. I wish Lesnar would have talked even more s*** about Mir.

 

Hendo is awesome. That post fight interview saying he knew Bisping was out but still wanted one more shot was great. Hopefully this will shut Bisping's mouth for good. I want to see a Silva/Henderson rematch now. Henderson is the only guy who is a threat to Silva at 185.

 

I dont see how Belcher got robbed. I had Aki winning 29-28 but it could have also gone 29-28. Too close to call it a robbery but that one judge who had it 30-27 was smoking crack.

 

GSP was dominant but is becoming boring IMO. Ever since Serra KOed it seems GSP fights very cautious. He seems to be getting the mentality to fight not to lose. Likes to get top position and just play safe. Also sounded like GSP is ducking Anderson when Rogan asked him about that and GSP replied with saying he wanted to stay at 170 because its so deep. HAHA, deep? Who is at 170? I hope it was a joke when Goldie was saying that the Kampmann/Swick winner is next in line.

 

Fitch looked alright but it was a borefest. Maybe it had to do with no one caring since it came after the main event.

 

Coleman baby! $$$$

agree with that, could have gone either way, but Akiyama got the nod, there have been far worse decisions in MMA than that.

[SoxFanForever]

GSP pulled a groin muscle in the third round. I don't blame the guy at all for doing the takedown and pound technique. He wasn't as mobile after the injury and did the right thing.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Love Brock Lesnar. Carwin and Fedor are the only guys I can think of who could possibly beat Lesnar right now, and that's scary since he still has so much to learn. The talk after the fight was pretty funny too. He's going to be a great bad guy.

 

Don't think GSP is boring or becoming boring. His last few fights have all been basically carbon copies of each other, so I can see how one would think that though. You really have to be a pretty hardcore fan to understand why GSP is so awesome. If you had no idea who Thiago Alves, Jon Fitch, and BJ Penn are but you saw GSP's last three fights against those guys you'd probably think they all suck and have no skill, and GSP is just some guy who lays on people. GSP is just amazing the way he nullifies EVERY aspect of EVERY fighter's game. GSP doesn't get in trouble standing. He can strike with you, but if you land something pretty good, takedown time. Doesn't matter how offensive your guard is, GSP doesn't get in danger there either. Can't out-wrestle GSP. There's really no way to beat him IMO unless you can stop his takedowns and FORCE him to stand with you - but even then, if such a fighter existed at 170 who could stop GSP from taking him down, then that guy would STILL have to be Thiago-like to have a chance. Way back when I thought Kos might have been the guy to really test GSP, but GSP just took him down at will too. The guy is incredible.

 

Huge props to Hendo. That KO made my heart rate jump to scary levels, like the feeling you get when something really bad is going to happen. Was rooting for Hendo but I seriously thought Bisping was potentially paralyzed or something. That KO was that f***ing sick. Bisping looked like a dead body in every way. Picked Bisping via very close decision and still think he's underrated (by the hardcores who say he sucks and is way overrated) and I still think he has the tools to beat Hendo and guys like him by out-pointing them in decisions, but good lord did his gameplan suck. Even stupid Rogan and Goldie were commenting on it (mad at those guys, will get to them later). Why the f*** do you circle INTO Dan Henderson's power? How... how does this even happen? I still don't understand how anyone can go into a fight with one of the best pure all-around fighters in MMA history with a gameplan that screams "no research, never even seen this guy fight before." That's ridiculous. Certainly not a reflection on Wolfslair and all those guys, I mean s***, Rampage is buddies with Hendo and trains there, and fought Hendo for 5 rounds. Clearly Bisping abandoned everything he was trained to do and instead fought like how Bear Grylls teaches survival on his show: stupidly, recklessly, instinctually, and in such a fashion as to dramatically heighten the chance of failure and/or death in the real world. But anyway, sweet KO and much love to Hendo!

 

Agree with zenryan, had Akiyama 29-28, and f*** Rogan and Goldie. I HATE when they do that s***. No you guys, that wasn't a robbery, wasn't even close to a robbery, and you have both witnessed so many robberies that you should at least have a clue when a fight is CLOSE. f*** those guys, seriously. All the talk on the UG I see has been Brock being bad for the sport because of his comments, or Hendo being bad for the sport because of the last shot on Bisping, but what is really bad for the sport is to have your announcers stupidly rile up the fans for no f***ing reason and to make your own fighters and good judging look bad in the process.

 

Damn those guys get on my nerves sometimes. Especially Goldie since he adds nothing to the broadcast. He seems like a nice guy and all, and he loves the sport, and he has some great signature calls, but even for a guy who is supposed to serve only as a PBP man and leave all analysis to the color man, he still comes off like a complete idiot far too regularly. He could fix this, but like his comments about Brock, "I don't think he cares." He's not supposed to take sides on close fights and then rip the judges. He's not supposed to tell the fans what they're watching because much of the time he doesn't even know what HE is watching. And he's not supposed to misuse terms like "irony" every single f***ing broadcast. For example, "You know it's ironic Joe that Fighter A is fighting Fighter B, and both guys have had losses to Fighter C, who is headling next month's card in __________ ." No Goldie, there is nothing ironic about common opponents. This s*** happens all the f***ing time, damn.

 

Rogan is a lot better but he needs to reign it in sometimes. He's not supposed to get all upset over close decisions either. If its like 10-9 or better, one-sided, all the way through, and there's no doubt about it, then maybe you say something. If it's like the Matt Brown-Pete Sell fight where Rogan went nuts, that's fine too. But he's done this s*** before, and far too many times. And the worst part is that Goldie always agrees with everything Rogan says, so if Rogan's too stoned to watch the fight and then he decides later that the guy who is losing is actually winning by a considerable margin, you know Goldie is going to go right along with it. Damn, put KenFlo or Randy back in that role and bring in a PBP guy, at least for the biggest events. Let Goldie and Rogan just do TUF Finales and UFN's or something. The regular WEC PBP man, forget his name, but he's a lot better. Bring him over, and let Randy and Kenny alternate depending on who is in a training camp. Both guys are a ton better. And actually, throw Frank Trigg in there too, now that he's in the UFC. Every UFC PPV should be WEC PBP man + Randy/Florian/Trigg or something like that. That would be a lot better.

 

Also, just watched the Coleman fight. Man, just awesome for him to have enough to beat Bonnar. And quality wins for Bones and Stun Gun too. Love Johnny Bones, that dude might be the best prospect in all of MMA IMO. He's definitely the best prospect I've seen. Saw his fight... 84" reach is I believe what he's listed as. Imagine a guy who is as tall as Forrest who can stay out of Forrest's range and still connect, and who is also athletic as f*** with a great greco base, naturally elusive, I mean just on and on. Could watch that dude fight every day. Too bad he never went on a TUF and built himself up more of a following because he's going to be huge.

[MHizzle85]

and still think he's underrated (by the hardcores who say he sucks and is way overrated)

 

Bisping is what we thought he was (to steal from Denny Green). He's a gatekeeper. His impressive wins have been over tomato cans. He'll be decent at 185, but I doubt he'll beat anyone thats in the top 10.

[Brian]

Does this belong here?

 

sportsbybrooks.com

 

Yahoo MMA Blogger Steve Cofield reports today that a MMA Fighter named Kit Cope is claiming he made a sex tape with Gina Carano and that it’s in a “very safe place.”

 

 

Carano broke up with Cope two years ago, so like you, I’m flabbergasted he didn’t destroy the private porno the minute she walked out the door. Right, uh-huh.

 

(Prequel already in the can?)

 

With Carano now a major MMA celebrity, the long-discarded Cope is now attempting to exact revenge on her by touting the tape to anyone who will listen.

 

Cope:

 

“There is media that’s in a very safe place. She’s so worried about that too,” Cope then mentioned that Carano really wasn’t all that special intimately. “I just need to add, I’ve smashed a lot finer than that.”

 

Whatta guy.

Of course, until I SEE THE TAPE IN ITS ENTIRETY, I cannot verify its existence. (Hear that, tough guy?)

 

If it does indeed exist, it’s a pretty good bet that Cope will sell the tape or extort money out of Carano to prevent its public dissemination. My guess he’s probably waiting for Carano to break bigger before he attempts to cash in.

 

God knows the mouth-breathing UFC public, and otherwise, would go beserk for a Carano sex tape, and it would probably do more for her now-sputtering career than any future fight could.

 

Just ask Pam Anderson, Kardashian, Paris and Chynna.

 

OK, don’t ask Chynna.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

What's funny is that Kit Cope is a horrifically bad mixed martial artist. Kenny Florian made him look f***ing stupid. He had some show on Spike that I saw once where they were jumping on chairs trying to hurt themselves for some reason, basically a Jackass rip-off. There's his 15 minutes, some dumbass show on cable and getting embarrassed by Kenny Florian. Now he wants another 15 because hot girls are stupidly attracted to muscley dickwads. Good for him.

 

Personally I don't care much for Gina Carano. Yes she's very hot, but you can see women just as hot or hotter pretty much anywhere. A couple girls at the bank I go to are hotter. It's only because she's a fighter that she gets so much attention, and actually, I kind of wish she and those like her would just go away so I don't have to get force-fed women's MMA, which to me is just as bad as women's basketball or women's book club or really anything that could at some point end up on the Ellen Degeneres show.

[SoxFanForever]

What's funny is that Kit Cope is a horrifically bad mixed martial artist. Kenny Florian made him look f***ing stupid. He had some show on Spike that I saw once where they were jumping on chairs trying to hurt themselves for some reason, basically a Jackass rip-off. There's his 15 minutes, some dumbass show on cable and getting embarrassed by Kenny Florian. Now he wants another 15 because hot girls are stupidly attracted to muscley dickwads. Good for him.

 

Personally I don't care much for Gina Carano. Yes she's very hot, but you can see women just as hot or hotter pretty much anywhere. A couple girls at the bank I go to are hotter. It's only because she's a fighter that she gets so much attention, and actually, I kind of wish she and those like her would just go away so I don't have to get force-fed women's MMA, which to me is just as bad as women's basketball or women's book club or really anything that could at some point end up on the Ellen Degeneres show.

What's especially funny is how their careers diverged after that fight. Kenny became a top lightweight and Cope had 2 more fights, one of which he got wrecked by Rod McCullough.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Bisping is what we thought he was (to steal from Denny Green). He's a gatekeeper. His impressive wins have been over tomato cans. He'll be decent at 185, but I doubt he'll beat anyone thats in the top 10.

I would disagree about Bisping beating cans. I wouldn't call Leben, Red Schafer, Matt Hamill, etc. cans. Hendo is by far the toughest competition he's ever fought, and Hendo is the first top-level MW he's ever fought, but I don't think he lost that fight as much because he can't hang with higher-ranked fighters, I think he lost that fight because he approached it the same way he'd approach fighting Elvis Sinosic again or something. I think his ceiling is basically a poor man's Rich Franklin, which is a style Hendo is vulnerable to, and he'll reach that ceiling as long as he stops coming into fights with ridiculously bad gameplans. He seemed waaay overconfident pre-fight, and then rushed, uncoordinated, and totally mentally lost during the fight.

 

And BTW I know Hendo is awesome, and I'm not trying to say he isn't, or that he isn't a better fighter than Bisping. Hendo is a much better fighter and Bisping will never have the type of career Hendo has had. I also feel that Hendo has a much better style for MMA. And I like Hendo too and was happy to see him KTFO Bisping. I just think people are underrating Bisping, and I think eventually Bisping - as long as he becomes humble enough to listen to his trainers - will beat more names that people have heard of and prove himself as one of those 2nd-tier guys.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

What's especially funny is how their careers diverged after that fight. Kenny became a top lightweight and Cope had 2 more fights, one of which he got wrecked by Rod McCullough.

Yeah, I remember watching that fight thinking Cope was going to kill Kenny and then Kenny just steamrolled him. I had no idea Kit Cope would suck that bad, and he's never actually recovered. Every once in a while before big fights I go to Sherdog to catch the Pro's Picks thing they do, and I'm always amused to see Kit Cope on there breaking down fights. Couldn't they have asked the f***ing janitor? I mean honestly, whose MMA opinion would you trust less than Kit Cope's?

[MHizzle85]

I would disagree about Bisping beating cans. I wouldn't call Leben, Red Schafer, Matt Hamill, etc. cans. Hendo is by far the toughest competition he's ever fought, and Hendo is the first top-level MW he's ever fought, but I don't think he lost that fight as much because he can't hang with higher-ranked fighters, I think he lost that fight because he approached it the same way he'd approach fighting Elvis Sinosic again or something. I think his ceiling is basically a poor man's Rich Franklin, which is a style Hendo is vulnerable to, and he'll reach that ceiling as long as he stops coming into fights with ridiculously bad gameplans. He seemed waaay overconfident pre-fight, and then rushed, uncoordinated, and totally mentally lost during the fight.

 

And BTW I know Hendo is awesome, and I'm not trying to say he isn't, or that he isn't a better fighter than Bisping. Hendo is a much better fighter and Bisping will never have the type of career Hendo has had. I also feel that Hendo has a much better style for MMA. And I like Hendo too and was happy to see him KTFO Bisping. I just think people are underrating Bisping, and I think eventually Bisping - as long as he becomes humble enough to listen to his trainers - will beat more names that people have heard of and prove himself as one of those 2nd-tier guys.

Agreed on Hendo being his toughest comp. but maybe cans were a bit harsh. Just low-tier guys then. Hell, I still think he lost the fight against Hamill. Will he get better? Sure. He's in a good enough camp.

 

But until he starts beating guys who are in the top 15 at 185...he's still UFC hype to me.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Agreed on Hendo being his toughest comp. but maybe cans were a bit harsh. Just low-tier guys then. Hell, I still think he lost the fight against Hamill. Will he get better? Sure. He's in a good enough camp.

 

But until he starts beating guys who are in the top 15 at 185...he's still UFC hype to me.

I haven't re-watched the fight, but when I watched the fight against Hamill I thought Hamill won too.

 

As far as hype, I think most of the hype has come from the new UK fans he's helped bring in. They just see him winning fights and then think he can beat Anderson or something. But I dunno, it seems like the topic is too polarizing I guess. It seems like before the fight the UK fans thought he was a lot better than he was while the US fans thought he was basically mediocre at best. I tend to think he's in the middle there, and I'd like to see him take fights with guys like Cote, Belcher, McFedries, Kang, etc. when he comes back. I think that second tier is probably where he belongs, and even though they're better fighters, I'd put a guys like Hendo, Franklin, and Marquardt a lot closer to Bisping's level than Anderson's.

[zenryan]

Kit Cope is now saying it was a joke.

 

From: KITCOPE

Posted: 1 hour ago Member Since: 7/23/04

Posts: 177

Come on kiddies! Listen to the whole interview. The sex tape thing was OBVIOUSLY a joke response to a listener's question. I said that a bunch of times. I also didn't say she should train with me, but Master Chan, her old Muay Thai coach. And I never called out any of the Xtreme Fashion guys. I actually said they were all gnarly fighters. Lastly, I said Tompkins was proficient at getn someone in shape and simply lacks technical Muay Thai skills.

Good twisting though.

[Kyyle23]

well someone needs to make a Carano sex tape soon. Inquiring minds need to know

[SoxFanForever]

I would disagree about Bisping beating cans. I wouldn't call Leben, Red Schafer, Matt Hamill, etc. cans. Hendo is by far the toughest competition he's ever fought, and Hendo is the first top-level MW he's ever fought, but I don't think he lost that fight as much because he can't hang with higher-ranked fighters, I think he lost that fight because he approached it the same way he'd approach fighting Elvis Sinosic again or something. I think his ceiling is basically a poor man's Rich Franklin, which is a style Hendo is vulnerable to, and he'll reach that ceiling as long as he stops coming into fights with ridiculously bad gameplans. He seemed waaay overconfident pre-fight, and then rushed, uncoordinated, and totally mentally lost during the fight.

 

And BTW I know Hendo is awesome, and I'm not trying to say he isn't, or that he isn't a better fighter than Bisping. Hendo is a much better fighter and Bisping will never have the type of career Hendo has had. I also feel that Hendo has a much better style for MMA. And I like Hendo too and was happy to see him KTFO Bisping. I just think people are underrating Bisping, and I think eventually Bisping - as long as he becomes humble enough to listen to his trainers - will beat more names that people have heard of and prove himself as one of those 2nd-tier guys.

The Franklin comparison is kind of funny to me. Rich has legitimate knock out power against proven opponents and was pretty much a one man wrecking crew at 185 until Silva came along. Franklin also went 3 rounds with Henderson and did survived. Bisping pretty much has big pillows for punches. Henderson had absolutely no respect whatsoever for Bisping's punching power. Between rounds of their fight you could even hear him say to his corner man "he hits like a p**sy".

 

Bisping has been fed cans the majority of his fights. This was the first time he faced a legit MW contender and you could tell he knew he was in trouble when he felt Hendo's power and wrestling strength. I don't really see Bisping beating someone like Hendo, Franklin, Silva or the other cream of the crop at 185. That's exactly what a gatekeper is. Someone who can beat the cans and lower level fighers but isn't good enough to get past the top flight competition. Now, he may prove me wrong in the future. However, if he goes into fights the way he did against Henderson and not listening to his corner, using no strategy and getting pushed around....he will be in trouble in a lot fights in the future.

 

Also, the Kit Cope stuff cracks me up. the guy is such a weasel. I loved the comment about asking a janitor for his opinion over Cope. The janitor probably has better ground game too.

[Milkman delivers]

Agreed on Hendo being his toughest comp. but maybe cans were a bit harsh. Just low-tier guys then. Hell, I still think he lost the fight against Hamill. Will he get better? Sure. He's in a good enough camp.

 

But until he starts beating guys who are in the top 15 at 185...he's still UFC hype to me.

 

I'm not a big fan of the UFC by any means, but I watch almost all of the PPV's now. I clearly remember the fight between Hamill and Bisping in England, I believe, and remember being completely sure the hometown decision went his way.

[Kyyle23]

I'm not a big fan of the UFC by any means, but I watch almost all of the PPV's now. I clearly remember the fight between Hamill and Bisping in England, I believe, and remember being completely sure the hometown decision went his way.

 

My friends are huge UFC fans and when the pre-fight stuff was going on all they kept talking about was that they were pretty sure this was Bispings first fight outside of England and that he had been fed a steady diet of tomato cans up until that point.

 

After watching all the trash talking Bisping was doing towards Hendo during the UFC competition on Spike, seeing him get knocked out like that was awesome. The followup punch was kind of scary seeing how prone Bisping was, but it didnt do any more damage so it was all good.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

The Franklin comparison is kind of funny to me. Rich has legitimate knock out power against proven opponents and was pretty much a one man wrecking crew at 185 until Silva came along. Franklin also went 3 rounds with Henderson and did survived. Bisping pretty much has big pillows for punches. Henderson had absolutely no respect whatsoever for Bisping's punching power. Between rounds of their fight you could even hear him say to his corner man "he hits like a p**sy".

 

Bisping has been fed cans the majority of his fights. This was the first time he faced a legit MW contender and you could tell he knew he was in trouble when he felt Hendo's power and wrestling strength. I don't really see Bisping beating someone like Hendo, Franklin, Silva or the other cream of the crop at 185. That's exactly what a gatekeper is. Someone who can beat the cans and lower level fighers but isn't good enough to get past the top flight competition. Now, he may prove me wrong in the future. However, if he goes into fights the way he did against Henderson and not listening to his corner, using no strategy and getting pushed around....he will be in trouble in a lot fights in the future.

 

Also, the Kit Cope stuff cracks me up. the guy is such a weasel. I loved the comment about asking a janitor for his opinion over Cope. The janitor probably has better ground game too.

I agree with most of this, but a few things:

 

I made the poor man's Rich Franklin comparison a lot more because of style than fighting ability.

 

Bisping was KOing people before he got into the UFC and was at that point a guy with 1-punch KO power. If you watch his Cage Rage fights he was laying people out. Bisping then, over time, cut to 185 and changed his style from loading up and going for KO's to more of a point fighter. The change in style plus the much lighter frame (is there another 185'er in the UFC who looks as anorexic as Bisping? Bisping looks like Swick does at 170) is the reason for his loss of KO power IMO. Even as an anorexic, he still has power when he plants his feet and loads up like vs. Jason Day.

 

The problem with Bisping's new style is that it will never work the way he tried to use it against Hendo. He needs to settle down, relax, pay attention to his gameplan - like don't circle into Hendo's power, improve his footwork, and then pick his spots to load up. Against Hendo it didn't look like Bisping was going for a KO anyway. Those punches didn't hurt because he wasn't picking spots to plant and deliver hard shots. He was just trying to keep moving around and out-score Hendo with the judges. That's a fine strategy on the surface but it's not going to work when you're so busy trying to get out of the way that you end up throwing weak shots that don't hurt your opponent but *do* leave you wide open for a counter. I mean, if you're going to be basically slapping your opponent with fists while trying to move, and your opponent is standing there taking all your slaps no problem, and he's got his feet planted just looking to counter, then it's not going to be long before you're wide open, off balance, and eating a heavy shot that you have no ability to block. Bisping is going to have to find a happy medium between the style he used against Leben and the style he had when he first got into MMA.

 

What I think happened to Bisping is that he just kind of freaked out and went on instinct vs. brains. The pressure got to him. For as much trash as US fans talk, the guy has had Zuffa's expansion into Europe basically riding on his shoulders since he came in. Then they gave him the TUF show, and afterwards MMA fans in the UK were expecting him to beat Hendo to show the viability of the sport in the UK. IMO, no fighter in that company has had more pressure on him his whole career than Bisping. Some people fold under that pressure, and Bisping is one of those guys. You didn't just see it against Hendo, you also saw it against Hamill and Sinosic. I think Bisping might kind of act the way he does as a way of dealing with that pressure.

 

IMO that KO loss to Hendo can really be great for his career if he takes the right approach. All the pressure is off him now; he's just another MW in the UFC. I think if he allows himself to be humble he'll be able to fix enough holes in his game to be a real threat to a lot of guys in his division. It wouldn't hurt him to put on some more muscle though.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Some awesome fights announced:

 

Mike Brown vs. Jose Aldo for the belt at WEC 45

 

Kampmann vs. Swick at UFC 103 for a shot at GSP

 

Rumble Johnson vs. Zenko at UFC 104

 

Going to go nuts for that Brown-Aldo fight!

[SoxFanForever]

I agree with most of this, but a few things:

 

I made the poor man's Rich Franklin comparison a lot more because of style than fighting ability.

 

Bisping was KOing people before he got into the UFC and was at that point a guy with 1-punch KO power. If you watch his Cage Rage fights he was laying people out. Bisping then, over time, cut to 185 and changed his style from loading up and going for KO's to more of a point fighter. The change in style plus the much lighter frame (is there another 185'er in the UFC who looks as anorexic as Bisping? Bisping looks like Swick does at 170) is the reason for his loss of KO power IMO. Even as an anorexic, he still has power when he plants his feet and loads up like vs. Jason Day.

 

The problem with Bisping's new style is that it will never work the way he tried to use it against Hendo. He needs to settle down, relax, pay attention to his gameplan - like don't circle into Hendo's power, improve his footwork, and then pick his spots to load up. Against Hendo it didn't look like Bisping was going for a KO anyway. Those punches didn't hurt because he wasn't picking spots to plant and deliver hard shots. He was just trying to keep moving around and out-score Hendo with the judges. That's a fine strategy on the surface but it's not going to work when you're so busy trying to get out of the way that you end up throwing weak shots that don't hurt your opponent but *do* leave you wide open for a counter. I mean, if you're going to be basically slapping your opponent with fists while trying to move, and your opponent is standing there taking all your slaps no problem, and he's got his feet planted just looking to counter, then it's not going to be long before you're wide open, off balance, and eating a heavy shot that you have no ability to block. Bisping is going to have to find a happy medium between the style he used against Leben and the style he had when he first got into MMA.

 

What I think happened to Bisping is that he just kind of freaked out and went on instinct vs. brains. The pressure got to him. For as much trash as US fans talk, the guy has had Zuffa's expansion into Europe basically riding on his shoulders since he came in. Then they gave him the TUF show, and afterwards MMA fans in the UK were expecting him to beat Hendo to show the viability of the sport in the UK. IMO, no fighter in that company has had more pressure on him his whole career than Bisping. Some people fold under that pressure, and Bisping is one of those guys. You didn't just see it against Hendo, you also saw it against Hamill and Sinosic. I think Bisping might kind of act the way he does as a way of dealing with that pressure.

 

IMO that KO loss to Hendo can really be great for his career if he takes the right approach. All the pressure is off him now; he's just another MW in the UFC. I think if he allows himself to be humble he'll be able to fix enough holes in his game to be a real threat to a lot of guys in his division. It wouldn't hurt him to put on some more muscle though.

I definitely agree with what you said there. I'm not sure where he lost his KO power. However, he hasn't shown it as much in the UFC. Also, the Franklin comparison makes sense in that light.

 

Hopefully now Bisping will focus less on yapping and more on training and being prepared to fight. I have a feeling that Sexyama is going to have similar pressure with the UFC trying to move into Asia.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Agree on Akiyama, although they seem to have backed off a bit on their plans for the Asian market. They were talking a lot about Korea and the Phillippines, and they've got enough talent to stack cards for each venue, but they've been talking more about Japan lately. But with Akiyama as a main event, plus Uno, Okami, Yoshida, DHK, etc. they could definitely put on a show. CC, Rampage, Hendo, Wandy, Brock, and Kimbo should all be big over there too.

 

Actually, it might even make more sense to have the WEC go over to Japan first before the UFC heads back there. I believe the WEC sent Rani Yahya over to K-1 to fight Kid while he was still under contract, so maybe there's a framework for a relationship there. Plus a lot of guys like Mizugaki, Maeda, Takaya, Beebe, Micah Miller, Pulver, Brown, etc. have fought in Japan before, some recently. So maybe that's an idea. Bring a smaller show with great action to the Japanese fans that like the smaller guys, and try to make in-roads that way. IIRC even Dream has had trouble filling arenas, so maybe a big UFC show could end up being a disappointment.

Edited July 16, 2009 by Kenny Hates Prospects

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Holy s***! Every person who has ever posted in this thread NEEDS to check out this video: http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/?go=forum....age=1&pc=12

 

The video is in the thread. It's Bas, and it's quite possibly the most hilarious thing I have ever seen in my life - and I've seen some funnyass s***.

[zenryan]

I love Bas. I wished the UFC would hire him as a 3rd person in the booth.

[SoxFan562004]

Per Dana White's twitter, he said he and Tito made up but points out it doesn't mean he's back in the UFC. I had heard he signed with Strikeforce, but nothing official, since it comes down to $$ I wouldn't be shocked if he's back in the UFC at some point