The MMA/Boxing/Fighting Sports Thread

[Shinryu]

Honestly I think it depends on which Shogun shows up...if it's the hobbled one that showed up against Griffin in his UFC debut (remember he's coming back from injury), then I'd actually go with Jones over Shogun, and his wins were otherwise not that impressive, besides a robbed one against Machida and his revenge KO on him.

Another question is, how will Jones respond? Will he continue with his high energy gameplan and unorthodox style of mixing in elbows and such as he's shown, or is he going to fall into the slower "boring" "I circle you, you circle me, I jab, you jab" sorta game? I think if he pushes the pace that he'd definitely do better...

So yeah, if Rua's came prepared and he's all healed up, I'd root for him hands down. However, if he's showing rust, I'm half expecting Jones to pummel him unfortunately. Shame Shogun can't use all his trademark stomps and soccer kicks in the UFC...

Also, GO CRO COP! Even if he looked like shit last fight against a loser like Frank Mir...sadly he's probably gonna get his butt handed to him by a scrub like Schaub (ok he's not a scrub, but still)...bust out the LHK and KO him! It really is sad to see how far Cro Cop has fallen in the last 6 years, I mean the dude beat Wanderlei and Barnett in one single night and rivaled Fedor as one of the most feared HWs in the world, yet he looks so dispirited these days...retirement is unfortunately around the corner I think, 37 isn't the worst age you can retire from MMA at. I really can't see the UFC keeping him unless he starts winning, even Dana commented a while back that he's not a favored one like Wanderlei, and that his performances are lacking so far.

Edit: And how can we forget about Faber/Wineland as well? Winner likely getting the next shot at Cruz, would be interesting to see if Faber can get past Wineland and see if he can take Cruz's belt at 135 as opposed to the 145 where he defeated Cruz...

 

[Trax]

I've got Shogun by late round TKO/Sub assuming he's in the shape he was in for the first Machida fight, Jones has shown problems with his gas tank in the past (watch the Bonnar fight, he was exhausted by the end of round 2 - Bonnar was blocking Jones throws at the end of round 3) and that's only going to be a bigger problem for him when he's fighting a guy who actually knows how to get up when taken down.

Jones will run into the same problem as Machida standing (stay outside? eat leg kicks, come inside? get your face rearranged) - assuming Shogun can get up from his back (like he's done to a lot of really solid grapplers - Overeem, Arona, and Machida to name a few) and the clinch is just not a safe place with Shogun, it only takes him one or two knees to do some huge damage in the clinch.

Edit: Shogun handles press conference stare downs like a boss - http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/3/16/2054461/shogun-rua-vs-jon-jones-press-conference-staredown

As for your post Vineon.. you said Shogun was "done" and going to lose to Chuck after the Coleman fight, did he violate your sister or something?

 

[Vineon]

First, a Jones victory.

Second, a massive sea of excuses for Shogun's defeat.

 

[latinoheat]

Want Shogun to win, think Jones will as i don't trust Shogun's old man knees or time off, won't go the distance either way.

Shogun is too good to fall for Jones stand up and will eventually catch him if it stays standing, Shogun's faced and beaten much better strikers standing then Jones, Jones hasn't faced anyone close to Shogun's level. Shogun also has the best chin at 205.

I think Jones will try and grapplefuck Shogun who while is very good at getting up, might not have the cardio to keep doing it with a guy the size of Jones after such a long time off.

 

[Venom]

Don't know what to say, I remember a time when Shogun was like Jones as well (2005)

 

[Shinryu]

And Shogun becomes the latest Pride fighter to fall from grace...I knew that knee surgery would do him no favors combined with the layoff, he just looked sluggish. So yeah, I would definitely agree that Jones has earned all that hype, he is the next big thing. And the scary part is, I think he's probably gonna defend that title for quite a while, he still has much more potential I think; he completely schooled Shogun. At the very least he's shut up all his critics about being legit and has shown he is the dominant fighter he is...

Now of course, the question is, who's gonna challenge him now? Rashad won't (omg, I train with him, no no fighting), not to mention Rashad would be schooled. So that leaves likely Rampage next in line, along with Machida (eww) and Forrest bringing up the rear. And none of their styles at all match up that well with Jones, Rampage wouldn't be able to keep up, Machida would just be flattened and gnp'd, and Forrest might have the conditioning to last 5 rounds, but probably wouldn't be able to mount anything until at least R4 or so.

Let's see...Faber wins, good. He's aiming for Cruz next...I dislike how the Cro Cop/Schaub fight went, Schaub got in a lot of illegal hits there (bastard) and it's a shame Cro Cop couldn't finish out the 3rd round, might've even won based on all the points Schaub was losing in the end. Oh well :(

So, of all the standout Pride vets left, I think only Hendo is a champ currently, as well as not having been KOed in any of his bouts since? Yay Hendo lol. Shame his time is nearing as well since he's 40 now, unless he can pull off a Couture-esq run and still remain fighting into old age.

 

[IggyBot]

Honestly, it's not that Shogun looked terrible, it's that Jones owned him the whole fight. Jones was in control the whole fight, and was constantly ahead of Shogun on everything.

 

[Venom]

Jones is a smart fighter that ACTUALLY knows how to use his reach. I like how Jones just stole Rashad's spotlight like that lol.

 

[Trax]

3 words: gas tank fail.


Also Jim Miller really is pounding on the door for a title shot, and Cro Cop is fucking done..

 

[mirza]

As a fan I'd rather see Crocop just hang up the gloves for his own health..

And of course much respect for Jones he completely obliterated my boy.

 

[mirza]

So, of all the standout Pride vets left, I think only Hendo is a champ currently, as well as not having been KOed in any of his bouts since? Yay Hendo lol. Shame his time is nearing as well since he's 40 now, unless he can pull off a Couture-esq run and still remain fighting into old age.

Anderson's a PRIDE vet.

As well as that fucker Overeem I hear he's quite alright too.

 

[Trax]

Anderson's a PRIDE vet.

As well as that fucker Overeem I hear he's quite alright too.

Gilbert Melendez also.


Also apparently Rashad is going to fight Jones next, that's going to be interesting.

 

[Venom]

^ yep

 

[Shinryu]

Overeem is still overrated imo, but we'll see once he faces off against Werdum...

How could I forget Silva is a Pride vet as well, doh. Though he left Pride what, about 2 years before it was dissolved though, so eh, by that time he already had about as many fights in the UFC as he did in Pride up to the point it ceased to exist.

Also will be interesting to see how Bones/Rashad will play out, though I'm expecting Bones to fully smash him; better wrestling along with far better striking imo will probably finish off Rashad even quicker than he did to Shogun.

 

[Shinryu]

Well let's see...for UFN 24...expecting Mr. Wonderful to beat out the aging Noguiera...that's about all I care for lol.

 

[Trax]

Well let's see...for UFN 24...expecting Mr. Wonderful to beat out the aging Noguiera...that's about all I care for lol.

Would be less than surprised to see a Davis sub, diet Nog isn't as good as his brother on the ground and even Big Nog doesn't have airtight sub defense.

 

[Venom]

Facebook undercard is better than the main card, with the exception of the main event.

Mr Wonderful by Mr Wonderful btw

 

[Shinryu]

Well while he didn't pull off anything as cool as his 1 armed kimura last fight, Mr. Wonderful does score a UD, it was all him from R2-3, especially after he finally began landing his takedowns.

So now the obvious question, how long till he and Bones meet? You know this has to be one of the UFC's "destined" matchups, though at this point Bones would likely destroy Davis still in the standup. So probably at least another good year before Davis is ready to challenge imo, which gives Bones likely 2-3 title defenses.

 

[Zephyr]

Also apparently Rashad is going to fight Jones next, that's going to be interesting.

Lookin forward to this more than any other coming up at the moment. I'm glad Rashad is going through with it.

 

[Venom]

I think Davis is one more fight away from a title shot. I wasn't surprised Phil Davis struggled with taking down Lil Nog, I mean, Lil Nog ain't a nobody, hes a tough ass motherfucker.

Dan Hardy is ugh idk...I really like this guy's heart but I see no sparks in the ring no more. He's gonna get cut probably.

 

[Shinryu]

Lil Nog WAS a touch ass motherfucker...but he has not looked good at all since entering the UFC; a tko against Luiz Cane is nothing and he should have lost against Brilz. Davis was apparently fighting injured as well as on short notice, so to see him win against Lil Nog is impressive though in that regard.

As for Hardy, eh I never cared for him personally, but I don't see him getting cut, he's too big a draw for the British crowd imo. That and we all know he was unqualified to challenge GSP, and his 2 subsequent losses hasn't really done anything to disprove that. More than likely he'll be fed a scrub, and should he lose to them, then likely get cut.

 

[Trax]

Lil Nog WAS a touch ass motherfucker...but he has not looked good at all since entering the UFC; a tko against Luiz Cane is nothing and he should have lost against Brilz.

He beat Brilz and there was no robbery involved, the only thing that should have been lost in that fight was points from Brilz for grabbing Nogs shorts to avoid being triangle choked. As for Luiz Cane, he's a strong mid tier fighter and he's not going anywhere - good gatekeeper who won't be challenging for the title any time soon.

IMO Rogerio should have got the win vs Bader too - round 2/3 all Bader did was get a couple of takedowns that Rogerio got right back up from.

Edit: those knees Davis landed at the end of round 2 were NASTY.

 

[Venom]

All I gotta say that I was more impressed by Pat Curran than I was by Eddie Alvarez. This guy has a lot to learn and a lot more potential than he showed tonight, possibly becoming the Bellator Lightweight Champion one day. He has a very good arsenal but still kinda new to the game.

 

[Trax]

All I gotta say that I was more impressed by Pat Curran than I was by Eddie Alvarez. This guy has a lot to learn and a lot more potential than he showed tonight, possibly becoming the Bellator Lightweight Champion one day. He has a very good arsenal but still kinda new to the game.

Your point of view confuses me, Eddie kicked the crap out of Pat for 25 minutes - the only things Pat showed were a solid chin, a high guard, and a good sprawl - he barely landed any noteworthy offense; he did land a decent knee in round 2 but that's about it.

Curran will never be a champ in a major org, he was very very lucky to get the decision over Imada.


Patricky Freire was impressive, if he works on his gas tank he'll be a huge force imo.

 

[Venom]

You can't say the kicks are from Eddie Alvarez were like the kicks from Machida vs Shogun. Eddie Alvarez did kick but not for the whole 25 minutes. Pat Curran legs didn't even wobble. I agree Pat Curran didn't throw shit, but I felt he had a lot more than he gave. It all went downhill when both of his nostrils started bleeding and Eddie started working the body even more, which made it harder to breathe.

All I'm trying to say is that Pat Curran is still young and I don't think this is his prime, he has a lot more potential. His striking can improve more and overall he can improve as a fighter.