UFC 59

[White Shogun]

SPOILER ALERT </font>

Here are my thoughts on UFC 59:

Tito v Griffen
Yes, I like Forrest Griffen. He's funny, likeable, and genuine. But Joe Rogan, et al are Griffen nuthuggers, and so is Eddie Bravo. Tito won the fight, and Griffen broke it down during his post-fight interview exactly how it happened. Tito beat him bad the first round, so much so I scored it 10-8. Griffen took the second, 10-9, although neither of them really did anything, and Tito took the last round 10-9. I felt that Tito hit Griffen harder when he connected, went for the takedowns, and basically did enough to win.

The problem scoring a fight like this happens because one fighter has such high expectations placed on him, when he doesn't overwhelm his opponent it doesn't seem like he is doing that well. This fight still made Griffen look better than Tito because of the expectations people had that Tito would own Forrest.

Arlovski v Sylvia
I don't know what happened to Arlovski. I told my friends he looked soft. Yes, he is muscular, but he didn't look as big and tight as he did in previous fights, not to mention that he shaved all his chest hair off. wtf?? I think Arlovski is suffering from pretty boy syndrome. He got caught up in being a stud and his press went to his head. Yes, I know, anyone can get caught by a shot to the chin, but Arlovski just did not look right to me. He looked smaller, softer and 'nice.' I guess we can stop mentioning him in the same breath as Fedor now. I hope Arlovski can recapture whatever it was that made him great.

Nick Diaz needs to take some boxing lessons. He punches like a left-handed girl.

Jeff Monson is going to drop down in weight to 150 from 170. Where is he going to lose the weight from? He is going to have to lose a lot of muscle mass to drop that weight; he doesn't appear to have a high enough body fat percentage to drop 20 lbs without losing muscle mass.

I am looking forward to Hughes v Gracie. Should be a great fight, although I expect Hughes to win.

Anyone else watch the fights?

 

[Poacher]

I saw a clip of the AA knockout. Sheesh, what happened to AA? Sylvia doesn't seem that impressive to me. Neither does Tito, I wish he would just go away. Can't wait for the Gracie/ Hughes fight. How old is Gracie anyway? Mid 40s?

I kind of liked Arlovski. I thought he would blow right through that dough-boy. Guess not. What's to become of the UFC HW division now? That's the only criticism I have of MMA. Fortunes can change on a dime. The belt can go from guy to guy depending on who is having the better night. But then again, the guys who take it seriously and train like they are pros seem to hold on to their belts longer. How long has Fedor been champ? Hughes? I think a lot of the competitors don't take it seriously enough. Many seem to treat it like a bar brawl. When I watch these fights I like to see a combination of stand-up and ground fighting, i.e. balance. I can't stand to see two whales standing in the middle of the ring beating on each other until one lands a lucky shot. That doesn't take any skill.

Enough rambling.

 

[White Shogun]

I agree with you about some of these guys coming in out of shape. The hype about Sylvia was that he was 'down' to 260, and in the best shape of his life. Yet, he takes his shirt off and he's flabby, complete with man-breasts and no muscle tone?

But there is a long laundry list of guys who are in shape, and stay at the top of their game all the time. Rich Franklin, Matt Hughes, GSP, Couture, and even Liddell, despite the fact he always seems drunk or stoned when they interview him at ringside. Fedor doesn't have the ripped frame that a lot of good fighters do, but he has proven it for so long you can't question. Then there is Cro-Cop, Vovchanchin, hell you can even add Forrest Griffen to that list. He's in shape and comes to fight every time. Like I said though, I think Arlovski just went soft, I think he gets a lot of attention from the ladies and fans in Chicago and it went to his head. Edited by: White Shogun

 

[freedom1]

Yes, AA came in with a bad case of pretty boy syndrome. I remember when it happened to Mark Gasineau (the former Jet footballer). One year he was awesome. I remember him winning the weightlifting Superstars competition and busting through offensive lines like nothing. The next year he was appearing in lots of photos with his shirt off and had Bridgette Nielsen hanging off his arm. His performance went way down.

 

[JD074]

It's disappointing to hear about Arlovski losing. Wasn't he knocked out early in his UFC career? Maybe he has a weak chin; most of his fights have been so short and one-sided that it hasn't mattered. Bounce back, Andrei! Get one or two victories under your belt and then win the rubber match. Don't be careless. Be smart and don't let Sylvia land clean shots.

Everybody hates Sylvia, but hey, he hits hard, he's hard to take down, and it's hard to stand with him because he's so big. I still think that Arlovski is better, but Sylvia is no push over.

BTW, anybody know when Mir is going to fight, and who he's going to fight. Just curious.

I think Arlovski is suffering from pretty boy syndrome. He got caught up in being a stud and his press went to his head.

That's what it seemed like in that UFC All Access show. Did you see that? His lifestyle is a lot more glamorous than Franklin's (they had an All Access show for him, too, before his fight with Loiseau.) Arlovski had this "PR team" or something (a group of guys managing his career,) and he was hanging out all night at Chicago clubs. He was still working out like crazy though.

I guess we can stop mentioning him in the same breath as Fedor now.

Did we ever do that?

Jeff Monson is going to drop down in weight to 150 from 170.

I think you mean Sherk. Monson would have to be cut in half to make 150!

That guy's a f*cking tank.