swarmofkillermonkeys

True enough. Obligation or blame on the fighters seems the wrong perspective.

I don’t know how much truth there is to Shane being upset about the payout, but Dana deciding Brock gets a PPV% due to his hype efforts and existing drawing power seems fair. He generally earns a marketing commission. If Shane is upset, he should concentrate on the win/knockout/FOTN bonuses instead.

I would guess that still leaves Brock ahead in dollar terms. But then the world says: successful hard work gets you paid, hype gets you paid without working successfully (if you’re good enough at BS). Or at least that explains mysteries like Donald Trump to me…

Or at least, they shouldn’t have to be. Brock and Rampage are what they are. Carwin is what he is.

Forcing the hyped media marketing on a “regular guy” like Carwin is boring and usually transparent to the viewer. Shane has done all the talking he needs to with his fists — I’m quite happy with the results.

It is up to the UFC to hype UFC fights. If they have a fighter that can’t resist smack talk and mugging for the camera, it certainly makes their job easier but it is icing on the cake.

for the move up to fight Anderson Silva (before he moves up when Machida gets hit by a bus or gets bored). Or one can hope…

That said, I do agree that Hardy does have a > 0% chance of knocking GSP at least wobbly. Still a small number, but I wonder just how insane the line will be.

From frustrating to fun to watch.

I agree with Fitch’s decision wins, but would also add Franklin… there’s no shame in losing to Machida and Anderson Silva but his recent fights show him annoyingly underperforming.

Of those on the list, I would move Vera to #1. He’s obviously skilled but it’s like he resents actually needing to use them to win. His wife is far more interesting to watch; maybe that will drive him to perform better. Cro Cop is almost irrelevant at this point, sadly.

I’m wondering if perhaps Faber will be added to that list this year. Even when he is sloppy, he is currently very interesting (unlike Arlovski) but how he responds to the recent losses will tell… Hopefully he becomes more controlled without becoming a turtle.

The Franklin fight makes me cry, but I don’t think either head butt or the nasty eye poke were intentional. But pretty unsatisfying — Rich just can’t catch a break. He looked noticeably slower to me than at the lower weight (cardio monster or not, is he really settled in at that size yet?). Hendo makes for a more marketable reality TV show, however, so win for Dana.

The Horn fight wasn’t that interesting either, but considering the amount of abuse he took I wonder what he could do if he bothered to actually get in shape. But at the same level of interest as I would wonder whether to put relish on a hotdog or not. I’m cool with that though, as you have to have these normal UFCs to really show how outstanding something like UFC 94 should be. These weren’t “bad” fights; you can’t have every fight be above average!

That’s a good point. I keep telling myself that stylistically (and pace) it is bound to be a much different fight that the “old” days.

That Jardine fight just wasn’t quite enough Wandy for me, but something tells me there just may be a little more face smashing action in both of these fighters.

That certainly was the case. I’m not so sure anymore. I think Silva (and Fedor for that matter) is over-ranked, but Brock and Carwin are not Bob Sap or Tank Abbott. They are actually athletes in good condition that saw the kind of money they could make stomping down “JuCo wrestlers with a Big Mac habit” or “freakish biological results of pituitary mutations” (Choi).

I’m not saying its so stacked that we finally get a Cruiserweight division or something at 225 yet (one can dream), but I think we’re on the cusp of the freak-fights not being necessary for lack of talent. Adrenaline vs. Zuffa splits the existing talent for now exaggerating the problem, but maybe that competition will drive agents to find and prune more JuCo wrestling, NFL big boys to give it a go.

If you’re a great athlete at that size, there are a lot of things you can do even without a lot of talent, right? Just numbers I think. Wikipedia tells me the average male height in America is about 5’10 from age 20-39, and falling for the younger guys. Natural heavies are just way the hell out on that bell curve no matter what.

I think Randy or Chuck taking the looser of Mir/Nog sounds about right; the other could always put Carwin to the first real test (I’d like to see Chuck/Carwin, Randy/Mir, Nog/Brock personally). But I think the real problem is waiting until there are enough big guys in the UFC to split the top end at 235-265 or whatever. Otherwise I can’t help but feel there is a aspect of Japanese “freak fight” to some of the matchups. I mean, really: 60 lbs? Too much.

Maybe that’s the best thing about a beefy Brock win… lure in all those mid-twenty athletes with similar builds that didn’t quite make the cut from collegiate football to the NFL? I dunno. Even once the Affliction boat finishes sinking, there still aren’t enough to split the division I guess. But that’s what I think the old guys that can’t/won’t cut severely need to be more competitive.

That’s kind of a real (side) issue. Even if they think they are the only game in town, and ready to reap a windfall post Lesnar/Couture… no media organization can really afford to make themselves the “bad guy” in the eyes of their customers. Normal people being able to rationalize media “theft” seems to make a big difference.

See the RIAA dramatics, or even the monopolist Microsoft running afoul of public opinion. Some people will always steal, but most people will respect earned success. Just not abuse of that success.

Wait… the “Michael Jordan” of the sport? Wow, I sure don’t think so. The equivalent of a great 3-point shot specialist, maybe. The Wizards part of that analogy fits better.

Yeah, but hell.. that body shot hurt ME and I’m thousands of miles away… ;)

yeah, you better be a pretty good striker if your gonna be smaller and less experienced than Nate.

I though Nate looked a bit better at the weigh in… what you say?

I was just about to say, “spinning backfist…? is that ever really worth it”. Heh. I guess sometimes…

about 6 months ago or so? Less mass, and what mass is there sags a bit. Flatter. Old man build just starting. Normally you might get heavier (Randy looks slimmer to me) or wiser, but speed is all downhill, right? Anyway, I’m hope I’m wrong and foolish on that call.

The recent photos of him with Fedor looked that way but if this video really is from 8/26… Meh, I just can’t tell. http://www.xtremecouture.tv/VideoStream/Video_RandyTeachingPro.asp

Picked the right day to check back on MMA after a few months… this is just… crazy.

A sad match though. I love Randy but he will lose. Ring rust, sheer age, lawyers sucking the will to live outta ya… Either Brock vs Fedor (Fedor kicks his ass), or Randy vs Fedor (a better chance for Randy — more technical) would be way more interesting FIRST in my humble opinion.

“Couture: I can’t spend any time worrying about losing to Lesnar and losing luster on a fight with Fedor.” Way to have confidence there buddy! (sarcasm) Does not bode well. Just looking at his physique in the most recent pictures I’ve seen… it has changed in the way that old guys do I think. There is a certain look (and mass) that goes away and just doesn’t come back. Maybe talking out my backside here, but take a look. Brock is plenty stacked and puffy (too puffy?).

“Dana White: Randy Couture is the guy everyone wants to fight. Fedor is completely irrelevant.” Eh, no. No, he really is relevant. See how everyone is talking about him? That means relevant. Nice try for the jedi mind tricks though.

So I figure Brock takes Randy by athleticism over technique, old man Randy gets hurt enough that the Fedor fight either never happens or isn’t interesting (or takes place in 2020 as dueling fogeys in wheelchairs). And we are all somewhat nostalgic, but Randy finally retires.

Brock/Fedor never happens, or on the miracle it does Fedor pulls it off. Then Dana would be in a pickle. So it won’t be allowed to happen, at least not unless Dana owns him, course.

For a second I though this would be the same card as Wanderlei and jumped to my feet… for no apparent reason. ;) It would be too much! Plenty exciting all the way around.

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!.... Props to Gary Shaw and EliteXC for going straight for the trash demographic in record time. Good job! Pretty soon they can just do a lot of posturing, and trash talking, punctuated by hitting each other with chairs and ugly women lifting their shirts—skip that troublesome ‘competition’ altogether.

Getting knocked out is getting knocked out. I think that would be great.

Allow knees to the head, get rid of standups. A win for everybody.

I remember one game in a high school state soccer tournament with the same list of maladies. And that was just my team (KO was goalie’s head meeting goalpost during a scuffle for the ball—self-inflicted concussion, head gash was from dirty play going up for headers, broken nose was from head butt in altercation after the game, broken hand was actually broken thumb from messy landing after a tackle with guys on top… OK so no dislocated shoulder, but still… plenty of blood from elbows and cleats). And that’s a wussy sport like soccer… ;) Why would we demand pro MMA to be safer?

Fun stuff is dangerous. Armor is boring. Let us play!

That would be pretty nice. It just… seems somehow less special that he wandered off to Dancing with the Stars and WWE before coming to UFC. I know, I know… a man’s gotta eat.

I thought MMA might be higher on his list though.

Nevermind…. forgot he had one more on contract “guaranteed” verbally by Dana to be Serra. Guess we’ll see about injury changing his mind.

All done?

... on that earlier fight. I hope you mean that about part 2; I’ll be looking for it.

Man, you think he’d get popped enough in training to get a little cleaner…

Bill is afraid of all those are stronger than he is. Mentally, physically, emotionally.

He is the classic coward. You can bet he will be kissing the ass of the first MMA star he can book as it blows up. Zero integrity.

Olbermann is whiney and annoying as hell lately, but at least he seems honest and gets sports, including MMA I bet. Bill gets off threating children. Haha what a tool.

I'm not positive about Obermann endorsing MMA, just a guess... hmm, now I'm curious....

Kind of petty. 5 seconds with photoshop, 99.9% of all buyers won’t see the difference. On the other hand, no point in have a belt that just anyone can claim in their picture—have to defend your “crown jewels”... crap, did I just defend Zuffa lawyers?

What poor Tito needs is a manager… oh. Nevermind.

Gina. Pick a sport. MMA or glam-rock fake gladiator. Walking the fence ain’t working…

Yeah, but that kind of behavior is to be expected from a super competitive fighter, don’t you think? Tito wasn’t being paid for his eloquence or tact, just for his beat-down ability. Dana, however, should damn well know better. His job isn’t fighter, but business manager and PR. I think while his hyping of his “feud” with Tito worked to get press, it obviously caused resentment in some fans too. It is entirely possible that Tito lost track of what was “pretend fighting” between him and Dana, and actual business negotiation. Tito may want no part of acting (or isn’t bright enough to pull it off), and Dana may want no part of someone that doesn’t “get” what he is trying to do to drive the sport forward with himself in the spotlight. It explains the current result, and the loss of other top fighters by Dana due to contract disputes. Liddell “gets” it and has no problems with it apparently (well, that and Dana’s flattering man-crush on him). Just guessing here obviously though.

I’m just not sure how Chuck somehow understands the fans more than Tito. He gets plenty o cash to fight; he doesn’t do it for free.

Wow. Exactly.

“the idea that Kimbo hasn’t “earned” his way into a main event “

Isn’t it more like people think Kimbo is sucking oxygen out of the room with his hype? If you were another top tier fighter, you might think: “hey, that guy is stealing some of my press/limelight/fight money!” To some extent, they are right, and further right to step up and immediately challenge him for that media attention. That isn’t anti-Kimbo, it’s simply protecting their own means of income.

Of course, it isn’t a zero sum game. As the sport grows, that’s good for everyone in theory. But as Bas pointed out himself. This much press after 3 fights? Even Kimbo would have been better off in the long run to have put a few more fights under his belt first. Now it is make or break with the next one or he’s a paper tiger. Promoters promote… it works to make Gary Shaw rich and powerful (with much control over MMA now “building up characters” as he says rather than actual fighters), but that doesn’t mean everyone has to like the tactics.

Couldn’t the same thing have been done with a more established fighter? Clearly not if MMA follows the Gary Shaw/boxing model. It’s funny that audiences walked away from boxing because of shit like this, yet people (including Dana, but to a far lesser degree) run headlong into making the EXACT same mistakes by emulating that model. I think the divide isn’t between uberfans with vast knowledge (like you guys) and newbie fans… I think it is between those with a long term interest in the sport versus those that could care less and would gladly sell its future for cash in hand today. Kimbo seems to be entirely welcome. Shaw, not so much. Yet Kimbo chose to sign with him, and so will shoulder some of the hate; it was his choice to let Shaw control his destiny.

But then that’s a completely uninformed opinion admittedly. I never really understood the REAL inside of the boxing business because after peeling back the first few layers of the onion, I walked away in disgust. Maybe I’m wrong hand underneath several feet of digested hotdog, Shaw has a heart of gold. But I really, really doubt it.

She would have lost the third. But she deserved the opportunity to fight it.

I find the doctor going on about whatever was said after the fight irrelevant. If Young was able to fight, and her speech was not garbled (as claimed)... the fight should continue. The fact that the doctor is NOT sticking to the facts and speculating about vendettas and bad reviews (that she admits she never even read)... sounds like bullshit. I instantly suspect at least something fishy about the docs story with such distractions.

Bad decision. Hope Kaitlin stays with it… she’s crazy tough and with only 7 months training. Another few years training she’ll really have something I bet.

I also respectfully disagree with the logic that the ends justify the means. That path makes for bad (or fixed) sport eventually, if not in this case.