I've been looking forward to this card for quite some time. The last PPV was weak and not worth the bother. This is a nice line-up though, highlighted but the Hughes-GSP grudge match, and Silva-Liddell sloberknocker. Anyone watching out there? Feel free to discuss.
clemente vs melvin. this should be a very interesting fight. melvin can throw big time. i hope theres fireworks. wow, a flip off and crotch grab b4 the fight! i never seen this kind of disrespect and hate. wonder if theyll still hug when its over?
gotta root for hughes here... hughes vs sera would be so great! good old fashioned hate. motion, bullseyeguy, where are ya when i need ya! all alone ova here.
Just got home from the bar after this card.... begining was B O R I N G Silva/Iceman....was everything i ever wanted....whata fight, amazing, just throwin punches back and forth....that spinning back fist from chuck was incredible....he had him up against the cage on two seperate occassions....one of them...splitting above silvas eye with a vicous punch/elbow combo.... GSP/Hughes.....Hughes is done, he said it perfectly...gsp is young and hughes is the weaker of the two fighter, GSP on short noticed absolutley dominated this whole fight....incredible....gunna be a nice rematch between serra and gsp!!!
Hughes got owned. I kind of feel bad for him because imo, he would've destroyed Serra. Instead he had to face a much much tougher opponent in St. Pierre. It'll be nice watching St. Pierre avenge his loss against Serra though. I really don't think Serra has any chance at all of winning.
Ok, heres my take of the PPV. Melvin/Clemente. Melvin actually could have had that match. He rocked Clemente but failed to follow up. The ending of the match was kind of classless, but, adds fuel to the rivalry. The two matches that followed were fillers at best not PPV worthy. The Highlight was the predator mask, which, he got owned. Silva/Liddell: As good as this match was can you imagine how it would have been 5 yrs ago? Good action, Silva was a pleasant change from most of the Pride fighters that have come in and flopped. He was a beast, and did not stop. You could tell Chuck was exhausted at the end of the match. Good solid win. Hughes/ GSP: GSP is the most dominant fighter in that wieghtclass and deserves to be champ, but, that being said, the whole match ticked me off. I knew from day one that Hughes or Serra, whoever would prob. get dominated by GSP, hands down. His wrestling skills have improved imensly, which was one of his biggest weaknesses, and now that he's improved it, he's almost unstoppable. This was Hughes "last stand" his last moment to shine.And he was robbed of it by Serra. Injury or not, this match was bitter beer for Hughes fans like myself. If I dont get to see the Hughes, Serra match because of GSP's domination in this fight, I will feel robbed of what could potentially been a great fight. Overall not a great PPV, but not the worst. The last 2 matches saved it.
Better late than never. Watched it at my cousin's house so I wasn't around to post. Pretty good show. I was hoping for more out of Silva. GSP looked unstoppable. I've heard they are shooting for a April GSP/Serra fight in Canada.
Exactly, I have really become hooked on this MMA stuff. I too was expecting more from Silva (the type of training he did was crazy cool to watch on the UFC show leading up to the fight), really didnt think Liddell had a chance, but realizing that both were coming off back to back losses I new this was going to be a fun one to watch. As far as GSP and Hughes, I was also hoping for more from Hughes just for the chance to see him match up vs. Serra following the whole UFC #6 coaches vs. coaches thing. Oh well.....if GSP keeps his wits and head on straight he has to dominate this weight class for a long time. Not sure of the health status of Serra but hope he comes back 100% and atleast fights 100% vs GSP. off topic alitte....saw the last two fights of WEC's "The California Kid" Urijah Faber...wow, pound for pound the most enjoyable guy to watch fight.....says he wants Jens Pulver next...think that will be a good one.
So what is the situation with WEC vs. UFC ? Are they just two rival leagues? Do the fighters jump between them or are they locked into which ever they sign on with? Also, was PRIDE a seperate league that folded? How many other leagues exist? thanks, again, just starting to increase my knowledge on the whole MMA thing.
UFC owns WEC Pride was a Japanese based company that UFC also bought and pretty much had to close down because they were so much in debt. There are quite a few other MMA companies. UFC, IFL, Bodog, Elite XC, HDnet Fights, Cage Rage, K-1, M-1 Global, CBF, etc..... You'll see some guys jump from multiple companies, alot of them have contracts that are not exclusive to one company. I checkout www.mmaweekly.com regularly for the latest news, they are one of the biggest sites for MMA.
Sherdog and the Underground Forum (http://www.mma.tv) are the best two sites for information. Especially the message boards, where you'll get all the upcoming fights months in advance. As for the fights, starting from the beginning... Clementi- Guillard - I generally frown upon antics like the ones Clementi used after beating Melvin, but there's a long standing history of disrespect from Guillard that merited Clementi's actions. Nice win for Rich, he's got a nice little win streak going and continues to be a factor in the UFC's plans. Machida- Sokodoju - I'll continue to repeat my sentiments over and over again. Machida is without question one of the top Light Heavyweight fighters in the sport and one of the most underrated fighters overall. All the guy has done in his career is win.. and win impressively (of his 12 wins, he's beaten Rich Franklin, BJ Penn, Stephan Bonnar, Vernon White and Kazuhiro Nakamura, now Sokodoju. He's not had an "easy" win in his career and picked apart everyone he's fought. Yet, for reasons unknown to me, he's STILL being overlooked as a possible challenger to Rampage Jackson. I find the fact that Forest Griffin is getting a shot before him to be idiotic and perposterous, and that's by no means a slam on Griffin. I can tell you this much with certainty. You put Machida against just about ANY of the top dogs at 205, he gets his hand raised 9 fights out of 10. I know for certain he beats Jardine, he beats Griffin, he mauls Alexander and I'm pretty confident in his chances against Chuck Liddell and even Rampage himself. In order of priority, Machida should actually fight Liddell next, with winner getting the next shot at Rampage. That's how I'd play it out. One thing's for certain, "The Dragon" is a force to be reckoned with in the 205 pound weight class, and proved it again against the up and coming Sokodoju. Liddell - Silva - Lived up to the hype in every sense of the word. This one was a classic strikers war, with plenty of pace and action. Wandy- Jardine seems to be the next bet for a fight, and Liddell- Machida as mentioned before. St. Pierre- Hughes - I'm not making excuses for the man, but I'm forever convinced that GSP lost to Serra because he took him lightly. Knowing people who train with GSP, I've also been informed that the loss to Serra was the best thing that happened to GSP's career, because it got him back on track and away from the celebrity life style that he was beginning to win. This fight from opening bell was never in doubt. St. Pierre just absolutely mauled Hughes and beat him at his own game. I think it's safe to say, he regained his mantle as one of the best p4p fighters in the sport with this win, and Serra better be ready to bring his A game again.
I bought it.... kind of wish I didn't though. I've seen much better fights. The Liddell - Silva was the best one.
Lidell is a massive 205er, and way bigger than Silva. Bad match-up for him. Silva has some guts tho boy. he stayed in there and threw with one of the most dangerous pugilists in the sport toe to toe. i think GSP is a class act, but he just seems juiced up man. i just have a feeling about it. he was rag-dolling a powerful hughes, had limitless energy...on a month or so notice. looks beefy and juiced up. i could be wrong.
GSP has always been ripped like that though. And like someone previously stated he had a wake up call after losing to Serra. He had also already been training before he even took the fight. Anything is possible though.