MMA/UFC/PRIDE/K-1 discussion thread

dunkamania

Much as I would like to see Randy win,I cant see him lasting 5 rounds vs Gonzaga.I am hoping I am mistaken here.

GSP should beat Kosheck handily.

Forrest has made a mistake pushing for the shogun fight.

Vince135792003

dunkamania wrote:

Forrest has made a mistake pushing for the shogun fight.

He probably has but I look forward to seeing it.

If I was UFC's booker Joe Silva from a purely business standpoint, I'd go with Lidell versus Forrest and Jardine versus Shogun.

I think Lidell v Forrest would have a much bigger fight for casual MMA fans rather than Lidell Jardine. Also Jardine would be a much better guy to feed Rua to instead of Forrest.

Domster

Domster wrote:

Gomi is rumoured to be going to Hero's.

Heard this too. Could be a good thing from a competition point of view. Hope heroes make some more big signings, and wishful thinking, hope they get a European (Irish!!) TV deal (yea right!)

dunkamania

dunkamania wrote:

Much as I would like to see Randy win,I cant see him lasting 5 rounds vs Gonzaga.I am hoping I am mistaken here.

GSP should beat Kosheck handily.

Forrest has made a mistake pushing for the shogun fight.

Why not? Randy has gone 5 rounds many a time while Gonzaga has gassed a few times. I see Randy having the advantage in the clinch and using this to wear Gonzaga down. Also I think Gonzaga got lucky with Mirko in the sense that Mirko was tentative and seemingly took him lightly. Not taking anything away from Gonzaga, he fought the perfect fight in strategy and execution but I believe Randy will push the pace on the feet and make him back up.

GSP SHOULD beat Kos but Kos is the better wrestler. Im praying for GSP to win this one and I think he will. Kos isnt a finisher.

This is gonna sund crazy but I think Shogun vs Forrest will be a lot more competitive than people think. Still think Shogun will win but i dont see it being a walkover.

Dragan

I'm curious to see how Shogun deals with the new rules he will be fighting under. You are talking about a guy who made very good use of head kicks and stomps on top of his other abilities.

Dragan

Dragan wrote:

I'm curious to see how Shogun deals with the new rules he will be fighting under. You are talking about a guy who made very good use of head kicks and stomps on top of his other abilities.

Thats one of the reasons why I think itll be closer than expected. In PRIDE it would be dangerous but UFC rules make it different. Plus Shogun is an excellent kicker and knee'er but his pure boxing has some holes in it, and I say this as a massive fan of his. I cant wait to see him fight!

dunkamania

Deleted User wrote:

Why not? Randy has gone 5 rounds many a time while Gonzaga has gassed a few times. I see Randy having the advantage in the clinch and using this to wear Gonzaga down. Also I think Gonzaga got lucky with Mirko in the sense that Mirko was tentative and seemingly took him lightly. Not taking anything away from Gonzaga, he fought the perfect fight in strategy and execution but I believe Randy will push the pace on the feet and make him back up.

GSP SHOULD beat Kos but Kos is the better wrestler. Im praying for GSP to win this one and I think he will. Kos isnt a finisher.

This is gonna sund crazy but I think Shogun vs Forrest will be a lot more competitive than people think. Still think Shogun will win but i dont see it being a walkover.

I would love to be wrong about Randy losing this fight.I think this should be the best Gonzaga we have seen,from a cardio standpoint,and assuming the occasion doesnt get to him I believe he has the abilty to stop Randy.

I see the GSP KOS fight going exactly the same as GSP vs Hughes II

Its a pity Forrest is taking this fight now,I think in a year or two he will be a lot better fighter.He has only just started utilising his brain in the cage (picking apart Ramirez without going toe too toe with him)

Dragan

Forrest after this fight all depends on the American crowd. Remember the average UFC fan really thought that Jardine was a hot prospect and that Forrest was even hotter. I don't think his loss to Jardine has hurt him in the eyes of the public it all, but funnily enough a loss to a guy who they don't know might just do that!

Whether Shogun is a fantastic talent or not will never be in debate, but how well the crowd receive him will be. Will they even realise they are looking at possibly the best Light Heavyweight on the planet?

Forest lost a BAD fight against Jardine in that he got put away early and the crowd still love him. He lost a good fight to Tito and it just seemed to get him more respect. The same will go for Shogun, win or lose, once it's a scrap then Forrest will do okay out of it. He has also once again proven himself to be a true fighter, stepping up to the plate and asking for one hell of a fight.

But it's also very clever of him. All the pride guys have looked very tentative under the lights of their first match in the UFC, Herring lost, CroCop didn't look comfortable against Sanchez ( and I know Sanchez was running away a lot ) and got put away by Gonzaga, Rampages success against Chuck aside looked very tentative against Eastman and Nog nearly got handed a loss. So far the transition from ring to Cage has not been a comfortable one for the former Pride Fighters.

However, the simple fact of it is that if you had to pick one possibility to enter the UFC and tear a streak to the title it would be Shogun.

dunkamania

dunkamania wrote:

I would love to be wrong about Randy losing this fight.I think this should be the best Gonzaga we have seen,from a cardio standpoint,and assuming the occasion doesnt get to him I believe he has the abilty to stop Randy.

I see the GSP KOS fight going exactly the same as GSP vs Hughes II

Its a pity Forrest is taking this fight now,I think in a year or two he will be a lot better fighter.He has only just started utilising his brain in the cage (picking apart Ramirez without going toe too toe with him)

But has Gonzaga ever been truly tested? I mean Mirko backed off him and threw one strike in 4 mins and 50 seconds of a fight. I can see Randy pushing the pace and Gonzaga buckling under the pressure.

Kos is a far far superior wrestler to Hughes but if GSP fights smart and doesnt let him shoot from in close he should be just fine.

Dragan

Dragan wrote:

He has also once again proven himself to be a true fighter, stepping up to the plate and asking for one hell of a fight.


However, the simple fact of it is that if you had to pick one possibility to enter the UFC and tear a streak to the title it would be Shogun.

Forrest is so likeable that he can afford to lose this no problem cos the average fan will still like him. And I agree, the transition has not been easy BUT Shogun fought in that 8man tourney that Babalu won in the cage and was fine (except for getting guillotined by Babalu of course!!)

Nothingcompares

Deleted User wrote:

Forrest is so likeable that he can afford to lose this no problem cos the average fan will still like him. And I agree, the transition has not been easy BUT Shogun fought in that 8man tourney that Babalu won in the cage and was fine (except for getting guillotined by Babalu of course!!)

In fact Forrest stepping up to get this fight probably endears him to many fans because he's a definite under dog. This will be another great test for the Pride>UFC theory. Shogun is an A-class Pride guy, I don't think Forrest is in the top 5 of the UFC. Anything other than Shogun winning in the first round will be an upset.

dunkamania

He a definite underdog,but since so many UFC fans dont know shogun,they might not be aware of this,wheras if Forrest fought Shogun after he had established himself it would be seen as more of an underdog matchup.

dunkamania

disregard

dunkamania

disregard

dunkamania

dunkamania wrote:

He a definite underdog,but since so many UFC fans dont know shogun,they might not be aware of this,wheras if Forrest fought Shogun after he had established himself it would be seen as more of an underdog matchup.

Yes but if Shogun had fought Machida the average fan still may not have known much about him after that. this makes a lot of sense.

Interview on Sherdog with Fedors manager.

He basically says that they are in negotiations with many companies and that the UFC's offer is the most financially attractive but it is not flexible or open to negotiation (exclusivve contract Id imagine) and that they may be willing to fight elsewhere for less money with more flexible terms.


Hope they sort this out. Itd be a shame to see the best in the world fighting lower level shows.

hardCopy

Deleted User wrote:

Interview on Sherdog with Fedors manager.

He basically says that they are in negotiations with many companies and that the UFC's offer is the most financially attractive but it is not flexible or open to negotiation (exclusivve contract Id imagine) and that they may be willing to fight elsewhere for less money with more flexible terms.


Hope they sort this out. Itd be a shame to see the best in the world fighting lower level shows.

Red Devil Sports have their own MMA promotion now and there seem to be a lot of rumours that he wants to be able to fight for them as well as Sambo tournaments and that these are both big no-nos for the UFC. At least he'll probably end up fighting Barnett if he goes to someone like Bodog.

It'd be terrible for him to fight anywhere outside the UFC because anybody else with a chance of rivalling him will likely be at the UFC and won't be seen as legit until they fight Fedor. It's because of times like this I think one organisation having a monopoly on top-tier talent is best for MMA.

dunkamania

Fedor doesnt seem that interested in competing against the best anymore.

Dragan

dunkamania wrote:

Fedor doesnt seem that interested in competing against the best anymore.

On the contrary. Over recent weeks Fedor's camp, his two brothers and the man himself have all said he really wants to fight in the UFC as "they have the best heavy weight division right now."

What he needs to still be able to do is compete in Combat Sambo. Fedor is the face of Combat Sambo, which is there national martial art and is important to both him and the Russian people that he be able to compete and represent his country. I don't see any issue with that, to be honest and if anything admire him more for not being bought out of it by a big paycheck.

Evil_Clown

I also hope that the UFC try their absolute best to get Fedor on board
He will just destroy the other heavyweights at the smaller organisations
Also the heavyweight divison in UFC looks like a world cup without Brazil until they can get Fedor.
As the UFC champ can never truly claim to be the best in the world without fighting Fedor

Evil_Clown

Evil_Clown wrote:

As the UFC champ can never truly claim to be the best in the world without fighting Fedor

Thats what concerns me. He knows this so he may preserve his legacy by not giving in to them. (not in any way saying he would lose by the way, just mean that he knows he can play hardball cos other orgs will trip over themselves to get him)

Pride Fighter

I heard somewhere Fedor might be going to Heros. They are offering him less money but will allow him fight in sambo competitions and allow his teammates fight in heros to develop as fighters. If they get Gomi also it could be a big rival to the ufc.

Vince135792003

An interview with Fedors agent from sherdog:

From Sherdog:

Sherdog.com: As Fedor's manager, can you please fill us in on the current state of his contract negotiations.
VF: At the moment we are in negotiations with a number of organizations who have put offers on the table. I'll be blunt in saying that the UFC offer is the most financially attractive one. However they are very harsh in their terms and are not very flexible in actually negotiating them.

Fedor has now been the PRIDE heavyweight champion for four years and I think we have earned the right to negotiate a contract that suits both parties. Instead we are faced with a blunt "you are either in or you're out." This does not really suit us. If the negotiations continue in a similar manner, we'll prefer to fight for less money but with an organization which is more flexible.

The problem is that Fedor is the face of Combat Sambo in Russia. His popularity is at a level where he is acquainted with president Putin himself, in part because he is so successful and well known for Combat Sambo here.

Combat Sambo is a Russian sport that's not at a level of difficulty of MMA, but is hugely popular with our public. Fedor must represent Russia in Combat Sambo and at world championships, specifically the ones coming up in September. All we want him to do is compete something like once a year in Combat Sambo. But the UFC is not happy with that.

Their proposal has all kinds of clauses, all kinds of fines etc. that do not suit us. The UFC is not really that eager to communicate and negotiate. The negotiations are still continuing, and we will try very hard to get our demands met, if not Fedor will simply not compete in the UFC, even though that will be unfortunate as they currently have one of the, if not the, strongest, heavyweight divisions in the world.

Sherdog.com: What do you think of the way the UFC markets itself? I am asking specifically about an interview Dana White gave recently where he mentioned that the negotiations [for getting Fedor into the UFC] were continuing, but that he was dealing with "crazy Russians," and he wasn't sure what they were going to do next.
VF: I think that first thing is that the UFC politics are that they probably want an American champion. I think it's safe to say that in America this is the case.

But in theory, if the organization is honourable, take the Japanese for example, for them the sport and integrity of the success of the fighters was most important. Their philosophy was that once at a high level the fighters were going to be matched with only the top level of the competition, and we know that eventually if you only face the best, eventually you will lose.

The UFC is slightly different. They have their own ways of doing things. For example, I suggested that they have a UFC event in Russia, which I would organize for them, including financial assistance. They said that didn't suit their current development plans.

I requested the right to show UFC content during the television slot we have with the state broadcaster in Russia. They declined and said that they had their own people who would organize this here. And today those people came to me to ask me to place the UFC content into our slot. I was fine with this, it's going ahead. I'm not a spiteful person. What matters is the exposure of the sport in Russia, UFC, or other organizations, it doesn't matter. What's important to me is my fighters getting recognition and the sport gaining popularity here.

Of course I prefer that they came to me for help in Russia, in organizing an event for them here in St. Petersburg, or in Moscow, no on else could do what I can. There is no one in Russia that can even get close to us with MMA promotion.

Sherdog.com: As Fedor's manager, how long would you like to see his career progress for, and also who would you like to see him fight before he retires?
VF: He's only 30, there is lot's of time left to fight still. The UFC is of course fighting in the cage, not in the ring. And we'd prefer that he would not fight the very strongest opponent straight away. Of course we want to fight strong fighters, but would like an opportunity to grow, get a little used to the new format.

I have absolutely no doubt that right now Fedor is the strongest heavyweight in the world, and could beat anyone they throw at him, but we would nevertheless like an opportunity to develop a little, get used to the new surroundings. There are elbows now, etc.

Of course we want to fight with them. Though there are other opportunities, other organizations. There is the offer from K-1, a good offer, though a little less in terms of finances, mostly as they do not have the kind of revenue streams that the UFC currently has today, due to PPV.

But there are other factors. The UFC is only interested in Fedor; they are not considering other Red Devil fighters. K-1 is prepared to take our boys and provide other assistance as well, in developing the team. But we're not in a huge hurry. If Fedor is not signed for a while, I will organize a match here for him.

We have the resources and audience and television rights to make a good go of it here. The first large overseas organization that properly enters into Russia will do very well. But the UFC is not interested. They are only interested in North America and a few European shows.

I've tried to explain this to Dana White, I suggested working together as I believe there is a lot of potential in this part of the world for joint ventures to be hugely successful. Apart from Russia there are other former republics of the Soviet Union which will be good sources of revenue in the future also, as there is growing interest in the sport which will only increase over time.

hardCopy

Wand has arrived at last. Now we just have to wait for Fedor to sign on.

http://wwworigin.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=7253

hardCopy

hardCopy wrote:

Wand has arrived at last. Now we just have to wait for Fedor to sign on.

http://wwworigin.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=7253

Yea Im delighted about this, really cant wait to see him in there!!! Wonder who theyll put him in there with first, Id imagine as Dana does that he will skip the formalities and put him straight in with Chuck. Personally Id like to give him a warm up but thats me.

Evil_Clown

Deleted User wrote:

Personally Id like to give him a warm up but thats me.

I agree Chuck v Silva will be much better if silva got a warm up fight first
If it's against someone carp it doesn't matter just so as he can get octagon experience again.
So I hope he gets a warm up
Any suggestions as to who would be 'mad' enough to offer themselves ??

Evil_Clown

Evil_Clown wrote:

I agree Chuck v Silva will be much better if silva got a warm up fight first
If it's against someone carp it doesn't matter just so as he can get octagon experience again.
So I hope he gets a warm up
Any suggestions as to who would be 'mad' enough to offer themselves ??

Hmmmmm, David Heath, Stefan Bonnar, Mike Nichols etc any middle of the road guy who the fans know basically. It would give Chuck vs Wand added exposure. The UFC seem cautious about risking him losing a fight though. But those fights would be great!!

Kevin Randleman was arrested in Vegas the other day for drink driving, turned out to be on coke as well and got aggressive with the police officer.


The official report says that "Randleman became aggressive and the office easily placed him in a kimura to restrain him"..........redface!!

So Babalu got fined half of his purse for holding onto the choke too long. 25 grand. Probably a bit harsh IMO.

Dragan

Deleted User wrote:

The official report says that "Randleman became aggressive and the office easily placed him in a kimura to restrain him"..........redface!!

The arresting office must have been Fedor.