The Off Topic Thread & Off Topic Thread II - Collectors Edition Bumper Pack

Xavi6 wrote: »

Yeah I never actually believed in that phrase until full time employment came up. It's amazing how true it is.

Well I live for my "not working" time. I absolutely love training so i look forward to training on weeknights. But I cant stick drinking and then goin into work hungover anymore so all my fun and (most of my playtime is conducted at weekends so I live for the highs of the weekend tbh!

Problem with it is that a few weekends in a row of "get off work friday - get p1ssed - massive overhang on sat - feel oddly ropey sunday and depressed at having to go back to work" and it puts you off it!

shane86 wrote: »

I was watching some UFC cage fighting late night on Setanta.

Christ who the **** goes to see this redneck gypsy "entertainment". It has all the grace and skill of watching two 12 year olds knock the sh1te out of each other in the playground. Two not particularly physically fit men very sloppily knocking the sh1t out of each other is below drunken bar brawling in terms of sporting merit.

The fact that The Sun is the only large media outlet that covers this crap says it all in terms of the crowds the bouts in The Point attract. Someone ban this sport on safety grounds, but with the non spoken reason that the actual reason for banning it is that it is utter sht1 that causes scobes to gather in large numbers.

:rolleyes:

Have you ever been to any mixed martial arts event? I can assure you that they most certainly are not predominantly full of "redneck gypsys". In fact tickets for the UFC are so expensive that it means that it's almost always skobe free. The UFC event in Belfast was one of the most fun atmospheres Ive ever experienced. You get more agro between rival sets of fans at an average soccer match than you do at a UFC event.

It has all the grace and skill of two 12 year olds knocking the sh1te out of each other in a playground? What do you weigh? If its that simple then if you like I can find you a guy for you in your weight class no problem and get you on a local card against him. I'm sure you'll make easy work of him and have enough stamina left in the tank to go out and chase skirts later that night. And hey, it'll make that skirt chasing easier because you can brag about how you made short work of some unskilled guy in a cage fight. Only somebody who has never competed or trained in any grappling art could spout such absolute sh1te.

You do also realise that a large percentage of UFC fighters are college graduates? Most of them are standout wrestlers in the NCAA, some made it to the Olympics (Dan Henderson/Matt Lindland), others are former maths teachers (Rich Franklin), qualified accountants (Chuck Liddell) etc. They're not just a bunch of hicks who enjoy the blood. I've met a lot of guys who fight in MMA and I've never found them to be anything other than friendly unassuming and down to earth.

As for you "not particularly physically fit" remark. I'll put it this way. Google "UFC All Access" and watch pretty much any one of them and see the kind of training they put in. For example, Randy Couture, the current UFC Heavyweight Champion is 45 years of age. He trains some of his cardio fitness in a centre in Las Vegas which is basically a large room of tramploines side by side where you bound from one to the next and do various drills. Now this place attracts top boxers, NFL footballers, NBA basketballers and other team sports as part of their pre season training, and the guy who runs the place said that Couture, who is on average 20 years older than these guys, was by far and away the fittest athlete he's ever seen. 45 years old.

The Sun may be the only newspaper that covers it but it gets mainstream coverage in the US from the likes of ESPN and Yahoo.

And finally, ban the sport on safety grounds? What do you base this on? Can you please quote me the list of cases where serious injury has been caused to support this statement please? Oh wait, you can't. That's because in the entire history of the sport there have been 3 deaths. 3, I believe that there are more per year in boxing. The first one was a Russian guy who basically died the same way Marc Viven Foe did, a heart condition that had not been spotted caused him to go into cardiac arrest from the physical exertion of judo throwing his opponent. You cannot account for that as he likely would have died whether he chose to fight in a cage, play rugby, swim or whatever. The second was the sad case of Sammy Vasquez and the third was a Korean fella who suffered a brain haemmorage after a fight.

If you don't like something then fine but don't ignorantly call for something to be banned and then insult the fanbase of a sport that you clearly haven't the foggiest clue about.


/rant





And to think I stopped in here this morning to simply post a good morning and how was everyone's weekend!!?

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

I think we were all waiting for Neil to reply to that post.

I don't have a clue about UFC or MMA however I do watch it the odd time whens its on, and I will be watching the Couture vs. Lesnar fight I think it this weekend. Even from a casual fan I can see that these guys mean business and although I don't understand a lot of it and it can seem like a lot of "hugging" going on, I know I wouldn't want to be in that cage.

Lucky I'm posting from work. Had I been at home Id have exceeded character limit!

Randy vs Brock is gonna be huge. Can't wait for it.

The "hugging" is actually usually what happnens when two guys who are both excellent wrestlers clash it becomes a stalemate. Basically when they are hugging they are both pushing pulling each other trying to get one to overcompensate and lose balance so as to set up a throw or a bodylock takedown. So if I was "hugging" you Id be looking to push you back. Then when you feel the push you would push back into me to stop me from throwing you. What i'd then look for is to use your own momentum against you so that when u push back into me I pull you towards me and you lose balance for a split second giving me a chance to take you down. It can be a bit boring to watch at times but I assure you it's a technical struggle. Watch out for this on saturday as Couture is very good at the push/pull struggle and the clinch in general.

I don't care if people don't like it. I'm well used to that and there's nothing in the whole world that EVERYONE likes (okay save for sex, food etc but u know what I mean!) but I just have a problem with people tearing it apart without backing it up with something intelligent and a good reason for it.