UFC & General MMA

[Garth]

Anybody else here follow UFC or MMA in general?

UFC 135 over the weekend had some good fights happening.

Jone Jones vs Rampage was interesting. I was sad to see Rampage lose as he's been a favorite of mine since I started following the sport. Jone's reach advantage was just too much for him.

The Rashad Evans/Jon Jones Light Heavyweight Title fight should be a good one down the road.

Other than that there's some exciting stuff coming up, such as UFC's debut on FOX with Velasquez vs Dos Santos for the Heavyweight title, and the return of Brock Lesnar in a few months time.

I'm pretty disappointed about the George St-Pierre fight getting changed from Diaz to Condit. Not half as excited for the new match.

[wanna_B_nerd]

Imma a fan, but havent really followed, mostly because im poor so very excited for the fights on Fox! Just today in fact I stumbled upon the awesomeness that is/was Bas Rutten. I need to learn the "liver shot"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBUJa7ndYL0

[Centurion]

Bas Rutten is awesome. I kinda follow it, though not religiously, I tend to just watch an event if it's on TV or grab a DVD if I see one

[Jon Umber]

I've been following it long to remember people calling me a "TUF noob". So not truly old school, but for a while. I also train BJJ, which I highly recommend if you're a fan of MMA.

[Garth]

I remember getting into UFC around the time Rampage & Forest were coaching TUF. I'm not an old school fan either, but I feel like I've been a fan long enough. It's not like it was easily accessible on British TV.

A big part of why I'm interested in possibly taking up BJJ is from seeing some of the excellent practitioners in UFC.

[Jon Umber]

It will change your life. Not hyperbole.

[Garth]

Got a class lined up for Saturday. Can't wait. I know it's going to be hard, but I'm excited.

[Jon Umber]

Awesome! Let us know how it goes. Rule #1: Leave your ego at the door. Expect to tap often.

[Garth]

So how about UFC 141 then? Sad to see Brock Lesnar get pummelled out of the UFC. He was a bit of a favourite of mine since day 1, having been a follower of pro wrestling longer than MMA. Overeem vs. Dos Santos should be interesting. Shaping up to be Kickboxing vs. Boxing.

My MMA New Years resolution is to try and watch stuff that isn't just UFC, so will be giving Strikeforce & Bellator a go.

[Benhem612]

Awesome! Let us know how it goes. Rule #1: Leave your ego at the door. Expect to tap often.

Good lord this is true. I am a wrestler transitioning to BJJ and it has been hard going. I am having to unlearn all of the muscle memory I had for wrestling positioning. BJJ has been great for the first month so far!

Garth, have you looked on youtube? There are a lot of great amateur MMA fights on there.

[GoToTheGround]

My MMA New Years resolution is to try and watch stuff that isn't just UFC, so will be giving Strikeforce & Bellator a go.

...and by that Garth you of course mean you'll be watching me present 'Cage Warriors' live on Sky Sports throughout all of 2012 don't you?! ;-) www.cagewarriors.com

Good lord this is true. I am a wrestler transitioning to BJJ and it has been hard going. I am having to unlearn all of the muscle memory I had for wrestling positioning. BJJ has been great for the first month so far!

I find high level wrestlers (of comparable weight) a pain in the ass. You almost have to accept subbing them from guard as putting on their backs is a freaking effort!

[Centurion]

So how about UFC 141 then? Sad to see Brock Lesnar get pummelled out of the UFC. He was a bit of a favourite of mine since day 1, having been a follower of pro wrestling longer than MMA. Overeem vs. Dos Santos should be interesting. Shaping up to be Kickboxing vs. Boxing.

My MMA New Years resolution is to try and watch stuff that isn't just UFC, so will be giving Strikeforce & Bellator a go.

Personally I'm the oppposite, I can't stand Lesnar, he comes across as a muscle-bound meathead and he seemed to succeed on brute force and genetic luck rather than actual skill, although that's just my opinion and it's not to say he didn't train hard to get where he did but he seemed to lack a certain 'fight' where if he didn't impose himself on his opponent early he wouldn't be able to come back. It seemed to me in his losses that it was noticeable where he just gave up, but again I might be wrong.

Did anyone see UFC 140, personally I thought it was better than 141 but I really like Jon Jones so that might be why. Still there were some great fights on that card

[Garth]

I agree with you on a lot of your points regarding Lesnar. He was not good at rebounding from adversity in a fight. Once it stopped going his way he kind of withers and dies. Like I said, followed him from WWE over to UFC and enjoyed seeing him fight the few times that he did.

Machida vs Jones was a good fight. Jon Jones had one hell of a year, looking forward to his next title defence. Hopefully Rashad will finally get his crack at it.

@GTTG: Well now you've made me aware of it's existence, I will definitely try to follow it this year. Haven't had a chance to go and watch a fight card ever, so might have to try and make it to an event some time.

[Benhem612]

...I find high level wrestlers (of comparable weight) a pain in the ass. You almost have to accept subbing them from guard as putting on their backs is a freaking effort!

I understand. Most of the pre-reading I did on transitioning the sports had that as a common complaint about wrestlers. I have found that getting choked out from behind multiple times in a row serves as a decent reminder that I can and should go to my back :-P.

[chairohkey]

I understand. Most of the pre-reading I did on transitioning the sports had that as a common complaint about wrestlers. I have found that getting choked out from behind multiple times in a row serves as a decent reminder that I can and should go to my back :-P.

Though I haven't rolled in a few years I actually found the transition easy when I first started out. There truly is no better base.

[GoToTheGround]

I'm giving an early shout out to Terry Etim for this weekend taking on Barboza at UFC142. I expect a seriously technical fight.

Side note: I also need to see a Palhares heel hook to be satisfied ;-)

[chairohkey]

Tree stump is taken a leg home with him.

[GoToTheGround]

What the hell? Anthony Johnson missed weight by 11lbs?!!!?! How do you screw up a weight cut that badly?!

[Garth]

The report I read suggested he'd been told by UFC doctors to rehydrate as he was unwell. He's also reported to have said that he was walking around at 215lbs as recently as last week, so something is clearly wrong. That all sounds pretty suspicious to me.

I just don't understand how he could miss weight under normal circumstances. He's coming up a weight class from Welter! It should have been a cake walk. He'd better hope he wins this fight now, otherwise I could see him being cut if he doesn't have a spectacular reason for missing.

[Garth]

So, Anthony Johnson is gone then. Tough luck for him.

Looks like you got your wishes GTTG. The Heel Hook for Palhares was sick. I'd not seen one set up quite like that before.

Poor old Terry Etim, he's going to be in highlight reels for years to come but for the wrong reason unfortunately.

Sucks about Silva being DQ'd. He seems to have a bright future ahead of him regardless of this, and as we've seen Dana is siding with him and paid him as if he'd won the fight.

Seemed pretty unprofessional for Joe Rogan to call out Mario on the decision even if it did seem like BS.

Really enjoyed the card as a whole though. All of the fights from the main card delivered, and it was a nice change of pace to have none of the fights go to the judges.

[GoToTheGround]

So, Anthony Johnson is gone then. Tough luck for him.

Not bothered, rather enjoyed the guy who called him Anthony 'Crumble' Johnson.

Looks like you got your wishes GTTG. The Heel Hook for Palhares was sick. I'd not seen one set up quite like that before.

It's a common attack sequence in high level BJJ for a knee bar attempt but his transition for the HH was just brilliant. How anyone cannot be at least a little intimidated fighting him is beyond me.

Poor old Terry Etim, he's going to be in highlight reels for years to come but for the wrong reason unfortunately.

Yeah but how wicked was the turning kick??! Just stunning.

Sucks about Silva being DQ'd. He seems to have a bright future ahead of him regardless of this, and as we've seen Dana is siding with him and paid him as if he'd won the fight.

Seemed pretty unprofessional for Joe Rogan to call out Mario on the decision even if it did seem like BS.

Everyone's arguing both sides of this whole debacle. I don't have a problem with him asking the question but I'd never have expected Yamasaki to answer. Wouldn't surprise me to see this overturned to a no contest on the basis of the strikes being accidental.

[Garth]

Not bothered, rather enjoyed the guy who called him Anthony 'Crumble' Johnson.

There's been so much funny stuff online regarding Johnson and the whole debacle.

This being the thing that has made me laugh the most

It's a common attack sequence in high level BJJ for a knee bar attempt but his transition for the HH was just brilliant. How anyone cannot be at least a little intimidated fighting him is beyond me.

I get the feeling that you would go into the fight so preoccupied with stopping him getting your leg that other areas of your game would slip, so even if you can avoid that it leaves you vulnerable elsewhere.

Yeah but how wicked was the turning kick??! Just stunning.

Oh definitely. Thing of beauty. I do wonder though whether this will be the new front kick like Anderson Silva caught Vitor with? Seemed like there were plenty of people trying to imitate it afterwards.

Everyone's arguing both sides of this whole debacle. I don't have a problem with him asking the question but I'd never have expected Yamasaki to answer. Wouldn't surprise me to see this overturned to a no contest on the basis of the strikes being accidental.

What are your thoughts on having instant replay instated to be used in situations like this? I can't see any negatives really so look as it is used in a fair and even handed way.

[GoToTheGround]

Shot some additional video for the show I just did out in Dubai. Whole thing went really well and the promotion just signed a deal with ESPN so we are now in a possible 105 million homes worldwide!

Check it out and see what you think - some wicked footage in these (done by Stuart Cooper of StuCooperFilms/GrappleVideos).

Official recap video (if I look buggered it's because this was the next day after the show after 12 hours of alcohol abuse):

Official highlight video:

[Garth]

So, Chael vs. Silva II happened. The finish was wonderful, with Chael putting himself on his ass following that attempted spinning backfist.

Wouldn't say no to a third match up between the two, but that was a pretty decisive win for Silva. The next question is, who gets the next shot at the Middleweight belt?

The next big fight on the horizon is the Jon Jones vs Hendo for the LHW title. Does Hendo have the answer to Jon Jones? Whatever happens, I hope it's more exciting than the Rashad/Jones fight. That was not any fun to watch at all.

[rtalencar]

I saw Chael - Silva in Vegas and I'm half Brazilian...that was a good day