Mixed Martial Arts (UFC, Dream, Elite XC ect.)

[Sandman]

I just watched boxing for the first time in a long time and will probably not watch again for a while. It was Lopez vs Salido on Showtime. The fight ended with ref stoppage while both fighters were standing, the champ still had his wits about him, and had even just landed a punch...or was it a counter punch? Bad finish to a mostly meh fight...champ was 30-0 too and pissed at the finish.

[Lance Uppercut]

UFC 129 is tonight, and it promises to be the biggest show the UFC has done thus far, with 55,000 fans filling up the Skydome. Remember that it'll be starting an hour earlier tonight (9:00 ET/8:00 CT), and that they'll be showing ALL of the preliminary fights live on Facebook and Spike. On to my picks:

Ben "Bendo" Henderson vs. Mark Bocek: Never mind that Bendo lost his last fight to Anthony Pettis via a ridiculously awesome flying kick, and remember that the fight was even at 2 rounds a piece going into the 5th. The guy is a stud in the 155 division, with strong wrestling, ground and pound, and unreal submission defense.

Bocek isn't a slouch either, having lost only to Jim Miller in his last 5 fights and owning to some pretty damn good grappling skills (submitting the other 4 guys). This is gonna be one hell of a grappling battle, but I have to give the edge to Bendo here in a close split decision.

Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz: Both are decent wrestlers with ok striking, but youth should win out over experience here. Brilz by decision.

Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida: I hate having to pick a winner here. Machida really needs a win after losing 2 in a row, but I want to Randy come out on top here with a win before retiring for good. Again.

Randy needs to make this fight into a brawl, close the distance, and clinch Machida against the cage where he undoubtedly has the edge with his dirty boxing and greco base. I don't see Machida letting that happen. Watch for him to work Randy from the outside and use his speed (and perhaps a little more aggression following his last fight with Rampage) to pick Randy apart for a late TKO or decision.

Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick: You know the Jose Aldo we've been watching tear through the WEC's 145 division? That's him at 80%. Now imagine him healthy and at 100%. After getting surgery to fix a nagging injury, he'll be making his UFC debut and title defense against a game Hominick.

Hominick will oblige Aldo in the standup, and it will be a bad idea as Aldo is one of the most diverse strikers in the sport. Should the fight hit the ground, Aldo is also a former Jiu-Jitsu world champion and will quickly look for submissions there. Aldo by whatever he wants, whenever he wants.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields: Jake Shields is on a roll. The guy is really good at taking lemons (Hendo beating his ass in round 1) and making lots of lemonade (dominating Hendo for the other 4 rounds). He always seems to find a way to get the fight where he wants it and win.

He's gonna have a hard time doing that against GSP. While Shields' grappling skills are god tier, his takedowns are rudimentary at best, and he doesn't have the striking to set them up well. Meanwhile, GSP has been working with both Freddie Roach and Roger Gracie for this fight, but watch as GSP keeps him at bay with well-timed jabs, and keeps the fight standing up.

If the fight does go to the ground, it will be because St. Pierre took it there, and he'll have enough ground and pound and sub defense to steer clear of Shields' sweeps and sub attempts. I'm expecting to see the fight kept on its feet most of the time, with GSP taking a late TKO or another lopsided decision.

[Wackman3000]

Agreed all around. The only thing I will say is that Ben Henderson didn't make weight, and he looked really gaunt and tired at the weigh ins. Hopefully that doesn't turn out to burn him should the fight go the distance.

I had been counting Shields' out since the fight was announced, but as it gets closer and closer to fight night, I keep thinking that maybe he can pull it off. The guy is ALWAYS underestimated and like you said, finds a way to make the fight go where he wants. If he somehow finds a way to bring GSP to the ground for a few rounds, it could end up a very interesting, very tough to call, fight.

[Lance Uppercut]

Motherfuckin CRANE KICK

If do right, no can defense.

[Lance Uppercut]

NECROTHREAD

So that was a pretty good PPV. Carwin took a hell of a beating tonight. I'm disappointed it didn't end in a knockout like I thought it would, but that dude was tough. JDS is definitely legit, can't wait to see his fight with Cain.

If Florian had a tough weight cut, it didn't show too much tonight. He came back strong after a poor 1st round to convincingly win the fight. Those elbows are gonna be a problem for anyone in 145.

[Wackman3000]

Originally Posted by Lance Uppercut

NECROTHREAD

So that was a pretty good PPV. Carwin took a hell of a beating tonight. I'm disappointed it didn't end in a knockout like I thought it would, but that dude was tough. JDS is definitely legit, can't wait to see his fight with Cain.

If Florian had a tough weight cut, it didn't show too much tonight. He came back strong after a poor 1st round to convincingly win the fight. Those elbows are gonna be a problem for anyone in 145.

Agreed. Some good knockouts and great fights overall.

Florian looks great at 145, and I look forward to seeing what else he can do, especially if he doesn't have to come off of a surgery and a big weight cut. I swear the guy hides razor blades in his elbows, because everytime he throws one he busts a a guy up.

JDS is the MAN. Yet another prime demonstration of how a solid jab can control an entire fight, similar to GSP and his demolishing of Koscheck. Carwin showed some serious heart, but other than one good punch in the 2nd round and a few takedowns that JDS got back up from, he was really nothing more than a punching bag for JDS. He just didn't have an answer for the hand speed of Junior.

Bring on the Cain/JDS fight, that should be a great one.

Also, to bring up some other discussion, I read that from now on (any future unsigned UFC events) all the main events will be 5 round fights. I for one am very happy to see this happening because too many great fights are ending in draws, and I think it will really show who is worthy of a title shot and to be an elite fighter in a division.

[Lutheran]

Although I think the fight may have been stopped a bit early what with the HW GOAT being in the ring, I have no doubt that the man is done as far as being a great fighter. He fights now for the money, he doesn't train like he used to, heck even Hendo said Fedor did not train seriously. He needs to retire and go enjoy his religion and his wife and never enter an MMA ring again unless it is to teach.

[Purple Santa]

Originally Posted by Lutheran

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...FSoupHDcom.gif


Although I think the fight may have been stopped a bit early what with the HW GOAT being in the ring, I have no doubt that the man is done as far as being a great fighter. He fights now for the money, he doesn't train like he used to, heck even Hendo said Fedor did not train seriously. He needs to retire and go enjoy his religion and his wife and never enter an MMA ring again unless it is to teach.

I only follow MMA through listening to Opie and Anthony but remember hearing about Fedor. How long has he been "not top dog"?

[Serapth]

... at first I thought this was about tennis.

[Lutheran]

Originally Posted by Purple Santa

I only follow MMA through listening to Opie and Anthony but remember hearing about Fedor. How long has he been "not top dog"?

He has lost 3 fights in a row, each fight looking worse and worse. The first loss was basically just a lazy wanting to end the fight quick moment when he went into a great BJJ fighters guard and got caught in a triangle choke. Then he got beat up by a guy who probably outweighed him by 60 pounds and is also a BJJ black belt. Both of those losses are fights that he would have won pretty easily a few years earlier.

This last fight against Henderson just proves that he has lost all desire to be a great fighter. He came into the ring lighter then he usually is but his body looks completely without any muscle mass at all. He always had a gut but he still always looked powerful. Even bad Fedor has a punchers chance to win and he did knock Hendo down. But again in his haste to want to end the fight quickly he made a stupid move and did not secure himself on top of a great wrestler like Henderson and he ended up getting reversed and face planted after taking a great uppercut and the ref seen that and stopped the fight because he was in a bad position and maybe even was temporarily knocked out. Can't be sure and it was an early stop IMO but he would have still lost IMO. In the old days he would have rag-dolled a guy like Henderson due to superior strength, size and his great technique. Those days are over.

So basically he hasn't been top dog in a few years but now he may not even be in the top 10-15 fighters pound for pound. From 2003 or so till 2008 there was never anyone better then him IMO.

[Crowe]

The end comes to us all. He was an absolute beast in his prime, lightning fast hands and exciting to watch. It's sad that it has ended this way.

[Entropy]

Sad to see his career come to end like that...oh well...such is sports....the key has always been knowing when to retire before you tarnish your image.

[Wackman3000]

First of all, we have an MMA thread for this, and I really suggest you use it, since some people might not have watched and this would be a serious spoiler.

Second, I would have liked to see that fight go a bit longer personally. Yes, he flattened out, but you could see that he was still moving and rolled over almost instantly after that, ready to get into guard.

Joe Rogan retweeted someone who pointed out the Pat Barry/Check Congo fight at the last UFC event that was an EPIC turn around that also could have been stopped, but they let it go on, and it turned out to be huge.

As for Fedor being finished, I think there is more fight left in him, he just needs to get serious about it. Fire the stupid managers, get some real trainers and conditioning coaches in there, lose the 20+ lbs that he doesn't need, and fight at LHW where IMO he truly belongs.

It sucks seeing the emperor get taken down, but Hendo is no slouch. I've always loved his style of fighting man can he ever lay a guy out with a punch. H BOMB anyone?

[Pale Ale]

Originally Posted by Entropy

Sad to see his career come to end like that...oh well...such is sports....the key has always been knowing when to retire before you tarnish your image.

Excuse Me?

Originally Posted by Serapth

... at first I thought this was about tennis.

I kinda wish it was after all, I know more about Tennis as I've seen more camera commercials. What do MMA fighter market again?

[Wackman3000]

Originally Posted by Pale Ale

I kinda wish it was after all, I know more about Tennis as I've seen more camera commercials. What do MMA fighter market again?

[muddi900]

And I lost.

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by Pale Ale

Excuse Me?

I wish I knew what your post meant

[Lance Uppercut]

It was a justifiable stoppage. You could visibly see Fedor go limp after that uppercut, and he took several unanswered punches. One of those punches woke him up, but by that point, Herb had seen enough and was moving to stop the fight. It was an ugly stoppage, considering the kind of punishment Fedor has been through before, but it was a fair one.

I think it's time to hang up those gloves. I don't want to see another Ken Shamrock situation.

[Karak]

Originally Posted by Lance Uppercut

It was a justifiable stoppage. You could visibly see Fedor go limp after that uppercut, and he took several unanswered punches. One of those punches woke him up, but by that point, Herb had seen enough and was moving to stop the fight. It was an ugly stoppage, considering the kind of punishment Fedor has been through before, but it was a fair one.

I think it's time to hang up those gloves. I don't want to see another Ken Shamrock situation.

Totally agreed. Justified without a doubt.
Unanswered punches are the devil.

[Felonous]

Can we close this thread, we already have a MMA thread. Or at least change the title, as I hadn't watched the fights until this afternoon but made the mistake this morning of looking in the COG forums to only have the main fight results spoiled by asshole OP.