Alright. I don't think my fandom clouds anything, though; I have bet against fighters I really like and wish would win before. And I have never bet against Brock before (including the first Mir fight), until now. Yeah, and James Toney flew in King Mo. Great deal of good it did him. It's nice Brock got to pretend to be a kickboxer for a bit, but it's not going to help him much against Cain. No, why should I be? The size of one's muscles is the same reason some idiots felt that Mariusz P. had a chance against Tim Sylvia.
Wow, didn't know that, kind of worries me. Not that I ever though you were a nut hugger, but I had no idea you picked Brock in the first Mir fight. By all accounts Toney wasn't taking the training serious anyway, doesn't matter who you get, if you don't care it's meaningless. Sadly I'm one of those idiots, but more because I thought Sylvia lost the desire to train. I was referring to the viking warrior beard more than anything, though. Just look at it, it's so awesome Let's lock the bet down though, do you agree with Nov 1 - Dec 31 sig bet?
MMA will never become a legitimate sport until the Iron Sheik gets his shot and puts on a clinic against all these jabronis. In the meantime enjoy this tiff between the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar.
Reports are claiming the "tiff" was rigged. The WWE wants Brock back to fight the Undertaker and that stunt was set up to generate interest. Dana's lot letting that shit fly though. All his fighters sign very strict non-compete clauses so they can only compete in the UFC.
Anyone know how many fights Brock has left on his contract? I know he doesn't want to go back to the WWE, but if he keeps losing and the money is right I wouldn't be too surprised if he makes the jump back.
Not sure how many fights are left on his contract (all I could find was it saying "Brock is still under contract") so no WWE until at least another fight, which he won't lose. The only fighters in the UFC I'd give good odds of beating Brock I'd say are JDS and Cain. He likely won't be fighting either of those men for at least 12-18 months. So he should be able to rebuild his confidence and commitment to the sport, I hope.
Any speculation about him going back to the WWE or any questions about his commitment are completely unwarranted. 1) Dana isn't letting him go without a fight because even if he loses he's still a big PPV draw. It doesn't matter if you want to see him win, or see him get his ass kicked. The point is you want to see him fight. 2) Losing to a guy like Cain doesn't mean Lesnar's heart isn't in the sport. If he had lost to the heavyweight equivalent of a Roger Huerta (by today's standard, not 2-3 years ago) or a Gabe Ruediger, then I would question his commitment. He lost to a top tier fighter who was being hyped as the next heavyweight powerhouse before he even stepped into the cage. And while I hate hype on principle, Cain has obviously justified his. Lesnar needs more training, no doubt about that. He needs to significantly improve his boxing and learn at least a purple belt's worth of BJJ if he wants to become more than just another heavyweight fighter whose only strategy involves looking for that one big punch. Question his experience, question his skill set, but to question a fighter's heart just because he lost is absurd.
Lest anyone forget the massive struggle and legal battle Lesnar had with the WWE to get out of his contract. Brock might be a meathead, but he's not stupid enough to get wooed by McMahon again. Besides, his reasons for leaving the WWE is 1) that he hated travelling and performing 45 weeks a year and wanted more time to be with his family and 2) that he was craving a real athletic competition. UFC gives him both of those with 10x the payday. Why would he even think about going back to the WWE?
Holy. Fucking. Shit. WEC and UFC merging http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=forum.posts&thread=1721450&page=1
Neither of those are going to happen. First of all, Brock doesn't even need a purple belt's worth of BJJ. It does nothing for his game. In fact, strength and takedowns aside, most wrestlers at 205 pounds and heavyweight, even supposed "black belts" like Couture and Evans, have around a blue belt level of technical skills, and they have been around a lot longer than Brock has. As for his boxing, I just don't think he can change that. While there was considerable improvement in Brock's knees from the Couture fight, his boxing was unchanged. With his amount of muscle mass, his handspeed is always going to suck, and his jab is pawing. Meanwhile, his hooks looked ridiculously bad, but again, it's hard to change that when one is so overly bulky. At this point, Brock has been training in MMA since early 2006; almost 5 years. Full-time. He's 33 years old. Is he going to refine and improve some elements of his game? Sure. Is he going to add brand-new things that he was previously awful at? No. As for the WEC-UFC merger, they have been discussing it for a while, so it's great to see it finally come to fruition, starting in 2011. With the number of events the UFC holds, they could really use the added depth.
I shit my pants when I saw that, for once Dana wasn't over hyping his BIG announcement. We knew this would happen eventually, but I thought contractually it couldn't happen until 2012... but that's probably what the UFC on Versus events are for. It'll be nice to see guys like Faber and Aldo make some more money and get more attention, but I'm willing to bet the farm most of the WEC lightweights are gone once their contracts are up.
I'm interested to see if any current UFC lightweights move down to 145 lbs after the merger. Tyson Griffin maybe? Gomi?
Why would Edgar move down? The main advantage that he holds at 155 is his speed, which he would lose at a lower weight. Just because he can make the weight, doesn't mean he should. I think Jose Aldo would give him fits, personally. KI, I thought that you were dead.
Edgar is doing great at 155 lbs and unless he loses 2-3 consecutive fights, I don't see him moving down a class.
UFC 122 was overall lackluster. Nice to see my boy Sadollah improving though. Although I am worried that unless he develops some finishing prowess he'll never become a top-tier welterweight. Shame. But if he ever leaves the UFC I'm sure they'll save a spot for him on Dancing With the Stars. http://www.mmatko.com/amir-sadollah-ufc-122-dance-gif/