Comments on: Tuesday media turmoil: MMA wars rage on

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 06:55:31 +0000

klown …

That was a great post. I’m not being sarcastic, for once.

By: klown

klown — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 02:47:39 +0000

I like Pride and UFC the old way, 2 distinct interpretations of the sport. The type of fighter to dominate in a ring, with ref readjustments, with stomps and soccer kicks and knees on the ground, is different from the type of fighter who dominates in a cage, with elbows. The different rules set a whole different feel to each promotion, style and pace of fights, strategies available to fighters. I regret any “unification”, or dilution of their unique styles.

Of course, I’m excited for the Pride vs UFC fights. But imagine if 2 or 3 fight feuds were played out in each of the 2 settings. It would be interesting to see if, for example, Silva beats Liddell in the ring but loses in the Octagon, or perhaps it would be the opposite, and we’d find little or no correlation between the setting and who wins. We’d find out to what extent a particular fighter’s strategies depends on the rules or the structure, and which fighters win no matter where. I’d be interested to see.

By: 45 Huddle

45 Huddle — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 02:07:53 +0000

One thing we will finally see are fighters like Rua, Arona, & Filho getting title shots like they have deserved. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Dan Henderson holding no titles by the end of the year. Rua should beat him. And Filho would probably be a favorite. By the end of ‘07 I see it as:

HW: Fedor
LHW: Rua
MW: Filho
WW: Sakurai
LW: Winner of LW Tourny (Melendez if I was forced to pick)

By: The Gaijin

The Gaijin — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 00:40:26 +0000

I’m pretty sure Mark Hunt can and has fought around 260lbs before. I think its just a matter of him actually needing/being motivated enough to have to.

By: JThue

JThue — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 00:07:37 +0000

“1. Removal of 265 lbs limit on the Heavyweight Division.”

- This would only increase the weight cutting problem with all 230 lbs’ers following in Liddell’s footsteps. No thanks. Someone really needs to run with a super heavy division now though. One can look at WEC and hope for the same here, only tilted heavy instead of light. In fact, this could be one of the most interesting stories to come out of this, as with a 265 cap on HW in PRIDE now, Zuffa either has to add SHW or dump Mark Hunt.

By: iain

iain — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:48:45 +0000

I want the ring to stay. I want knees to the ground to stay (at the least).

Apart from that I am happy japanese mma is surviving. Hopefully Pride won’t be gutted completely.

This is way better than where Pride was headed.

So zach do you still hate pride now or was just the people in charge?

By: 45 Huddle

45 Huddle — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:45:42 +0000

Unified Weight Classes are the best thing for the entire sport. I don’t think anybody would disagree with that. However, the system isn’t perfect yet. Here is a short list of things I would like to see:

1. Removal of 265 lbs limit on the Heavyweight Division.
2. Allow knees on the ground.

Having different organizations is actually a fantastic thing. Basically, you have 2 distinct sets of contenders in each company. This will allow for more potential stars to grow.

The weight class change will only effect a handful of fighters. Sakurai & Aoki are the first two that come to mind. I don’t think many other will be effected. I hope they bring Hioki to the WEC and have him fight Faber. That would be a fantastic fight.

Overall, I don’t really see many negatives with this. People will say the fighters won’t get paid, but I say BS to that. Elite XC & K-1 are still around. Zuffa & Pride will have to pay the fighters at a certain level or they will leave. And the Fertitta’s have seemed to be nothing but good with the payouts. Heck, Rua is getting paid more money now.

By: The Gaijin

The Gaijin — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:45:18 +0000

I could live with elbows if they allow knees on the ground/4-pt stance. Make the guy have to work and risk it to take the fight to the ground. And knees from side mount are also good for keeping the action on the ground exciting.

And for an example of why people dont like elbows:

KenFlo vs. Leben – KenFlo getting TOTALLY DOMINATED…and then he lands a little inside elbow in the clinch that didnt even phase Leben, but b/c of how sharp elbows can are shreds Leben’s eye and ends the fight.
Cheap and nowhere near as skillful or deserving as a KO win.

By: Larry

Larry — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:43:52 +0000

MMA on Tap has a great look at the Brandon Vera situation

http://www.mmaontap.com/mma/entry/vera-staying-with-ufc/

By: Grape Knee High

Grape Knee High — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:49:45 +0000

“Elbows Iâ€™m fine with, as far as iâ€™m concerned landing an elbow that rips a dudeâ€™s face in half is just as impressive as knocking someone out. Also, itâ€™d definately shake things up if PRIDE adopts the UFCâ€™s weightclass system (which i think is very likely).”

Dave Meltzer already reported that PRIDE’s weightclasses will be changed to conform with unified rule weightclasses. But I don’t think it’ll shake things up too much. If Gomi sticks at 155, then all they need to do crown a 170 champ, which I think will end up being Mach most likely, or someone like Gono if he decides to drop.

Regarding elbows, the only reason I dislike them is not only because of the higher likelihood of opening cuts, but the fact that fighters specifically train to cut with their elbows (and then brag about that in pre-fight interviews). I think it’s a bit cheap. I can live with it though.