Comments on: Monday review: The Gabriel Gonzaga Show

By: ukiro

ukiro — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:16:53 +0000

I think it’s not the cage as much as their first fight in a new league – they know how much is riding on their performance that night both in terms of money/contract and in terms of building fans. Regardless of the floor enclosure, that’s enough to make someone a bit tentative. This doesn’t quite explain Mirko’s performance though.

By: Enrico

Enrico — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 06:37:48 +0000

It seems that Pride fighters are very tentative when they enter the octagon – Cro Cop, Rampage, Herring, etc. I don’t get it.

By: Dedwyre

Dedwyre — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:56:48 +0000

I agree with ukiro about the whole PRIDE vs. UFC thing. Cro Cop vs. Gonzaga was more like Team Cro Cop vs. whatever Gonzaga’s team is, if nothing else. Besides, you can’t really have a definitive PRIDE/UFC war, because fighters perform differently in a cage vs. in a ring, especially when they’re used to one or the other. Same thing with the rules system.

I would also like to say that I am a Cro Cop fan, but now I am a Gonzaga fan as well. I’m rooting for Randy, but it’ll (probably) be a tough fight.

By: ukiro

ukiro — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:30:41 +0000

OK, enough with Pride fighters vs UFC fighters already. The fighters did not go to Pride Fighting School and UFC Fighting School, and hence their talents have nothing to do with the organisations they’ve fought in. Anyone claiming to fight representing an MMA event promoter is part of the PR machinery, nothing else. Mirko coming in to the Pride theme against Sanches doesn’t mean he’s representing Pride, it means he pays respect to the people he left behind in Pride (Sakakibara, perhaps?) and his old fans. And also, let’s not forget, he used that song because it’s a really good entrance song. Don’t try to make it more complicated than that, because it isn’t.

The perpetual UFC vs Pride war fuelled by the Sherdog troglodytes doesn’t deserve to be brought up here. What Zach brings up is the overall reaction of the japanese fight crowd, which is important because it’s that very demographic that will in the end give thumbs up or down to Zuffa Pride. The Sherdog keyboard warriors with too many chromosomes have no such influence on the fight scene, and their opinions should therefore not be getting this attention. Bringing such topics up here will only lure those kinds of posters to this site (see TG above).

By: UFCjunkie.com - UFC blog for MMA news, rumors, gossip, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps » Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s UFC 70 Injuries Limited to Ligament Damage

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:24:13 +0000

[...] on the topic, I wanted to point out a report Zach Arnold posted today at FightOpinion.com about [...]

By: GassedOut

GassedOut — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 19:26:05 +0000

Liddell/Filipovic would be a great matchup to watch!

WAR Napao!

By: Jordan Breen

Jordan Breen — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:24:17 +0000

“Plus, check out Kumaâ€™s Japanese web page of information on Napao. Great work.”

Represent. Kuma’s blog is the bomb. Sometimes I find myself thinking “I wish I knew the life story of this new ssireum guy that FEG has signed.” Then I thank God for that site.

By: Psygone

Psygone — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 17:28:50 +0000

I wonder if well see CroCop drop to 205?

By: DarthMolen

DarthMolen — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 16:28:41 +0000

That is what makes MMA great. Everybody has a puncher’s chance and even the ringers are given a chance to excel or fall.

I can respect the UFC for that. They don’t want paper tigers like you get in boxing. They know that they have to put their ringers in against quality products to give them credibility. If the favorites can’t perform against decent talent, then they are at fault, Not the UFC.

Everybody seems to be advocating that the UFC go the paper tiger route because it makes business sense. I disagree. It hamstrings your business model in the long run and will destroy the sport as a whole. See boxing as the greatest example.

Again, Much respect to the UFC to have the cajones to put their vested interests in real danger.

By: TG

TG — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 16:06:42 +0000

CRO COP DID NOT UNDER PERFORM.
He fought a larger man who had a better night, end of story.
Gonzaga showed that Cro Cop was just man with a lot of hype
Pride fighters took a huge blow in the UK this weekend.
I think the purchase of Pride looks really stupid now. The UFC could have crushed Pride with this fight, now they crushed themselves.