Right, and that’s ridiculous. Cro-Cop is a naturally bigger guy than everyone Silva was fighting, to say nothing of Silva himself.

But you’re correct, just b/c somebody bulks up to make a weight class, in this case two above their normal weight class, its not too indicative of how they’d fair against a true HW.

Right. And so while he beat Lindland, well, isn’t he SUPPOSED to beat Lindland? And do so decisively? If I were Fedor and I had been cut in that manner and picked up, I’d be questioning what would happen against Couture also. Fedor is not stupid.

I guess I didn’t really consider Lindland to have been “giving him lots of trouble”, but you’re right, he did have him on his back momentarily and got the underhooks in nicely…that being said the guy is one of the highest medalled wrestlers in mma.

Lindland was able to do a bunch of things that a lot of people considered impossible for him to do against Fedor given the gap in natural size and caused him more problems than did bigger men like Coleman or Herring. Randy isn’t hyper fast in the ring at this point, nor is he a submission wizard, but I feel that he can dirty box Fedor to death against the wall of a cage and be effective in preventing submission attempts while pushing Fedor against the chain link in half guard and landing elbows and punches from the top.

I think that might have been the point he was making, maybe not.

But you’re correct, just b/c somebody bulks up to make a weight class, in this case two above their normal weight class, its not too indicative of how they’d fair against a true HW.

I guess I didn’t really consider Lindland to have been “giving him lots of trouble”, but you’re right, he did have him on his back momentarily and got the underhooks in nicely…that being said the guy is one of the highest medalled wrestlers in mma.

Where do you rank Matt Lindland at heavyweight? Top 20? Please, dude. Everyone on earth ranks him at 185, that’s where he’s fought the majority of his career, he’ll likely continue to fight there the majority of his career, et al. He’s not some hulking giant that’s cutting down. He looks smaller than Franklin.

Fedor’s standup isn’t that great. Oh, I know, “HE OUTSTRUCK CRO COP” and all that jazz, but Cro-Cop wasn’t thinking Fedor would try to outbox him, he saw it as Fedor trying to get the takedown and control on the ground, which, by the way, was true. Randy is a different fighter than Cro-Cop, which is obvious to all. Same goes for Noguiera. Yeah, Noguiera is great off his back and Randy isn’t, but Noguiera’s takedowns suck and his clinch game isn’t anywhere near the same league as Randy’s.

Fedor’s GnP hasn’t been as solid recently. He’s shown great vulnerabilty to the clinch with Lindland. He had trouble finishing Mark Hunt (!) on the ground. Technically, his striking is a bit weak. He’s had serious problems with his hands. Fedor is not a perfect fighter, and he is not improving. Randy isn’t physically improving, in that he too is getting older, but technically he continues to add to what he can do. Add in a cage and suddenly Fedor isn’t anywhere near invincible.

And that rope grab was indeed pretty vicious, but to what extent could that have changed the outcome of the fight? You saw the Randleplex, I’d assume?

We’ll not know. I’d expect Fedor to win off his back anyhow, but he should be beating Matt Lindland. Matt isn’t a top heavyweight. He’s not even a top light heavyweight.

Actually, its not like saying that at all.

– Iole’s columns on this situation HAVE been awfully biased in favor of Dana & the UFC. Up to this point, I hadn’t had any issues with the guy’s MMA pieces, but now? I’d like to see him just go back to his boxing coverage. I’ve always like his boxing work & he ought to stick with his strong point. Yahoo! should just let Dave Meltzer handle all the MMA stuff IMO.

– I’ve always thought that one of the best qualities about a really successful businessman is a strong/long history of NOT burning bridges. Dana White sometimes appears to do nothing BUT burn bridges every other time he open his mouth.

He always seems to take every thing SO personally & wastes so much time & effort holding onto petty grudges. I really think it’s going to cost him his job someday.

– I realize that Dana & the Fertitta boys go WAY back & have been tight for years & years, but I’m sure many of us have all seen family owned & operated businesses split over less than Dana’s recent fuck ups.

I’m actually far from being a “Dana hater”, I admire much of what he’s been able to accomplish & I’d like to see him remain in a position of authority in the UFC. But, I really think that he needs someone else to hold his hand through financial dealings & negotiations. ‘Cause his lack of tact & diplomacy has obviously caught up to him big time over the course of the past week.

The supposedly “done deal” with HBO fell apart, he failed to sign Fedor & his current #1 fighter, drawing card & the most publically respected athlete on his roster just bailed on him. Situations that would have likely cost 99.999% of other people their jobs taken on their own. But, combine all THREE of them & have them occur within a week oof one another?!!!

Lindland is a middleweight prototypically, regardless of what he came in as. Its like saying that BJ Penn was a legit 205er against Lyoto Machida. He’s a smaller man than Fedor naturally. There is no doubting of that. As for whether or not holding the ropes helped prevent being taken down or not, well, I’ve seen the fight numerous times. Sure as hell looks like it did to me. “Palm grazing the top rope” is a hilarious claim of what really happened.

And if the Great Lindland was as incredible as everyone claims, a ‘badly cut’, ‘overrated’ Fedor should not have been able to submit him that quickly after securing the takedown.

I’m not saying Fedor is overrated. I am saying the truth though in that Lindland picked him up with underhooks and carried him back, as well as cut him in that short fight. Fedor should be disposing of top 10, nonchampion middleweights in a short period of time. He’s the dominant heavyweight champ, remember?

They happen plenty of times in the other major sports, MLB included. NFL contracts are not guaranteed, but they also receive much higher signing bonuses than other sports.

In the end, it all comes down to your leverage or strategy at the negotiation table. When Couture signed a contract to return to the UFC earlier this year, he saw it fit to accept that brokered deal and head back into the octagon. Obviously, he now wants to renegotiate a sweeter deal. And by simply quitting, he’s found a legal (or Grey) avenue to earn more greenbacks.

I can’t blame Couture for what he did. This is all about business and we all know that the UFC is a business with a lot of potential dollars. Like every other professional sport, you can be hot one moment and cold the next. Couture is looking out for himself by getting the most dollars during his limited time at the top.

On the flipside, the UFC does what every business owner should do and that is to maximize revenues by keeping salaries as low as possible. We all know that Zuffa is in the fight game to make a lot of money. And sure, the fighters need to get paid but Zuffa does what any other company would do in their situation, negotiate a contract as low as possible. We all know that Money is hard to earn, but it’s even harder to give away, especially when you’re a business owner.

Apparently, given the rising popularity of the UFC, costs will probably increase in terms of fighter pay, unless Zuffa takes a hard stance (a la WWE) since they’re the only big name in town.

Oooh…I love drama!