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« | Home | »

UFC 119 aftermath (9/25 Conseco Fieldhouse)

By Zach Arnold | September 25, 2010

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Dark matches

Main card

Low key card produces … exactly the results you would expect

A much-maligned card going in produced the results you thought it would. Matt Serra fought a stand-up war, lost, and then admitted that he didn’t fight his normal game plan afterwards. Evan Dunham suffered his first loss to Sean Sherk via controversial judges’ decision. Frank Mir won a hideously boring fight against Mirko Cro Cop and I’m not sure if the win does a thing at all for Mir.

Spike TV aired four fights on their prelims telecast, which might in fact be a record. The fans in Indianapolis deserved a better show. Wonder what Dana White will do to “make it up to the fans.” Try nothing.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 65 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

65 Responses to “UFC 119 aftermath (9/25 Conseco Fieldhouse)”

  1. Steve4192 says:

    Hunt is looking in shockingly good shape for this fight and is training down at ATT. I would love to see him reclaim his career, but I don’t like his chances in a cage versus a gigantic guy like McCorkle. The vast majority of Hunt’s success in Japan came when he faced guys who refused to grapple (Cro Cop, Wand, Nishijima). I have a feeling he is not going to find the same kind of foolishness in the UFC.

  2. 45 Huddle says:

    I feel like Mir/Cro Cop is a better main event in terms of styles. But this event is still lacking a true main event. Take away Guillard/Stephens an put a title fight on this card, and it is really respectable. Without it, it’s not very much different then UFC 120…. A little more star power, but hardly PPV worthy.

    I’m skipping out on this one.

    • edub says:

      Take away the fight that’s got the potential for the most excitement on the card?

      • 45 Huddle says:

        Pointless, useless fight. Yeah, I know the UFC likes to put fights like this on the card, but does it really deserve to be a PPV fight? No, not really.

        • edub says:

          I mean, I think I disagree. Does every fight on the card have to have a future title challenger, or a guy who seems to be championship caliber in it?

          Jeremy Stephens is coming off a two fight win streak. In his last fight he beat Sam Stout(who was on his own win streak) in a fight where he showed better movement and patience than he had used in his previous fights.

          Melvin is 5-1 in his last 6 fights.

          Both are exciting to casual fans and have the ability to finish fights eventhough both are flawed. And it is a great matchup for either to showcase their specific skill set.

          I like seeing strikers go against strikers, as I like seeing great grapplers go against great grapplers(although those turn in to crappy striking affairs more than not).

          … well to stop rambling: I don’t mind this matchup being on the main card, but I can understand the view of people who would consider it not main card worthy. Probably would be better suited for a Spike prelim broadcast.

          Still, I consider this a more “main card” worthy fight,

        • Its a PPV. The funny thing is people get worked up over talking about how boxing events have irrelevant or unimportant fights on the card, and thus aren’t “stacked” like MMA, where importance is merely applied to mediocre fights between nobody fighters.

        • edub says:

          There is a top ten fighter in 4 out of the 5 fights on this card. That only happens in boxing when they have a “top ten” guy face a terrible opponent. Case in point this past weekend having Saul Alvarez fight a 147 year old Carlos Baldomir, and Victor Ortiz fighting Vivian Harris who already had one foot in the grave. The UFC continually puts on the most competitive main card bouts with relevant competition in combative sports today.

          BTW most of the guys who complain about boxing’s low class main cards are boxing hardcore’s. Which doesn’t have much to do with MMA.

        • I don’t see top ten fighters in 4 of the top 5 fights. I don’t consider Serra one, and I’m not sure I’d have Dunham in my top ten either. I don’t care who wins the Mir/Cro-Cop fight, so to have an event where I don’t even care about the main event leaves me sorta cold. How is Serra/Lytle II really any different from, I dunno, a theoretical Mora/Manfredo undercard rematch? Mora and Serra both held titles and couldn’t defend them. Lost to the guy who they beat in rematches.

          I dunno. Even with Pavlik getting served a can on the upcoming Pacquiao PPV, I feel like that card does more for me. Probably because the main event isn’t retarded and is in fact relevant.

        • edub says:

          Well that is of course your perogative. To me it speaks to your boxing background in that the good main event makes up for a terrible undercard (eventhough the main event features a guy who could have been loading his gloves for the past 10 years). How was Dunham not top ten before this fight? How was Serra not top ten?

          Mora just headlined a PPV against Shane Mosely. Serra was the third fight on the main card. Serra puts on exciting fights. Mora does not. Manfredo and Lytle kind of compare so thats a wash.

          And IMO claiming that the Pac-Marg card does more for you is more of an abnormality for boxing fans. There are plenty that will flat out boycott the matches, and more who will just crap all over the garbage undercard…

        • Boxing fans and writers trashed the shit out of Mosley/Mora PPV. No one sat there saying “Well, there could be knockouts on this undercard! That means it’ll be great!”

          How was Serra not top ten before this fight? How about I direct you to the fact that he has one win in 3 years. It is against Frank Trigg. Serra didn’t deserve to be ranked and the evidence of that came out in getting beaten on by a career journeyman. The funniest thing I read, BTW, for post fight reaction was Lytle saying that he deserves a title fight even if he picks up an L next time out because of “how he fights”. I would love to see someone out there take a crack at justifying a Chris Lytle title shot in the current welterweight environment.

        • edub says:

          “The funniest thing I read, BTW, for post fight reaction was Lytle saying that he deserves a title fight even if he picks up an L next time out because of “how he fights”. I would love to see someone out there take a crack at justifying a Chris Lytle title shot in the current welterweight environment.”

          Completely agree there. Lytle in no way deserves a title shot after a fight where Serra pretty much fought Lytle’s style to be exciting.

          As for Serra, he was still in the top 5 after GSP beat him. After he dropped the fight to Hughes he was right on the outside looking in. His KO of Trigg who was ranked in the top ten 185 not too, too long ago put him right back near the top IMO. I could see how you disagree though.

  3. mr. roadblock says:

    Theyre out of their minds calling this a PPV.

    This would be a good Spike card. Or if you added two big time fights it would be a nice PPV.

    Outside of people that personally know one of the fighters on the card, who is going to pay for this?

    • Oh Yeah says:

      Other than having title fights, I can see the case for this being a PPV.

      Established vets like Mir, Lil Nog, Cro Cop, Sherk.

      Young stars like Bader, Dunham.

      Serra/Lytle should be exciting.

      I wouldn’t buy this one especially after being hit for 2 this month, but there’s not much they can do to make more high quality matches other than have their titleholders fight more often.

      • mr. roadblock says:

        Would you pay $50 for this?

        Is it worth $50?

        That’s my point. This should be on Spike TV.

        Mir/Cop has about an 80% chance of either sucking or Mir demolishing Cop in the first 2 minutes.

        The rest of the fights are all 50/50 propositions. They could end up being interesting or they could end up two guys dry humping.

        This is definitely a wait and see if any fights are worth tracking down online card.

        • Oh Yeah says:

          Regarding the youngsters – what if Dunham/Bader/Guillard are future champions? Sometimes top prospects give better fights on their way up than big names on their way down despite the disparity in recognition. Which is really worth more? Emerging prospects vs. declining big names is an issue similar to the WEC conundrum – fans are conditioned to value/pay for heavy fighters – big name fighters in this case.

          A number of the vets are the UFC’s more highly paid non-champions. You will never see them all on a Spike TV card.

          The biggest problem here is the UFC’s desire to run upward of 12 PPV per year, and then to stack some cards with 2 title fights. It’s especially ugly at times when GSP fights only twice a year and champs go down with injuries.

          All in all I agree – it’s an internet card for me.

        • Guillard is a little past being a prospect still. He was one when he was throwing guys around with overhead belly to belly suplexes in FFC; that was 6 years ago. Now? He’s a known quantity. He’s Pete Spratt with better wrestling.

          But even then – aren’t prospects better exposed when on free TV and not PPV?

        • Oh Yeah says:

          I don’t know that it’s best to put all prospects on free TV for exposure. The UFC has done it with a guy like Jones because people will come to realize he’s worth paying for.

          But a guy like Guillard delivers exciting fights with regularity and I could see it being in the UFC’s interest to condition fans into paying to see him. Just how Guida always finds himself on the main card.

          I consider Guillard a prospect since he’s young and not that far removed from restarting his career. Admittedly he has been around a long time, since one of the early TUF seasons.

    • Brad Wharton says:

      …probably about 350-400k people, I’d say. I doubt they all know someone on the card personally, either.

      But then that’s the thing with the UFC, they have a solid enough fan base whereby they can put on a card like this and still sell a decent number of PPV’s. There are no big earners on the card for them to worry about either.

      The card is exactly as stacked as the UFC needs it to be, end of.

  4. Woz says:

    I think the main card is pretty good actually. Bader & Sherk apart its very much non-wrestlers. Even in those fights, Nog has a good ground game (Dunham potentially so as well).

    I’m actually looking forward to Guillard/Stephens. Should be exciting.

  5. Zack says:

    “Serra/Lytle should be exciting.”

    Yeah…based on the first one, I think we may have a FOTY on our hands!

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  7. David M says:

    I don’t think Mirko-Mir is a PPV main event; Mirko is totally shot, and Mir is coming off of a loss where he looked like Robin Givens after Mike Tyson was done with her.

    Further, I hate, HATE, HATE 3 round main events. Rampage-Rashad and Nog-Couture are the two examples that come to mind. People buy PPVs to see the main event,and to not give a main event a full opportunity to develop is idiotic in my opinion.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      If it makes you feel any better…. Mir/Filipovic has less than a 1% chance of going the distance. And it’s hardly a fight I would want to see go 5 rounds based on both of their histories with conditioning.

      • David M says:

        That’s not the point and you know it. A main event should be treated as special; how special can a fight be if it is the same length as the undercard bouts that don’t even get aired?

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Whether a fight is a main event or not should have no difference on the number of rounds. It should be based on the quality of the fight and if the additional rounds would benefit that higher quality fight.

          And while a Silva/Sonnen fight shows that a guy who would have won a 3 round fight can then lose it in the 4th or 5th rounds…. That is not the norm. Most 5 round fights give no extra benefit and often times are just more boring. At least that is what history has shown.

          If the sport evolves and this trend changes… Then official #1 contender fights need to then be 5 rounders. Anything beyond that is likely overkill.

          And a fight like Mir/Cro Cop has no business being 5 rounds because it’s not for a title and it’s not even to find out who fights for the title next.

        • David M says:

          BJ Penn finished Sherk, Florian, and Diego in later rounds. Regardless of that, some fights simply deserve more of the spotlight; I don’t understand how you can say that it is boring to have long main events; main events are between (generally) the best fighters on the card. If you find matches between great fighters to be boring, why even be a fan of mma? Couture-Rizzo 1 is to this day one of the most epic fights in mma history, in large part because of the ebbs and flows and because over 25 minutes, a fight can develop in a way that it can’t in 15. Rampage-Rashad deserved the extra time, so did Nog-Couture.

          Your point that only a number 1 contender match should be a 5 rounder (apart from a title match) is well taken, and also gets to my problem with this show: Mir v Mirko is not a number 1 contenda match, not a title match, has no heat behind it, and has no business being a main event of a PPV.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          I made a list about a month or two ago that showed most of latest title fights had no effect due to the 4th an 5th rounds. BJ Penn was the exception to that rule for the most part. And many of the 5 round fight ended up being boring.

          If the UFC actually made official #1 Contender Fights…. Like they are with Belfort/Okami…. And none of that take it back BS like they did with Fitch/Alves…. Then I think I could get behind a 5 round #1 contender fights. But I don’t think it would be as good as some might think.

          And I completely agree about Mir/Filipovic. It’s just not worthy to headline a PPV.

  8. Zack says:

    2 of the best fights of the year on most peoples books are Misaki/Santiago and Chael/Anderson. Both ended in the later rounds. ALL high level fights should be 5 rounds.

    Its retarded that if you attached a B or C level title to a fight, the fight can go 5 rounds for guys that may not even be top 10 in the world, but for UFC #1 contender fights or non-title main events they’re still caught in the 3 round model.

    • Oh Yeah says:

      Highly skilled fighters deserve to go longer, though too many 5 rounders could be boring.

      Sometimes there are fights that you feel are just getting started, or aren’t close to conclusion after 3 rounds.

      I thought Fitch Alves and Florian Maynard in particular felt as though they ended prematurely. Both of the losers still had plenty of gas to continue for another few rounds and had enough skill to possibly pull something off. More rounds is good in a tactical fight since it doesn’t mean you automatically lose after dropping a couple of slower-paced rounds early.

  9. 45 Huddle says:

    Picks:

    Mitrione, Dollaway, Guillard, Dunham, Lytle, Bader, & Filipovic.

  10. robthom says:

    Rambling observations:

    Lol @ the murikans booing taking 10 seconds to fix beltrans tape.
    Not Lol haha though.

    Mitrione seems like a cool guy IMO, not sure why people dont like him.
    That fight was such a mess to watch though, just ugly.

    But I suppose it was also a drunken frat boy pleaser ala
    forrest/Bonner, hence the fury reaped by the 10 second break for the fighters own safety.

    Lol Haha @ goldie calling every black fighter explosive.

    Just say “Melvin Guillard, he’s black”.
    It sounds less patronizing.

    As far as watching Guillard fights, I’m not sure why I just dont have much interest in them.

    Maybe it has something to do with him appearing to leap
    around and swing for the fences for 15 minutes, yet very
    rarely seem to connect with anything?

    Hunt also seems like a cool guy to me.
    Kind of a sad to watch him show up for an obligatory shut
    down in shorts that appeared to be shedding threads at the seams.
    But he did his own laundry and made his own bed I suppose.

    haha/not haha @ Mir in a shirt with his picture on the
    front.
    If his mom didn’t force him to wear that then he has no
    excuse.

    After another close call sherk once again considers the
    plausibility of rumored arm-o-plasty in Mexico.

    Note to Serra (and Sherk),if you want to strike against a
    guy who is taller and has longer arms then you, do it on the
    ground, not standing.

    I think Lil Nog is actually getting better in the UFC.

    I was never so impressed with his work on the whole in Japan (yes that one is still a classic 😉 ), but he’s been giving guys a lot harder time since his murikan debut than I and apparently a few MMA journalists have been expecting.

    Maybe lil Nog who was meant to bear the family torch of
    greatness from here on out.

    A great fight from both guys.
    FOTN.

    “Three judges score it 30-27 for Bader.”
    ^^
    Thats squirrely!

    Cant somebody just beat Cecil Peoples up?!
    Maybe with a pillow case filled with oranges like they used to do.

    I know thats not how fancy laws and democracy are supposed to work, but there seems like there’d be an eventual point of desperation that would trump continued attempts to be reasonable about it.

    Cop looks better then usual, but not good.
    Appears to at least be trying though, which you could
    charitably describe as encouraging.

    Maybe I just dont have pride fever, but I just haven’t seen a terribly legitimate reason to keep dragging this poor man out of his house and away from his favorite Croatian TV show.

    Mir doesn’t look much better then cop.
    But then he never does IMO.

    Mir career success’s all seem to involve some sort of
    unlikely “gimme”.

    But I guess its easy to figure out that he’s a lucky skunk by just looking at him isn’t it.

    I’d say that he never will (and never would have been) a UFC champ.
    But them somebody would slip and fall and choke themselves in their own triangle hold, so I just wont say anything.

  11. EJ says:

    Did we watch a different card Zach? because this card aside from a less than stellar ME until the KO was action packed and gave the fans in Indy a hell of a show.

    What is it with the real over the top bitterness that is coming from the media and some fans for this card and the UFC right now?.

    We got several exciting fights, some cool sub’s and a vicious KO that is going to retire a legend, I more than got my money’s worth. And considering how overhyped and underwhelming Dream was yesterday people should be very thankfull that this ppv delivered. Hell the only thing I have to complain about is the Indy crowd they really didn’t do themselves a favor with their booing of Sherk who imo won the fight without any controversy.

  12. Every once in awhile I need a reminder why I basically gave up on watching live “top level MMA”. UFC and DREAM reminded me. Pitiful shows from both with fights that at best were mediocre.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      And yet you still come posting on a MMA blog. Funny how that works….

      Sure, you don’t have to like every event. I couldn’t stand UFC 119 personally. But to basically give up on it…. Then why would you still be here?

      I could care less about cars, so I don’t post on car forums….. See how that works?

      • I’ve been watching more “bad”, second rate MMA. UFC, DREAM, Strikeforce – I have expectations to not see crap when watching those. That I regularly end up seeing mediocrity passed off as greatness doesn’t interest me. Now, you take a second rate MMA promotion – I dunno, NAAFS from Ohio. When they sit there and spend 4 minutes prior to a fight doing edited video hype pieces for bouts between guys not good enough to be gatekeepers on a regional level, I just laugh. How can I take that seriously? I have no expectations for the fights themselves to be much good, but there’s always the hope that I’ll see someone that’s exciting for the future or a couple middling journeymen or even developing stars fighting each other.

        • Chuck says:

          For my money, Bellator has been putting on the most amount of consistently good events of all the “major” promotions. It’s too bad they probably won’t be around next year and that it is being run by Bjorn Rebney. And their commentary team is probably, over all, the best. Joe Rogan might be the singularly best MMA commentator now, but the Bellator team is the best over all team.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Sounds like you aren’t a fan to me. I can’t think of anybody I know that watches any sport just for the remotely possibilty of catching something that might interest them in the future.

          They either like it overall and watch. Or they aren’t fans and don’t.

          Sounds like you are just trying to find ways to complain about anything and everything under the disguise of being a “fan”.

        • Bellator is incredibly hit and miss. I’ve never been nearly as entranced with them as other folk have been. Its a mix of UFC rejects, aging journeymen (Shonie Carter in 2010?), and some young prospects of note. I don’t judge what fights they produce based on their business model or lack thereof. I also think that the talk about their production is way out of wack compared to what it really is.

        • It doesn’t really affect how I perceive the sport if I don’t meet the 45 Huddle “fan” criteria. I am openly not a “fan” of any particular promotion and have been clear about that since day 1. I’m a fan of good fights. UFC 119 and DREAM 16 didn’t have many.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Now you are back tracking.

          You started off by saying: “Every once in awhile I need a reminder why I basically gave up on watching live “top level MMA”.”

          And I don’t think it has to do anything with seal of approval on you being a fan.

          You just don’t hear football fans say: “I need to remind myself why I basically gave up watching Sunday Football!”

          Because if they said that, they wouldn’t be fans.

          You just want to complain. That’s what Alan does. You are too good for the “mediocre” MMA. It’s beneath you. Good for you!!

        • I’m not backtracking at all. Fact is that this shit isn’t “top level MMA”. DREAM is nothing now but a developmental league for Bellator. The UFC fights tonight aren’t the absolute pinnacle. You know that and I do too. For me there’s no reason to rush out and watch all this shit live and try to get in all the undercard fights when made available when the bouts don’t mean anything. There’s nothing exciting about that at this stage to me.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          This event was no where near the best, but it had FOUR Top 10 guys in it. And all in fights that weren’t easy to predict. So to say it’s not Top Level is just wrong.

        • Bellator will be having a top ten fighter on in a week or two against a guy who plausibly might beat him, and they’re still a second rate organization running casino bingo halls.

        • Steve4192 says:

          “For my money, Bellator has been putting on the most amount of consistently good events of all the “major” promotions.”

          That is crazy talk.

          WEC is by far the most consistently excellent promotion out their. Their shows almost always knock it out of the park. WEC is light years ahead of Bellator, particularly this season which has featured a bunch of awful HW fights.

        • edub says:

          Alan you make good points usually, and I understand your main point (or at least I think I do). This card is not worthy of paying 50 dollars for. I agree. This card is on Spike, and there are no problems IMO. IF the UFC adopted a strategy of 6 ppvs, 15 fightnights per year, I think everyone would be a little happier.

          But making statements like-“When they sit there and spend 4 minutes prior to a fight doing edited video hype pieces for bouts between guys not good enough to be gatekeepers on a regional level, I just laugh.” Just make you look like your nit picking way too much.

        • I’m approaching that from the standpoint of watching “bad” MMA. I mentioned NAAFS because they do hokey edited video hype pieces for fights prior to airing them to inform the viewer about how vitally important it is for them to see the NAAFS Amateur Series Lightweight Title being defended in a half filled nightclub. They aren’t even the worst offender on the regional level. Global Fight League has 30 minutes of weekly television a week through NESN (I think) and spends it all doing 24/7 style hype and slick production. And for what? Fights between guys ranked outside the top 100 in New Hampshire high school gyms. I can give a hundred examples.

          The point I’m making is that the general internet viewpoint is that any fight hype is srs biz and the event it is intended to hype will be great so long as they do a good job of getting training footage and having Joe Rogan tell you about how they are “going to war”. I can’t stomach that crap any more. You have to be an willing idiot to want to see it and get hyped by it. But I’m willing to see some scrub promotion waste money on it as they spiral towards irrelevance because I find the process comical.

      • Zack says:

        LOL more than half your posts here are negative too you fucking moron.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Hey you piece of shit, I’m not calling anybody names. Don’t call me names. Fuckhead.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          And I’m negative on bad MMA, positive on good MMA. Alan is negative on it all. If you can’t understand that difference…. which you obviously cannot…. That makes you the “moron”….

        • lulz. There’s no “positive MMA” to defend here. Its a crappy card with crappy fights that were obviously crappy going in and ended up crappy when the final bell sounded. This isn’t GSP/Koscheck II, Lesnar/Velasquez, or Silva/Belfort where you’ve got elite fighters fighting one another in bouts that represent the best of their respective divisions and the sport. This was second tier garbage thrown together to separate idiots from their money.

        • Zack says:

          LOL who edited my post from saying “moran”

          It’s a tribute to this guy: http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/data/500/moran.jpg

          And yes, 45…you’re a moran…or just a sad middle aged troll. Not sure what’s worse.

  13. Fluyid says:

    Just got in from judging a boxing show. Sounds like a shit UFC.

  14. 45 Huddle says:

    I ended up buying this event and I regretted it the entire time.

    1) Guillard/Stephens was horrible.

    2) The decision for Sherk/Dunham was pathetically ba.

    3) Lytle/Serra showed Serra being dumb.

    4) Bader can’t stip wining punching if he life depended on it.

    5) Mir/Filipovic was one of the worst non-Silva main events I can think of in a long time on a UFC PPV.

    Certainly a waste of $45. It will take weeks to get the bad taste out of my mouth.

    I have a feeling UFC 120 will be a barn burner. And perhaps the WEC coming up this week. So there is hope…

    • Mark says:

      I have a feeling UFC 120 will be a barn burner

      Seriously? I don’t see that on paper.

      Aikyama-Bisping to me looks like another one of Bisping’s dull performances since he’s bigger than Aikyama and can dictate the fight to a dull decision. Plus he knows the British “We’ll cheer anybody from England!” marks are going to eat it up even if he hides behind the referee the whole fight.

      Hardy-Condit is going to be a hit or miss fight depending on which Dan Hardy shows up. Hopefully it is the GSP fight Hardy and not the Swick fight Hardy.

      Hathaway-Pyle will probably be decent.

      Kongo-Browne is a squash.

      Wilks-Patrick could be a FOTN 3 rounder.

    • Jenny Rios says:

      “4) Bader can’t stip wining punching if he life depended on it.”

      What is this supposed to mean?

    • robthom says:

      Of course theres always hope.

      I wouldn’t even call it “hope” so much as there’s always guaranteed to be another keeper right around the corner just like there will always be stinkers.

      Thats why we’re all still here.

  15. Chuck says:

    Man Mitrione kind of sucks. I see NOTHING that shows me that he will be a top flight heavyweight. And I highly doubt that he will get any better (the man is 32 and has the athleticism of one). And Mark Hunt has no business being in UFC in 2010.

    • Steve4192 says:

      I was with you on Mitrione until you dissed his athleticism. The guy is an above-average athlete for a HW. I also think it is kind of silly to question if he will get any better since he is 1000x better than the fighter we saw on TUF. Duke Roufus has done a hell of a job with him IMO.

      That said, I agree he is unlikely to become an elite competitor. His grappling will be his undoing. He had nothing for Beltran in the short amount of time the fight was on the ground, and Joey is not exactly known for his ground skills. He still might be able to carve out a career as a scrappy gatekeeper though.

      • Chuck says:

        I agree he can probably become a decent scrappy gatekeeper type, and he does have a lot of heart and a good chin, but the rest of my point still stands (as you agreed with me).

        And from before, yeah, you are right. WEC definitely puts on the best, over all, best MMA cards of everyone out there. Bellator might be a distant second or third.

        Actually, K-1 MAX might be the over all best,m but they aren’t MMA, so……:shrugs shoulders:

  16. IceMuncher says:

    I had next to no anticipation for this event, and I was still disappointed. Thank God we’re getting a couple of free shows and the Lesnar fight over the next two months.

  17. Mark says:

    According to Meltzer Dana was throwing a hissyfit backstage about the terrible judging. Yet he still won’t do anything about it.

  18. bluerosekiller says:

    What’s with all the hate concerning Mitrione?

    Seriously, here’s a guy that got as far as he did on TUF on sheer guts & chin alone, overcame some serious self doubts during the process & has since made vast improvements in his game while going 3-0 on MMA’s biggest, toughest stage.
    Cut the dude some slack.

    Maybe he won’t get anywhere near top level, but then again, maybe he will. His work ethic can’t be questioned, neither can his durability & heart.
    Three VERY important intangibles that can’t be taught & are often responsible for taking fighters much farther than their skill levels would normally dictate.

    Compare him to a massive, naturally gifted athlete & former National wrestling champion in Bobby Lashley.
    Whom most would believe would be the individual with real promise inside the cage, but it’s exactly the opposite.
    He clearly folded when things got the least bit tough, while back during TUF 10 Mitrione sucked it up when Scott Junk tried to use his head as a T-Ball & came back to out punch, out gut & out last his far more experienced
    opponent.

    • Mark says:

      The Heavyweight division is the UFC’s premiere division now that you have two champions who have cleaned out their divisions but won’t move on, a division where the title changes hands every fight, and the prospect of a horrible Maynard title reign. So the title picture is all that matters there, it’s loaded so people don’t have patience for fighter build.

      Mitrione may have meant something if he came into the UFC in 2007, but now he’s about to be cannon fodder for the top 10 where once you reach that level there’s no more “learning on the job” mulligans. That’s not a career worth giving inkspace to. He’s a pirranah swimming with a bunch of sharks.

      And nobody thought Bobby Lashley was going to amount to anything but pro wrestling marks and size queens. Word got out real quick he had no striking, or much of anything beyond takedowns and imaginary Jiu Jitsu. I can’t think of a single person who predicted he’d be a top 10 heavyweight.

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