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Fox Sports: "Zach Arnold's Fight Opinion site is one of the best spots on the Web for thought-provoking MMA pieces."

« | Home | »

Tim Kennedy on Robbie Lawler’s fight strategy: “That’s a dumb way to fight”

By Zach Arnold | July 31, 2011

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Click on the image to watch his interview with Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com

ARIEL HELWANI: “Tim, earlier in the week you were telling us you expected this fight to go all over the place and it kind of did. What did you think of the fight and how it played out?”

TIM KENNEDY: “Robbie is so athletic. He’s fast, he’s explosive, you know, I said he’s an amazing wrestler. He was really defensive and tentative the whole fight which made it kind of frustrating, you know, for me to get in he was just waiting to counter and he has a chin, too. I blasted him a couple of times. There were some crazy-ass scrambles, you know, I don’t even know where they went or how we ended up in some of the positions that we did. It was like I was on a bloody slippery slide in that second round. So, yeah, it was all over the place.”

ARIEL HELWANI: “How surprising was that? Especially in the third round, I thought he would kind of go for broke and he didn’t.”

TIM KENNEDY: “Yeah! He was doing the same thing, it was just that tentative, counter, just waiting for me to come in. You know, that’s a dumb way to fight… not to Robbie, just you know it’s like… it was my fight to lose. He knew I was two rounds ahead, I knew I was two rounds ahead, so I don’t know… yeah, I thought he’d be coming forward. I was waiting for it, I was waiting to just blast my way in, but he was just tentative the whole time.”

ARIEL HELWANI: “Obviously, it takes two to tango. Is it a little disappointing, I know you got the win, but that it wasn’t a very exciting one and maybe a dominant one on your part in terms of finishing him?”

TIM KENNEDY: “Absolutely, I’m real frustrated right now. I know my coach is like, ‘hey, great job! you did exactly what we wanted you to.’ But I didn’t do what I wanted to. I want to go out there and finish fights. I hate going to decision. Fans hate me going to decisions, so, yeah, I’m pretty bummed right now. Disappointed, frustrated. I know there’s, I had some vets in the crowd that I really wanted to go out there and go for it but I’ll just work harder next time.”

ARIEL HELWANI: “Any serious injuries, though?”

TIM KENNEDY: “No, it’s but a flesh wound, it’s but a flesh wound. Nah, it’s just cuts, I’ll go back there and get cleaned up, I’ll be good to go.”

ARIEL HELWANI: “What would you like to do next? Is there someone in particular you’d like to fight?”

TIM KENNEDY: “I want the title, whoever [the champion] is. I got 25 minutes with Jacare. I don’t want 25 more minutes, I want 5 more minutes with him. I just want the title.”

Click the image of Dan Henderson to find out why he thinks a) Fedor should continue to fight & be motivated to learn new techniques and b) why he wants to represent Strikeforce as the Light Heavyweight champion against the winner of Jon “Bones” Jones/Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in a Strikeforce/UFC two-crown championship unification match.

Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 48 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

48 Responses to “Tim Kennedy on Robbie Lawler’s fight strategy: “That’s a dumb way to fight””

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    Many fans are saying Fedor Emelianenko just got old. And yet, he is only 34.

    The sport passed him by. How does a guy in his mid 30’s go from unbeatable fighter to 3 in a row losses including one to a MIDDLEWEIGHT within 13 months?

    It’s called being protected for years….

    It’s nice to see him fully get exposed by a Middleweight who a little over a year ago was losing to a WELTERWEIGHT….

    Fedor Emelianenko…. GOAT? More like best from 2002 to 2005, and a boxing-like manager to manage his undefeated career from there.

    I have to laugh at the people like David M who were SO CERTAIN that Fedor was going to win. Or the guys like The Gaijin who said he had an iron chin. Dream land is over guys. He was never that great. Get used to it….

    And Dan Henderson is insane if he thinks being up Fedor Emelianenko earns him a UFC Light Heavyweight Title Shot. He hasn’t beaten a Top 10 LHW or MW in years….

    • partyworm says:

      I’ve always thought Fedor was hugely overrated, but I’m shocked at just HOW overrated he turned out to be. He’s another one of those fighters who seemed really good for a while because their style was ahead of the curve (see Chuck Liddel) but once the curve caught up with them their inability to adapt left them looking massively exposed.

      Fedor looked like a journeyman at best last night.

    • Wonderjudas says:

      I agree with your assessment of Fedor. I think he’s a champion from another era and he stayed in that era for as long as he could.

      However, laughing at people who have differing opinions? I’m sure that that’s not the best social behaviour…

    • The Gaijin says:

      No one is ever good everyone sucks…lessons to be learned. Guys who don’t stay on top of the heap of a quickly evolving sport for 10 years were never that good to begin with. I mean Randy was never that great – he was losing to Enson Inoue, Valentjn Overeem, LHW like Liddell, who was also never that great and Machida really a true MW, noobs like Lesnar and protected against cans like Toney and Coleman! Lesnar was never that great he only beat Couture and Mir…he beat Herring 10 years after Fedor did. And Mir…Mir lost to Ian Freeman and Pe de Pano and middleweight Vera. Mir only really beat Nogueira and Cro Cop and we know those guys were never that good – they lost in their primes to Fedor! lol…they really aren’t that good at all!

      There was no evidence that he didn’t have an iron chin until last night and even then it’s still not like he’s Liddell/Silva/Nog/Randy levels of bad chin. I thought he looked like a guy that used to have really good fight IQ and utilized submissions and grappling that now has no patience or fight IQ anymore and just tries to KO ppl…how many times is he going to rush into an exchange and let them last too long? And he drops Hendo and instead of using a smart gnp tact, he just goes hog wild and gets reversed.

      I thought it was a pretty bad stoppage – especially in light of Carwin-Lesnar and Kongo-Barry fights – like you give Kongo that many chances and you immediately jump in on a guy that has earned a “little bit” more respect than that. It wasn’t indefensible, but I thought he could have given him a chance.

      Oh well… I went 0-5 on my picks last night, once again proving I am the worst prognosticator in history. So what do I know.

      • The Gaijin says:

        And should mention that none of it is really relevant to 2011 mma. I can hardly see a win over a LHW making you relevant as a HW. It was a lose-lose fight for him and he grabbed the bigger of the two “lose”‘s last night.

        I guess that means Alistair Overeem has at least 1 more fight outside of the UFC/SF umbrella now? Wonder who will pick up the tab on that one?

      • edub says:

        45- But diaz didn’t deserve on either.

        I completely agree that a win over Fedor shouldn’t put Dan over the UFC top 6 at LHW, but IMO the fight will still happen. Too much money to be made off of it. And it’s another SF “title” to be folded in to UFC. (Notice how they are bojangling badly on making another WW title fight).

      • 45 Huddle says:

        1) It was a great stoppage. Brock Lesnar NEVER went out. Fedor Emelianenko went out for a second. That’s the difference. The Kongo/Barry fight was borderline, but Kongo kept on moving. Fedor was out for a second while flat on his face. Any ref is required to stop it at that point….

        2) Fedor was never a great technical fighter. He had a UNIQUE style that suited him well in a weak Pride Heavyweight Division (history is showing that). The sport passed him by. I would put him the same category as Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, and a few other guys. Absolutely dominant champions for their time that had the sport pass them by with just a superior level of athlete and technical fighting ability. He was a pioneer of the Heavyweight Division, but as history continues to unfold, his legacy won’t be much….

        3) It’s hard to tell when Fedor Emelianenko really had the sport pass him by. I first noticed it against Andrei Arlovski, but he still won that fight. He showed alarming signs of just not adapting to the time. He just used his punching power to get his way through a few more fights. The Brett Rogers fight made is extremely obvious, but people hyped up Rogers so much that they somehow though he was a legit challenger.

        One thing that can be said is that Fedor Emelianenko was THE BEST Heavyweight in MMA from 2003 to 2005. I would even say he was probably the best as early as late 2001, only he hadn’t had to fights yet to prove it.

        But being the best in MMA before the “TUF Era” isn’t all that relevent by today’s standards.

    • edub says:

      45- But neither did Diaz. Zuffa’s gonna see dollar signs in this and send Hendo do get crushed.

      I completely agree that he doesn’t deserve it at all, but IMO he will get it.

    • Nottheface says:

      Yes, that the explanation – protected, not age. I mean, it’s not as if this very site recently published an article detailing how fighters decline after 10 years – a line Fedor passed in 2009. It is not as if other fighters of note, such as Wanderlie Silva, Chuck Liddell (went 1-5 after UC 66), and Rich Franklin (whose only two victories since beating Matt Hamill in 2008 are against the previous two), also haven’t seen their careers plummet. They too must have been protected.

      It also must be true that the only way he was victorious against Sylvia and Arlovski is because they were overrated and not that they were the pinnacle of the HW division at the time. It is amazing that Fedor got to fight those two instead of the other top fighters of 2008 such as… Big Nog, a fighter he had already beaten twice. Or Randy Couture a fighter that was retired and in court to get the right to fight Fedor, Or maybe Frank Mir, a fighter who was 3-2 in the previous 4 years and not one of those victories was against a ranked opponent. I guess it could have been a 1-1 or 2-1 Brock, or a Carwin or Cain who had to face, let alone beat, a single top 25 opponent. Yeah, obviously no one would be complaining if they had booked that fight.

      As for Henderson, his resume is actually better at LHW than Jones’s was when he got his title shot against Rua – so why not give to him? He’s also 6-1 in his last 7 fights with all of his opponents still ranked on the SBNation consensus polls. Sound good enough to me.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        Sylvia had lost 2 of his last 3 before Fedor. Arlovski was beating overrated scrubs.

        so you think Henderson should go ahead of Griffin, Evans, Rua, Machida, and Rampage? Give me a break….

        And Jones was a last minute replacement….

  2. Light23 says:

    Beat Franklin when he’d only lost to Silva + Machida. Knocked Bisping’s head waaaay off and was going to get a title shot. KO’d Babalu in no time. Beat Feijao Cavalcante who was top 10 and Strikeforce champ. Beat Fedor who was top 10 heavyweight.

    Hendo is like the no. 2 guy at LHW.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Cavalcante had no business in the Top 10.

      His last legit Top 10 win was UFC 100 against Michael Bisping….

      • 45 Huddle says:

        And #2 guy at LHW? BWAHAHAHA!!

        Jon Jones, Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, & Forrest Griffin are all ranked higher then him without question. That already puts him out of the Top 5…

        • Light23 says:

          I disagree with the “without question”. Of course, without an actual ranking system you can just make up whatever rankings make you feel warm and fuzzy, so they’re rather pointless to argue over.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          He already lost to Rampage.

          He had a close fight with Franklin and we all saw how competitive Franklin was with Forrest Griffin.

          Anderson Silva beat him senseless and even he refuses to fight Jon Jones because that guy is so good.

          Evans is just quicker and better.

          Henderson lost to a Welterweight like a year ago. No way he is running through that LHW Division at 40. So I stand by my comment.

        • The Gaijin says:

          I actually think he’d have a very good shot at beating Evans and Griffin – both mainly b/c of their shaky chins. And I’d actually really like to see a rematch with Rampage b/c Page has become a totally different fighter since they fought, imho for the worst.

          Otherwise, can’t argue with much there.

        • edub says:

          What about Franklin? The guy who was on the verge of stopping him before an “accidental” eyepoke.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Here is the problem with Dan Henderson…. And I like him as a fighter, so I’m not just picking on him….

          If you look at his wins over even the last 5 years, they are basically against very good Middleweights. He beat Befort and Wanderlei at 205, but they are now Middleweights. He beat Bisping.

          In terms of pure rankings, he stacks up VERY well with the Middleweight Division.

          The problem is that he is 40 and either doesn’t handle the cut well or just doesn’t want to anymore. So while on paper he is best suited for Middleweight, I don’t think he will ever look great at that weight class again even if he cuts down. The Jake Shields fight is a perfect example of this.

          So where does that leave him? It leaves him as a LHW fighter. And he actually looks healthier at that weight class with more energy. The problem is that he is undersized and the level of competition is much higher. It’s a stacked division. So he will never make a true title run unless they just push him over people because Zuffa wants to see it.

          Dan Henderson is really between a rock and a hard place at this point in his career. He is great to watch when he is on…. But I don’t see him even being a meaningful title challenger right now….

        • RST says:

          “Here is the problem with Dan Henderson….”

          …that he’s only that good in off brand promotions.

          Thats why he doesn’t want back into UFC!

          The pressure is too immediate there.

          And whoever said that Robbie wasn’t working on his feet must have missed kennedy’s “its only blood” face.

          I seem to remember Robbie doing fine upstairs but getting smothered under the ole blanket.

        • bluerosekiller says:

          RST,
          re:Lawler’s performance.
          Yes, indeed, Lawler put forth a solid effort during the first two rounds. Though, his strategy left MUCH to be desired.
          But, that third round?
          Lawler mailed it in at best. And, IMO, putting it like that is being kind to him…
          I don’t have any clue what’s up with Robbie as he used to be one of my very favorite fighter’s watch do his thing. But, mentally he’s just not “there” anymore.
          Saturday night he appeared to be in the beging with his aggression & those quick scrambled to avoid the takedowns. He seemed motivated as hell, in fact.
          But then, when he couldn’t land anything to hurt Kennedy, his focus seemed to fly away…
          And he made no adjustments whatsoever. Which was painfully frustrating to witness.
          I mean, a simple solution to his difficulties may have been as easy as using a jab & a double jab to force his way in behind. But, it obviously never occurred to either himself or his corner. SAD!

        • bluerosekiller says:

          Personally, I believe that the matchmaking at Strikeforce has had a lot to do with the ruination of both Robbie & his former two time opponent Scott Smith.
          I think more could have been done with both of them as far as entertaining match ups. But, they were both just sort of thrown to the wolves over the course of the past two years or so.
          Certainly, Smith’s style was a huge liability in & of itself & I’m sure no one held a gun to his head to cut to ’70 ( a really, REALLY bad idea in my book ). But, damn…
          He needs to be retired for his own good ASAP.

          Lawler?
          Physically, I still think he’s got “it”. And could still do some things in his career…
          But, I don’t know where his heads at.
          I’m afraid his confidence might be shot.

        • RST says:

          When did Evens have a shakey chin?

          That one time against that schemdrick Lyoto?

    • Kelvin Hunt says:

      No…Hendo is not #2..he can’t leapfrog Evans and Rampage or Machida…even with a win over Fedor.

    • edub says:

      -He beat Franklin by poking him in the eye when he was on dream street in the third round.

      -Beating Fedor who was in the top ten HW doesn’t move you ahead of Rampage, Griffin, Machida, or Evans. Fedor has declined too much to have a win over him shoot you up the rankings a lot. Remember this is the same guy that lost to jake Shields last year.

      -Let him fight Rich Franklin for the SF belt.

    • Chuck says:

      If “Feijao” was top ten then he was EXACTLY at number ten, and only because of his win over Mo Lawal. And the only reason Lawal was top ten (and no higher than maybe 8 or so) was because of his win over Gegard Mousasi. And Mousasi was a borderline top ten/fifteen fighter for a while (the win over Babalu solidified that).

      Looking at the Sherdog rankings, Dan Henderson is ranked number 9 at light heavyweight and Feijao is still number ten. I guess that is correct. That is more because there isn’t really anyone else deserving of that number ten spot (Matyushenko maybe, no one else). Feijao’s time in the top ten will come to a close soon enough. He just might be the light heavyweight Brett Rogers (a dude with monstrous punching power with one or two good wins, and basically bottomed out after that. Hell, that also might be Shane Carwin as well).

  3. Nepal says:

    45, the upside to this is you won your bet. Would have missed your thoughtful posts and your outrageous ones too.

    I confess, I’m amazed. Hendo did great, Fedor did not look bad, he just went out balls to the wall and Hendo got him on the ground. However this is 3 in a row, the excuses can’t go on forever.

    What I’d like to see for Fedor next is Lesnar. Lesnar is a totally overrated guy but he’s a monster. Really there isn’t anyone else I’d be too excited to watch Fedor fight. Even if the UFC picked him up, who else would be appropriate to fight him? Shogun? Machida? Jones? Any of those 3 guys would be huge favorites and realistically most likely would beat him (Shogun would win only if his knee(s) are not totally shot).

    The only way for Fedor now is to learn to fight smarter. That means GSP style, staying away from fighter’s strengths. Not jumping into Werdum’s guard, not going toe to toe with Hendo.

    The days of Fedor pulling big bucks are gone.

  4. Kelvin Hunt says:

    and I go 5-0 again on the cards…

    • The Gaijin says:

      0-5!! 🙂

      • The Gaijin says:

        1. In hindsight, inexcusable pick of Smith against Saffedine. And the worst part is it’s tough to tell if Saffedine is that good or Smith is just that bad – thought he could have caught him with a comeback KO, but that was just sad.

        2. Woodley did exactly what wrestlers do to Daley. I thought Daley could have put up a better fight and/or been able to KO/hurt him at some point…dumb thought. Not sure if that made me thought Diaz was dumb for trying to avoid Woodley or not. I mean I guess he got the GSP fight and the $$ regardless, but I’m not so sure he wouldn’t have squashed T-Wood and then been able to say “See! I can beat wrestlers!”. Oh well…Diaz can try to do that against the best in the biz.

        3. Robbie Lawler – wtf mang? What. in. the. hell. was he doing out there…

        4. Hats off to Tate…ended a bit weird. Tate looked like she was really tiring out and hadn’t done much yet – so I figured that my prediction was right on track (e.g. Tate with the takedowns/top control and Coenen with the sub attempts and getting a sub in the deep waters).

        5. Fedor, Fedor, Fedor. Bad stoppage imho, but not unjustifiable – but if Lesnar, Shields and Kongo get the benefit of the doubt to fight out I’m not sure wtf Dean was doing. Regardless, Fedor sucked himself into fighting into another guy’s strengths again…shooting it out with a guy that really only goes for the ko shot? I guess that’s all Fedor does now too though. Almost had him finished and showed the composure of Shane Carwin…

        I assume he gets cut/retires now, unless some idiot offers him a dumptruck full of money to fight Overeem or …Overeem in Japan, Russia or Holland or something. Can’t see M-1 or GG ponying up for that…so…I think he’s done. M-1 has zero leverage to extort promoters anymore and guys like Shark Fights/Pro Elite aren’t that dumb.

  5. Larry Craig says:

    So if fedor isn’t the best HW of all time then who is??

    Even hater 45 admits he was the best from 2002 to 2005 so who has had a better run making him the best HW of all time? I gotta hear this..

    • mr. roadblock says:

      Can people ease up with the “greatest of all time” talk in a sport that isn’t even 20 years old?

      Come on.

      The Dos Santos/Velasquez winner is 2-3 fights away from matching if not surpassing Fedor’s accomplishments.

      If you think Fedor will still be regarded as the greatest of all time in 10 years you’re nuts.

      It is official. Fedor fans are as crazy as Rickson fans.

      • edub says:

        That’s something I always struggle with.

        “Can people ease up with the “greatest of all time” talk in a sport that isn’t even 20 years old?”

        He is definitely the best HW of all time at the moment, But the sport is so young so it almost feels wrong to say that. I usually just say the best HW so far in MMA. And I don’t think the would be the GOAT at anyweight if fighting were to end tomorrow (that would be Anderson Silva IMO).

        • mr. roadblock says:

          That’s basically my point.

          Fedor had a great run. It probably won’t stand the test of time. But it was a great run. The 30-0 is impressive no matter how you do it. I don’t think the undefeated streak will hold up to the scrutiny of time. Losses in MMA aren’t a big deal if you get back on the horse.

          Whether it was bad/corrupt management, Fedor himself or just that he “lost it”; whatever the case when he came to the US where fighters are forced to continually fight the best competition available he went .500.

  6. bluerosekiller says:

    Damn, 45. You sure do like to gloat, don’t you?
    LOL
    But, I’m not going to be thin skinned about it. You were absolutely on the money about this one & deserve the kudos you’re owned.
    All I ask is that you be kind enough to pass me the hot sauce so I can make this crow I’m eating today a bit more palatable.

  7. bluerosekiller says:

    I think Hendo would have a shot against Jon Jones.
    Let’s face it, the one thing we haven’t seen from the UFC champ is how he’ll take a shot fom a big banger like the Strikeforce champ.
    Jones could prove to have a rock for a chin & completely own Henderson. But, there’s also a chance that he’s sporting a face full of fine bone china just waiting to be smashed to dust by a hardcore puncher like Dan.
    The truth is likely on a scale somewhere in the middle of the two possibilities & I, for one, would like to see where it is.

    Also, while I’m thinking of it, I wanted to be sure to address the whole “Hendo just lost to a welterweight” thing…
    While there’s SOME truth to that statement, we all know that it’s misleading as hell.
    Last year Sheilds was firmly entrenched as a world class ’85 lber & Henderson, IMO hadn’t looked that great when cutting to middleweight in a long time ( Bisping fight aside ).
    So, the current welterweight met the current light-heavyweight in the middle & the fighter who was more effectively able to compete at 185 pounds over the course of five rounds that night won. After the cut, Hendo had one good round in him & it was almost enough to take him to an emphatic victory. But, big props to Shields, he survived it & dominated the rest of the way.
    But, c’mon, Hendo was pretty dead at the weight.

  8. Jonathan says:

    Well guys,

    It looks like this is my swan song. I know that no one will care that I am gone, and that the excitement would have been if 45 Huddle has lost the bet, but alas, it was I. Being a man of my word, I will no longer post here on FightOpinion.

    I have enjoyed my time here ever since I heard about this website on Beatdown Radio. Josh Gross talked about it and so I checked it out and I was hooked from the very beginning. I even remember listening to the FightOpinion Radio Shows, which I wish he had kept doing.

    I thought that Fedor would win this fight, but like every fight, I had my doubt. I remember Rogerio Nogueira taking Dan down and subbing him so easily when they fought in Pride, and for the life of me, I am not sure why Fedor did not do that. We all know that Dan has a monster right hand, but not much else besides that. Why anyone would try and fight in the one area where Dan could beat them is beyond me.

    As to 45 Huddle, he was right. He was right on a lot of things, and I tip my hat to him. So often in our society, people are not going to agree on much of anything, and MMA is no different. Was Fedor over-rated? Probably. Does that change the way that I feel about him? Absolutely not. I feel the same way about Sakuraba and about Wanderlei Silva and Big Nog. Criticize me all you want for that, as I am sure that I deserve it.

    If I have to leave one final parting message, this would be it: 99.9% of the time, no one is going to change their mind on what you say or write, so do not get angry and/or expend massive amounts of energy trying to get them to. Debate is fine, but on this site, as in real life, debate often turns to rancor, rancor turns to hate and vitriol.

    I wish everyone here the best of luck, and if any of you want to reach me, you can e-mail me at [email protected]

    Have fun,

    Jonathan

    • The Gaijin says:

      I will tell you guys what — I think it sucks for anyone to have to “leave” as a commenter on a site they enjoy reading and participating in — regardless of whether they signed up for that fate or not.

      If it’s acceptable to 45 and Jonathan — I would like to offer to fall on the sword for Jonathan and take his banishment in his place.

      I have been commenting on mma sites for a long, long, long time. Started on Sherdog and the UG in my first year of undergrad in 2001 and – I believe I was one of the earlier people to consistently post here (even juvenilely posting under “Redneck Mafia” when I thought Zach was blocking my comments – when it’s really the spam filter – and saying ridiculous things). To be honest, I am beginning to enjoy NONE of it anymore and it is completely ruining my enjoyment of the sport. In a way I think my “9 year rule” might have come up.

      Further to Jonathan’s point – for some people it seems like it’s become just like politics except maybe this is just far easier for them to understand and enjoy. I am sick to death of having the same arguments over and over again, with people who choose to frame something through a clearly biased perspective, but at the same time when I see people spew the same agenda driven points I feel like I don’t want to not chime in either. Guys like nottheface, whome and edubs probably do a far better job of it anyways. I’m tired. Literally there are times when I almost grind my teeth at the ridiculous stuff people say (OVER THE INTERNET…how foolish is that to care that much?!)…because either it is almost impossible for me to believe a rational person can actually think that way or they are just saying it because they are militantly opposed to having any type of dialogue and will never have a real conversation about something – essentially they come to “discuss” mma having some quasi-political ideology that is diametrically opposed to actually having a conversation or discusion b/c they are unwilling to ever actually listen to or appreciate/entertain an opposing view. And I feel like I am starting to drag myself into that mindset or always playing devil’s advocate, whether I actually agree with the point or not…so maybe we should let someone who recognizes that continue to contribute and participate without being so cynical or vitriolic.

      So enclosing, please consider letting Jonathan learn his lesson and to never make a stupid bet like that again, but not be so harshly punished…I’ve had my time in the sun as a commenter and fan of the sport- I’d like to just enjoy the sport for a while.

      Deal?

      • 45 Huddle says:

        I don’t mind if he comes back.

        I just said it really at David M who was so overboard in his Fedor predictions…. When I knew Fedor didn’t have a chance.

        I would like to go back to just enjoying the sport…. I feel like being an “insider” or “internet fan” really gets in the way of it…. Especially lately….

  9. The Gaijin says:

    http://img508.imageshack.us/flvplayer.swf?f=Mpf4&repeat=always&autostart=1

    Real-time rather than slo-mo replay, still think that Dean was way to quick to jump the gun on stepping in. Quite possible/likely that he was just going to continue bongo-ing him, but looked to me like he was clearly rolling to defend…would have preferred a truly definitive finsih, but what can ya do?

    Will be interested to see the ratings…I actually didn’t watch live, I dvr’d the event, so wonder how interested others were to actually watch live.

    Turning the page – August looks like an interesting month for mma. Can’t wait to see the UFC Rio card and still oddly intrigued to see Ortiz vs. Evans.

    • mr. roadblock says:

      I think Herb reacted to seeing Fedor’s arms go limp but he was back a few steps. By the time he got there Hendo had woken Fedor up with the back of the head punch.

      That happens sometimes. Wandy/Jardine is a prime example.

      I still can’t tell if Fedor rolled himself or Hendo pulled him to his back as he was going for position.

      The reality is Fedor was about to get pummeled bad. He was on his back trying to sit up with his hands at his side.

      For the record. I didn’t like the finish. In my opinion they signed up to go fight for money. Let there be no question. If it means a broken nose, orbital bone or jaw, fine. It’s part of the business. At least let him take one or two flush to the face.

      I wonder though if what Hendo did to Bisping was in the back of Herb’s mind and he thought ‘I better save this dude or Dan will kill him’.

  10. David M says:

    I think Hendo has a good shot against anyone at 205 not named Jon Jones. Saying Forrest Griffin is without question better than Henderson is about as ridiculous as one can get. The biggest wins in Forrest’s career happened to come against fat Rampage and fresh off of 2 surgeries, fat Shogun. Forrest is the luckiest man in UFC history.

    45 I give you props on picking Low T to beat Fedor, but it is odd to me you say Shogun is clearly better than Henderson; sounds like you are talking about the Shogun of years and years ago who was the best fighter in the world. Isn’t it odd how a fighter can decline? Using your logic in re: Fedor, fighters don’t decline, they are just overrated and fighting cans when they are in their so-called primes. Shogun in his prime beat prime Rampage and prime Arona and a host of other fighters; because he is not as good now as he was though, he was never that good to begin with, right?

    The saddest part about last nite was that Fedor was clearly the better, but stupider fighter. He stung Low T at the start, charged in like an idiot, got kneed against the fence some as he recovered, and then as soon as there was distance again, dropped Henderson. The only place Low T had a chance to win was in scrambles and in Fedor’s reckless moments. At distance Fedor was the far superior fighter, but he was too damn stupid. I think I want to see him fight again, at 205. I have no idea if he will; he doesn’t need the money, but maybe being embarrassed will get him to make some serious changes.

    The stoppage was not good but you can’t fault Herb Dean that much given that it looked like Fedor was out for a moment. Tough call; generally in a main event though a fighter should be given a little bit more leeway.

  11. RST says:

    Robbie is a decent fighter, seems like a nice guy, but he cant beat wrestlers.

    Not decent ones.

    He’s Diaz without the charm.

    The Bab fight just told us that he never fixed that.

    Lets see tim kennedy talk all day after he faces a decent wrestlers or Sub guy.

    He wont get past the crocodile.

    • edub says:

      Honestly, for having little discernible wrestling background Tim’s is quite good. Let’s not forget Robbie was the first guy to beat Trigg when he came to MW and beat guys like Misaki and “Mayhem” Miller.

  12. bluerosekiller says:

    I say NO ONE should leave.
    Sure, Johnathan made a bet ( in a moment of questionable judgement ) which some here may say he’s obligated to honor, but honestly, unless Zach feels otherwise & chooses to enforce it, I say he ought to just plead a wee bit of temporary mental imparent & continue to post.
    And yes, quite honestly, I’d be arguing the same point were it 45 Huddle who lost the bet.
    It’s not as if $$$ were involved & the winner of said bet can claim any sort of financial injury from the loser not “paying up”.

    Just my ( albeit unsolicited ) two cents.

  13. EJ says:

    Dan really has taken too many punches to the head if he really thinks he should be next for the winner of Rampage/Jones. Did he forget being dominated by a WW a few fights ago?, because I sure as hell haven’t. The funny thing is that he’s built this win to be the biggest of his career and in the end it’s pretty irrelevant.

    Because he’s going to have to take a huge paycut to stay with SF or find himself battling no names in Bellator for 100k. At least he got paid off the Bisping win regardless of how short sighted that move was, now for knocking Fedor into irrelevance he’s going to get the short end of the stick and he has no one to blame but himself.

  14. RST says:

    Interesting,

    a superior wrestler will beat a striker, but a mob striker combined with wrestling will beat a man 3 times your weight class.

    Maybe that last minute disposition is much more then its worth.

  15. RST says:

    “…that he’s only that good in off brand promotions.”

    What I mean more specifically, is that he’s better in these one off weirdo fights.

    Like the original UFC.

    Like they made in Japan.

    And like Randy was mostly good for.

    Neither of them were as effective for the murikan/traditional climbing the ranks style.

    But pretty good snarks.

  16. bluerosekiller says:

    RST,
    re:Lawler’s performance.
    Yes, indeed, Lawler put forth a solid effort during the first two rounds. Though, his strategy left MUCH to be desired.
    But, that third round?
    Lawler mailed it in at best. And, IMO, putting it like that is being kind to him…
    I don’t have any clue what’s up with Robbie as he used to be one of my very favorite fighter’s watch do his thing. But, mentally he’s just not “there” anymore.
    Saturday night he appeared to be in the beging with his aggression & those quick scrambled to avoid the takedowns. He seemed motivated as hell, in fact.
    But then, when he couldn’t land anything to hurt Kennedy, his focus seemed to fly away…
    And he made no adjustments whatsoever. Which was painfully frustrating to witness.
    I mean, a simple solution to his difficulties may have been as easy as using a jab & a double jab to force his way in behind. But, it obviously never occurred to either himself or his corner. SAD!

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