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Alistair Overeem retires Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 in Las Vegas; Yahoo Japan gives it headline status
By Zach Arnold | December 30, 2011
Lesnar’s retirement a top headline on Yahoo Japan, first time ever UFC gets news headline on site (you can thank Alistair Overeem for this due to his K-1 history)
UFC 141 (Friday 12/30 Las Vegas, Nevada at MGM Grand Garden Arena)
TV: PPV
Dark matches
- Featherweights: Diego Nunes defeated Manny Gamburyan after 3R by unanimous decision.
Welterweights: Matt Riddle vs. Luis RamosCanceled- Lightweights: Jacob Volkmann defeated Efrain Escudero after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Welterweights: Dong Hyun Kim defeated Sean Pierson after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Lightweights: Danny Castillo defeated Anthony Njokuani after 3R by split decision.
- Lightweights: Ross Pearson defeated Junior Assuncao after 3R by unanimous decision.
Main card
- Featherweights: Jim Hettes (+200, 2 to 1 underdog) defeated Nam Phan (-220, 11 to 5 favorite) after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Light Heavyweights: Alexander Gustafsson (-350, 7 to 2) defeated Vladimir Matyushenko (+250) in R1 in 2’13 by TKO.
- Welterweights: Johny Hendricks (+200, 2 to 1 underdog) defeated Jon Fitch (-240, 12 to 5) in R1 in 12 seconds by KO.
- Lightweights: Nate Diaz (+230) defeated Donald Cerrone (-300, 3 to 1) after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Heavyweights (eliminator): Alistair Overeem (-150, 3 to 2) defeated Brock Lesnar (+130) in R1 in 2’26 by TKO (punches and knees).
The betting public took a bath with heavy money poured on both Brock & Cerrone. Jon Fitch also proved to be a parlay buster.
UFC 140 (December 10th, 2011)
Venue: Air Canada Centre (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
TV: PPV
Dark matches
- Lightweights: John Cholish defeated Mitch Clarke in R2 in 4’36 by TKO.
- Welterweights: Jake Hecht defeated Rich Attonito in R2 in 1’10 by TKO.
- Lightweights: Mark Bocek defeated Nik Lentz after 3R by unanimous decision.
- Bantamweights: Yves Jabouin defeated Walel Watson after 3R by split decision.
- Lightweights: Dennis Hallman defeated John Makdessi in R1 in 2’58 with a choke.
- Middleweigths: Constantinos Philippou defeated Jared Hamman in R1 in 3’11 by KO.
- Light Heavyweights: Igor Pokrajac defeated Krzysztof Soszynski in R1 in 35 seconds by KO.
Main card
- Featherweights: The Korean Zombie defeated Mark Hominick in R1 in 7 seconds by KO.
- Welterweights: Brian Ebersole defeated Claude Patrick after 3R by split decision.
- Light Heavyweights: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (-220, 11 to 5) defeated Tito Ortiz (+175) in R1 in 3’15 by TKO (body shots).
- Heavyweights: Frank Mir (-260, 13 to 5) defeated Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (+210) in R1 in 3’38 by submission (ripping the guy’s arm off).
- UFC Light Heavyweight title match: Jon Jones (-450, 9 to 2) defeated Lyoto Machida (+350) in R2 in 4’26 by choke.
Tracy Lee brings you the image of the show with Frank Mir going into ultra-carnage mode.
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 158 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I like both PPV’s main cards. A really solid main event for both, and the rest of the PPV is filled with interesting fights.
Lyoto Machida sort of, kind of, deserves the title shot. He lost 2 fights in a row and then beat Randy Couture. But that 2nd loss was to Rampage which many people had him winning. Plus, he is a great style match-up for Jon Jones at this point in his career.
Overeem vs. Lesnar should be a juggernaut of a fight while it lasts. I see Overeem getting exposed, but really anything can happen in Heavyweight MMA.
I will be purchasing both PPV’s for December. But I’m skipping out on the January PPV so it will even itself out.
Both look good. Pumped for Fitch-Hendricks which should really give the winner an inside track at a title shot.
I read Machida has put on 20 pounds (which isn’t easy, so perhaps he has changed his diet from drinking urine to eating “horse meat” like Overeem).
Nobody has been able to keep Machida down, and almost nobody has been able to take him down; he outwrestled Tito and Rashad and his sweeps are so clever that Jones could legitimately end up on his back if he isn’t careful (although I don’t think Machida could keep him down).
This is a great clash of styles; what will Jones do when he can’t outwrestle his opponent and he isn’t slicker than him on the feet? What will Machida do with someone whose length and speed and height entirely negates Machida’s range advantage? I hope Machida knocks him out, but it would be dumb to bet against Jones unless Machida is like a 4:1 underdog or more.
I like Brock to destroy Overeem quickly. Alistair is a quitter; he can be overwhelmed and stopped on the ground; he couldn’t take Arona or Shogun’s Gnp; imagine what a 290 pound freak of nature like Lesnar will do. Also, while Overeem certainly has a big edge on the feet, let’s not make him out to be the second coming of Mike Tyson. He doesn’t have great handspeed and he doesn’t have a good chin.
Fitch vs Hendricks should be fun, but neither man has a shot in hell of ever beating GSP.
I like Nate in an upset over Cerrone. Nate is reaching the age where his brother started to show drastic physical improvement and started to fill out. Cerrone has much better kicks but his hands aren’t anything special; I think Nate can outbox him and is certainly a better grappler.
I can’t imagine Tito beating lil Nog; Tito isn’t good at anything at this point in his career. Nog showed good takedown defense against Phil Davis, and although Tito is a tough guy with a 50 pound head, I don’t think he will be able to survive on the feet against Nog, and will struggle to take him down too because he often eschews punching range to shoot from long-distance in an effort to avoid being punched (although admittedly he did show some ability to stay in the pocket against Bader, but too little, too late).
Predictions:
Machida over Jones – During training, Anderson Silva should remind Machida that a person is able to move faster going forward than backwards. Jones did not look good running away from the punches of Rampage. In this match, Machida needs to be aggressive in terms of striking, distancing and have great takedown defense. Round 4 win for Machida via TKO stoppage.
Overeem over Lesnar – A long layoff is not helpful to Lesnar, so Lesnar will probably stick with his main strategy of limited striking, going for double legs, and finishing via ground and pound. Conversely, a camp change for Overeem may assist or harm his skills. At least, Overeem can get extra wrestling practice at the new camp. Is Overeem only using new trainers in Las Vegas or flying in former coaches? In this match, Overeem should use his overall long term health to push the pace of the fight, work on getting up from his back and use footwork with sprawling to keep it a striking game.
And a bunch of Meh…
(Is this what happens when no one is watching shop?…)
Machida vs Jones, clash of styles, Machida is so good vs gameplan fighter’s, in the other hand the age of Jone can be a factor. But with Machida i doubt a bet.
In the other hand, Alistair is gonna knee the hell out of Brock, for sure, the only way for the american to win is getting the dutch fighter on the ground, but this time, is not the old Overeem. And again, the Lesnar chin is gonna get s exposed. The confidence on Overeem face, damm thats a real factor on MMA.
In the other fight, Fitch is gonna make easy work on Hendricks to stay in the same position. Non tittle-shot.
Zach, can you put the dates that the events will occur in your future posts? I like seeing the upcoming cards, but I always have to visit another site to get the dates. Thanks!
YES!!! THIS TIMES ONE MILLION. Time too, please.
Hard time going to mma.tv for dates?
This is an opinion/good opinions site!
(BTW: I’m not impressed with your opinion so far!)
Eh, not much except at the top.
But you might consider that boxing has one decent fight every 3-5 years at best!
We’re lucky!
RIP Mr.Bison!
He seems like a nice person.
(And in good shape! I hope when I’m a dead body I’m in THAT good a shape!)
I see that Joe Silva has finally come up with a fitting punishment for Dennis Hallmans’ thong violation. He could really get hurt against John Makdessi.
Predictions for 140
Machida
Mir
Ortiz
Ebersole
Hominick
Jones
Mir
Rogerio
Patrick
Hominick
Soszynski
Philippou
Makdessi
Watson
Lentz
Good lord!!
He choked him dead?!
Well, I like Lyoto, but he deserved it for what he pulled on Randy.
Next!
I’m still smiling over Mir’s brutal win over Nog, that was the perfect way for him to shut up all the fanboys and make a statement to Dana that he belongs in the title picture again.
Aside from that Machida had no business getting the title shot so I won’t join the OMG Jones bandwagon like others are doing.
Hopefully this will be the last time Bones faces anyone that isn’t named Rashad because there was no reason for him too at this point.
It wouldn’t shock me to hear Nogueira claim that his arm was injured going into the fight. Brazilian MMA fighters have no line when it comes to excuses for losses.
Machida was a great style matchup for Jones at this point in his career, as the first round showed.
Jones vs. Evans should be great.
Brazilian fighters? Try all fighters. You could name the same number of Americans for injury cries, as you could for Brazil.
Mir got better.
I remember when he was just good and and kind of annoying.
What he has accomplished is probably the ultimate proof for a sub fighter.
Its really remarkable!
“Frank Mir pocketing $75k for the “Submission of the Century”.”
To say the least.
Jones vs Evans would be awesome, but so would Jones vs. Henderson.
^^
Did you just make that up?
Because that was amazing!
I was actually thinking that the theory that Nog was greatly diminished in the first fight was pretty conclusively proven last night. Despite being even older, Nog showed that he’s pretty clearly the better striker when healthy. Great sub for Mir, though.
Yeah, Nog snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in that fight but atleast we can say without a doubt that he wasn’t himself in the first Mir bout.
Of course you can if you continue to be a delusional Nog fanboy. Fact is Mir has beaten Nog twice in devestating fashion case close end of story accept it and move on it’s done. Mir pulled a Nog and ended up making history on multiple counts time to give him props for that and stop the bs.
Weird rumors floating around.
1) Alistair Overeem out of fight with Brock Lesnar (Kevin Iole)
2) Frank Mir could step in (internet speculation).
3) Overeem potentially got popped for abused substance by the NSAC in the pre fight test (Gross saying he is on the agenda for Monday).
Interesting….
And Mir said he would fight Lesnar on short notice.
The UFC would not suffer if this change happened. Overeem is still reletively unknown. And Mir/Lesnar 3 would be a quality main event with Mir coming off a huge submission victory.
But it wouldn’t shock anybody if Overeem got busted for roids. It’s obvious he is on something.
And now the rumor is that Overeem skipped town to avoid a piss test.
The plot thickens.
The fanbois wanted Overeem in the UFC, and this is what you get.
Overeem’s alright, but this is where following followiing fanbois off a cliff leads you.
I have no sympathy for it.
I’m all for Mir/Lesnar 3 i’ve been calling for that fight for the longest time now. Mir is ridding high off this win over Nog and a fight with him and Lesnar will be a much needed mega fight that the UFC is in desperate need of right now. As far as Overeem goes if he pulled a Barnett then he will have surpassed him as dumbest fighter in mma. Because he’s being given a huge opportunity that imo he doesn’t deserve against Lesnar so if he blew it then shame on him because Dana will be pissed.
“Iām all for Mir/Lesnar 3…”
Ehh…
Sometimes a guy has a guys number.
It doesn’t take anything away from big Nog.
Let it go.
hey guys
could you tell what was the name of the song that jon jones used today?
If I could just jump through the internet…
Chris Brown featuring Benny Benassi – Beautiful People
Just read about the huge Flyweight 4 man tournament and I gotta say i’m surprised but incredibly excited for it. I’m all for the 125 pounders getting a shot since alot of guys that are top contenders at 135 are natural Flyweights like Mighty Mouse and Benavidez.
For all the grief i’ve given Dana and Joe Silva for questionable match making as of late this gets a big thumbs up from me. 2012 looks to be an even bigger and better year for the lighter weight guys with Cruz and Faber being chosen to coach TUF the little guys are going to blow up.
How long until Kenny Florian drops to 125 and gets a title shot?
When he starts smoking meth?
Yeah, the weight dropping was kind of shiesty, but hating Kflo is uncalled for.
He’s also fought and beat 185’rs.
Yep.
Florian takes too much
shitfor dropping weight classes. The drop to FW was the first legitimate weight drop of his career. He had no business competing at MW and WW, but there were no other options for him at the time. It was either fight at those weight classes in the UFC or fight at LW in shows at the local VFW hall. He was never a legitimate MW/WW fighter. He should be applauded for stepping up and competing at those weights, not belittled for moving down to a more natural weight class when the opportunity presented itself.Flyweight Tournament should be great. And they are putting the 1st round on FX, which is great. Get those guys as much exposure as possible right out the gate.
Plus, the tournament has the #1 and #3 ranked Flyweights in the world, and also the 2 best Flyweights in the UFC who just happened to be fighting at Bantamweight because the weight class wasn’t available in the UFC yet.
I was checking out the list of invitees to try out for TUF Brazil over on the UFC Brasil website and I nearly fell out of my chair. It looks like basically all the top Brazilian prospects in the relevant weight classes plus a sprinkling of PRIDE and UFC vets are all trying out for that show.
I just hope there is a way to view this up here; it’s going to be like Meca Vale Tudo comes to the TUF house.
You can copy and paste for something like that.
This was the most violent UFC show I can remember.
Machida looked good; he clearly won the first round and was in control of the fight until Jones’ takedown. That dude does more damage with elbows than anyone in the history of the sport. He just gets an unbelievable amount of torque on his shots; Machida was not the same after that massive gash/seeing all his own blood on his face.
I was worried Machida died; it looked like Jones was trying to break his neck. I also thought Krystof damn near died after the beating he took. The Nog arm break was incredible. I watched it at a packed sportsbar and they showed the replay like 50 times and every time the whole crowd just went “OOOOH!” The result of that fight was entirely Nog’s fault. He had Mir badly hurt, and I don’t recall exactly if Mir fell or if Nog took him down, but Nog should never have gone to the ground with Mir almost out, and Nog should never have given up position to try to go for a sub; subs almost never work at the highest levels of mma, and his anaconda attempt led him to getting his arm snapped in half.
Gotta give Frank Mir credit; despite his motorcycle accident, despite getting crushed by Vera, Ian Freeman, Brock, and Carwin, he keeps coming back. I don’t know if he is getting better, but he has a lot of guts (not much chin though). Nog looked “stronger” than he used to. I wonder if he has added horsemeat to his diet.
“…massive gash/seeing all his own blood on his face.”
Lyoto never had to come to grips with that.
And he mostly never would.
The only guys who can beat Machida are Jones, heavy handed jackson when Machida’s on the rebound fom his first KO, or Shogun or Hendo on their best days.
Thats pretty much it IMO.
So Jones can only be beat by those who beat him already (plus maybe Hendo)… Gutsy prediction.
(I meant Machida, not Jones)
I don’t think Hendo would beat him.
Yeah, thats right.
So far.
Someday somebody will be able to beat him.
Who do you think can beat him?
Jones will Kill Evans, I actually think Hendo has a better shot.
Mir won fair and square, but Nog shit the bed in that fight. He had Mir beat, all he needed to do was keep punching him in the head. .. . and he decided to roll with him, give Mir a chance to grope and grab and recover and submit.
Nog was seconds away from victory. Poor show on his part.
Evans/Jones is not that great of a fight.
Evans is a GOOD fighter, but he cant do much that Shogun or Lyoto couldn’t do better.
Maybe wrestling. But allegedly Jones is an Ace wrestler also. He’s just so good overall that he never has to show it.
It might be a money fight, but its not a good fight.
Fanboi BS IMO.
What are you talking about? Have you ever seen Jon Jones fight? Saying he doesn’t have to show his wrestling is pretty stupid. He took down Matyushenko, Bader, Machida, Hamill, etc. His wrestling acumen is his most noticeable skill.
Rashad probably won’t win, but it is in fact a GREAT fight. Rashad is just as fast as Machida with the hands but hits harder. Also may be a better wrestler than Machida; it is close.
Also, Ariel Halwani reports that 2 judges gave the first round to Jon Jones, which is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.
Insane.
Not all that crazy.
Lyoto landed some, but Jones was the one coming forward the whole time.
Lyoto probably won that round, but by a sliver.
LOL @ coming forward being criteria to win a round
I didn’t say that he won the round.
I only meant that it could confuse a stupid judge.
Actually, watching it again right now (beautiful fighnt), that is kinda crazy.
Pretty much all Machida.
Once again, UFC should just jetison the boxing judges for a few events, just to make a point.
They dont take them overseas anyway.
Everybody cares so much about going mainstream.
But I wouldn’t mind if UFC rejected the boxing judges for a few shows just on GP.
Finally seeing this on rerun.
(If I’m invested in the outcome, then I cant watch…)
Lyoto gave him his toughest fight so far!
When Lyoto is on he can beat anybody walking the earth!
except jones walking the earth!
Lyoto is faster then Jones!
Incredibly!
He’s so, so fast!
But he’s a closed culture.
Jones is a citizen of the world.
Lyoto’s strength will always also be his hamstring.
Like I said after UFC on FOX: It is hilarious Frank Mir is a top 3 Heavyweight. Remember Carwin, Dos Santos and Velasquez were going to wipe the Octagon mat with all the older HWs? Now he’s a hair away from a #1 contenders fight or even title shot.
I see two things: either Dana sits him out until the summer for Brock to beat JDS in March or April then fight in August or September, or if the Overeem story is true, put him in. Either way he doesn’t have the confidence in him he apparently has for Rashad and Sonnen. Although Mir in a #1 contender fight on FOX would be big. But this fight is a must business-wise. With GSP gone for 2012 they’ve got zero big money fights beyond Lesnar/Mir.
And I have no idea who is going to beat Jon Jones. Hendo can never be ruled out because he’s an underdog wild card, but realistically he’d get destroyed by Jones. Rashad could lay and pray a win maybe, but Jones’ wrestling isn’t as bad in comparison as some are making out. He could stuff takedowns and eat him alive standing.
“It is hilarious Frank Mir is a top 3 Heavyweight.”
Who said that?
Beating Big Nog does not automatically make you a top 3 HW.
Well said.
I even told my friend who I was watching the fight with, “he should back up and out-work him on his feet”, because that is what he was doing. He had Mir dazed.
Like you said, “Mir won fair and square”, but one of the things that was hurting Mir was that he seemed to gas. I’m sure carrying all that extra weight is what did it, like in some of his prior fights.
Nog had it won (who I wanted to win), but props to Mir, it surely takes focus and keeping your head to win in those circumstances, especially to someone the level of Minotoro.
Nog was on his way to pounding Mir out when Herb Dean starting yelling “back of the head” even though the punches were to the ear area. That’s when he switched to jiu jitsu mode.
God I hate Herb Dean.
Yes, its all Herb Deans fault.
Good point.
Not saying Nog didn’t lose that fight on his own, because he did.
Just that Herb Dean ain’t no Yuji Shimada.
Because he sure is not.
Fair enough.
I’d have to say thats probably true.
I just finished rewatching that fight and Mir is just bizarrely lucky.
He always is.
This IMO was one of Herbs best nights in a while. He called the Hominick stoppage correctly, and did a good job of warning Big Nog because a few of his punches did hit the back of Mir’s head.
However, I will also say that he is overrated.
Uh, with last night’s victory, Mir IS a top three heavyweight in the world. At least IMO.
I mean, why not?
Other than JDS, who definitively desrves to be rated above him at this point?
Velasquez?
Maybe, but he just got destroyed in just over a minute.
Lesner?
Sure, he holds a onesided beatdown victory over Frank, but he was belted out in his last fight & has suffered two catastrophic illnesses since then. No one knows what to expect of him come 12/30.
The ‘Reem?
Who knows?
I’d place him over Mir for sure, ’cause I don’t think he could survive the early going against The “Reem’s blows, but we’ll have to see where things stand with him come Monday…
Barnett?
Now THAT’s a match I’d LOVE to see, but I’m not sure Josh should be above Mir in the ratings.
Carwin?
Has a big KO winover Frank, but this is a “what have you done for me lately” sport.
Past results & history count, but recent results count more & Frank’s on a bit of a roll, while Carwin is a big question mark at the moment.
So…
“…Mir IS a top three heavyweight in the world.”
Its certainly arguable.
I agree, why not.
Considering Mir’s one-sided losses to Brock and Carwin, I really don’t see how he can be ranked higher than #6.
Mir’s best win was and continues to be Big Nog.
I really don’t see the justification in ranking him ahead of JDS, Velasquez, Brock, or Carwin. All of those guys either have one-sided wins over Mir in the last 2.5 years (Brock, Carwin), or have one-sided wins over guys who have one-sided wins over Mir in that same timeframe (Velasquez over Brock, JDS over Carwin). I also would not rank him over Overeem. I suppose Mir moves past Werdum at this point however.
As for Brock’s surgery, the surgery he had is a cure for diverticulitis unless he is stupid enough to redevelop it by not changing his diet (the original laparoscopic surgery did not remove the entirety of the affected part of his colon, just the part that apparently had gotten so bad it was abscessing; the later surgery took out 12-15 inches, and realistically should have taken out everything that is usually affected by diverticulitis). Even if he were to redevelop it, that’s a process that would take at least five years even if he ate pure venison, and Brock had already adjusted his diet even after the original surgery. Furthermore the failure rate on a bowel resection is approximately 1% for a normal human being let alone an elite athlete (and it would have failed by now if it was going to). As for its impact on his nutrition, the large intestine takes out excess water, not nutrients or calories, and the body usually adjusts even for that after a year if part of it either stops working or gets removed. So Brock has slightly softer stools right now basically. Basically Brock by all rights should be every bit the athlete he was circa UFC 100 considering his training habits.
Anyway Mir vs. Velasquez seems like a good fight and would clear up a lot of questions about Mir. If SF fighters were available, Josh Barnett would seem good to me too, although I’m pretty sure he has a fight booked right now anyway.
Ranking Carwin over Mir at this point is ridiculous, fact is Carwin has lost twice and had major surgery who knows if he will even be a contender again. Mir on the other hand is on a 3 fight win streak he basically put himself in the top 4 after his win. The only guys that have any claim to be over him are Brock, Cain and JDS nobody else not even overated Overeem or any of the SF HW’s who haven’t done nearly as much as Mir has.
This reverts to the debate about whether rankings should be based on beating other ranked opponents vs number of wins and losses. I’m in the first camp.
Carwin beat Mir, and Mir has beaten nobody ranked higher than Carwin, so Carwin is rightly ranked above Mir. What difference does it make if Mir is on a 3-fight win streak? All 3 were guys ranked below him (and below Carwin). And what difference does it make if Carwin is coming off two losses? Both were against opponents ranked higher than Mir.
I would love to see Mir vs. Barnett if Barnett pulls off the GP tourney (or just in general) as those two are nasty dudes. I could see it playing out either on the feet or in a very interesting grappling game, and I imagine someone’s limb or head would be getting removed.
Carwin still most certainly belongs ahead of Mir in the rankings. Mir has been on a good streak, but it’s against Cro Cop, Nelson, and Nog. Carwin’s last two losses were for the HW title to Brock, and a #1 contenders match to the future HW champ JDS. This is my HW top ten up to Mir:
1. JDS
2. Cain
3. Overeem (pending drug test)
4. Werdum
5. Lesnar
6. Carwin
7. Mir
That being said, a #7 guy being only one fight away from a title shot is not some egregious action from the UFC.
“And what difference does it make if Carwin is coming off two losses? Both were against opponents ranked higher than Mir.”
Because you don’t get to keep your ranking on multiple losses while other guys keep winning. If you did then the rankings would be even more messed up than they are, the only argument to keeping your ranking after a loss is if you lose to the champ. After that you drop with a loss and that’s what Carwin did, Mir has been winning 3 straight at this point it’s clear that he’s above Carwin in the rankings.
No it’s not.
Mir could’ve theoretically moved out of the top 10 when he got blasted by Carwin (I didn’t have that, but some did). Carwin lost to the champ, then in a #1 contender’s matcn. Mir beat 1 top ten guy, 1 borderline top ten guy, and the corpse that is Cro Cop.
He still belongs behind Carwin.
Ended up scoring last minute floor seats to last night’s card, a few thoughts:
1. Crowd was super amped and arena was rammed, but I am not buying the numbers they announced. Rumour was it was heavily papered, and there were a lot of tickets available in the afternoon leading up to the event…I got my tix through a friend of a friend that works for Zuffa and he gave us 6 tickets and from what I’d heard about 50 more. When they came to TO for the Skydome show he got 2 tix and could not get one single ticket more…that was a 55k seat arena. They overpriced the tickets TO style – and frankly Zuffa’s core audience are probably not in the income bracket to afford prices they were charging.
2. Hominick has to be kicking himself – he was in line for a star making performance, everyone was ready to explode for him and he made a meatheaded attempt to headhunt with no respect for Jung’s power. He paid dearly for it and I bet he wishes he had the chance to do that one over. Disappointing.
3. Lil Nog looked really good, but I think that’s the case of Tito being completely shot and everyone just living in nostalgia over the Bader KO. I think he’s completely done – keeps getting dropped with body shots, I think he’s just out of steam. If anything, Big Nog could have learned a think or two about how to keep composed in finishing off a hurt opponent.
4. Huge comeback for Mir – looked like a badass there and showed a lot of heart. The reaction in the arena to that whole exchange from Mir getting rocked to him snatching his chicken wing was amazing. I think it’s safe to say – Mir is legit; Big Nog was not Big Nog in their first fight and the staph did affect him; Big Nog snatched victory from the jaws of defeat AND Herb Dean is fucking awful and was partly to blame for the last point. I had the perfect sightline to see he was wailing away on the side of his head, nowhere near “back of the head” and the most overrated ref in the sport kept jumping in yelling back of the head, back of the head, and since Mir was turtled up and Nog seemed to be worried about getting deducted a point from this stupid fck he transitioned to the sub! Terrible reffing – almost as horrible as that douchebag Joe Cooper. But you stay patient and never give up position on a hurt opponent – and Mir showed his heart and BJJ is no joke – and that he is a bad mofo.
5. Jones is officially on the top of my list for best fighter in the world. Machida looked great for the first 1.5 rounds and live the speed advantage was really apparent…Machida really looked like he was frustrating and buzzing him. But like all great champions, Jones adapted in the face of adversity and challenge and changed things up and totally changed the fight. You could literally tell once he got him down and landed that hellbow that Machida was wilting…he didn’t look like he was the same once he saw the cut and blood all over him. I never thought we’d see a guy go on a run like Shogun did in 2005 (Overeem, Rampage, Lil Nog, Arona) or that there would be a guy that “at that time” was the “best” LHW, but Jones’ 2011 was an epic performance by a fighter. I’m not sure who will be the guy to dethrone him – I’m not annointing him after 1 defense yet, but it will be an interesting 2012.
Great, great show…still too many dregs of society go to these events, but thankfully they weren’t in the floor seats. š If this was the last show of the year, I would say what a way for them to end a year that hasn’t necessarily been very kind to them and provide a lot of positive signs for a much better 2012 – but it had to feel great for them to see a card go off like it did.
And fkin Amir Khan…
*Bader sub! derp!
I have the fight DVRd Gaij, Nog did land once to the back of the head and one very borderline. However, I will agree he is the most overrated ref in the sport. Either way, your point about him just keeping position and waiting to keep hitting Frank was correct. All he had to do was either keep peppering, or let him get back up.
IMO Jones will become the best LHW of all time (all 20 years of MMA history), if he beats Hendo and Rashad back to back. That kind of line up on someone’s resume is just unheard of.
As a long time resident of the DMV, I’m happy for Lamont Peterson. But I’m a little disgusted at the blatant blindness from people around here who can’t see that his fight with Amir was a straight Robbery. Even with the GARBAGE point deductions, he still should have one the match by at least two rounds.
I’m jealous. Floor seats?? Damn!
I’ve never actually had floor seats for a UFC event. I’ve been on the side 5 rows up center octagon. Which is actually a great angle to watch the fights at. But that was way back at UFC 39. Would either have to come into money or get the tickets for free to do it again.
Yeah they were great – and it was total luck getting them, so I am certainly not trying to pretend I am some special, well connected person – as much as I would like to! š Right place, right time and happy I picked up the phone.
There were still some sight line issues, but being that close lent itself to a completely different experience nonetheless. Agreed on your last point – I have a pretty good job and get paid what I would consider to be a really good salary (not a 1%’er by any means), but I just could not justify paying face value (or more) for those tickets unless I fell into money or got them for free again.
Tito quitting from body shots from the guard was the most laughable, ridiculous thing I have ever seen in mma. I have been watching the sport for maybe 13 years now, and I can never recall seeing that at any other time. Tito is soft downstairs; Machida dropped him with a knee to the body, Rashad finished him with a knee to the body, and now he rolls over from body shots IN THE GUARD. Wow.
Whoever said Barnett vs Mir would be fun is correct; I hope for the sake of my eyes that Josh starts to train like a professional athlete instead of just doing pro wrestling all day long and getting fatter and fatter. Also, Dana, if you are reading this, please don’t let Josh wear his tiny ass spandex into the cage. thx.
Mir would take him.
I’m actually beginning to think Mir might even outstrike him.
Would be a good fight, just to at least put this endless barnett BS behind us.
Hard to see Mir outstriking anyone after Saturday. Yeesh.
I just read Machida’s Tatame interview, he says he was dizzy and couldn’t see after the elbow from Jones that left that massive gash. http://www.tatame.com/2011/12/12/Lyoto–my-game-plan-against-Jones-was-working
I still have no idea why they allow elbows and not knees to the head on the ground/kicks to the head/stomps to the head on the ground. Either allow all or none. As the rules are currently set up, the wrestler is always at a huge advantage. If he gets on top he can just elbow from the guard and inflict massive amounts of damage without having to extend his limb. If he gets in trouble on the feet, he can just dive at his opponent’s legs, and even if his opponent sprawls, the opponent cannot knee to the head and has to basically release him. Pride rules were so much better, but I think a combo (allowing all of the above-mentioned tactics) would be best.
The wrestler would be at an even bigger advantage if knees were allowed on a downed opponent. They more often have top position. They typically are great from the front headlock position.
The current rule set…. No knees to a downed opponent…. And no headbutts…. Greatly restrict the wrestlers dominance. And yet they are still dominating anyways.
“Pride rules were so much better,…”
I wouldn’t go that far.
Knee’s and no elbows is just as lame.
And lets not even get into the squirelly application of prides alleged rules.
And its not as if there were a different set of rules for Lyoto and Jones.
Lyoto is just as free to try and put Jones on his back and elbow Jones. Just because he can’t do it isn’t the fault of Jones or the rules.
Yes, getting blasted to your head might make you dizzy.
Thats one of the differences between fighting and crocheting.
The wrestler is always at an advantage, because wrestling is the best skill set for MMA. If you have good wrestling, paired with everything else you are most likely going to be really good.
I agree though, even just adding upkicks to an opponent on the ground (Think Jones in somebody’s guard because he’s so tall) and knees to a sprawled opponent would change around a lot of fights.
“As the rules are currently set up, the wrestler is always at a huge advantage.”
That probably has a bit to do with wrestling and boxing being more familiar culturally to the westerners making these rules.
Rules made by the Japanese would be much more likely to favor their own styles.
For instance, apparently it’s considered okay to stomp on somebody’s face in Japan. But there’s no way in shinola that would be allowed in the west.
And if a westerner fights in Japan, then he has to fight by their rules.
And try not to get your face stomped.
Of course I agree that knees should be allowed. And the 12-6 spiking rule is all kooky since its okay to do it sideways.
But BS like that is the price you pay for getting involved with bureaucracy so you can go mainstream.
I dont care for it.
It’s not just the rules…
It’s the style of wrestling that is taught in America at the high school and college levels (folkstyle). It’s almost exclusively taught in this country, and it translates much much better to MMA then Freestyle or Greco Roman wrestling (on average). This is because it treaches ground control as being just as important as takedowns.
No matter what rules the Japanese have used, they have had a hard time gettin a number one ranked fighter, even during the glory days of Pride.
Yeah, I dont think the rules are to blame for anything.
Afterall, would knees on the ground or face stomping have saved Machida on Saturday?
I was just theorizing why the rules are the way they are.
And I’d agree with you and edub that wrestling is probably the best base skill to start from.
I cant remember who said it (Ken Shamrock?), but some fighter said that it’s easier and more intuitive for a wrestler to pick up striking then it is for a striker to pick up wrestling.
Just re: all these comments, I wasn’t implying that the result of this fight would have been different if there were knees on the ground or upkicks allowed. I was just saying that as a fan, I like to see those tactics used; as it currently stands, techniques are allowed that favor the guy on top but that the guy on the bottom cannot do. To me, Anderson’s upkick on Okami was a perfect example. How that is not allowed, but elbowing a man in the head when you are lying on top of him, is beyond me.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Satoshi Ishii will headline the New Years Eve show in Japan.
At least Fedor is back to fighting competition that we all know he can beat. It was his speciality for years.
Honestly, I don’t care much either way. The hype is gone. He got beat 3 times straight when he fought better guys. So now when he goes on some massive winning streak against irrelevent talent, very very few people are going to be acting like he is some great talent again.
“Honestly, I donāt care much either way.”
It really doesn’t matter anymore.
Let me know when Fedor “fights” Cactus Jack or the Undertaker.
Fedor would destroy the Undertaker, he should “fight” the Ultimate Warrior instead, since I’m not sure past his prime Fedor could overcome the power of destrucity.
Bring on Fedor vs. Kenta Kobashi or Toshiaki Kawada.
I’m going:
Lesnar in Rd 2 TKO – have a feeling there may be some controversy over stoppage/non-stoppage at some point in this fight…gotta go with my “If they were a big deal in Japan, bet against them in their 1st UFC fight” motto. I keep thinking its a coin flip w/ Brock’s Bob Sapp-ian distaste for getting hit, but he’s got heart and I just keep going back to Overeem’s “heart” issues and getting g’n’p finished by guys like Shogun, Lil Nog and Arona when he’s gonna have a beast like Lesnar putting 290lbs on top of him.
Cerrone by dec. – I just feel like Cerrone is probably just a little better at everything than Nate (other than subs)…but the Diaz bros. are tough as nails so tough time seeing him finishing Nate.
Fitch by zzzz – If Hendricks gets dominated by Story, I can’t see Fitch not doing it as well.
Gustafsson rd. 2 tko – Might be a Jones-style fight for AG. Though the closer it gets to the fight, I can almost see Vlad getting a hold of him and muscling him around for a UD…but…old guard seems to be falling like flies now that we’re almost in 2012.
And I’ll take Phan by dec as well.
Agree with all of your picks… Except I’m picking Hendricks over Fitch.
I hope you’re right re. Hendricks, really would love to see new blood rising to the top of the ww division.
Who’s right? 45 huddle right!! WHOOO!!! Not like you are complaining about your bad pick….
Fitch is a perfect example of a guy who had a great opportunity and didn’t capitalize on it. He could have been the #1 contender at one point, but played the teammate game. Then he had a draw, an injure, and a quick KO….
I bet Hendricks gets KO of the night no matter what happens for the rest of the card. He just made the UFC’s night….
Lol…I also forgot to add my usual disclaimer that whoever I pick will likely lose! As you said, I’m not upset in the least, I was actually jumping off the couch for that one. Gorgeous KO.
Alistair Overeem’s purse being withheld due to Golden Glory’s legal complaint.
Even if they are legally correct…. And I have no clue if they are…. It’s suicide for GG to do this. It’s a reputation killer for any potential athlete looking for a gym and seeing what they are doing to a former fighter of theirs on one of the day of the biggest fight of his life.
maybe Alistair should have considered that before he walked away from his contract
This isn’t about Overeem. This is about Golden Glory scaring away a lot of potential future business with these type of business practices….
Whether Overeem did something wrong or not will be determined in court. I really could care less how that shakes out.
But I think it’s suicide for a gym to do something like this….
i suspect GG is a better judge of when they are committing suicide than you – they are protecting their interests. just like Alistair would protect his and UFC theirs
there’s no angels here
They lost their only major draw…. So to say they are good at doing anything right now would be a huge overstatement.
They didn’t lose him. They got paid a portion of his purse and will continue to do so for the next couple fights.
HENDRICKSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CUT HIM DANA!! CUT HIM!
They aren’t going to cut him. But they certainly don’t have to deal with him being a title contender for another 18 months or so.
And by that point, he will be closing in on 35, and things will naturally work themselves out….
I think Fitch would make a great Strikeforce champion š
This is the happiest moment of my mma fandom.
I think Nate wins via superior hands and better grappling. Cowboy keeps his chin up a bit much and I think he may get caught walking in. Should be an amazing fight
I think Cerrone blew his load before the opening bell. He looked so slow out there, even before he took any sort of damage.
Fun fight…
I have no idea how any judge scored the first round 10-9. MMA judging is beyond pathetic.
Brock Lesnar just can’t take a punch. It’s as simple as that. He doesn’t like to be hit. He reacts horribly when he does get hit. For as talented as he is, his inability to take any type of strike without basically freaking out has been his complete downfall.
LOL @ 45 Huddle’s prediction of Brock by TKO. LMFAO.
I had a great streak of predictions a while back…. But lately I’m not doing good at all….
My over confidence is my weakness….
I’ll leave you alone since you called yourself on it.
Likewise.
Annnnnnnnnnd on cue, Brock quits on live TV! Too perfect. Dana must be
shittinghimself. Also, LOL to all the people who doubted Lesnar’s predilection for packing it in when the going gets rough. Such heart and chin!He’s a born quitter. When the going gets tough, Brock Lesnar gets going….
He quit the WWE. He quit the NFL. And now he has quit the UFC. 3 strikes he is out…
I don’t think White is
shittinghimself. It’s not like he went out on top. He got beat up a few times before he left, so at least they could build up the Heavyweight Division with him around while he lasted. Sure they will miss his drawing power, but somebody else will fill the void eventually….Who was it on here that kept trashing me for asking about whether Brock would retire after a loss tonight? Whoever it was… eat it, junior.
Just came here to tell you alot of ppl want to take credit for what you’ve been saying for a LOOOOONG time. It must suck always being right…[insert quote from Confederacy of Dunces].
P.s. My pick prognostication lived up to the rep! š
That wasn’t me, but I’m extremely disappointed that he went out like that.
I’ve had to live with diverticulitis since I was 17 (it’s usually genetic in people under the age of 50 or so, and appears to be in my case since grandparents on both side of my family have it or had it) and it went a decade before it was properly diagnosed, and I am only able to finally get surgery this summer several years after being officially diagnosed, now that I have decent insurance. It has been an amazing amount of pain and I can’t even fathom being afraid of being punched in the face considering how much that disease increases one’s pain tolerance. It usually mimicks the symptoms of appendicitis, except usually it’s felt on the left side of the front, lower abdomen instead of the right side (it’s not a “disease of the ass” or whatever the fuck). Think of having dozens of appendicitis attacks, or at least a handful in Brock’s case, and how that would feel, and then ask yourself if getting punched in the head by someone like Cain Velasquez is really all that bad. I would rather face the latter and take my head trauma like a man any day.
The twats using Brock to condemn professional wrestling’s influence on MMA are also extremely annoying. MMA would not even exist without that template. So yeah, I very much wanted him to win. Oh well, I still like Overeem and hope he can carry the torch now.
I’ve had it for about 7 years now, and if it is caught early on by a doctor (as was Brock’s), there are ways to deal with it without suffering that much. It really does suck, but with proper medical attention it really can be nipped in the bud. Never mind that surgery can’t cure it, it can still come back.
I dislike Brock using it as an excuse for his quitting because I know how it is and as long as you take care of it properly, you can really live your life without noticing it.
Your case is one where it went undiagnosed for like 10 years and I mean, the damage was done there and that surgery is like a necessity to live a comfortable life. I feel for you dude, that suuuucks.
Doesn’t change the fact that Brock Lesnar is a quitter. When the going gets tough, Brock gets going. Second high profile loss in a row and he’s out. He even said he was only going to keep going if he was going to get a title shot. Brock is just a certain type of guy.
The thing with Lesnar is, that he often gets bored easily. I do think the illness is indeed one reason he’s out of UFC; it is painful as hell, and it can do a number on your strength and endurance. As Dave correctly pointed out, it can be controlled and you can live with it.
But for MMA, not sure about that. In any case, what options does Lesnar have? He chases the money, pure and simple, along with the attention.
WWE again? Will McMahon give him another chance?
TNA? Can they afford him?
IGF? Inoki had the money to give Lesnar when he came back to New Japan for a few matches, he might have it now, too. Light schedule, not a lot of shows…
Either way, it’s not the last we’ve heard of Brock, for sure.
Considering how hard the WWE tried to get Brock for Wrestlemania last year and that he signed him to be in his video game I have no doubt Vince McMahon would “give Brock another chance.” Brock could do a short program against, oh, Stone Cold Steve Austin for Wrestlemania where he does maybe 6 weeks of television and a few matches with no house shows and earn $1 million for it, and then go back to his family. I certainly wouldn’t begrudge him something like that.
Also, Zach, I believe you’ve said more than once before one of his matches that he’ll retire. A lot of people said that after the Velasquez match too, including you when there were rumors about a “WWE deal” that turned out to be non-wrestling. I’m going to take a wild guess that you don’t like how he disrespected NJPW after being given the belt and burying all his opponents in his brief run, but I don’t know. Is it something else? I’m legit curious.
Anyway, I choose to blame Lesnar retiring on his wife Sable, who is an awful, awful human being.
Defamatory remarks will get you nowhere. š
I’m largely neutral on him as far as love/hate. He’s made more money than he deserved but he knew how to play a lot of people into suckers, so that’s a great human skill in and of itself.
His legacy will largely be glossed over on specifics but once someone does look at those specifics, history will be mixed for him. He’s the one who will go down as drawing the worst Tokyo Dome crowd ever as a headliner. He’s the one who ran out on New Japan with their belt when it came time to face Tanahashi in Sapporo.
Hell, speaking of belts, his admittance that he would retire as champion if he beat Overeem and JDS was classic Lesnar. If he was telling the truth, Zuffa would have sued him into oblivion using the dreaded Champion’s Clause.
I remember posting an item around the time of the Cain fight where I was quoting others who were hinting that he was looking to get back into WWE as a referee for Wrestlemania. Interesting that Dana alluded to perhaps stopping Brock if he goes back to WWE. For someone who says that UFC is a sport and WWE isn’t, Zuffa is sure protective about Lesnar going back to Vince…
How can you say he made more than he deserved when he brought in at least tenfold to what he was paid?
“Hell, speaking of belts, his admittance that he would retire as champion if he beat Overeem and JDS was classic Lesnar. If he was telling the truth, Zuffa would have sued him into oblivion using the dreaded Championās Clause.”
No, he wouldn’t have. The Champion’s Clause doesn’t prevent you from retiring as champion, it just prevents you from going and fighting for anyone else after you ‘retire’. This all was explicitly stated during the whole Randy/Fedor debacle.
His drawing the worst Tokyo Dome crowd ever I have a feeling is something no one will examine in the larger context of his career since practically no one even pays attention to his Japanese wrestling.
As for him playing people into suckers, no. Just, no. You know as well as I do that there are people who played wrestling politics as an artform and there are those who didn’t, and he was never one of them. He drew a lot of money for the WWE and though he was pushed to the moon, he was the best big-man worker in the company and didn’t have to constantly rob other stars of their heat to keep himself afloat like Triple H. He was not a snake in the lockerroom and when you look at all the monster heels who have come out fast and fizzled out, it’s even more apparent that Lesnar very much earned his spot, not to mention his paycheck.
In Japan, I have no idea. His role in countersuing the WWE over their ridiculously restrictive no-compete clause is something I will give him and Antonio Inoki much credit for. Even though he settled out of court, it was only because it was increasingly apparent that he was going to get everything he was asking for in court and the WWE didn’t want to have a legal precedent set. Nevertheless the WWE never even tried to pull that bullshit again, and left open ways to counter their more standard no-compete clauses in the future, such as when Kurt Angle simply refused payment to get out of it.
As for Lesnar saying saying he’d retire as champion if he recaptured it, I hadn’t heard that, so that is new to me. I suppose I’d have to think about it. I don’t think Zuffa would have tried to sue him into oblivion before doing everything in their power to negotiate a diplomatic solution (such as more money).
The UFC is at a crossroads right now. The PPV market is fading as people find ways around it and people have less and less discretionary money to spend in a shit economy. Nevertheless from a branding perspective they are as popular as ever and continue to cement and defend their monopoly. If they move larger and larger portions of their programming to television that might be a prudent move and losing their biggest mega-draw could only hasten that.
Right now Brock can take a lot of credit for helping transfer a lot of wrestling fans over to MMA and boosting the sport’s fanbase. The purists who resent this (not saying you’re one of them) are asshats, for lack of a better word. I wish he could have been the inspiration I wanted him to be as an elite athlete who could still be on top of the world despite the sort of life-altering surgery I may now be facing in the not-too-distant future. I don’t begrudge him his choice to be with his family if he is financially set for life. What he did in Japan I’m not nearly as familiar with, but Inoki wasn’t known for making the wisest booking decisions at the time and ultimately he was the booker.
It is unquestionable to me that he earned his paycheck in the UFC considering the fans he brought.
As for Zuffa, yeah, they’ve been rather protective on Brock, I don’t know. Dana White and Vince McMahon also seem to have some sort of tacit agreement to stay out of each other’s way and not try going to war. No matter where Brock ends up I don’t forsee that changing.
Spent way too much time on that I guess. This has been kind of a bad night for me.
Brock didn’t even attempt a takedown in the fight. He grabbed AO’s leg after a knee, but he not once shot in for a takedown. He was content to throw an occasional jab and get kneed. Overeem didn’t even throw a punch until the end! He just walked forward and kneed Brock. That was embarrassing.
I give Brock lots of props for coming back after the surgeries, but he clearly has no business fighting at this point. It was a fun ride though.
ShitI’m having a great stretch of against the grain main and co main picks here on FO: Diaz over BJ, Hendo over Shogun, and now a Overeem over Brock and Diaz over Cerrone. If only my undercard picks were as good zHendo vs. Shogun was a draw. You got helped out by retard judges there (still good call). The Diaz brothers have put me way into the black as far as online betting goes in the past couple months.
A win’s a win. And I forgot to add getting JDS over Cain right to that list.
For the DREAM New Years Eve Card…. They can’t even fill in the seats that are center camera. It’s almost sad watching the event….
And the introductions felt like a cheap copy of the PRIDE days.
2012 really is going to be a different era for the sport. Japan is finished. The UFC is starting with all 8 weight divisions. Lesnar is gone. UFC is going to the FOX deal.
Brock “just big, no skillz” Lesnar retires…so what ? its ok
Man. . . Brock looked lost in there. I really think the surgery had a mental effect. He looked like he was “guarding” a little, and certainly looked beat right from the opening bell. Not even a TDA. Still, he was fun to root against and brought an interesting skills set and prototype to MMA. And he wore the crown, however briefly.
Also, I love how everyone acted like Overeem was just a can crusher because he wasn’t in UFC before.
That is a dumb talking point and always will be for certain fighters who exhibit a lot of skill and heart.
When did Overeem exhibit “a lot of… heart”, when he was tapping to strikes from Arona or turning and running from Sergei?
You’re absolutely right, no fighter ever overcomes deficiencies or flaws in their game from when they were younger. Hey, I’ve got an idea – let’s talk about Anderson Silva being tapped by Ryo Chonan and Daiju Takase, he obviously has zero submission skills/defense.
I didn’t say anything about Overeem overcoming or not overcoming deficiencies – he said that it was a dumb talking point “for certain fighters who exhibit a lot of skill and heart” and I was pointing out that Overeem still hasn’t ever done the latter.
He pretty much got owned by Badr Hari in K-1 but still came back the next year to try again.
Getting owned by a guy and then coming back the next year when that guy isn’t in the GP isn’t exactly a huge show of heart.
Lol. I’m reading inoki is doing some crazy
shitand the reactions on mma boards is hilarious. They never knew inoki always has to get himself over.http://t.co/1IeQfaJv – screen capture!
Top 3 fights of the night:
#3. Diaz vs Cerrone
#2. Yuichiro “Jienotsu” Nagashima vs Katsunori Kikuno
#1. Antonio Inoki vs The Terrorists
UFC is so screwed for PPV. Right now Jon Jones is their #1 draw by default, and nobody is really impressed with his numbers. If he fights Rashad that will do good numbers, but what next after that? They’d better pray Nick Diaz beats Condit and catches on in a big way, because without GSP and now with Lesnar gone they’ve got: Anderson Silva (doesn’t draw but with a select few opponents), Frankie Edgar (couldn’t draw flies dipped in poo), Jose Aldo (has no good opponents to draw with), Dominick Cruz (no guy his size will ever draw but Faber to small degree), and Junior Dos Santos (unknown how he’ll draw but probably less than Jon Jones.)
And buyrates are only get lower from here. Might not be a bad idea to follow WWE’s footsteps and pull 75% of their PPVs off of pay per view and put them on free TV. At least you can keep appearances of being “major” on free television. When you’re drawing 300,000 buys and sinking, then the media backlash kicks in and you’re not a hot property anymore. And it is better for UFC to give up some money than get the “they were just a trend for a few years” treatment from the media. That could jeopardize the FOX deal when it’s eligible for renegotiation.
And what if Rashad and Chael lose? Dana might need to be put in a padded room where he can’t harm himself. Rashad should beat Davis, but I could definitely see Munoz beat Sonnen. And Silva-Munoz will be subzero on PPV.
Will Brock draw for his Wrestlemania match? He’s going to come in on 2 losses and 1 near loss portraying a MMA bad ass. Will the public, even wrestling marks, buy it? It’s questionable. His push never matched what he drew. I could see them being excited coming in retiring off of some wins. But coming in looking like crap with the last convincing win being in 2009? Especially since he’s going to come in to lose to Undertaker or maybe even Steve Austin? I don’t know about that.
I’ll weigh in with opinions on the Dream/IGF card later, but who in the world was that giantess (can’t describe her as anything but) who was next to Fedor after his win? Girlfriend? Wife? Wowza.
I believe that is his translator, but I may be wrong.
Yes, that was his translator. Fedor’s wife is seen on the 2005 Cro Cop fight,though.