The End Of The Golden Era

[Cammo101]

It is mindboggling to think about the fact that Tito, Hughes, Liddell, and Couture have all 4 lost their last fights. These are the 4 men who took the UFC from "human cockfighting" to billion dollar industry. All 4 are clearly on the downside and none are legit title contenders any more.

Tonight was a changing of the guard moment. An out with the old and in with the new kind of night. While it will be both weird and sad to see the old guard go and the new generation take center stage, MMA, and more accutely UFC, are in very good hands. We do not know for sure who exactly will become the new genetration versions of Chuck or Randy...but it looks like St. Pierre, Lesnar, and Griffin are at the front of the pack of new UFC superstar headliners.

[SpReEfOrAlL]

It is kinda weird isnt it? I wonder how the change will go over? Will the newer fans who got on the MMA train because of those 4 stick around? I know plenty of casual fans talk about Tito as if he was still relevant to the elite level of MMA. When it becomes clear to them that he is done will they stick around for more? Or go back to thinking that the fighters hug to much on the ground?

[Cammo101]

It is kinda weird isnt it? I wonder how the change will go over? Will the newer fans who got on the MMA train because of those 4 stick around? I know plenty of casual fans talk about Tito as if he was still relevant to the elite level of MMA. When it becomes clear to them that he is done will they stick around for more? Or go back to thinking that the fighters hug to much on the ground?

I think those fans will stick around because the product is so good. But it is very weird, because those 4 dominating is all I have known as an MMA fan.

[jTF2]

UFC needs top fighters who retain their belt with some degree of consistency. I think LHW, HW, WW (GSP isn't ASilva great) and LW (unless BJ stays) will be a revolving door for years to come. Its not a good scenario for the casual fan to see their 'old' guard all get pwned and then to see the guys that just beat the old guard get pwnt by someone else.

[pugilistfan]

UFC needs top fighters who retain their belt with some degree of consistency. I think LHW, HW, WW (GSP isn't ASilva great) and LW (unless BJ stays) will be a revolving door for years to come. Its not a good scenario for the casual fan to see their 'old' guard all get pwned and then to see the guys that just beat the old guard get pwnt by someone else.

Thats a very good point. But I think GSP will retain the WW title for quite some time. I'm not even a huge GSP fan but I cant deny his incredible athleticism and wrestling ability. Not to mention hes a very big WW. If Sherk fought Florian it would be the same result and Florian is arguably the #1 contender for BJ's belt. Therefore I see BJ retaining the LW crown after he loses to GSP.

Asilva is tough to call because nobody in the UFC MW division can beat him. I like Maia but Asilva would tear him up. The problem with Silva is that hes just not very motivated. He has said in the past he will fight 4-5 more times and possibly try to have a career in boxing which would be a huge mistake because he would not be able to compete against good-elite boxers. And if he cant compete with those than its not worth it because he wont be making any money.

HW, LHW will definitely be revolving doors though.

[markdeez33]

UFC needs some guys to come in and replace the legends

I think they've got more than enough guys for the future:
Brock Lesnar, Forrest Griffin (went to my high school with my older brothers, good friends with my bro Shawn, he was in Vegas at Extreme Couture with him), Rashad Evans, Rampage Jackson, St. Pierre, and BJ Penn are all working towards the elite status (if of course, they haven't already)

[RutgersBJJ]

these 4 fighters are just being exposed. It isn't a changing of the guard, it is showing which fighters got complacent, or in one of their cases (Couture) who was never that good to begin with. Hughes never got a stand-up game. He has elite wrestling and grappling but no stand-up and he is now slow with old age. Chuck has the worst game plans and refuses to use his wrestling. Tito is the best grappler in the UFC LHW division outside of Forrest and refused to ever use it up until his last fight.

people are now just being exposed to higher skilled and more well-rounded fighters, or in Brock Lesnar's case, a massive human being that will be exposed soon enough.

oh and GSP is significantly more skilled than Anderson Silva and fights at a weight class with much more skilled fighters. And Maia will sub Silva in the first round. The UFC has never seen someone with the grappling skill of Maia, and besides Jacare he is by far the best grappler in the MW division. His game continues to grow and expand and he trains at Wanderlei's gym in Las Vegas. He and Jacare are just on another level than anyone the MW division has seen, and luckily, unlike Jacare he doesn't have a glass jaw and won't be KO'd by Upkicks.

as soon as Maia is popular enough and hyped up enough he will fight Anderson. For as much hype the UFC gives Anderson, his holes are pretty obvious. it is easy to take him down, and even at his black belt level, he will be no match for Maia. Maia will sub him and show him why Sao Paulo is the greatest state in Brazil.

[Cammo101]

these 4 fighters are just being exposed. It isn't a changing of the guard, it is showing which fighters got complacent, or in one of their cases (Couture) who was never that good to begin with. Hughes never got a stand-up game. He has elite wrestling and grappling but no stand-up and he is now slow with old age. Chuck has the worst game plans and refuses to use his wrestling. Tito is the best grappler in the UFC LHW division outside of Forrest and refused to ever use it up until his last fight.

people are now just being exposed to higher skilled and more well-rounded fighters, or in Brock Lesnar's case, a massive human being that will be exposed soon enough.

oh and GSP is significantly more skilled than Anderson Silva and fights at a weight class with much more skilled fighters. And Maia will sub Silva in the first round. The UFC has never seen someone with the grappling skill of Maia, and besides Jacare he is by far the best grappler in the MW division. His game continues to grow and expand and he trains at Wanderlei's gym in Las Vegas. He and Jacare are just on another level than anyone the MW division has seen, and luckily, unlike Jacare he doesn't have a glass jaw and won't be KO'd by Upkicks.

as soon as Maia is popular enough and hyped up enough he will fight Anderson. For as much hype the UFC gives Anderson, his holes are pretty obvious. it is easy to take him down, and even at his black belt level, he will be no match for Maia. Maia will sub him and show him why Sao Paulo is the greatest state in Brazil.

Did you invent the word "hater"? You don't get complacent at 40 years old, you just get old.

[Blame Rasho]

In combat sports there is no mercy for the ones long on the tooth. Usually there is a steep and sudden fall from the top. It is up to the current generation to take advantages of the current infrastructure and build on the sport.

[El Hardee]

The torch has been passed, I see BJ as the new poster boy for the UFC.

[Chach]

I don't know if I would use complacent as the correct adjective but my sentiment is the same. The era of one dimensional fighters is quickly ending and the well rounded fighters are going to be the guys that rise to the top. I am a fan of Maia but if he wants to be champ and stay champ for awhile then he is really going to have to develop a stand up game because I can see someone like Henderson stuffing his take-down and hurting him enough on his feet to lose a match. Bisping's stand-up is strong enough to hurt Maia but I don't know what his take-down defense and ground game look like. And that's another example, if Bisping wants to be champ he is going to need to be able to stuff takedowns and be adequate on the ground to keep the fight standing. You don't need to become an all-pro at every phase of the game but you need to train in all areas to enhance your skills. You don't need to become a submissions expert but if you are Bisping and your bread and butter is your stand-up, you need to train on your wrestling and submission defenses so that you can keep the fight standing or, more importantly, not lose on the ground. First was was BJJ, then it was wrestling, the Muay Thai became a big hit in the MMA world. Now I think that well rounded guys who can handle all phases will be the trend now. mahalo
~Chach~

[ansoncarter]

it's getting more and more boring imo

the origional ones were 10000x more entertaining. Like tiny yarbourough fighting keith hackney lol. That stuff was on another scale of fun to watch

they had actual ninjas back then. A guy showed up and his style was Ninjitsu

first one I watched, the final was a guy with no teeth vs a cop. And the guy with no teeth actually tried a front flip kick. Literally flipped his whole body. He lost right afterwards, but still

everything is so streamlined now it can't really compare

glory days ended when guy with no teeth couldn't pull off the flip kick imo. Symbolic.

[Chach]

Please tell me the name of this fight. I need to see this. I'll tell you what, I'll trade you Don Frye versus Yoshihiro Takayama for no teeth kickflip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFdU8iJT ... re=related

You are all welcome. mahalo
~Chach~

[Cammo101]

Please tell me the name of this fight. I need to see this. I'll tell you what, I'll trade you Don Frye versus Yoshihiro Takayama for no teeth kickflip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFdU8iJT ... re=related

You are all welcome. mahalo
~Chach~

I remember seeing that fight years back. It is still awesome.

[ansoncarter]

^^I think it was the very first UFC ppv

no teeth guy was called doherty. Maybe Pete Doherty?

cop was Jennings maybe, can't remember

[ansoncarter]

just looked it up and it was ufc3 harold howard vs steve jennum. Or jenum. Not sure

since my memory obviously sucks, starting to wonder if the flip kick was really all that great or I just remembered it as something great lol

but still pretty sure that was the end of something magical

[Shaazzam]

http://6.cn/watch/8896407.html

[spykelee]

The early days of the UFC where the bomb. No weight classes and such, just 1 big tournament. You would have to win like 3 or 4 fights a night and then you'd be crowned the champion. Plus back then the rules weren't as clear cut as they are today. There were some absolutely vicious knockouts.

Steve Jennum was a cop I believe... from Windsor who was a fill in for injuries, which happended all the time in the old days due in large part to the multiple fights a night. He actually made it to the finals one year because he subbed in at like the semi's... won that fight and then lost in the finals against like gracie or shamrock or severn or somebody like that.

But one of my favourite all time fights from back in the day, Pat Smith, up against Scott Morris at UFC 2. Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zchj8kR8As

[ansoncarter]

^totally agree

Patrick Smith was my fav fighter back then

youtube has harold howard flipkick fight too if anyone cares(doubt it), but it wasn't as cool as I rememberd. Although that kick was ridiculous. DIdn't even come close to landing, served no purpose and I think he might have even hurt himself a little. But that was what made it beautiful lol

[funkatron101]

Watching UFC 2 was my first exposure to the sport. It put me off for many years after watching it. I didn't see athletes, just a bunch of dudes awkwardly hurting each other. Hardly the disciplined fighting I expected.

I'm certainly glad it has evolved.