UFC 104 Talk

Mike Hunt · Post #1 » by **Mike Hunt** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 6:06 pm

We have threads up to UFC 108 but. for some reason, next weekend's UFC 104 doesn't seem to be getting any attention. I think the headlining fight is being looked over quite a bit by people who think Machida will easily win (I kind of agree but, Shogun looked good last time out)). The heavyweight co-main event looks interesting though with Rothwell vs. Velasquez. I'd like to see your predictions on the matchups like for the other UFCs.

Here are the matchups:

Machida vs. Rua
Velasquez vs. Rothwell
Tibau vs. Neer
Stevenson vs. Fisher
Johnson vs. Yoshida

Hardonk vs. Barry
Bader vs. Schaefer

Okami vs. Sonnen
Rivera vs. Kimmons
Kingsbury vs. Al-Hassan
Struve vs. Gormley

The Flying Gent · Post #2 » by **The Flying Gent** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 6:24 pm

It's great to see the UFC giving us the free prelims again. Hopefully this signifies that this is a feature here to stay. Last time they announced only two free prelims but actually got four in. Hopefully that happens again, but i suppose the depends on how the fights go down.

Anyway, I'm super excited for the main event. But other than that and maybe the Johnson vs. Yoshida fight, the card is a bit lackluster. On paper anyway.

Lol, gotta feel a bit bad for Yushin too. He's not an under card fighter.

4ho5ive · Post #3 » by **4ho5ive** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:25 pm

Cmon Shogun......

Deelow_23 · Post #4 » by **Deelow_23** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 10:22 pm

Main Card

Machida over Rua ( I think this fight will be alot closer then people realize)
Velasquez over Rothwell
Neer over Tibau
Stevenson over Fisher
Johnson over Yoshida

Under Card

Barry over Hardonk
Okami over Sonnen
Rivera over Kimmons
Bader over Schafer
Razak Al-Hassan over Kingsbury
Struve over Gormley

Pretty decent looking card. Not good enough for me to buy tho.

cowboyronnie · Post #5 » by **cowboyronnie** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 10:40 pm

Stevenson vs. Fisher !!!!!!!!!!!!

Post #6 » by **CPT** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:31 am

I think it's because it's a pretty weak card.

You can talk yourself into Shogun, but come on, Machida is going to wreck him. This is not a very strong main event.

The Rothwell vs. Velasquez fight is okay I guess, but not as good as Velasquez vs. Carwin would have been.

Neer vs. Tibau, Stevenson vs. Fisher, and Johnson vs. Yoshida are all pretty solid matchups, but not much star power there. Seem more like Fight Night matchups (I mean, Neer vs. Tibau is a PPV fight? really?), but I think they will be entertaining, so it's not really a problem.

IMO, this card is lacking a 2nd big fight, because Rothwell vs. Velasquez isn't that great and everything should be pushed down by 1.

SDM · Post #7 » by **SDM** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 1:27 am

Fisher v. Stevenson will be a war and it could headline a Fight Night. I agree that they need another match, but since I'm cheap and won't buy it anyway, I'd still leave the house to watch it at the watering hole.

2009NBAChamps · Post #8 » by **2009NBAChamps** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 2:35 am

I don't care what the odds of him winning are, I'm taking Shogun based on nothing other than I love the guy (no homo).

Outside of that.... I'll take

Rothwell
Neer
Stevenson
Johnson

Looking forward to seeing Okami in action as well, haven't had a chance to see any of his fights before.

Mike Hunt · Post #9 » by **Mike Hunt** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:33 am

I actually think the two main fights on this card have more potential than the last UFC. Machida is a top-3-5 guy in the world right now (I think this is a fair statement) and Shogun is a past star who looked really, really good last fight against a big name (who's sadly done). Franklin was a big name who'd shown he's just not in that upper echelon. Belfort was making a comeback but no one was sure what was going to happen.

Rothwell/Velasquez features two guys who are in a good place right now (top-10 in the division, not necessarily falling) whereas Cro-Cop hadn't shown a thing in his previous fights.

Post #10 » by **CPT** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:47 am

I dunno, I was pretty intrigued by Franklin vs. Belfort. It was kind of a coin flip, because Franklin hasn't done too well against elite guys, and Belfort is only elite half the time. It wasn't a championship fight though, so that hurts it as a main event.

The thing is, I think even if Pride Shogun shows up (he isn't going to), I think Machida would still win the fight. And Pride Shogun isn't stepping into the cage at UFC 104. I barely got by Mark Coleman (!!!!) but I got a title shot because I knocked out the UFC's biggest (falling) star Shogun is stepping in there against the guy who probably looks like the most unbeatable guy in MMA. As far as I'm concerned, this is a Liddell vs. Horn, Liddell vs. Babalu II kind of championship fight. Doesn't mean I'm not excited to see Machida do his thing.

Neither one of Rothwell or Velasquez are in the top 10 right now IMO (unless you only mean the UFC), but I would probably put the winner in there, especially if it is Velasquez. I'm also not sure the stylistic matchup will make a good fight, but I could be surprised. And I can't really explain why, but I was much more interested in Dos Santos vs. Cro Cop. It was more of a mismatch, because Dos Santos is the best fighter of the 4 right now, and Cro Cop is probably the worst (I'm not convinced he couldn't beat Rothwell though). Part of me just wanted to see Dos Santos, after Velasquez disappointed a bit in his fight with Kongo. Part of me wanted to see Cro Cop I guess.

Some of the prelim fights making the broadcast could help it out a lot. Barry vs. Hardonk should be fun. Okami vs. Sonnen is a pretty good fight in terms of rankings, but I'm not sure I want to see it. Could be a snoozer. Bader and Schaefer could be interesting. I'm kind of feeling Red Schaefer for the upset.

SpReEfOrAlL · Post #11 » by **SpReEfOrAlL** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:28 am

Rothwell is going to beat Cain. That I am sure of. Cain's only hope is lay n praying his way to a boring decision.

Cammo101 · Post #12 » by **Cammo101** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:53 am

SpReEfOrAlL wrote:Rothwell is going to beat Cain. That I am sure of. Cain's only hope is lay n praying his way to a boring decision.

My gut says Cain wins, but if he tries making it a boxing match he will get KOed.

cowboyronnie · Post #13 » by **cowboyronnie** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:30 am

The undercard is super weak but those top 5 all hot.

Neer is tough as nails and well-rounded, Tibau a ATT specimen.
Johnson a freak, Yoshida applying judo to MMA as well as anyone.
Fisher vs Stephenson...

It's great.

The Notic · Post #14 » by **The Notic** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 3:17 pm

tibau has nothing for neer. but yeah, those 3 fights that aren't headlining but are on the main card are sweet. i'm looking forward to all of them.

Daddy Forest · Post #15 » by **Daddy Forest** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:17 pm

I'm actually pretty excited for the main card, and I would really like to see the Okami-Sonnen fight, Sonnen's from my homestate of Oregon, gotta root for him haha=P

Post #16 » by **Hilltop** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:07 am

Cammo101 wrote:
SpReEfOrAlL wrote:Rothwell is going to beat Cain. That I am sure of. Cain's only hope is lay n praying his way to a boring decision.

My gut says Cain wins, but if he tries making it a boxing match he will get KOed.

After seeing him against Congo too, I think his chin is pretty suspect.

Post #17 » by **Hilltop** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:11 am

If Shogun pulls off the upset that'll be a pretty sad day, well for me at least. That would just kill the enigma that is Machida. After being tooled by Forrest, barely escaping Coleman, and jumping on the "I knocked out Chuck Liddel" bandwagon, I can't say I'm rooting for Rua at all.

2009NBAChamps · Post #18 » by **2009NBAChamps** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:39 pm

It's going to be all about his conditioning and health..

I don't care what anyone says but he was barely 50% for that Forrest fight and could take him out on any given day. The Coleman fight his conditioning was still not up to par and well a victory over Liddel doesn't have the same credibility but that's through no fault of Shogun's.

if Shogun is in proper condition for this fight (which all signs point to he should) then this will be a good contest for Machida. Obviously Machida's still the favourite, but I'm taking Shogun hoping his vintage self re-appears.

4ho5ive · Post #19 » by **4ho5ive** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:12 pm

2009NBAChamps wrote:It's going to be all about his conditioning and health..

I don't care what anyone says but he was barely 50% for that Forrest fight and could take him out on any given day. The Coleman fight his conditioning was still not up to par and well a victory over Liddel doesn't have the same credibility but that's through no fault of Shogun's.

if Shogun is in proper condition for this fight (which all signs point to he should) then this will be a good contest for Machida. Obviously Machida's still the favourite, but I'm taking Shogun hoping his vintage self re-appears.

Yes Yes Yes, i dont see why Shogun's complete knee reconstruction and dual knee injuries are constantly being overlooked. And i dont even think Forrest owned him like people like to say, I havent watched it in sometime but i think i had the fight scored 29-28 Shogun had Forrest not slipped in the RNC, and that was on bum knees.

High 5 · Post #20 » by **High 5** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:05 am

Hilltop wrote:If Shogun pulls off the upset that'll be a pretty sad day, well for me at least. That would just kill the enigma that is Machida. After being tooled by Forrest, barely escaping Coleman, and jumping on the "I knocked out Chuck Liddel" bandwagon, I can't say I'm rooting for Rua at all.

I agree. I don't want Machida to be figured out in his first title defense. Unfortunately there aren't any interesting fights in Machida's foreseeable future with Rampage out of the picture.