Guys Who've Slipped Through The Cracks

cowboyronnie · Post #1 » by **cowboyronnie** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:55 am

Between the breakdown of Pride and the fall of EliteXC, who is conspicuously absent?

Cung Le -I don't believe he's expected to fight in either of the two coming SForce events, though he was somehow at the past presser. God damnit, Cung really needs to be out there and active. He's already in his 30s
Ricardo Arona -in slight defense of Arona: a) fights start on the feet b) I have less of a problem with Arona than I do with someone who plays safe in the stand-up. Then again, the guy has no desire to finish a fight, ever. Even in pure grappling matches, he just looks to control. But he was right at the top of the LHW division for years and needs to be seen again.
KJ Noons -not picked-up by anyone?? I loved the overhand/underhand stance he had against Diaz.)
Mayhem Miller - what's the deal? He's never been signed by anyone even mid-term

I'll have to think some more. I'd say Hunt too. Even though he's had some high profile fights, the huge periods off in between can't have been good for his game. He is as talented as any HW out there.

Post #2 » by **CPT** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 1:05 pm

I'd like to see all of those guys back in action. The last I heard about each of them (may or may not be accurate)...

Cung Le - concentrating on his acting career. He was doing some movie, but yeah, he needs to get fighting again.
Arona - not sure. I read some article last year about him looking to start fighting again in the US, either for UFC or Affliction. Obviously nothing ever came of that.
Noons - boxing. Turned down a fight against Thomson for the April 11th Strikeforce show.
Mayhem - retired.
Hunt - hasn't been that long since his last fight where he got KO'd by Manhoef. I think he's with FEG, doing fights for both K-1 and Dream.

Actually, a bunch of those guys from the Dream MW tournament haven't fought since, at least that I can remember. I'd really like to see The Donger, Jacare, and friggin Mousasi fight again. I think Galesic has a fight coming up at Dream 8, and Manhoef has been busy, but other than that, I haven't heard much.

cowboyronnie · Post #3 » by **cowboyronnie** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 1:23 pm

I'm sure Jacare has a sweet gig as an instructor somewhere, so not financially obligated to fight.

Mousasi has been focusing on pure stand-up (in K-1 and boxing) and pure ground-fighting (he's currently training for the next Abu Dhabi).

Long Dong Sik, IDK. I'm not worried, though, he's got a huge followin.

Mayhem is retired???????????

Post #4 » by **CPT** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 6:19 am

Ah, that's right. The Mousasi K-1 fight had slipped my mind. I'd still like to see him in some more MMA fights though.

Mayhem retired, but when I googled it for confirmation, apparently he's fighting at some show in Hawaii on March 28th. It did say "coming out of retirement" though.

I found this article about Noons' boxing/MMA career on MMA Junkie, and I thought this would be the right place to post it.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/14278/k-j-noo ... to-mma.mma

Former EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons (7-2 MMA, 8-1 Boxing) hasn't seen mixed martial arts action in more than nine months.

But as the 26-year-old recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), that doesn't mean he's not staying busy.

In fact, with two boxing matches scheduled in the next 30 days – against increasingly tougher opposition – Noons said he's primed to make a run at the big time.

"I'm looking to move quick," Noons said. "I want to fight some top contenders, and then hopefully the doors open. These are definitely not 'build-up' fights."

Noons will first face James Countryman (13-1) on Saturday night at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati then follows that match up with an April 18 contest against Matt Vanda (39-9) at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

The level of those two opponents represents a significant step up from his first nine opponents, who held a combined record at the time of their bouts of 27-40-5.

Like several other mixed martial artists including Anderson Silva and Andrei Arlovski, Noons is working with famed trainer Freddy Roach as his boxing career progresses.

But a return to MMA is also a constant in Noons' mind.

"I'm actually up at Freddy Roach's every week getting some really good sparring," Noons said. "I'm just trying to move up until I get a really good offer in MMA. I want to be back in MMA later this year."

cowboyronnie · Post #5 » by **cowboyronnie** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:03 am

Wow, Matt Vanda is a serious opponent. He beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, but got robbed in the decision. That fight will probably get a broadcast somewhere - will be cool to see.

Blame Rasho · Post #6 » by **Blame Rasho** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:16 pm

cowboyronnie wrote:Wow, Matt Vanda is a serious opponent. He beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, but got robbed in the decision. That fight will probably get a broadcast somewhere - will be cool to see.

I still laugh at the notion that he actually lost that fight. The Mexicans were booing relentlessly at Chavez, and it is amazing considering he is like a demigod over there.

Post #7 » by **CPT** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 3:46 pm

I thought I'd heard that name before.

Does KJ have a chance?

Post #8 » by **CPT** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:00 pm

Mayhem Miller update:

He's doing a show called "Bully Beatdown" on MTV. Sets up a fight between a bully and an MMA fighter. He has the right personality for it and does a good job as host, but the show kinda sucks. I just saw the first episode. All of the bullies and victims are adults, which just makes the situations kind of pathetic.

cowboyronnie · Post #9 » by **cowboyronnie** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:10 pm

I thought the show was great. And it fits well into the MTV vibe. I think it will be successful.

I was disappointed in only 3/5 submissions, though. That guy was such a douche.

They need to start them on their knees. Black belts I know can tap me in seconds if they don't have to bother with takedowns. Heck, some guys can give me a countdown on when they're going to slap the sub.