Washington Wizards Board Combat Sports Thread

[Rafael122]

LET'S GO LESNAR!

[Wizards2Lottery]

That was one hell of a beatdown. Same thing would have happened to Lesnar if Carwin hadn't gassed out. Should've taken that as a lesson.

[Rafael122]

Yep. I really think he needs to go to a different camp because he hasn't changed his gameplans at all. All he's doing is using his size and strength to bullrush his opponents.

[Ed Wood]

So I'ma take you back like Robin Loxley to let ya'll know that we are currently most of the way through what is one of the best mixed martial arts cards in years. More forthcoming, maybe even prolonged discussion. Maybe.

[Rafael122]

My buddy didn't want to see this show at a sports bar so I was kinda pissed that I missed it. I heard the GSP/Shields fight wasn't good though, but GSP's face is pretty messed up I read?

I'm probably gonna get this show on DVD.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

GSP/Shields was so bad I fell asleep during the fight. It was overhyped. Shields looked like a total stiff.

Couture's career ended with a spectacular knockout by Lyoto Machida. Some of the undercard fights were pretty competitive. Jose Aldo's fight was exciting. So was Ben Henderson's win--IMO the fight of the night.

As UFCs go UFC 129 was average to fairly good, except for the anticlimactic main event. GSP's face looked bad with swelling around his eye at the end, but it's not like he took much punishment overall. He had blurred vision from round two on, and fought tactically and safe the rest of the fight. Shields really wasn't impressive at all IMO.

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

GSP/Shields was incredibly disappointing. GSP's takedown defense was too good for Shields (as it is for everyone else), and while GSP won he didn't have the standup power to make it interesting. He apologized for the fight and attributed it to not being able to see out of his left eye after it got poked in the 2nd. Either way it disappointed.

HOWEVER, Machida's KO on Couture will go down in MMA history, and the Aldo/Hominick fight was one of the best fights I've ever seen (point blank, no exagerration. we went back and watched it again after the card was over. that good.).

Even Pablo Garza and Ben Henderson's wins were VERY entertaining. IMO despite the GSP/Shields disappointment it was one of the best cards I've seen in a long time.

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

My bad, CCJ with the scoop minutes before mine

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

My bad, CCJ with the scoop minutes before mine

No, NBTW, I like your input a whole lot!

It really was the lack of power GSP had on those punches that was surprising. George really did shut down Shield's take downs easily.

I wasn't disappointed because I don't watch all the cards anymore.

(EDITED): I wonder how you feel that Aldo/Homminick fight didn't get stopped?

[Rafael122]

I watch just about every other show. Last show I saw was the...I can't remember, it was last month. Oh yeah, the Bones Jones fight. I am not surprised GSP's fight went 5 rounds. He can't finish people off, plain and simple. The man has all the talent in the world, but he always chooses to play it safe and stick with the game plan and that's going to hurt him eventually if he ever faces someone who likes to push the fight. Shields was a great matchup for him b/c Shields likes to do the same thing, he can't finish fights either, lay and pray.

If GSP fights Silva, Silva wins, hands down. GSP needs to be more aggressive, impressive fighter but he's too safe.

[Ed Wood]

GSP/Shields was so bad I fell asleep during the fight. It was overhyped. Shields looked like a total stiff.

I wouldn't say it was overhyped because the UFC is in the business of self promotion and you can't expect a fight to be made out to be anything but destined for greatness. The UFC actually handled exposing Shields really well going into the fight considering he was coming off of an unimpressive win in his first fight in the organization after years in leagues a lot of fans just don't pay attention to. Shields is also a grinder and a grappling specialist, which are not qualities that are endearing to the broadest swathes of the fanbase, and has no personality.

So all in all the fact that the fight had much of a profile at all was an accomplishment, but GSP's wrestling is so great and Shields is so much of a non-factor on his feet (and this was no secret prior to the fight) that it was a non-starter as a competitive contest. That was true of GSP's defense against Dan Hardy and a bunch of Anderson Silva's title defenses as well, but the UFC isn't going to trash talk its own booking. The real issue with both Silva and GSP right now is that both are clearly better than everyone else with much of a resume in and out of the organization and there are other guys in the organization who are clearly better than the rest of the world but also clearly worse than the champion (like John Fitch, who is the second best welterweight in the world but a very clear second to GSP) and so you have to take what you can get in terms of title fights, even something like this where stylistically you know bad things are going to happen.

Couture's career ended with a spectacular knockout by Lyoto Machida. Some of the undercard fights were pretty competitive. Jose Aldo's fight was exciting. So was Ben Henderson's win--IMO the fight of the night.

Everything outside the main event was fantastic, the undercard was really tremendous as well. Part of the appeal to me, however, was the fact that I really don't like Randy Couture, a personal thing more than anything he's done as a fighter, and so the crane kick knockout was both awesome to watch (no can defense) but satisfying as well.

[MF23]

Huge fight coming up both figurative and literal. Lesnar's the better athlete but I believe Overeem has a bit more experience than him and that's going to be the factor. Lesnar takes you down and smashes your face. That predictability is a weakness.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I will be watching this with my sons.

MF23, I think this is probably going to be very one-sided. Overeem has a lot of experience, but a lot it has been experience losing to guys smaller than Brock. He's lost to guys like Shogun Rua, Chuck Liddell, and Antonio Nogueira among others. Don't take my word as gospel, though, because I thought the wrestler was going to be the striker a couple months back. I was wrong. Junior Dos Santos knocked out Cain Velasquez. You just never know when strikers come out guns blazing. All it takes is one good punch and it's lights out. We know Lesnar can be kayoed (Velasquez got him). We also know he can take a punch (Shane Carwin fight). So, even though I'm saying one-sided, we won't know til fight time....

Overeem is IMO a good looking guy (no homo--I have way too much baby momma drama to be insecure about my manhood) made for UFC ratings because of his size/appearance vs Brock. However, he's not that strong compared to Brock. Overeem's K-1 background and his striking skills IMO are not going to do him any good when that big bull of a human Lesnar charges right at him. I see Lesnar doing all manner of takedowns--single legs, double legs, and body locks. Overeem better have some good takedown defense and he needs to use leverage well as in judo, or he's going to get crushed. I see this thing going 2 rounds. Lesnar is going to lay on him, pound his face in, and finish him. It will go quicker if Overeem gives up his back.

Overeem can win obviously on quick strikes. He can also win if Lesnar gets gassed. Then I can also see Overeem going for a leg triangle or a heel hook. I just don't see it coming to this. I think Lesnar is going to embarrass and thoroughly dominate the guy.

[MF23]

Don't worry I wouldn't judge you if you were homo. I don't think Lesnar will physcally dominate him. Lesnar has so much muscle mass I don't think he has it in him to go 3 rnds. Overeen is lean muscle I think he's going to be patient and wait for an opening. If he tries a take down and catches one of Overeems knees it's game over.

[doclinkin]

I'm looking forward more to the Nate Diaz / Donald Cerrone fight. Win or lose Nate always gives an interesting fight, he's got this weird loose limbed style that to me is fun to watch, and he's game enough to battle up and down. Good whip on his strikes, and he's able to stretch into holds from implausible positions. Cerrone I know less about (watching available footage now) but he's got an aggressive style that should make for a good match. I like both the Diaz brothers, they're willing to play villains to get some buzz for a match, but Nate's physical signature caught my attention early on, dunno why.

[doclinkin]

I'm looking forward more to the Nate Diaz / Donald Cerrone fight. Win or lose Nate always gives an interesting fight, he's got this weird loose limbed style that to me is fun to watch, and he's game enough to battle up and down. Good whip on his strikes, and he's able to stretch into holds from implausible positions. Cerrone I know less about (watching available footage now) but he's got an aggressive style that should make for a good match. I like both the Diaz brothers, they're willing to play villains to get some buzz for a match, but Nate's physical signature caught my attention early on, dunno why.

Whoo, Nate put in some work on that one. Never seen him box an entire fight, neither fighter wanted to stay in a clinch, both wanted to throw down. Nate just put together some stellar combinations on advance and counterpunch, using his reach to advantage, ducking just out of range of most counterstrikes. Good fight.

[doclinkin]

bump for sonnen silva. i will avoid the thread since I want to see the replay tomorrow as though it were fresh... because I'm a cheap asss bastid.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

doc, that was worth the PPV!

WOW.

I thought all the fights on the card were good. Silva, Sonnen was even better than the first time. It was an epic bout. It lived up to the hype. I've still got butterflies a couple hours after watching it.

Chael was not as effective after the takedown. He wasn't as strong as last time. My 12-year old son says he thinks Sonnen was not as strong because last fight happened before Sonnen was caught using steroids.

I thought Silva defended on the ground well. He looked comfortable in the guard. He kept his arms high behind Chael's neck and kept chest to chest. He stayed on his back the whole round but was constantly going for submissions or preventing Chael's ground and pound. Still, Silva was mounted and Sonnen had side control a couple of times. Sonnen stayed on top and was ahead to where it looked like it might be just like last fight.

That second round was so exciting! That fight turned in a blink and before you know it Sonnen was on the ground and getting hit with strikes. The ref saved him from a really bad beating. What a fight.

I thought the whole card was good.

[Ed Wood]

And in this case I'm actually inclined toward the opposite impression of the fight, between the strange and somewhat anticlimactic finishes and the protracted bouts between older fighters struggling to maintain the fitness to persevere in the later rounds.

The undercard fights were marked by contests that were quite close and should therefore have been fairly intriguing but I generally found myself somewhat ambivalent even when I disagreed with the decision rendered (the Tibau v. Nurmagomedov fight) and overall just managed a sort of Bronx cheer appreciation for Melvin Guillard's thoughtful victory because he managed to go fifteen minutes without throwing himself into some submission or other.

The McKenzie v. Mendes and Kim v. Maia fights were both unfortunate, the former because McKenzie really shouldn't be booked in fights against someone of Mendes' caliber and it showed very quickly and the later because I was almost sure that it was going to turn into a terrible kickboxing fight and it's unfortunate that it ended so quickly after Maia showed a willingness to actually fight to his strengths. Hopefully he'll continue to eschew his bland standup at welterweight.

The next two fights might have been much more appealing if I'd had a sentimental attachment to those involved but without that added inducement I felt both were less than exceptional. I'm no more convinced that Cung Le is relevant as an UFC fighter after the performance Patrick Cote turned in in a losing effort and Griffin managed to very emphatically underscore his weaknesses as a fighter, defense in all arenas, while nevertheless beating Tito Ortiz by virtue of not turning to stone after the first round.

The title fight did at least highlight the strengths of each fighter very well: phenomenal takedowns in the case of Sonnen and an amazing ability to inflict a lot of damage in a relatively small numbers of strikes and short time in the case of Silva. Sonnen remains a solid fighter who is a very bad stylistic matchup for Silva because of his wrestling but the combination of Silva's potential to end a fight standing very quickly and Sonnen's historically very bad submission defense on the ground makes it unlikely that Sonnen would win more than a fight or two out of ten if the two were continuously matched up. Hopefully another challenger will manage to distinguish himself in short order because as of this moment it's hard to identify a clear cut next matchup for Silva, most likely it will be one of Hector Lombard, Mark Munoz or Chris Weidman.

[doclinkin]

I still like watching Cung Le do whatever the hell it is he's doing out there, glad he finally got a UFC win, I enjoyed his run through Strikeforce back in the day, especially since I was training in shaolin kung fu at the time, was nice to imagine some of the techniques might translate if you happen to have superior timing and technique etc.

Forest Griffin always turns in an entertaining bout. Nonplussed by the anticlimactic finale, I wanted 5 rounds. But the prelim fights on FX beforehand were pretty good. I always like a good bantamweight chicken fight.