UFC 65 - November 18th

[bass]

for the few MMA fans here on the forums..

Bouts:
-Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre (welterweight title)
-Tim Sylvia vs. Jeff Monson (heavyweight title)
-Brandon Vera vs. Frank Mir
-Joe Stevenson vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima
-Alessio Sakara vs. Drew McFedries
-Nick Diaz vs. Graison Tibau
-Jake O'Brien vs. Josh Shockman
-James Irvin vs. Hector Ramirez
-Antoni Hardonk vs. Sherman Pendergarst

the debate over hughes/st pierre could go on and on and on, so i will just give my prediction.. st pierre is the better striker, better on the ground, better in the clinch, better everywhere.. i think the only thing hughes has on him is wrestling and brute strength.. and even then, GSP is a huge guy for 170 lbs.. in their first fight, GSP seemed to be getting the better of hughes.. his striking was pretty on, landed a spinning back kick that sent hughes to the cage.. if he hadnt gone for that kimura from the bottom, hughes could never have reversed it into that armbar with :01 left on the clock for the round.. it was slick, but i dont think it was a smart move on GSP's part.. i think this fight is going to incredible, but also could be over in an instant.. my prediction: georges st pierre by submission, late third round.. new champ

sylvia vs monson is a mismatch of epic proportions.. sylvia is 6'8, monson is like 5'8 or so.. not that monson doesnt have a chance, he is an incredible grappler.. but i think he is going to have a very hard time getting inside on tim.. and even if he does get inside, im sure the takedown would be difficult.. if he can get him down and control him on the ground though (instead of letting him get back up like arlovski the last fight), itll be over in the first round.. sylvia doesnt stand a chance against monsons submission skills.. however, i dont think its going to get that far.. sylvia will keep him at bay with his jab like he always does, and then i see him finishing it quick with either a quick combination or a head kick a la tre telligman.. i sure as hell didnt expect tim to throw a head kick, im sure monson wouldnt expect it either, just like telligman didnt.. my prediciton: sylvia by KO/TKO, round 1.. still the champ.. face winner of mir/vera next

if frank mir comes in shape and ready to fight, he can take brandon vera out.. if he tries to stand with vera, its going to be lights out.. frank mir has horrible standup, at least compared to vera.. if he can get the early takedown and work from the ground, he might have a chance.. i see this fight going alot like mir/marcio cruz though.. mir on the ground taking shot after shot.. frank always has a chance, but i dont think he will ever be the champ again, or be able to fight like a champ.. my prediction: vera by KO, round 2

i wont go into detail with the rest of them, just short ones..

dokonjonosuke mishima is going to eat joe stevenson alive.. this guy is a beast.. ive always wondered why the UFC didnt pick him up before.. stevenson has looked like shit ever since he wont the TUF2 finale against luke cummo.. he lost to josh neer, and he would have lost to yves edwards if that cut wasnt bleeding so much.. i dont see him being able to finish mishima.. mishima by KO, round 2

nick diaz vs graison tibau.. nova uniao jiu jitsu vs caesar gracie jiu jitsu.. i expect nothing short of a great match with lots of grappling.. its hard to doubt nick diaz, but nova uniao is such a great team as far as JJ goes.. i have to go with my gut.. tibau by decision

alessio sakara is going to destroy mcfedries.. enough said.. few people stand a chance against sakara's striking.. unless you can throw triangle chokes around like baseballs like dean lister does (he made it look so effortless against sakara)

the rest of the card looks ok.. not good enough to analyze though.. not excited about james irvin being back in the octagon.. and shockman is going to get eaten by jake o'brien.. watch out for that guy

just bored and thought id type all that out.. if you plan on watching, enjoy the event.. if you dont watch MMA, start.. its a great sport

 

[ShiningIce]

I would like to see GSP come out over Hughes. I also think Monson might just pull off a win

 

[Snail Shell]

I agree with you totally on Hughes/GSP. GSP takes the title.

Monson takes the title if he can get Sylvia on the ground, but I think you're giving Monson too little credit standing up. He's tough. If it stays up, I thin it might be a decision win for Sylvia.

Mir's done. Before the accident, his wins were all fast submissions. He lost his speed after the accident and as such, has lost his game. Vera's going to take him apart.

Those are my calls for 65 anyways. 66.....?

Liddell vs. Ortiz 2: Ortiz couldn't even get Forrest Griffin onto the floor. He's got nothing on Liddell. Liddell by KO, first round.

Arlovski vs. Cruz: Cruz lost to Monson standing up and Arlovski has all kinds of submissions and ground work from his sambo training. Arlovski by KO, first round.

Griffin vs. Jardine: I really enjoy watching Jardine fight, but he doesn't have the finishing power standing up. And regardless of what anyone says, he beat Stephan Bonnar fair and square though the judges disagree. I think the fight with Griffin will be pretty even with Griffin the edge standing and Jardine the edge on the ground. I'll say Jardine by decision.

Snail Shell

 

[bass]

I agree with you totally on Hughes/GSP. GSP takes the title.

Monson takes the title if he can get Sylvia on the ground, but I think you're giving Monson too little credit standing up. He's tough. If it stays up, I thin it might be a decision win for Sylvia.

Mir's done. Before the accident, his wins were all fast submissions. He lost his speed after the accident and as such, has lost his game. Vera's going to take him apart.

Those are my calls for 65 anyways. 66.....?

Liddell vs. Ortiz 2: Ortiz couldn't even get Forrest Griffin onto the floor. He's got nothing on Liddell. Liddell by KO, first round.

Arlovski vs. Cruz: Cruz lost to Monson standing up and Arlovski has all kinds of submissions and ground work from his sambo training. Arlovski by KO, first round.

Griffin vs. Jardine: I really enjoy watching Jardine fight, but he doesn't have the finishing power standing up. And regardless of what anyone says, he beat Stephan Bonnar fair and square though the judges disagree. I think the fight with Griffin will be pretty even with Griffin the edge standing and Jardine the edge on the ground. I'll say Jardine by decision.

Snail Shell

its not that im giving monson too little credit standing up, its just the mechanics of the bout and the style that tim fights.. tims style is simple.. keep them at bay with his long ass jab until they try to find an opening or make a mistake, and then follow up with a hard counter.. hes not a very offensive fighter.. hes like chuck, he will wait for you.. but like i said, if monson can get inside on him and take him down (which he can IF he can get inside), sylvia stands no chance on the ground with him.. mir broke his arm, arlovski got him in a heel hook, and neither of them are anywhere near the level of grappling that monson is at.. IF he can get tim down, tim will not be getting back up..

i think i lose more and more confidence in frank mir by the day, and the more i think about his past couple fights.. he looked TERRIBLE against dan christison, and he almost got caught in an armbar.. he was out of shape, had no cardio, and was just pathetic.. i would have given the decision to christison simply because he was fighting a good fight, and not looking like shit like mir was.. i definately think vera is going to be one of the guys to watch out for in the next year.. watch out sylvia/monson

and as far as UFC66 goes..

liddell/ortiz.. if you remember in ortiz/griffin, the first round tito destroyed griffin.. he took him down, cut him up, and dominated him.. the rest of the fight, he didnt do too much damage, but neither did griffin.. and he was fighting with a torn ACL and MCL.. but as far as fighting chuck.. i dont know.. its hard to make a prediction on that fight, because as much as i just want to say chuck is going to knock him out again, i cant count tito out.. theres still a month and a half until this fight, but when it happens, ill be able to tell if tito will be able to pull it off or not within the first 60 seconds of the fight.. i think the experience of fighting chuck already and being pissed off at getting beaten down by him will make him really think this one through.. im calling upset in my mind, but ill keep that to myself

arlovski/cruz.. cruz stands no chance.. not many do stand a chance against arlovski.. i really dont see any way for cruz to win this fight.. he has a punchers chance, as they say.. thats it.. on the ground, arlovski would not be in trouble with this guy.. cruz is accomplished in BJJ, but MMA is a different game.. arlovski never fights on the ground, but he is a sambo champion.. he definately has submissions.. the only thing im hoping for is that an arlovski win doesnt set up a sylvia/arlovski IV.. i cant take another fight between those two.. i say two-three good wins and arlovski would be back in the running for the belt..

jardine/griffin.. first of all, i agree completely.. jardine destroyed bonnar, but he got the decision because of his TUF1 fame.. just like sam hogar destroyed rashad evans when they fought, but rashad got the decision because he was the TUF2 winner.. sam was standing there at the end all fresh and barely breaking a sweat, and rashad was standing there all busted up, both eyes swollen almost shut, gassed, and rocked from getting kicked in the head.. i think its a little biased.. just like if this fight goes to a decision, im sure griffin would take it.. i dont think its going to get that far though.. heres what i see.. jardine is a submission fighter.. he trains with jacksons down in new mexico with diego sanchez, nathan marquardt, joey villasenor, and so on.. he has a great ground game, with decent stand up to match it.. however, griffin is just a fighter.. his game adapts to yours.. hes not afraid of you or what you can throw at him.. he got alot of respect from me after seeing the way he fought with tito.. hes got submissions, striking, cardio, and he can take a shot.. i think this one is going to be a standup war, with griffin swinging for the fences alot and jardine being more methodical and throwing leg kicks and being more of the counter fighter.. if it goes to a decision, griffin takes it.. if it hits the ground, i give it to jardine.. but my gut tells me forrest will get a sweet second round knockout in this one.. and then maybe a griffin/evans fight for the lhw contender spot..

once the rest of the card is released, im sure ill make a new post with that one and my analysis.. sorry if i get too in depth, i love this sport and read about it everyday

 

[Snail Shell]

No worries. Lots of people are more into this sport than I am and I compete. 🙂 You bring up a lot of valid points that I agree with. You're right. It goes to the ground, Monson wins. If not, Sylvia wins.

And outside of Ortiz, the UFC needs more competition in the LHW division. Liddell said before he fought Sobral that he was thinking of ditching and going heavyweight. Problem is, Liddell IS the best at 205. Someone's gotta get lucky or get good and soon.

Snail Shell

 

[bass]

bump

just because it is tomorrow night

cant wait 😎

 

[bass]

oooooooooooooooooh shit

st pierre second round knockout
left high kick followed by 5-6 punches and 3-4 elbows on the ground
beautiful
st pierre vs serra and then st pierre vs diego as long as he gets past riggs

monson put up a hell of a fight
could have had it in the third, tim was just too big for him to get anything locked in or position himself very well, ground and pound was out of reach
credit to sylvia for surviving on the ground, but he still has boring ass fights

vera destroyed mir
vera vs sylvia is likely up next

alessio sakara gassed out after like 3 minutes, got knocked out after he was destroying the other guy

mishima got tapped out with a nice guillotine after escaping like three other attempts.. disappointing.. the last thing i want to see is sherk vs stevenson for the title.. talk about a potential lay n pray snoozefest 🙄

nick diaz knocked out tibau, apparently had some nice grappling going on (was not aired)

obrien won by decision over shockman (was not aired)

antoni hardonck knocked out pendergarst with a left straight and right kick after the guy tried to just plow through him and pound him on the ground.. hardonck could be a good heavyweight at 6'4 245

and james irvin gets the award for the best one punch knockout of the night accompanied with the award for the worst gameplan and worst overall ability to fight

overall a good event.. much better than i expected.. much better than most recent UFC events..

looking forward to the UFC fight night on dec 13th..
riggs vs sanchez, sorry to say it but sanchez takes it
my boy luigi fioravanti is fighting dave menne, dave is getting KTFO
parisyan vs fickett should be decent, judo vs wrestling/JJ
and another great japanese fighter is coming over, keita nakamura, he is 13-0-2 and trains with yushin okami and caol uno

the UFC lightweight division needs to snatch of shaolin ribiero and tatsuya kawajiri, as well as ronaldo jacare souza dos santos (incredible BJJ, i think hes a 185'r)

 

[Snail Shell]

Disappointed with Monson vs. Sylvia. Sylvia is the most BORING fighter alive. Hopefully Vera will knock him cold.

And, oh yeah...

GEORGES MUTHA-FUCKIN' ST. PIERRE BABY!!!!

Snail Shell

 

[ShiningIce]

I'm so glad to see Hughes got beat I hate that guy. I'm bummed about Munson losing though real let down.

 

[bass]

I'm so glad to see Hughes got beat I hate that guy. I'm bummed about Munson losing though real let down.

yea i was disappointed too, but not much else he could have done.. he gave everything he had.. if tim sylvia wasnt the most BORING and TIMID fighter in the world, it could have either not gone to a decision or monson could have found an opening instead of trying to make one.. sylvia boasts in his prefight interview that 'i have the power to make someone forget 10-15 seconds of their life that they can never get back and wont know what happened to them' or something like that.. IF YOU HAVE SUCH POWER, WHY ARE YOU AFRAID OF A DUDE THAT IS ALMOST A FOOT SHORTER THAN YOU? THROW SOME FUCKING PUNCHES TIM

sorry, he pisses me off.. his sit back/keep you at bay with my tree-arm jab/counterpunch strategy is one of the worst i have ever seen.. he has no aggression.. someone his size could put so much pressure on his opponent just by closing the distance and always moving forward, but instead he is happy sitting back and throwing a jab every couple minutes for 5 rounds.. i think monson hit sylvia harder than sylvia ever hit monson.. they should have given monson the belt for actually fighting

 

[Snail Shell]

Amen. Hopefully Brandon Vera will change that. I don't think he's ready for the title, but he's the best Heavyweight contender to compete with the big lummox.

Snail Shell