Mixed Martial Arts Thread (UFC and others)

[Suicane75]

And your medical degree is from???? Just to emphasize my sarcasm.
Dana has said he expects him back early next year fwiw.

Show last night was pretty damn awful from an overall point of view. Stann looked good and I guess he's in the title picture now but I dunno, he certainly doesn't light my world on fire.

The Roy Nelson joke has run its course, I don't need to see him again unless he's serious about being a fighter.

Rampage is the biggest waste in MMA. His schtick is tired and his fights are boring as shit. It's a shame cause he has the charisma to be something special but I just can't bear him anymore. Hamil isn't a top flight fighter and should never again be promoted as such.

[dubb93]

Am I wrong in thinking that Brock will have a Colostomy following the removal of part of his colon? Can he fight MMA with a colostomy bag?

[PilotMan]

Well, to be honest the main event last night was supposed to be Edgar/Maynard III and there wasn't time to get a headlining fight put together so they just left it that way. Otherwise, yes, it was a weak card, and they knew it. As far as Hamil goes, absolutely, he just isn't main event material.

Now Mayhem and Bisping. Cha-Ching, that is pure, solid gold.

So I've been watching this season of TUF, and while it hasn't set the world on fire it has been interesting enough to keep watching. Finals should be good. Rough week this week with that Zac kid getting 2 torn retinas and essentially having his career ended just like that. Rough way to go out.

Brock's return is tenuous I would guess. He is going to lose a lot of weight, and hopefully this solution will solve the problem, because he is losing a lot of money not having fought in over a year again by the time he comes back. I would guess that all it would take would be some complications and that could be it for his career altogether. This is either a make it or break it deal I think.

[DeToxRox]

Nelson posted he just got diagnosed with walking pneumonia after visiting the ER. I can see it. He weighed in at 260 so he was obviously having trouble keeping weight on.

[PilotMan]

Spoiler

GUIDA! GUIDA! GUIDA!

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Spoiler

GUIDA! GUIDA! GUIDA!

It was a good card tonight...

[PilotMan]

I watched the entire season of TUF this season, and I am not surprised by the final outcome.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I watched the entire season of TUF this season, and I am not surprised by the final outcome.

Dude....Once I found out Ramsay was living in Utah and wrestled at UVU and had been training with Court...I started cheering for him.

Tony, he lost a lot of people with his stupid stunt in the house..

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Dude....Once I found out Ramsay was living in Utah and wrestled at UVU and had been training with Court...I started cheering for him.

Tony, he lost a lot of people with his stupid stunt in the house..

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slu..._finals_060111

Clearly Tony showed that he has some problems, but I really got a different idea of him reading an article about him after the show on Yahoo. I think it's too bad if that is going to be the way that he is remembered in the UFC, because he has solid standup and good wrestling. With some good training he could be a really good fighter. Given that so much time has elapsed from the end of the show, he really should have a clean slate to start with.

[DeToxRox]

What sucked about this season was not only that Spike really ruined their fighter selections, but Myles Jury tearing his ACL during the first week of training. Jury is legit. He would have steamrolled through that contest. He was signed to a UFC deal after getting hurt at least. He has a bright future.

[DeToxRox]

Dana announced all non title Main Events will now be 5 round fights.

Also he expects a Flyweight division in place by years end.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Rumors floating around (WSJ, Bloomberg) that Zuffa is in negotiations to buy at least controlling interest in G4 from NBCu. Guesstimates seem to be $600m for 60%, with an eye toward the expiration of the UFC contract with Spike less than a year away.

Biggest question, if a deal were to be struck, is whether G4TV would become all-MMA all the time or if a few shows (like AotS) stick around.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Rumors floating around (WSJ, Bloomberg) that Zuffa is in negotiations to buy at least controlling interest in G4 from NBCu. Guesstimates seem to be $600m for 60%, with an eye toward the expiration of the UFC contract with Spike less than a year away.

Biggest question, if a deal were to be struck, is whether G$TV would become all-MMA all the time or if a few shows (like AotS) stick around.

I'd imagine some G4 shows stick around. UFC has a lot of content but not enough original content for a full UFC network. Though with that said, Dana has said he envisions a time where UFC has shows 52 weeks a year so who knows?

If I was WWE I'd try and get in on the deal. Making it a combat sports type channel. Dana has said he thinks WWE fans turn into UFC fans so it makes sense.

[dubb93]

While I would love to get an All-MMA channel, I really hope UFC doesn't move to crapty G4. I get a bunch of HD channels. G4 is not one of them

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Making it a combat sports type channel. Dana has said he thinks WWE fans turn into UFC fans so it makes sense.

That would probably be a good move if WWE would commit to showing vintage WWWF, WCW/NWA, ECW stuff.

Would also be cool if Zuffa bought out TNA, brought in some people that new Wrestling and utilized all the talent they have correctly.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Would also be cool if Zuffa bought out TNA, brought in some people that new Wrestling and utilized all the talent they have correctly.

I don't think that they (Zuffa) could ever be associated with anything where the results of the matches are decided ahead of time. Even if they were completely separate entities it would color the line too much and leave the door open to speculation and hurt the sport altogether.

[BYU 14]

You make a good point PM, hell Dana even disses boxing so I don't see them getting into wrestling. Would make a nice channel though.

[PilotMan]

As much as I love Brock he would have gotten his ass kicked again last night. Carwin should have been able to plant JDS and keep him there, but the fact that he couldn't kept it to JDS's advantage. Junior was just way to quick and his boxing was really solid. Carwin could only really look for the homerun, and honestly should have been stopped in the first round. He was a shell of himself the rest of the fight after that, I don't think JDS had any intention of putting himself in a position where he was going to lose after that. Made for a boring fight at times, but I understand where he's coming from.

KenFlo looked good, although he really got tagged a couple of times. I expect him to be a top contender at featherweight. The Herman/Einemo fight was better than expected. That was an intriguing fight on paper and it delivered. Carwin would have killed Einemo if they had fought.

[Carman Bulldog]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

As much as I love Brock he would have gotten his ass kicked again last night.

I'm not sure I totally agree with this statement. I think a healthy Brock (and I say this with a grain of salt as I'm not sure we'll ever see a "healthy" Brock again) has amongst the best wrestling in the heavyweight division. We have not seen Junior take on an elite wrestler and it would be interesting to see if JDS could stuff Brock's shot. I'm not saying that I think a Brock vs. Cain/Carwin fight turns out any different due to their wrestling base, I just think Brock could match up more favourably with JDS.

With that said, I'm not surprised that JDS opens as a favourite over Cain. While it was a few years back, Velasquez really struggled with Cheick Kongo's striking. And while Kongo is a good striker for a heavyweight, I don't think his technique is anywhere near the level of JDS. Cain is going to need to get this fight to the ground and we will definitely find out what kind of takedown defense Junior possesses.

[Suicane75]

Thought it was a pretty good show. Surprised Carwin wasn't able to bring more power. Maybe the weight loss has affected him too much in that area. That being said I think Dos Santos & Vasquez is gonna be a war. Both those guys can go all night.

[DeToxRox]

Cain and Dos Santos are the two most precise heavyweight strikers in all of MMA, though JDS clearly has the advantage there. If Cain's shoulder is fully healed I still give him the edge because his combination of speed and agility mixed with his wrestling is off the carts. JDS has great quickness but I can see Cain taking him down and getting a stoppage.

Not sold on this happening mind you, but as of now that's what I got.

[DeToxRox]

Pretty crazy that probably the best fight of the month hasn't even occurred yet, but we're closing in on Overeem vs Werdum which should be a good fight. I just don't see how Overeem loses the Heavyweight GP but stranger things have happened. Here's hoping he wins and sets the stage for Overeem vs Cain/JDS which in either case would be an absolute war.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Here's hoping he wins and sets the stage for Overeem vs Cain/JDS which in either case would be an absolute war.

Cain and Dos Santos are the two most precise heavyweight strikers in all of MMA

Seriously, Overeem can't be that far behind. All those K-1 fights have to give him some credit. I don't think he is as accurate, but his overall standup is better than a one-punch shot. Cain isn't anywhere near as fast as Dos Santos, but he has a much more well rounded skill set. Still we haven't seen Junior on the ground much at all. I think Junior wins a boxing match, but Cain has more weapons at his disposal and if he can mix it up and keep him off he should pick up the W.

[thesloppy]

Thoroughly underwhelming card last night. For all its hype and promise, this Grand Prix has been about as exciting as crap in a shoebox thus far.

[dubb93]

As much as Werdum was able to hit Overeem with straights last night combined with the fact he has been stopped multiple times in that past I have little doubt that JDS or Cain would starch him inside of two minutes. And this is from someone who was really hoping Overeem was the Ubereem as advertised.

I really like Barnett and I am rooting for him the rest of the way. Here's hoping he is finally clean.

[Suicane75]

Well shit man, let's be fair. This is just a bunch of decent heavyweights dressed up in a pretty package. These guys would all be fighting each other anyway tourney or no, and it wouldn't have the publics heart rates up. Outside of Fedor only the hardcorest of the hardcores were really amped for this and once Fedor did lose well then who honestly really cares. The winner will certainly draw some interest if they fight a big UFC name next but other than that nobody was really gonna care.

[PilotMan]

Overeem is clearly a top 5 maybe top 3 heavyweight. He is going to kill Bigfoot Silva in his next fight, and probably end up fight Barnett, although Kharitonov could make that fight really interesting. Given Overeem's K-1 background, I wouldn't be worried about him not being able to handle a standup war. The rest of these guys would be firmly middle of the road, or possibly bottom of the contenders list in the UFC. Do you really think that Stefan Struve could handle any of them? He is pretty much the heavyweight gatekeeper at the moment.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Overeem is clearly a top 5 maybe top 3 heavyweight.

Perhaps you should take a look back at Overeem's record. This is a guy who in his last five fights has defeated Fabricio Werdum, Todd Duffee, Brett Rogers, Kazuyuki Fujita, and James Thompson. Go back five more and you add wins over Tony Sylvester, Gary Goodridge, Mark Hunt, and Tae Hyun Lee with a NC against Cro Cop thrown in. Not exactly a who's who there. I will give him credit for the Werdum win, but he looked terrible last night. Werdum was just worse.

He is going to kill Bigfoot Silva in his next fight, and probably end up fight Barnett, although Kharitonov could make that fight really interesting.

I have serious doubts that anyone will be killing Bigfoot.

Given Overeem's K-1 background, I wouldn't be worried about him not being able to handle a standup war.

MMA is riddled with K-1 fighters who have washed out in MMA. Plus Overeem has been knocked out by Chuck Liddell, Shogun, Bobby Hoffman, and even Sergei Kharitonov. Throw in TKO losses to Little Nog and another one to Shogun and I have some serious doubts about Overeem in a standup war. When I was watching the fight last night I think Werdum hurt him in the third round standing up. Overeem backed off and turtled up.

Keep in mind Overeem has a reputation from PRIDE that he gases quickly. Overeem gased again last night.

The rest of these guys would be firmly middle of the road, or possibly bottom of the contenders list in the UFC. Do you really think that Stefan Struve could handle any of them? He is pretty much the heavyweight gatekeeper at the moment.

IMO Barnett and Bigfoot would be a high level contender. Overeem and Kharitonov would be gatekeepers. Fedor would be at 205. Werdum, Arlovski, and Rogers would all be guys that are unable to get any momentum and end up getting dropped.

I also think you are off the mark on Struve=gatekeeper. He may be a very low low level gatekeeper but a win over him does not put you on the mountain. I think the true gatekeepers are Roy Nelson and Frank Mir. Neither are elite but a win over either gets you a big fight.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by dubb93

. Werdum, Arlovski, and Rogers would all be guys that are unable to get any momentum and end up getting dropped.

Arlovski is one more KO away from not being able to feed himself, he should not be allowed to fight for anyone, ever again.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Arlovski is one more KO away from not being able to feed himself, he should not be allowed to fight for anyone, ever again.

Yes there is that too

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by dubb93

As much as Werdum was able to hit Overeem with straights last night combined with the fact he has been stopped multiple times in that past I have little doubt that JDS or Cain would starch him inside of two minutes. And this is from someone who was really hoping Overeem was the Ubereem as advertised.

I really like Barnett and I am rooting for him the rest of the way. Here's hoping he is finally clean.

Have to agree here, Werdum has improved in the standup game, but it is far from a strength. JDS and Cain would likely take him out from what he showed last night and Cain would school him on the ground as well. His best chance against either would be a steady dose of kicks and hope to get them on unsteady legs before his gas tank ran dry, since they both hold an advantage over him in cardio as well.

Barnett looked really solid, though Rogers is far from elite on the ground. He and Big Foot are the 2 more well rounded fighters left and Kharitonov the best striker of those that remain. Overeem has that freakish strength, but still has some holes in his game that any of the three others left could exploit.

[DeToxRox]

I am not ready to jump off the Overeem bandwagon after one awful fight. Last night was just weird. Overeem was just trying to one punch KO Werdum to avoid risking it on the ground so he had no head movement or anything. He didn't use kicks or much in the clinch. He made himself one dimensional because it was all he needed. I don't think he'd let JDS or Cain pound away on him like he let Werdum. I mean after the fight he was gassed, but he showed no damage. Werdum had one way to beat him so he avoided it. Considering the fights he still has ahead of him in a short period of time, I don't really blame him.

I think Reem will smash Big Foot as well, but I do love me some Reem so I am biased.

[Carman Bulldog]

Originally Posted by dubb93

Perhaps you should take a look back at Overeem's record. This is a guy who in his last five fights has defeated Fabricio Werdum, Todd Duffee, Brett Rogers, Kazuyuki Fujita, and James Thompson. Go back five more and you add wins over Tony Sylvester, Gary Goodridge, Mark Hunt, and Tae Hyun Lee with a NC against Cro Cop thrown in. Not exactly a who's who there. I will give him credit for the Werdum win, but he looked terrible last night. Werdum was just worse.



I have serious doubts that anyone will be killing Bigfoot.



MMA is riddled with K-1 fighters who have washed out in MMA. Plus Overeem has been knocked out by Chuck Liddell, Shogun, Bobby Hoffman, and even Sergei Kharitonov. Throw in TKO losses to Little Nog and another one to Shogun and I have some serious doubts about Overeem in a standup war. When I was watching the fight last night I think Werdum hurt him in the third round standing up. Overeem backed off and turtled up.

Keep in mind Overeem has a reputation from PRIDE that he gases quickly. Overeem gased again last night.



IMO Barnett and Bigfoot would be a high level contender. Overeem and Kharitonov would be gatekeepers. Fedor would be at 205. Werdum, Arlovski, and Rogers would all be guys that are unable to get any momentum and end up getting dropped.

I also think you are off the mark on Struve=gatekeeper. He may be a very low low level gatekeeper but a win over him does not put you on the mountain. I think the true gatekeepers are Roy Nelson and Frank Mir. Neither are elite but a win over either gets you a big fight.

Well said on everything here. Both Werdum and Overeem looked awful last night and both had very suspect conditioning. Furthermore, Werdum actually out struck Overeem.

As dubb93 mentioned, Overeem's MMA resume is extremely weak and I'd be hard pressed to come up with a single win that he has that is impressive.

I am impressed by Overeem's K1 championship, and in the same way I'm impressed by Mark Hunt's K1 championship and Semmy Schilt's four championships. But Hunt and Schilt have shown that world class kick boxing skills mean very little in an MMA fight, much like KJ Noons boxing skills are also mean very little in an MMA fight (as evidenced last night). MMA striking is it's own unique beast.

That's not to say Overeem is a complete write-off. He has great strength and good power in his strikes and this still makes him dangerous against almost any opponent. But the fact that he is a world-class kick boxer does not make him amongst the most elite strikers in the cage and, while he may be capable of it, he has quite a bit to prove in MMA before he cracks the top 5 heavyweights.

[DeToxRox]

So Nate Marquardt was pulled from the Versus show (card is tomorrow) today. An hour later Dana announces Nate has been fired.

Bloody Elbow had these updates:

Update: I'm hearing all over that Nate was not going to have trouble making weight. So that appears out as the cause.

Update II: A lot of asking around has me fairly confident that it is not related to performance enhancing drugs either. Still no word on what's going on.

So it's very weird right now.

[PilotMan]

He failed the physical but they said it wasn't anything serious. But the boss wasn't happy about it, but they still aren't saying much more than that right now.

[PilotMan]

In other news, I'm pretty excited by Hatsu Hioki signing with the UFC today. Gonna help beef up that 145lb division really quick.

[DeToxRox]

PA commission called a 4 PM presser for tomorrow regarding Nate.

[DeToxRox]

HOLY FUCK

Barry vs Kongo was AMAZING

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

PA commission called a 4 PM presser for tomorrow regarding Nate.

So they wouldn't clear Nate medically, why? What is the secret? It was something major enough Dana let him go.

edit: And based upon his twitter, we will know tomorrow...

NathanMarquardt Nate Marquardt



I will personally be addressing all issues regarding my medicals, etc this Tuesday #fb

[DeToxRox]

Nate has had a month apparently to get his stuff in order, and he didn't do it. It sounds like he may have tried fighting with a serious health issue and judging at how angry Dana still is, I think it's fair to speculate it is something that may jeopardize other fighters. Hard to say 100% though.

[jbergey22]

Rumors are he wouldnt take the drug test.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Nate has had a month apparently to get his stuff in order, and he didn't do it. It sounds like he may have tried fighting with a serious health issue and judging at how angry Dana still is, I think it's fair to speculate it is something that may jeopardize other fighters. Hard to say 100% though.

I don't know. It could be as simple as "Hey dumbass, you have a month to get this shit taken care of."

"I know, I'll get it done."

"Dumbass, you are headlining. If you fuck this up, I'll fuck you up."

"Yeah, yeah"

"Oh, shit"

[DeToxRox]

Dana said he cannot comment on Nate's situation because of potential HIPPA violations. I am curious to see what the fuck happened.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

HOLY FUCK

Barry vs Kongo was AMAZING

Can't believe it didn't get stopped, and so glad it wasn't.

[DeToxRox]

Lentz got brutalized by that illegal knee tonight. Amazing that the ref let it go and then he lost because of it. The commission already said it is going to be under review:




@NikLentz - I have to stay hospital tonight and get surgery in the morning. Kinda lame, but the FOTN made me feel better. Thanks #ufc and @danawhite

[Carman Bulldog]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I don't know. It could be as simple as "Hey dumbass, you have a month to get this shit taken care of."

"I know, I'll get it done."

"Dumbass, you are headlining. If you fuck this up, I'll fuck you up."

"Yeah, yeah"

"Oh, shit"

I'm guessing it's something along these lines as well. If it's medical related, I don't think it has to do with drug testing.

Total speculation on my part, but I'm guessing it's something along the lines of a serious staph infection. It's something you can't fight with (or shouldn't be allowed to fight with) and something that you would be aware of and need to get cleared up.

[DeToxRox]

June 27 2011 Last updated at 03:52 PM ET
Pennsylvania Commission Confirms Nate Marquardt Did Not Fail Drug Test
By Mike Chiappetta
MMA Writer
124111
Nate Marquardt remains on suspension from the state of Pennsylvania after failing to receive medical clearance prior to the weekend's UFC on Versus event. In the aftermath of the shocking development, which included Marquardt's firing from the promotion, many questions have arisen.

Which part of the medical review did Marquardt fail to clear? How did six weeks go by without a resolution? And how did Pennsylvania suspend Marquardt when it appeared he'd never been licensed in the first place?

While most of the situation is still shrouded in mystery, at least one of those questions can be answered.

Gregory Sirb, the executive director of the state's athletic commission told MMA Fighting on Monday that Marquardt had indeed been granted a license to fight, pending medical clearance.

"He was licensed. He completed all his paperwork for licensing probably a week before," Sirb said.

But Sirb said that regardless of whether or not the license had been granted, Marquardt would have faced the same possible outcome for failing to clear his medical issue.

"He knew full well what the ramifications were, whether licensed or not," Sirb said. Sirb told reporters on Sunday that Marquardt had six weeks to resolve an outstanding issue, but would not divulge what it was. Neither would UFC president Dana White. Sirb has also said that Marquardt will be taken off suspension once he clears the issue.
More Coverage: Dana White Tells Nate Marquardt to 'Man Up'
According to the commission's website, while in the course of applying for a license, a professional fighter must provide a negative HIV, Hepatits C and Hepatitis B surface antigen exam. They must also provide the results of an annual medical exam. That exam is wide-ranging and covers potential issues related to vision, lungs, heart rate, the nervous system, coordination and more that could disqualify a fighter from competition. In addition, there is language in the regulations that offers the commission the latitude to request other exams. The stated medical requirements are similar to those of other states, including fight hubs Nevada and New Jersey.

All of the aforementioned test results are considered the fighter's private medical information and kept confidential under federal HIPAA laws. Federal or Pennsylvania state law does not, however, prohibit disclosure of a positive drug test result, nor the type of drug which led to a confirmed positive test.

Sirb confirmed that if Marquardt had failed a drug test, the commission would have released those findings.

"I've been here 22 years and we do not embarrass anybody," he said. "But we would have said, 'drug test.'"

To date, Marquardt and his team have said little regarding the situation. On Saturday, his team released a statement to MMA Fighting which read, "I was looking forward to my welterweight debut. I'm sorry I let everyone down." On Sunday, he tweeted, "I'm sorry to all my fans and the UFC for not passing the medicals for tonight's fight. I'm heart broken I couldn't fight, but I will b (sic) back."

Marquardt is expected to make his first extended statements about the matter on Tuesday's edition of The MMA Hour, which airs at 1 pm on MMAFighting.com.

It doesn't look good for Nate.

[PilotMan]

Meltzer had a full article on the Marquardt incident. The whole thing had to do with Testosterone Replacement Therapy, the timing of when he took it, why he took it and what his numbers were.

It looks like he was getting an advantage from it and that was not allowed. By the time his numbers had come down it was too late for the commission.

Here is the entire article.

Marquardt's suspension raises TRT issues - UFC - Yahoo! Sports

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

HOLY FUCK

Barry vs Kongo was AMAZING

Just saw it. Hate Kongo and him jumping on a guy that was completely out shows how much of a jackass he is.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Lentz got brutalized by that illegal knee tonight. Amazing that the ref let it go and then he lost because of it. The commission already said it is going to be under review:



@NikLentz - I have to stay hospital tonight and get surgery in the morning. Kinda lame, but the FOTN made me feel better. Thanks #ufc and @danawhite

Fight was declared a no-contest today. A rematch is very likely.