Official UFC 110 Fight Thread Nogueira vs. Velasquez Feb 20th

[dbreiden83080]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/Ufc110_poster.jpg


Really good card, looking forward to it..

Event Preview..

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Main Card

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell


Preliminary Card

Light Heavyweight bout: Elvis Sinosic vs. Chris Haseman
Light Heavyweight Bout: Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Welterweight Bout: Chris Lytle vs. Brian Foster
Middleweight Bout: C.B. Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
Light Heavyweight Bout: James Te-Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac

[desflood]

Shall we actually use the predictions thread for predictions this time?

[dbreiden83080]

I'm not in love with that idea but put them here or there..

I'll put mine here..

[dbreiden83080]

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell

There's a friggin awesome event preview for this at http://www.ufc.com/ especially the Bisping/Wandy fight. I'll post it, when it gets to youtube..

[tlongII]

Yes, this is a very nice card! Can't wait to see The Axe Murderer kick Bisping's ass! :lol

[dbreiden83080]

Yes, this is a very nice card! Can't wait to see The Axe Murderer kick Bisping's ass! :lol

War Wandy big time here.. :toast:toast


Axe Muderer gonna get that brit jack-ass

[Rip-Hamilton32]

Wandy
Cain
Sotiropoulos
Bader
Mirko

[Stringer_Bell]

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
- Tough call, I will be cheering for Nog but Cain is young and angry so I can see him finding a way to win. Remember how he tossed Rothwell around like he was a baby? He is soooo angry lol
Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
- I think Bisping is a new fighter, his approach is more mature now and this will be a test...but Wandy will cut into him like no other before. Good fight!
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
- Cobra Kai representin'! This one goes to Joe Daddy, but Sotiropoulos will put on a show and could even be fight of the night as a submission spectacle.
Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
- A year ago Jardine took Rampage to a decision, but after that he got dropped hard so he's really a hit and miss guy. I can see Bader controlling most of the match, so I'll go with him.
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell
- Cro-cop 4 life!

Holy crap awesome card...definitely worth the money, and I wish this was the kind of card they'd put on for non-title fight cards. Each fight could be a contender for bonus money.

[dbreiden83080]

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
- Tough call, I will be cheering for Nog but Cain is young and angry so I can see him finding a way to win. Remember how he tossed Rothwell around like he was a baby? He is soooo angry lol
Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
- I think Bisping is a new fighter, his approach is more mature now and this will be a test...but Wandy will cut into him like no other before. Good fight!
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
- Cobra Kai representin'! This one goes to Joe Daddy, but Sotiropoulos will put on a show and could even be fight of the night as a submission spectacle.
Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
- A year ago Jardine took Rampage to a decision, but after that he got dropped hard so he's really a hit and miss guy. I can see Bader controlling most of the match, so I'll go with him.
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell
- Cro-cop 4 life!

Holy crap awesome card...definitely worth the money, and I wish this was the kind of card they'd put on for non-title fight cards. Each fight could be a contender for bonus money.

Good stuff Stringer, i'll give my in depth thoughts later we gotta start getting into the nuts and bolts of these fights..

BTW Yo A-Train get your butt in here and make some picks.. :p:

[polandprzem]

Main Card

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell


Preliminary Card

Light Heavyweight bout: Elvis Sinosic vs. Chris Haseman
Light Heavyweight Bout: Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Welterweight Bout: Chris Lytle vs. Brian Foster
Middleweight Bout: C.B. Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
Light Heavyweight Bout: James Te-Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac

[ATRAIN]

Damn I really like this card and really like the prelims too. I hope we get to see most of them. Is FX going to show any like they usually do?

[desflood]

Main Card

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell


I'll say it again - never bet against a Nogueira. At least, not a healthy one. I'll pick Jardine because he's got much more experience than Bader and I just like the guy. It's hard to have confidence in Cro-cop anymore, but he's my choice for now. The LW bout is harder to pick... Stevenson is tough and experienced, but George has a big reach advantage and a more than decent ground game.

[dbreiden83080]

Here we go excellent preview here..


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[djohn14]

My boy Cain all day, every day, and this day included!
Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping-but I can see Ping winning this
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader-I might change this because I want Bader to win haha
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell

[The TroutBum]

Nogs
Mirko
RELJIC -- possibly my new favorite fighter --
Daddy
Silva
Bader
Lytle
and anyone who is facing Boner. Seriously, how is this guy still in the UFC? My butt hole puts out better fights than he does.

[djohn14]

RELJIC -- possibly my new favorite fighter --


Those kicks he threw against Wilson Gouveia were crazy awesome!

[dallaskd]

my five:

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell


Jardine needs this fight BAD. Not a good fight for him at all. Most likely Bader will GnP him for 3 rounds with Keith struggling to get to his feet.

oh and..

lol elvis sinosic

[The TroutBum]

Those kicks he threw against Wilson Gouveia were crazy awesome!

That's what I'm talkin' about -- shades of Mirko, I tell ya!

[hector234]

I can see Jardine bouncing back, I like Bader, but I think Jardine will end up winning. I think Cain can beat Big Nog, but i want to see how he will handle being in Big Nog's guard. I hope Mirko wins, though Big Ben is no slouch. And last, but not least, I really hope Wandy knocks the Count into next year

[dbreiden83080]

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Last time Bisping called for a KO he got the bad end of it.. :lol


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[angelbelow]

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell

Awesome card. Im rolling with the Vets for this one.

[8FOR!3]

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell

I'm pretty sure this is about the worst stylistic matchup possible for Velasquez. His biggest strength is that he can take down just about anybody at any point during a fight even when he's getting whooped on the feet. But that's not where you want to go with Big Nog. As far as Bisping, the only reason I chose him is because I want him to win. He's my second favorite fighter (unfortunately, but I supported him in the past, I will now.) Only fight I wouldn't cheer for Bisping is against my favorite fighter, Dan Henderson. There's a good chance Wand knocks him out though. But I do know that Silva has been stiff lately and a lot slower than in the past. If Bisping takes it for granted, he'll get hit, feel the power, and get KO'd. But if Bisping uses his foot work and the jab, he might outpoint his way to a decision. Joe Daddy will probably take his fight, he did a great job against Spencer Fisher. I see Bader taking Jardine down and controlling him and Cro Cop avoiding the takedown and getting the decision or TKO.

[dbreiden83080]

I can see Jardine bouncing back, I like Bader, but I think Jardine will end up winning.

Jardine i bet is suffering from a lack of confidence these days. Every time he got close to a title shot, he has a big loss. Now he's lost a decision to Page and a KO to Silva. I expect him to get take down and lose a decision here..

[djohn14]

I think cain is going to hurt Big Nog in the standup and win by KO. Cain just gets better every fight and this wont be any different. 2 years ago Nog takes this fight fairly easy. But this isnt 2 years ago.

[dbreiden83080]

Alright here's my reasons for my picks..

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez

This is a fascinating fight, one of the most interesting heavyweight fights in recent years. I pick Cain here because it is just so hard to submit guys in today's elite MMA from the bottom. And that's where Nog is going to be on the bottom. If he can get top control, he'll sub Cain i would think. However Cain's pace and wrestling will be a huge factor here. Gonna disagree with Djohn about a KO stand-up. Cain does not have big power in his hands, but he has the other tools to get a decision win here..

Scratch all of the above, switching now to Nog by Sub and no i don't know why.. :lol

Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping

This is just do or die for Wandy. A prime Wandy walks right on through Bisping, easily. He is tailor made for Wandy. This fight will be standing, Bisping is going to try and stick and move his way to a decision win. He is not going to be able to wrestle and GNP like he did to Kang. Wandy must cut the ring off like Hendo did and let his hands go. We know Wandy always comes to bring it and he will again here. Only factor could be the weight cut to 185, if it's not an issue, he'll win via KO..

Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos

Very good fight but i think the move to Greg Jackson's camp has made a real impact on Joe. He looks sharper and is coming in with better game-plans than ever before. This could go either way as George is an ever improving fighter, but i like Joe here..

Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader

Bader uses his wrestling to get a decisoin win. Jardine needs a ko to win this fight and while he is capable of getting it, something tells me it won't come and he'll be in danger of being cut by the UFC with this loss..

Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell

I'd love to pick Mirko but he looks so shot these days.. How can i?? Rothwell i say by stoppage. A prime Mirko kills this guy but that man appears to be long gone..

[Stringer_Bell]

Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping

Only factor could be the weight cut to 185, if it's not an issue, he'll win via KO..

I was wondering about this a little as well, but he's a machine so he shouldn't lose his bulldozing ability...especially since we know Bisping can be laid out easy when facing a power hitter when he's just punch/ducking his way to a decision. But there's always a chance Bisping's new humility might show up to make it an exciting match.

Cro-Cop prolly feels backed into a corner, and I feel bad for Rothwell to get a desperate Cro-Cop standing across from him with his fists out. He will find a way to win, and while he'll never be back at least he'll repair some of what he lost when he verbally gave up in the last match.

[hector234]

Alright here's my reasons for my picks..

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez

This is a fascinating fight, one of the most interesting heavyweight fights in recent years. I pick Cain here because it is just so hard to submit guys in today's elite MMA from the bottom. And that's where Nog is going to be on the bottom. If he can get top control, he'll sub Cain i would think. However Cain's pace and wrestling will be a huge factor here. Gonna disagree with Djohn about a KO stand-up. Cain does not have big power in his hands, but he has the other tools to get a decision win here..

Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping

This is just do or die for Wandy. A prime Wandy walks right on through Bisping, easily. He is tailor made for Wandy. This fight will be standing, Bisping is going to try and stick and move his way to a decision win. He is not going to be able to wrestle and GNP like he did to Kang. Wandy must cut the ring off like Hendo did and let his hands go. We know Wandy always comes to bring it and he will again here. Only factor could be the weight cut to 185, if it's not an issue, he'll win via KO..

Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos

Very good fight but i think the move to Greg Jackson's camp has made a real impact on Joe. He looks sharper and is coming in with better game-plans than ever before. This could go either way as George is an ever improving fighter, but i like Joe here..

Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader

Bader uses his wrestling to get a decisoin win. Jardine needs a ko to win this fight and while he is capable of getting it, something tells me it won't come and he'll be in danger of being cut by the UFC with this loss..

Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell

I'd love to pick Mirko but he looks so shot these days.. How can i?? Rothwell i say by stoppage. A prime Mirko kills this guy but that man appears to be long gone..


I agree with you on Mirko, i really want him to win, but he isn't the same anymore. I think his lack of being able to evolve his game and the fact that he doesn't really train in a cage really hurts him. Back when he was in Pride, he was knocking out people left and right, but since then, he hasn't shown much. I really hope he can win, because a win and a good showing will probably guarantee him another fight in the UFC.

[desflood]

Jardine needs a ko to win this fight and while he is capable of getting it, something tells me it won't come and he'll be in danger of being cut by the UFC with this loss..
He never says so, but I bet Dana White just hates Jardine. He's put down enough title contenders while never getting far enough up to make his own run that he's messed up the big picture for several years now :lol

White would probably love a reason to have Jardine out of the way - as a fan, I hope Keith doesn't let that happen.

[Stringer_Bell]

He never says so, but I bet Dana White just hates Jardine. He's put down enough title contenders while never getting far enough up to make his own run that he's messed up the big picture for several years now :lol

White would probably love a reason to have Jardine out of the way - as a fan, I hope Keith doesn't let that happen.

You're right, Jardine has cut down enough guys on their way up that would add some flavor to the weight class, but loses his "mean gene" when his own future is in the balance.

I say there's a better chance of Jardine being cut if he wins via Decision than loses TKO. :lol

[dbreiden83080]

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[dbreiden83080]

http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=4921253

Breaking down the UFC 110 main card

The relationship between America and Australia has always been a bit one-sided. Americans were given the greatness of "Crocodile Dundee," beer cans the size of small towns and the backdrop for the post-apocalyptic awesomeness of "Mad Max." In return, Australians received the death and pestilence that comes with hosting a season of "The Real World."



"UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez" may help even the score Saturday at the Acer Arena in Sydney, as the UFC sets its sights on the land Down Under.



An intergenerational heavyweight bout featuring Brazilian legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and the unbeaten Cain Velasquez will headline the show and could shape the short- and long-term future of the division. More morsels of tasty violence back up the main event: Wanderlei Silva boots up his middleweight run against Michael Bisping, and undefeated super-wrestler Ryan Bader steps into the deep end of the pool against Keith Jardine.


Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira versus Cain Velasquez

The breakdown: Any way one looks at this fight, it comes down to how much Nogueira has left in the tank -- a tank that survived being spiked by Bob Sapp, grounded-and-pounded into figurative paste by Fedor Emelianenko and any other number of absurd beatings the Brazilian has absorbed.



Velasquez, however, should fear the Nogueira who handled Randy Couture at UFC 102. No one can deny Velasquez's prodigious talent, but this fight represents his first foray into the big leagues of the heavyweight division, and his ground-and-pound-centric style puts him right in Nogueira's wheelhouse -- the guard. Perhaps the most impressive part of Nogueira's performance against Couture was that he not only neutralized the hall of famer in the guard but repeatedly swept him and strung together submission attempts. However, Couture is in the twilight of his career; Velasquez represents a bigger, younger and more dynamic challenge.



One skill that Velasquez possesses -- his deft guard passing at mid-takedown -- will give Nogueira problems. Passing the Brazilian's guard can be akin to escaping a supermax prison, but Velasquez almost always positions himself to land past the guard when executing takedowns, and his fluid movement on the mat makes it difficult for his opponents to regain guard.

Should Velasquez go the ground-and-pound route, Nogueira will have to rely on his submission savvy, not only to regain guard but to work under the relentless pressure his quarry brings. Of course, Velasquez's supreme wrestling gives him the luxury of choosing where the bout goes and when it goes there.

It has never been difficult to draw Nogueira into a striking match, and although Velasquez can't straight-up outbox the Brazilian, he has proven nasty in close quarters. Nogueira's reach and power make him a solid boxer, but he doesn't control range well and his footwork has slowed considerably. That will give Velasquez plenty of opportunity to step inside and force "Minotauro" into a phone-booth fight.

Nogueira has made a career out of taking everything his opponents can bring and turning the tables in the blink of an eye. Velasquez may have responded to every step up in competition the UFC has handed him, but nothing can prepare him for this test.

The bottom line: This will be a strong fight, and neither fighter will dominate it. Nogueira will repeatedly clip Velasquez as he advances and will give him fits on the mat. Expect the American Kickboxing Academy product to respond by throwing the entire kitchen at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu demigod, in the clinch and from top control. A coin-flip decision goes to Velasquez, and the rest of the UFC heavyweight division will have someone new to worry about.

Wanderlei Silva versus Michael Bisping

The breakdown: Hard to believe that Silva, a man who has enjoyed one of the most dominant careers the sport has ever seen, has lost five of his past six fights. His move down to the middleweight division serves as his proverbial last stand, but a desperate Silva might be the most dangerous human imaginable, physiologically speaking.

Bisping should be thankful that his whole attack has been built around the stick-and-move philosophy, which will be the only way he survives this fight. However, Bisping lacks the necessary power behind his strikes, and the only way to stand one's ground against "The Axe Murderer" is to crack him hard and often. Bisping was not built to do so. Silva's chin has been problematic for him throughout his career, but he can take anything Bisping throws and walk him down, much like Dan Henderson did at UFC 100. Silva should be even better with that strategy because his leg kicks are an underrated part of his repertoire and will go a long way toward taking the spring out of Bisping's happy feet.

Getting the fight horizontal will be an appealing option for Bisping, but his offensive wrestling consists mostly of telegraphed leg attacks, which will expose him to the possibility of getting locked up in the clinch with a professional sociopath. Regardless, Bisping doesn't have the game to outwrestle and control Silva for the better part of 15 minutes.

Those who can't hurt or take down Silva usually come up short. Bisping can't do either, and the idea of his sticking and moving without sooner or later getting short-circuited seems like a stretch of the laws of probability.

The bottom line: This appears to be the best high-profile middleweight fight Silva could have drawn, and it will show when he hunts down Bisping. The Brit will have to make his own last stand once Silva starts to connect, and he'll pay with brain cells as "The Axe Murderer" connects on a vintage clinch combination of knees for a technical knockout win.

Joe Stevenson versus George Sotiropoulos

The breakdown: Putting together a 4-0 record in the UFC normally secures a fighter some hype, but Sotiropoulos has remained all but anonymous despite his Octagon success thanks to his spot as a regular preliminary-card competitor. That ends with Sotiropoulos' first dip into the main-card pool against Stevenson, a perennial lightweight contender and Satoru Kitaoka clone.

Keeping that undefeated mark intact will come down to Sotiropoulos' ability to force Stevenson to work off his back. Using top control to mesh together his rabid ground-and-pound and Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills has become the backbone of Stevenson's attack. Explosive leg attacks and a newfound ability to combine takedown techniques make Stevenson a slick wrestler. However, his guard has always been the Achilles' heel of his grappling game, and Sotiropoulos has proven dangerous from top control. That said, Sotiropoulos will never be confused as being Stevenson's equal as a wrestler, and he hasn't shown himself as an adept enough striker to keep Stevenson on the end of his jab for the entire fight.

What's more, Sotiropoulos lacks the punching power needed to serve Stevenson a chin-check special. Meanwhile, Stevenson can always fall back on his wrestling and top control, which should be enough to at least break even with Sotiropoulos on the mat.

The bottom line: All the hard work on the undercard will go for naught for Sotiropoulos, as he ends up outclassed in front of his hometown crowd. Stopping the tough Aussie will be a bridge too far for "Daddy," but Stevenson will earn a worthy decision over Sotiropoulos with pitch-perfect top control.

[dbreiden83080]

Full Countdown show guys....


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[dbreiden83080]

Ben Rothwell has dropped out of his UFC 110 matchup against Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic due to illness, according to an announcement made Thursday on the UFC’s Web site.

Anthony Perosh will replace Rothwell in the heavyweight bout, which takes place Saturday in Sydney, Australia.

The UFC also announced that Elvis Sinosic suffered a shoulder injury that has forced the cancellation of his bout against Chris Haseman.

This is bullshit..

[desflood]

That had better be a pretty serious illness. This is a big fight that could have had a serious impact on his career, win or lose - and dropping out so close might also have a serious impact on his standing in the UFC.

[dbreiden83080]

That had better be a pretty serious illness. This is a big fight that could have had a serious impact on his career, win or lose - and dropping out so close might also have a serious impact on his standing in the UFC.

Exactly why i don't get it. He did all the press for this fight 2 days ago. If your a little sick, man up and fight pal. You just got in the UFC after years of being on the outside looking in. You performed terribly in your fight with Cain. What's the deal??

[Jace]

Could have something to do with the UFC being trigger happy in cutting fighters, some old school guys like Nog fight with staph but more and more of the newer generation of fighters understand that it is better to pull out than to fight sick and lose

[dbreiden83080]

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell

There's a friggin awesome event preview for this at http://www.ufc.com/ especially the Bisping/Wandy fight. I'll post it, when it gets to youtube..

Heavyweight Bout: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez

Probably gonna regret this, because my head is telling me Cain wins, but my heart and emotions are just with Nog here. After watching the countdown show, i am just pulling for him so hard..

War NOG!!!! Although he'll probably lose.. :p:

[8FOR!3]

Honestly, I think Big Nog is the safe bet in this fight. Velasquez seems to be able to get dropped and out struck in the standup fairly easily and Nog has a better chin as well as better boxing. So if Velasquez is smart, he'll be taking the fight to the ground. But then again, that's not smart at all, because he's pretty much a one dimensional wrestler on the ground up against a world class Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. I can see Nogueira winning the standup and ground battle for a decision or getting the sub. I'm not saying Velasquez doesn't stand a chance, he's clearly a hot prospect right now, but I'm thinking Nog's got this one. Maybe he'll prove me wrong.

[djohn14]

Nah, Cain has this. I really think Cain is losing his "top prospect" label in echange for his "top 3 or 4 heavyweight" label. I love, love, love Big Nog and hes probably the only HW I wouldnt get mad at if he beat Cain, but I see Cain getting this. Ive been so busy lately I havent got to really post my thoughts on these fights and everything, but Im gonna start back doing that, and im gonna make more time for some good MMA talk.

[dbreiden83080]

Nah, Cain has this. I really think Cain is losing his "top prospect" label in echange for his "top 3 or 4 heavyweight" label. I love, love, love Big Nog and hes probably the only HW I wouldnt get mad at if he beat Cain, but I see Cain getting this. Ive been so busy lately I havent got to really post my thoughts on these fights and everything, but Im gonna start back doing that, and im gonna make more time for some good MMA talk.

Here is my thing about this fight.. Nog is so hard to finish and Cain has yet to show big power in his hands. Even in the Rothwell fight he was beating him up but i would not say he was really hurting him. Rothwell was still in it and he took so many shots. Look at the Mir/Brock 2 fight. 3 or 4 big shots from Brock on the ground and Mir was out cold. I see Cain with pace and wrestling taking the decision or Nog going for sub after sub on the ground and catching him.. Not from bottom but getting a sweep and getting the sub from the top. If Nog gets on top i think it is game over.. Either way this is a fascinating match-up..

[djohn14]

Hey man, I said this earlier...if this fight happens two years ago, its Big Nog all the way.

[desflood]

I have the sudden urge to change my LW pick to George S. How odd.

[8FOR!3]

He's got to watch out for guard sweeps. Velasquez can't sit in his guard.

[cornbread]

Nog
Wanderlei
Sotiropoulus
Bader
Crocop

[cornbread]

I have the sudden urge to change my LW pick to George S. How odd.

Do it. Sotiropoulus is the man.

[dbreiden83080]

So long Jardine.. He may be gone..

[djohn14]

Dammit I missed Keith Jardine getting knocked out again!

[dbreiden83080]

Dammit I missed Keith Jardine getting knocked out again!

Just pop in the footage of the other times it happened.. :lol

[TheTruth]

Jardine v Dan Henderson will be a Strikeforce headliner before the year ends..

:smokin

[dbreiden83080]

2 rounds in Joe and George is a fuckin awesome fight..

[djohn14]

Just pop in the footage of the other times it happened.. :lol

Haha I just googled him and Alexander

[dbreiden83080]

Joe and George great great fight, a real jiu jitsu Battle...


30-27 across the board, not sure about that one but George did win IMO

Well done.. :toast

[dbreiden83080]

Wandy with the decision.. Great fight,

War WANDY!!!!

[djohn14]

:toastThere it is, just as I said

[dbreiden83080]

You were right djohn you have my apologies. :depressed

Cain by KO!!!

[MannyIsGod]

Wow - nasty.

[dbreiden83080]

A Cain/Brock fight will be very interesting..

[djohn14]

You were right djohn you have my apologies. :depressed

Cain by KO!!!

Lol noooooooo apologies! Ive been wrong many many many times. Good show, I wish I would have changed my pick to bader! I said I was, but I never did. Im just happy my boy Cain won. Goodnight Spurstalk!

[dbreiden83080]

If we could just get rid of that

Brown Pride Tatoo!!!

[MannyIsGod]

If we could just get rid of that

Brown Pride Tatoo!!!

Tatoo is fine imo.

[dbreiden83080]

I'd rather see Brock fight Cain next than the winner of Mir/Carwin, which is probably gonna be Mir. I mean why does he have to fight Mir yet again?? Cain has earned a shot with this win..

[dbreiden83080]

Tatoo is fine imo.

If i had White Pride on my chest, they'd look to ban my ass from the arena..

[MannyIsGod]

If i had White Pride on my chest, they'd look to ban my ass from the arena..


Thats because they're not the same thing and the two things have completely different histories. The man has pride in where he came from. I don't think that should bother anyone.

[Stringer_Bell]

30-27 across the board, not sure about that one but George did win IMO

I scored it 29-27, only because the 2nd round was pretty even IMO. I wish there was time for him to fight BJ...he has the speed, length, and flexability to put up a good fight. Frankie Edgar is a fucking joke compared to George.

The thing I love about Wandy is that at the end of the match, you know he will start swinging and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it. Bisping stuck to his plan and it seemed to work but Wandy took it all away from him at the end.

Like I said, Cain is young and angry and he definitely looked like it tonight. No wasted energy, just straight up violence. Something didn't look right with Big Nog though, he didn't look aggressive at all...maybe he wanted to tire Cain out and take him out in the 3rd?

Props to Cro-Cop for not being a dick and killing Perosh in front of his hometown. Props to Perosh for stepping in and taking his beating like a man.

[angelbelow]

wow what a knockout... i had a few doubts about cain but hes fucking legit.

[8FOR!3]

You were right about Velasquez. Nog's done. The best thing about him was that he could take punches and keep going, like the terminator. Oh well, at least we now have his little brother in the UFC about to do work on the LHW division. Wanderlei won, but I can't complain about Bisping's performance. You could tell the man fought his heart out, just wasn't as good and didn't hit as hard. Worked hard though with a good game plan.

[dallaskd]

Nog is so hard to finish

Comparing Nog of Pride to this one is like comparing Bud Light to Keystone. looks the same but in reality its just a watered down version of the good stuff. cain looked tough. A matchup vs carwin or mir would be real nice.

other thoughts before i pass out, george and bader looked impressive. jardine is fucking done. keith jardine welcome to strikeforce.

and props to my boys Cro Cop and Wanderlei for still thuggin', keep bangin:hat

[The TroutBum]

anyone have a link to where I can watch these? Me and Google don't get along for some reason.

[desflood]

http://www.mma-core.com/

Jardine looked awful - AWFUL - from the opening of the first round, long before the KO. Sad to say, he needs to consider retirement at the ripe old age of... what, 34? Mirko, on the other hand, looked better than he has in quite a while. Maybe he's snapped out of his depression and is ready to join the game again.

I fell asleep in the middle of Joe/George and when I awoke my stream was kaput :lol I saw nothing after their first round.

[dbreiden83080]

Results

Preliminary Card

Light Heavyweight Bout: James Te-Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac
Te-Huna defeated Pokrajac via TKO (strikes) at 3:26 of round 3.

Middleweight Bout: C.B. Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
Dollaway defeated Reljic via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Welterweight Bout: Chris Lytle vs. Brian Foster
Lytle defeated Foster via submission (kneebar) at 1:41 of round 1.

Light Heavyweight Bout: Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Soszynski defeated Bonnar via TKO (cut) at 1:04 of round 3.

Main Card

Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Filipović vs. Anthony Perosh
Filipović defeated Perosh via TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of round 2.

Light Heavyweight Bout: Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader
Bader defeated Jardine via KO (punch) at 2:10 of round 3.

Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Sotiropoulos defeated Stevenson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Middleweight Bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
Silva defeated Bisping via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Heavyweight Bout: Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Velasquez defeated Nogueira via KO (punches) at 2:20 of round 1.

Love Bonnar but how many fights does the UFC give him, losing like this? Just give him a PR job or something..

[djohn14]

Love Bonnar but how many fights does the UFC give him, losing like this? Just give him a PR job or something..

Dana said he has a lifetime pass to fight in the UFC. I just watched the Nogueira-Velasquez fight again and I didnt realize last night how much Cain dominated the standup. I was real tired and only really paid attention to the the shot that dropped Nogueira and the VICIOUS 5 shot, right on the button, ground and pound. But Cain really did good, and landed some nice shots in the round prior to the big one. So know, not only to being a GREAT wrestler, now his standup is respectable...you get some Jiu Jitsu on this guy and I think he can challenge Brock.

[8FOR!3]

Dana said he has a lifetime pass to fight in the UFC. I just watched the Nogueira-Velasquez fight again and I didnt realize last night how much Cain dominated the standup. I was real tired and only really paid attention to the the shot that dropped Nogueira and the VICIOUS 5 shot, right on the button, ground and pound. But Cain really did good, and landed some nice shots in the round prior to the big one. So know, not only to being a GREAT wrestler, now his standup is respectable...you get some Jiu Jitsu on this guy and I think he can challenge Brock.

He can challenge Brock right now. The biggest thing he needs to be able to do is stand up quickly from guard if Brock can take him down. But right now he's got the definite stand up advantage and he may or may not be able to hold his own in the wrestling department. As skilled as they both are as wrestlers, that's where size becomes a factor.

[dbreiden83080]

Dana said he has a lifetime pass to fight in the UFC. I just watched the Nogueira-Velasquez fight again and I didnt realize last night how much Cain dominated the standup. I was real tired and only really paid attention to the the shot that dropped Nogueira and the VICIOUS 5 shot, right on the button, ground and pound. But Cain really did good, and landed some nice shots in the round prior to the big one. So know, not only to being a GREAT wrestler, now his standup is respectable...you get some Jiu Jitsu on this guy and I think he can challenge Brock.

l think he can challenge Brock right now as well. I would much rather see that fight than Brock pound on Mir again. Mir/Carwin for UFC 111 i am going to that fight, and i really don't want to see the winner get the shot at Brock. If it's Carwin maybe but if Mir wins that fight.. Give the shot to Cain..

[Blackjack]

Velasquez drops Nogueira at UFC 110 (http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ki-ufcearly022010&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports


SYDNEY – Cain Velasquez passed his first major test, planting himself firmly into championship contention with a first-round stoppage of former heavyweight champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at 2:20 of the first round in UFC 110 before 17,431 at Acer Arena on Saturday (Sunday in Australia).

Velasquez landed a right hand, a left hand on top of the head and followed it with a right hook on the chin that knocked Nogueiera onto his back. Velasquez immediately pounced upon him and finished him with five punches on the ground.

Referee Herb Dean hopped in to stop it.

“I wanted to stay in good position and beat him to the punch when I could,” said Velasquez, who is now 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Velasquez, a former wrestling standout at Arizona State, could get the next shot at heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Frank Mir and Shane Carwin will meet for the interim title at UFC 111 on March 27. If the winner is healthy enough, he’ll meet Lesnar in July or August. If not, Velasquez will get the shot. And as he proved, he’s a legitimate championship contender.

Wanderlei Silva won an emotional victory over Michael Bisping, using a late knockdown to pull out a unanimous decision victory in Silva’s debut at middleweight.

The fight was even after two rounds on all three cards and the fight hung in the balance as the clock wound down. But the former PRIDE middleweight champion landed a huge windmill overhand right that landed behind Bisping’s left ear.

Bisping went down, but there was only about six seconds left and he was unable to finish it.

The bout didn’t have the high-octane punches many expected, but was a very good technical battle. After the fight, Silva, who had plastic surgery to remove scar tissue and help open breathing passages in his nose, began to weep.

“In life, we all have bad moments,” Silva said. “Everybody has bad moments, but if you believe in God and work hard, the good moments are going to come.”

They came for Silva late in this grudge match, which featured a lot of trash talking. Bisping was animated when the decision was announced, but was gracious later.

He praised Silva as an icon of the sport. He knew, though, the final knockdown was key. “I think the reason he got the decision was the knockdown at the end,” Bisping said.

George Sotiropoulos thrilled the large crowd with a superb jiu-jitsu performance in a back-and-forth ground battle with Joe “Daddy” Stevenson.

Sotiropoulos, a native of Geelong, Australia, dominated the first round, mostly on the ground, putting Stevenson in several bad positions.

Stevenson fought back and each of the last two rounds were close, but Sotiropoulos did enough to win each of them. All three judges had it 30-27 for Sotiropoulos, as did Yahoo! Sports.

Light heavyweight Ryan Bader, the winner of Season 8 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” knocked out veteran Keith Jardine with a powerful left hook in the third round. Bader hurt Jardine with a right hand.

He tried a flying knee that only partially landed, but he followed Jardine to the cage and ripped him with a left hook. Jardine fell in a heap, his right leg behind him, and referee Josh Rosenthal quickly jumped in to stop it.

Heavyweight Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic manhandled late replacement Anthony Perosh and stopped him at the end of the second round on a bad cut. Filipovic opened the cut with an elbow while he was in Perosh’s guard. The fight was stopped between rounds.

Chris Lytle submitted Brian Foster with a knee bar at just 1:41 of the first after Foster took his back.

Krzysztof Sosyznski won by third-round technical knockout over Stephan Bonnar when a clash of heads opened a huge gash on Bonnar’s forehead. Replays showed it was clearly a head butt, but referee John Sharp ruled it a punch and so when the fight was stopped, it was recorded as a knockout.

[Blackjack]

Cain do: Velasquez vaults to the top (http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=ArS1vuXUP6L3eSY9gGBXGxVXEo14?slug=ki-cain022110&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports

SYDNEY – Dana White couldn’t have scripted UFC 110 any better had he tried.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first show in Australia was a smashing success, and its top prospect gave the UFC president yet another elite heavyweight to throw into the mix.

Cain Velasquez more than lived up to his billing as a potential champion, stopping the nearly unstoppable Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on Saturday (Sunday in Australia) in the first round to firmly thrust himself into the heavyweight championship picture before 17,431 stunned fans at Acer Arena.

“I was totally blown away by him,” White said of Velasquez, who knocked Nogueira down with a perfect right-left-right combination and then finished him with five powerful hammer fists on the ground.

It capped a near-perfect night in which the fights were good, the crowd was amazing and the contenders moved into focus.

The only thing that was missing was one of the fighters walking to the cage to Men at Work’s “Down Under.”

The stands were nearly full for the first fight, which started just after noon local time. When Igor Pokrajac walked to the cage to open the show, fans stood in unison and roared at the top of their lungs.

They managed to get even louder when Sydney resident James Te Huna was introduced. He sent them into near-delirium by stopping Pokrajac in the third round.

Another Australian, George Sotiropoulos, also received a hero’s welcome.

“I was blown away at the reception,” Sotiropoulos said.

Sotiropoulos edged Stevenson in a fast-paced match that was spent mostly on the ground and was given Fight of the Night honors. But Velasquez managed to trump even that great fight with his performance against Nogueira.

Nogueira is among the three greatest heavyweight fighters in mixed martial arts history and is renowned for his ability to absorb punishment. He was no match for Velasquez, however, who outboxed him, showed great patience and was ferocious in going for the finish when the opportunity presented.

Velasquez’s coaches preached patience to him and didn’t want him to get ahead of himself or abandon the game plan. But even though Nogueira landed the first punch of the fight and opened a cut on the bridge of his nose that required a few stitches to close, Velasquez didn’t panic.

“He got hit right away and he kept his composure,” said Dave Camarillo, Velasquez’s jiu-jitsu coach. “We were very impressed that he’s now displaying the experience he didn’t have. He’s really showing it, where he didn’t show it in the [UFC 99] fight with [Cheick] Kongo.

“You’re speaking to a true martial artist, and his best weapon is his mind.”

Perhaps, but it doesn’t hurt that he is by far the best-conditioned big man in the game, that he’s highly athletic, strong and unbelievably competitive.

This is a guy who oozed with potential from the moment he turned professional after a high-profile wrestling career at Arizona State. He faced significant pressure when he was compared to some of the all-time greats upon debuting in the UFC at UFC 83 in 2007 after only two fights.

Velasquez showed something new in every fight, adding depth and breadth to his game each time out. On Saturday, he put it all together in a performance that puts him alongside Shane Carwin and Frank Mir as the primary challengers to champion Brock Lesnar.

Velasquez said he “was kind of surprised” that he was able to put away a legendary figure like Nogueira so quickly and so thoroughly.

“I put a lot of time in, and it felt great to come through after all the time I put into it,” Velasquez said. “Everything is coming together the way I planned. It didn’t come easy. It’s been a lot of hard work, but I felt good about the way it all came together.”

The UFC’s heavyweight division is by far the best it ever has been, which says something about the quality of the newcomers.

In addition to Velasquez, Mir and Carwin, Junior dos Santos always is a quality contender, and dos Santos will be in the championship mix if he defeats Gabriel Gonzaga next month in Broomfield, Colo.

Veteran Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, who put together perhaps his best performance in what thus far has been a lackluster UFC career by stopping late replacement Anthony Perosh, conceded he was impressed by the talent matchmaker Joe Silva has stockpiled in the division.

“The young lions are definitely coming,” Filipovic said. “The heavyweight division is better than it’s ever been.”

White clearly agreed with that. Five years ago, there wasn’t a quality champion and there was no depth.

Now, there are a string of main-event quality fights that can be made and more than a half-dozen legitimate contenders.

“Five years ago, there is no comparison to the way it is now,” White said. “We had nobody like Cain. Nobody. All we had then was Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski and that was it. The division was terrible. It sucked and [Sylvia] and Andrei kept knocking each other out.

“Now, you go down the list and you see guy after guy and you go, ‘He’s the real deal. He’s the real deal. He’s the real deal.’ We’re full of them right now. I can’t wait to see some of these fights. It’s going to be sick.”

The winner of the Mir-Carwin fight at UFC 111 next month is slated to get the next shot at Lesnar. Lesnar is expected to return in either July or August from his bout of diverticulitis, which has sidelined him since last July at UFC 100.

However, if the Mir-Carwin winner isn’t ready, White said the shot instead would go to Velasquez.

Velasquez is a low-key sort who said, “I’m getting better,” when asked what message he sent to Lesnar with his knockout.

But Velasquez clearly is confident. He’ll give up 25 or 30 pounds to Lesnar, as well as a few inches, but he isn’t going to turn down the title shot.

“I’d have to fight a smart fight, and my coaches and I would have to come up with a game plan,” Velasquez said. “Really, with that kind of guy, super big, strong, with a lot of power, it’s going to be a way and you have to keep fighting till the end. You have to tire those big guys out, which is easier said than done.

“But that’s how I’d see me going up against them, trying to get them tired and then edge out the win at the end. But it’s tough.”

It will be tough for Velasquez facing the many massive, athletic men in the division. Have no doubt, though, that he’s a tough match for any of them.

“I’ve been saying it for a long time, but maybe now people will start looking at this kid and realize how good he is,” White said. “I call him ‘The Terminator’ because he never quits. He’s got a lot going for him. He’s going to be tough to beat, man. He really is.”

[Blackjack]

Changes pay dividends for ‘new’ Silva (http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=As8RHT6D6TbnwBG7IfNvCupXEo14?slug=ki-silva022110&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports

SYDNEY – It was a joyful week for Wanderlei Silva, who was given a hero’s welcome everywhere he went in Australia. The Ultimate Fighting Championship star was given a nearly unprecedented standing ovation at the weigh-in for UFC 110, as fans roared their approval and many of them bowed to show him respect.

On Saturday (Sunday in Australia), Silva shed a few tears after defeating Michael Bisping in a tough, highly technical match in the co-main event of UFC 110 before a raucous crowd of 17,431 at Acer Arena.

A last-second knockdown led to the unanimous decision victory for Silva. Bisping won the first round, and Silva took the second. The third was hanging in the balance when Silva knocked down Bisping with one of his patented overhand rights with about 7 seconds left in the fight.

That led to a 29-28 score by all three judges. It also led to an outpouring of emotion for Silva, who had lost five of his last six and then hadn’t fought in eight months after recovering from plastic surgery. He had scar tissue removed from his forehead and had his nose rebuilt so he could breathe better. Because of how many battles he had engaged in, Silva found it difficult to breathe through his nose prior to the surgery.

He dropped to middleweight for the first time and was a much better match size-wise. When it ended, all the pent-up emotion came pouring out.

“In life, we all have bad moments,” Silva said. “Everybody has bad moments, but if you believe in God and work hard, the good moments are going to come.”

Silva went on his losing streak because he kept insisting on throwing caution to the wind and trying to put on the greatest fight in history each time out. He approached a fight like he would a long drive contest, swinging as hard as he could and not worrying about the consequences.

He and Bisping traded nasty words and it seemed almost certain that they would engage in another toe-to-toe slugfest.

“That was a very technical fight and who expected that after all the [expletive] each of them had been talking,” UFC president Dana White said.

Bisping, who was cast as the villain and entered the cage to a chorus of boos, worked behind his jab and used his lateral movement. He didn’t have a mark on him after the fight and didn’t sustain the kind of punishment a Silva opponent nearly takes, win or lose.

Silva nearly choked out Bisping with a guillotine at the end of the second round and then almost knocked him out in the closing seconds of the fight.

“It’s tough to lose it in the final seconds like that,” Bisping said softly.

Silva likely will get a vacation in his native Brazil and then a bout against Japanese star Yoshihiro Akiyama in his next outing. Silva jokingly begged White to bring the bout to his homeland so he could fight in front of friends and family. White said he may be able to make Silva’s dream come true at some point in the near future. The 2016 Summer Olympics are going to Rio de Janeiro, and White said that has increased the UFC’s interest in putting a show in Brazil.

Silva would own the country for the week the fight was in town, but it’s not much different than the reaction he gets everywhere.

He puts so much of himself into every fight that people love him, win or lose.

“There’s losing fights and then there’s losing fights like Wanderlei was losing them,” White said. “He goes out and fights balls to the wall every time. He’s one of the guys who will tell you he’s more interested in putting on a great show than anything else.

“The people love him for it. It’s what happened in boxing with Arturo Gatti. He wasn’t the greatest boxer, but you knew that every time out, he was going to give you everything he had. Wanderlei is the same way.”

It wasn’t close to a Fight of the Night effort on Saturday, but Silva had nothing to apologize for this time around.

“This fight, I wanted it very badly,” he said, beaming. “For a lot of reasons, this meant a lot to me, and I just can’t tell you how pleased and happy I am now because of it.”

[Rip-Hamilton32]

5 for 5 on this card for me

[dbreiden83080]

5 for 5 on this card for me

nice, i didn't do so good.. :depressed

[dbreiden83080]

Changes pay dividends for ‘new’ Silva (http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=As8RHT6D6TbnwBG7IfNvCupXEo14?slug=ki-silva022110&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports

SYDNEY – It was a joyful week for Wanderlei Silva, who was given a hero’s welcome everywhere he went in Australia. The Ultimate Fighting Championship star was given a nearly unprecedented standing ovation at the weigh-in for UFC 110, as fans roared their approval and many of them bowed to show him respect.

On Saturday (Sunday in Australia), Silva shed a few tears after defeating Michael Bisping in a tough, highly technical match in the co-main event of UFC 110 before a raucous crowd of 17,431 at Acer Arena.

A last-second knockdown led to the unanimous decision victory for Silva. Bisping won the first round, and Silva took the second. The third was hanging in the balance when Silva knocked down Bisping with one of his patented overhand rights with about 7 seconds left in the fight.

That led to a 29-28 score by all three judges. It also led to an outpouring of emotion for Silva, who had lost five of his last six and then hadn’t fought in eight months after recovering from plastic surgery. He had scar tissue removed from his forehead and had his nose rebuilt so he could breathe better. Because of how many battles he had engaged in, Silva found it difficult to breathe through his nose prior to the surgery.

He dropped to middleweight for the first time and was a much better match size-wise. When it ended, all the pent-up emotion came pouring out.

“In life, we all have bad moments,” Silva said. “Everybody has bad moments, but if you believe in God and work hard, the good moments are going to come.”

Silva went on his losing streak because he kept insisting on throwing caution to the wind and trying to put on the greatest fight in history each time out. He approached a fight like he would a long drive contest, swinging as hard as he could and not worrying about the consequences.

He and Bisping traded nasty words and it seemed almost certain that they would engage in another toe-to-toe slugfest.

“That was a very technical fight and who expected that after all the [expletive] each of them had been talking,” UFC president Dana White said.

Bisping, who was cast as the villain and entered the cage to a chorus of boos, worked behind his jab and used his lateral movement. He didn’t have a mark on him after the fight and didn’t sustain the kind of punishment a Silva opponent nearly takes, win or lose.

Silva nearly choked out Bisping with a guillotine at the end of the second round and then almost knocked him out in the closing seconds of the fight.

“It’s tough to lose it in the final seconds like that,” Bisping said softly.

Silva likely will get a vacation in his native Brazil and then a bout against Japanese star Yoshihiro Akiyama in his next outing. Silva jokingly begged White to bring the bout to his homeland so he could fight in front of friends and family. White said he may be able to make Silva’s dream come true at some point in the near future. The 2016 Summer Olympics are going to Rio de Janeiro, and White said that has increased the UFC’s interest in putting a show in Brazil.

Silva would own the country for the week the fight was in town, but it’s not much different than the reaction he gets everywhere.

He puts so much of himself into every fight that people love him, win or lose.

“There’s losing fights and then there’s losing fights like Wanderlei was losing them,” White said. “He goes out and fights balls to the wall every time. He’s one of the guys who will tell you he’s more interested in putting on a great show than anything else.

“The people love him for it. It’s what happened in boxing with Arturo Gatti. He wasn’t the greatest boxer, but you knew that every time out, he was going to give you everything he had. Wanderlei is the same way.”

It wasn’t close to a Fight of the Night effort on Saturday, but Silva had nothing to apologize for this time around.

“This fight, I wanted it very badly,” he said, beaming. “For a lot of reasons, this meant a lot to me, and I just can’t tell you how pleased and happy I am now because of it.”


Cain do: Velasquez vaults to the top (http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=ArS1vuXUP6L3eSY9gGBXGxVXEo14?slug=ki-cain022110&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports

SYDNEY – Dana White couldn’t have scripted UFC 110 any better had he tried.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first show in Australia was a smashing success, and its top prospect gave the UFC president yet another elite heavyweight to throw into the mix.

Cain Velasquez more than lived up to his billing as a potential champion, stopping the nearly unstoppable Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on Saturday (Sunday in Australia) in the first round to firmly thrust himself into the heavyweight championship picture before 17,431 stunned fans at Acer Arena.

“I was totally blown away by him,” White said of Velasquez, who knocked Nogueira down with a perfect right-left-right combination and then finished him with five powerful hammer fists on the ground.

It capped a near-perfect night in which the fights were good, the crowd was amazing and the contenders moved into focus.

The only thing that was missing was one of the fighters walking to the cage to Men at Work’s “Down Under.”

The stands were nearly full for the first fight, which started just after noon local time. When Igor Pokrajac walked to the cage to open the show, fans stood in unison and roared at the top of their lungs.

They managed to get even louder when Sydney resident James Te Huna was introduced. He sent them into near-delirium by stopping Pokrajac in the third round.

Another Australian, George Sotiropoulos, also received a hero’s welcome.

“I was blown away at the reception,” Sotiropoulos said.

Sotiropoulos edged Stevenson in a fast-paced match that was spent mostly on the ground and was given Fight of the Night honors. But Velasquez managed to trump even that great fight with his performance against Nogueira.

Nogueira is among the three greatest heavyweight fighters in mixed martial arts history and is renowned for his ability to absorb punishment. He was no match for Velasquez, however, who outboxed him, showed great patience and was ferocious in going for the finish when the opportunity presented.

Velasquez’s coaches preached patience to him and didn’t want him to get ahead of himself or abandon the game plan. But even though Nogueira landed the first punch of the fight and opened a cut on the bridge of his nose that required a few stitches to close, Velasquez didn’t panic.

“He got hit right away and he kept his composure,” said Dave Camarillo, Velasquez’s jiu-jitsu coach. “We were very impressed that he’s now displaying the experience he didn’t have. He’s really showing it, where he didn’t show it in the [UFC 99] fight with [Cheick] Kongo.

“You’re speaking to a true martial artist, and his best weapon is his mind.”

Perhaps, but it doesn’t hurt that he is by far the best-conditioned big man in the game, that he’s highly athletic, strong and unbelievably competitive.

This is a guy who oozed with potential from the moment he turned professional after a high-profile wrestling career at Arizona State. He faced significant pressure when he was compared to some of the all-time greats upon debuting in the UFC at UFC 83 in 2007 after only two fights.

Velasquez showed something new in every fight, adding depth and breadth to his game each time out. On Saturday, he put it all together in a performance that puts him alongside Shane Carwin and Frank Mir as the primary challengers to champion Brock Lesnar.

Velasquez said he “was kind of surprised” that he was able to put away a legendary figure like Nogueira so quickly and so thoroughly.

“I put a lot of time in, and it felt great to come through after all the time I put into it,” Velasquez said. “Everything is coming together the way I planned. It didn’t come easy. It’s been a lot of hard work, but I felt good about the way it all came together.”

The UFC’s heavyweight division is by far the best it ever has been, which says something about the quality of the newcomers.

In addition to Velasquez, Mir and Carwin, Junior dos Santos always is a quality contender, and dos Santos will be in the championship mix if he defeats Gabriel Gonzaga next month in Broomfield, Colo.

Veteran Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, who put together perhaps his best performance in what thus far has been a lackluster UFC career by stopping late replacement Anthony Perosh, conceded he was impressed by the talent matchmaker Joe Silva has stockpiled in the division.

“The young lions are definitely coming,” Filipovic said. “The heavyweight division is better than it’s ever been.”

White clearly agreed with that. Five years ago, there wasn’t a quality champion and there was no depth.

Now, there are a string of main-event quality fights that can be made and more than a half-dozen legitimate contenders.

“Five years ago, there is no comparison to the way it is now,” White said. “We had nobody like Cain. Nobody. All we had then was Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski and that was it. The division was terrible. It sucked and [Sylvia] and Andrei kept knocking each other out.

“Now, you go down the list and you see guy after guy and you go, ‘He’s the real deal. He’s the real deal. He’s the real deal.’ We’re full of them right now. I can’t wait to see some of these fights. It’s going to be sick.”

The winner of the Mir-Carwin fight at UFC 111 next month is slated to get the next shot at Lesnar. Lesnar is expected to return in either July or August from his bout of diverticulitis, which has sidelined him since last July at UFC 100.

However, if the Mir-Carwin winner isn’t ready, White said the shot instead would go to Velasquez.

Velasquez is a low-key sort who said, “I’m getting better,” when asked what message he sent to Lesnar with his knockout.

But Velasquez clearly is confident. He’ll give up 25 or 30 pounds to Lesnar, as well as a few inches, but he isn’t going to turn down the title shot.

“I’d have to fight a smart fight, and my coaches and I would have to come up with a game plan,” Velasquez said. “Really, with that kind of guy, super big, strong, with a lot of power, it’s going to be a way and you have to keep fighting till the end. You have to tire those big guys out, which is easier said than done.

“But that’s how I’d see me going up against them, trying to get them tired and then edge out the win at the end. But it’s tough.”

It will be tough for Velasquez facing the many massive, athletic men in the division. Have no doubt, though, that he’s a tough match for any of them.

“I’ve been saying it for a long time, but maybe now people will start looking at this kid and realize how good he is,” White said. “I call him ‘The Terminator’ because he never quits. He’s got a lot going for him. He’s going to be tough to beat, man. He really is.”

Nice Articles Black-Jack... :toast

[djohn14]

l think he can challenge Brock right now as well. I would much rather see that fight than Brock pound on Mir again. Mir/Carwin for UFC 111 i am going to that fight, and i really don't want to see the winner get the shot at Brock. If it's Carwin maybe but if Mir wins that fight.. Give the shot to Cain..

I say if Carwin wins, give him the shot, but if Mir wins then give it to Cain. The reason I said Cain needs to learn Jiu Jitsu to challenge Brock is because I think that about every HW. I see nobody beating him unless they make him tap. He's too big and powerful. I think Cain is better than Carwin/Mir, but I think both of them are better matchups against brock due to their ability to make him tap. Especially Carwin who can hold his own striking and wrestling.

[oligarchy]

Thats because they're not the same thing and the two things have completely different histories. The man has pride in where he came from. I don't think that should bother anyone.

That's fucking stupid and idiotic, it's the same thing. Brown Pride tattoos have been linked to gang tattoos for a long ass time. There's a whole gang modeled after it and the racisim card is the same. GTFO.

[djohn14]

That's fucking stupid and idiotic, it's the same thing. Brown Pride tattoos have been linked to gang tattoos for a long ass time. There's a whole gang modeled after it and the racisim card is the same. GTFO.

Brown Pride/White Power/Black Power....They are all the same. They can be taken both ways...some are gang related and have meanings such as their race is superior, yet other times its just showing pride for your race. It really just depends on the person. It never looks very good, but I dont think Cain is degrading any other race with his tatoo.

[The TroutBum]

Brown Pride/White Power/Black Power....They are all the same. They can be taken both ways...some are gang related and have meanings such as their race is superior, yet other times its just showing pride for your race. It really just depends on the person. It never looks very good, but I dont think Cain is degrading any other race with his tatoo.

Honestly, it's all about the White Mormon Pride. I'm thinking about getting that tattooed on my chest -- what do you guys think?

[dbreiden83080]

Honestly, it's all about the White Mormon Pride. I'm thinking about getting that tattooed on my chest -- what do you guys think?


That's fucking stupid and idiotic, it's the same thing. Brown Pride tattoos have been linked to gang tattoos for a long ass time. There's a whole gang modeled after it and the racisim card is the same. GTFO.

These agressive come-backs were on my mind last night but now that i'm a mod i figured i'd scale back the agression.. :lol

[djohn14]

White Mormon Pride...lol smartass

[MannyIsGod]

If they're the same why is there no White Entertainment Television? Why is there no White Herritage or History Month? I could list hundreds of other examples.

You may WANT them to be the same and you may feel its reverse racism of some sort but the fact of the matter is that they're not the same and there are brutally obvious reasons why they're not the same.

Anyone offended by a tatoo on a guy is looking for a reason to be offended. You can say its in poor taste but in the end who cares what a grown man decides to tatoo on his chest? In any event, it has nothing to do with any of you and everything to do with what HE is taking pride in. He's talked about it before and its not gang related but related more to where his family came from and a struggle that is strictly limited to brown people.

[MannyIsGod]

Also - if you're going to compre it to ______ Power then maybe you need to look up the definition of the word pride.

[MannyIsGod]

rAGPLiGjHWQ

[desflood]

Any and all debate in here shall be restricted to mma-related topics. Politics, religion, race, etc. are excluded.

[djohn14]

If they're the same why is there no White Entertainment Television?



There is no White Entertainment Television because Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would throw a bitch fit.


Oh and PS...I never said it was racist....I dont have a problem with it. It dosent exactly look innocent, but Im sure it is. I could really care less what tatoos a fighter has as long as he fights his heart out and isnt a jackass COUGH*Brock Lesnar*COUGH...and as you can see by my avatar, Im as big a Cain Velasquez fan as your going to find.

[dallaskd]

anyone have a link to where I can watch these? Me and Google don't get along for some reason.

mma-core.com


^^all you need. most fights are posted within 30 min to an hour after the televised card and never get taken down..

[MannyIsGod]

Oh and PS...I never said it was racist....I dont have a problem with it. It dosent exactly look innocent, but Im sure it is. I could really care less what tatoos a fighter has as long as he fights his heart out and isnt a jackass COUGH*Brock Lesnar*COUGH...and as you can see by my avatar, Im as big a Cain Velasquez fan as your going to find.

:tu

[dbreiden83080]

Bisping Disagrees With Judges Decision At UFC 110


Michael Bisping suffered his third-career loss on February 20 at UFC 110. He fought a three-round battle with Wanderlei Silva, losing by unanimous decision.

During the UFC 110 post-fight press conference, Bisping told the media he disagreed with the judges decision.

“It was a close fight. Personally I think I won rounds one and two,” Bisping said. “Wanderlei did a great job, full credit to him. Congratulations to him for winning the fight. Personally, apart from the guillotine, and I got dropped in the third round.

Wanderlei is a legend, and I was very proud to be in there with him, but I’m a little disappointed right now. I’m a little annoyed. I don’t come here to put on a good performance, I come here to win. Winning is what’s important.”

Bisping has now lost two of his last three fights.

[oligarchy]

lulz. You really expect him to come out and say something other than "pride" in his "brown-ness?"

At least he can admit he's from a line of dumbass mexicans who came to the country illegally. Pride baby! Pride!

[djohn14]

lulz. You really expect him to come out and say something other than "pride" in his "brown-ness?"

At least he can admit he's from a line of dumbass mexicans who came to the country illegally. Pride baby! Pride!

WHAT THE FUCK! Not Cool Man!

[Stringer_Bell]

Cain has inspired me to get a Rainbow Pride tattoo on my chest, it'll be awesome. I love and respect all the colors of the light spectrum. :)

4 serious tho, I like the idea that Cain says he didn't have many heroes that looked like him. Yea, race and ethnicity is a real shallow thing to take into account for role models, but growing up in rough times, it's nice to have an example of someone that recognizes that struggle and lived it. That's all I think he's trying to say. Is it the best way to go about it? Probably not, but he's not hurting anyone and last night be beat another brown person so I think he dishes out his violence equally. :toast

Plus, you know the people that interview him are mostly white and they don't take issue with it and he's never a cranky bitch to them. He seems to have a lot of respect for people, which speaks more than some ink he has on him. I understand the double standard though, but that's the curse of being white. :p:

[MannyIsGod]

lulz. You really expect him to come out and say something other than "pride" in his "brown-ness?"

At least he can admit he's from a line of dumbass mexicans who came to the country illegally. Pride baby! Pride!

See its obvious why you don't like the tattoo now. Projection. Cain's not the racist here.

[CubanSucks]

He's talked about it before and its not gang related but related more to where his family came from and a struggle that is strictly limited to brown people.

You're right because at least brown people actually have the chance to make it to America; unlike the starving people in Africa and much of Asia. Look, obviously the guy isn't a racist. He composes himself well and any guy who trains with Jon Fitch and Mike Swick is cool by me. But stop trying to justify this double standard bullshit. If it were 'white pride' instead of 'white power' I guarentee it would still be the same double standard.

[oligarchy]

See its obvious why you don't like the tattoo now. Projection. Cain's not the racist here.

So, it's racist that I say that he's from a line of dumbass mexicans? Really? Is that what you are trying to say? Maybe you're a dumbass mexican too. Well, not maybe.

[oligarchy]

WHAT THE FUCK! Not Cool Man!

Oh, I'm sorry. Is that not PC? Is his family somehow smart? Oh, I get it. He admitted that his family came here illegally and you consider that smart, since they don't have to pay taxes or contribute to anything, but they sure get to take! I apologize, they are fucking genius! There are plenty of people who properly use the system to become a citizen. Give me a fucking break. Go cry into your big Cain pillow.

[Stringer_Bell]

Oh, I'm sorry. Is that not PC? Is his family somehow smart? Oh, I get it. He admitted that his family came here illegally and you consider that smart, since they don't have to pay taxes or contribute to anything, but they sure get to take! I apologize, they are fucking genius! There are plenty of people who properly use the system to become a citizen. Give me a fucking break. Go cry into your big Cain pillow.

Yup, you're issues are much larger than the UFC 110 thread. Maybe you should go to AKA and volunteer to be Cain's sparring partner? While you're at it, take a printout of this thread and see if the white folks at AKA don't also want to go a few rounds with you. :whine

[oligarchy]

Yup, you're issues are much larger than the UFC 110 thread. Maybe you should go to AKA and volunteer to be Cain's sparring partner? While you're at it, take a printout of this thread and see if the white folks at AKA don't also want to go a few rounds with you. :whine

"Issues." lol. I didn't know calling a spade a spade meant issues. Water is wet. There's some more issues for you.

[dbreiden83080]

Come on guys lets cool it with the race stuff. I should not have even brought up the tatoo..

[Blackjack]

Look out heavyweights! Velasquez is ready for title shot (http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Look-out-heavyweights-Velasquez-is-ready-for-ti?urn=mma,221059)
By Steve Cofield

http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_mma_experts__17/ept_sports_mma_experts-976902762-1266738500.jpg?ymElntCD1NnH3euq

During his postfight conversation with Cain Velasquez, UFC analyst Joe Rogan captured the moment saying, "to be a legend, you have to beat a legend." Velasquez is now on the fast track to a UFC heavyweight title shot after taking out veteran Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in less than three minutes. Even more impressive was the way the former Arizona State wrestler did it. The 27-year-old made "Big Nog" look slow and landed anything he wanted with kicks and punches.

A three-punch combo started the trouble for Nogueira. He got drilled by a left, a right hook/uppercut and then a left bounced off the top of his head as he was falling to the canvas. A great fighter has to have a killer instinct and there's no questioning Velasquez's thirst for blood. He pounced on the grounded Nogueira and landed five clean punches in what seemed like two seconds. Nogueira was stunned, referee Herb Dean had to jump in and stop the fight at 2:30 of the first giving Velasquez a win in the main event of UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia.

"I just tried to keep focused," a subdued Velasquez told Rogan. "And when I got in good position, try to beat him to the punch."

UPDATE: Velasquez got the $50,000 knockout of the night bonus. He probably edged out fellow ASU grappler Ryan Bader for the honor. Bader blasted out Keith Jardine earlier in the evening.

Velasquez has made his living brutalizing people on the ground but that's a dangerous proposition with the submission abilities of Nogueira (32-6-1, 3-2 UFC). He was so proficient with his striking that never had to take that risk.

"We were planning on pushing the pace. We could work the standup and when the takedown was there take it," said Velasquez (8-0, 6-0 UFC).

Velasquez did break momentarily from his usual stoic nature. Just after the fight, with blood trickling down his face, he celebrated B.J. Penn-style by licking the plasma from his hands.

The win holds plenty of significance. Beyond beating someone who's carried the MMA heavyweight torch since the late 90's, this was a fight between the No. 3 and No. 4 big boys in the UFC. Back in January when UFC heavyweight king Brock Lesnar annoucing that he was returning from an intestinal disorder, the winner of this fight was promised a spot as the alternate to face him sometime during the summer. Velasquez will get an immediate shot at Lesnar only if the winner of Frank Mir-Shane Carwin, next month at UFC 111, suffers an injury that makes him unable to fight for the belt.

From the opening seconds, there were signs of trouble for the 33-year-old Nogueira. He was holding his hands low and not moving side-to-side. The stationary target, made "Big Nog" an easy target for kick-punch combinations from Velasquez. The lethargic defense was very remiscent of his troubles against Frank Mir. But this time there is no "staph infection" excuse to fall back on.

[dbreiden83080]

A lot of people are now saying the Nog staph infection was bullshit against Mir, especially Mir.. :lol

But he was sick for that fight, it was confirmed by multiple sources. However Nog has not looked very good since coming into the UFC, if you are being fair you have to say that. Herring, Sylvia, Mir and now Cain, none of those were outstanding performances..

[desflood]

I should not have even brought up the tatoo..
Yeah, way to go db. :lol

As a mod, do you have the power to move this thread over to the political forum?

[dallaskd]

A lot of people are now saying the Nog staph infection was bullshit against Mir, especially Mir.. :lol

But he was sick for that fight, it was confirmed by multiple sources. However Nog has not looked very good since coming into the UFC, if you are being fair you have to say that. Herring, Sylvia, Mir and now Cain, none of those were outstanding performances..

He looked good vs Couture

[polandprzem]

if JDS will win with Gonzaga then he should face Cain for title shot

[dbreiden83080]

Nogs
Mirko
RELJIC -- possibly my new favorite fighter --
Daddy
Silva
Bader
Lytle
and anyone who is facing Boner. Seriously, how is this guy still in the UFC? My butt hole puts out better fights than he does.

I'll count them all but we usually just pick 5 fights.. Okay..

[dbreiden83080]

He looked good vs Couture

He did but he got hit plenty in that fight, and we know Randy is not stud on the feet or a heavy hitter.. Legit heavies hitting Nog these days, he is not taking the shots well anymore..

[The TroutBum]

I'll count them all but we usually just pick 5 fights.. Okay..

No need to count them -- I didn't know you guys actually took score n' shit. I'll keep them to five from now on though.

[dbreiden83080]

No need to count them -- I didn't know you guys actually took score n' shit. I'll keep them to five from now on though.

It's cool the more the merrier on the predictions front..