You can’t get into him based on his smack talk but you thought the conference was funny?
He’s just hyping the fight, it’s clearly all a joke, apparently he’s quite polite off camera.
[quote]Fistiecuffs wrote:
Hope I’m just being paranoid here but Chael looked a little bit off in post weight-in interview with Ariel Helwani, hope the cut wasn’t too rough for him. Human body can only take so much, and it wouldn’t be the first great fighter ruined by cutting too much weight too often. If he comes in there in a good condition he should smash Bispings face without any trouble, really can’t see what Bisping has to offer here that Chael couldn’t deal with. He doesn’t have the same kind of one punch knockout power guys like Stann have, his TDD is solid but so was Silva’s, and I really doubt he is going to submit Sonnen or scramble and get back to his feet easily. It might go three rounds, but if it does, look for Bisping’s face being a bloody mess afterwards.
[/quote]
Yeah, Bisping has never really faced a wrestler of Sonnen’s caliber who was also willing to take a little punishment to take things to the ground as well as being relentless in his pursuit of a TD. There is always the chance that Bisping could catch Sonnen right on the button with something and KO him, or like you said that Sonnen could be so drained from the cut that his cardio is awful and Bisping is able to stay on his bicycle, weather Sonnen’s storm and just out point him on the feet. But the odds are still in Chael’s favor IMO.
I agree. Davis looked really uncomfortable on his feet against little Nog, and Rashad is a much more dynamic striker. If it gets to the ground it will be interesting to see how Davis does though. He’s the bigger of the two fighters and they are both outstanding wrestlers. Davis has proved that he can submit people as well, so we’ll see how well Rashad’s submission defense is (or if he winds up on top how good his jiu-jitsu is and how good Davis’ defense is).
I see Rashad keeping it on the feet though and just doing that lunge in, jab, and lunge back out before Davis can return fire stuff that he did to Rampage for most of the fight, perhaps with some takedown attempts (or even just fakes) thrown in to keep Davis guessing. Should be a pretty boring fight stylistically IMO, but I think Rashad will take it.
Like you said though, we haven’t seen Davis in the Octagon in a while so we don’t know how much he may have improved since then.
I’d give the edge to Maia on the ground. Standing I don’t know as I haven’t seen enough of Weidman’s fights, and Demian has been improving in that department. Weidman might be a great wrestler, but Maia is no slouch (watch his fight with Sonnen for example). Also, having a purple belt in BJJ isn’t going to help you much (maybe, maybe he might be able to just survive and not get subbed if all he does is just play defense/survival the whole time) when you are facing someone who submits other BJJ black belts for a living. Let’s not forget that Maia is a multiple time world champion (at the black belt level) as well as being a left, something which you don’t see that often and throws a lot of guys off.
You guys should check out Weidman vs Galvao at 2009 ADCC. Weidman’s a purple, but not just any purple. He’s a Serra purple, and those guys are legit. He hung tough with Galvao, escaped a couple of slick sub attempts that would’ve caught a lesser grappler and attempted a Darce of his own. Lost on points.
The same Galvao that won the absolute this year. The one that trains in a room full of Blackbelts at ATOS.
There’s a reason Maia isn’t a favorite here. He’s up against a guy that could probably hang with him in no gi grappling, except now there’s strikes.
That said, the fights are about to happen and I could be, very very wrong, lol.
Well I missed the first fight. The play by play isn’t very flattering to either fighter, particularly Maia. Chris had 11 days to prep and reportedly sauna cut from 215. Maia has no excuse for gassing.
Bisping did AMAZING. I can’t decide if it was a case of Chael not being there physically, or Bisping just being on point. I gave him 29-28, but I can see a case for giving Chael the first. 30-27 is a bad call though. Chael lost the 2nd.
Damn I didn’t expect Shad to dominate like that, but hey, Phil’s young and inexperienced. Shad’s ground game really shone through today, as did that much vaunted improved striking. Still… you could tell he wasn’t all there. He fought passive and relaxed, like the challenge presented by Phil wasn’t enough to warrant anteing up and taking chances. If he does this against Jones, he loses.
That said, at least we got to see his top game, and I’m convinced that black belt everyone shits on Rolles for giving him is legit. Excellent top control and passing. Could’ve done a better job of taking the back, but it’s a hard thing to do against an athletic wrestler like Phil that knows how to reverse.
All in all, boring main card, lol.
Chael didn’t look great and that was the best performance by Bisping I’ve ever seen. It could’ve easily gone either way, but no fucking way was it 30-27 Sonnen. Should watch it again to say if I could’ve really scored the 1st to Mike but shit I was scared to hear what the judges had in mind. I think Sonnen deserved the win here, but not by a wide margin and mostly due to the 3rd round. I hope he had something else wrong here other than his body just being too worn out to make those cuts with ease, if that is the case I think the rematch with Andy is going to look just miserable and people will be discrediting Chael all over Sherdog for it all being a matter of Silva’s hurt rib the first time they fought. Hope he comes in like he did the 1st time and now finishes the job. I’d like to see Bisping rematch with Hendo next. Dan seems to be fine with fighting what ever weightclass from 185 to 265 and Bisping fight would really make a lot of sense and be very interesting. Mike has obviously improved a lot since the first fight, and win over Hendo should send him right back in the picture, if not next in line for the title. Shad winning his fight will probably be facing JBJ next and Chael facing Anderson it leaves Dan without a fight, and how many high profile guys there are right now that he could fight?
Davis looked good for the first two minutes, and after that it was all Shad. The later it wen’t, easier Rashad dominated. I didn’t really expect Phil to win this, but the way he got manhandeled and gassed after 3rd was surprising, I expected him to put up a better and more competitive fight than that. Still, he is a very unexperienced fighter, and maybe its for the best that he will need to wait a year or two before getting his title shot, he will be more complete and ready by then. I don’t see Rashad beating Bones, Rashad will be finished in a brutal fashion much like Shogun.
Haven’t watched Maia - Weidman yet, but as it seems I didn’t miss much. Didn’t watch Einemo - Russow either, but seems like it was a slow paced and quite a boring grappling fight according to reports. Wonder if Einemo is going to get cut, having won ADCC world championships and all one could think he should out grapple Russow, but hard to judge more not having seen the fight. Oliveira delivered, nice striking and a very nice submission. Lentz - Dunham was a good fight too. Other than that not much to mention really 
.
Chael needs to get back on his roid cycle. He’s not beating Anderson with a performance like last night.
I find it very strange anyone thought this fight went to Bisping.
Bisping exceeded expectations by not getting completely dominated and had a great showing himself, but he was never winning.
The best he did was shut Sonnen down a couple times. He was never on the offensive, never pressing the action, never beating Sonnon, despite what Joe Rogan was telling you.
You don’t win a fight by performing above expectations (whoch Bisping did), you still have to perform above your opponent.
[quote]Spartiates wrote:
I find it very strange anyone thought this fight went to Bisping.
Bisping exceeded expectations by not getting completely dominated and had a great showing himself, but he was never winning.
The best he did was shut Sonnen down a couple times. He was never on the offensive, never pressing the action, never beating Sonnon, despite what Joe Rogan was telling you.
You don’t win a fight by performing above expectations (whoch Bisping did), you still have to perform above your opponent.[/quote]
I could see giving Bisping the 2nd round. He landed more strikes than Chael (even though none of them were all that damaging), did a decent job with Octagon control, and defended a couple takedowns (from what I remember).
Other than that though I’d agree.
The fight has to go to someone in a decision though, and I dont see how Sonnen did anything to merit winning those first two, he got Bisping down and immediately let him up, the only solid punches in the first two rounds were landed by Bisping. Im not saying it was overwhelming, but the lack of action in the first two rounds is what should have given Bisping the nod, IMO. When nobody does much, the round should go to the guy who still does something, right.
Only justification is that Sonnen really backed Bisping down in a controlling fashion, maneuvering pretty nicely for the takedown against the cage he a couple times in the first round.
That third round he did absolutely nothing, and it looked to me like all he could do to keep Bisping from getting up was to lie on him holding him in the same position the whole time. did not throw punches, did not maneuver for a better position, I really think it should have been stood up. Chael is a master at moving aorund just enough to LOOK like he is doing something, w/o ever really doing shit.
I thought Bisping got beaten in every round, the second was closer than the others but if your back is against the cage and your getting hit then you are losing. Bad position, lack of control. Sonnen looked worse than I have seen him in the past and Bisping looked better but Sonnen still won that whole fight.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]Spartiates wrote:
I find it very strange anyone thought this fight went to Bisping.
Bisping exceeded expectations by not getting completely dominated and had a great showing himself, but he was never winning.
The best he did was shut Sonnen down a couple times. He was never on the offensive, never pressing the action, never beating Sonnon, despite what Joe Rogan was telling you.
You don’t win a fight by performing above expectations (whoch Bisping did), you still have to perform above your opponent.[/quote]
I could see giving Bisping the 2nd round. He landed more strikes than Chael (even though none of them were all that damaging), did a decent job with Octagon control, and defended a couple takedowns (from what I remember).
Other than that though I’d agree.[/quote]
I had a tough time giving bisping any rounds. All bisping seemed to do is wall and stall. he had him up against the cage and they both did little pitter patter punches. the only real action was some standup which was pretty much even. But Sonnen is the one who got bisping down. sure, maybe he didn’t keep him there in the 1st 2 rounds, but he still scored points by taking him down. But I agree, the only round that you could possibly give to bisping is the 2nd round.
[quote]SILVERDAN7 wrote:
The fight has to go to someone in a decision though, and I dont see how Sonnen did anything to merit winning those first two, he got Bisping down and immediately let him up, the only solid punches in the first two rounds were landed by Bisping. Im not saying it was overwhelming, but the lack of action in the first two rounds is what should have given Bisping the nod, IMO. When nobody does much, the round should go to the guy who still does something, right.
Only justification is that Sonnen really backed Bisping down in a controlling fashion, maneuvering pretty nicely for the takedown against the cage he a couple times in the first round.
That third round he did absolutely nothing, and it looked to me like all he could do to keep Bisping from getting up was to lie on him holding him in the same position the whole time. did not throw punches, did not maneuver for a better position, I really think it should have been stood up. Chael is a master at moving aorund just enough to LOOK like he is doing something, w/o ever really doing shit.[/quote]
What 3rd round were you watching. The 3rd round I saw, was sonnen getting back control and full mount. thats pretty freaken controlling to me. he tried to secure a choke. thats all points my friend. having back control and full mount is a big deal.
close fight but I gave it to Bisping. He outworked Sonen in the first two rounds. Ultimately it’s a shame for Bisping that Muñoz got injured. On the showing we saw (and I know it doesn’t always work like that) hewould have handily beaten Maia. Now, he has a 4th loss on his record. I think there are too many judges that give the round to the guy who gets more takedowns.
[quote]Cockney Blue wrote:
close fight but I gave it to Bisping. He outworked Sonen in the first two rounds. Ultimately it’s a shame for Bisping that Muñoz got injured. On the showing we saw (and I know it doesn’t always work like that) hewould have handily beaten Maia. Now, he has a 4th loss on his record. I think there are too many judges that give the round to the guy who gets more takedowns.[/quote]
In no way did Bisping outwork Sonned in the first two rounds… against the cage and getting hit in the face is losing. and of course judges give more points to the guy who has more takedowns. That means your defense sucks, the other guy is showing aggression and ocatagon control.
I do think judging should be shifted if they guy pops right back out of it but its still a takedown nonetheless. Also if you keep gettin took down for three rounds time after time you would think at one point a strategy change would be made and if not then you are losing. Im not a huge fan of either one of the guys but Sonnen won no question
The fighters did not seem to have that “killer” instinct or drive to finnish the fight. Esp. the Evans/Davis fight it looked like a good hard sparring match not 2 guys fighting to see who gets the title shot.
Even in the interview after the fight he spoke about never getting the oppurtunity to finish Davis. Well you won’t finish someone if your looking to win on points and play it safe. ← Does this make sense?
Rashad is going to get Worked over by Jones if he fights with that type of intensity against Jones. I know different fighters different game plans and all but I was not impressed with Rashad @ all. I see Rashad getting finished in the second round.
What
I was very impressed with Rashad’s performance. He looked like every bit a veteran. Not every fight is going to be a stunning KO victory and a pace that looks like street fighter II. For what it was, he dominated Davis, and put on a showing of much improved defense. That’s the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him on his feet, very good parrying.
[quote]Ranzo wrote:
[quote]Cockney Blue wrote:
close fight but I gave it to Bisping. He outworked Sonen in the first two rounds. Ultimately it’s a shame for Bisping that MuÃ?±oz got injured. On the showing we saw (and I know it doesn’t always work like that) hewould have handily beaten Maia. Now, he has a 4th loss on his record. I think there are too many judges that give the round to the guy who gets more takedowns.[/quote]
In no way did Bisping outwork Sonned in the first two rounds… against the cage and getting hit in the face is losing. and of course judges give more points to the guy who has more takedowns. That means your defense sucks, the other guy is showing aggression and ocatagon control.
I do think judging should be shifted if they guy pops right back out of it but its still a takedown nonetheless. Also if you keep gettin took down for three rounds time after time you would think at one point a strategy change would be made and if not then you are losing. Im not a huge fan of either one of the guys but Sonnen won no question[/quote]
Sonnen spent more time with his back against the cage getting hit in both rounds. Go back and watch it again with a stopwatch if you need.
Close fight, and I can see why it was scored the other way, just based on my judging experience I would have given it 29/28 to Bisping.
[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
What
I was very impressed with Rashad’s performance. He looked like every bit a veteran. Not every fight is going to be a stunning KO victory and a pace that looks like street fighter II. For what it was, he dominated Davis, and put on a showing of much improved defense. That’s the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him on his feet, very good parrying. [/quote]
Evans was relaxed, but, he wasn’t facing someone with any kind of stand up game. davis’ punches and kicks seemed very slow.
[quote]Cockney Blue wrote:
[quote]Ranzo wrote:
[quote]Cockney Blue wrote:
close fight but I gave it to Bisping. He outworked Sonen in the first two rounds. Ultimately it’s a shame for Bisping that MuÃ??Ã?±oz got injured. On the showing we saw (and I know it doesn’t always work like that) hewould have handily beaten Maia. Now, he has a 4th loss on his record. I think there are too many judges that give the round to the guy who gets more takedowns.[/quote]
In no way did Bisping outwork Sonned in the first two rounds… against the cage and getting hit in the face is losing. and of course judges give more points to the guy who has more takedowns. That means your defense sucks, the other guy is showing aggression and ocatagon control.
I do think judging should be shifted if they guy pops right back out of it but its still a takedown nonetheless. Also if you keep gettin took down for three rounds time after time you would think at one point a strategy change would be made and if not then you are losing. Im not a huge fan of either one of the guys but Sonnen won no question[/quote]
Sonnen spent more time with his back against the cage getting hit in both rounds. Go back and watch it again with a stopwatch if you need.
Close fight, and I can see why it was scored the other way, just based on my judging experience I would have given it 29/28 to Bisping.[/quote]
That is called wall stalling. those little pitter patter punches are not effective, and not scored all that much. they were both hitting each other against the cage but sonnen is the one who got 2 takedowns in round 1. whether or not bisping got right back up or not, he was still taken down. and that 3rd round was a blowout. if this was pride, where the fight is judged on the whole, we wouldn’t even be disussing this. That 3rd round alone gave sonnen the fight.
[quote]Cockney Blue wrote:
[quote]Ranzo wrote:
[quote]Cockney Blue wrote:
close fight but I gave it to Bisping. He outworked Sonen in the first two rounds. Ultimately it’s a shame for Bisping that MuÃ??Ã?±oz got injured. On the showing we saw (and I know it doesn’t always work like that) hewould have handily beaten Maia. Now, he has a 4th loss on his record. I think there are too many judges that give the round to the guy who gets more takedowns.[/quote]
In no way did Bisping outwork Sonned in the first two rounds… against the cage and getting hit in the face is losing. and of course judges give more points to the guy who has more takedowns. That means your defense sucks, the other guy is showing aggression and ocatagon control.
I do think judging should be shifted if they guy pops right back out of it but its still a takedown nonetheless. Also if you keep gettin took down for three rounds time after time you would think at one point a strategy change would be made and if not then you are losing. Im not a huge fan of either one of the guys but Sonnen won no question[/quote]
Sonnen spent more time with his back against the cage getting hit in both rounds. Go back and watch it again with a stopwatch if you need.
Close fight, and I can see why it was scored the other way, just based on my judging experience I would have given it 29/28 to Bisping.[/quote]
I agree. Wall and stalling is also ‘control’.
When it came down to it, in that first round, the judges scored it for the guy with the takedowns. I scored it for Bisping, but I’m a fan who was anticipating a Sonnen beatdown and I’m not objective.