MMA Musings

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:25 pm

OK King Mo is the first person I've witnessed KO'd by a "Spinning Backfist" and he was literally OUT on his feet to Emmanuel Newton. BIG upset at Bellator!!!

Just have to ask, to anyone willing to venture their opinions, has the new guard moved into the UFC from Strikeforce? I'm less confident about the Light Heavy as Jones is quite a bit younger and, it seems hungrier.

Spider? Can Luke Rockhold get a shot at Silva? First he has to go through Vitor Belfort. This is the fight Dana White considered giving Spider an "out" for the matchup. I still know very little about Rockhold except I hear he could be the guy to squash the Spider. This fight is 5-18-13 (Belfort/Rockhold that is).

On a side-note could Aleksandr Shlemenko (47-7; 28 KOs 7 Subs) pose a threat to Silva if he came over from Bellator? Lots of experience and immense power! I doubt it but he'd certainly have a Puncher's chance and he doesn't lack for skills; although his ground game is lacking; including a tough fight against Hector Lombard.

Bones Jones ? The guy I've wanted to see for a long while in the UFC is now here. Gegard Moussasi (33-3-1; 18 KOs 11 Subs)! He's first going to have to go through Alexander Gustafsson (15-1; 9 KOs 3 Subs), he's not taking the easy route in his first fight on 4-6-13!

Like I said I'm less sure about Rockhold getting a shot but I have little doubt Moussasi can get a title fight fairly soon if he gets through the opposition the UFC puts before him, but can he beat Jones!?!? Granted he has to get by Gustafsson first... no easy task! Should be a BEAST of a fight!

Oh yeah and Moussasi could drop down to Middleweight where he started his career. He's fought at Heavyweight as well.

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 9:16 am

That King Mo knockout was awesome! I watched it over and over. Never saw anything like it.

I am not sure how much impact the Strikeforce guys are going to have. I don't think any of them will hold the UFC belt.

I am really looking forward to seeing Moussasi vs Gustafsson, should be a great fight. I don't believe either one can really challenge Bones Jones, as he will just take them down and ground n pound em.

Some fantastic fights coming up in the next few months!

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:49 pm

Don't sleep on "The Dreamcatcher" my friend. Nobody really gave him a shot against Sobral either and he ended that in 1 minute flat! Then what does he do 3 months later, after also having taken out Sokoudjou the prior month, but take on a Super HW and KO him in 1:34 (Gary Goodridge). Granted Goodrige was about 43 but the guy has a pretty good chin against his own weight class and one-time Middleweight Mousassi KOs him as well.

He's trained in Sambo at the old Red Devil/Imperial Club with Fedor also. Here's an exhibition match they had 2 weeks after his Sobral win (sparring starts a bit after 3 minute mark):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzrxtxIktFQ

The fight I want is Cung Le and Silva but Le never seems to devote to MMA full-time and is now 40 so it's now or never to become a "True" legend and not just a Movie/Internet legend.

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 9:21 pm

Well the moment is fast approaching when we get a close look at Luke Rockhold against Vitor Belfort. I guess if you want a title shot, and to be taken seriously in the UFC, you don't take tune-up fights or fight cupcakes. You go right to the top of the division and fight a top contender!

He's already ranked at #5 without a single UFC fight and Belfort is ranked #2. Looks to me that the winner of this fight should probably get the next crack at Spider Silva; unless Silva takes a fight against Jones or GSP. Okami is ranked the #3 Middleweight but he already had his chance. Weidman will likely only get a rematch if he puts on a Sonnen type performance against Silva. So Belfort wins he jumps over Weidman, assuming he loses to Silva, and if Rockhold wins he should vault over Weidman, Okami, and Belfort. The only spoiler in the equation is Bisping who is ranked #4 since dropping down to Middleweight. However #5 beating #2 should be enough to move him ahead of Bisping, unless The 2 face each other for the next shot at Silva.

On the other end there was this reported to the media:

Following UFC 159, which saw Light Heavyweight champ Jon Jones demolish Chael Sonnen in just under one round and sustain a grotesque toe dislocation that will put him on the shelf for an indefinite period, UFC president Dana White just had to tell the reporters assembled for the UFC 159 post-fight media scrum about a call he got from Anderson Silva.

The UFC Middleweight champ apparently called Dana to talk about a potential super fight. Dana wouldn't say if Silva wanted to talk about fighting Jones or Welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre. In fact he quickly turned the talk to Silva's next title defense against Chris Weidman at UFC 162 on July 6 in Las Vegas.

Regardless I'm looking forward to seeing first hand what all the hype over Rockhold is all about!

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:54 pm

Well other than an awesome KO that was a letdown. Wonder if Belfort gets a shot at Silva/Weidman winner, or if he'll have to go through Souza first and the winner of that fight will get the champ, or if Silva wins will he go for a Super Fight? He'd probably have to take GSP or wait for Jones' injury to be cleared.

Rockhold looked to be too nervous and unprepared for the pressure. Still too "young"!

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 5:24 pm

I am not going to blame Rockhold there, that was just Belfort being who he is. My guess is he gets a title shot, unless Silva wins and fights Jones. There were a couple of replacement fighters last night. That probably had something to do with the lackluster fights.

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 6:15 pm

If only we could combined Souza's ground game with Belfort's striking we would be facing one helluva fight against Silva Cool

Off the top of my head I can't think of another guy who has a victory distribution like Jacare Souza - 18 wins; 14 subs;1 KO; 3 decisions. If he does it in the UFC it should end any argument there might possibly be about competition level. There shouldn't be because he's done it in world tournaments over many years!

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 6:46 pm

Forgot one thing. I thought Dunham won that fight 29-28 pretty clearly; just my view. Was Patricia Moe-Jarman judging that fight!? Laughing