UFC 127

[edman5555]

Hmm I thought about that but I think there is a huge gap standing between them. I feel like Belfort can stop a decent amount of takedowns. He is a bb in bjj too so I doubt MB stops him on the ground, if Bisping wins its by decision. Thats 15 minutes for belfort to catch him on the feet.

[SPX]

All I'll say is that I hope Vitor's loss to Silva gets us a good line.

[MMA_scientist]

Had there been another round, Penn wouldn't make it out of it. If he passed his guard, I'd bet Penn scrambles up.

How do you agree with Dana anyway? He didn't say anything remotely similar to what you did.

Risk/Reward- that is what it means to try to finish... you actually have to take a chance that you might get tired/he might get up/you might lose position...

I was agreeing with this: "You've got to get in there and decisively beat people. You have to have fans clamoring for you to fight for the title." Fitch wins, but a lot of his fights have been close, and there is rarely a time when you are like "damn Fitch kicked that guy's ass." It is more, "Damn, Fitch controlled him until the bell rang."

[MMA_scientist]

Vitor will put a beating on Bisping. I doub't Bisping could take him down and hold him, and he sure as hell can't stand with him. Bisping is getting dropped in every fight now.

[zY|]

Risk/Reward- that is what it means to try to finish... you actually have to take a chance that you might get tired/he might get up/you might lose position...

I was agreeing with this: "You've got to get in there and decisively beat people. You have to have fans clamoring for you to fight for the title." Fitch wins, but a lot of his fights have been close, and there is rarely a time when you are like "damn Fitch kicked that guy's ass." It is more, "Damn, Fitch controlled him until the bell rang."

Damn, Fitch kicked Penn's ass.

Damn, Fitch kicked Alves' ass.

Damn, Fitch kicked Saunders' ass.

Damn, Fitch kicked Thiago's ass.

??

That's generally what I think at the end of his fights.

He's never going to be a dynamic finisher like someone like BJ Penn. It would be retarded for him to take a bunch of stupid risks to do things he's not good at in order to please a bunch of knuckle dragging mouthbreathers who don't have a goddamn clue about what they're watching to begin with. On top of that, it's ridiculously hard to finish elite level fighters in 15 minutes. All those guys I just named up there? I think he finishes all of them save Alves inside of 5 rounds. The rest were beaten, bloody, and broken at the end of the 3rd.

[MMA_scientist]

^ you're just talking nonsense. Last night you said Penn won the first 2 rounds. If we are calling draws an ass kicking, I guess we have different definitions.

He may not be a natural finisher like Penn, but he doesn't make much effort to finish. He fights a lot like Sonnen, he controls, he lands a lot of shots, but you just can't finish a guy very often on the ground unless you are willing to pass the guard. If you think passing the guard is a "stupid risk" then we are not going to agree here.

[zY|]

I did think that, but upon rewatch it's either 10-10 or Fitch. Still, he got a serious asskicking in the 3rd, which was my initial thought.

Sorry for the rant.

[SPX]

Sucks BJ couldn't keep him in the body triangle.

[Svino]

"You've got to get in there and decisively beat people. You have to have fans clamoring for you to fight for the title."

This is exactly the kind of BS that makes me agree with people who say MMA isn't a real sport.

[SPX]

This is exactly the kind of BS that makes me agree with people who say MMA isn't a real sport.

I think it depends on what you mean by "real sport."

The fact that the outcomes aren't predetermined and two competitors actually fight each other, in my view, makes it a sport. And a real one.

The criteria for who gets to challenge who to wear a gold belt is only one aspect of the whole thing.

I know a guy who says that any activity that has judging is not a sport, because the winners and losers are based on an inherently flawed, subjective human point of view.

[MMA_scientist]

I know a guy who says that any activity that has judging is not a sport, because the winners and losers are based on an inherently flawed, subjective human point of view.

This is the part that gives me trouble. Normally, I agree that winning in and of itself is enough. If you win, you advance... but the issue with MMA judging is it is SO subjective. While the judges might say a fighter won, we don't have to agree (and neither does Dana). Then add in the fact that the fights are only 3 rounds and just 1 close round can make a difference in a fight. Like Fitch-Penn, Penn took round 1, Fitch took round 3, and round 2 could have gone to either man. There are so many fights like that. So from that standpoint, I can understand requiring something a little more definitive from Fitch... especially given the fact that it is his second crack.

Even if his decisions were more one sided, I could see it. But he really hasn't threatened to finish any of the guys he has fought. I understand that it is hard to finish guys in the UFC. GSP has a few decisions too, but he was really close to stopping Fitch, Kos, and Hardy. And all of the fights were one sided beat downs.

[MMA_scientist]

side note, I now think Shields could beat Fitch.

[SPX]

Even if his decisions were more one sided, I could see it. But he really hasn't threatened to finish any of the guys he has fought. I understand that it is hard to finish guys in the UFC. GSP has a few decisions too, but he was really close to stopping Fitch, Kos, and Hardy. And all of the fights were one sided beat downs.

When Fitch says he "tries to finish" I wonder if he thinks that volume of strikes is what it's gonna take to finish someone. Because he certainly a LOT of strikes in round 3. But I do agree that he doesn't improve his position to what would usually be necessary to finish a high-level opponent.

[SPX]

I have been pretty interested in Dennis Siver since I first saw him, but now that I know he has both good takedown defense AND some submission skills, I really want to see where he's going to go from here.

[MMA_scientist]

I have been pretty interested in Dennis Siver since I first saw him, but now that I know he has both good takedown defense AND some submission skills, I really want to see where he's going to go from here.

Agree. I was skeptical of him, but his build helps him on takedown defense, and he is a purple belt in bjj. He looks like he plugged the holes in his game and he looks good. My only question is how will he adapt when he is losing the striking battle. Pearson beat him to the punch and he didn't switch it up, I wonder if he has any takedown skill. Either way, it is nice to see a striker at 155, because 155 doesn't have many of them.