Published on various sites, November 2010
Strikeforce went head to head against the UFC, and showed them how to put on a real card. Substance over style, minimal hype, and in the words of K-1 bad boy Badr Hari; REAL fight, REAL knockouts!
Strangely enough, the card has been met with mixed reaction. On the one hand, the crushing finishes that were provided in four of the five main card fights has led a certain section of the more cynical MMA fanbase to declare the card full of “mismatches”. The other chain of thought – the one I subscribe to – is simply that the card was booked for precisely these finishes, and it duly proved the superiority of substance over style.
Benji Radach was raped. Not literally; he wasn’t stripped and penetrated per se… but the fight resembled the act. Beyond a few desperate exchanges on the feet, he spent the majority of the fight on all fours while his opponent Ovince St Preux rained down shots to the side of his head. One was reminded of Mark Kerr vs Kazuyuki Fujita in the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix 2000. Turtle and survive style! In fairness to Radach, he came out for the third round swinging, but ultimately he was simply dominated for the majority of the fight.
Mike Kyle almost sprung the surprise of the evening with a tremendous first round against the top 10 ranked heavyweight, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Despite stepping in at short notice as an undersized underdog, the American came agonisingly close to finishing the huge Brazilian early in the fight. After dropping him with punches, Bigfoot scrambled and twisted desperately to avoid his pursuer, who kept throwing aside the flailing legs of Silva to land shots on the downed heavyweight. Silva managed to survive the ground’n'pound, and came out with a vengeance in the second round. After catching Kyle, he followed with what was truly scary G’n'P from such a massive man. Despite his better efforts, Kyle simply got caught too many times, and did not move after the justified stoppage. He was out.
The fight reflected well on both Kyle’s stature as a dangerous LHW, and on Bigfoot’s recuperative powers and ability to pound human faces into hamburger meat.
Matt Lindland may have been an Olympic Silver Medallist, but he has come unstuck against strikers before. Burned into recent memory is the grappler’s dramatic wipeout at Affliction, when he was “zulu’d” by the lightning fast hands of Vitor Belfort. Well, this short but sweet scrap with power punching “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler will evoke similar memories in time, as the Olympian was faceplanted by his opponent’s heavy hands. It may be time for the veteran to bow out; a serious decline seems imminent, and we’ve seen enough of those already. They’re never pretty.
Smart money at this point would have gone down on Lawler winning knockout of the night at a canter. Hell, stupid money, retarded money and their cousin, foreign money, would have been placed on Lawler at this point. So it took something special from Paul Daley to earn that mantle, and indeed, in doing so he lived up to his nickname and its explosive characteristics; Semtex.
Daley vs middleweight banger Scott Smith was always going to be a barnburner. The only questions really were a) how long would the fight last, and b) who would be throwing the knockout blow? The answers were as follows; not long, and Semtex.
Landing a left on the American, Daley skipped back as Smith lumbered forwards, and landed the most perfect check-hook I’ve ever seen in Mixed Martial Arts. Smith’s momentum carried him forwards, but the problem was that the punch had knocked him unconscious immediately on impact. So he faceplanted. BOOM!
Awesome stuff.
Next up for Daley will be a fight against KJ Noons (he hopes) which should guarantee some fistic fireworks, and of course if Noons declines, there is always Tyrone Woodley. One would think that Daley is potentially only one victory away from a dream title fight with Nick Diaz, which stylistically should be extremely interesting. Can Diaz’s legendary durability (as seen as recently as against Dream champ Zaromskis) hold up against an absolute BEAST at welterweight, with fantastic thai-boxing technique and explosive power? Or will Diaz be able to get the notoriously grappling-shy Daley to the ground, where he could finish the fight with his deep submission skills?
Time may tell.
And finally, the main-event. God Bless Strikeforce for not trying to feed it to us – hype machine style – as “the rematch we’ve all been waiting for, for 11 years!” And as such, as a good fight between two veterans and former champs in Pride & Rings (Hendo) and Strikeforce (Babalu), I was able to take it at face value and just enjoy the fight. And to many, it delivered, as Henderson caught Sobral who desperately dived for a single leg takedown. Sadly for him, Henderson’s positional control is excellent, and he emerged from the scramble in a dominant position with Babalu trapped with his head against the fence. Pushing his feet aside, Hendo landed a huge bomb flush on the face of his foe, and the fight was done. The following shots and quick intervention of the official were all immaterial; the result was academic.
A main card with FOUR dramatic finishes out of five. Not bad, say I.
The biggest irony that may yet emerge from this night, could be that the next person to get a title shot at the Light Heavyweight championship of Strikeforce, may be a loser from this card as opposed to a winner.
The crazy world of fightsports. It is what it is.
Fletch
Showing posts with label strikeforce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strikeforce. Show all posts
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Strikeforce St Louis II: Hungry Talent With Something To Prove
Published on various sites, November 2010
California's contribution to the MMA world have branched out to various parts of the United States. Cards in Chicago, Miami and more proved popular, and it is St Louis that shall host the Henderson vs Babalu II card; one that features talent that all have something to prove, both to themselves and to the fans.
The last time Strikeforce ventured away from the West Coast to St Louis, its heavyweight kingpin Alistair Overeem lived up to his nickname and DEMOLISHED his huge challenger, Brett "The Grim" Rogers. On this card it is not champions in the limelight, but the classic combination of former titlists wishing to return to glory, and younger contenders who've never tasted the forbidden fruit, in the process of trying to reach those heights.
The main event pits a two-weight Pride champion against a Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight title holder, when Dan Henderson meets Renato "Babalu" Sobral in an interesting rematch. Interesting was the backdrop of the first; the final of the 1999 King of Kings tournament in the RINGS promotion, which "Hollywood" Henderson won with a majority decision.
This bout too has implications; the winner earns the right to fight for the Strikeforce 205lbs championship belt, which Sobral lost to Gegard Mousasi back in 2009. Henderson last won honours in USMMA back in 1997 when he earned a questionable decision over welterweight Carlos Newton in the UFC 17 tournament final, and he must be hungry to add to his list of accomplishments. Sobral too fell out of the rankings with the crushing loss to Mousasi, and getting the title back around his waist will be a huge motivation for this high profile fight with an old foe.
Supporting at the top end of the card will be power punching Robbie Lawler taking on perennial middleweight contender Matt Lindland, the Olympic Silver Medallist. Lawler is fresh from losing to Babalu in a catchweight fight, after knocking out Melvin Manhoef (for which I will never forgive him) in a bout in which he was utterly dominated and dissected until the surprise blow landed on Manhoef's oft-embattled jaw; removing my favourite thai-boxer from his consciousness in the process (thanks Robbie... grrr). However the fight went down, its climax served as an emphatic reminder of his power - such men are dangerous until the final bell. Lindland though is a different animal; if the "Ruthless" one cannot land his trademark power right, he is in danger of being grapple-f*cked and pounded out. Though talented, Lawler has a history of losing to chokes, though only to extremely capable grapplers such as Jake Shields, Evan Tanner and Jason "Mayhem" Miller. However, Lindland has been caught and knocked cold before, as recently as at Affliction: Day of Reckoning when Vitor Belfort turned his lights off. As such, this fight is intriguing as the classic "striker vs grappler" match.
Two more strikers are pitted against each other on the main card, this time at welterweight. England's Paul "Semtex" Daley meets durable American, Scott Smith from Sacramento (at least, fighting OUT of. I just like the alliteration of that sentence). Smith loves fighting in zombie mode, walking through punishment to kill, and Semtex is certainly capable of putting him exactly in that zone. The Nottingham based Muay Thai specialist may have the takedown defence of a girl (sorry mate) but he is an absolute beast on his feet, and with the distinction of fighting out of Mike's Gym in Amsterdam (along with K-1 legends Badr Hari and Melvin Manhoef) along with the Rough House camp; UK based, but internationally recognised and respected. This is a potential Fight of the Night on ANY card going, and if I were to deviate from professionalism and neutrality and all that pesky journalistic bollocks, I'd pick my fellow Englishman to win in an absolute barn-burner.
The unfortunate Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva was scheduled to duel Valentijn Overeem (mixed record, but a win over Randy Couture) until the Dutchman pulled out. Todd Duffee was reportedly offered the gig at short notice, but he declined. Mike Kyle has agreed to step in.
Bigfoot's luck is not in. First he was suspended for testing positive for supplements he was taking in accordance with the treatment of his acromegaly, or "gigantism".... then two orgs whose titles he held, in Elite XC and Cage Rage, both collapsed in the Pro Elite scandals... then he lost a questionable decision to Fabricio Werdum, who went on to get a shot at Fedor and won! Finally, his opponent pulls out of a main-card fight, and Bigfoot is once more unable to do anything to further advance his career and rankings. Poor lad. Keep going, Silva!
Starting the main card will be Benji Radach, and Ovince St Preux.
All the fighters on the main card have something to prove. After losing to Jake Shields down at middleweight, have Dan Henderson's title chasing days officially over, or does he have one last title run left in him? Or is Babalu destined to reclaim the title he was so demoralisingly deprived of by the mercurial Mr Mousasi? How about Paul Daley; is Strikeforce and a showdown with Diaz for the strap his road to redemption, or will Scott Smith wreck his plans and put his own name back in the hat? Will this win move Antonio Silva any closer to the big fight he has craved since 2008, or will his career be derailed by the latecomer to the St Louis party in Kyle? And will Lindland move any closer to what must surely be one final shot at the big one, or will another power puncher put his lights out as Vitor did in Affliction, and condemn him to forever be known primarily for his Olympic accomplishments rather than an MMA championship?
Many questions, all of which will be answered on Saturday night; early hours of Sunday morning for us folk in Great Britain.
The officially announced card is as follows:
Dan Henderson vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral
Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Lindland
Antonio Silva vs. Mike Kyle
Paul Daley vs. Scott Smith
Benji Radach vs. Ovince St. Preux
Fernando Bettega vs. Wayne Phillips
Max Martyniouk vs. Justin Lawrence
Patrick Durkin Cummins vs. Terrell Brown
California's contribution to the MMA world have branched out to various parts of the United States. Cards in Chicago, Miami and more proved popular, and it is St Louis that shall host the Henderson vs Babalu II card; one that features talent that all have something to prove, both to themselves and to the fans.
The last time Strikeforce ventured away from the West Coast to St Louis, its heavyweight kingpin Alistair Overeem lived up to his nickname and DEMOLISHED his huge challenger, Brett "The Grim" Rogers. On this card it is not champions in the limelight, but the classic combination of former titlists wishing to return to glory, and younger contenders who've never tasted the forbidden fruit, in the process of trying to reach those heights.
The main event pits a two-weight Pride champion against a Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight title holder, when Dan Henderson meets Renato "Babalu" Sobral in an interesting rematch. Interesting was the backdrop of the first; the final of the 1999 King of Kings tournament in the RINGS promotion, which "Hollywood" Henderson won with a majority decision.
This bout too has implications; the winner earns the right to fight for the Strikeforce 205lbs championship belt, which Sobral lost to Gegard Mousasi back in 2009. Henderson last won honours in USMMA back in 1997 when he earned a questionable decision over welterweight Carlos Newton in the UFC 17 tournament final, and he must be hungry to add to his list of accomplishments. Sobral too fell out of the rankings with the crushing loss to Mousasi, and getting the title back around his waist will be a huge motivation for this high profile fight with an old foe.
Supporting at the top end of the card will be power punching Robbie Lawler taking on perennial middleweight contender Matt Lindland, the Olympic Silver Medallist. Lawler is fresh from losing to Babalu in a catchweight fight, after knocking out Melvin Manhoef (for which I will never forgive him) in a bout in which he was utterly dominated and dissected until the surprise blow landed on Manhoef's oft-embattled jaw; removing my favourite thai-boxer from his consciousness in the process (thanks Robbie... grrr). However the fight went down, its climax served as an emphatic reminder of his power - such men are dangerous until the final bell. Lindland though is a different animal; if the "Ruthless" one cannot land his trademark power right, he is in danger of being grapple-f*cked and pounded out. Though talented, Lawler has a history of losing to chokes, though only to extremely capable grapplers such as Jake Shields, Evan Tanner and Jason "Mayhem" Miller. However, Lindland has been caught and knocked cold before, as recently as at Affliction: Day of Reckoning when Vitor Belfort turned his lights off. As such, this fight is intriguing as the classic "striker vs grappler" match.
Two more strikers are pitted against each other on the main card, this time at welterweight. England's Paul "Semtex" Daley meets durable American, Scott Smith from Sacramento (at least, fighting OUT of. I just like the alliteration of that sentence). Smith loves fighting in zombie mode, walking through punishment to kill, and Semtex is certainly capable of putting him exactly in that zone. The Nottingham based Muay Thai specialist may have the takedown defence of a girl (sorry mate) but he is an absolute beast on his feet, and with the distinction of fighting out of Mike's Gym in Amsterdam (along with K-1 legends Badr Hari and Melvin Manhoef) along with the Rough House camp; UK based, but internationally recognised and respected. This is a potential Fight of the Night on ANY card going, and if I were to deviate from professionalism and neutrality and all that pesky journalistic bollocks, I'd pick my fellow Englishman to win in an absolute barn-burner.
The unfortunate Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva was scheduled to duel Valentijn Overeem (mixed record, but a win over Randy Couture) until the Dutchman pulled out. Todd Duffee was reportedly offered the gig at short notice, but he declined. Mike Kyle has agreed to step in.
Bigfoot's luck is not in. First he was suspended for testing positive for supplements he was taking in accordance with the treatment of his acromegaly, or "gigantism".... then two orgs whose titles he held, in Elite XC and Cage Rage, both collapsed in the Pro Elite scandals... then he lost a questionable decision to Fabricio Werdum, who went on to get a shot at Fedor and won! Finally, his opponent pulls out of a main-card fight, and Bigfoot is once more unable to do anything to further advance his career and rankings. Poor lad. Keep going, Silva!
Starting the main card will be Benji Radach, and Ovince St Preux.
All the fighters on the main card have something to prove. After losing to Jake Shields down at middleweight, have Dan Henderson's title chasing days officially over, or does he have one last title run left in him? Or is Babalu destined to reclaim the title he was so demoralisingly deprived of by the mercurial Mr Mousasi? How about Paul Daley; is Strikeforce and a showdown with Diaz for the strap his road to redemption, or will Scott Smith wreck his plans and put his own name back in the hat? Will this win move Antonio Silva any closer to the big fight he has craved since 2008, or will his career be derailed by the latecomer to the St Louis party in Kyle? And will Lindland move any closer to what must surely be one final shot at the big one, or will another power puncher put his lights out as Vitor did in Affliction, and condemn him to forever be known primarily for his Olympic accomplishments rather than an MMA championship?
Many questions, all of which will be answered on Saturday night; early hours of Sunday morning for us folk in Great Britain.
The officially announced card is as follows:
Dan Henderson vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral
Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Lindland
Antonio Silva vs. Mike Kyle
Paul Daley vs. Scott Smith
Benji Radach vs. Ovince St. Preux
Fernando Bettega vs. Wayne Phillips
Max Martyniouk vs. Justin Lawrence
Patrick Durkin Cummins vs. Terrell Brown
Friday, 3 September 2010
Fedor, The Ultimate FaceThePain Championship and "The New Breed of Heavyweight"
Published on www.lowkick.com, by Daniel Fletcher: http://www.lowkick.com/UFC/Fletch-Blog-Fedor-The-Ultimate-FaceThePain-Championship-and-the-New-Breed-of-Heavyweights-9754
Fletch Blog: Fedor, The Ultimate FaceThePain Championship and "The New Breed of Heavyweight"…
Good morning, sports fans. Open your knees and feel the breeze, sit back and smoke your pipe, cos I’m here to attack the propaganda with Team Takeover at my back, tweaking the nipples of the MMA world…
It seems only fitting that in my first lyrical rampage at lowkick – bastion of MMA news and features – I should start with the Great One. The big cheese, the dog’s bollocks, the crème de la crème of the sport. Yes, I am referring to a pudgy, prematurely bald Russian man. Why waste article uno on some snivelling mediocrity? Why be content with anything less than the best? Better than all the rest? Better than anyone? Anyone I’ve ever met…
*Tina Turner need not apply for royalties. I’m penniless, sweetheart…*
OK, the introductions are made, the pipe is laden with Drum tobacco, so let the festivities begin. This is the point where the posters of Axis-dog, mma-stinker and all the other Mixed Martial Arts cesspools of stupidity need to remain silent, while the adults speak. Because the subject I plan to spit my prose all lyrical like upon, is the very subject that these thousands of dribbling fucking infants have been whining over across every large MMA forum for the past two years: Fedor and the UFC.
Yes, Fedor, his legacy, and the looming, sinister presence of the Ultimate FaceThePain Championship – our beloved Yankee doodle organisation that supposedly has the best interests of the sport’s worldwide growth in mind, with every event, every press release and every new conquest… yet, despite their well-being and benevolence for all things MMA, they (for some strange reason) make it their modus operandi to downgrade and attack the legacy of the finest professional fighter to ever lace up the gloves in mixed grappling and striking combat; Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko.
And that is criminal.
UFC President and The Baldfather, Dana White, continually makes ludicrous claims that Fedor is NOT p4p material, nor is he a top 5 heavyweight. Worse, he mindlessly spat out this misinformation PRIOR to Fedor’s first ever loss, after a decade of dominance! When his own “top heavyweights” have not faced each other to prove their greatness, and nor have they beaten dangerous fighters that by consensus are sufficiently skilled enough to make a legitimate challenge to Fedor, yet they STILL make absurd public statements downplaying Fedor, the UFC and Dana come off like jealous, jilted lovers. It is sad that the President of the world’s (sadly) largest MMA organisation is such an immature man, that in the interests of public relations and UFC propaganda, he will not only insult Fedor personally on ESPN radio, but will also happily tarnish the career and legacy of this sport’s best fighter…
Sadder still, my friends; there are tens of thousands of fucking idiots who happily ingest and swallow all this misinformation, then spread it like truth. It’s like a retard-friendly game of Chinese whispers.
Allow me, dear reader, to review the logic and context of the claim – made by Zuffa LLC, and duly repeated by an entire generation of brainwashed American idiots who “train UFC” – the claim that Fedor Emelianenko, the man who imperiously stood atop the heavyweight mountain for seven long years… is “ducking” the UFC.
(ps – if you have EVER even suggested that this claim is feasible, fuck your life…)
Lets take a look at Fedor’s career, where he is now, and what exactly it is that he is “ducking” compared to the men he has already fought, could potentially fight, and will definitely wage war against in the cage.
Pride Fighting Championships are considered by many to be the very pinnacle of Mixed Martial Arts (read my history of the org at http://teamtakeover.forum-express.com/mma-f1/pride-fc-in-remembrance-of-the-finest-org-1997-2007-t180.htm) Emelianenko entered the Japanese promotion after a successful introduction to MMA with Rings, as an undersized heavyweight but with a lethal combination of outstanding throws and clinch, dangerous hands and a tremendous overall submission game. He duly triumphed over the future GOAT of K-1, Semmy “High Tower” Schilt; the most lethal lanky striker to live. If only Pride knew at the time they were essentially promoting a fight between the #1 All Time Greats of two different combat sports…
Soon into his Pride career, he earned a Heavyweight title shot against the consensus Second Greatest Of All Time: Rodrigo Nogueira. Nog is a Brazilian man who not only boasts a wealth of BJJ and submission grappling wizardry, he is a man who survived having a truck run over his chest as a kid, to become a Vale Tudo world heavyweight champion. That makes Nogueira tougher than Dan Quinn believes HIMSELF to be!
Fedor spent most of the fight either throwing Nog like a rag doll, pounding his face into the mat, or even Ground’n’Pounding him from within Nogueira’s guard. At the time, it was hands down THE most dangerous guard in the sport. That is what Fedor achieved, to become the Pride HW champion. No one would ever claim that title again.
Fedor defeated Nogueira again. He blew through a procession of former and future champions, from a variety of orgs. He took on and defeated K1 World Grand Prix champions, and ADCC submission grappling masters, Olympic Gold Medallist judoka’s and MMA champions of Pride and the UFC. He beat the other feared heavyweight Pride had to offer, the former K-1 terminator who ran the gauntlet of fire just to earn his Superfight with Fedor; Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic, the deadliest striker as yet seen in the sport. Fedor beat him in his own domain; out-striking him, forcing him onto the backfoot, and controlling the pace of the fight.
Fedor, quite simply, could not be touched.
I could be pedantic, and run through the rest of Fedor’s Pride career, but we all know it by heart; thanks to the dribbling, socially incapable retards on sherdog… excuse me, Axis-dog forums, who posted their “expert analysis” of that career across the forums, explaining to each and every one of us exactly why each and every single win of Fedor’s was “overrated”.
*Fedor defeating Nogueira twice = overrated.
*Fedor beating Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic = overrated.
*Fedor having more top 10 wins than anyone else in history = overrated
*Fedor blowing through every top contender in Pride, Rings and Affliction = overrated
*Fedor being 7-0 (currently) against UFC champions = overrated.
*Fedor having defeated UFC champions, Olympians, Pride champs, K-1 champions, Grand Prix winners in both K-1 and MMA (Pride), ADCC champs, Rings champs, top 10 opponents and badass motherfuckers alike = vastly, vastly overrated.
Fedor beating:
*#1 ranked Nogueira
*#2 ranked Nogueira
*#3 ranked Herring
*#3 ranked CroCop
*#7 ranked Schilt
*#2 ranked Arlovski
*#4 ranked Sylvia
*#7 ranked Coleman
*#6 ranked Hunt
*#7 ranked Randleman
*#7 ranked Rogers
Because we all know – Fedor is scared of the post-2008 UFC “New Breed of Heavyweight!!” It’s a fact, sons! He's ducking them all! Lesnar, Duffee, all of them. Fedor has never faced anyone quite like them!
Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, Frank Mir, Todd Duffee, Junior Dos Santos, and Cain Velasquez are the names that were thrown at each and every fan that – obviously, in their right mind – happened to support the Greatest of all Time. But hold on… tell me, these are the guys that happened to usurp the top dogs of the UFC circa 2009, yes? Well, when Fedor was first accused of avoiding the UFC after the demise of Pride (mid 2007) the three top heavyweights were Tim Sylvia (champion), Randy Couture (who then beat Tim), and Andrei Arlovski (had been champion previously).
Fedor faced TWO of that three – Sylvia and Arlovski – and – as ever, vastly undersized – he destroyed them both in a combined 3 minutes and 50 seconds. He signed to fight the third (Couture) but the fight was cancelled, due to Randy resigning with the UFC.
Ducking? The elites of the UFC are what Fedor fears? The men at the top when Pride collapsed and Fedor was left without a home, are precisely the men who LEFT the UFC willingly to prove themselves against HIM, the men whom he respectively choked into submission, and scud missiled into unconsciousness in a matter of minutes…
So, that takes care of 2007 and 2008. Roll on 2009, and lo and behold, UFC fanboys have found more reasons to ooze slime. Step aside, UFC elite and Fedor victims, because the New Breed are coming through. But are they really anything special that Fedor has not faced before? Fedor, the man who beat K-1 guys on the feet, BJJ world champions from within their own guard… he should fear the NEW BREED?
Prior to the PR fiasco that even Dr Josef Goebbels could not pretend was a fight between the world’s best heavyweights – Carwin vs. Lesnar – none of the New Breed had even fought each other! None had barely any top 10 wins between them! Brock was 4-1 win/loss, with his two shining triumphs being a 45yr old current light heavyweight, and a Frank Mir who last wore UFC gold proper in 2004. Carwin had more fights, but was little better; his best wins leading up to Brock were a Gonzaga whose stock is falling fast, and the aforementioned Mir.
As for Carwin vs. Brock itself, don’t make me laugh. Round 1 saw the sad spectacle of Brock turning and running from his opponent’s punches, cowering into a ball and praying that the referee would not stop the fight (he IS a cash cow, after all…) until Carwin prematurely gassed, and Brock managed to secure a submission on him in round 2 that resembled my 14yr old brother submitting a giant, inanimate teddy bear. Only the teddy would have been more of a challenge to secure a hold on, probably…
Best heavyweights in the world? UFC champion vs. UFC “interim heavyweight champion”? (Don’t get me started on THAT can of worms…
Yes… clearly, Fedor Emelianenko – with his pinpoint accuracy striking and knockout power, his great throws, top-notch submission game, indomitable will and ceaseless endurance, is ducking the top 2 fighters of the UFC – Shane and Brock.
Only now of course, there is no “interim champ” in Shane. So now there is, theoretically, a NEW second best HW in the UFC. Great. That basically means now that the old guard is discredited, their weaknesses and flaws highlighted, there is a NEW guy that Fedor is obviously ducking! Now it’s Cain! Now, while Cain is superior to the rest of the “new breed”, he is hardly a monster. “Pillow hands” is one criticism he is stuck with… and I fail to see in what area of fighting he is superior to not only Fedor, but to the hulking Alistair Overeem; Strikeforce champion, and the REAL new breed of heavyweight to my mind. 6’5 of solid muscle, speed and strength, not to mention K-1 striking and ADCC level grappling. THAT is new breed.
Nogueira and “CroCop” being picked up by the hungry, greedy animal that is UFC was the worst thing to happen to Fedor’s career. After both men – far past their primes, both – were cannibalised by younger fighters who’d never fought under the glare of the Rising Sun – both Zuffa and the zuffa zombies a.k.a the dribbling, stupid New Age forum fanboys, were able to discredit Fedor’s consensus biggest wins. But lets think in terms of context:
Is Nogueira, after such a punishing career, even 50% of the fighter he was from 2002-2006?
Is CroCop, after an even more punishing fighting life consisting of over 100 matches in K-1, amateur boxing and MMA, even 70% of what he was in 2003? Mirko is a striker; his reflexes, as with anyone else’s, dull over time.
I can safely say; both men in their primes were a hell of a lot more impressive – and well rounded – than Brock Lesnar, and Shane Carwin.
Because from what Brock/Shane taught me, the UFC term “New Breed of Heavyweight” is codeword for “huge wrestlers with no cardio”. And to me, that’s not new breed – we had Mark Kerr in 1997.
Only Kerr also had success in ADCC too. He had legit submission skills.
I’ll take a BJJ wizard with great boxing (Nogueira) and a K-1 killing machine with exceptional takedown defence, reflexes and sprawls (Mirko) any day of the week, over this fantastic, mythical new breed of heavyweight that the Zuffa UFC hype machine blathers on about… absolutely pathetic, transparent garbage, and it’s a fucking tragedy that so many morons fall for it. I’d take prime Nogueira with his insane skillset, and prime Filipovic, Pride’s Croatian Sensation, any day of the week.
I’d also prefer to have those names (circa 2002-2006) on my resume, in my wins column.
Lets look at some more fun facts; for all the New Breed propaganda, does the Ultimate FaceThePain Championship even have the best selection of heavyweights out there? Let’s compare the current UFC heavyweight roster to Strikeforce, the org that the dastardly UFC-ducking-coward Fedor actually signed to…
UFC:
Lesnar – huge wrestler, has proved to be vulnerable both to punches and submissions.
Carwin – huge wrestler, immense KO power, but slow and zero cardio.
Mir – hugely talented BJJ artist, not the sturdiest chin, far inferior overall to Fedor
Duffee – huge, unproven, could not finish Mike Russow before being KO’d
JDS – great striker (not quite prime CroCop, though) not proven on the ground
Cain – best of the bunch so far. Personally, I doubt he could KO or decision Fedor though…
Strikeforce:
Fedor
Overeem – the REAL new breed; 6’5, 250+lbs of K-1 striking, ADCC level grappling
Werdum – exceptional BJJ, most dangerous heavyweight submission artist fulltime in MMA
Silva – huge, talented striker, good grappling, well rounded
Rogers – the least well rounded of the bunch, but huge KO power, decent brawler
Kharitonov – completely well rounded; great chin, tremendous boxing, excellent throws, good submission game.
Barnett – one of the deepest HW resumes in history; great catch/submission wrestler
Arlovski – went 3-0 in UFC before leaving to face Fedor – went 0-3 afterwards
Gracie – if he stays in MMA full time, we will be treated to the current king of BJJ
So you decide. Did Fedor REALLY duck “top competition” when he chose to decline the dictator’s UFC contract, and sign with Strikeforce?
In my opinion – and that’s all it is – he chose to add a huge weight to the swollen ranks of the best heavyweight roster in Mixed Martial Arts right now.
Wow, this ended up being a fact-laden voyage. Perhaps if I slow down my typing, next time…
In closing, compadrés, I bid you adieu. This feature is solely the opinions of myself, and – I’m pretty sure – those of the guys at my forum! But don’t take the word of anyone professing to be an MMA writer as gospel; not Helwani, not those shit arse clowns at Axis-dog such as Rossen, Rios and the girls, not anyone here… hell, don’t even believe me.
Just do the research, and make up your own minds.
This article is dedicated to Team Takeover, and to the Greatest Professional Fighter in the short history of Mixed Martial Arts… Fedor Emelianenko.
Teamtakeover.forum-express.com – join some REAL fans, in legit debate about MMA without all the useless human waste that you find at the large, shithole forums like Axis-dog and mma-stinker.
The one who doesn’t fall, doesn’t stand up.
It’s been emotional.
Fletch.
Fletch Blog: Fedor, The Ultimate FaceThePain Championship and "The New Breed of Heavyweight"…
Good morning, sports fans. Open your knees and feel the breeze, sit back and smoke your pipe, cos I’m here to attack the propaganda with Team Takeover at my back, tweaking the nipples of the MMA world…
It seems only fitting that in my first lyrical rampage at lowkick – bastion of MMA news and features – I should start with the Great One. The big cheese, the dog’s bollocks, the crème de la crème of the sport. Yes, I am referring to a pudgy, prematurely bald Russian man. Why waste article uno on some snivelling mediocrity? Why be content with anything less than the best? Better than all the rest? Better than anyone? Anyone I’ve ever met…
*Tina Turner need not apply for royalties. I’m penniless, sweetheart…*
OK, the introductions are made, the pipe is laden with Drum tobacco, so let the festivities begin. This is the point where the posters of Axis-dog, mma-stinker and all the other Mixed Martial Arts cesspools of stupidity need to remain silent, while the adults speak. Because the subject I plan to spit my prose all lyrical like upon, is the very subject that these thousands of dribbling fucking infants have been whining over across every large MMA forum for the past two years: Fedor and the UFC.
Yes, Fedor, his legacy, and the looming, sinister presence of the Ultimate FaceThePain Championship – our beloved Yankee doodle organisation that supposedly has the best interests of the sport’s worldwide growth in mind, with every event, every press release and every new conquest… yet, despite their well-being and benevolence for all things MMA, they (for some strange reason) make it their modus operandi to downgrade and attack the legacy of the finest professional fighter to ever lace up the gloves in mixed grappling and striking combat; Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko.
And that is criminal.
UFC President and The Baldfather, Dana White, continually makes ludicrous claims that Fedor is NOT p4p material, nor is he a top 5 heavyweight. Worse, he mindlessly spat out this misinformation PRIOR to Fedor’s first ever loss, after a decade of dominance! When his own “top heavyweights” have not faced each other to prove their greatness, and nor have they beaten dangerous fighters that by consensus are sufficiently skilled enough to make a legitimate challenge to Fedor, yet they STILL make absurd public statements downplaying Fedor, the UFC and Dana come off like jealous, jilted lovers. It is sad that the President of the world’s (sadly) largest MMA organisation is such an immature man, that in the interests of public relations and UFC propaganda, he will not only insult Fedor personally on ESPN radio, but will also happily tarnish the career and legacy of this sport’s best fighter…
Sadder still, my friends; there are tens of thousands of fucking idiots who happily ingest and swallow all this misinformation, then spread it like truth. It’s like a retard-friendly game of Chinese whispers.
Allow me, dear reader, to review the logic and context of the claim – made by Zuffa LLC, and duly repeated by an entire generation of brainwashed American idiots who “train UFC” – the claim that Fedor Emelianenko, the man who imperiously stood atop the heavyweight mountain for seven long years… is “ducking” the UFC.
(ps – if you have EVER even suggested that this claim is feasible, fuck your life…)
Lets take a look at Fedor’s career, where he is now, and what exactly it is that he is “ducking” compared to the men he has already fought, could potentially fight, and will definitely wage war against in the cage.
Pride Fighting Championships are considered by many to be the very pinnacle of Mixed Martial Arts (read my history of the org at http://teamtakeover.forum-express.com/mma-f1/pride-fc-in-remembrance-of-the-finest-org-1997-2007-t180.htm) Emelianenko entered the Japanese promotion after a successful introduction to MMA with Rings, as an undersized heavyweight but with a lethal combination of outstanding throws and clinch, dangerous hands and a tremendous overall submission game. He duly triumphed over the future GOAT of K-1, Semmy “High Tower” Schilt; the most lethal lanky striker to live. If only Pride knew at the time they were essentially promoting a fight between the #1 All Time Greats of two different combat sports…
Soon into his Pride career, he earned a Heavyweight title shot against the consensus Second Greatest Of All Time: Rodrigo Nogueira. Nog is a Brazilian man who not only boasts a wealth of BJJ and submission grappling wizardry, he is a man who survived having a truck run over his chest as a kid, to become a Vale Tudo world heavyweight champion. That makes Nogueira tougher than Dan Quinn believes HIMSELF to be!
Fedor spent most of the fight either throwing Nog like a rag doll, pounding his face into the mat, or even Ground’n’Pounding him from within Nogueira’s guard. At the time, it was hands down THE most dangerous guard in the sport. That is what Fedor achieved, to become the Pride HW champion. No one would ever claim that title again.
Fedor defeated Nogueira again. He blew through a procession of former and future champions, from a variety of orgs. He took on and defeated K1 World Grand Prix champions, and ADCC submission grappling masters, Olympic Gold Medallist judoka’s and MMA champions of Pride and the UFC. He beat the other feared heavyweight Pride had to offer, the former K-1 terminator who ran the gauntlet of fire just to earn his Superfight with Fedor; Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic, the deadliest striker as yet seen in the sport. Fedor beat him in his own domain; out-striking him, forcing him onto the backfoot, and controlling the pace of the fight.
Fedor, quite simply, could not be touched.
I could be pedantic, and run through the rest of Fedor’s Pride career, but we all know it by heart; thanks to the dribbling, socially incapable retards on sherdog… excuse me, Axis-dog forums, who posted their “expert analysis” of that career across the forums, explaining to each and every one of us exactly why each and every single win of Fedor’s was “overrated”.
*Fedor defeating Nogueira twice = overrated.
*Fedor beating Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic = overrated.
*Fedor having more top 10 wins than anyone else in history = overrated
*Fedor blowing through every top contender in Pride, Rings and Affliction = overrated
*Fedor being 7-0 (currently) against UFC champions = overrated.
*Fedor having defeated UFC champions, Olympians, Pride champs, K-1 champions, Grand Prix winners in both K-1 and MMA (Pride), ADCC champs, Rings champs, top 10 opponents and badass motherfuckers alike = vastly, vastly overrated.
Fedor beating:
*#1 ranked Nogueira
*#2 ranked Nogueira
*#3 ranked Herring
*#3 ranked CroCop
*#7 ranked Schilt
*#2 ranked Arlovski
*#4 ranked Sylvia
*#7 ranked Coleman
*#6 ranked Hunt
*#7 ranked Randleman
*#7 ranked Rogers
Because we all know – Fedor is scared of the post-2008 UFC “New Breed of Heavyweight!!” It’s a fact, sons! He's ducking them all! Lesnar, Duffee, all of them. Fedor has never faced anyone quite like them!
Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, Frank Mir, Todd Duffee, Junior Dos Santos, and Cain Velasquez are the names that were thrown at each and every fan that – obviously, in their right mind – happened to support the Greatest of all Time. But hold on… tell me, these are the guys that happened to usurp the top dogs of the UFC circa 2009, yes? Well, when Fedor was first accused of avoiding the UFC after the demise of Pride (mid 2007) the three top heavyweights were Tim Sylvia (champion), Randy Couture (who then beat Tim), and Andrei Arlovski (had been champion previously).
Fedor faced TWO of that three – Sylvia and Arlovski – and – as ever, vastly undersized – he destroyed them both in a combined 3 minutes and 50 seconds. He signed to fight the third (Couture) but the fight was cancelled, due to Randy resigning with the UFC.
Ducking? The elites of the UFC are what Fedor fears? The men at the top when Pride collapsed and Fedor was left without a home, are precisely the men who LEFT the UFC willingly to prove themselves against HIM, the men whom he respectively choked into submission, and scud missiled into unconsciousness in a matter of minutes…
So, that takes care of 2007 and 2008. Roll on 2009, and lo and behold, UFC fanboys have found more reasons to ooze slime. Step aside, UFC elite and Fedor victims, because the New Breed are coming through. But are they really anything special that Fedor has not faced before? Fedor, the man who beat K-1 guys on the feet, BJJ world champions from within their own guard… he should fear the NEW BREED?
Prior to the PR fiasco that even Dr Josef Goebbels could not pretend was a fight between the world’s best heavyweights – Carwin vs. Lesnar – none of the New Breed had even fought each other! None had barely any top 10 wins between them! Brock was 4-1 win/loss, with his two shining triumphs being a 45yr old current light heavyweight, and a Frank Mir who last wore UFC gold proper in 2004. Carwin had more fights, but was little better; his best wins leading up to Brock were a Gonzaga whose stock is falling fast, and the aforementioned Mir.
As for Carwin vs. Brock itself, don’t make me laugh. Round 1 saw the sad spectacle of Brock turning and running from his opponent’s punches, cowering into a ball and praying that the referee would not stop the fight (he IS a cash cow, after all…) until Carwin prematurely gassed, and Brock managed to secure a submission on him in round 2 that resembled my 14yr old brother submitting a giant, inanimate teddy bear. Only the teddy would have been more of a challenge to secure a hold on, probably…
Best heavyweights in the world? UFC champion vs. UFC “interim heavyweight champion”? (Don’t get me started on THAT can of worms…
Yes… clearly, Fedor Emelianenko – with his pinpoint accuracy striking and knockout power, his great throws, top-notch submission game, indomitable will and ceaseless endurance, is ducking the top 2 fighters of the UFC – Shane and Brock.
Only now of course, there is no “interim champ” in Shane. So now there is, theoretically, a NEW second best HW in the UFC. Great. That basically means now that the old guard is discredited, their weaknesses and flaws highlighted, there is a NEW guy that Fedor is obviously ducking! Now it’s Cain! Now, while Cain is superior to the rest of the “new breed”, he is hardly a monster. “Pillow hands” is one criticism he is stuck with… and I fail to see in what area of fighting he is superior to not only Fedor, but to the hulking Alistair Overeem; Strikeforce champion, and the REAL new breed of heavyweight to my mind. 6’5 of solid muscle, speed and strength, not to mention K-1 striking and ADCC level grappling. THAT is new breed.
Nogueira and “CroCop” being picked up by the hungry, greedy animal that is UFC was the worst thing to happen to Fedor’s career. After both men – far past their primes, both – were cannibalised by younger fighters who’d never fought under the glare of the Rising Sun – both Zuffa and the zuffa zombies a.k.a the dribbling, stupid New Age forum fanboys, were able to discredit Fedor’s consensus biggest wins. But lets think in terms of context:
Is Nogueira, after such a punishing career, even 50% of the fighter he was from 2002-2006?
Is CroCop, after an even more punishing fighting life consisting of over 100 matches in K-1, amateur boxing and MMA, even 70% of what he was in 2003? Mirko is a striker; his reflexes, as with anyone else’s, dull over time.
I can safely say; both men in their primes were a hell of a lot more impressive – and well rounded – than Brock Lesnar, and Shane Carwin.
Because from what Brock/Shane taught me, the UFC term “New Breed of Heavyweight” is codeword for “huge wrestlers with no cardio”. And to me, that’s not new breed – we had Mark Kerr in 1997.
Only Kerr also had success in ADCC too. He had legit submission skills.
I’ll take a BJJ wizard with great boxing (Nogueira) and a K-1 killing machine with exceptional takedown defence, reflexes and sprawls (Mirko) any day of the week, over this fantastic, mythical new breed of heavyweight that the Zuffa UFC hype machine blathers on about… absolutely pathetic, transparent garbage, and it’s a fucking tragedy that so many morons fall for it. I’d take prime Nogueira with his insane skillset, and prime Filipovic, Pride’s Croatian Sensation, any day of the week.
I’d also prefer to have those names (circa 2002-2006) on my resume, in my wins column.
Lets look at some more fun facts; for all the New Breed propaganda, does the Ultimate FaceThePain Championship even have the best selection of heavyweights out there? Let’s compare the current UFC heavyweight roster to Strikeforce, the org that the dastardly UFC-ducking-coward Fedor actually signed to…
UFC:
Lesnar – huge wrestler, has proved to be vulnerable both to punches and submissions.
Carwin – huge wrestler, immense KO power, but slow and zero cardio.
Mir – hugely talented BJJ artist, not the sturdiest chin, far inferior overall to Fedor
Duffee – huge, unproven, could not finish Mike Russow before being KO’d
JDS – great striker (not quite prime CroCop, though) not proven on the ground
Cain – best of the bunch so far. Personally, I doubt he could KO or decision Fedor though…
Strikeforce:
Fedor
Overeem – the REAL new breed; 6’5, 250+lbs of K-1 striking, ADCC level grappling
Werdum – exceptional BJJ, most dangerous heavyweight submission artist fulltime in MMA
Silva – huge, talented striker, good grappling, well rounded
Rogers – the least well rounded of the bunch, but huge KO power, decent brawler
Kharitonov – completely well rounded; great chin, tremendous boxing, excellent throws, good submission game.
Barnett – one of the deepest HW resumes in history; great catch/submission wrestler
Arlovski – went 3-0 in UFC before leaving to face Fedor – went 0-3 afterwards
Gracie – if he stays in MMA full time, we will be treated to the current king of BJJ
So you decide. Did Fedor REALLY duck “top competition” when he chose to decline the dictator’s UFC contract, and sign with Strikeforce?
In my opinion – and that’s all it is – he chose to add a huge weight to the swollen ranks of the best heavyweight roster in Mixed Martial Arts right now.
Wow, this ended up being a fact-laden voyage. Perhaps if I slow down my typing, next time…
In closing, compadrés, I bid you adieu. This feature is solely the opinions of myself, and – I’m pretty sure – those of the guys at my forum! But don’t take the word of anyone professing to be an MMA writer as gospel; not Helwani, not those shit arse clowns at Axis-dog such as Rossen, Rios and the girls, not anyone here… hell, don’t even believe me.
Just do the research, and make up your own minds.
This article is dedicated to Team Takeover, and to the Greatest Professional Fighter in the short history of Mixed Martial Arts… Fedor Emelianenko.
Teamtakeover.forum-express.com – join some REAL fans, in legit debate about MMA without all the useless human waste that you find at the large, shithole forums like Axis-dog and mma-stinker.
The one who doesn’t fall, doesn’t stand up.
It’s been emotional.
Fletch.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)