UFC

[Justin Bieber]

That was some fight between them, Diego still showing he can go toe to toe with the top of the division, even if he can't win it!

Cain looks to be settled at top now, avenging that loss to JDS but dominating him. Although JDS did better on the take down defense, was only taken down 2/11 times :P.

[j959]

#UFC166 Best PPV Ever :-X

yeah was crazy
as usual was watching and talking to Dom about it on FB
good times  ;D

hey fellas, have been off FF a bit ...

yeah, I had this one - UFC 166: Velazquez vs dos Santos III - booked in for 3wks in advance!

with fights cards, esp for UFC (puncher's chance and all), you never know how it's going to go so you have to gauge on potential only and not expect too much, but this card did not disappoint - and I heard that meant from top to bottom ...

maybe HP, Daz, et al could fill in some of the prelim action??  ;)
(i'm a bit of 'snob' and just head to the pub for the main card generally)

came in towards the end of Boetsch vs Dollaway so can't really comment on that one ...

John Dodson vs Darrell Montague
Wow for the chin on Montague who kept standing and defending despite getting heavily tagged by Dodson - good job by the ref for not calling this one too quickly. Impressive was Dodson's patience in the follow up as Montague amazingly (imo) recovered and then 'wow' for Dodson's power - definitely deserves a title shot it would seem - apparently he lost to current champ Demetrious Johnson by split decision in the 'flyweight tournament' to determine the first UFC flyweight champion a little while back.

Having seen Johnson in action, it will take a bit more than power to beat the champ who's looking sharp in all aspects of the MMA game atm ...

Gabriel Gonaga vs Shawn Jordan
I'd seen the highlight reel knock-out of Mirko 'Cro-Cop' Filipovic by Gonzaga from years back but since getting close to top contender around that time he's become more of a 'gate-keeper' and that's what happened here - Jordan was on a run but the form line was average - apparently Jordan was favourite with the bookies so you might have taken the $3 or so on Gonzaga if you were in the know (not that i endorse gambling in any way) ...

another KO in rd1 follows Dodson over Montague.  :o   ;)

Gilbert Melendez vs Diego Sanchez
This looked good on paper and was probably a good draw-card for most people, myself included.

Diego is the quintissential 'over-achiever' making use of his given talent and maxmising it to the upper-limits - he's a warrior and Melendez had been toiling away in Strikeforce before that organisation got taken over by the UFC.

What a fight, really good but think Joe Rogan was over-stating it with 'best fight he'd ever seen' - definitely a notable fight in UFC history - Diego's sharp 'Mundine-like' eyebrows and his penchant for wild swings and less technical boxing led to him getting cut-up and taking a lot of damage on the way in.

The more Sanchez made it a brawl the better for him but Melendez just had too much class in the boxing arena (training with the Diaz brothers probably helps) and took the decision relatively easily despite Sanchez's chances in the final round.

Daniel Cormier vs Roy Nelson
Hadn't seen Cormier fight before and watching the highlights before the match he looked pretty dynamic. Nelson just didn't have anything to get to Cormier offensively - Cormier just kept at the 'Budda-belly' to keep him at bay and took the unanimous decision easy.

Cain Velazquez vs Junior dos Santos
The end of the 'trilogy' ...
Junior rocked Cain early but not enough and Cain was straight into the clinch with impressive 'dirty boxing' much like Randy Couture in his prime.

Jnr has the power punching but it was too one-dimensional and Velasquez had all the answers and suffocated Jnr in the clinch so he could not mount much offence against him and battered Jnr until the TKO towards the end of the 5th and final round.

Junior needs to get some more strings to his bow before being able to challenge Cain's superior cardio and more well-rounded skill set. dos Santos should probably use his power punching to set-up the take-down and then utilise his BJJ training with the Nogueira twins.

Great card - looking forward to UFC 167 - GSP vs Hendricks for the welter-weight title on 17 Nov our time!  ;)
Also has Rashard Evans vs Chael Sonnen ...

[j959]

someone has rightly pointed out to me that Diego Sanchez rocked Melendez with an uppercut and had him dazed for a bit in round 3 ... but inexplicably, Sanchez started looking for the submission and went for the choke instead of capitalising on Melendez's grogginess ...

didn't make sense in the 3rd round, hard to get the grip with all the perspiration by that stage but Sanchez was probably not thinking that straight at that point having taken a fair bit of damage by that stage ...

obviously i wasn't thinking straight either and maybe a pint too many by that stage ... kidz, alcohol mucks with your memory ...  ;)

[Justin Bieber]

Nice round up Jay!

John Dodson vs Darrell Montague
Wow for the chin on Montague who kept standing and defending despite getting heavily tagged by Dodson - good job by the ref for not calling this one too quickly. Impressive was Dodson's patience in the follow up as Montague amazingly (imo) recovered and then 'wow' for Dodson's power - definitely deserves a title shot it would seem - apparently he lost to current champ Demetrious Johnson by split decision in the 'flyweight tournament' to determine the first UFC flyweight champion a little while back.

Having seen Johnson in action, it will take a bit more than power to beat the champ who's looking sharp in all aspects of the MMA game atm ...

Dodson wasn't in the flyweight tournament but won the Bantamweight TUF a few seasons back, dropped to flyweight after the inception and got a crack at DJ for the title after the tournament took place. Lost it but certainly has the power, something most flyweights don't have to get those KO's (Benavidez and Lineker the other two with KO power at 125lbs). Montague one of the top flyweights outside of the UFC, so was thrown to the dogs in his first fight :-X.

Cormier set to drop to LHW as he doesn't want to fight Velasquez as they are training partners (he was in his corner as well in the Main Event). He certainly has a well rounded game, nothing exciting but certainly a top fighter at HW regardless. Saw Velasquez dominating JDS again, JDS kept coming back, basically until he couldn't go on anymore. Such another dominant performances :-X.

Managed to watch the Melendez Vs Sanchez fight, man Sanchez has the heart of a fighter! Was outmatched but never said die and even had Melendez in quite a few bad spots (dropped him once or twice, even got his back a few times). Certainly made it a good fight even though many didn't give him a chance.

Didn't catch half of the Prelims due to not waking up in time for the FB ones :(. All the FB ones ended in a stoppage. Aussie George Sotiropoulos lost to KJ Noons, not suprising as George's stand up has always been suspect. In women's action, Jessica Eye won her debut in a split decision over #2 ranked Sarah Kaufman. I thought Kaufman had it, but was close and was a good fight! Lombard TKO'd Marquardt, which may have got the loser fired. Lombard showing he still has some power at 170, but heard his cut was pretty bad so not sure how long he can keep it up for. Watched the last prelim fight chatting with Daz, Boetsch grabbed a split decision from CB Dolloway. We both thought CB won the first 2 rounds, with Boetsch winning the last (not to mention a 1 point deduction to CB for eye poking repeatedly). So we had it 28-28, but one of the judges had it 30-26 :o. Besides the last 2 prelims, didn't have big names but still had good fights for the most part!

I tend to watch the prelims as free for me, and get to know some up and comers before they make it to the main cards :D.

[Justin Bieber]

someone has rightly pointed out to me that Diego Sanchez rocked Melendez with an uppercut and had him dazed for a bit in round 3 ... but inexplicably, Sanchez started looking for the submission and went for the choke instead of capitalising on Melendez's grogginess ...

didn't make sense in the 3rd round, hard to get the grip with all the perspiration by that stage but Sanchez was probably not thinking that straight at that point having taken a fair bit of damage by that stage ...

obviously i wasn't thinking straight either and maybe a pint too many by that stage ... kidz, alcohol mucks with your memory ...  ;)

Yeah, was weird but probably didn't want to blow the gas tank further and went for taking the back rather than attacking. As you said, it's the 3rd round so may not be thinking as clearly as needed to make a snap judgement in the moment. Put on a hell of a fight! And don't worry, I'm sure you didn't drink that much ;).

[j959]

Nice round up Jay!

John Dodson vs Darrell Montague
Wow for the chin on Montague who kept standing and defending despite getting heavily tagged by Dodson - good job by the ref for not calling this one too quickly. Impressive was Dodson's patience in the follow up as Montague amazingly (imo) recovered and then 'wow' for Dodson's power - definitely deserves a title shot it would seem - apparently he lost to current champ Demetrious Johnson by split decision in the 'flyweight tournament' to determine the first UFC flyweight champion a little while back.

Having seen Johnson in action, it will take a bit more than power to beat the champ who's looking sharp in all aspects of the MMA game atm ...

Dodson wasn't in the flyweight tournament but won the Bantamweight TUF a few seasons back, dropped to flyweight after the inception and got a crack at DJ for the title after the tournament took place. Lost it but certainly has the power, something most flyweights don't have to get those KO's (Benavidez and Lineker the other two with KO power at 125lbs). Montague one of the top flyweights outside of the UFC, so was thrown to the dogs in his first fight :-X.

ah, thanks for clearing that up HP!  :)

those prelims are just a bit too early for me in the west ...  ;)

[Justin Bieber]

I can imagine! I use weekends to sleep in so usually only wake up at 11-12, so miss out on the prelims half the time. If I had to wake up at like 8 to watch them, I wouldn't either :P.

[j959]

lots of cards coming up HP ... think I'll only get to the title fight cards though ...

but some good fights coming up ... just not sure about the 'overall quality' of the cards ...

UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz this w/end but only know the fighters in the last two fights ...

UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson in 3wks time - again only really know the headline fighters ...

until UFC 167 GSP vs Hendricks on 17 Nov 2013 our time ...

[silloc]

lots of cards coming up HP ... think I'll only get to the title fight cards though ...

but some good fights coming up ... just not sure about the 'overall quality' of the cards ...

UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz this w/end but only know the fighters in the last two fights ...

UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson in 3wks time - again only really know the headline fighters ...

until UFC 167 GSP vs Hendricks on 17 Nov 2013 our time ...

fighters to watch
Machida vs. Munoz = Jimmo and liniker
Belfort vs. Hendo = Cezar ferrera and brian thatch

don't miss those guys fight

[j959]

lots of cards coming up HP ... think I'll only get to the title fight cards though ...

but some good fights coming up ... just not sure about the 'overall quality' of the cards ...

UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz this w/end but only know the fighters in the last two fights ...

UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson in 3wks time - again only really know the headline fighters ...

until UFC 167 GSP vs Hendricks on 17 Nov 2013 our time ...

fighters to watch
Machida vs. Munoz = Jimmo and liniker
Belfort vs. Hendo = Cezar ferrera and brian thatch

don't miss those guys fight

cheers for the heads up silloc - any particular reasons why for those fighters?  ;)

[Justin Bieber]

Yeah there are! Think 3 in the next 4 weeks, with all of them being Fight Night cards (Free for those with pay tv).

Can't wait to see Mutante and Thatch fight again silloc! Thatch's debut was pretty spot on and he's being hyped by his camp as a potential future contender. Think Mutante's fight was meant to also be the fight Brazilian TUF's Final :o.

As silloc said, some good fights for the Machida Vs Munoz card.
Manuwa Vs Jimmo should be pretty good! Manuwa has the power in his hands as well, so will be interesting to see who comes out on top.
Lineker won be over in his UFC debut against Gaudinot, certainly has that power you don't see much in flyweights. But he's missed weight twice, so hopefully has a better cut this time around.
Got quite alot of former TUF fighters on the card, so may have some names people recognize. My smokie to be a good fight is Hallmann vs Iaquinta, on the prelims as well!

The next fight card is Kennedy Vs Natal, which fair to say doesn't have many names people will notice hahaha. Machida was moved from the fight, so certainly may not attract many viewers. Although, some of the fighters on there should put up a good fight! So I'm still going to watch it as free and should be a nice watch despite lesser names on here.
The co-main event is Masivdal Vs Khabilov. Been following Khabilov since he made his debut, and basically suplexed his way to a KO victory. Can watch it here: http://www.fightvideomma.com/2012/12/vinc-pichel-vs-rustam-khabilov-fight.html . It was an impressive debut... May also mention Masival has started saying he doesn't like Russians and calling Khabilov a Commie, etc. So more reason for me to go for Khab :D.
More former TUF fighters on the card, with Siler Vs Bermudez my pick of the lot to watch, should be a cracker! Larkin Vs Camozzi should also be a solid fight, Camozzi been getting a step up in competition after accepting to fight Jacare on short notice :-X.

[silloc]

yeah flowerin love khabilov!

And the reason I highlight those fighters, especially thatch and ferrera, is because they are up an comers. Much better to watch the rise of a star than the domination when they get to the top. the jimmo manuwa fight is just cos it should be an interesting one.

[Justin Bieber]

Forgot Machida Vs Munoz event was in UK, so the Main card starts at 6am to 9am. Prelims starting now. Wasn't planning to stay up for it, but had to do some work so may as well watch this stuff and do work in between if I can be bothered :P.

Hoping it will be worth staying up for 8).

[Justin Bieber]

After a little break due to studying, may do a mini recap :P.

Machida headkicked Munoz and now has Mousasi next up next year :o. Manuwa beat Jimmo due to some injury to Jimmo during the match, yet he's (Manuwa) is the one set to miss half a year of action :P. Lineker beat Harris in Flyweights, but he missed weight... AGAIN. If he could get under the limit, he could be a title contender, but until then won't move along the pecking order much :(. A good showing by former TUF contestants with majority of them winning!

Got the Kennedy Vs Natal card mid-week if anybody is interested, not much mainstream names there though!

Also may mention that UFC 169 is looking to be a great card :o. Mir Vs Overeem was announced first. It's now topped by Aldo Vs Lamas and Barao Vs Cruz in title fights :D. Should be an awesome card, as 3 of the best fighters in the world right there (Even if Cruz has been injured for too long).

[j959]

Ok, UFC 167 - GSP vs Hendricks for the welterweight belt this Sunday, 17 Nov 2013!  8)

Think main card from 8am AEDST and 11am for me, Valk et al in the west.

This is the 20th anniversary show for the UFC so it is a pretty 'stacked' card.
HP should love the prelims and I'm going to try to get down early for Ebersole vs Story, Cerrone vs Dunham on the prelim card if I can!

Title fight will hopefully be a corker - my prediction is that Hendricks' only real chance is if he can knock-out GSP in first 2-3rds, which is easier said than done. The issue for Hendricks is that GSP has the better all-round skill-set and probably better cardio.

Lots of casual observers will bemoan GSPs 'boring' fights where he can take guys down almost at will but he just has the skill to take the fight where he wants. So it remains to be seen if Hendricks can knock him out or take GSP down and score from top position. Looking forward to it.

CF, how's your 'lil' brother going??  :)