LethalStriker Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I'm picking Barao no matter who his opponent is but I at least give Faber an outside chance of pulling off the upset. But Cruz with a two year lay off from multiple ACL surgeries with his fighting style, I just didn't realistically see any way he was going to beat Barao. Even a prime Cruz before the surgeries I may still have slightly favored Barao over him. Cruz at this point in his career I basically equate him to being Frank Mir as he was first coming back from his motorcycle accident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LethalStriker Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 UFC has signed Joe Ellenberger to a 4 fight deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 King of Pancrase welterweight champion Takenori Sato has signed with the UFC and is most likely getting schooled by Erick Silva at UFC FN 36. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Now Guimaraes and Soares want Anderson vs. GSP. Well, he has 2 back to back loses to Weidman, he's getting up there in age, he probably won't be fighting a lot longer, GSP showed he's beatable in his last fight and is taking a break from fight. Now's a good moment for them to try and milk this fight and get as much as they can out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epwar Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Odd strategy to call out a guy who just semi-retired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 When your own guy is on the shelf for who knows how long. Maybe Soares just watched Grudge Match or something. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glfpunk Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Well this scenario probably makes the most sense for them aside from when they were both on top. It would still be a huge fight in my opinion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I don't think that's really an opinion. Andy could fight GSP with a cast on, and it would draw 900k+ easily. With a proper build, then it could draw in the 1.3 or 1.4 million range. It just depends on how hard the UFC wants to work to do the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Actually, I wouldn't mind that fight being a swan song for both fighters. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_h Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Actually, I wouldn't mind that fight being a swan song for both fighters. Yeah I could go for this. Plus if there was ever a time for Anderson to get his body weight down, it would be now when he's going to be on crutches and not able to workout for months. So losing some muscle will be happening anyway. Maybe a catch weight of 175-177 now that GSP isn't the champ at 170 anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Eating + not working out = Gaining weight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Yeah...that's what I was thinking too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epwar Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Yeah, but wasn't GSP the major stumbling block in this fight happening in the first place? Why would he suddenly change his mind on a fight he didn't want when he has gone off to find himself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 The aliens will tell him to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_h Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Yeah...that's what I was thinking too... Ok I guess he could get fat. But not lifting weights = muscle loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Yeah...that's what I was thinking too... Ok I guess he could get fat. But not lifting weights = muscle loss. He wasn't that muscular to begin with. Whenever he isn't in the gym, Andy's face blows up two sizes. The same thing happens to Anthony Johnson. At least Anthony has a little bit of youth on his side. Anderson is almost forty. Your metabolism doesn't magically improve as you age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Yeah, but wasn't GSP the major stumbling block in this fight happening in the first place? Why would he suddenly change his mind on a fight he didn't want when he has gone off to find himself? Because it's the biggest fight in MMA and can be built up to be even bigger making it Anderson's return fight after the injury and GSP's return fight after semi-retiring. If GSP wins and Hendricks is the welterweight champ as he should be, he can get a rematch with Hendricks which I'm sure the UFC will also milk all they can building it up as a rematch from a controversial decision. Those are 2 big fights which GSP can make a lot of money with before retiring and a way for him to get 2 more big paydays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Yeah...that's what I was thinking too... Ok I guess he could get fat. But not lifting weights = muscle loss. He wasn't that muscular to begin with. Whenever he isn't in the gym, Andy's face blows up two sizes. The same thing happens to Anthony Johnson. At least Anthony has a little bit of youth on his side. Anderson is almost forty. Your metabolism doesn't magically improve as you age. Weight Watchers sponsorship cash-in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LethalStriker Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I think one of the reasons that GSP didn't want to take the fight previously is it would mean probably vacating his title and having to go after the MW title which ultimately meant if he fought Silva it would have to be at MW and he would have to stay at that weight afterwards. But now that neither of them has to worry about their title belts that's two of the biggest obstructions to this fight taking place out of the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I think one of the reasons that GSP didn't want to take the fight previously is it would mean probably vacating his title and having to go after the MW title which ultimately meant if he fought Silva it would have to be at MW and he would have to stay at that weight afterwards. But now that neither of them has to worry about their title belts that's two of the biggest obstructions to this fight taking place out of the way. The fight could've taken place at a 175 or 180 lb. catch weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Yeah...that's what I was thinking too... Ok I guess he could get fat. But not lifting weights = muscle loss. He wasn't that muscular to begin with. Whenever he isn't in the gym, Andy's face blows up two sizes. The same thing happens to Anthony Johnson. At least Anthony has a little bit of youth on his side. Anderson is almost forty. Your metabolism doesn't magically improve as you age. Weight Watchers sponsorship cash-in? Seriously, I wonder why MMA hasn't gotten more absurd sponsorships like Ben Rothwell got for Extenze. Someone brought up MMA sponsorship in the Meltzer thread, but it's obvious (to us at least) why MMA doesn't get certain blue chip sponsors. But you're telling me that TrueCar.com or NutriSystem is above being in the octagon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Nutrisystem is all over ESPN and Weight Watchers sponsored, or still sponsors, Sir Charles, so I'm surprised neither has stepped in to sponsor a fighter. Considering that these fighters are always cutting weight, it makes a ton of sense to me for a weight loss product manufacturer to start using MMA fighters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I could see UFC FIT blocking that much like Xyience/Xenergy pretty much stops all the energy drink sponsorships. I think Faber still has the AMP Energy sponsorship (thanked them on Twitter when he got the Barao rematch), but he doesn't have it on his shorts, banner, or anything else. If you're going to have something like UFC FIT, wouldn't it make more sense to ...you know...sponsor fighters in the octagon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert S Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Seriously, I wonder why MMA hasn't gotten more absurd sponsorships like Ben Rothwell got for Extenze. Someone brought up MMA sponsorship in the Meltzer thread, but it's obvious (to us at least) why MMA doesn't get certain blue chip sponsors. But you're telling me that TrueCar.com or NutriSystem is above being in the octagon? The way the UFC handles individual sponsorships (i.e. the company has to pay UFC 6 figures a year or so) probably scares a lot of companies of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I don't think that's the reason. The sponsor tax hasn't been around that long and UFC was arguably more mainstream before that. Even then, it was stuff like FantasyFightClub (which lasted all of two or three months) and Condom Depot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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