Craig H Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Well, I guess his career is probably over then because I doubt he's going to make that sort of lifestyle change or even change camps. He SHOULD do those things. I just don't think he will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 30, 2016 Author Share Posted December 30, 2016 I mean he probably beats some middleweights still. If this was maybe 2 or 3 years ago, I would see him beating a top 15-20 middleweight. The division is very top heavy. At the same time, he was at the top of the WW division so there was no need to. After this run of performances, I can only see him beating guys kinda stuck opening up UFC cards. He can beat Sam Alvey and Garreth McLellan. I'd pick him over Trevor Smith. There is a glut of fighters (maybe like 6 or 7 fighters) whose best attribute is being tall at middleweight. I would be more scared of him fighting someone like Thiago Marreta who would sleep him unless Hendricks got to him first. I can also see someone like Anthony Smith upsetting him by simply outworking Hendricks and possibly finishing him somewhere between late round 2 and midway through the final round. He doesn't have the youth that people like Gastelum and Whittaker have on their side when it comes to fighting above 170. Hendricks at best is a top 20 middleweight, which sounds awful on paper. However, that's the best possible outlook that I have for him unless he melts Magny and gets his weight under control by the grace of God. Nunes can't stop at just the mask. Nunes should be allowed to go full Sharif Bogere tomorrow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 2 hours ago, glfpunk said: He's not big enough for 185. He just needs someone telling him how and making him do the right things during camp. And I don't see how Ronda doesn't win this fight. I expect her to dominate. He's had plenty of time to make adjustments, and he hasn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 30, 2016 Author Share Posted December 30, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 I laughed when I read this since Iole used what I thought was more pro wrestling terminology than MMA terminology. But I do think that Rousey is just playing the part and that she will beat Nunes pretty easily. I think her 'mental game' is just fine and I think she trained harder than ever to make sure she didn't lose. Not sure if she will keep this up for all fights or if its just a one-time thing, but in this case doing no media was probably just as usual as doing media since it adds some mystery to things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 30, 2016 Author Share Posted December 30, 2016 2 minutes ago, Kevin Wilson said: I laughed when I read this since Iole used what I thought was more pro wrestling terminology than MMA terminology. But I do think that Rousey is just playing the part and that she will beat Nunes pretty easily. I think her 'mental game' is just fine and I think she trained harder than ever to make sure she didn't lose. Not sure if she will keep this up for all fights or if its just a one-time thing, but in this case doing no media was probably just as usual as doing media since it adds some mystery to things. FWIW John Morgan did say he was told that the PPV is tracking pretty high. That would go against all the concern people had for Ronda not doing media in addition to it being a Friday PPV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 30, 2016 Author Share Posted December 30, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 30, 2016 Author Share Posted December 30, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoBaltimore Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 As a casual viewer and Ronda fan, I don't know what to think of all this. I get why she's doing little to no media, but I'm not sure if it necessarily makes me want to watch the show somehow (even on replay). I'm hanging with friends at places that won't have the show on so I'll miss it anyway. But considering all past times I went out of my way to watch her fights live something just seems off about all this. And yet they're projecting good PPV numbers which is surprising in a way. Whether I watch or not Cruz is going to beat Cody quite easily and I'll be happy about that. The guy oozes veteran experience and I bet deep down Cody knows he's fucked. And it seems like Hendrick's star has fallen quite a bit since he had the title. Reading he missed weight for a third time is concerning for sure. I love having Baconators, but I'm not a UFC fighter trying to make weight. I bet if he just cut out shit like that this wouldn't be an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerva Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Yeah I think Amanda Nunes has a better chance of beating Rousey than Cody does Dommick tonight. In the last month or two Cruz has just destroyed Garbrandt mentally and verbally better than most of Connor's fights. Like watching a bully pick on a little kid at times. Never mind that Cruz's skill set is so much deeper. Have no idea why Hendricks just doesn't move up because it is obvious he can't make the weight anymore and when he does make it he looks like body drained of all his energy and muscle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 30, 2016 Author Share Posted December 30, 2016 I wouldn't underestimate Garbrandt. I think Dominick Cruz is a fantastic fighter, but Garbrandt isn't 2016 Urijah Faber. I think Cody can make it competitive especially if he can catch Dominick early on. If he allows himself to become frustrated, I think that's when Dominick's big fight experience takes over. I'm picking Cruz to win, but I wouldn't be surprised if this looked like a repeat of Dillashaw vs. Cruz and got some wild interpretations of who won which rounds on the scorecards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_K Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Yeah - I'm sort of the same mindset. Garbrandt is a far more explosive fighter than the UFC 199 version of Faber: and early in that fight there were moments where Faber looked like he could get close to Cruz before Dom totally took over. I think if Cruz gets past R1 and the early parts of R2, then he'll be sure fire to win, but itll be interesting to see how Cody's power translates if he did manage to catch Cruz early on. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 30, 2016 Author Share Posted December 30, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Am I the only one picking Nunes to beat Rousey within 2 rounds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 1 minute ago, Casey said: Am I the only one picking Nunes to beat Rousey within 2 rounds? According to the picks contest, DreamBroken is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 I never participate in those, mainly because I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to MMA. But I agree with @DreamBroken. I think Rousey's flaws were shown in the Holm fight and any smart fighter would study the fuck out of that tape and utilize it. But, again, I might as well be talking about soccer or football because I don't know much about MMA. The weight cutting and scorecards and shit just confuse me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 I would like to think those illegal knees were karma for Cowboy Oliveira jumping bad after he beat Brooks back in October. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Yeah, that may be the end of Brandon Thatch in the UFC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Time to cut Brandon Thatch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Man, Pyle got caught right on the button while throwing a low kick with no hands around his face. Mike Pyle has been fighting in MMA since Clinton was president, and he made a big rookie mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 If Cara do Sapato had a bit more strength, he would actually be someone scary to deal with at 185. I think the problem now (and I saw this earlier w/ Thatch against Price) is that the tradeoff for being such a big but slender fighter in your division is you're going to struggle to either keep fighters down or keep more energetic fighters from keeping you down. Vettori is an average size middleweight, but he was able to avoid being on the ground for long periods of time. The only upside I saw in this fight for Cara do Sapato is not having adequate wrestling ability has faced him to be a bit more creative. He got Vettori down with two takedowns that only worked because he just drove from angles that Vettori wasn't expecting. To be more successful, he is going to have to do more of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Cut Johny Hendricks too. Three in a row and he's failed to make weight multiple times. He should've made changes age ago, but he refused to. He was too stubborn for his own good. Johny Hendricks killed himself to fail at making weight for nothing. He says he's done at welterweight right before this but only after he's failed to make weight three times. He said before all that if he had another bad weight cut he'd either retire or move up in weight. He brought this downfall on himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Borg looks more polished in his first fight as a JacksonWink fighter. He is all over Smolka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now