UFC Fight Night 125: Machida vs. Anders (2/3/2018) - Belém, Pará, Brazil (Arena Guilherme Paraense)

[username]

Anders was just so poor at various things throughout the fight.  While Machida generally has above average footwork and movement Anders appeared to barely realize that there are ways to cut off the cage, and even when Machida would sometimes just stop the horizontal movement and stand still in front of him near the cage Anders would just sorta stand there and look at him.  His activity level in general was just poor, Machida wasn't doing a ton himself but he's basically 40, I can at least understand that.  The fact that he still managed to win a couple rounds points more to how limited Machida appears to be at this point (I hope he calls it a career, he doesn't appear to have much left).

[The Natural]

Mario Yamasaki's Wikipedia entry updated:

[The Natural]

Dave:

Big E:

 

[Setsuna]

In regards to the above wiki page. I  had to go there to figure out that this :

19 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

It's like Mario Yamasaki was replaced by his brother last night. 

was not a Wario joke.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Re: Whether Cachoeira's corner should have stopped the fight or not

At first, I wasn't going to say anything because I thought it was too a non-issue. However, Gilliard Parana (the namesake of Parana Vale Tudo and the head coach of that team) did an interview with Portal do Vale Tudo and before that talked with Guilherme Cruz right after the fight. This kinda changed my opinion. Then, everything started clicking. Basically, the gist of what he was saying is that Cachoeira isn't the type of person to quit, he probably would have stopped the fight if he knew she had suffered an ACL and meniscus tear, Yamasaki isn't at fault, and that the current generation is soft. Maybe there is some Brazilian culture that doesn't translate well, but the last part is problematic given that as head coach it's also his responsibility to protect his fighters. Cachoeira thinking she will never quit and all that is one thing because she doesn't have the power to stop the fight. Part of his duty is to look after his fighters because their future isn't defined by one fight where his fighter wins or loses. What's funny is that boxing fans use to (and probably still) berate MMA for having fighters that submit and all that, but a good number of corner retirement TKOs in boxing at the highest level is pretty common. I mean if the finish of Lomachenko-Rigondeaux or Lomachenko-Walters happened in multiple top level UFC main events, people would lose their shit. We would also get allegations of fight fixing.

Yet, we have the Gilliard Paranas (who is either crazy or incompetent) of the world who probably should be tasked with making those difficult decisions in favor of a stoppage because their fighter is at risk of actually suffering permanent damage. But it makes sense because his premier fighter is Jessica Andrade who had that weird rant towards Claudia Gadelha some months ago about how Jessica's win proves you don't have to leave Brazil to win or something to that effect.  Maybe the never quit mentality/always go out on your shield mentality works for a Jessica Andrade because she is a physical menace and her toughness isn't her top attribute. However, this doesn't portend to great things for Gilliard Parana and the other fighters he trains unless he runs into another Jessica Andrade.

Look at Ann Wolfe in boxing with James Kirkland. Legal, personal, promotional, and managerial issues aside, Kirkland was suppose to be led to a world title by Ann Wolfe who was going to be the first female to train a world champion boxer. The thing is Wolfe's insane, Spartan training only worked for Kirkland because in the ring Kirkland may not be the most technical boxer in the world but he was good enough to where being tough as a $2 steak made a difference of who was going to break first. He had that intangible you couldn't teach. Whereas Wolfe never had the fighters with gaudy regional records that were bound to get trounced at a higher level that Parana does with Talita Bernando in the past, Mariana Morais, and now Cachoeira, Wolfe's daughter and some other young male fighters she tried to build in the Kirkland mold had a few fights, had undefeated records with high KO pcts, and then faded into utter obscurity soonafter. If the choices of being a boxer in Austin, Texas are training w/ Ann Wolfe and not fighting at all, I think the choice for many would be the latter. I don't think it's because people are soft. Not everyone is made to fit into the win or die trying, a fighter's fighter role. I mean I don't look at Diego Corrales' dad stopping the Floyd Mayweather fight and say Diego Corrales is a pussy. That was the right call even though Diego was super pissed when it was stopped. He was getting beat every which way possible much like Shevchenko beat Cachoeira. Just a total difference in class. It's not soft to recognize that critical part of combat sports that may be the turning point in a fighter's career where they either go completely off the cliff skill wise or have enough left to put together a solid run. Parana and Cachoeira kept reiterating that we haven't seen the best Priscila Cachoeira because she got hurt just seconds into the fight, but I argue that we may never see the best Priscila Cachoeira especially if she's coached by a Gilliard Parana who thinks he is the General Patton of MMA trainers. If all his fighters are so loyal that they comply with his rhetoric, you can't be surprised if they get seriously injured. If you get a totally inept ref like Yamasaki, it's a disaster in the making.
 

[TheVileOne]

These fucking Brazilian MMA types man. They've got excuses for everything.

[J.T.]

On ‎2‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 2:04 PM, Elsalvajeloco said:

Mario has been terrible forever though.  

I think they only use Fernando when like Goddard and/or Herb Dean aren't available, and they just so happen to need someone who speaks Portuguese. 

Ha.  If Herb Dean had reffed that fight we'd be complaining about quick and questionable stoppages and him not allowing fighters to go out like warriors, whatever the fuck that dumb shit means.. 

I have always heralded refs who protect fighters from other fighters as well as themselves, but that will always fly in the face of those fans who want to see decisive finishes and matches taken out of the judge's hands and like it or not, that's the fight that Yamasaki called. 

Good or bad, there's no denying that Shevchenko won that fight in a ridiculously brutal manner..

None of this shit will change until the UFC starts to codify clear and uniform guidelines of what should constitute a referee stoppage.  There has got to be a happy medium between "But I was defending Intelligently, yo!" and "My name is Batman."

 

[Elsalvajeloco]

1 hour ago, J.T. said:

Ha.  If Herb Dean had reffed that fight we'd be complaining about quick and questionable stoppages and him not allowing fighters to go out like warriors, whatever the fuck that dumb shit means.. 

I have always heralded refs who protect fighters from other fighters as well as themselves, but that will always fly in the face of those fans who want to see decisive finishes and matches taken out of the judge's hands and like it or not, that's the fight that Yamasaki called. 

Good or bad, there's no denying that Shevchenko won that fight in a ridiculously brutal manner..

None of this shit will change until the UFC starts to codify clear and uniform guidelines of what should constitute a referee stoppage.  There has got to be a happy medium between "But I was defending Intelligently, yo!" and "My name is Batman."

 

Well, Brazil has a nationwide commission that regulates MMA. CABMMA put out a statement this morning where even though they understood Yamasaki's assessment that if a fighter keeps moving after the referee's command that referee's judgment may lean in favor of keeping the fight going. However, they also stated that the first round was clearly 10-8 where there were plenty of opportunities for Yamasaki to stop it. Moreover, they believe the second round (if Cachoeira survived through an act of God) was veering on being a 10-7 round and Yamasaki had more opportunities to stop the fight before the submission. Basically, CABMMA's belief is that Cachoeira showed no intelligent defense and furthermore if any bout shows that two fighters are of two different classes (going back to what I said above) that it's on the referee to stop it as soon the opportunity (in their words "the proper moment") presents itself.  

I'm sensing CABMMA takes him off of UFC shows until this blows over and makes the UFC fly in another referee like a Keith Peterson or Kevin MacDonald if they're not working somewhere else that weekend. That or Yamasaki is gone for good on the shows in Brazil. That could be a blessing and a curse because that means Eduardo Herdy and Osiris Maia could get more duties. I don't trust them more than Yamasaki. Camila Albuquerque is decent and hasn't had a bad stop that I remember, but I'm always scared the fighters are going to run right into her. That's probably why she doesn't referee fights above 155. Goddard can basically ref anywhere. So unless Herb Dean who works damn near every week of the year is available, you can only expect 1 1/2 good referees max on any card in Brazil.

[Jiji]

He had a few moments himself (and when you've been doing it as long as he is, it's going to happen), but I miss McCarthy already.

[J.T.]

Dana White is calling for Mario not to ref anymore UFC bouts when he really should be firing whomever made that match.