Official MMA Discussion Thread

[Kidnemo]

And if I'm not mistook that is sportsmanship's greatest ambassador, Kid Yamamoto, paying the cost. Is that recent?

Noobs don't know nothing 'bout this sportsmanship!

And yea, it's from a recent kickboxing fight he had.

[PaCrappa]

[Kidnemo]

Blv it.

[Type Ryan]

Bust out the smelling salts. That dude got knocked the FUCK out. Holy shit.

[The_Meach]

Great KO; but wtf was the corner doing rubbing his head back/forth? If he'd had any neck problems from the KO...

[Gooch]

hold on a second... there's been a lot of crazy talk in the last few pages but I'm calling this post out. Machida and in a way(after unification) Lesnar haven't even defended their titles yet. There is no way they should be looked at as dominant champions yet. GSP and Silva have earned it.. Penn, if he can hold it a few more fights.... these other two guys have a long way to go still. Shit, Machida's first defense is against Shogun. That's no walk in the park.

I don't want to split hairs, but technically Lesnar did defend the title he won from Couture. Had he lost to Mir, we would no longer be calling him the heavyweight champion.

I'm completely comfortable placing the label of "dominant champion" on these guys earlier than you may be in agreeance with. I tend to make assesments based on what I've observed. This is what making a projection is based on. Doesn't mean I'm right but it does mean I'd put my money on these guys on every fight night. However, I do think Florian will be a challenge for Penn which is one of the reasons I caveated his inclusion.

[PaCrappa]

Florian has greater potential than anyone BJ has yet faced.

And Machida is getting in deep right away. I think he'll beat Shogun but I also think Shogun is far and away the best challenger in the division.

[Gooch]

I'd go with Shogun, Rampage, and Luis Banha Cane though LHW has enough recognizable names and intriguing matchups to avoid becoming like the MW division can be.

[PaCrappa]

Rampage is no threat to Lyoto. He's got a name but has always been suspect imo In Pride he was given a nice gift against Ninja and he barely beat that little Korean judo dude. In the UFC he's beat two old guys (past their prime anyways), an undersized old guy and a couple of lowball scrubs. He can hit hard and lift a guy high but he's not terribly good at much besides being a corny dumbass by my estimation. I imagine him becoming even worse now that he's training at a second string gym in a second string country (for MMA).

I like this Banha though.

[Gooch]

I think Rampage is better now than he was in Pride, though he seems like he's become a boxer nowadays. I don't think he has much of a chance against Machida. But you could drop a piano on Rampage and he still may be standing long enough to catch you walking in with one of his brick fists. The fact that he has this chance makes me have to mention him. I don't really see anyone else, maybe Jon Jones a few years down the line.

EDIT - I will say I liked that Rampage utilized more kicks and an actual takedown vs. Jardine, who I'll assume is one of the scrubs you're referring to.

I like Banha as well. The man is vicious. The thing is, though, if Cantwell (who is a terrific fighter) can hit him that many times, Machida won't need to or have to.