Fedor vs Arlovski

Tonight.
Arlovski has trained with Freddie Roach (also Roach decided to trash talk Fedor a bit), but I think Fedor will end up through "The Pitbull" into a kimura somewhere near the end of the first round.
I know MMA doesn't get too much play when it isn't the UFC, but so far Fedor has destroyed UFC former heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds, destroyed another former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman twice, beat the living hell out of Nogueira (back when Nog was considered unbeatable) twice. And has basically only been rocked once (and he in turn rocked Kazuyuki Fujita who has one of the hardest chins in the sport and then put a rear naked choke on him).
The rest of card is rather interesting too.
With Josh Barnet, Vitor Belfort (new and improved) and Matt Lindland on the card.
MMA Fans,
Does any heavyweight really stand a chance against Fedor right now? Or is he basically the Michael Jordan/Tiger Woods of MMA with his dominance

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by reflections

Tonight.
Arlovski has trained with Freddie Roach (also Roach decided to trash talk Fedor a bit), but I think Fedor will end up through "The Pitbull" into a kimura somewhere near the end of the first round.
I know MMA doesn't get too much play when it isn't the UFC, but so far Fedor has destroyed UFC former heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds, destroyed another former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman twice, beat the living hell out of Nogueira (back when Nog was considered unbeatable) twice. And has basically only been rocked once (and he in turn rocked Kazuyuki Fujita who has one of the hardest chins in the sport and then put a rear naked choke on him).
The rest of card is rather interesting too.
With Josh Barnet, Vitor Belfort (new and improved) and Matt Lindland on the card.
MMA Fans,
Does any heavyweight really stand a chance against Fedor right now? Or is he basically the Michael Jordan/Tiger Woods of MMA with his dominance

---

I'm actually not that enthused about this card. I WAS looking forward to that lightweight scrap between Dan Lauzon and Chris Horodecki, but Horodecki had to pull out with an injury. Matyushenko-Little Nog matches up a wrestler and ground and pounder with a great ju-jitsu fighter who like won't be able to take Matyushenko down...so you get 2 guys not known for their standup who will probably strike. Lindland-Belfort looks good...I hope the old Vitor starts coming back. I like Sokoudjou but simply can't see him beating Babalu. Josh Barnett being stuck fighting an out of control ***** like Gilbert Yvel is just embarrassing...the guy's a top 5 heavyweight! IT's like matching up Ali in his prime with Tyson in his later years. I see more thna few fights that look VERY one sided and/or dull.

As for Fedor...I've been watching some of his Pride fights again this week. Good grief! (You forgot to mention his destruction of Heath Herring and the beating he put down on Mirko Cro Cop when Cro Cop was taking everyone out...probably the biggest MMA fight to date, actually, considering the profile the 2 of them had at the time). Arlovski is one of the few heavyweights who is a legit opponent for Fedor (Barnett's another)...I just don't understand his training here. He ALREADY had vicious strikes. His problem is on the ground. Considering Fedor is a monster on the ground with the wrestling, the submission game and the ground and pound, why the Hell would he stand with a guy who can legitimately knock him out? So Fedor takes him down, and that's pretty much that.

Oh, for MMA fans...it's been kinda lost in the glare of Affliction and UFC 94 being next weekend, but WEC 38 happens tomorrow night. Some decent fights on there (though the Urijah Faber-Jens Pulver rematch is just lame).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arctic Blast

I'm actually not that enthused about this card. I WAS looking forward to that lightweight scrap between Dan Lauzon and Chris Horodecki, but Horodecki had to pull out with an injury. Matyushenko-Little Nog matches up a wrestler and ground and pounder with a great ju-jitsu fighter who like won't be able to take Matyushenko down...so you get 2 guys not known for their standup who will probably strike. Lindland-Belfort looks good...I hope the old Vitor starts coming back. I like Sokoudjou but simply can't see him beating Babalu. Josh Barnett being stuck fighting an out of control ***** like Gilbert Yvel is just embarrassing...the guy's a top 5 heavyweight! IT's like matching up Ali in his prime with Tyson in his later years. I see more thna few fights that look VERY one sided and/or dull.

As for Fedor...I've been watching some of his Pride fights again this week. Good grief! (You forgot to mention his destruction of Heath Herring and the beating he put down on Mirko Cro Cop when Cro Cop was taking everyone out...probably the biggest MMA fight to date, actually, considering the profile the 2 of them had at the time). Arlovski is one of the few heavyweights who is a legit opponent for Fedor (Barnett's another)...I just don't understand his training here. He ALREADY had vicious strikes. His problem is on the ground. Considering Fedor is a monster on the ground with the wrestling, the submission game and the ground and pound, why the Hell would he stand with a guy who can legitimately knock him out? So Fedor takes him down, and that's pretty much that.

Oh, for MMA fans...it's been kinda lost in the glare of Affliction and UFC 94 being next weekend, but WEC 38 happens tomorrow night. Some decent fights on there (though the Urijah Faber-Jens Pulver rematch is just lame).

---

Definitely not overlooking WEC. I'm hoping Faber comes back strong. Supposedly Vitor has looked like the old Vitor so hopefully he shows up big. I did forget the Herring fight (liver kicks are great) and the Cro Cop demolition. I just watched the fight on Youtube again a few nights ago. It's like he scared Cro Cop after 4 punches. Tim Sylvia looked the same way after Fedor popped him good.
Yes Arlovski is taking a weird approach. I don't see him putting too much of a fight up. Much like the second Sylvia fight. I wish Dana White didn't put such a stranglehold on the MMA world, to not allow Fedor to fight Randy and now Brock. Or basically any heavyweight they have in the UFC.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by reflections

Definitely not overlooking WEC. I'm hoping Faber comes back strong. Supposedly Vitor has looked like the old Vitor so hopefully he shows up big. I did forget the Herring fight (liver kicks are great) and the Cro Cop demolition. I just watched the fight on Youtube again a few nights ago. It's like he scared Cro Cop after 4 punches. Tim Sylvia looked the same way after Fedor popped him good.
Yes Arlovski is taking a weird approach. I don't see him putting too much of a fight up. Much like the second Sylvia fight. I wish Dana White didn't put such a stranglehold on the MMA world, to not allow Fedor to fight Randy and now Brock. Or basically any heavyweight they have in the UFC.

---

Well, the bigger issue with Fedor-UFC right now is that Affliction has exclusive rights to Fedor fighting in the US. I have read a few rumors, though, that one of the big things UFC might be planning for UFC 100 is a one off between Fedor and Couture.

I simply don't understand Arlovski's approach. I love watching him fight, but if the ref hadn't been instructed to keep every fight standing in his LAST fight, Roy Nelson probably would have beaten him on the ground. Yet he doesn't seem to have learned anything at all from that fight. I'm glad to see the 'Killer Andrei' back (would be nice to see the 'Killer Tim Sylvia' come back, too...that guy used to be an absolute knockout machine), I just wish he'd focus on the parts of his game that need to get better.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arctic Blast

Well, the bigger issue with Fedor-UFC right now is that Affliction has exclusive rights to Fedor fighting in the US. I have read a few rumors, though, that one of the big things UFC might be planning for UFC 100 is a one off between Fedor and Couture.

I simply don't understand Arlovski's approach. I love watching him fight, but if the ref hadn't been instructed to keep every fight standing in his LAST fight, Roy Nelson probably would have beaten him on the ground. Yet he doesn't seem to have learned anything at all from that fight. I'm glad to see the 'Killer Andrei' back (would be nice to see the 'Killer Tim Sylvia' come back, too...that guy used to be an absolute knockout machine), I just wish he'd focus on the parts of his game that need to get better.

---

I definitely was a Andrei fan, until Sylvia beat him down twice. I remember his fight against Cabbage. Classic.
I think Sylvia is probably done. Just haven't seen that "killer" type of fighter in him anymore. Randy basically demoralized him.

So much for kimura.
Vitor looked awesome.

But Fedor knocking Andrei out.
That is crazy
One worry.
Fedor looking a little out of shape (maybe he is getting bored)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by reflections

So much for kimura.
Vitor looked awesome.

But Fedor knocking Andrei out.
That is crazy
One worry.
Fedor looking a little out of shape (maybe he is getting bored)

---

Now THAT was some old school Vitor! Definitely liked seeing that guy pop up again! And Andrei actually was doing pretty well...he went for the knee and ate a power punch, and that was that. Kinda surprised Fedor didn't try to take him down, though.

And Fedor has never really had that ripped build...he's always looked a little doughy. That just seems to be his body type.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arctic Blast

Now THAT was some old school Vitor! Definitely liked seeing that guy pop up again! And Andrei actually was doing pretty well...he went for the knee and ate a power punch, and that was that. Kinda surprised Fedor didn't try to take him down, though.

And Fedor has never really had that ripped build...he's always looked a little doughy. That just seems to be his body type.

---

Agreed. That was the Vitor that ran through people.

Fedor just looked a bit more doughy than usual.
I always love that he is never ripped, but just demolishes all these six packed guys. But i've never seen him that "doughy".
Oh well. He just knocked out a former UFC champ. Which usually Fedor doesn't do (as far as knocking someone out). What's next? I know they say Barnett. That has potential, but I can see Fedor imposing some will on Barnett. Although that could be a definite 5 round match of wrestling skill.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by reflections

Agreed. That was the Vitor that ran through people.

Fedor just looked a bit more doughy than usual.
I always love that he is never ripped, but just demolishes all these six packed guys. But i've never seen him that "doughy".
Oh well. He just knocked out a former UFC champ. Which usually Fedor doesn't do (as far as knocking someone out). What's next? I know they say Barnett. That has potential, but I can see Fedor imposing some will on Barnett. Although that could be a definite 5 round match of wrestling skill.

---

It pretty much HAS to be Barnett. Affliction doesn't have anyone else at Heavyweight that would present a legit opponent (and Fedor seems to have moved on from his little stint of fighting such 'legit' opponents as Hong Man Choi and a pumped up Matt Lindland, thankfully). I suppose he could still book a fight in Japan, but aside from a matchup with maybe Sergei Kharitonov (if you've never seen this guy fight, think Cro Cop in his prime. Seriously.) or Alistair Overeem (though with him showing up at UFC 93 and apparently in serious talks with the UFC, that option may soon be off the table) I don't really see anyone else over there for him to fight, either.

It's going to be interesting to see if this is it for Affliction as a promotion. They were pretty deep in red ink prior to this show as it is, and there was talk it wasn't drawing the kind of advance PPV buy numbers they were hoping for. The big issue for the promotion is simply that they're paying such massive salaries to their big names that they can't afford to build up any roster depth. So they're stuck only putting on a show every 6 months or so because they don't have the bodies to put in there. Even if they DO go to a 3rd event, with their current list of fighters I don't see anything they would have left to put on for a 4th, and I don't know if they can afford to go sign another bunch of guys up.

One final note...I'm shocked that that Paul Buentello-Kirill Sidelnikov fight was even SANCTIONED. A guy with over 30 WINS in his resume with top notch knockout power up against a guy with 6 pro fights, only 1 or 2 of those outside an MMA developmental organization? That's insane.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arctic Blast

It pretty much HAS to be Barnett. Affliction doesn't have anyone else at Heavyweight that would present a legit opponent (and Fedor seems to have moved on from his little stint of fighting such 'legit' opponents as Hong Man Choi and a pumped up Matt Lindland, thankfully). I suppose he could still book a fight in Japan, but aside from a matchup with maybe Sergei Kharitonov (if you've never seen this guy fight, think Cro Cop in his prime. Seriously.) or Alistair Overeem (though with him showing up at UFC 93 and apparently in serious talks with the UFC, that option may soon be off the table) I don't really see anyone else over there for him to fight, either.

It's going to be interesting to see if this is it for Affliction as a promotion. They were pretty deep in red ink prior to this show as it is, and there was talk it wasn't drawing the kind of advance PPV buy numbers they were hoping for. The big issue for the promotion is simply that they're paying such massive salaries to their big names that they can't afford to build up any roster depth. So they're stuck only putting on a show every 6 months or so because they don't have the bodies to put in there. Even if they DO go to a 3rd event, with their current list of fighters I don't see anything they would have left to put on for a 4th, and I don't know if they can afford to go sign another bunch of guys up.

One final note...I'm shocked that that Paul Buentello-Kirill Sidelnikov fight was even SANCTIONED. A guy with over 30 WINS in his resume with top notch knockout power up against a guy with 6 pro fights, only 1 or 2 of those outside an MMA developmental organization? That's insane.

---

Yeah, it's really sad that EliteXC decided to (for whatever idiotic reason) to put all of that money into a street fighter who needed probably 2-3 years of training before even being in the matches shown on TV. And Affliction will probably head the same way except they have some decent fighters. I would love to see Gina Carano and Jake Shields jump to Affliction. Elite has some good fighters all tied up.

lol, I was just watching a bunch of youtube vids on this stuff. Bob Sapp sucks holy cow every vid I saw of him he was horrible. Fedor as well as Crocop had dominating vids.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bucher34

lol, I was just watching a bunch of youtube vids on this stuff. Bob Sapp sucks holy cow every vid I saw of him he was horrible. Fedor as well as Crocop had dominating vids.

---

Look for the Fedor Kevin Randlemann fight. It's classic Fedor.

Now Bob Sapp vs Kimbo Slice would be an interesting street fight.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bucher34

lol, I was just watching a bunch of youtube vids on this stuff. Bob Sapp sucks holy cow every vid I saw of him he was horrible. Fedor as well as Crocop had dominating vids.

---

Bob Sapp was 370 pounds of steroids...the guy hit really hard and looked like a freak, but I'd hardly rate him as anything resembling a 'legit' fighter. Fedor and Mirko are definitely worth checking out. Also, for UFC guys definitely check out Chuck Liddell when he was really crushing everybody is fun to watch. And Randy Couture as well...he just kept coming back and racking up upset wins.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by reflections

Yeah, it's really sad that EliteXC decided to (for whatever idiotic reason) to put all of that money into a street fighter who needed probably 2-3 years of training before even being in the matches shown on TV. And Affliction will probably head the same way except they have some decent fighters. I would love to see Gina Carano and Jake Shields jump to Affliction. Elite has some good fighters all tied up.

---

The funny thing about that is that, from every interview I ever saw or heard with him, it was pretty obvious that Kimbo Slice was not at all comfortable with being made the centerpiece of the company. He knew that he wasn't in any way ready for that sort of a role. And Elite HAD some decent, marketable fighters! Robbie Lawler's a fun to watch knockout machine. Nick Diaz is not only a fun, well rounded fighter...he's also completely nuts (which tends to be easy to market). Shields is a submission machine. Carano's not only smokin' hot, she's also a REALLY good kickboxer. They had marketable fighters they could have built the promotion up around, but they didn't use what they had.

The other issue with ProElite (and that I also see with Affliction), rather than starting smaller and gradually building it up (WEC and Strikeforce would both be great examples of promotions that did this), they wanted to be massive right away. So they had all of the massive expenses but didn't have any revenue streams yet. Not exactly a brilliant way to run a business.

For me, I want Shields in UFC. They have every other really good welterweight out there, so if he goes anywhere else he's fighting scrubs. Carano could end up in WEC from the sounds of it, and I'd have to imagine Strikeforce would be interested. All of this is moot, though, so long as ProElite is being ridiculous and pretending they might actually have a hope in Hell of coming back and putting on fights again.

Watched WEC 38 tonight...kind of a letdown event, I thought. The crowd sucked, first of all, which never helps. The Faber-Pulver rematch was the total squash job it looked like going in to it. I DID enjoy the quick one between Danillo Villefort and Mike Campbell. I'd never seen either of them before, but both of those guys have some serious upside (and Campbell is a freaking powerhouse!). The main event had the disappointing ending, but Jamie Varner did impress me...how the Hell was that one sided beatdown a SPLIT decision?!?!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arctic Blast

Bob Sapp was 370 pounds of steroids...the guy hit really hard and looked like a freak, but I'd hardly rate him as anything resembling a 'legit' fighter. Fedor and Mirko are definitely worth checking out. Also, for UFC guys definitely check out Chuck Liddell when he was really crushing everybody is fun to watch. And Randy Couture as well...he just kept coming back and racking up upset wins.



The funny thing about that is that, from every interview I ever saw or heard with him, it was pretty obvious that Kimbo Slice was not at all comfortable with being made the centerpiece of the company. He knew that he wasn't in any way ready for that sort of a role. And Elite HAD some decent, marketable fighters! Robbie Lawler's a fun to watch knockout machine. Nick Diaz is not only a fun, well rounded fighter...he's also completely nuts (which tends to be easy to market). Shields is a submission machine. Carano's not only smokin' hot, she's also a REALLY good kickboxer. They had marketable fighters they could have built the promotion up around, but they didn't use what they had.

The other issue with ProElite (and that I also see with Affliction), rather than starting smaller and gradually building it up (WEC and Strikeforce would both be great examples of promotions that did this), they wanted to be massive right away. So they had all of the massive expenses but didn't have any revenue streams yet. Not exactly a brilliant way to run a business.

For me, I want Shields in UFC. They have every other really good welterweight out there, so if he goes anywhere else he's fighting scrubs. Carano could end up in WEC from the sounds of it, and I'd have to imagine Strikeforce would be interested. All of this is moot, though, so long as ProElite is being ridiculous and pretending they might actually have a hope in Hell of coming back and putting on fights again.

---

Shields would be good, Carano definitely needs somewhere to fight. She was just starting to pick up some momentum. Diaz and Lawler are great fighters who probably should go somewhere besides the UFC.

I love how some the the SI bloggers are saying Fedor showed weakness.
Seriously, you knock a guy completely out. That is a weakness? He looked he was actually going for the knock out. He didn't try to take Andrei down the couple of times they clinched (ironically it was Andrei who tried a trip).
I'm wondering if Fedor is going to try and change to more of a knockout fighter cause that is what people love in the United States.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by reflections

Shields would be good, Carano definitely needs somewhere to fight. She was just starting to pick up some momentum. Diaz and Lawler are great fighters who probably should go somewhere besides the UFC.

I love how some the the SI bloggers are saying Fedor showed weakness.
Seriously, you knock a guy completely out. That is a weakness? He looked he was actually going for the knock out. He didn't try to take Andrei down the couple of times they clinched (ironically it was Andrei who tried a trip).
I'm wondering if Fedor is going to try and change to more of a knockout fighter cause that is what people love in the United States.

---

Actually, I guess Fedor was working on some movie up until a month before the fight, so you might have been right about his conditioning in this one. Andrei actually looked pretty good...insanely fast hands, and nice leg kicks. He just got overaggressive and GOOD LORD did he pay the price! :D

Seeing as Robbie Lawler has been hanging out at various UFC and WEC events, it seems pretty likely he'll be back in the UFC. And it was announced today that Carlos Condit is being shifted from the WEC to the UFC, which makes good sense. WEC should be used as a sort of developmental organization...once a guy has proven he's ready for the big time (which Condit has been for years), you bring him over.

Anyway, UFC 94 in less than a week...I'm really looking forward to this! Not only for that insanely good main event, but there are some other fights that look interesting. If Lyoto Machida beats Thiago Silva, he's right in the title picture. The Nate Diaz-Clay Guida fight is solid, too...winer of that one moves up a tier and joins the big boys (I have to say I'd heavily favor Diaz, though...Guida's strength is takedowns, but Diaz BJJ off his back is insanely good. Diaz also has a major reach advantage and that sneaky jab when standing). And Karo and Stephan Bonnar coming back off injuries against a couple of young prospects.