The Glade 4.0

Very disappointed with Rogerio Nogueira's performance. But at the same time, credit is due to Brilz. After seeing how bad Luis Arthur Cane got wrecked, perhaps Rogerio's performance is put a bit back into perspective.

Still, I'm a big Nogueira brothers fan, so it's a bitter pill to swallow considering the bar they set for themselves in Pride FC.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

Rewatched Nogueira v. Brilz and I am more satisfied though still let down. Brilz used excellent wrestling but didn't do any damage from the guard/half guard. He did some decent damage on his feet. Nogueira looked good but not as crisp as previous outings with his championship caliber boxing. His use of sweeps and managing to snag a crucifix at the end of round 3 was impressive.

Here is a fun poster for all:

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

The Crocop fight was absolutely thrilling, and Chuck's glass jaw makes another appearance.

Fun night.

Hang them up, Chuck.

He doesn't have the technical soundness, nor does it appear he wants to adapt. Much like Wanderlei Silva, he simply was able to knock guys because he could eat a punch and counter. Too many years of sparring and fighting means he must adapt or face irrelevance.

Although, Franklin probably would have lost by TKO at the end of the round due to his broken arm.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

Small bit of news from Strikeforce last night....um...FEDOR LOST in the first round!

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Yea, huge shocker, Fedor crushed him on the feet and defeated the first armbar attempt.

I didn't think Werdum would be able to spin fast enough on his back to get Fedor back in his guard, but he locked in that triangle tight. Fedor should have rotated and pushed him against the cage and he might have been able to take away his space.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

If he didn't get that triangle, I don't see any possible way that Werdum would've won that fight. The fight turned south for him very quickly, but he managed to escape with a victory when Fedor put himself in a bad spot. Still, taking down the giant is a very amazing feat.

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From the interview, it was my understanding he purposefully went down after those 3 partial hits to try & lure him into getting too focused on a finish.

Either way, I'm glad he lost.

-Edited for typing too fast & making stupid typo's.

I suppose I could see that. Perhaps that was his tactic the entire time. I mean, who really wants to stand toe-to-toe with Fedor to begin with, exchanging blows?

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Not too many people would be my guess.

There are quite a few Heavyweights and HW/LHW/MW type guys who could tear up Fedor on his feet because his punching isn't overly technical.

Guys like Rogerio Nogueira, Belfort, dos Santos, and especially A. Silva would be guys Fedor would have some serious problems with. Arlovski was doing well too, until he committed a serious error. I personally think Overeem would have punished Fedor in the stand up. Even guys like Todd Duffee might have been able to put him away. But you can never be sure. Fedor might be sloppy but he has insane speed and the ability to be explosive from very awkward angles and in small spaces. A very tight, technical boxer such as Anderson Silva would give him the most trouble.

I think Fedor is and always has been most dangerous GnPing from inside the guard. He punched Noguiera so hard in Pride, I have a feeling that is why his career took a sharp descent.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

Great fights tonight.

I can't believe how much of a beating Lesnar took in the first round, yet was still able to hang in there. Beating Carwin is definitely an accomplishment. Lesnar is a beast!

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Two of the most important heavyweight fights ever ended by a triangle/armlock and arm triangle submission.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

Watching UFC 117 tonight, I was shocked to see Silva escape with a win. He was dominated the entire fight until he managed to submit Sonnen in the 5th round. I was actually kind of rooting for Silva, as he really didn't have much of an opportunity to do much the entire fight. Whenever he was on his feet, he was definitely the better fighter. The only problem, Sonnen took him down every single round within 30 seconds of the rounds begin. I swear 95% of the fight was Sonnen in guard, hitting Silva with 25% punches. Most of his punches beyond round 2 against Silva were more of an annoyance than anything dangerous. Once he gained position, he held it, not letting Silva escape from guard. It wasn't until the fifth round, when Sonnen was getting very tired, that he made the mistake of letting Silva lock the triangle choke. Sonnen should have done what he did the whole fight, control Silva from the top and ride it out to victory. Instead, he got careless and paid for it.

Even though Silva was dominated, you wouldn't know it by looking at him. He took more shots than he's ever had to take in his whole career, yet he still had no cuts. On the other hand, Sonnen was extremely bloodied up from a few shots Silva got on him from the bottom. While standing up, Silva landed a knee that rocked him for a minute, but Sonnen managed to get a takedown. I really can't believe how Silva managed to win this fight. It didn't look like he could ever escape from that guard. 20+ minutes of fighting and he couldn't figure it out, until all of the sudden he did it with like 2 minutes left in the fight. Amazing win for Silva, even though he shouldn't be wearing a belt right now. I guess that's what makes MMA exciting. It can end at any moment.

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Anderson Silva is the most versatile champ in the history of MMA.

BJ Penn was the most bittersweet.

Fedor Emelianenko is the most legendary.

Brock Lesnar was the one who had to fulfill the most unrealistic expectations.

But Cain Velasquez is well positioned to be the greatest. G O A T

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

Who would you label as "the most technically sound" and who would you label as "the most exciting"?

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Personally, I think Brock was the most exciting to watch. He may be inexperienced, but he brings intensity every fight. He also brings the most beastly body in MMA.

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I'd likely give GSP the nod for most technically sound.

I'll also second Brock as being the most exciting. I really have enjoyed watching his progressing with how fast he's taken to the sport. You never know what you'll get with him, but it's usually pretty exciting.

First of all, huge news that the UFC just absorbed the WEC and now will have featherweight and bantamweight classes. Champs Jose Aldo Jr. and Dominick Cruz will both become the automatic UFC Undisputed Champion and the winner of Henderson/Pettis will face the winner of Maynard/Edgar in a mini Lightweight tournament to unify the WEC and UFC titles.

Exciting:

Jose Aldo Jr. Here is a 24 year old kid 8-0 in the WEC, 7 by way of knockout and 1 by way of one of the most brutal 5 round thrashings ever executed which Uriah Faber had to suffer. He is 18-1 with 12 T(KO)'s and 2 submission victories though one of those submissions came from kicking a guy in the head.

He has the kind of dynamic athleticism that is just now becoming staple in modern hybrid combat promotions. You don't see guys who throw double flying knees and knock guys out 8 seconds into the first round or guys who can leg kick an orthodox fighter's right foot out from underneath him. The man is a savage.

Most exciting of all time: Wanderlei Silva, 'nuff said.

Runners up: Fedor Emelianenko, Mauricio Rua

Technical soundness, I would guess not in terms of pure technique but ability to execute and general effectiveness would be more complicated.

Striking: Allistair Overeem or Semmy Schlit. Both of these guys have extremely renowned kickboxing credentials and technical sound skills but Schlit lacks the athleticism to really be great outside of K-1. Obviously guys like Anderson Silva, Rua, Wanderlei and Aldo have great Muay Thai, but Silva is the most pinpoint sound out of all them, Wanderlei and Rua are very powerful brawlers who can bully their striking into working effectively and Aldo has the speed, power and great timing and distance. Thiago Alves has the best leg kicks in the modern game sans Antoni Hardonk. And of course there have been numerous boxers who have cross over who have punching skills that don't necessarily translate over: Ray Mercer, James Toney and One Glove Art Jimmerson.

Overall ... Anderson Silva. The guy puts on absolute clinics. His defense is really what sets him apart.

Clinchwork: Randy Couture here because he has the Greco Roman Olympic credentials and he uses them. He controls the fight inside the clinch, can punch effectively and can transition either back to standing or down to the ground at will and in a way that gives him the advantage. However, I just heard he retired. It's about time, he's freaking 48 years old.

Jon Jones is almost like a hybrid between Couture and Anderson Silva and is starting to learn some great Judo trips and throws when the other guy can maintain his base and hips. Brandon Vera has excellent MT skills in the clinch, probably one of the top 10 in the UFC overall and a Greco Roman background. On paper, he should be the best, but he falls apart in the actual fight.

All the MT guys have awesome knee work in the clinch. Judoka's like Yoshihiro Akiyama, Hidehiko Yoshida and Kazuhiro Nakamura are all internationally credential'd guys who can really dominate the fight when clinched.

Overall, no one has put the game together like Couture.

Wrestling: GSP GSP GSP

Too many runners up to mention. Funny how GSP didn't pick up wrestling until he started his MMA career. There are too many wrestlers to count that are great, many that are many times have much greater credentials than GSP (Lesnar, Velasquez, Jon Jones, Couture, Dan Henderson just to name a few) but GSP just looks the best when it comes to actually wrestling during the fight.

Jiu-Jitsu/Submission Grappling/Guard Game etc:

Once again, a billion fighters have top credentials (black belt victories or achievements in ADCC, Mundials or Pan Am's): Ricardo Arona, Rani Yahya, Jose Aldo Jr., Robert Drysdale, the entire Gracie family, Jake Shields, Fabricio Werdum, Demian Maia, Shinya Aoki, Megumi Fujii, Kurt Pelligrino etc etc.

Robert Drysdale, Roger Gracie, Ricardo Arona, Werdum and Maia are probably the best jiu-jitsu players in MMA, Yahya is probably the best at using grappling to win, Aoki is the best jiu-jitsu player to win a major title.

Overall, I'd give this to either Rani Yahya or Demian Maia.

Transitional: Scrambling, changing levels, flowing in and out of different phases, flowing between techniques.

I have no clue, but Mauricio Rua has always shown great overall game in this area.

So overall technically, I have no idea. GSP has awesome wrestling, but his punching is not that great (aside from his jab, but even that's only above average) and his submission game is horrible as evidenced by the Dan Hardy fight where all he had to do to lock in the armbar was squeeze his knees and bridge, something even White Belts know how to do.

Anderson Silva has ridiculous striking but his wrestling is non existence.

Fedor Emelianenko has shown he can dominate other fighters in every single phase of combat, but the way he does it makes purists cringe at his technique. Eventually, this cost him where he fought a very one dimensional Fabricio Werdum who capitalized on a tiny window of opportunity when Fedor tried to play Werdum's game.


The most technically sound fighter is probably some Journeyman at 145, 155 or 170 who will never make it as a contender due to bad conditioning, no heart, bad gameplan or whatever reason.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

I'm interested to see how the WEC thing pans out. They have a lot of exciting fighters, especially in an area the UFC doesn't, the lighter weight classes. They will compliment each other very well, leading to much more exciting PPV's.

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Once it is just a ledger in the annals of history, BJ Penn's career will be a mysterious jumble to those who didn't live through it.

I'm so amazed by Anderson Silva's continued dominance. I really think he is the best fighter in the world. He just makes everyone else look completely foolish.

Very excited for the JJ/Shogun fight, too. I hate Evans and I'm glad he wont be fighting.

Jon Jones: The Future is now. What a brutal, short night for poor Rua. His face was a mess and Jones looked like he just got off the treadmill. A lot like Mayweather vs. Marquez a year and a half ago.

Edson Barboza scores a razor thing UD win too. This kid will be the next big thing at 155. He's the Jose Aldo at lightweight.

Speaking of Aldo, he defends his featherweight title against Mark Homonick @ 129 co-main eventing with St. Pierre vs. Shields for the welterweight strap. Another kick *** card just a few weeks away.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

I heard Jones demo'd the **** out of Shogun. I tried to convince my buddies to go to a bar that was showing it so I could watch, at least, the main event and we could still drink, but I was unsuccesful. I still haven't watched Jones fight, which is totally crazy because he's one of the most exciting guys to watch I hear.

Before the fight I was calling Jones "Kickass" because of the mugger he apprehended in the park in NJ prior to the fight.
After the fight, I started calling him "The Future". That was a pretty thorough beat-down. The main fault I could find with Jones was that he didn't finish it a few times when he had the upper hand. I guess it's probable that his relative lack of experience and respect for Rua's skill may have led to him backing off a bit. I know I thought Rua would have acquitted himself better.

Faber had me a bit worried too, until he got Wineland on the mat.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko