Bloody Elbow

I disagree, he looked lean at WW.

From the presser:

Sanchez: There’s always a possibility for me to go back to 155. It’s hard for me to stay at 170. I have to lift weights a lot.

Nice!!!

rscott94 - February 15, 2012 reply

iirc

He said that the cut to 155 was a bit too much for him

IRodC - February 16, 2012 reply

He's the definition of a "tweener"

I remember reading about his diets to make 155, and how absolutely brutal they were. He has trouble at 170 because he is forced to bulk up beyond his prime level.

The UFC really needs to think about a 162.5 weight class

197

Apple Crumble Weight

162.5
YUSweight?

I think I’m one of the only people that digs the YUS thing.

Maybe because I really respect Anthony Robbins. Guy is a guru for a reason.

He wasted two million dollars worth of Kanye West's time.

Joke or not?

Not a joke. He even apologized for it.

#KobeSystem

I hate Kobe, but that commercial is pretty funny.

“You’re welcome.”

5th highest scorer of all time, son.

Watch the whole series. It's legitimately fantastic.

Thank you for this.

You're welcome.

This is us.

White men can't jump, so this can't be real.

Blake Griffin is bi-racial, so it's all good.

Damn that guy was a blast to watch in person in college

Mjub - February 16, 2012 reply

HAHA ANTHONY ROBBINS??

Body Triangle - February 16, 2012 reply

160 is Diazweight, as seen in EliteXC.

VenusBlue - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

The UFC does not need more weight classes

We can do Franklinweight but nothing more.

195 would be great. having 10 lb weight classes as the standard would be ideal, but it would dilute the talent too much. Plus you can’t really get rid of a weight class with a dominant and popular champion.

That being said, Having more weight classes= more champions= more championship fights on PPV?

it would become to much like boxing which is what the ufc is trying to avoid

I’m not saying the UFC will ever do it. But a 20 lbs gap between weight classes is massive.

its only like that between light heavyweight and middleweight

eventually the talent pool will become so saturated that the only plausible reaction would be to make new weight classes

Cruiserweight, and something b/t Light and Welter would be my first choices

i doubt it will happen anytime soon

i meant to add a "probably when we're old men" line

but that assumes you’re around my age.

im 20

i'm 27

so yeah, when we’re in our 40s or 50s I’m thinking

i dont wanna wait :(

I don't think he touches a title belt at lightweight

But I think he can definitely be competitive in that division, maybe even get another title shot.

I definitely like him better at 170.

He seems to have alot more energy at welter.

Until the Penn fight

I thought Diego looked really imposing at 155. I’d love to see a rematch with KenFlo at that weight as a way to re-showcase a couple of long time contenders.

Absolutely a fight that has enough name value to be a Fuel/FX headliner. Or Fox/PPV co-main eventer.

Cory Braiterman - February 15, 2012 reply

sounds like my fanpost

...

Where can I watch the press conference?

blutspender - February 15, 2012 reply

Not streaming. Sadly.

I never thought Brookins was ever good.

I figured if he couldn’t get the takedown, he was screwed, but I’m glad I was wrong. He seemed like a nice guy on TUF. Good for him.

jason18 - February 15, 2012 reply

He still isn't. Rocha is just considerably worse

Brookins is going to be a gatekeeper at 145.

is Pearson fighting anyone? I’d give Brookins to him.

I like Brookins more than you, but I like Pearson/Brookins a lot.

No need to hate me :(

I would like to see Hettes vs. Brookins

Both are scrambly grapplers, so I think that fight would be pretty cool.

Good idea, too.

Hettes by being a better fighter.

True

But he did kind of gas late against Phan, so I wouldn’t be shocked if Brookins could rally late. Luckily he just beat him down so epically that Phan was even more gassed out in the end.

I like that.

No, Brookins is good

Cerrone couldn’t finish Rocha in three rounds and Cerrone had some size on Rocha. Brookins also looked more muscular/stronger this time around, and he seemed relaxed and confident. He’s a smart young fighter, has a good clinchwork, nice lateral drop, nice ground game too.You could see he knew what to do and once the situation allowed him he finished Rocha.

Derrida - February 16, 2012 reply

If Diego drops to 155 I’d really dig him vs. Guillard

Seriously there are so many fights for Diego at 155 that he could win

And become a contender again now that Penn isn’t there to snap his head around.

I'd love to see Diego vs. Cowboy. So much.

T.C. Engel - February 15, 2012 reply

me too

but both at jacksons

This is why I am liking Jacksons less and less

Way too many barnburners ruined by “DON’T FIGHT TEAMMATES”.

for sure

id prefer diego vs pettis lauzon loser or guillard…maynard & guida r both coming off loses too but guida is at jackson and maynard might be to high up

Maynard vs. Diego would be a pretty good fight.

A bit off topic

The only camp I can think off that fights each other is Golden Glory.

The only other one that comes to mind is...

Roop and Hominick. Other than that, I think you’re right.

Still, just saying it would kick extra ass.

T.C. Engel - February 16, 2012 reply

He would win IMO, too much “gameness”

Afrotikiman - February 15, 2012 via mobile reply

guillard did leave jacksons

“Ellenberger became the last fighter on the night to not understand that when Jon Anik asks what you want next, that they want a soundbyte to use hyping up a future fight.”

So true.
Diego, on the other hand, sounded like he was angling for a rematch with Diaz. Given how their first fight went, I say go for it.

M C M - February 15, 2012 reply

Diaz is vastly improved while Sanchez isn't

But it would still be nuts for five rounds.

But it would still be nuts for ~~five~~ two rounds.

Diaz would TKO the shit out of Diego. 3 rds at the longest.

Yeah,,,

cause Diaz has more power than Ellenberger.

Crazynutts - February 16, 2012 reply

At the same time

Diaz hits guys a lot more than Ellenberger, and pure volume is a good way to get to someones chin. Look at Paul Daley. He had never really been legitimately knocked out until Diaz started teeing off on him.

Ellenberger, sharp as he is, throws 1 or 2 power shots at a time. Diaz swarms. Imagine if Jake had put the pressure on while Diego put his own back against the fence and traded shots for half of round 1? Diego doesn’t control the cage well, doesn’t defend punches well, and doesn’t have success with his takedowns unless you move backwards.

Have you seen their first fight?

I think a rematch would be very competitive.

Anyone who says different probably hasn’t seen the first fight. Diaz still can’t stop the takedown, and Diego is still a solid wrestler.

MicahtheCynic - February 16, 2012 reply

I have seen the first fight.

Diego is basically the same fighter he was then, though he’s been having almost zero success with his takedowns lately. Like SSreporters said below:

Diego Sanchez is 4 of 59 in takedown attempts in his last 5 fights.

Diaz, on the other hand, has improved dramatically since that first fight. Granted, his wrestling hasn’t been tested yet and that’s his biggest weakness, but given how anemic Diego has been with the takedown lately, given that he needs to get the other man moving backwards to mount any offense, and given that Nick is great at moving forward and keeping pressure on guys that have crappy footwork like Diego, I don’t think a second meeting would look much like the first.

Cyborg Santos took down Diaz.

FUCKING CYBORG.

(drops mic, walks away)

MicahtheCynic - February 16, 2012 reply

And got tapped out almost immediately

Diego hasn't been successful with takedowns, because look at who he's fought-

BJ Penn- LEGENDARY takedown defense.
Hathaway- strong grappler, and Hathaway hurt him badly, early.
Thiago- Diego may have gone 2 for 8 on takedowns against him, but he made those takedowns fucking COUNT. And one of those takedowns involved Sanchez running across the cage and emitting primal war cry, and slamming the shit out of Paulo.
Kampmann- some of the most technical takedown defense in the game. Guy isn’t an easy takedown for anyone.
Ellenberger- POWERHOUSE wrestler.

BJ Penn couldn

Wow, epic fail

BJ Penn couldn’t take him down, and he is a much better wrestler than Sanchez in every way.

That's actually not true.

Penn took Diaz down in the first and briefly had his back.

That was after a knockdown wasnt it?

Pretty sure it was a takedown.

Not 100% tho.

BJ doesn't have the kind of endurance at 170 that Diego has.

When he was fresh, Baby Jay got Nick on his back.

Diaz might be looking at a year long suspension

He might be able to challenge and get it reduced to six months

I wouldn’t be shocked.

this incompetent commission

if chael can, he can

i hear all you have to do is turn up and they’ll reduce it

then again i love diaz so i’m happy with this for now

I didn't hear much of Diego's post-fight speech.

I muted when he started complaining about his ankle.

I think it's somewhat silly to

A.) Even think Sanchez was close to a 10-8 round based on 90 seconds of a five minute round. Especially since prior to Ellenberger losing position he took Diego down and then after Ellenberger survived the punchfest he escaped Diego’s backmount and landed two flush strikes to close out the fight.

B.) Assume that Diego would likely win rounds 4 and 5 in a hypothetical five round fight. Bar one or two exchanges, I don’t think Sanchez clearly won any striking battle on the feet. It could have changed if Ellenberger’s hand is supposedly injured, or Jake could’ve crushed him with knees. Either way, I would’ve liked to see this go five.

Also, if every main event is going to be five rounds from now on, I highly doubt they can do it to Alves/Kampmann and they legally cannot do it for Lil Nog/Gustafsson.

They'd get arrested for accessory to manslaughter if they gave Gustafsson five rounds to punch Lil Nog.

yeah

because lil nog can’t box

elmojo - February 16, 2012 reply

Gustafsson uses his reach really well, has sick power

And yeah Lil Nog can box, he just only does it with one hand. His right hand is trash.

Gustafsson probably can get a TKO if he wanted but I’m thinking he’ll take a decision

I think Nog's boxing technique will win him that fight.

He does tend to overuse the left hand, but he’ll find plenty of openings on gustafsson, who can get a bit wild at times.

lolumad - February 16, 2012 reply

Gustaffson hasn't been wild at all in his last two outings

He's hittable though, and Nog has legitimate boxing chops.

lolumad - February 16, 2012 reply

Nog's pretty hittable too. I'll be picking The Mauler on this one

Gustaf has good boxing credentials himself.

He’s significantly bigger than Rogerio, and is the fresher athlete at this point.

Brent Brookhouse - February 16, 2012 reply

That is exactly how I’m looking at that fight, the younger athlete wins.

Mr.Kib - February 16, 2012 reply

Ellenberger looked to be visibly fading more than Diego to me. I can’t guarantee Diego would have won 4 and 5. But I think they would have been damn good fights.

And why not do it for both of those fights? They’re great fights and should be 5 rounds. Honestly…probably 50% of UFC bouts should be 5 rounds.

There's no way they would change Alves/Kampmann to five rounds on 16 days notice

And Sweden doesn’t allow five round fights.

Brent Brookhouse - February 16, 2012 reply

I forgot that fight was so close. So..yeah

I'm down with the idea that was floated before

If you’re on the UFC maincard, its five rounds.

If you’re on the undercard, 3 rounds

ME/Title Fights should be 7 rounds

How about title fights with 10X3 minute rounds and 30 seconds of break between the rounds? It adds essentially a 5 minute round with a 1 minute break

if we're gonna go fantasy

I’d rather 7 minute rounds or something to that effect. 3 minutes isn’t enough for the BJJ guys to work their juju

juju? lol

lol that wasn't an intentional pun on Jiu Jitsu

Troof.

Kwisatz Haderach - February 16, 2012 reply

I'd love 10 minute rounds for title fights.

No, 3 minutes is far too short for MMA.

5 rounds main card fights
7 rounds title fights

Agreed

My dream

Is 5 round main card fights and 7 round title fights.

Same.

Are you trying to kill all heavyweights?

7 round fights are probably gonna look ugly for MW and up.

Title fights.

I think the top guys can handle it.

I also agree.

But save the 7 rounders for special occasions. Or leave an option open to go 7 if the fight is close.

My opinion is keep it at 3 rounds but do 3, 10 minute rounds instead. More time for each person to work in there respective art.

cager - February 16, 2012 reply

Part of the reason that MMA has less classic fights than boxing is that we're limited by time

If you look at a lot of the best fights during a year, a large majority of them are five rounders for a reason.

Problem with that is

1. It will ultimately lead to less fights per card
2. Less fights per year
3. Less fighters on the UFC roster
4. Fewer opportunities for guys to make a living being full-time fighters

Also, for every fight that would have been a classic with two extra rounds. You will see six fights where guys paced themselves and had to drag through two gassed, sloppy rounds.

Part of the reason MMA has taken over boxings market share is that it’s decided quickly. And it can hold our shortening attention spans. I hate to see the UFC mess up a good thing by over reacting to one fights outcome every three months.

As Chael Sonnen said himself “25 minutes is too long for someone to sit around and watch anything”.

totally agree

most fighters don’t have the conditioning to go for long fights like that

countless fighters gas in 3 rounds and the state of affairs hasn’t improved in years, so it’s hard to say that more rounds will force cardio evolution

I agree with your first point

but not the conclusions you draw from it.

It might not impact the number fights per year at all- the UFC could just do the same number of fights over more cards. More free cards on FX and Fuel, saving the best of the best for PPV.

It wouldn’t necessarily reduce the number of fighters on roster either.

Another couple of possible consequences then

Is that we will see fewer fights per card. So that might lead to cards being less what would have been the best fight on the card.

We also might run into a situation where a card having 8 fights instead of 11 will lead to a short night of fights if you end up with a night of really fast stoppages.

Also, you run the risk of just prolonging out and making much worse some boring fights. For every fight where you really wish there was an extra couple of rounds. There will be several that we wished were shorter.

I conceded your first point, I think that will happen if matches are longer

there will always be boring fights though. I don’t think longer matches will necessarily lead to more of them. I guess I’m biased cause I came into MMA fandom as a boxing fan, and am used to watching the best boxers go 36 minutes. There’s still a “wtf” moment when I see a 10 round fight on HBO/Showtime or especially ppv. In my opinion, alot of the real fights are just beginning at the 15 minute mark.

You are 100% right about what happens if 6 of the 8 ppv bouts are finished quickly… and I got no answer to that :-\

I don't get

Why nobody realises that fighters fight differently in a 5 round fight compared to a 3 round fight. Saying “Diego would’ve won that fight if it had lasted two more rounds” makes no sense – “that fight” only lasted 3 rounds. I happen to think Diego could beat Berger in a 5 round fight but it makes no sense to assume that a 5 round fight would go Diego’s way based on Ellenberger gassing late in a 3 round fight.

Ellenberger did pace himself in that fight though

MichaelDavidSmith - February 16, 2012 reply

Sports fans always do that

“If Tom Brady hadn’t been called for intentional grounding in the first quarter, the Patriots wouldn’t have let the Giants score at the end of the game.” Except the circumstances of the game would have been different and no one knows if things would have played out the same way.

I agree, we have no way of knowing how Sanchez or Ellenberger would have approached the fight differently if they had known they had to go for 10 more minutes.

Having said that, I sure wish we could have seen a fourth round!

so agree

I was looking like my dog does when I talk to him you know head cocked sideways, when I saw the 10-8 thing. That’s a Cecil right there.

Bloodsport - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

They can do it for Lil Nog and Gustafsson...

if they agree to a modification of the contract.

Oops.

Just saw the Sweden and 5 round comment.

Bonuses?

Anyone know?

TheIrishLemon - February 15, 2012 via mobile reply

$50,000 to each.

Sub-Menjivar
KO-Miocic
FOTN-Ellenberger/Sanchez

Damn

I would of gave Brookins KOTN

rscott94 - February 15, 2012 reply

Agreed.

Sucks for Albert

it really does btw is he jewish?

How?

He lost fair and square. The only thing that sucks is that Sanchez and Ellenberger was awesome. If it wasn’t, he and menjivar also would’ve gotten FOTN.

Albert-Menjivar

Was way better than Ellenberger-Sanchez.

I agree, but I think they got it due to length of the fight.

Which is bullshit

If a longer fight is almost as exciting over the course of 3 rounds then by all means it should be FotN, but when Sanchez-Ellenberger was sort of good and Albert-Menjivar was ridiculously awesome it’s an easy choice for me.

At least he got it right with Brandao/Bermudez.

I wonder how many 1 round fights have won FOTN?

Off the top of my head: Belcher/Gouveia, Bermudez/Brandao, Silva/Griffin.

pickett/barao too?

Violent Newt - February 16, 2012 reply

i think they also like to give main events fotn if possible

gsp-kos was an exception, for some reason dana wanted to give it to pierson-riddle, which was a disgrace

Personally, I though Brookins deserved the KO.

It was vicious, it was a surprise, and most saw a Miocic KO coming.

KOTN*

I'm kinda glad Diego lost.

I’m fine with fighters thanking god and all, but he kinda bugged me tonight with the way he carried that cross to cage.

I'd like to thank god for creating Diego Sanchez

Damn you...

I'm curious what your score was for this event.

30-26 Satan

Lol,

but I meant your playground score.

60 points.

I did fucking awful tonight.

You still did better than 60% of BE

i got 40

It was a really hard card to call.

the hot bout saved my ass to be honest

Yeah.

I can’t believe I almost picked Anton.

Kevin Jennison J. Zametov-St Pierre - February 16, 2012 reply

10/11 for 67. bitchesssss

How the hell can you get 10/11 out of 9 fights?

I beat average again?

Awesome. I’d love to meet Dallas in person and give him a hug. His breakdown and the knowledge of Salas’ collegiate wrestling pedigree and Anton’s gas tank were the reasons that I switched from Anton by tko to Salas by UD.

Everybody had Salas UD

Most everybody got the rest wrong, though.

Struve by second round tko and Brookins by first round KO.

Who the fuck would’ve thought?

I got a 79. Fuck everyone,

I’ll be the 2011 Marshawn Lynch of the BECW, forgettable during the first half of the season, and leaving all you mutherfukers in my dust, during the second half.

Ha. What's your overall score?

368.

Not bad at all.

You part of the Civil War?

(See sig)

Gotcha.

Attaboy Mendoza!

Darren Sharper can’t take you down! It’s gonna take more than that!

PistonHyundai - February 16, 2012 reply

I think I got 55

I couldn’t figure out what was going on with Struve in the first round, but I almost wonder if he was just buying his time and letting Pee Wee wear down. In the second round, Dave looked really out of it and Struve came out way stronger and putting together combinations instead of single strikes at a time.

Zachary Kater - February 15, 2012 reply

Struve is a slow starter

and is one of those fighters that I’ll never really figure out.

sun yue - February 16, 2012 reply

Matches to make:

Ellenberger/Condit
Sanchez/Loser of Alves/Kampmann and if he’s dropping to LW, Maynard or Florian if Florian recovers
Struve/Winner of Hunt/Kongo
Herman/Loser of Hunt/Kong
Markes/Herman
Simpson/Starkes
Miocic/Winner of Barry/Johnson
De Fries/JOE/Morecraft if they haven’t already been cut
Dillashaw/Menvijar
Watson/Albert
Brookins/Arantes
Rocha/Cut or Carvalho
Salas/Means
Anton/Magahlaes or cut

sun yue - February 15, 2012 reply

Sanchez/Loser of Lauzon/Petits would be fun too

sun yue - February 15, 2012 reply

I doubt Florian's recovering.

He’s already in talks of retiring. Plus, he doesn’t need it, with UFC Tonight, the commentary job, and he runs a very successful gym.

and don't forget his over-sized cranium...

the man is positively dome rich.

Bdnoyes - February 16, 2012 reply

I think Condit should fight Hendricks if he beats Koscheck.

Kampmann (If he wins) vs. Ellenberger sounds nice. Winner getting a re-match with Condit.

We have a lot of similar fights

I will continue to be a broken record about Struve.

BE TALL YOU GOOFY FUCK!

He needs to be locked in a room for a month and forced to watch film of Semmy Schilt. His coach would not speak to him except to say the words “jab” and “front kick”.

No, he needs to be locked in a room and forced to watch Paul Williams.

“Stephan, fix you shit.”

Also acceptable

worst hook ever

I don't get why Struve has never tried to train with Schilt.

Or at least brought him in as a training partner. That said, Struve honestly didn’t do that bad, trading with Herman. He DID rock him with that uppercut, and provide the opportunity for the fight ending mount.

I agree, I was impressed with the way he turned it up in the second round and started putting his combinations together. What’s frustrating, though, is that he could be much, much better than he is right now. Schilt is a bit reclusive in his training, so maybe he’s not open to working with Struve, but even if that never ends up happening I hope that his trainers really emphasize using his distance.
Side note: Struve’s progression is starting to look eerily like Overeem’s, minus the sojourn at 205 and against a lower level of competition. As he’s gotten bigger, his chin’s improving, and his striking is catching up to his grappling.

I don't think it's a matter of his chin improving,

but a matter of him not getting hit hard and flush like he has in the past. Barry and Herman both tagged him a few times, but nothing like what Cigano, Nelson, and Browne hit him with.

His defense is getting better

But Junior, Big Country, and Browne all hit him with heavy single shots that either clean KO’d him or led to a barrage on the ground. He took some big shots from Barry and Herman, and I don’t think Country and Browne hit any less hard than those two. He’s not getting hit as many times, but I’d argue that his ability to take a single shot has improved.

*harder, not less hard

looks like Nick Diaz thought diego won. This is from his twitter account:

Diego Sanchez won regardless what the judges think that’s what the fight showed !

Sad night for old Jake E had this been real shit he would be dead!

darkotto23 - February 16, 2012 reply

except what nick thinks doesnt matter at all

once again fighters don't always make the best judges

MaZZacare - February 16, 2012 reply

Once again fighters make the worst judges

not the worst per se

there is just alot of possibility of bias towards their fighting style imo

he isnt biased, hes nuts

LOL

oh nick

Nick Diaz doesn’t have a twitter account, its pretty well known that the only way to contact him on the internet is through his youtube account

jammin.. - February 16, 2012 reply

Hilarious if true

His Youtube favorites are hilarious.

This is also true.

so they are!

an eclectic set of tastes

the man’s fascinating

also who knew he was a brotha lynch fan

Diaz is a G from Cali and

Who the fuck isn’t a Brotha Lynch fan?

40 Cal. - February 16, 2012 reply

true, brotha lynch fell back on quick

last two albums were sick

hasn’t released anything since coathanga strangla, right?

dunno why i assumed diaz would be into some more rock-y type stuff

Hmmm

Don’t know what happened. The post was something along the lines of
“lol

literally listening to Lynch’s “Dinner and a movie” right now."

Tacoknight - February 16, 2012 reply

lol

Literally listening to Lynch’s “Dinner and a movie” album right now.

He’s had some duds, but Lynch still puts out some good shit.

Tacoknight - February 16, 2012 reply

That is hilarious

I see Diaz still hasn't stopped hitting the bong

Whether he really said this or not

I can see the “Diaz scoring system” slowly becoming a meme.

Deadp001 - February 16, 2012 reply

Matches to make

Ellenberger vs. Condit
Sanchez vs. Edgar/Hendo loser
Struve vs. Kongo/Hunt winner
Herman vs. De Fries
Markes vs. Dollaway
Simpson vs. Dan Miller
Miocic vs. Mitrione or Barry/Hunt loser
De Fries vs. Don’t Care
Dillashaw vs. Denis
Watson vs. Papazian
Brookins vs. Pearson
Salas vs. Don’t Care

CUT

Rocha
Magalhaes
The Finland Guy

throwing him in vs bendo or edgar is a bit much for his first fight back at lw

Tats16 - February 16, 2012 reply

If Diego was a top 5 LW with a title shot without ever beating a top 10 fighter

They’d gladly throw him Bendo or Edgar.

If you want to give him someone easier than Guillard, Pettis, or Lauzon.

Guida not top 10 at LW?

Guida was not a top 10 ranked fighter at the time they fought

I’d totally be down for a rematch, though.

are you sure? he was on a 3 fight win streak at the time which was topped off by nate diaz

plus diego fought him after fighting stevenson who just fought penn. he mustve been top ten at the time

nevermind he fought and lost to florian before that

Yea thats wut i was thinking

thot he lost the diaz fight tho

Quick check of the Sherdog June and July 2009 rankings

Suggest neither Sanchez nor Guida was ranked in the top 10. This was the case before and after their fight.

Lemme check BE rankings.

makes no sense as diego go a title shot right after

Makes perfect sense

It was one of the best fights ever and they wanted to capitalize on Diego’s war. Didn’t deserve the shot at all, but from a marketing standpoint it did great on PPV

i guess thats true

Well, and the rest of the top ten was splintered between DREAM, Bellator, and Strikeforce.

Two years passed, those guys mostly passed their prime so it’s easy to judge now, but Diego was legitimately the best LW available to the UFC at the time.

thats sad if you think about it

They could've given it to Edgar straight away after the Sherk fight

But Diego is….Diego.

The leadup to Penn/ Sanchez was awesome

And then Penn almost put Diego down in the first minute, and Diego spent the next four rounds hugging BJs leg

Best part was the PPV promo

“In his mind, Diego Sanchez is already champion……”

And then his head turned into a vagina.

The fightmetric stats on that fight were terrible

no takedowns, and like 8 strikes total landed for Sanchez right?

A guy with awesome takedown defense and precision boxing is a complete mismatch for Diego.

BJ Penn slapped himself in the face to celebrate the win

more times than Diego actually hit him in the fight. Real stat.

I miss this BJ Penn so much!

Even Herb Dean right there is like, nah man, I aint getting near that fool

soilworker - February 16, 2012 reply

This Penn?

This guy

I’d lose money for in a rematch against edgar. I think diaz broke him from ever coming back like that again though.. :(

cager - February 16, 2012 reply

YES!

Come at me Bro!

soilworker - February 16, 2012 reply

BJ was taking orders from psychoblack

Skoobs - February 16, 2012 reply

aren't they both with Jackson though?

YUS

I wouldn't

Sanchez beat him down ten eight status in the first and won every round after that.

No way did he win 30-26

Guida barely did anything in that fight

The first round he got destroyed. The second round he got a takedown and got his face pounded in with elbows. The third was closer, but I still gave it to Sanchez.

Guida is probably the worst offensive fighter in his division outside of taking the back once or twice in a scramble.

Finnish dude will stay

AwkwardBoner - February 16, 2012 reply

uhh

Herman vs. De Fries

De Fries vs. Don’t Care

Three man cage match.

who was the top 10 at that time?

not trying to call u out but im kinda interested to see the rankings ffrom then compared to now

i guess josh thompsonq

& Satoru Kitaoka were but guida nor diego was top10

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/6/24/920583/usat-sbn-june-mma-consensus

Here we are

Sanchez #12 and Guida #19.

Its crazy looking back

on that now & seeing how awful the rankings look in this day in most the weight classes

I lost points on Herman, but I'm so glad he got his shit rocked.

He referred to jiu-jitsu as “gay”. Glad to see Struve pound him out from full mount.

Same

Although it was the “jiu-jitsu doesn’t work on me” comment that annoyed me.

He repeatedly rips on it.

If he knew some fucking jiu-jitsu, he could’ve gotten back to half guard and saved me some points.

he shoulda gave up his back and snuck out the back door again

but I think he was too gassed/rocked to flip over with struve on him that time.

I think this will be the last time I pick against Struve.

Dude almost always finds a way to win.

Except when he loses.

And loses badly

Well obviously.

That’s why I said “almost”. He was losing to Stojnic, Morecraft, McCorkle, and Herman and still came back to finish them all.

He's a really slow starter

Which is why they can’t give him any HW in the top 15 because they’d make his brain cease functionality.

hopefully he starts using that jab more... it was a damn effective combo opener when he threw it like he meant it instead of just as a range finder

He has such long limbs and such potential to be a decent striker, but he's so awkward on the feet.

He looked a lot smoother tonight than he has in the past. He’s like a puppy growing into his body.

team quest

always has slacked on the jiu jitsu:

Couture got styled on by Nog

Sonnen and triangles

Hendo is a turtle when put on his back

Lindlad is the best grappler of the bunch but he still gets tapped by elite grapplers.

T.P. Grant - February 16, 2012 reply

Ed Herman is/was a Quest guy, right? He’s a solid grappler. The exception that proves the rule maybe?

VenusBlue - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

it depends on which Quest gym

because Vinny used to train with one of them and actually got some of them grappling pretty well.

T.P. Grant - February 16, 2012 reply

Speaking of Lindland and superior grapplers

I watched his fight with Bustamante the other day: man, Murilo looked awesome in that fight. It’s a shame he didn’t stay in the UFC instead of pretending to be a light heavy in Pride.w

VenusBlue - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

Jon Anik and Kenny Florian were weak tonight

And Florian is the main problem. He does more play by play than Rogan and thinks every punch has someone “in huge trouble”.

Anik has got to be more assertive and make some good calls instead of letting Kenny run the show. I think I want Couture as analyst or an Anik/Rogan test run.

Oh yeah, Anik is still better than Goldberg and he certainly doesn’t handle criticism of his commentary like Mikey does (actual tweets from Goldie):

https://twitter.com/#!/MFG16/status/168596269818851328

another keyboard coward..grab a headset or shut the fuck up…good talk

dumb ass..my kids are on twitter and have more class and education then you do…grow the fuck up

Oops, just actually read a bunch of your tweets, u r just a dumb fuck, good talk’

The UFC hires some classy folk to be on camera, don’t they? Can you imagine Jim Nantz telling people to suck his cock?

What they were tweeting to him was hardly constructive criticism.

The knee tweet was pretty funny though

Most comments on Twitter aren't constructive

Doesn’t mean you have to reply to them.

Right, not at all classy by Goldberg, beginning to think Cory or whoever was right about him being drunk.

But there’s a difference between criticism and flat-out insulting someone.

Oh they're definitely insulting

But if Joe Buck came across a comment on twitter saying “Buck sux he’s boring as shit” and Buck replied with “blow me u dumb fuck” it would be A.) The most exciting thing Buck has ever said and B.) Completely out of line for a professional to say.

I mean, among Dana, Rogan (although he makes crude statements as a job), Goldberg, and the Fertittas the UFC has to have the worst knowledge of how PR works. Ever. The shit they say wouldn’t fly in any other industry in sport/entertainment.

It’s sort of a chicken and the egg thing. Is Zuffa allowed to get away with these things because they don’t have full mainstream media coverage, or are they not fully accepted into the mainstream because of things like this?

I'd tend to side with the latter

Because they’re mainstream enough that the Anonymous hacking made the news and their fight results and news are updated on ESPN’s ticker.

I think for the most part their biggest employees acting like idiots on the internet hurts them. Imagine if they did go “full mainstream”, Dana White won’t stop. Joe Rogan won’t stop. Goldberg might stop but who knows?

I really wouldn't have cared that Goldberg did this

except for the fact that he comes off like a little kid trying to talk shit.

Anik wasn't better than Goldberg tonight

Did Anik say inane shit like Werdum's knees are reminiscent of Anderson Silva's?

If not, he’s better.

Anik had an off-night. It’ll take time.

I think Kenny said Ellenbergers counters were like "anderson silva stuff" or some such

Goldy says multiple indefensible things every event.

He said nobody in MMA knew how to be damaging with knees in the clinch before Anderson Silva vs Rich Franklin. Like Wanderlei Silva and Shogun never existed.

Mitch Hedburg said it best

“I’ve got to talk for 45 minutes… that’s like a sitcom and a HALF… so I know ya’ll are sick of me…I’m sick of me too”

and yes, the ellipses are necessary

Mithch Hedburg,.Green all day every day!

Mr.Kib - February 16, 2012 reply

Joe Rogan podcast by night!

GreyedOut - February 16, 2012 reply

Goldie makes a ton of mistakes

But he’s still my favourite PBP guy because of his ability to keep things going. Ranallo is insufferable, Sean Wheelock is terrible (Jimmy Smith is decent, though) and Anik has had one good and one bad event.

Goldy is terrible at his job. Legitimately awful at it.

He has a pretty voice but zero content to communicate and no grasp on the action. In addition, he speaks with terrible grammar, flow, sentence structure.

Mike Goldberg is ignorant and incompetent. His commentary is bad and he should feel bad.

Goldy doesn't even do his job

Rogan does it for him most of the time.

Tats16 - February 16, 2012 reply

Oh Goldy does his job

He advertises stuff like the next PPV and sponsers. Thats all Dana wants him to do, convince people to buy shit with his pretty voice while Rogan carries the fight commentary.

Deadp001 - February 16, 2012 reply

I cringed at that line

I thought Anik's debut

Was excellent. Tonight he seemed bereft of confidence – he relied on Goldberg-esque “90 seconds to go” calls and obviously read from a script most of the night instead of calling the fights.

I don’t know how to explain it, but there’s something good about Goldie that Anik doesn’t have. He’s got a natural charismatic TV voice, basically. As long as he sticks to what he’s good at, basic info, set-up questions for Joe to explain things to casual fans, and plugging sponsors, I think he’s fine. People here complain all the time, but it’s not like the majority of people watching UFC events are actually dwelling on some weird fantasy that Goldie is diminishing the quality of the fights they’re watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shUqYIkMXu0

Anik doesn't have a deep voice

Or a classic broadcasting style that you hear from old boxing clips.

I think that’s lacking in most sports, though. So clearly we need a British voice on the UFC.

Something similar to this commentary of Khan/Prescott.

I think Anik would be better suited for what Glazer is doing now.

Here's how I'd handle UFC on FOX

Anik as host (dump Menefee), Couture as analyst. Goldberg and Rogan do their thing as announcers. Hell I think there’s a legit case to do this for PPVs like boxing does for major cards.

Smaller cards let Anik and Couture commentate with Todd Harris as host and a rotating wheel of pro fighters as guests.

Fire Goldberg.

Hire Quadros and Bas.

I wish they would fire Rogan too, but I appear to be in the minority as a Rogan-hater.

Finian1 - February 16, 2012 reply

Bas Rutten is the worst

You’re buggin.

Kevin Jennison J. Zametov-St Pierre - February 16, 2012 reply

If you are missing the chromosome that allows one to perceive that Bas is totally awesome, I can’t help you. But either way, Bas can’t be the worst because he isn’t Frank Shamrock.

Finian1 - February 17, 2012 reply

Bas, Rogan and Mir

what a trio

Bas in a UFC booth

Oh god

really? i thought he was good yesterday

Anyone is better than Goldie at this point. Just the fact that Anik spoke in full sentences, and used proper grammar was enough to put him over Goldberg in my book.

Not to mention he doesn’t say half the crazy shit that comes of out Golide’s mouth.

darkotto23 - February 16, 2012 reply

Wow, if I did the math right

Diego Sanchez is 4 of 59 in takedown attempts in his last 5 fights. 1-15 vs. Kampmann, 0-1 vs. Ellenberger, 0-27 vs. Penn, 2-8 vs. Thiago, 1-8 vs. Hathaway. That has to be the worst percentage in UFC history.

Jesus and didn't he fail at like 27 attempts against penn?

That's why I said 0-27 vs. Penn

Yep.

But wasn't it something crazy,

like missing 27 straight TDs against Penn?

Farthammer - February 16, 2012 reply

I remember him missing at least 26 of them.

Can’t remember if he got the last one or not.

Scanned too quick and saw Hathaway was the last one you listed, so I thought they were in chronological order.

Either way, that’s ridiculous.

That's awful.

I doubt Sanchez can compete at the top of the division anymore, but with all the FOTN bonuses he makes, at least he can pay off his debt and possibly retire early.

He probably would have won a 5 round fight tonite against a guy who should be challenging for the Interim title in his next fight.

I’d say that’s competing at the top of the division.

He's batting .500 when he should be 1-3 in his last 4

With a woeful blowout loss to Hathaway, a comeback vs. Thiago, an ass kicking against Kampmann, and for the most part an ass kicking vs. Ellenberger. He was knocked down in all of his recent losses and then the Kampmann fight.

The top of the division would nuke him. Hendricks would wreck him. GSP isn’t even a debate. Alves probably would chop his legs off. Kampmann already beat him but the judges were as blind as Diego was in that fight.

I think if he goes back to LW he can be an instant contender again. But at WW? Too many fighters who will stifle his aggressive style and too many power-punchers who would hit him again and again.

I'm not saying he's gonna get the title. Ever.

But he’s definitely competitive with the top of the division, even at WW. Basically a WW Clay Guida.

That's actually a great comparison for him.

True, but he still has that loss to hathaway and should've lost to Kampmann.

I don’t think he’s suited for welterweight. Lightweight he could probably challenge again.

Did anyone else think it was possible that Ellenberger broke his hand in the second round?

I thought I saw him shake it out really quickly. Then he seemed hesitant to throw the right that he was countering with beautifully all night. When he took Diego down and started unleashing those hellbows, it was just added evidence in my mind. But he never said anything like that after the fight so who knows. If any of you rewatch the fight soon, look for that in the second round. Then Jake becomes really hesitant to throw any with his right hand.

Tim Bernier - February 16, 2012 reply

He definitely didn't seem as willing to strike and was really pressing for the elbows on the ground at the end of the 2nd.

So it wouldn’t surprise me if he did break it.

I even forgot to mention he threw a standing elbow from clinch range. Just adds to my thought.

Tim Bernier - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

Yeah, I definitely noticed that as well. Right before he shook it out, he threw a punch that made a nasty snap sound. Hopefully it’s nothing major, if he did break it, and he isn’t sidelined forever.

woooburn - February 16, 2012 reply

To be fair, Jake doesn’t seem the type to list off all his injuries whether they happened in the fight or before the fight. /cough Diego /cough

andrew861 - February 16, 2012 reply

Diego's crazy. I give him a pass for going off on crazy rants.

I mentioned this in the BE Radio thread

But it’s pretty clear to me that most Greg Jackson fighters are extremely flawed strikers, offensively or defensively. GSP exempt, look at Guida, Jardine, Sanchez, Garcia, Cerrone, Rashad from the Machida to Rampage fight, and Jon Jones don’t have significant problems with one of:

- Offensive boxing (Jones especially, Sanchez, Leonard)
- Defensive striking (Guida, Jardine, Sanchez, Garcia, and Akiyama is new but add him)
- Head Movement (Sanchez, Jardine, Cerrone, and Garcia have none)
- Footwork (Jardine, Jones, Sanchez)

It’s become fairly noticeable in the last 4 months or so. What keeps these guys going is that everyone except Jardine has a pretty good chin, and I think it glosses over the weaknesses they have and why guys like Sanchez and Garcia lose the exact same way every fight.

DAMN YOU STRIKETHROUGH TEXT!

rec'd

~~What are you talking about?~~

Condit also has no headmovement.

Actually, I can’t think of a single Jackson fighter that has good head movement, GSP included. I can recall him making punches miss because his head moved incidentally during his superman jab-leg kick combo, but rarely does he slip punches otherwise.

Jackson really seems to try and work with what his fighters come in with, but it seems to end there. I think the biggest example would be not changing Jardine’s stupid fuck style because it makes him “unpredictable.” It works to a point, but then a fighter stops improving if you don’t push them to do something new.

I think Jackson looks at his fighters and their opponents and draws up intelligent gameplans

That’s what I give Jackson the most credit for.

But as far as actually improving the guys he has, I don’t see anything to suggest his camp is good at doing that. He tries to make his guys win with what they have, not improve upon weaknesses so they can win more.

Jones and GSP are exceptions and I think much of their improvement over the years is down to them as individuals.

He's also a great cornerman

hint hint at my next big fanpost.

Dead on

But it could also be argued that he’s taken guys who would otherwise be relatively mediocre and maximized their talent through excellent game planning and excellent cardio. The only guys who trained there consistently who could really be classified as good athletes, Jones and Evans, have both won titles and markedly improved their skill sets over their time training with Jackson. I don’t think Jackson can take a whole lot of credit for GSP.

Don't forget Jackson/Grudge fighters.

Carwin’s striking is very rudimentary. Marquardt is skilled offensively but doesn’t have good defense at all. Schaub has pretty awful striking both for defense and offense. Then there’s Elliot Marshal who… is Elliot Marshal.

The Jackson team (outside of Firas’ guys) have a really strange training philosophy that I’m working to decode. I may have it but I need more time and certainty before I commit to anything.

Arlovski is Jackson's isn't he? We know his story.

Brandao is also a Jackson guy and went from comfortable win to nearly KTFO’d to armbar win in about a minute to win TUF.

I don’t think Stann is good defensively either and a prime Cantwell slept him.

I wouldn't call Stann or Cantwell in the WEC "prime".

They were still very much new fighters.

I like how Diego is in every category you mentioned.

MMA Junkie article says Kampmann/Alves and Gustafsson/Lil Nog are remaining 3 rounds

So I guess this takes effect starting with Poirier/Jung.

Doesn't surprise me

Those fight contracts are already signed

Yep. Sweden doesn't allow 5 rounders anyway so that was out of the question

Isn’t it weird after the Alves/Kampmann fight there are zero UFC events until the Sweden show? That’s six weeks apart!

6 weeks????

I can’t handle that

Seriously?

When was the last time that happened? I feel like that is going to be terrible.

MichaelDavidSmith - February 16, 2012 reply

We'll get by

There’s a Strikeforce, plus Bellator every week and live Ultimate Fighter every week.

I don’t think it’s fair to take too much away from Dillashaw. He’s still young and learning. I would definitely have liked to see a finish, but Watson seemed tall enough that he could cover up his whole head (except for the out-of-bounds back of the head) and Dillashaw couldn’t really get any solid shots in. Personally, I think the back of the head rule is stupid and builds bad habits.

I do think he should’ve maybe tried something other than the RNC over and over again, or adjust his execution, cuz a couple times it looked like he should’ve been able to get it.

thirdparty - February 16, 2012 reply

Dana and the Fertita's keep dropping the ball on this mainstream deal

First they dont choose to skip Guida vs Henderson only to wind up with 60 seconds of JDS destroying Cain and now this, A fight between two title contenders that was about to turn into a war but was cut short because the powers that be decided it was worth of the 5 round treatment.

Two chances to make a huge impression with new audiences gone straight down the gurgler.. Thats gotta hurt.

Chin Check - February 16, 2012 reply

First they choose to skip*

Chin Check - February 16, 2012 reply

wasn't worthy of the 5 round treatment*

ffs…

Chin Check - February 16, 2012 reply

What were your thoughts on the live statistics?

FightFansRadio - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

The only one I saw was after the second round of the main event

Saying Ellenberger had 23 ground strikes while Diego had 1. That was a particularly useless statistic.

They were shown throughout the whole night and I found them quite tantalizing. Quite.

FightFansRadio - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

Yeah, I saw Luke's Beard tweet something about them

But I only caught the last two fights and that was the only one I remember.

It was a nice improvement

They gave head strikes/ body strikes/ ground strikes/ distance (?) strikes counts throughout the fight.

Nice.

Seems like if they use it right, it can be a nice lil addition.

justsomehawkeyefan - February 16, 2012 reply

Everytime I saw them, it was the most lopsided statistic

In the Dillashaw/Watson fight at the start of RD2 they showed time on ground in dominant position and it was like Dillashaw: 4:18 – Watson: 0:00. Or it was like the one you mentioned.

It’s nice I guess but it’s obvious that Ellenberger was outstriking Diego on the ground when we were watching it. So why not throw up stats for “TD’s / TD’s defended” or something that may not have been so obvious.

Mjub - February 16, 2012 reply

Should of been five!

*thriive* - February 16, 2012 reply

Who cares about the fights?

what the hell was that epic music Brookins walked out to? I NEED TO KNOW!

M83

Midnight city

sexysassytravismmafan - February 16, 2012 reply

“Stefan Struve remains one of my favorite fighters on the planet”

that is probably the first time in history that this sentence has been written by anyone

phantom5691 - February 16, 2012 reply

Like Brett said, he's a fun fighter offensive fighter with glaring weaknesses

that make lesser opponents look good. It makes for exciting fights and nice comeback finishes.

sun yue - February 16, 2012 reply

love me some struve

He’s an exciting fighter who doesn’t go to decision, and when he loses he doesn’t it in spectacular fashion, he fell like a Slinky against Roy Nelson

Sonnens Political Adviser - February 16, 2012 via mobile reply

Calling out Condit in front of a ravenous fanbase would have been a great moment. Bust out a “you know I won the first time” or something. Hype up a fight and make fans want to see it.

But he didn’t win. Was it a terrible decision by the judges?

Yes, yes it was a terrible decision by the judges. Ellenberger won that fight against Condit, and he’ll beat Condit again.

Kierkegaard - February 16, 2012 reply

disagree

I thought Condit won but could see it being a draw. Plus Condit took the best shots Ellenberger could give and survived. If it was 5 rounds he would have finished him

Our Bovine Public - February 16, 2012 reply

Close as fuck. Thought Condit won though.