General Fighting thread

[AdamM]

I'm only even for the night because although my bey on Randy came in, I got tempted into a bet on Koschec + Randy both to win.

Randy was brutal as usual. not pretty to watch but awesome none the less.

GSP was a different class to Koschec. I tought it'd be closer than it was.

Huerta made light work of his opponent as expected.

Cote hit Grove with a bomb. right behind the ear. I thought Grove looked like he was getting the better of it until then but he was never recovering from that shot.

Joe Stevenson got a tougher fight than expected but still looked very strong. must be due a title shot now.

Babaloo tapped out David Heath. I'll make a point of watching that on UFC.tv.

Frank Mir managed a win but I don't see him anywhere near the class of the rest of the heavyweight division. maybe he could slim down to light heavyweightas he's not a huge guy but even then, the talent at that weight is probably too good.

not long till UFC 75 in London. that looks a good card too.

[byronkincaid]

not long till UFC 75 in London. that looks a good card too

are they trying to hype it up in this country so that they can get it onto Pay per view?

[AdamM]

The London show is PPV on setanta I think. They're planning to do 4 PPV events per year over here, which they give the US audience free. They do double that PPV over there which we get free. plus loads of shows free to view here and there.

In the US the PPV is smashing what even the biggest boxing matches do. no reason to think that eventually, the same wont happen here.

[AdamM]

eat my words

efficient job by Mir. not sure he can hang with the new wave of heavyweights but good stuff anyway

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yan9HElpwo

[AdamM]

the babalu fight.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KL2sNyfaths

absolutely awsome display of MMA by Babalu. The guy can strike well, ground and pound from the top and his submissions are devastating.
unfortunately steve Mazzagati (worst ref in the business) let it go too long then to make things worse, to pay back some abuse at the weigh in, Babalu kept the choke on a few seconds after the tap. he's being fined half his purse for it but you call a guy like him names and then step into the cage with him, what do you think is going to happen.

[AdamM]

betting against the favourites in UFC 75 this weekend. It's on Setanta so as a sky subscriber I'm having to gate crash a friends house to watch it.

I think Cheik Kongo will beat Mirko Crocop. Crocop is a hell of a fighter but his confidence may be rocked after getting sparked out by Gonzaga in Manchester. Kongo is on a winning streak and the only hole in his game is on the ground, which against Crocop probably won't be a factor. Kongo is massive and a very good striker. it'll be brutal but I'm saying Kongo KO /TKO 2nd or 3rd

I also think Dan Henderson will beat Quentin Jackson. Henderson has never been KOd and on the ground I think he has the edge. Henderson late or by decision

Can't bet against Bisping though. I think if he can get his timing going early he could knock Hamill out. if Hamill is really sharp with the take downs it'll be a hard night for Bisping but he'll finish it within 3 rounds.

incidentally, Kongo, Jackson and Bisping have all prepared for this fight in Big Bear California, where the boxing coach is Sugar Shane Mosely. De La Hoya is also involved up there. seems some of the top boxers are getting into this MMA thing.

[scotty2hatty]

Let's get it on!

Kongo and Bisping to win for me.  Don't think I've ever seen Henderson fight so should interesting.

[AdamM]

Kongo has shifted to 4.1 on bet fair and it has to be an even money fight.

blonde has a four fight parlay available. I stuck to three though and went for Kongo, Bisping and Henderson at a little over 10/1 I think Alexanders a good bet too though.

off to watch it now.

[AdamM]

Kongo v Crocop. Kongo fought a dirty fight. repeated knees to the groin were careless rather than intentional but Crocop looks very uncomfortable with Kongos power before the groin shots landed. after he looked beat. Won a bit of money on this but shame about the manor of the victory

Bisping had a tough fight against Hamill. First round was clearly Hamill. Bisping managed to do the better work in the 2nd and pick off Hamill coming in. Personally I think Hamill got the better of the 3rd but Bisping finished the round standing up and throwing bombs. that and the home advantage swung a split decision. Hamill looked sloppy and unskilled but too strong for Bisping. against Liddell, Jackson, Henderson, et al Bisping would have serious problems. no doubt he'll have to seriously consider cutting from 205lb to 185lb. He'd be a big middle weight and. Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin aside, there's not the depth of talent in the devision.

Jackson v Henderson. comfortable first round for Henderson and it looked like he'd breeze through the fight. round 2,3 & 4 though Jackson dominated and looked alot stronger. Henderson doesn't usually get out muscled on the ground but Jackson smothered all Hendersons work and despite a stronger 5th round a deserved points victory by Jackson spoiled my accumulator. glad I got on Kongo at 4.1. Henderson could well also move to middle weight.

I thought the show was a good one and a good advert for the sport. not too bloody for the more squeamish view, not too technical for the layman but enough skill shown for the connoisseur

[AdamM]

UFC 76 this weekend.

Main event should be a walk over. Chuck Liddell is a different class to Kieth Jardine. should walk through him.

couple of other bouts might be worth a few pennies on.

Diego Sanchez v John Fitch. I've managed to get Sanchez at evens although he's currently at 1.73 He's coming off the back of his forst ever defeat and will be looking to impose himself big time. he's been boxing with Oscar De La Hoya, grappling with the Gracies and is already well thought of in the ground and pound dept. if you can get anywhere near evens on this it's a decent bet

my other bet is on the Mauricio Rua v Forrest Griffin fight. Rua has an excellent record in the ring including beating nogiuera and Quentin Jackson, but moving from the ring to the cage is hard. You only have to look at Mirko Crocop who came across from Pride as a dominant heavyweight and has lost two out of three in the cage.
Griffin lost to Keith Jardine by a flash KO in UFC 66 and lost a tough three round split decision to Tito Ortiz in UFC 59 but he also has two first round wins and three more grueling three round brawls under his belt and is no easy fight for anyone. He's currently at 3.65 but I think later in the week you could get 3.8 and he's not that big a dog here.

also the betting has started on UFC 77 and if you can get anywhere near evens on Tim Sylvia or Anderson Silva, get on because these are nailed on winners

edit;
Tim Sylvia IS currently even money on betfair. that's a cock up. get on it

[Boba Fett]

I didnt see the event, in your opinion.....why the hell is Crocop bombing so badly??

[AdamM]

Against Gonzaga he got took to ground early and pounded with elbows. He admited he'd under trained on the matt and against elbows. Being on your back in the cage is very different to being on the ground in the K1 / Pride rings. For a start, when you are touching the ropes the ref stands you back up in the ring. The cage is more than double the size and there's no help from the ref if the guy on top is working. Although Gonzaga finished the fight with a show-reel KO kick, the damage was done on the ground.

Against Kongo, he was up against a very big, strong striker who his ring-craft could possibly handle but there was some clumsy ground and pound from Kongo and in the clinch his knees were very inaccurate and Crocop took several heavy knees to the groin which took all the fight out of him.

There's no doubt that Crocop is world class but he should have got half a dozen fights before taking on seasoned cage fighters, but because of his Pride / K1 record he's been fast tracked and it's cost him. Thats why I'm tipping Forrest Griffin. Rua is obviously the better / more experienced fighter but the cage is different to the ring and Griffin is looking to prove he belongs

[byronkincaid]

I thought Liddell/Jardine was a great fight. I don't really understand what's going on when they start cuddling on the floor, it seems a bit boring to me but they stayed standing up and kicked and punched the shit out of each other. Jardine deserved to win imo.

[AdamM]

Jardine definitely won rounds 2 & 3 so deserved the decision. bit of a worry for me with Liddell. He hits so hard that most of his opponents over recent years have gone for the takedown. Liddell has got really good at sprawling to stop the take down but he's become a total counter puncher and he's stopped kicking and clinching to avoid takedowns. the guy can wrestle and also has some Ju-Jitsu but he's so determined to stay on his feet and bang, he doesn't seem to have a plan B. The Lightheavy weight division is packed with talent and Chuck could get left behind.

My tip came good again. I got on Forrest Griffin at 3/1 to beat Mauricio Rua. These ring fighters keep coming across and getting their asses kicked in the cage. Griffin was bigger and stronger and by the end of round one has axhausted Rua and, to a degree himself. the Gash on his forehead in round 2 was a really bad one and would have ended a boxing match. for the rest of the fight he pounded on Rua and thoroughly deserved the win.

The Sanchez / Fitch fight was very technical. Sanchez must have throw two dozen good submision attemts, any of which could have finished the fight. As it was, Fitch managed to resist them all and grind out a win.

The opener, Tyson Griffin v Tavares was a cracking technical fight. Tyson Griffin will get a few pennies on him next time he fights

next big event is October 8th and Tim Sylvia is STILL trading at better than evens against Brandon Vera. Definitely worth a bet. I have him a big favourite in this fight.

Anderson Silva is a good favourite over Rich Franklin but unfortunately thats reflected in the odds

[Benny Brox]

Does Kimbo ever get beat in one of his streetfights?