Did anyone catch the weigh-ins yesterday? Diego practically pushed Kos off the stage. I wonder if he gets fined for that.

What an incredible year for upsets.

Cro-cop better watch out.

Haha....shit, and it's only April. I was just trying to think...has there ever been a title-changing fight that marked this big of an upset? I highly doubt it. The thing is...he didn't just beat GSP, he beat him pretty easily. Matt Serra just beat the shit out of GSP.

Christ, just look at what GSP has done in the past two years: beaten Miller, Sherk, Trigg, Penn and Hughes. With the exception of the Penn fight, they were all very dominant victories.

Now we look at Serra in the past two years: lost to Karo Parisyan and he's earned very close decisions over Lytle and Carter.

Well....who the hell do you think is going to win? Haha...this just goes to show, (and they say this shit all the time, but it's fucking true), you can never count anyone out and anything can happen. This is why I love this sport.

I can't say I'm unhappy. Serra's also a Long Island boy, and there wasn't a person who gave him a chance in this fight. Good for him. I, like most probably, don't see him holding it past his first defense... but fuck, neither did the guy who was supposed to be easily the #1 welterweight in the world. I'm guessing GSP just took him way too lightly.

I don't know if you've seen the Pride results, but wow. Another huge upset.

Look like he's the real deal. Beat two top 10 fighters now.

Following the Huerta/Garcia fight, some extracurricular activity took place between future competitors Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans. It is unclear how the altercation began, but the two men had to be broken up by security and other personnel before any punches could be thrown.
from mmawekly

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7xq1bCjeNGg
Forrest Griffin is hilarious in the vid, haha

Fedor wins by armbar at 2:38 Rd 1. There's been some debate on whether or not Fedor grabbed the ropes to avoid the takedown.

Here's the whole fight. Watch it before it gets taken down
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8rp1ZxHgre8

Lindland definitely opened him up with that first right hand.

It seems that anyone who is interested in MMA hasn't posted here recently, but just in case...


Main Card:
-Mirko Cro Cop vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
-Andrei Arlovski vs. Fabricio Werdum
-Ryoto Machida vs. David Heath
-Michael Bisping vs. Elvis Sinosic
-Assuerio Silva vs. Cheick Kongo

If you haven't heard (despite what the abover poster indicates), the event will be available for free on Spike TV, Saturday at 9:00 EST. For a free card, this is pretty solid. It has also been officially announced that the winner of the main event will face Randy Couture for the title. People keep asking Cro Cop about Couture and he said he's not looking that far ahead, and he is taking Gonzaga seriously. He's wise to, because Gabe is no friggin joke on the ground. The way this year has been going, who the hell knows what could happen. Arlovski/Werdum should be an extremely entertaining fight, and it would be a nice step up the ladder for either of them. It'll be a sad day for the UK fans if Bisping falls to Sinosic. Let's just hope that if he does win, the UFC will give him a true test in his next bout.

The countdown to UFC 70 premieres tonight at 11:00 EST, immediately following the third episode of TUF 5.

Awesome.

Free card, with a great line-up. Can't wait to see Machida again. He looked great against Sam Hoger a couple months ago. I'm expecting Bisping to get a convincing win over Sinosic, than i'd like him to fight Forrest or Jardine. If Arlovski wins against Werdum, i'd have to expect he gets the winner of Couture-Crocop, since Mirko will blow through Gonzaga. Everybody has gotten weary about betting the house on Cro-Cop, and I think Gonzaga has gotten a little too much credit. This is the #2 hw in the world he's fighting, and i'm hoping we get to see Cro-cop's first UFC LHK.

Arlovski might get the next shot with a win over Werdum, but here is something else to consider - The UFC has just acquired Big Nog. The rumor is that he'll be making his debut against Vera. A matchup like that also carries title shot implications.

All in all, the UFC's HW division went from absolute dog shit to being completely jacked. I'd argue that their middleweight campaign has the least amount of depth at this point.

Cro-Cop gets Knocked the Fuck out!

WOW....that just cost UFC some money....!

Rampage, you're NEXT!

RIGHT HIGH KICK!!!


That KO was as nasty as anything Cro Cop has ever done, and that shit was quick. My God...Gonzaga is for real. Couture called it, too. This is no fluke...Gonzaga can fucking strike. He did exactly what he came in there to do - not be intimidated, keep pressing forward and be on constant offense. It paid off. As for the rest of the night...

I feel bad for Assuerio Silva. He's now 0-3 in the UFC, but those losses were all to elite company. However, Kongo isn't going to be climbing up the ranks the way it first seemed like he would if he doesn't put in some serious work on his wrestling. His style is much too laid back and he's very one-dimensional.

I was impressed with the lightweights, Etim and Grice. That was a good fight and they both showed a lot of promise. That division keeps getting better and better with all the new blood they're bringing in. I wasn't expecting that guillotine to sink as well as it did. Props to Etim on improving to 10-0. I'd like to see him throw down with Frank Edgar next.

Bisping dominated Sinosic, but there were times when he looked pretty sloppy. I'm not sure that he's a technically good boxer. He has a great heart and a fantastic disposition, but I hope he can work the kinks out before his next fight, which will inevitably be a serious challenge. Sinosic showed his worth and experience with the knee and kimura attempt, but Bisping is a warrior, and he will be a legit contender one day.

Arlovski/Werdum was a snooze-fest in the third round. AA was being too cautious, but he was also being smart. He was in there with someone who didn't have kickboxing skills that were nearly as good as his. He kept the low kicks coming, and he successfully fainted most of Werdum's attacks. He's obviously pretty close to a shot at Couture/Gonzaga.

I was disappointed that they didn't air the Machida fight, but it looks like he won a unanimous decision.

This is true. I'm pretty sure Cro Cop was given one of the most expensive contracts in the history of the company. Another thing I was thinking about before this fight happened is that when they interviewed Mirko after PRIDE's Grand Prix finals, he said, "If I were to lose, it would have been my last MMA fight...I swear to God."

Not sure what the details of the contract are, but this is a devastating loss. What's next for Cro Cop?

I haven't looked at this thread in a long time but thought I would stop by after tonight.

I am pretty upset right now over Cro Cops loss. I don't know what to say. There isn't anything he could have done against that kick I think, I haven't ever seen someone throw a high kick at Cro Cop in any of his fights, ever. There is no way he could have foreseen it and so no way to defend it

I just hope he comes back.

I'm still in shock. As BH said, there is no way anyone could have foreseen that. Hopefully Mirko bounces back and becomes the killer he was after his last loss... or he retires. His heart doesn't seem to be into it, and apparently his brain isn't either, considering his decision to not train in a cage. He looked last when Gonzaga had him up against the cage, and that's something I never thought i'd see.

Mirko Cro-Cop getting pounded out by someone I considered nothing more than a stepping stone. It's Mirko fucking CroCop!.

What a crazy fucking year.

On a slightly different note, i've been thinking all day about the progression of MMA, and the problems these kind of upsets cause. Look at boxing... where would it be without Ali or Tyson's domination of the sport? And where is it now? They're forced to coax De La Hoya out of retirement because all they have are people like Mayweather who can't draw a dime. They have no characters left, and every sport needs stand-outs & characters. In a sport like MMA, where Matt Serra can defeat GSP, and Crocop can get knocked out by a high kick... How will the characters that are needed to gain mainstream exposure be built? People like winning streaks, and with competitive fighters evolving at the pace they are, streaks will be a thing of the past.

Atleast Fedor is still a safe bet.

Arlovski v. Cro Cop

Anyone?

it looked like cro-cop thought the kick was coming to the ribs hence why he lowered his hands, but holy shit, that was wicked to say the least, and the fact he didnt even walk out with a noticable limp was amazing


i liked herb's reaction

I know exactly what you mean man, I have been thinking about this today as well.

Mostly I'm just shocked. It almost feels like everything I thought I knew about the sport means nothing. Really I am just worried that my favorite fighters will somehow fall away unnoticed. I don't know what to say... I almost wish an expert would come and tell us exactly how and why Cro Cop and GSP lost the way they did so that I can feel better about it, because right now I'm still totally baffled.

Honestly, I think anyone who thought Gonzaga was a stepping stone in this fight either hadn't seen any of his UFC bouts, was seriously undermining his abilities as a striker, or thought much too highly of Mirko Cro Cop. I know I'm throwing this out there after the fact, but I've honestly been saying it for weeks (not that he would win, but that it wasn't going to be easy for CC). The funny thing is that some people are under the impression that this is a bigger upset than Serra over GSP. It's not even close, and believe me, I was telling everyone that Serra should feel a sense of accomplishment if he made it to the third round.

The thing about Gonzaga is he had never been tested against an elite heavyweight, so his attriubtes were uncertain. I'm going to say this straight up: I don't think it was just an "on night" for Gonzaga, I think he is a better fighter than CC, and he will beat him 4 out of 5 times. Gabe is fucking quick to say the least. When he was throwing the combos early in the first round, you could see the look of shock and concern on Mirko's face. Gabe countered his left kick with a takedown, rained numerous elbows on his face to make him bleed, then put him to sleep with a lightning-fast high kick. Randy Couture called it, and he even called the round 1 knockout.


Upsets happen all the time, it's just that there have been so many recently. Tyson and Ali have both fallen to fighters they should've beaten. Honestly (and I say this with no disresepct to Cro Cop), I look at his loss as a sign of "out with the old, in with the new." I'm not saying CC is washed up, but he mentioned reitrement following the OWGP (he swore to God that if he lost in the finals, it would have been his last MMA fight). You may be right, kev...maybe his heart isn't in it anymore, and that's fine. He's a killer and a legend in his own right. But after watching that fight, I felt the same way as a I did following Hughes/GSP II...just thinking to myself, "Damn...this guy is the future and Hughes isn't going to be the man anymore." This doesn't tarnish Hughes or CC's legacy, it's just a part of athletics. I'm sold on Gonzaga's abilites. He is, without question, a top 10 heavyweight and a threat to anyone he squares off with. Serra's victory ended in much more interesting circumstances, and he wasn't dominating the fight before that left hook (GSP actually rocked him pretty well at one point).

It is evolution, this is something you should welcome. It's what makes this sport so fascinating. If people are good enough, they will make legends of themselves, even if some upesets come there way. Cro Cop isn't going to remembered as, "The guy who got high-kicked by Gonzaga," and GSP isn't going to be rememered as, "The guy who got ground-and-pounded by Matt Serra."

Against an elite hw, his attributes are still uncertain. He had a great night, and ran through Cro-Cop, just like he's most likely going to go right through Couture. But he barely got touched by Mirko... Can he take shots to the head from a top 10 hw like Mark Hunt can? What about BJJ? Is his even in the same realm as Nog's? Can he muscle around Josh Barnett? Could he get inside Tim Sylvia's jab? Gonzaga looked very impressive, but i'd really like to see him go 3 rounds with another top 10 HW. Just to prove we aren't just seeing Belfort vs. Silva all over again. Sure, he knew how to press the action in the beginning... and even managed to catch the body kick. But his G'n'p wasn't all that great considering the circumstances. Consider the fact that Cro-cop A) Apparently has no experience fighting in a cage B) Has no experience defending elbows on the ground and C) was never a ground fighter to begin with. I'm not trying to take anything away, but I'd really like to see him fight another top 10 HW that's not Randy Couture.

Give him Arlovski or Big Nog first.