The MMA thread

[hamrlik]

Sherk vs Franca fight should have been the main fight.

Was nice seeing such an exciting card overall though.

[huh]

UFC-73 Minotauro Noguera Vs Heath Herring
Uploaded by mmauploader

Anderson Silva vs Nathan Marquardt
Uploaded by bawzz

UFC-73 Rashad Evans Vs Tito Ortiz
Uploaded by mmauploader

UFC-73 Sherck Vs Franca
Uploaded by mmauploader

UFC-73 Florian Vs Robinson
Uploaded by mmauploader

[Ameraves Loyalheart]

I see Sherk holding the Lightweight title for a while. The guy only has two losses in his career, one to Matt Hughes and the other to GSP. He just seems to completely overwhelm other fighters in the lightweight division right now.

[Isuldor]

Originally Posted by Ameraves Loyalheart

I see Sherk holding the Lightweight title for a while..

Well he's really going to have his work cut out for him with his next title defense against BJ Penn (announcement was made at the post fight conference).

[The Noble Savage]

I cannot believe Herring. He had that fight at the end of round 1, but he just couldn't finish it. Hell, I've seen some refs stop fights for less. Nogueira was just laying there and rolling around. Herring got a lucky knock and just utterly failed...what was he thinking when he just let him up!?!

[Ameraves Loyalheart]

I thought BJ was going back up to 170? I didn't catch the live PPV last night, and have just been watching the fights as I find them today. I hadn't heard that announcement yet. Will be an interesting fight.

[vurt]

It's disgusting how little Sherk got paid.

Title Match and Main Event Fighters

-Anderson Silva: $90,000 (defeated Nathan Marquardt; $45,000 + $45,000 win bonus)
-Sean Sherk: $28,000 (defeated Hermes Franca; $14,000 + $14,000 win bonus)
-Nathan Marquardt: $24,000 (lost to Anderson Silva)
-Hermes Franca: $14,000 (lost to Sean Sherk)

Main Card Fighters

-Tito Ortiz: $210,000 (drew with Rashad Evans)
-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: $200,000 (defeated Heath Herring; $100,000 + $100,000 win bonus)
-Heath Herring: $70,000 (lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira)
-Rashad Evans: $16,000 (drew with Tito Ortiz)
-Kenny Florian: $16,000 (defeated Alvin Robinson; $8,000 + $8,000 win bonus)
-Alvin Robinson: $3,000 (lost to Kenny Florian)

Preliminary Match Fighters

-Stephan Bonnar: $32,000 (defeated Mike Nickels; $16,000 + $16,000 win bonus)
-Chris Lytle: $20,000 (defeated Jason Gilliam; $10,000 + $10,000 win bonus)
-Jorge Gurgel: $14,000 (defeated Diego Saraiva; $7,000 + $7,000 win bonus)
-Frank Edgar: $10,000 (defeated Mark Bocek; $5,000 + $5,000 win bonus)
-Mike Nickels: $5,000 (lost to Stephan Bonnar)
-Mark Bocek: $3,000 (lost to Frank Edgar)
-Jason Gilliam: $3,000 (lost to Chris Lytle)
-Diego Saraiva: $3,000 (lost to Jorge Gurgel)

Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $761,000

[huh]

I think that was Sherks last fight on his old contract. A contract that started long before he was anyone special. So he should be seeing a pretty hefty raise for his next few fights.

[Bottle]

Originally Posted by The Noble Savage

I cannot believe Herring. He had that fight at the end of round 1, but he just couldn't finish it. Hell, I've seen some refs stop fights for less. Nogueira was just laying there and rolling around. Herring got a lucky knock and just utterly failed...what was he thinking when he just let him up!?!

I like the decision by the ref to not stop the fight. Nogueira has a chin of iron and can take a lot of punishment. Good on the ref to give him the benefit of the doubt and gut his way through that round and on to a win.

[Kugbok_Fennin]

Originally Posted by Bottle

I like the decision by the ref to not stop the fight. Nogueira has a chin of iron and can take a lot of punishment. Good on the ref to give him the benefit of the doubt and gut his way through that round and on to a win.

Yeah, he took a beating in that fight against Fedor but still did not get knocked out.

[Grimmlokk]

He's never been KO'd or stopped by submission. But I've never seen him get rocked like that. Herring had the right gameplan and just didn't capitalize. Spent the first round setting that kick up(shades of Gonzaga) but didn't follow up. Wasn't a bad fight really, but I thought Nog should have worked more on submitting him in the 3rd(2nd was mostly recovery time). Herring looked relatively good, did a good job escaping sub attempts etc.

I wouldn't want to watch someone like Sherk fight every show, but occasionally it's impressive to see someone so good at what he does(shoot and smother) that he absolutely befuddles his opponent. Just wish he had a more advanced sub or GnP game. Are his arms just too big to go for RNCs or guillotines? Looked like he missed a lot of openings for both. Franca had a good plan with those knees when Sherk would shoot, but it was like the announcers said, he basically had one chance per round to win the fight. Land the knee clean and finish him off. There's no stopping Sherk's takedowns at 155 otherwise apparently. Just too strong and too fast.

Ortiz/Evans sucked. Evans was too scared to press, and Tito was fighting as dirty as he could. If they do re-match(and they will, it's UFC), it should be on an Ultimate Fight Night, nothing they did deserved another PPV slot.

Silva generated an amazing amount of power out of those skinny arms and legs. Just another example that you don't need the classic mesomorph/bodybuilder(Sherk, Baroni etc) physique to be strong. Looking forward to watching him fight more, even when he loses it's entertaining(Ryo Chonan flying...uhhh, arm bar? I forget).

The dude Florian fought looked good til he got hit. Could tell he wasn't ready for that level of fight. As soon as Florian started pounding him on the ground all will to fight went out of him.

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Future Stuff

So did they announce Sherk/Penn for his next defense? That will be a really interesting fight. With Penn's flexibility and balance he might actually be able to stuff some takedowns, and he can definately sink in those chokes better than Hermes did. And if he comes in fit and doesn't fight lazy it'll be a lot harder to smother him.

Shogun vs. Machida at UFC 76 supposedly. Hopefully US audiences get to see Shogun end it with a trademark flying punch to a downed opponent. Not enough guys throw their whole bodies into those attacks like him and Fedor. Then again not many have the body control to pull it off right I guess.

Surprised they haven't announced more fights for 74 yet. Couture/Gonzaga and GSP/Koscheck the big 2 so far. Hoping Randy can pull out a win, really wanna see what he can do against Cro Cop/Nog/Fedor(in talks still). If they finally get Fedor under contract I really doubt they'll make him fight someone before giving him a shot.

Hope GSP breaks Kos' face. He's just a more exciting fighter to watch, and when I don't have a serious favorite in any fight, I always pick the more exciting guy. Kos probably would have lost to Sanchez if he wasn't fighting off a bad Staph infection. Sanchez/GSP would be a much more entertaining fight.

UFC75 is shaping up nicely. Cro Cop/Kongo scares me. Mirko has shown himself to be susceptable to the lucky shot KO twice now, and that's exactly what Kongo will go for and is capable of.

Bisping/Hamill could be fun. Hamill is the deaf wrestler from season 3 of TUF. He's got a pretty wicked takedown and GnP game, and great takedown defense. Bisping hasn't really been dominant in his 2 fights since TUF3, Hamill will be a good test. I can't help but pull for Hamill.

And finally, Rampage vs. Dan Henderson. Yay. Even though Henderson is a natural 185, he's shown multiple times he has the skills to fight bigger guys and take the fight to them, with wins over both Wandy and Minotauro. It should be a great fight, and should give us our first ever unified UFC/Pride champion.

edit: My posts are too long=P Should post more often in shorter bursts I guess=P Oh well, rather post em here than Sherdog....*shiver*

[Necrath Evilcraft]

I have a nonsexual hard-on for Hamill. That kid was pretty nasty in his fight on TUF3 I forget but he was pulled out of the semi's because of injury. I hope he continues to win and gains a bigger name in the UFC.

[Stroker Ace]

Shogun vs. Machida at UFC 76 supposedly.

I just shed a tear of joy. 2 of my favorite fighters are fighting each other. I want my boy Machida to win, but I personally think Shogun is the guy that could actually do some damage to him.

I like all these main fights coming up. You don't have a clue who will win them when compared to 90% of the past few headliners.

[whocaressd]

Originally Posted by Grimmlokk

He's never been KO'd or stopped by submission. But I've never seen him get rocked like that.

Have you seen his fight against Bob Sapp? He certanly takes more punishment in that fight than he did in this one.

[Grimmlokk]

No I haven't. I'll have to go download it from somewhere=) I just know in the fights I've seen of him(mostly just his top Pride fights, Fedor/CC/Barnett etc) I never saw him get rocked like that from a single shot.