Who else is stoked on tomorrow nite's card?

• Forrest Griffin Vs. Rashad Evans (for the LHW title)
• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Vs. Frank Mir (for the Interim HW title)
• CB Dollaway Vs. Mike Massenzio
• Wanderlei Silva Vs. Quinton Jackson (3rd meeting(The Axe Murderer owned Rampage twice before), but 1st in the Octagon)
• Cheick Kongo Vs. Mostapha Al Turk
• Yushin Okami Vs. Dean Lister
• Antoni Hardonk Vs. Mike Wessel
• Matt Hamill Vs. Reese Andy
• Ryo Chonan Vs. Brad Blackburn
• Dan Evensen Vs. Pat Barry

And who are your picks?

• Forrest, but it depends big-time on how well he handles Sugar's speed in stand-up game.
• Minotauro gets the nod b/c he's just Nailz & knows how to finish. I'm really pumped for this b/c they're both awesome on the ground.
• Mass's experience wins over CB's inexperience (despite being better w/ his hands)
• Hoooowwwwwlllllll! Rampage ALL THE WAY!!!!
• Kongo, if they stay on their feet long enuff... otherwise Al Turk should be able to take control easy on the ground
• Okami b/c Dean is/has been washed-up
• Wessel b/c he moves well for a huge guy, though this should be great either way since they're both big boyz!
• Matt, if he keeps his hands up (like he normally doesn't) & doesn't get caught w/ a booming haymaker fr the beastly thick-*** Reesey
• Chonan... just always liked his game, even though he's hasn't shined in the cage thus far
• On their feet, Barry pummels The Viking; but Dan's size will be a problem for Pat in the ground game

 

I am!

 

you getting the fight?

Forrest. Evans is a one punch guy and its really hard to knock out forrest. Just ask rampage.

Mir and Minotauro is a toss up. Antonio is tough as nails. So is Mir. They are 2 of the best ground game heavy weights. It could go either way. I'm thinking Mir is gonna win.

Dollaway. Mass has the experience but I really think it's about time Dollaway starts showing that tallent everyone knows he has and he's been working with a really good camp. I think he wins fast.

Silva is looking like the silva of old... finally. But I'm still going for rampage. I'm a big rampage fan and I think loosing to forrest has him hungry and showed him he needs to improve his all around game.

I think Kongo wins with a head kick in the second round.

Okami... same reasons as you and Okami is due.

Wessel do to strikes end of the first.

Matt. Heavy hands. Tough as nails and in my opinion undefefeated in the octagon. Kid can take a hit like he showed with the knee to the lip in the last fight. Reesey is gonna get submitted.

Toss up. I think it could easily go to a decision and if it does it plays to blackburn

Dan is gonna do whatever he can to get it to the ground. Which means one of two things. He succeeds and wins or he takes a knee on the way in and looses. Haa.

best card in a long time.

 

griffin
nog
silva
hamill

so, who's house are we meeting at?

 

dude..i cant wait..im actually goin to reno again tonight to go snowboarding tomorrow at boreal..but before that Imma be puttin a few bets . Silva effed up rampage twice before so I think hes gonna do it again. Evans hasn't been undeafeated for nothing..but forrest is a very tough and smart fighter. Im goin with Forrest. And lastly I think Frank Mir(has no cardio) has no shot against Nog. Those are my main picks..Should be some awesome fights

 

I didnt get my big screen for Christmas so srry guys not at my house. lol

 

Yeah... gonna watch it @my folks' place. All the guys plan to take over the family room once my sis's surprise baby shower winds down.

And yes, yes, yes, this is a really good line-up to end the year. Gonna be interesting how all our picks play out tomorrow.

I'm also pumped for several of the match-ups in the 1st 2 PPV of '09. But we'll get to that in due time.

 

I actually think Evans takes this one because he's too fast and strong. And Evans is smart too. What Forrest did against Rampage he can't do against Evans. Forrest can't go out like against Shogun either. Evan's is going to play the game just as well as Forrest does

I think Nog takes this one. He's freaking Minatauro - he's only lost to Fedor, and avenged all his other losses. Just look at the competition he's fought compared to Mir. Night and day difference. Gotta remember here, Pride had the most stacked heavyweight division (it began with heavyweights only) and Nog has fought them all.

Sadly, I think Rampage takes Silva. I really want Silva to win and if he's a different fighter than his ultra aggressive Pride days, he may have a chance. But Rampage is better than when he fought Silva I and II, and also you gotta remember Rampage was winning Silva II before he got kneed to death, and I wouldn't BET on Silva getting that again. Both Shogun and Silva are like Mike Tyson IMHO - invincible when everyone is afraid of them, they have this aura of indestructibility. Then when they are beat, they are all of a sudden human...

I think Okami wins too - Dean Lister is one of those really great grapplers that didn't transition that well to MMA

 

verc... the invincible deal... same as chuck. Once people realized that he was beatable everyone started getting to him. I'd like to see Chuck focus again. And make one more run at a championship. If he looses. Retire. If he wins. Retire. haaaa.

I love chuck. My brother in law used to train with him. Big fan. But everyone has caught up and he's getting old. Retire and live comfortable. Maybe help train the next champion.



but I agree. Once that aura is broken guys like them are much easier to beat.

 

evans
mir
rampage.

 

damn...im goin outta town but +1 for a great card in a while!!
finally rampage is back in the ring after losing the belt, getting arrested, and training bisping! i still think that rampage/forrest fight for the belt was bull****...
But ya, Rampage ftw cuz im a fan and rashad evans ftw.

haha im soo tired of Joe Rogans comments...way too obvious...i understand he used to fight in some sort of martial arts but everything he says is completely and blantantly obvious. he has a great voice to make ya into whats going on, but his comments are dumb. I mean, what are ya gunna do? He has the "voice" so ya cant really shut him up haha

cant wait to watch the fights on youtube!

 

I like Chuck too. The LHW division in UFC is just so stacked... I mean in immediate title contention you've got the winner of Jackson/Silva and then the winner of Machida/T. Silva. After the winner of Jackson/Silva gets a title shot I say put Chuck against a nobody to hopefully give him a win, and then put him against the loser of jackson/silva while the the winner of Machida/T. Silva does the title shot.


Yeah.... you know I don't quite understand the invincibility thing even though I think about it. Because Mike Tyson - he defended his title against some no names, so that's why people call him the "best prime fighter of all time" and are hesitant to give him credit as a top heavyweight in all of boxing history

Liddell, Shogun, W. Silva and now A. Silva - their invincibility was/is built up by fighting and beating THE BEST. I mean you look at all these guys records.... look at Shogun's record it's insane! Wanderlei also cleaned out the entire division and even entered into the open weight tournament to fight heavyweights - he TKO'd the man with the best jaw in all of MMA (Fujita) and lost a split decision to the man with the heaviest punch in all of MMA/K-1 (Mark Hunt)

And Chuck, he cleaned out the division too.

With the MMA guys I think it's a combination of the invincibility aura and also evolution of the sport/rule changes. Chuck was such a great KO artist in a lot of pundit's opinions because he was a wrestler fighting other wrestlers who didn't know much about how to strike. He was able to match the grapplers at the grappling and then they had no boxing/Muay Thai expertise to match his power.

 

Bah... only batted .500 w/ my picks, but 'twas still a really entertaining card, as far as what was aired. I really wish my 1st 3 picks went my way though.

I definitely gotta agree that the LHW div is so stacked w/ top level talent now that holding onto the belt for more than a couple fights, let alone one, is one tall order. We'll be treated to some great match-ups even in non-title fights (i.e. last nite's Wandy & Rampage bout).

 

Silva got knocked out cold!

Evans is a beast.

 

If Rashad still has the belt when Machida gets a title shot, Rashad's going to lose. Machida's unorthodox style of fighting just has every fighter he's faced puzzled. While I think Machida's a really boring fighter to watch, his style of fighting is extremely effective though.