Post by Dr. Wrestling on Aug 30, 2008 9:50:38 GMT -5
What's up? This is a discussion about UFC 88 and let me know what you think.
Thanks!
Dr. Wrestling : Ladies and Gentlemen yes, that's right this is YOUR favorite wrestling columnists, Dr. Wrestling and I will be discussing UFC 88:Break Through with trustful ref and my MMA pal, Ref Johanson. Ref Johason how are you sir?
Ref Johanson : I'm pretty good man how about yourself?
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Dr. Wrestling : I'm surviving my friend. It's good we can finally get our always insightful and educational MMA discussions on record. That being said, there's alot to discuss for this big card so let's get right into the main fight card. First up we have Martin Kampmann Vs. Nate Marquardt in the middle weight division. Before we get to predictions what are your thoughts on these fighters and the fight itself?
Ref Johanson : Well, I haven't actually seen these two fighters in action yet, so I'm not sure what to expect. Marquardt has much more experience than the slightly younger Kampmann, who has a higher win percentage. Since I haven't seen either of these fighters' styles or anything, I really don't know what to expect.
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Dr. Wrestling : Well sir, I have seen this fighters so I will inform you as well as the readers. Martin Kampmann has a solid MMA record of 13-1 and seems to be under the radar so to speak in the UFC because he is actually undefeated in the octagon but has fought infrequently in the UFC, which could be why he isn't very well known to UFC fans and his opponets aren't well known themselves. Nate Marquardt on the other hand has made alittle bit of a name for himself in the UFC fighting Anderson Silva at UFC 73 and has a win over Jeremy Horn at UFC 81, which is an accomplishment considering Horn is a great fighter in his own right. Despite Kampmann being undefeated in the UFC, I have to give the victory to Nate in this one because he's a more well rounded fighter. Would you agree or disagree and why?
Ref Johanson: Based off of the information you gave me, and what is on the card describing the fighters, I'd have to agree with you. Jeremy Horn is a great fighter with an incredible amount of experience. Like you said, defeating Jeremy Horn is quite an accomplishment. So I'm going to give the victory to Marquardt as well because he has fought at beaten tougher opponents and has much more experience in the octagon.
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Dr. Wrestling: From there we will stay in the middle weight division as it will be Dan Henderson v.s. Rousimar Palhares. This fight will probably be the text book definition of a human chess match because you have Henderson will his fantastic wrestling and ground skills against Palhares, who is a Brazian Ju Jit Su black belt. your thoughts?
Ref Johanson: I think this is going to be a really good fight. Dan Henderson is tough as nails and held his own against Anderson Silva even though he was defeated. I don't know much about Palhares, but if he has a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, you can expect this fight to be primarily on the ground, especially since Dan Henderson is an amazing wrestler as well. I really can't say who will win this fight, but I wouldn't be surprised if it went all three rounds. If I had to pick a winner, I'd go with Henderson.
Dr. Wrestling: I agree I have to go with Henderson here because his back is up against the wall so to speak considering he has yet to win a fight in the UFC. Obviously he can hold his head up despite his the two fights he has losted because it was against Rampade and Silva but losing three in a row is a tough thing to come back from for any fighter. Palhares only had one fight in the UFC, which he won and that is an accomplishment but I just don't see Henderson losing three in a row. Just a side note about Henderson, it seems like some UFC fans don't realize how good he really is because he was the middle weight and light heavy weight champion at the same time in Pride at the same time, which is an unbelieveable accomplishment. Do you think Henderson is underrated by some fans?
Ref Johanson: Absolutely. The man is 37 years old and he was switching between 2 different weight classes to defend two titles. He deserves a lot more credit than he gets. I can only imagine how hard he trained to accomplish that. His fights in the UFC were very tough opponents. Anderson Silva seems to be unstoppable at the moment and Rampage Jackson knocked out Chuck Liddell, who will probably go down as a legend in the UFC. While he wasn't expected to stand much of a chance against Silva (but who is right now?), his fight against Rampage was very close. And like you said, I just can't see Henderson losing three fights in a row. I'm definitely expecting him to break his small losing streak with this fight.
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Dr. Wrestling : well said, from there we'll go to the welter weight division as it will be Karo Parisyan Vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida in what will be a battle of judo black belts. Karo with the major experience advatage at 26-5 and there's Yoshida, who has a 10-2 record with only one fight in the UFC back in may, which he won. Karo has wins over Nick Diaz, Matt Serra, and Josh Burkman just to name a few but he lost his last fight to Thaigo Alves in April. There's two questions here for you Mr. Johanson, Do you think Karo can rebound from the loss? and will Yoshinda be able to become one of the few fights to be succuessful in the UFC after being in Japan?
Ref Johanson: Hey, anything can happen in MMA, so I definitely think Karo can rebound from his loss. Look at Chuck Liddell for instance. He wasn't doing too well, to say the least, after being knocked out by Rampage, but he eventually pulled himself together to defeat Wanderlei Silva, who I was actually expecting to win that fight. So there's definitely a chance Karo can come back in the same fashion, especially because he's already proven himself by defeating the names you just stated and having the huge experience advantage. I don't know if I even saw the Yoshida fight in May, and if I did I can't remember it. But like I said, anything can happen in MMA, so of course he has the potential to be successful in the UFC after his career in Japan.
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Dr. Wrestling : So who do you see winning this Judo battle?
Ref Johanson: I would say Karo Parisyan, because he's already proven himself as a more than competent fighter, while Yoshida has not shown us as much as Karo has. Not that I think he doesn't stand a chance, I'm just going with Karo on this one.
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Dr. Wrestling : I agree Karo is a good ground fighter and with the experience advantage I have to go with Karo getting the victory here. Next up we will move to the Light Heavy Weight division where it will be Rich "Ace" Franklin fighting Matt "The Hammer" Hamil. This fight is interesting in so many ways and this fight could really determine the future of both the 205 division and Rick Franklin himself. First off, whenever a fighter moves up in a division he has to deal with the bigger and sometimes stronger opponets. To start the analysis of this fight. Do you think Franklin can deal with the bigger fighters of the 205 divison? I think he will have some trouble because he just doesn't have the bulk of a Liddel, Wanderli, or in this case Hamil.
Ref Johanson: That's a great question. He's most likely not gonna have the kind of power Matt Hamill does. I love watching both of these fighters and i think this has the potential to be the best fight of the PPV. Hamill is definitely going to have the striking advantage. LIke you said, Rich Franklin moved up in the division and will have to cope with harder punches. On top of that I've seen in Matt Hamill's fights that he has very heavy hands. In fact, his striking style seems a little unorthodox to me compared to most of the other fighters, but it is nevertheless very effective. Matt Hamill is also pretty decent on the ground. I think Franklin has better ground skills, but it might be very diffictult to wrestle the larger Hamill. Compared to Rich Franklin though, Hamill seems a little sluggish almost. I'd say Franklin has the speed advantage over him. And he definitely has the experience advantage. So I think he definitely at least has the potential to cope with larger opponents.
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Dr. Wrestling: That being said, this was almost a neccesary move for Franklin because he losted twice to Anderson Silva and as long as Silva is champion there's really no reason for Franklin to challange him for the title again considering there are other fighters in the middle weight division that Anderson hasn't fought yet. Although with the 205 division so stacked, it's tough to say if Franklin will be a long term force in the division and while he has name value there's a difference between being a force in a particular division or just bringing name vaule to a PPV. Don't get me from here, Franklin is an elite fighter as he has wins against Lutter, Tanner, Shamrock, Quarry, etc. but with him moving to 205, in a way Franklin has to prove himself all over again. Franklin will have the major experience advantage in this fight with a record of 25-3 and Hamil only has a record of 6-1 but it's been shown all the time that anything can happen in MMA. Although Hamil doesn't have alot of experience he has a great record that includes a devastating knock out of Tim Botceh back in April with his only loss being a VERY contonversal defeat against Micheal Bisping in Bisping's home country of England (surprise) in a fight that I think Hamil should have won. Aside from that, who do you think will get the victory here? I have to go with Hamil getting the win in what have to be considered atleast a mild upset but this will be a great fight no matter who the winner is.
Ref Johanson: I agree that Matt Hamill should be undefeated in the UFC. And he has already proven himself in his division. You're right about Franklin too, he's entering a whole new playing field now. The style of fighting is different with each division. And it would definitely be at least a little bit of an upset if Hamill won simply because Franklin has greater name value and experience. However, I could definitely see it happening. This one is just too close to call. However, I could see Franklin winning if he is able to figure out how to cope with a larger opponent quick enough. If he can't, he's definitely going to lose. I'd say Matt Hamill has a disticnt advantage because Franklin is switching divisions and hasn't adjusted yet, but for some reason I think Franklin is going to pull off the victory. He trains incredibly hard and really does everything possible to prepare himself as best he can for his next fight. I would not be surprised in the slightest if I am proven wrong though.
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Dr. Wrestling: Well said sir, the main event will be Chuck "The Ice man" Liddel v.s. Rashad Evans and I think the star of this fight will be either Liddel proves he is still a major force in the Light Heavy Weight division or Rashad Evans will become a star. Evans is undefeated in his MMA career and that is an amazing accomplishment and I think Evans has been over looked to some extent because he doesn't seem to get the same publicty that others in the 205 division get but it could be because Evans hasn't fought in ten months. As you said earlier, Liddel will probably be considered a UFC legend and he was the center piece in many respects in UFC's major explosion in popularity a few years ago. I really have no idea who is going to win this and that's what makes it a great fight atleast on paper because if you knew who was probably going to win why order the PPV? I'll predict Liddel will win but that's just a guess because I wouldn't be surprised if Evans won the fight. How do you view this fight and who do you think is going to win?
Ref Johanson: Yeah this fight is definitely going to be awesome. UFC owes a lot of its business to Chuck Liddell. But Rashad Evans is obviously a very accomplished fighter as well. As you said, he has no losses in his entire MMA record which is a truly outstanding achievement. Liddell has been inconsistent ever since his fight with Rampage, but his fight against Wanderlei Silva was epic, and it proved that Liddell is still a great fighter. The question is, did he get lucky or is "The Iceman" back? That being said, I'm going to have to go with Liddell on this one as well. If he can beat Wanderlei, I'm sure he's a match for Evans. But I also wouldn't be surprised if Evans won either. It would be an upset, but I could definitely see it happening.
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Dr. Wrestling : Well Ref Johanson that concluses this discussion for UFC 88 and thank you very much for taking the time to talk some MMA. It was fun and I hope you will join me for some future MMA discussions.
Ref Johanson: It was my pleasure. I'll definitely be back to talk some more MMA in the future. Thanks for an interesting discussion.
Thanks!
Dr. Wrestling : Ladies and Gentlemen yes, that's right this is YOUR favorite wrestling columnists, Dr. Wrestling and I will be discussing UFC 88:Break Through with trustful ref and my MMA pal, Ref Johanson. Ref Johason how are you sir?
Ref Johanson : I'm pretty good man how about yourself?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Wrestling : I'm surviving my friend. It's good we can finally get our always insightful and educational MMA discussions on record. That being said, there's alot to discuss for this big card so let's get right into the main fight card. First up we have Martin Kampmann Vs. Nate Marquardt in the middle weight division. Before we get to predictions what are your thoughts on these fighters and the fight itself?
Ref Johanson : Well, I haven't actually seen these two fighters in action yet, so I'm not sure what to expect. Marquardt has much more experience than the slightly younger Kampmann, who has a higher win percentage. Since I haven't seen either of these fighters' styles or anything, I really don't know what to expect.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Wrestling : Well sir, I have seen this fighters so I will inform you as well as the readers. Martin Kampmann has a solid MMA record of 13-1 and seems to be under the radar so to speak in the UFC because he is actually undefeated in the octagon but has fought infrequently in the UFC, which could be why he isn't very well known to UFC fans and his opponets aren't well known themselves. Nate Marquardt on the other hand has made alittle bit of a name for himself in the UFC fighting Anderson Silva at UFC 73 and has a win over Jeremy Horn at UFC 81, which is an accomplishment considering Horn is a great fighter in his own right. Despite Kampmann being undefeated in the UFC, I have to give the victory to Nate in this one because he's a more well rounded fighter. Would you agree or disagree and why?
Ref Johanson: Based off of the information you gave me, and what is on the card describing the fighters, I'd have to agree with you. Jeremy Horn is a great fighter with an incredible amount of experience. Like you said, defeating Jeremy Horn is quite an accomplishment. So I'm going to give the victory to Marquardt as well because he has fought at beaten tougher opponents and has much more experience in the octagon.
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Dr. Wrestling: From there we will stay in the middle weight division as it will be Dan Henderson v.s. Rousimar Palhares. This fight will probably be the text book definition of a human chess match because you have Henderson will his fantastic wrestling and ground skills against Palhares, who is a Brazian Ju Jit Su black belt. your thoughts?
Ref Johanson: I think this is going to be a really good fight. Dan Henderson is tough as nails and held his own against Anderson Silva even though he was defeated. I don't know much about Palhares, but if he has a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, you can expect this fight to be primarily on the ground, especially since Dan Henderson is an amazing wrestler as well. I really can't say who will win this fight, but I wouldn't be surprised if it went all three rounds. If I had to pick a winner, I'd go with Henderson.
Dr. Wrestling: I agree I have to go with Henderson here because his back is up against the wall so to speak considering he has yet to win a fight in the UFC. Obviously he can hold his head up despite his the two fights he has losted because it was against Rampade and Silva but losing three in a row is a tough thing to come back from for any fighter. Palhares only had one fight in the UFC, which he won and that is an accomplishment but I just don't see Henderson losing three in a row. Just a side note about Henderson, it seems like some UFC fans don't realize how good he really is because he was the middle weight and light heavy weight champion at the same time in Pride at the same time, which is an unbelieveable accomplishment. Do you think Henderson is underrated by some fans?
Ref Johanson: Absolutely. The man is 37 years old and he was switching between 2 different weight classes to defend two titles. He deserves a lot more credit than he gets. I can only imagine how hard he trained to accomplish that. His fights in the UFC were very tough opponents. Anderson Silva seems to be unstoppable at the moment and Rampage Jackson knocked out Chuck Liddell, who will probably go down as a legend in the UFC. While he wasn't expected to stand much of a chance against Silva (but who is right now?), his fight against Rampage was very close. And like you said, I just can't see Henderson losing three fights in a row. I'm definitely expecting him to break his small losing streak with this fight.
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Dr. Wrestling : well said, from there we'll go to the welter weight division as it will be Karo Parisyan Vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida in what will be a battle of judo black belts. Karo with the major experience advatage at 26-5 and there's Yoshida, who has a 10-2 record with only one fight in the UFC back in may, which he won. Karo has wins over Nick Diaz, Matt Serra, and Josh Burkman just to name a few but he lost his last fight to Thaigo Alves in April. There's two questions here for you Mr. Johanson, Do you think Karo can rebound from the loss? and will Yoshinda be able to become one of the few fights to be succuessful in the UFC after being in Japan?
Ref Johanson: Hey, anything can happen in MMA, so I definitely think Karo can rebound from his loss. Look at Chuck Liddell for instance. He wasn't doing too well, to say the least, after being knocked out by Rampage, but he eventually pulled himself together to defeat Wanderlei Silva, who I was actually expecting to win that fight. So there's definitely a chance Karo can come back in the same fashion, especially because he's already proven himself by defeating the names you just stated and having the huge experience advantage. I don't know if I even saw the Yoshida fight in May, and if I did I can't remember it. But like I said, anything can happen in MMA, so of course he has the potential to be successful in the UFC after his career in Japan.
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Dr. Wrestling : So who do you see winning this Judo battle?
Ref Johanson: I would say Karo Parisyan, because he's already proven himself as a more than competent fighter, while Yoshida has not shown us as much as Karo has. Not that I think he doesn't stand a chance, I'm just going with Karo on this one.
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Dr. Wrestling : I agree Karo is a good ground fighter and with the experience advantage I have to go with Karo getting the victory here. Next up we will move to the Light Heavy Weight division where it will be Rich "Ace" Franklin fighting Matt "The Hammer" Hamil. This fight is interesting in so many ways and this fight could really determine the future of both the 205 division and Rick Franklin himself. First off, whenever a fighter moves up in a division he has to deal with the bigger and sometimes stronger opponets. To start the analysis of this fight. Do you think Franklin can deal with the bigger fighters of the 205 divison? I think he will have some trouble because he just doesn't have the bulk of a Liddel, Wanderli, or in this case Hamil.
Ref Johanson: That's a great question. He's most likely not gonna have the kind of power Matt Hamill does. I love watching both of these fighters and i think this has the potential to be the best fight of the PPV. Hamill is definitely going to have the striking advantage. LIke you said, Rich Franklin moved up in the division and will have to cope with harder punches. On top of that I've seen in Matt Hamill's fights that he has very heavy hands. In fact, his striking style seems a little unorthodox to me compared to most of the other fighters, but it is nevertheless very effective. Matt Hamill is also pretty decent on the ground. I think Franklin has better ground skills, but it might be very diffictult to wrestle the larger Hamill. Compared to Rich Franklin though, Hamill seems a little sluggish almost. I'd say Franklin has the speed advantage over him. And he definitely has the experience advantage. So I think he definitely at least has the potential to cope with larger opponents.
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Dr. Wrestling: That being said, this was almost a neccesary move for Franklin because he losted twice to Anderson Silva and as long as Silva is champion there's really no reason for Franklin to challange him for the title again considering there are other fighters in the middle weight division that Anderson hasn't fought yet. Although with the 205 division so stacked, it's tough to say if Franklin will be a long term force in the division and while he has name value there's a difference between being a force in a particular division or just bringing name vaule to a PPV. Don't get me from here, Franklin is an elite fighter as he has wins against Lutter, Tanner, Shamrock, Quarry, etc. but with him moving to 205, in a way Franklin has to prove himself all over again. Franklin will have the major experience advantage in this fight with a record of 25-3 and Hamil only has a record of 6-1 but it's been shown all the time that anything can happen in MMA. Although Hamil doesn't have alot of experience he has a great record that includes a devastating knock out of Tim Botceh back in April with his only loss being a VERY contonversal defeat against Micheal Bisping in Bisping's home country of England (surprise) in a fight that I think Hamil should have won. Aside from that, who do you think will get the victory here? I have to go with Hamil getting the win in what have to be considered atleast a mild upset but this will be a great fight no matter who the winner is.
Ref Johanson: I agree that Matt Hamill should be undefeated in the UFC. And he has already proven himself in his division. You're right about Franklin too, he's entering a whole new playing field now. The style of fighting is different with each division. And it would definitely be at least a little bit of an upset if Hamill won simply because Franklin has greater name value and experience. However, I could definitely see it happening. This one is just too close to call. However, I could see Franklin winning if he is able to figure out how to cope with a larger opponent quick enough. If he can't, he's definitely going to lose. I'd say Matt Hamill has a disticnt advantage because Franklin is switching divisions and hasn't adjusted yet, but for some reason I think Franklin is going to pull off the victory. He trains incredibly hard and really does everything possible to prepare himself as best he can for his next fight. I would not be surprised in the slightest if I am proven wrong though.
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Dr. Wrestling: Well said sir, the main event will be Chuck "The Ice man" Liddel v.s. Rashad Evans and I think the star of this fight will be either Liddel proves he is still a major force in the Light Heavy Weight division or Rashad Evans will become a star. Evans is undefeated in his MMA career and that is an amazing accomplishment and I think Evans has been over looked to some extent because he doesn't seem to get the same publicty that others in the 205 division get but it could be because Evans hasn't fought in ten months. As you said earlier, Liddel will probably be considered a UFC legend and he was the center piece in many respects in UFC's major explosion in popularity a few years ago. I really have no idea who is going to win this and that's what makes it a great fight atleast on paper because if you knew who was probably going to win why order the PPV? I'll predict Liddel will win but that's just a guess because I wouldn't be surprised if Evans won the fight. How do you view this fight and who do you think is going to win?
Ref Johanson: Yeah this fight is definitely going to be awesome. UFC owes a lot of its business to Chuck Liddell. But Rashad Evans is obviously a very accomplished fighter as well. As you said, he has no losses in his entire MMA record which is a truly outstanding achievement. Liddell has been inconsistent ever since his fight with Rampage, but his fight against Wanderlei Silva was epic, and it proved that Liddell is still a great fighter. The question is, did he get lucky or is "The Iceman" back? That being said, I'm going to have to go with Liddell on this one as well. If he can beat Wanderlei, I'm sure he's a match for Evans. But I also wouldn't be surprised if Evans won either. It would be an upset, but I could definitely see it happening.
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Dr. Wrestling : Well Ref Johanson that concluses this discussion for UFC 88 and thank you very much for taking the time to talk some MMA. It was fun and I hope you will join me for some future MMA discussions.
Ref Johanson: It was my pleasure. I'll definitely be back to talk some more MMA in the future. Thanks for an interesting discussion.