SinistralEpoch

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http://www.dailymotion.com/relevanc...rampage-2-promo
Very well done promo for the upcoming fight.

Is anyone else going to be watching this one? I really think Rampage might be able to take Liddell again. He's definitely got the chin to hang with Chuck, and has the hands to throw bombs. Not to mention, Rampage's slams are ungodly - and if he gets Chuck down we might see a repeate of last time where Rampage just pounded Chuck until the ref called it. He hit him like .. 60 something times on the mat the last time.

Regardless, I'm pulling for Rampage, though I like Chuck too. One of the few true top tier fights in UFC right now.

kgilly

There are a lot of true top tier fighters in the UFC right now. Secondly, Chuck has a completely different game plan than when he first fought rampage. Chuck at one time threw a lot of kicks coming from K1, he has quit doing so and focused on his takedown defense. He is great at punching on the chase or on the back peddle. As great of a chin as rampage has, I just do not see him taking this one. I predict a second round knockout of rampage. Rampages only chance is to take chuck into rounds four and five and outwork him. he will lose the first two rounds for sure, so he needs to either win the last 3 rounds or get the takedown in the 4th and fifth. Onyl problem is....If randy can't take him down and hold him down, I know rampage sure as hell can't.

SinistralEpoch

You'd be wrong if you think that Chuck didn't have that takedown defense against Jackson as well. I think you need to watch that fight again, because right after this fight is when he went on a tier and just dominated the division.

Jackson DID hold Chuck down in their last fight, he's MUCH stronger then Randy physically, and held Chuck down like he was nothing .. and rained down about 70 punches on him during the fight. Rampage also DOMINATED the standup. Chuck threw almost no kicks in that fight, and it was a slugfest, which Rampage got the better of. I've seen training videos of Chuck, and he seems to be working on his high kicks again . so maybe we'll see Chuck KO Rampage with a kick like he did Sobral. This isn't the same Rampage he fought, not after Rampage's brutal KO loss to Wanderlei..

Yes, there are a lot of top tier fighters in the UFC -now-. LHW? No. HW. Yes.

Mirko "Cro Cop", Antonio Nogueira, Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdrum (If he can find his groove.), Gabriel Gonzaga (If he beats Randy.), Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, and I suppose you can't forget Heath Herring .. and the fact that UFC has signed Fedor. :D

- LHW however, UFC doesn't have a really ... deep division.
- MW isn't really.
- WW is stacked however.
- LW may be in the future.

kgilly

I never said he didn't have the takedown defense in the first fight, what I'm saying is that his takedown defense is much better now than it was then. And you are right...this si not near the same Quinton you saw when he fought Chuck the first time. Chucks has improved and Quinton is not as good as he once was, especially in the octagon where there is much more room for chuck to evade being taken down. Yes Quinton held him down the first time they fought, but Quinton is not near the wrestler that Randy is, and strength has little or nothing to do with holding someone down, it has to do with technique, and Randy couldn't keep him down.
I will also give you the fact that the MW and LHW divisions are the weakest in the UFC, however the top tier fighters in those divisions are no joke and could hang with the tops in Pride. Especially there are some future stars in the LHW divison right now, they are just being molded and haven't hit their stride. The LW division I think is better than you are giving credit for, I mean Nick Diaz left the UFC becaue he lost 3 in a row and then he whoops up on Gomi in Pride. Sherk is no joke, neither is Florian, and Penn is back in the LW division.
The WW divison is the most dominant divisoin in all of MMA without question...I expect some of these fighters to eventually go up or down in weight because of the stiff competition.
As much as I like Wanderlei, I know he is a good fighter, I still can;t get out of the back of my mind his loss to Tito or his recent loss to Henderson. There is talk of Tito moving to Pride, would be some good match-ups.
And I know Fedor is in talks with the UFC, but he has yet to sign with either Pride or the UFC..He is currently in contract negotiations unless I missed something.

SinistralEpoch

I actually read recently that Fedor DID agree to fight for the UFC. When that is, I have no clue.

Nick Diaz was 170 in UFC, actually. He lost to Diego Sanchez, Joe Riggs, and I think Karo Parysian? I'll have to look it up. Basically, who he lost too were not people to stick your nose up at.

Sherk and Florian are no jokes, very true, but two fighters do not a division make. Hermes Franca is a very good fighter, but I don't really think the LW divisions in general are very strong. Pride has Gomi, Sakurai (I love this guy.), and Diaz now, yeah?

I never said that the LHWs in UFC couldn't hang with Pride, as that's been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt this year if anything. Chuck is AS good or better then anyone that's ever been in Pride, including Shogun.

Wanderlei's loss to Tito was BS to be honest. If you watch the fight, I'd say that Wanderlei won. Tito didn't 'dominate' him like he said he did, and I really don't think he'd take the W against against Silva again. Tito is just picking at Silva because he thinks he can beat him after those last two brutal losses. Silva would come in and just brutalize Tito, I think - just as a manner of revenge. However, Cro Cop broke his spirit, and Hendo buried it. We'll see if he can bring it back from the dead, I hope he can, because he's fun to watch.

Part of Quinton keeping Liddell down, was likely all the punishment dealt to him on their feet as well, but, the way that Rampage kept Liddell in the last fight was NOT techique but just brute force. And the fact that Rampage was relentless when it DID hit the ground. Regardless, the fight should be one worth watching. No matter who wins, I'll be happy as long as it's an exciting fight - and it should be between these two.

starchaser

I hope and pray Rampage beats Chuck. Just my 2 cents.

kgilly

I don;t care who wins...I just hope and prey it's a damn good fight and someone gets KTFO.

SinistralEpoch

Someone IS going to get KTFO. This will be a slug fest, neither of these guys has changed their styles since their last fight - and that was as slug fest too.

facepeeler

that's me too....


I haven't watched UFC long enough to really have anyone that I will pull for all the time, besides Anderson Silva, that's one badass little Brazilian. I know who all the names are, and what they've done. I think it will be a good fight, regardless of who wins.

___________________________________________


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

starchaser

Think I'll add another 2 cents. My personal take is this: Is one tune-up fight in the UFC enough to fight in the octagon? Maybe not enough for Crocop who got knocked out in devastating fashion. It'll probably be harder for Rampage to take down Chuck in the cage, there is more room for Chuck to move around and avoid the takedown.
That being said, I think it's too tough to call, so I can only hope Rampage wins. I can't stand Chuck Liddell.

SinistralEpoch

I was pretty upset that Cro Cop got KTFO like he did. :(

Though all the people jumping on Gonzaga's nuts are gonna be surprised when Randy beats him, if he does. He's the most 'promising' rookie since Brandon Vera, or Shogun now apparently.

I still think Cro Cop just didn't take him or the UFC seriously. He will now, watch for him to KO his next opponent in a devastating fashion.

mrsnifflez

I was glad he got knocked out like he did. It has been well reported that Cro Cop doesn't really care too much for the UFC and how it "hypes fights" for a lack of a better term. And on his first fight he came out to Pride's theme music, which I believe was a slap in the face of the UFC. You also have to remember that until his knockout defeat to Gonzaga he refused to train in a cage. He trained in a ring for Gonzaga and he found out that the cage is much different. I still think he is a devestating striker and will bounce back strong from his defeat, but I still don't like the guy.

As for Gonzaga....From what I have seen of him, and of what I have read, he will be a very tough match-up for Couture. Gonzaga appears to be much stronger, and has a very, very good ground game. Apparently he has a decent striking game as well as seen with Cro Cop. That being said, I don't think he is quite ready for a title shot, and I think that Couture will defend sucessfully.


Now to the subject at hand....I think Chuck has greatly improved since the first Rampage fight. I like both fighters and am just hoping for a great fight, but I believe Chuck will win in the 4th round.

SinistralEpoch

I suppose in a way I AM glad he got KO'd like he did. In an embarrassing fashion, because it'll certainly wake him up. He didn't train for elbows, he didn't respect the UFC fighters, and he didn't train in the cage. Though the elbows had more to do with the defeat then anything else, and Herb Dean's odd standup when Gonzaga was about to rain down hell upon him.

Regardless, I'm sure Mirko respects the cage a whole HELL of a lot more. "Holy shit, this place is just like Pride." You'll see a much different Cro Cop in his next fight.

Also, I see no real issue with him coming out to Pride's theme song, then again I'm not a Pride or UFC nuthugger! I didn't see it as a slap in the face, so much as it was Mirko either showing where he came from, or what I read before where Dana -told- him to go out to it. To somewhat announce that UFC owned Pride in a manner.

On Randy/Gonzaga, I see Randy taking it, but Gonzaga has a pretty good shot if he controls him like he did Mirko. Which I seriously doubt will happen.

And I agree, I like both fighters - and I can see it going either way honestly. I somewhat want Rampge to win to shut the UFC nuthuggers up, but on the other-hand I want Chuck to win because he's MMA's only true US mainstream star.

mrsnifflez

I don't know if I should take this comment as a jab at me or not for saying what I said about Cro Cop coming out to Pride's music, but I will just assume you weren't referring to me as a "UFC nuthugger."

Anyways, I would be interested in that read on Dana telling Cro Cop to come out to Pride's theme. I also read something about that, it was actually an interview with Mirko who said that he wanted to use it as his theme for his first fight. It would be interesting to know both sides of that story. I read my article on nodq.com I believe. It was an article on there that was linked to another site that escapes me at the moment.