UFC 169

by Guest Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:08 pm

Another injury has forced Dominik Cruz out of his fight with Renan Barao & with it he has either vacated belt or been stripped of it, Urijah Faber steps in to rematch Barao for the belt. Faber is on a 4 fight winning streak but does anybody think this fight will be any different from the last where Barao fought a smart technical fight to beat Faber in what was a pretty one sided fight. Although a tough fighter who always brings it I feel he is a touch limited when it comes to the top tier, he really had no answer for Barao or Aldo & basically became a walking kick bag, he took serious damage to his legs in both fights.

by Rinsure Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:36 am

Hi,

Long time browser (and occasional contributor) to the Rugby Union section, and just discovered this MMA section. So...

Cruz has been stripped of the title, and Barao is now the full champion. The fight with Faber is for the full title - no interim any more. Faber's taking the fight at three weeks notice. Kudos for that.

I can't see past Barao though. I like Faber, I respect his achievements, and in a non-title fight he's head and shoulders above all the other contenders. To win he'll need to keep the pace frenetic and not allow Barao to dictate with his leg kicks again. As much as I'd like to see it - I can't.

Bad luck for Cruz, too, but vindicates Barao's reign at the top of the bantamweight tree for so long.

by **Pr4wn** Thu Jan 09, 2014 2:13 am

I can't see past Barao either, he's technically superior in almost all areas.

I do like watching Faber though, he's a very popular guy who fights at an extremely exciting pace.

by Rinsure Fri Jan 10, 2014 3:41 am

How do you fella's see Overeem v Mir going?

Both coming into the fight off losses - two on the bounce for 'Reem, and three for Mir. Fighting for their place in the UFC? I think Mir might be, but I suspect 'Reem might get another chance to redeem himself before he's jettisoned.

And Aldo v Lamas? I'll hold my hands up - don't know much about Lamas. Thoughts?

by Guest Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:08 pm

[quote="Rinsure"]How do you fella's see Overeem v Mir going?

Neither have great chins & both go into their shells when they get hit, so its kind of who lands the big punch 1st. Reem is the better striker & better finisher, I'd pick him in stand up but he gasses if he doesn't get it over in the 1st 2 rounds. Mir needs to take it to floor imo.

I'll go out on a limb & say Reem by ko/tko inside 2

by **Pr4wn** Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:04 pm

We have UFC this weekend first! It's Benson Henderson against Josh Thompson. What do you guys think?

by Rinsure Wed Jan 15, 2014 3:23 am

It's tomorrow night, isn't it, and it's Rockhold vs. Phillipou. Henderson vs Josh Thompson is on the 25th, a week on Saturday.

So.. Rockhold or Phillipou? Last time I saw Rockhold he was having his head kicked more-or-less off by Vitor Belfort. So hopefully he'll have a better outing. Phillipou is basically a striker, a boxer I think, and will veyr much want to keep it standing. If Rockhold takes him down, then I see it being his on the floor. If they stand and trade, it could go either way IMHO.

Moving on.. hoping Benson Henderson gets back to wining ways and gets the stoppage too. Not sure how likely that is though, when did Smooth last stop someone? I think he has the power to sap Thompson with leg kicks, and capitalise when he starts lagging.

So, Rockhold for this week, and Benson for next!

by Guest Fri Jan 17, 2014 7:56 am

Anybody watch last nights card? I'm going to give it a look over the next couple of days. All I know of Rockhold is the ko defeat by Belfor.

by Rinsure Fri Jan 17, 2014 8:22 pm

I've watched the main event this morning, but not seen the rest of the card yet.

I won't spoil it - when you've seen it, comment!

by Guest Sat Jan 18, 2014 6:50 am

Watched it earlier, good finishing by Rockhold, such a short fight its hard to say much more. Will probably check out the rest of the card over the weekend.

by **Pr4wn** Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:37 am

I'm loving Yoel Romero. What a fighter, if only he'd stared MMA a few years earlier!

by westisbest Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:30 pm

TJ Dillashaw looks very good.

Cole Miller looked good. Never really liked him from when he was on season 5.

by **Pr4wn** Tue Feb 04, 2014 2:09 am

So UFC 169 ended up being a bit of a let-down in the end. What did everyone think of the Faber stoppage?

Personally, I thought it was premature but Faber wasn't doing anything to improve his position. Holding on to a let and putting your thumb up maybe isn't enough, though I still think Herb should have allowed Faber an opportunity to get out.

Aldo is dull as dishwater.

Overeem was always going to win that one, Mir has really struggled against strikers recently and Overeem was completely dominant.

Ali Bagautinov is one of my favourite fighters in the UFC, the guy is insanely tough but he's also a very intelligent fighter. He kept his distance, got his take-downs in and dominated on the ground.

Fight of the night for me, and probably for everyone else must have been Varner vs. Trujillo. Back and forth fight that Varner looked to be closing out but Trujillo landed an absolute bomb to finish his opponent.

by Valero's Conscience Tue Feb 04, 2014 6:22 am

I thought the stoppage was early however as you say he didn't look like he was going to get out and in another 20 seconds would of maybe been labelled a late stoppage.

People also seem to ignore Faber was being rocked before that.

As for The Reem I was pleased with his performance for a couple I reasons. Dana White was very negative but I disagree as he completely dominated and maintained decent cardio for the 3 rounds which was the major concern for him.

Reem needed to show improved cardio and not rushing for the finish and he succeeded in both.

I was surprised Mir went the distance but he's done in the UFC IMO as he's lost 4 on the spin and I don't reckon he'll fancy being the HW gatekeeper.

Aldo disappoints me as in his WEC reign he was sensational and very exciting to watch. Now he has the UFC belt he seems content remaining champion at the expense of excitement which is halting his growth to becoming a star. There is talk of him moving up to LW against Petis which could make him a star and opens up the FW division.

The Varner fight was outstanding, which had back and forth slugging at the expense of technique. Varner's gas tank looked bad and appeared like he knew he wouldn't last unless he finished quick!

Ali is a likeable guy and continues to impress and I highly expect him to get the next shot at Mighty Mouse which is an easy decision as the list of contenders is shallow.

by **hampo17** Tue Feb 04, 2014 10:18 pm

Does somebody fancy doing a review of this for the February edition of A View From V2?

by Valero's Conscience Tue Feb 04, 2014 10:35 pm

I could Hampo but when would it need to be done by?

by **hampo17** Tue Feb 04, 2014 11:14 pm

25th of the month mate.

by Valero's Conscience Tue Feb 04, 2014 11:19 pm

No problem mate, i'll do it. Is there a target word count/length.

I don't promise to be a good writer but will do my best and get it over to you a week or so early so it can be tweaked if needed.

by **hampo17** Tue Feb 04, 2014 11:26 pm

No word count, if we feel it's to long we'll take words/sentences out so don't worry about that Don't worry about the spelling/grammer either I can tweak that when I get it mate.

Thanks for your help.

by Valero's Conscience Tue Feb 04, 2014 11:31 pm

No worries I will try get first draft done this weekend and forward week after.

by talkingpoint Fri Feb 07, 2014 4:07 pm

Much respect to Mir for going the distance. Yes Overeem could have finished him, but he showed tremendous heart to recover from round 1. Overeem fought smart and earned the win. I have no complaints and would like to see an intelligent Overeem fight for the title one day to prove his potential.

Aldo is boring to the point that even the commentaries on his fights are cliche and predictable. I also thought he finished poorly, he was clearly glad he`d done enough to win but I`d like to see him try to finish opponents.

I was so disappointed for Faber, not in the stopping but just that it came so early in the fight. I had hoped he could have taken the fight into the latter rounds. Faber it seems is destined to always be the bridesmaid and never the bride. He`s the nearly guy.

by Guest Sat Feb 08, 2014 1:59 am

At first I thought the Faber stoppage was premature but then looking back where was the fight going? There was only going to be one outcome & as others have said he'd already been rocked a few times.

I have to agree Aldo is no longer looking like the exciting fighter he was but being a boxing & kickboxing fan I appreciate his style, technique & approach, I don't think we should be to critical of a fighter taking a safety first approach even though it won't always make for the most entertaining fight.

To be honest I enjoyed the Overeem vs Mir fight and although Reem was dominant there was always the chance he'd become overconfident & get sloppy, this is a guy who knows how to lose a fight! But he showed discipline & good cardio and put on a reasonable display. You do wonder what now for Mir, will he just retire or will he get cut.

by **Pr4wn** Sat Feb 08, 2014 2:38 am

I enjoyed watching Overeem but still think that Velasquez would destroy him.

by Guest Sat Feb 08, 2014 4:36 am

Well on current/recent form you'd have to go with Cain but as is often said, this is mma anything can happen, especially when you have 2 HW's that can hit.

Personally I'd like reem to have another 3 or 4 winning fights before fighting for the title. He needs to build his confidence back up and improve his cardio. I'd also like to see him drop some more weight as I think he's to heavy & has to much muscle for a fighter. Who more people like to see him fight next?

by talkingpoint Sat Feb 08, 2014 7:20 pm

sohotnot wrote:Well on current/recent form you'd have to go with Cain but as is often said, this is mma anything can happen, especially when you have 2 HW's that can hit.

Personally I'd like reem to have another 3 or 4 winning fights before fighting for the title. He needs to build his confidence back up and improve his cardio. I'd also like to see him drop some more weight as I think he's to heavy & has to much muscle for a fighter. Who more people like to see him fight next?

Absolutely, should Overeem put a string of wins together and earn a title shot, with further experience and lessons learnt from losing he could be a very dangerous opponent for Cain or whoever the champion is at that time. But even though Overeem showed maturity and wisdom in holding back and pacing himself, I don`t think his cardio is yet good enough for Cain. Should Cain press him hard in the early rounds, I can`t see Overeem surviving in the championship rounds if it gets that far. Sadly Mir was never going to push Overeem`s cardio with the kick boxing skill deficit compared to Overeem.

I`ve thought this for a while, Mir has lost his heart for success. He`s a former champion, a family man and probably financially very comfortably well off. I don`t see the fire in him to achieve anymore. Sure he takes fights still and yes he`s tough (as he proved against Overeem) and for that I still respect him. But, I think after the Dos Santos title fight, he realized that was probably going to be his last chance at the title. Besides, I think his family is the most important thing to him now. I think he should retire if the UFC don`t drop him. Mir could easily become a coach or a media personality like Kenny Florian. Mir knows a lot about MMA, is a great talker and he would make a good ju-jitsu coach.

Aldo is a great champion, but he`s quickly becoming the new GSP: supremely talented but lacking the killer instinct to finish fights. He`s too reserved and fights too defensively. But his techniques are among the best in the UFC. Barao is the more complete package though for my money. Technically adept with genuine KO power for his division. A super fight between him and Aldo would be awesome, I hear Aldo cuts a lot of weight.

by Guest Wed Feb 12, 2014 4:31 am

talkingpoint wrote:
sohotnot wrote:Well on current/recent form you'd have to go with Cain but as is often said, this is mma anything can happen, especially when you have 2 HW's that can hit.

Personally I'd like reem to have another 3 or 4 winning fights before fighting for the title. He needs to build his confidence back up and improve his cardio. I'd also like to see him drop some more weight as I think he's to heavy & has to much muscle for a fighter. Who more people like to see him fight next?

Absolutely, should Overeem put a string of wins together and earn a title shot, with further experience and lessons learnt from losing he could be a very dangerous opponent for Cain or whoever the champion is at that time. But even though Overeem showed maturity and wisdom in holding back and pacing himself, I don`t think his cardio is yet good enough for Cain. Should Cain press him hard in the early rounds, I can`t see Overeem surviving in the championship rounds if it gets that far. Sadly Mir was never going to push Overeem`s cardio with the kick boxing skill deficit compared to Overeem.

I think its a good possibility that no matter what changes he makes to his training & the amount of cardio training he does he'll never have great cardio or be able to match Cain. I think this is partly the reason for his strength/power training he's done since moving up in weight from 205, to make himself physically very strong with explosive power to get the job done early. If Cain does push early, especially with stand up he could come unstuck, Reem has potentially the best stand up in the HW division & can really hit and Cain is not a defensive wizard, JDS showed that.

I`ve thought this for a while, Mir has lost his heart for success. He`s a former champion, a family man and probably financially very comfortably well off. I don`t see the fire in him to achieve anymore. Sure he takes fights still and yes he`s tough (as he proved against Overeem) and for that I still respect him. But, I think after the Dos Santos title fight, he realized that was probably going to be his last chance at the title. Besides, I think his family is the most important thing to him now. I think he should retire if the UFC don`t drop him. Mir could easily become a coach or a media personality like Kenny Florian. Mir knows a lot about MMA, is a great talker and he would make a good ju-jitsu coach.

Agree Mir would make an excellent pundit for MMA or a good juijitsu coach. I posted some links to some coaching sessions he did on here about a year ago, interesting & insightful stuff.

Aldo is a great champion, but he`s quickly becoming the new GSP: supremely talented but lacking the killer instinct to finish fights. He`s too reserved and fights too defensively. But his techniques are among the best in the UFC. Barao is the more complete package though for my money. Technically adept with genuine KO power for his division. A super fight between him and Aldo would be awesome, I hear Aldo cuts a lot of weight.

Yes sadly this seems to be true but you can't really hold it against him, its his living & as a champion he makes ok money, lets not forget the UFC doesn't pay that well and that it is down to out of cage money that boosts there income, lose the title lose those endorsements. There is talk of him meeting Petits at LW or even a catch weight non title fight. I don't think him & Barao are going to fight, they are from the same camp.

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