As for Sokoudjou, they should have let Soko vs. Houston headline UFC 78 event. Think about it both fighters are in a simular situation. Soku came out of nowhere and destroyed Arona, and Rogerio. Houston was even less known and he came out and destroyed Sakara and Jardine. I would love to see these two fight each other. talk about Fireworks. Soko has some of the nasties leg kicks that I have ever seen and he has hands of stone, Ko’ing Arona with a nasty right hand, and Ko’ing Noguera with an onpoint left hook.

Houston is a beast in his own right who also has hands of granite and nasty knees to go along with some grown man strength. If they were in the same cage together…Wow!

Please lets all forget Machida, until he Ko’s or submits someone he is pretty much irrelevant. His own father said that he has to star finishing fights so what does that tell you?[/quote]

So by your logic, a fighter is only worth his weight in gold if he wins by KO or sub? Unanimous, not split but Unanimous decisions dont count in your book? Clearly beating an opponent up & out-fighting your foe for 15min means nothing? I should forget about him? In that case, I should not only write-off Machida but a slew of other talented fighters as well.

Do you honestly have real respect for the fight game or are you simply looking to see someone’s block get knocked off? just because you personally dont like a fighter doesnt dismiss that fighters capability & skill.

Although I value your opinion I’ve gotta strongly disagree with your Machida comments. You have a right not to be enamored by a particular fighter but why all the hate? Just cuz viscious KO power wasnt built into his DNA doesnt make him any less of a fighter. He may never be champ but Flash KO’s & Lucky Punches aside, he has the skill-set to soundly beat anyone at 205 on any given saturday.[/quote]

1st off…….no one respects the game more than I do. Lets get that clear off the bat. I have my favorites like everyone else, but I always speak objectively. Ko power is an element of being a great fighter, not the only element, but to some degree it is important. For example say Machida fights Baroni hypethetically. Machida could out fight Baroni for 14 minutes and 45 seconds and clearly dominate and outclass baroni, but all it takes is Baroni to land one punch. When you have no KO power and your opponent knows that, he is gonna fight you differently, he is gonna be less tense, less nervous. Knowing that your opponent cannot KO you, is a huge advantage mentally. You can fight someone clearly better than you but in your head you know that he isnt really hurting you.

Also, I wasnt talking strictly about KO power. I was talking about the ability to finish a fight. KO’s or submissions. I know Machida has submissions and is skilled but he will have to show more than what he has shown before I include him in any championship talk, especially in the UFC’s 205 lb division (which is the best out there).

I dont want to see another champion that never finishes a fight (sherk). I am the 1st person on this site to tell you how much I enjoy a long, 25 minute, hard fought WAR, with both fighters laying it all on the line. For example Rampage vs. Henderson… That was a war, neither fighter finished the other, but guess what I was on my seat for 25 minutes knowing that at any moment if Hendo lands one of his wild haymakers, or if Rampage unleashes a nasty uppercut, the fight would be over. Now that is exciting.

Machida has to become a finisher 1st, before ever reaching champion status. There havent been many champions that couldn’t finish fight. There is a reason for that. The Nakamura fight was his best showing in a while, but still come on man, you give 95% of the champions clean shots that Machida was landing, and lights out Kazahiro.

And by the way, KO power is something you can improve on so it is his fault. He has the tools, but he should improve his power. Now if you were to tell me that Machida could or would become champion at 185 I would listen because lets be real, all he has to deal with is Silva, on any given night a high caliber fighter can beat any other High caliber fighter. But you want to talk about Machida champion at 205, I aint buying that. I will tell you right now that will NEVER happen. Theres Rampage, Wanderlei, Forrest, Shogun, Jardine, houston. Machida cant even get past Liddell, so come on you can like the dude but be real… Not at 205. If he drops to 185, possibly, but no way is it ever gonna happen at 205. Sorry.[/quote]

To back-up my questioning of your motives as a fan I’ll quote you, (quote)”I dont want to see another champion that never finishes a fight (sherk). I am the 1st person on this site to tell you how much I enjoy a long, 25 minute, hard fought WAR, with both fighters laying it all on the line. For example Rampage vs. Henderson… That was a war, neither fighter finished the other, but guess what I was on my seat for 25 minutes knowing that at any moment if Hendo lands one of his wild haymakers, or if Rampage unleashes a nasty uppercut, the fight would be over. Now that is exciting.” (end quote)

For effect…..(quote) if Hendo lands one of his wild haymakers, or if Rampage unleashes a nasty uppercut, the fight would be over. Now that is exciting (end quote)

Those are just 2 examples in one paragraph. Clearly the KO is extremely important to you. Not that anythings necessarily wrong with that but it clearly carries more weight with you than anything else. Otherwise, you wouldnt have gone on to state it mutliple times within the same post.

Personally, I enjoy the “art”. I love a good KO or a fight ending sub that explodes from nowhere as much as the next guy. More than that, I love the subtle nuances & technical aspects of the game. As long as both guys are mixing it up proper in the ring, I’m a happy customer.

We obviously have a difference of opinion here. Let’s just agree to disagree on this particular subject. Let’s also be clear on the fact that I am not at all saying that Machinda WILL be champ one day. Go back & read my post thoroughly, I never wrote that.

As for Sokoudjou, they should have let Soko vs. Houston headline UFC 78 event. Think about it both fighters are in a simular situation. Soku came out of nowhere and destroyed Arona, and Rogerio. Houston was even less known and he came out and destroyed Sakara and Jardine. I would love to see these two fight each other. talk about Fireworks. Soko has some of the nasties leg kicks that I have ever seen and he has hands of stone, Ko’ing Arona with a nasty right hand, and Ko’ing Noguera with an onpoint left hook.

Houston is a beast in his own right who also has hands of granite and nasty knees to go along with some grown man strength. If they were in the same cage together…Wow!

Please lets all forget Machida, until he Ko’s or submits someone he is pretty much irrelevant. His own father said that he has to star finishing fights so what does that tell you?[/quote]

So by your logic, a fighter is only worth his weight in gold if he wins by KO or sub? Unanimous, not split but Unanimous decisions dont count in your book? Clearly beating an opponent up & out-fighting your foe for 15min means nothing? I should forget about him? In that case, I should not only write-off Machida but a slew of other talented fighters as well.

Do you honestly have real respect for the fight game or are you simply looking to see someone’s block get knocked off? just because you personally dont like a fighter doesnt dismiss that fighters capability & skill.

Although I value your opinion I’ve gotta strongly disagree with your Machida comments. You have a right not to be enamored by a particular fighter but why all the hate? Just cuz viscious KO power wasnt built into his DNA doesnt make him any less of a fighter. He may never be champ but Flash KO’s & Lucky Punches aside, he has the skill-set to soundly beat anyone at 205 on any given saturday.[/quote]

1st off…….no one respects the game more than I do. Lets get that clear off the bat. I have my favorites like everyone else, but I always speak objectively. Ko power is an element of being a great fighter, not the only element, but to some degree it is important. For example say Machida fights Baroni hypethetically. Machida could out fight Baroni for 14 minutes and 45 seconds and clearly dominate and outclass baroni, but all it takes is Baroni to land one punch. When you have no KO power and your opponent knows that, he is gonna fight you differently, he is gonna be less tense, less nervous. Knowing that your opponent cannot KO you, is a huge advantage mentally. You can fight someone clearly better than you but in your head you know that he isnt really hurting you.

Also, I wasnt talking strictly about KO power. I was talking about the ability to finish a fight. KO’s or submissions. I know Machida has submissions and is skilled but he will have to show more than what he has shown before I include him in any championship talk, especially in the UFC’s 205 lb division (which is the best out there).

I dont want to see another champion that never finishes a fight (sherk). I am the 1st person on this site to tell you how much I enjoy a long, 25 minute, hard fought WAR, with both fighters laying it all on the line. For example Rampage vs. Henderson… That was a war, neither fighter finished the other, but guess what I was on my seat for 25 minutes knowing that at any moment if Hendo lands one of his wild haymakers, or if Rampage unleashes a nasty uppercut, the fight would be over. Now that is exciting.

Machida has to become a finisher 1st, before ever reaching champion status. There havent been many champions that couldn’t finish fight. There is a reason for that. The Nakamura fight was his best showing in a while, but still come on man, you give 95% of the champions clean shots that Machida was landing, and lights out Kazahiro.

And by the way, KO power is something you can improve on so it is his fault. He has the tools, but he should improve his power. Now if you were to tell me that Machida could or would become champion at 185 I would listen because lets be real, all he has to deal with is Silva, on any given night a high caliber fighter can beat any other High caliber fighter. But you want to talk about Machida champion at 205, I aint buying that. I will tell you right now that will NEVER happen. Theres Rampage, Wanderlei, Forrest, Shogun, Jardine, houston. Machida cant even get past Liddell, so come on you can like the dude but be real… Not at 205. If he drops to 185, possibly, but no way is it ever gonna happen at 205. Sorry.

As for Sokoudjou, they should have let Soko vs. Houston headline UFC 78 event. Think about it both fighters are in a simular situation. Soku came out of nowhere and destroyed Arona, and Rogerio. Houston was even less known and he came out and destroyed Sakara and Jardine. I would love to see these two fight each other. talk about Fireworks. Soko has some of the nasties leg kicks that I have ever seen and he has hands of stone, Ko’ing Arona with a nasty right hand, and Ko’ing Noguera with an onpoint left hook.

Houston is a beast in his own right who also has hands of granite and nasty knees to go along with some grown man strength. If they were in the same cage together…Wow!

Please lets all forget Machida, until he Ko’s or submits someone he is pretty much irrelevant. His own father said that he has to star finishing fights so what does that tell you?[/quote]

So by your logic, a fighter is only worth his weight in gold if he wins by KO or sub? Unanimous, not split but Unanimous decisions dont count in your book? Clearly beating an opponent up & out-fighting your foe for 15min means nothing? I should forget about him? In that case, I should not only write-off Machida but a slew of other talented fighters as well.

Do you honestly have real respect for the fight game or are you simply looking to see someone’s block get knocked off? just because you personally dont like a fighter doesnt dismiss that fighters capability & skill.

Although I value your opinion I’ve gotta strongly disagree with your Machida comments. You have a right not to be enamored by a particular fighter but why all the hate? Just cuz viscious KO power wasnt built into his DNA doesnt make him any less of a fighter. He may never be champ but Flash KO’s & Lucky Punches aside, he has the skill-set to soundly beat anyone at 205 on any given saturday.

I really don’t know how this one is going to go if it happens. Won’t dare predict it.[/quote]

I will! SoKO by 1st rd KO…….I’d bet my house on it.

I really don’t know how this one is going to go if it happens. Won’t dare predict it.