What a difference one punch makes.
Rashad Evans delivered a blistering overhand right this weekend that had former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell snoring in the center of the Octagon during the main event at UFC 88: “Breakthrough” at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
It’s a shocking result that perhaps has company president Dana White and the rest of the executives at UFC headquarters on West Sahara Avenue crying in their corn flakes this morning.
That’s because Evans ruined a monster year-end pay-per-view (PPV) event on December 27, which had Liddell — the promotion’s biggest money-maker — all but guaranteed to face current 205-pound champion Forrest Griffin with a win over “Sugar.”
Not so fast, blockbuster.
Now it appears that Evans has earned that honor with one magical punch, setting up a bout between two champions from separate seasons of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on New Year’s Eve weekend.
That’s a rather remarkable turn of events when you consider all the other “big name” draws in the loaded light heavyweight division, including Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Liddell, Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva, among others.
But there really are no other options — all the fighters mentioned above (sans Machida and Silva) are either hurt or coming off losses. “The Dragon” is still at least one win away from title shot even though he may be the one most deserving and Silva would likely need another big win soon to justify leapfrogging either Machida or Evans.
Indeed, it’s a chain of events and circumstances that appeared unlikely as recently as of July 4 — the day before Griffin pulled off his own shocker, winning a unanimous decision to defeat Jackson for the 205-pound belt at UFC 86: “Jackson vs Griffin.”
But that’s the nature of the MMA beast, whether you — or the UFC brass — like it or not.
213 Comments »
rashad showed he he can take on top fighters and he he chin checked all the doubters and haters wrong now im looking forward to the dream 6 gp…WAR MANHOEF!!!!
r we not posting my responses today mania? If thats the case, just tell me so I dont waste anymore time posting!
that chin check comment was kinda funny
I was glad to see Franklin dominate hammill, and some people on this site (one guy) always is talking about one dimensional fighters, yet hops on the palhaus (spelling) band wagon. He is more one dimensional than hughes ever was, except he couldn’t pull a submission.
hendo looked great, my wife actually paused the fight to go take the dog out (I was outside smoking a cigar watching through the sliding door so couldn’t complain) thats how impressed she was.
3 minutes before the event, I ordered it, so glad I did!!!
great comparison! Very accurate. Compare a former Champion who has had countless mma fights to a new mma fighter who just made a transition from submission grappling! How accurate!
Thoughts on the PPV
1) Despite MacDonald’s loss to Maia, I am impressed w/ his last 4 fights and I feel that he should go for a title shot after Silva wipes the floor w/ Cote.
2) Palhares is far from being a well rounded MMA fighter. He has a good chin, though.
3) Matt Brown did not lose the 1st round. At best that 1st round was a stalemate. He won the 2nd. This fight should have been a draw.
4) Ace did exactly what was expected. Matt is overhyped.
5) RASHAD. What can I say? I was shocked. I have posted over and over again that I thought Chuck would decapitate Suga’. OOPS…
Rashad, please accept my apology as I eat my crow with a side of wasabi.
If you keep finishing fights and not “blanket” your opponents then I will jump on your bandwagon.
Sincerely,
A Rashad hater.
dong won the first, he took browns back at will, very good judging!
he may have won the fight but lets face it he squeak by a guy with a 500 record. all hype about stun gun is BS
agreed
it could have been even closer as Brown nearly won rnd 2 10-8
I want to see Almeida vs. Palhares, but Almeida is being wasted away against that idiot (who IMO is a little slow) Horowich
Almeida is pitted against a waste because the UFC is trying to build up his record for him to be a contender again. He is a contender to begin with. It’s just the cage rust that cost him the Cote fight.
OJR: Jason Mc.. should never ever ever be put in the same sentence with the living Legend.. which I will keep his name out of this sentence.. Jason will always be good, but on the UFc level, not good enough to reach the number contender’s spot.
He can not beat Rich Franklin, Bisping, Henderson, Leites, Rousimar, Nate.. he can’t.. Jason’s bread and butter is BJJ.. is still not better then the BJJ master’s at 185. So he will either be a gate keeper..or jsut ride in the middle of the pack.
Yo…you think the 1st round between Stun Gun and Brown was a draw?? Come on.. That was stun Guns round in and out.. he had his back.. numerous times.. almost choke him out..MAtt was tuf.. he got out of it.. but that was a clear round won for Stun gun..as the 2nd set was clearly won by Brown.. and the 3rd set.. controlled by Stun gun.. 2 rounds 1. Stun Gun.. wins.. Do you think that Bisping beat Hammil, and that Forrest won every round against PAge.. just curious.
If you give Cote a title shot then you give Mac a title shot. Enuf said.
Climbing on someone’s back and hanging on like a monkey is not enough, especially if it is negated by your opponent. Who do you give points to? Tough call.
Hammil got robbed. Page sent in a clone to fight for him that day…
Back Control for 3 or 4 minutes is huge! Negating a choke does not out do the control. There is no circumstance where 3 of a round with back control could be negated unless a KO is delivered. An Escape or defend never outweights the escape or the block. Offense always scores higher then defense, in any sport Offense wins. Being on his back with both hooks in for the majority of a round, is not acting like a monkey in MMA, it is the position every grappler strives for.
F.. that Cote is getting a title shot by default. Okami got hurt. Cote needs to bring his body bag with him on UFC90.
SGun.. was the agrressor.. he took Mat dowjnt.. had his back..he was working the choke..the whole round was more Matt Defending and StunGun attacking.. So I give more points for the attacking.. and pushing the fight.. some points for defending.. but Stun Gun apposed his will on Matt in the 1st and 3 rd round.
Da Monkey-
I completely disagree w/ you. Defense is always just as important as offense.
Enuf said.
are you actually being serious?
Stuffing takedowns, escaping submissions and fighting off clinches are not important?
Not important for scoring. THey are important parts of the fight that make you successful, but you dont get any points for surviving!
Consider this OJR:
If a striker was throwing non-stop blows for three rounds straight, but his opponent did absolutely nothing but block everything that was thrown at him and didn’t even get a scratch. The stricker wins (it’s simple octagon control)… Same goes with a grappler with unsuccessfull submisssion attempts, and the wrestler who lay and prays… People don’t like it, but it’s impossible to give the victory to the defender in each case.
I understand that but the argument morphed from Stun Gun winning (I think it was a draw) to defense not being important.
My contention is that Stun Gun did not score enough in Rd 1 to take the fight. Now I have come full circle. LOL.
OCTAGON CONTROL!
His points comming from his attempts > points coming from defending the attempts
Kimura-
I UNDERSTAND the obvious point tally system.
I just disagree with the result.
BTW – I am not a fan of either fighter, just the way I saw it. Period.
I’ll agree to disagree OJR. Lol…
do you really believe macdonald should get a title shot? he is 5-3 in the ufc and has not beaten any top contenders his biggest win to date is chris leben but outside of that he has not beaten anyone in the top ten,everytime he steps up in competition he loses he lost to franklin, he lost to okami, and he lost to maia although i think he could have beaten maia he had fought the smart fight and kept it standing. Macdonald needs atleast two more wins and they have to be against top competition before i think he has a chance at anderson silva.
Do you think Cote deserves a title shot?
Yeah, thats what I thought…
well Cote has been mor consistent with better competition. J mac track record is all effed up man! cote has put 4 wins together against really tuff dudes. Cote is the only on left after Okami with enough wins to deserve a shot (by default) OJR you are seriously just hating…
Nope. Look at the competition. Mac has faced better competition overall.
How do you figure that Ed Herman, Rory Singer, Joe Doerkson and Jason Lambert are better competition than Scott Smith, Kendall Grove, Drew Mcfedries and Ricardo Almeida. At least Almeida and Mcfedries would both beat everyone of the guys Macdonald has wins over. Herman and Singer are a joke, and I’m not a fan of Lambert either.
Almeida-good
Grove-overrated
McFredies-way one dimensional
Smith-Don’t know about him, school me on him
Herman-middle of the pack
Singer – joke (agreed)
Joe- tough
Lambert -tough guy, underrated
Maia – master jits
Franklin- 2nd/ 3rd best MW in UFC
He has fought and (lost) to better guys. My point is that you are going to pick guys like Cote to feed to Silva, then Mac is just as deserving.
no he is not he has not put together a significant win streak like cote, cotes showed he can beat dangerous strikers and that he has improved his ground game and wrestling against almedia, macdonald on the other has horrible striking as i think he was out struck by maia in the little time that fight was on the feet, rich franklin obliterated him on the feet and on the ground and okami overwhelmed him with strength what chance does macdonald have against silva none atleast cote has a punchers chance.
OJR:
I get your point: If Cote gets an “undeserved” title shot, then that opens up a whole window of “undeserved” title contenders, so, enter MacDonald.
I disagree with you in the fact that Cote has won his last 7/8 fights, with five straight wins… MacDonald, however, has not won two consistant fights since Ed Herman and Chris Leben back in ‘06.
That’s is a huge difference in your theory.
Quality of opposition means nothing to you?
OJR: just to let you know, I’m not one to single anyone out. I just realized I was disagreeing with the same dude on two seperate topics (You are on a roll!! lol). Call it a coincidence.
So another words you think MacDonald can beat Cote?
Absolutely!!!
Not a conicidence, I am just up for a good debate today!!!
Thanks for indulging me.
I dont think either deserves a title shot. THen again few fighters recently have actually deserved tite shots, so I am sick of complaining about it. If the UFC wants to be considered a sport, they will start making people deserve title shots, if not they can just creating match ups that they think they can sell to the casual dummy like the WWE!
Forrest
Rashad
Brock
Mir
None of these fighters where ever real #1 contenders IMO
i think Jmac would own Cote… and I still believe Almeida won his fight with Cote, what did Cote do the whole time? throw two punches a round and dodge the takedown… please, that was one of the worst decisions ever, he showed zero offense the entire fight and still somehow won, ridiculous!
There is no sense even debating who is more deserving of the title shot, Cote or McDonald. I like McDonald, but we all know they will both get completely destroyed by Anderson Silva. That division doesn’t have any serious fighters that (at least on paper) look to be even close enough to beat Silva. Just ask Rich Franklin. He would still destroy most in the division, and he had his nose handed to him twice, and I mean that, 2 surgeries to repair the crushed face by Silva!
It about time I cause a stir. To all your Tito Haters (john….nothing be love but to you). Tito is not as bad as you all think. He beat the LHW champ Griffin, a guy that your boy Rampage couldn’t beat. Gave your god john Lyoto Machida all he could handle. And won (minus the grab the fence thing) fight against the man the knocked chuck the F out. Think about it B’s
Wiggy find out what MMA Math is and use it. OJR a four fight winning streak is better than winning every other fight. Cote doesn’t deserve to be in the same cage as Silva, but no one else at MW does either, especially MAC.
See above post for santiago-
JAY Learn how to read and then reply. LOL you missed the boat on this one!!! Peace
who the hell are you that you are calling me out? I have never even seen you on this site? HOw do u know me? My LEGEND proceeds me!
I just love it when an tries to come on here and justify Tito Ortiz as a fighter. Go watch the WWE or something!
Tito — favorable judging in the third round to beat Forrest (I personally thought it was 10-8, 9-10, 9-10 for a draw); prevented several slams, not takedowns, against Rashad by repeatedly cheating, could have been docked a second point, and would have been pounded out in round 2 without the fence grabs; outside of the desperation triangle accomplished absolutely nothing against Machida. Verdict — Tito made a great career out of beating up a lot of mid-level fighters with one or two great wins mixed in, but he is not a top 10 fighter anymore.
Unfortunatley for Tito-
All that you posted is TRUTH.
Actually, I think that Wiggy made a pretty good point, outside of Tito giving Machida all he could handle. Lyoto was only kind of in trouble once in that fight.
But Tito DID beat Forrest Griffin, albeit, a few years ago – and since then Forrest has improved and Tito has regressed. Tito would have lost to Rashad if not for grabbing the fence repeatedly in the 2nd to prevent the takedowns, but that fight deserved to be a draw. They were very evenly matched.
if tito wasnt grabbing the fence rashad would have slamed his ass and beat the shit out of him thank you very much
rashad is a showboating hole
reshad deserved this win..and he deserved it for a long time..he has been kicking ass ever since chuck was still champ if any on3 is a good # 1 contender he was..and now he is champ
oh its true…its very true… Machida won 2 fights since coming to the UFC….not even top 5 at lhw…. Rashad atlease has put his time in and has gotten better…plus it will bring more ppv because machida is still an unknown to the public…tuf winners pitted against eachother…thats a sell.. Oh by the way.. I got Rashad pullin out another victory…he will be the underdog on this 1 too.. .trust me
make that 5 times…
the dont want to give machida a title shot because hes boring and would not sell alot of payperviews…its all about money!!!!
Yeah like Rashad is really going to sell a lot of PPVs.
True, outside of his fights against Salmon and Chuck, Rashad fights are a notch above NyQuil to put you to sleep. The fight against Tito was almost painful to watch, and when Tito wanted to do it again, I almost flipped.
The only reason I would pay to watch this fight is to support the TRUE UFC Champion Nogueira who will defend his TITLE (the only 1 that counts in my book) against another undeserving title challenger (mir).
Rashad is probably the only opponent that Champion Forrest would be favored against.
Forrest “Can buss a grape” Griffin vs. “Suga”? Any predictions on the opening odds of this fight? I would like to see Shad bust Forrests glass Jaw in pieces, but whatever….Not to excited about this one!
with how stacked the 205 lb division is, there is no excuse for not having big name guys like Machida, Rampage, Wanderlei, Thiago competing at every 205 lb title defense.
I am not so sure that Rashad could beat Soko, so why is he fighting for the title?
I was againt Chuck getting a title shot with a win over Rashad, so you know I am going to be against Rashad getting a title shot with a win over a 38 year old Iceman who hasnt knocked anyone out in ages!
Say no more…
lol undeserving mir? you mean the former champ, who beat a (at the time) dominating (on steroids) silvia? you make me laugh John! I agree Nog is a true champion, but it’s different weight classes, what relevance does that have with rashad/forrest? you should be excited since you’ve been going on and on how forrest won’t defend until spring!
mir sucks,he has problems beating b level fighters got destroyed by cruz and vera beat some c level fighters and one rookie, tim is his only noteworthy victory and he does not deserve a title shot.
i think the relevance with nog-mir was that this fight
might be on the same card?
i do think mir is alot better then some make him out to be
he is actually one of my fav hw.
but i also think he might not be deserving of a title fight.
and john is also right about rayshad being the best possible
oponent forrest could ask for out of the left over options
in machida -thiago- rampage- or if he waited to defend
wand or shogun would all leave forrest losing.
im gone now.
my plane is finally boarding.
friggin airports!
also-
forrest wasnt laughing after the chuck ko cause he like
the knockout.
he was smiling cause he knew he was facing rayshad.
why mania? or should i say why not
Rampage looked to be a little upset about. Then he just kind of shrugged his shoulders about it.
Kevin: Why would I compare Nogs title to Forrests? THink dude! I was talking about Couture’s BS title that he tried relinquishing like 10 times during the courtcase!
Keep telling yourself that Mir deserves a title shot! Most OVER rated champion in UFC history!
I want to disagree with you, john. In fact, I was going to name the reasons why he isn’t over rated. But, Iquickly found that I can’t defend Mir’s success by anything on record but the win over Silvia, which you can disregard just as fast as the Lesnar win. Huh…
Put simply, I just like the dude and I wanted do defend him (that doesn’t justify anything). The win over Lesnar was impressive but non credible due to Lesnar’s inexperience. Nothing else is worth mentioning. The only question that I could ask to justify Mir is: Did you think that Mir was really going to win against Lesnar? And, would you still think the same after seeing a bit more of Lesnar when he fought Herring?
IMO, the win over Lesnar solidified a more impressive victory when Lesnar dominated Herring. Which is why I ask…
In another words, when Mir first beat Lesnar it was inconsiderable. What made it considerable was when Lesnat showed just how good he was when he beat Herring.
I honestly believe that Mir was saved by Mazzagatti.The Sylvia win was impressive but other than that whats to be impressed about?
His wins over:
wes sims?
Pete Williams?
Antoni Hardonk?
He is getting a title shot with a 2 fight winning streak over brock and Hardonk. U may like Mir, but you cant sit here and tel me that he has earned the right and privelage of being the #1 contender
And that’s about all I have inb defense of Mir… not much.
As much as I wanted to argue with you… I have nothing… I’m anxious to see how he does against Nog. That will pretty much sum this entire discussion up.
-Good luck Mir, you’re going to need it.
Mir wont get past Werdum, let alone Nogueira!
Kimura, I do respect you for keeping it real and being Unbiased. We all have our favorites, but you didnt let it cloud your judgement in our discussion and I really respect that!
Props, and I love your name which makes it really hard to argue with!
“ANYTHING BY FEDOR”!!!!!!!
Well, in all fairness, Mir isn’t fighting for the real title, but for interim title. So he is basically fighting for the shot at the title. On the other hand, Brock gets one win, and now is fighting for the title. I think Mir deserves it more than Brock.
i think thats the only fight i would ever bet against forrest on i am a HUGE fan of his, and hell rashad as an underdog why not bet on him? the man aint lost yet..
but at the sametime i see forrest winning the fight but the odds against rashad will be way to big to pass up on..
but the TUF season 1 vs season 2 showdown will come at the right time since its the end of the next season,and they just are gonna be done having that reunion perfect timing for them
Tito beat him ,they took a point for grabbing the fence ,but Tito clearly won .That is the only reason it was a draw.
why is rashad getting a title shot, maybe because in his 8 ufc fights he is 7-0-1 and has just koed the living legend chuck liddell, rashads popularity is at an alltime high right now following his stunning victory,he is undefeated and has beaten every one thrown at him, he has not fought the best competition but he has beaten some very good oppenents such as stephan bonnar, he stopped lamberts 8 fight win streak, he handed bisping his first professional loss, he should have beat tito if tito didnt grab the fence and now he just koed chuck liddell, what has machida done to earn a title shot, he is only 5-0 in the ufc compared to rashads 7-0 and he has not beaten a top ten light heavyweight unless you think soko is top ten, rashad has fought tougher competition and has improved with every fight.
WHAT? First of all who really thinks Bonner is a top fighter .Second Tito controlled that entire fight except for a takedown with like 40 seconds left come on get off Rashad .I give him credit for catching Chuck,but don’t act like he has been beating the best .There is so many fighters that would pick Rashad apart
Rashad had Tito up in on his shoulder for slams at least three times that Cheato escaped by grabbing the fence. These weren’t simple double-leg takedowns, those were slams. At the very least Rashad easily wins a decision if he doesn’t pound Tito into a stoppage.
I think Rashad would have actually finished Tito. Rashad has shown a lot of improvement and as much as I dont like “Suga” his improvement can not be denied!
I do however feel that Rashad should fight Machida before getting a title shot. 1 more win over a top opponent andI would have no complaints about shad fighting for the title.
scott bonnar is more credible than sam hoger and david heath and nakamura.
scott: bonnar is more credible than sam hoger and david heath and nakamura.
why does everyone keep using rampage’s name for a title shot, he just fought and lost so let him have a couple fights, than give him other shots if he can win. (which he will)
GLASS JAW!!!!????? What the FUCK! Yeah, Forrest has a glass jaw and Lesnar has the strength of Welter Weight.
Machida is actually on a 5 fight win streak since arriving in the UFC. Sam Hoger, David Heath, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Rameau Sokoudjou and Tito Ortiz have all fallen to him. I think The Dragon has also put his time in. Although I do think Rashad is the right choice for the next title shot.
Rashads record isnt much more impressive than Machida’s:
Kicked Salmon’s head off
Tito (DRaw)
Narrow win over a true middleweight bisping
Knocked Chucks head off!
Joe Silva has made a mess of the entire 205 lb division with his questionable match making!
You can tell him that when you go work for Zuffa (laughs uncontrollably)
Weird, it wasn’t questionable when people were wanting Rashad’s head knocked off.
As a matter of fact I recall the general feeling of the board was that it’s gonna be awesome to see his 0 go.
Oh well, people always get upset when their favorites are…. well, upset.
I agree Joe Silva has made a mess of the division. I also think both Rashad and Machida deserve a shot but Evans highlight reel knockouts and with the one this weekend being high profile over liddel it makes the most sense to give the shot to Rashad
Silva hasn’t made a mess of the division at all. The f’n favored fighters have! If you would have told me Forrest and Rashad would be in a title fight a year ago, I would have laughed in your face. As the old line goes, “anything can happen in the UFC”! That is what makes it so great!
As far as Machida not getting a shot over Rashad? I would much rather see Rashad. He presses the action more than Machida and has a huge finish of one of the most dominating LHW ever. Machida can’t say that. I think he and Thiago need to fight for the next shot.
john, how about one of those “i am a star” bs again?lol that one is hysterical!
john, how about one of those “i am a star” b.s.! THAT ONE IS HYSTERICAL!
mexi-duetsch dont you have any dishes to wash. STFU before I get you deported! lol
Thanks for the kind words john. Shouldn’t you be out spending your dads money?
I am enjoying it very much thank you. Let me apologize for not being broke!
You can come wash my dishes if you want. I will even give you a raise and bump you up to $3.25 an hour!
Go steal a bike dude! “pass the wire cutters Homes” LMAO!
go steal a bike or wash dishes or whatever it is that you do!
You better hide, I just called immigration!
La Migra is coming for you esse. You dress like a cholo on Easter! LMAO
What I do is make my own money, sucessfully. You should try it.
Wow john. Coming out with a whole slew of original material. Never heard any of those ethnic remarks before. Pretty funny, just like you thinking you will work for Zuffa. Guess they could use another janitor or coffee maker.
Im working hard EVERYDAY, getting my degree buddy. If you need work 1 day, holla at me!
i agree with VNDK8. machida has not really done anything that rashad hasn’t, but rashad has top notch ko’s. so let machida and silva fight because they both deserve one to, and when rashad beats griffen then let machida or silva fight him
i agree with VNDK8. machida has not really done anything that rashad hasn’t, but rashad has top notch ko’s. so let machida and silva fight because they both deserve one to, and when rashad beats griffen then let machida or silva fight him
Can’t believe all this is being said, john STFU with the racial shit and MANIA way to go letting that assbag post all that. Let me join the group of people on here tired of john’s shit thinking he is god and knows everything and better than everyone, spend as much time on that degree rather than on here and you would have it done by now. If you want to be the “greatest thing MMA” go work for Zuffa and start reffing so the world will be perfect and match making for UFC so all the divisions will be correct, everyone knows your so awesome. Give it up john we all know your the “cool kid”, stop being a 5 yr. old. Damn!
Machida has won all 5 of his UFC fights.
He’s beaten Soko who was considered a top 5 LHW by many before Machida schooled him.
And don’t discount his win over Tito. Tito is over-rated by his fans, but he’s still a very tough guy to beat if your name is not Chuck or Randy. Remember, Tito fought to a draw with Rashad.
Machida has also knocked out Rich. Both guys have improved since then, but it’s still a quality win. Yeah Rich has fought most of his career in the UFC at MW, but he’s not really a “natural” MW. The guy is an athletic freak and a wight-cutting master. When he fought Machida, he was just as big, if not bigger than Machida.
and beat the champ too
WHAT ABOUT CHUCK?
Machida seems like the only option! Jardine is fighting next month and rumor has it rampage/Wand will be on Lesner Couture card. Is there anyone else out there besides machida? Does this do Machida any justice? What do you guys think?
chuck should fight shogun when shogun returns, shogun is coming off a loss and so is chuck. Fighting machida would not be fair to machida (even though I think he’d win).
I think Machida is getting F’ed over. As usual.
i’m not a machida fan, but I agree!
It’s called honesty and an open mind, some of us don’t have that!
let machida rematch and reknockout franklin. That should get him enough attention to get a title shot.
can somebody please tell me why machida deserves a title shot over rashad evans? PLEASE!
I don’t think that he deserves one as much as Rashad. Rashad won TUF 2, has 7 wins in the octagon and is undefeated in his MMA career. Not to mention, he just knocked out a guy that most recently beat Wandi, is a legend, a knockout artist, and the guy who was next in line for a title shot. Rashad deserves it. Hands down. I’d give one more fight to Machida before he fights for the title. He was supposed to have a fight with Thiago. Just because Thiago got injured, he should now get a shot at the title? I think not.
finally some one who makes sense! i completely agree but it seems no else understands any of the points you have pointed out, rashad is more marketable than machida also and he has a more impressive ufc resume`
First of all he has beat everyone put in his way ,including Tito ,which Rashad needed a point deduction to make it a draw,he is also known around the world as probably the best lhw.I don’t like Machida ,very boring ,but UFC is suppose to be where the best fights the best ,and that would be Forrest vs Lyoto not Rashad ,at least not first .Rashad does deserve a shot after Machida
Scott, Jenna isn’t very big. Why don’t you knock her out of the way so you can have Tito’s nuts all to yourself.
How does TITO have fans? I just dont understand it! I have to believe that Tito fans ALL watch the WWE
LMAO.
I take offense to that, John. I’ve been a wrestling fan since I was about 5 years old and never really grew out of it, and I can’t freaking stand Tito.
scott: the only reason rashad lost that fight is because tito prevented himself from being taken down by holding the fence, you saw what happened to tito when he was down he got pounded on. Tito save himself a loss by grabbing the fence and you know it.
matt- agreed. Tito couldn’t do much of anything with Rashad ground and pounding him. The 3rd round was very telling of that. Whereas in the 3rd round against Lyoto, Tito nearly finished him with a triangle. Lyotos biggest win in the octagon was against Tito….a guy who hasn’t covincingly won in years.
i agree with ryan hoobs. rashad deserves a title shot so much more than machida
You mean to tell me you guys think that 3 seconds of punches give you a fight,Tito grabbed the fence maybe twice ,but so did Rashad (go watch the tapes)Tito controlled that fight .No ,i don’t like wrestling ,been following ufc since,ufc 7 when Tank made his debut,yes i know tank is a pos,just mentioning that was the first one i watched live on pay per view.although i have to give PW that was pretty funny about Jenna.I know Tito is not the best ,he is entertaining,I just know he is a lot better than people give him credit for.Thats it ,i wish he was still in ufc ,he got a bad wrap.He ,love or hate him, is still a huge draw for the sport everybody tunes in for a Tito fight mostly cause people want to see him get his head knock off ,but you can’t help but get excited for his fights
Thiago Silva.
Chuck still has a VIP pass in the UFC. Don’t be surprised if he gets a shot at the HW title if Randy wins the tourney. Dana has done it for Randy against Tim, and will do it for BJ against GSP, so Dana putting Liddell in front of the HW line for the sake of PPV buys is not out of the question.
and it wasnt a majical punch he timed it perfectly…
I don’t think anyone w/ a rational mind can ever claim that Rashad’s punch was “lucky” or “magical”.
Of course it was magical. Shad used invisible brass knuckles. Fuck Criss Angel, Shad is the best magic act in Vegas.
Have you ever heard the term a puncher’s chance .Which means that everyone can get a “lucky punch”.Yes ,Rashad was trained to go for that punch,but it was still some what lucky to hit him they way he did when Chuck was coming in,which made it that much more devastating.
WRONG. And I HATE Rashad…
not even close to being lucky
not even close to being lucky
Wow that is just ingnorant, so by that logic, Gonzaga got lucky with that head kick to Mirko. You will probably tell me that Randy got lucky when he knocked Silvia down in the first round or Herring was lucky when he kicked Big Nog’s head into the cheap seats.
The Saint is back Baby!!!!
I actually think they can market this fight really well, winners of TUF 1 vs TUF 2… This should be great for the TUF show, which is what actually made what the UFC is today.
And it will be on the same card as the 2 current TUF coaches fighting for the interim HW title. I never would have guessed we would see Forrest vs. Rashad for the LHW title. It’s crazy… The main reason I want to see that fight is just to see Forrest beat up Rashad and then submit him. I can’t stand Rashad and he just KOed my favorite fighter.
bnf, remember when I said the only way forrest would be able to defend and keep his title would be against rashad… well, he’ll be able to keep his title a little bit longer LOL. I wish he’d be fighting machida!
I would like to know what they are going to do with Machida. I would like to see him fight Wandi at UFC 91.
but wandi is fighting rampage i think.. but whatever, they better put wandi on ufc 91 or 92 and guarantee him the next title shot if he wins. I hope its franklin, because he’s the only bigname left without a fight scheduled. ForrestVSEvans, VeraVSJardine, the rumored wandyRampage, so it leaves shogun or franklin and franklin has a bigger name in the US. they should have shogun vs chuck since both are coming from losses.
i meant they better put MACHIDA not wandi haha. sorry.
They said they were going to bring someone from a different promotion to fight machida, I’m hoping that it’s Arona (who actually haven’t fought ever since Pride). I see arona posing major problems for someone like machida, not in the stand up, but definitely on the ground.
Where did you hear that linx? Is he still going to fight at UFC 89? I wouldn’t mind seeing that fight!
I’m not sure where exactly I heard it, but they were saying they would be trying to keep him on the card still.
BNF-
I am a Rashad hater to the extreme, BUT if he keeps improving w/ that sick power then …damn.
It is pretty hard to deny the improvement he has made. I guess I am still bitter that he ruined my Saturday night. That was the most violant KO in recent memory. Got to give him props for that!
Isn’t in crazy to think that the guys competing in TUF are now the next generation of fighters in the UFC?. There are still other fighters on top, but it is insane to see how far they have come in their careers. Guys that didn’t even win the show are ranked top 10 in their weight classes. Forrest Griffin beats both Shogun and Rampage? Jardine beats Liddell…Rashad beats Liddell…
Although this might be viewed by the more hardcore as “the undeserving champion” vs “the undeserving contender”, I for one think it will be an interesting fight between two cats who apparently have a knack for putting together terrific fight plans. Hard to call though, but I’m going with Forrest!
Agreed.
How can either of them be labeled undeserving they won the fights to put them where they are! If they were undeserving we would be seeing a rematch of Rampage vs Chuck in December.
Bojo-
Alot of hardcore fans feel that both Griffin & Rashad have been “pushed” into title contention before others simply because they are ‘TUF babies.’
ok that is fine maybe they were pushed into contention I’m not debating that. But they have won the fights have they not? if someone gets a title shot and beats the champ how can you say they didn’t deserve the shot??? If they were good enough to win the title then it was not an unjustified shot.
Well said bojo. Fans are far too subjective. They like their guy and wanna see that guy at the top…period. The objective fan can’t deny that Forrest and Evans have won the fights put before them and are deserving of the shots they’re given and take! The “fandom” (I made that up) bias is narrow minded, IMO, but this is coming more from a fan of the sport rather than a fan of a particular fighter. I don’t think this fight “ruined a monster year-end pay-per-view” at all. It will be a really good fight and one we should all appreciate rather than hating on.
Or maybe you are wrong.
How was Rashad pushed into title contention? He has 7 wins. The UFC wasn’t even planning on him defeating Liddell. They wanted Chuck to knock him out and then to face Forrest. That didn’t happen. Rashad pushed himself into title contention and so did Forrest. Forrest did so by requesting to fight Shogun. He got the fight, and he won.
Ask Machida.
Ask Machida what?
OJR, I dunno what type of “hard-core” fan you are, but clearly Rashad and Griffin have defeated some of the world’s top contenders. What are you so bitter about, the top 10 lhw list being changed?
I am not bitter. I like Griffin but facts are facts. And I gave Rashad his props. I don’t tie myself in to the hard core fan base but I am not a TUF nuthugger, either.
WHO?! Mike D….WHO?! Mike D…
To say that Forrest is an undeserving champ is absurd. He beat the man so he is the man…that’s how it works. I’m tired of hearing about who deserves a shot and who doesn’t. I’m not saying there are no politics happening in the background with Dana thinking about the business side of it but Rashad has a solid resume and coming off a huge victory. I think Rashad deserves this shot. If Chuck would have won then he would get a title shot and since Rashad put the stamp down on Chuck…he leap frogged him to the start of the line. It’s a weird situation when you have some of the top names like Liddell, Rua, Rampage, Jardine all top contenders coming off a loss so it’s time for some of the guys that were below them to shine and that’s what Rashad did…same with Forrest. I feel for Machida and he definitely deserved some consideration and had he KOed Tito like Rashad did then maybe he’d be first in line.
Having Forrest as champ is the perfect scenario for Rashad. It gives him the best chance to take the title. It should be an interesting match. Couture vs Grag Jackson in terms of game plans. Both of those camps have proven that well executed game plans can overcome some physical and technical short comings with some fighters.
well said once again BUSTER. alot on here bust on forrest because he supposedly fought to win on points. so what? what did rampage do besides fight for a 1 punch ko? did he even go for a takedown or use leg strikes? no! forrest moved forward more than rampage. not a very well rounded fight for him imo. thats why he lost. forrest proved that he was deserving when he BEAT rampage.
Buster Bluth- Well put. It is really a battle of the camps in a sense. They could market that. It may not seem like much to a casual MMA fan, but to us hardcore fans, it is very interesting. Lets hope that Randy is able to help out even though he is preparing for Brock.
Forrest will take this schwag out then his sarcastic nickname “sugar” will no longer be funny, or cute or whatever he thinks it is.
Sleep well Rashad.
I don’t think this is appealing as a PPV even though their both TUF winners… Forrest shouldn’t even be champion but luckily the judges were retarded. Rashad has a win over one notable fighter in Chuck (whether he’s past it or not is another debate).
Yet the UFC puts this fight together when we all know that Machida, thiago silva, wandi, rampage, fully fit shogun and anderson silva could beat Forrest or Rashad
fully fit. lol. youre making excuses for shogun. haha.
and thiago is also an untested fighter, he hasnt even fought a top caliber opponent yet. At least forrest beat rampage and shogun, while rashad beat chuck bad and fought ortiz. (im not saying rashad is good, i actually hate his style, but he and forrest are more tested than thiago)
ok so u don’t agree with thiago but all i’m saying is that rashad and forrest are jus holding the belt till they fight wandy, rampage, machida, shogun…
Sorry to say Jakizzle, Reshad and Forrest were underdogs in just about all their fights, yet keep winning. I say that speaks for itself.
ok and what notable fighters has machida beat sam hoger…not notable, david heath…not notable, tito ortiz…notable but not a good fighter anymore. same with thiago silva he has beat a bunch of nobodies and until he beats a top guy he is not deserving. Wandi is 1-3 in his last four fight hardly deserving of a title shot, rampage just lost his title let him have one fight before talking about a rematch, anderson silva while i think he could beat anybody in the lhw division has not proven himself at this weight he has beaten james irvin and thats it so at this point in time i agree with rashad getting a title shot
@matt
love how you make sure to leave out soko and ace. machida is more deserving than thiago. also the only people that say machida is boring to watch are those who don’t understand an intelligent fight. in fact i bet they would be just as happy watching a couple high school kids flail their arms around like retards.
i love watching machida but many fans find his style extremely boring and he beat franklin years and years ago and that was not within the ufc and soko he is still an unproven fighter in my books yea he had those two huge knock outs over arona and i forget who the other guy was but he had 5 pro fights at the time he fought machida and was nowhere near title contention. Machida is a hell of a fighter but until he fights and beats on or two top guys i dont think he deservers a title shot.
Nobody gives Rashad any love…He’ll beat Griffin too.
ditto, I’m calling Rashad
me too
People thought Rampage was going to beat Griffin as well. Lets hope that the fame hasn’t gotten to Griffins head or else he could lose devastatingly. I could really see this fight going either way, but I think that Rashad is going to use his wrestling against Forrest. Forrest could submit Rashad from that position so he had better be careful. Has Rashad fought anyone with good BJJ? No one comes to mind….
Heres a good december card:
Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans
Nogueria vs. Mir
Chuck vs. Shogun
Rich Franklin vs. Brandon Vera/Keith Jardine
no way will chuck be fighting in December. He needs to get to a new camp or SERIOUSLY change up his training. His open style wont’ work against the newest crop of talent. They are all too quick and have too much power over his past opponents.
Chucks vision might still be blurred in Dec…LOL!
can’t teach an old dog new tricks
I think chuck if he beats Shogun,
should rematch Jardine
fight superfight vs. Anderson Silva
rematch Rashad
and then maybe a title shot….thats almost a impossible feat, but Dana should put him to the test.
Also he should change training camps a bit or at least bring in some trainers (Muy Thai and work on his ground game more).
Hell maybe he should train with Randy..lol.
do you even realize how many fights that is for a 38 yr old who just fought 2x in one yr? that’s not gonna happen
how do you know his ground game needs work, nobody has ever seen it besides the people he trains with?
why Chuck vs. Shogun? How about Soko vs. Shogun since Soko has been running his mouth about wanting to face Shogun? Otherwise you’re just kicking a man (Liddell) while he’s down. There’s no way he’s beating Shogun, plain and simple. Although since I’m a fan of both and I don’t want to see either lose I’d rather see Shogun get a gimme match against someone like Houston Alexander or say Matt Hamill, Stephan Bonnar, etc.
Another good match-up for the card would be Marquadt vs. Henderson for #1 contender
If we see the Shogun that fought Forrest He may beat him…
Why is Rampage not getting a Rematch first? With the win being as controversial as it was. Any thoughts on that from anyone. It makes no sense to me as a fan of the sport. Forrest beat Rampage by the judges cards(Cough…BS…Cough) as much as that pains me to say. The crowd bood and pissed and moaned. Not just me the whole stadium was quite, considering Forrest is a fan favorite normaly. So why not do the obvious, take the mystery out of whether Forrest is really deservant or not by rematching him first? That fight would sell just as much or more then Rashad/Griffen. This shit gets real silly sometimes…
cant argue that rampage doesnt deserve a rematch from such a close fight, but from the ufc’s point of view, it could be b/c of the road rage incident. even though the most seriuos charge was dropped, and it looks like he will not got to jail (my opinion), the ufc might be looking at as what if this happens again? i dont think it is as much about politics with rampage as it is with machida. it’s just a little more common sense. if the almost signed fight between rampage and wandi does happen in nov. and rampage wins, and doesnt flip out anymore, then rampage will get another title shot soon i would think, as much as dana white has been up rampage’s butt as of recent….. but alas i see wandi beating rampage in a 3rd fight, i think he has his # kinda like page has chucks. ON ANOTHER NOTE,SHOGUN has told fo magazine.com that he wants to fight rashad or rich franklin next. i dont know what it is between shogun and that site. it seems every other week he is calling out a different fighter. 1 time soku then coleman then rampage then back to coleman and now rashad and franklin. calling out rashad doesnt make much sense since white pretty much all but guaranteed rashad a fight with forrest. why call someone out you know that isnt available. the franklin fight makes since to me as does shogun/machida. shogun is medically cleared to fight, so hopefully we will see WHO it is soon.
quetin why would you want chuck to fight a silva, its pretty clear to me and its been clear ever since chucks first loss to rampage that chuck is not even close to the best so why wouldnt you want shogun to fight the best either shogun rampage wandy or machida maybe thiago but he still has alot to prove and my book
the superfight has been talked about by both sides both anderson and chuck for awhile esp. with Anderson tinkering with the 205 division. It all depends on where chuck wants to go with his career. If he is far from contention after losing to rashad….he still has superfights left in him. Whether or not he wins or loses this would be a big money fight.
My true pick if hes battle ready is for him to fight shogun, then go after keith or rashad to avenge his loss. I think a superfight with anderson silva…in a non-title match would be a good stepping stone for him to get back to the title if he gets past those two opponents. What it would do is force him to change his training and get some motivation back.
that would put him possibly in title contention before hes either before 2010 if he wins of course….just a thought
I think Chuck isnt really finished even with those 3 losses. I think its his gameplan that has earned him 2 out of the 3 losses. He went to old habits and got stuffed. Hes hasnt slowed to the point where he needs to retire…he just needs to switch up his skills ala GSP and make it less predictable for his opponents. His fight with Wanderlei..showed that hes still got a couple more years in him.
chuck is pretty much done he will NEVER get the belt again
That’s what they said when he lost to Jardine.
And they can say it again now that he has lost ot Rashad……
Ahh, you messed up in your article.
“all the fighters mentioned above (sans Machida) are either hurt or coming off losses.”
Wandy is not hurt, or coming off a loss.
read that again
I always thought that Iceman’s poor technique would be exposed – again. First against Rampage, and now against Rashad. I would love for the UFC to give Machida a chance now that Chuck is out of the picture and that Silva is injured
Machida vs Forrest – PLEASE.
I think it is a good match up, I don’t know where people get this glass jaw thing about forrest though the only time he has been knocked out is vs. Jardine. I am going to go with Forrest on this one.
allot of people are posting that the spider will distroy Cote, I am a huge spider fan and hope he wins, but keep in mind everyone thought the Iceman was going to distroy Rishad, anything can happen!!
Exactly! Anything can happen in MMA! Everyone seems to forget that everytime a seemingly mismatched fight is set up. I am not saying that Anderson will lose, but it is always possible. Plus, I saw his press conference, and he seemed to be making a mockery of patrick cote. Just look at his mannerisms. Maybe I interpretted it wrong, but it seemed that way to me. If he takes him lightly, he could be in for a rude awakening.
Rashad is the most deserving of the title shot right now. Well, maybe Rampage is aa well?..Rampage or Rashad are the #1 contenders right now…End of discussion..
Rampage? The guy that just lost the title to the guy who currently holds the title and the guy who hasn’t fought since he lost the title? THAT Rampage?!
Oh ya…Rashad Evans by TKO FTW!!!….
I am taking Forrest in a decision.
Rob Dib
http://www.break-your-face.com
I am taking Rob Dibs comment that is clearly only for advertising his website, and ignoring it.
Ryan Hobbs
http://www.myspace.com/randeproject
I’ll take Forrest.
Rashad will be too busy backing up and running for the entire fight.
oh no he won’t.. hell naw, Im hoping for Rashad to get the KO win.. he will have a huge punching power advantage! but i’ll just say that im happy Chuck’s not fighting for the title..
“backing up and running for the entire fight”???? It’s called game plan! He used 1 round to feel out Chuck and then unleash a harpoon to his chin. I’ll gladly waste a round to see that again. How can people complain about a fight that had the KO of the year. Forrest and Rashad match up very well, two guys that have always been underdogs and expected to lose. I see Rashad winning, he knows how to finish standing.
I agree, Griffen won’t get overly agressive like Chuck did. Everyone has found how to beat Chuck, make him not be a counter striker. It is the same thing Jackson did to Chuck. Chuck was stalking which is not his game. I still think Chuck is a great fighter and could beat Jackson or Rashahd if he didn’t have to big of an ego and started coming forward.
Forrest vs Rashad….winner? who cares cuz Rampage is going to go on another crazy spree in the cage wrecking all at 205.
Nope, he fights Silva next and this is going to be a fucking clash that I see Silva coming out on top of.
i think rampage is champion again by the end of next year that is as long as he does not have to serve jail time if that is the case i think wandi will be champion
I just wanted to point out to OJR dude that Cote submitted him a couple of years back. That was when Cote was even more one dimensional, and its all about stringing wins together in the ufc. Matt has been in mma for what, 2 years? All aspects of his game have improven greatly, he picks up on things really quickly, and with a better camp can be huge. Finally I think Joe Rogan said it best at 86 when he said you def score more more submission attempts, your not improving your position defending. Just my 2 cents, I know im a little late
forrest is a more technical fighter than before which is why he is better overall now. rashad’s stand up is definately improved…and he is faster and can take forrest down should the situation arises. he’s more strategic and i think it goes the distance. rashad wins and forrest’s face is beaten in…in a close or not so close exciting fight!!!
All you need to remember about Rashard Evans is that he went toe to toe, blow for blow with Brad Imes and that dude was enormous. So, he has shown he can take a huge punch. So, he was able to just step right in and tee off on Chuck Liddell. ANd, if he haadn’t been so over cautious with Tito Ortiz he’d be undefeated. Forrest is in a world of trouble.