UFC 118 thoughts/predictions

[Guest Rikidozan]

So UFC 118 is next weekend, what's everyone's thoughts on the card in general?

 

Frank Edgar vs. BJ Penn- UFC Lightweight title

James Toney vs. Randy Couture- 205lbs

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard- 155lbs

Demien Maia vs. Mario Miranda- 185lbs

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis- 170lbs

 

Prelims (televised)

Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger- 155lbs

Andre Winner vs. Nick Lentz- 155lbs

 

Dark prelims

Dan Miller vs. John Salter- 185lbs

Nick Osipczak vs. Greg Soto- 170lbs

Mike Pierce vs. Amilcar Alves- 170lbs

 

It's clear that Couture/Toney is the actual main event of the show, at least from a booking/commerical point of view. Some fans/people have been bitching about the depth, or lack thereof, on this show but it has two completely different main events; Penn/Edgar II for the hardcore fans, and Couture/Toney for the casuals. Looking at it, this card to me seems pretty darn solid with Diaz, Davis, Florian, Maynard and Maia all being name stars.

 

Most are predicting Toney/Couture won't last past the first round, with Couture winning via the takedowns/TKO route; and that's what'll probably happen. Still, Toney has the old boxers-punching chance, which is were the whole 'freakshow' element comes in.

Penn/Edgar II will be a completely different monster though, it's much, much more difficult to predict the winner in this one.

[Maxximus 353]

Frank Edgar vs.BJ Penn- UFC Lightweight title

James Toney vs. Randy Couture- 205lbs

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard- 155lbs

Demien Maia vs. Mario Miranda- 185lbs

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis- 170lbs

 

Bold'd my picks. BJ Penn is my favorite all time fighter, so that was easy. I picked Toney just because I want to see him win so damn bad. Maynard/Florian is a tough call but I'm going with Gray Maynard. Maia should have no problem with Miranda.

 

As for Marcus Davis, well, I hope he beat's Nate Diaz's stupid little face in. I can't stand the guy. I may even hate him more than Urijah Faber!

[ShaolinHandLock 73]

Frank Edgar vs. BJ Penn- UFC Lightweight title

James Toney vs. Randy Couture- 205lbs

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard- 155lbs

Demien Maia vs. Mario Miranda- 185lbs

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis- 170lbs

 

My picks.....

 

I think that Couture will take Toney to the ground and submit him.

 

At least, I hope so. :)

[Guest Sparrow]

Frank Edgar vs.BJ Penn- UFC Lightweight title

James Toney vs. Randy Couture- 205lbs

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard- 155lbs

Demien Maia vs. Mario Miranda- 185lbs

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis- 170lbs

[Maxximus 353]

Spaz, you do this just to piss me off don't you?

 

I'm gonna slap you in the Frankie Edgar!

[Guest Frank Botch]

BJ Penn is my favorite all time fighter, so that was easy. !

 

It always changes between Anderson, Fedor and BJ for me so it's cool to see another Penn fan here. I have no doubt he's taking the title back, I can see why Edgar got the decision last time but I really don't think he did enough to win, maybe my bias showing through though.

 

Penn

Couture

Florian(unfortunately)

Maia

Diaz

Lauzon and Winner.

 

The show is actually two weeks from tonight Riki.

[Guest Frank Botch]

Oh it is on this weekend, who else is pumped up!!!!!

 

Ahem, anyway brief Toney vid, helpfully subtitled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fiNaAKxspE

 

And Dana is still talking about Toney, almost makes you want the guy to win..

 

Boxing versus MMA will finally come to the forefront this weekend when James Toney and Randy Couture meet in the Octagon at UFC 118.

 

Dana White has been harsh on boxers in the past for saying they could take out any MMA fighter put in front of them and now with Toney jumping in and testing his skill against an MMA Legend, the UFC President gives his two cents on the fight:

 

"Well, Toney has gotten in the best shape he's ever been in in about I don't know how many years. He's taken this a lot more seriously than he has his boxing career. One of the things with these boxers they have been doing it since they were little kids and how much can they learn? They start to get bored or lazy or whatever you wanna call it. So they don't train as hard. Toney has taken this serious. He's gotten in the best shape he's been in in years and this is going to be a very interesting fight. Anything can happen when two good guys go in there and start throwing punches, scrapping, and fighting. Anything can happen, but James Toney has knockout power in both hands, he's been one of the best and he's fought the best forever. Randy Couture has great wrestling and if you break down stats, James Toney doesn't have as many tools as Randy Couture has so Couture should win the fight. James Toney has talked so much smack I want to see him get smashed in this fight." Props: 790 The Zone in Atlanta

[Guest DomDom]

I picked on the playground ...

 

BJ Penn

Randy Couture

Demien Maia

Kenny Florian

Nate Diaz

 

I can't believe that Florian will get another title shot if he wins the fight with Maynard. Can't wait to see Toney get messed up pretty badly.

[Guest Frank Botch]

I'm actually kind of rooting for Toney, if only to see Sherdog implode. It would be worth getting my 50th ban from there just to rub it in. Don't think he will win, though I think he has a better chance than most seem to give him.

 

Frankie Edgar being extremely nice.

 

Current UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar will defend his title for the first time this Saturday when he takes on BJ Penn at UFC 118 in Boston and despite winning the fight on all three judges score cards, many have stated that Edgar won the fight by fluke when he beat the top lightweight in the world.

 

Now, just days away from the rematch, Edgar seems to be second guessing even himself:

 

"Honestly, I really only watched it once and then I've been watching it here and there with my boxing coach and my teammates - just for studying for this next fight. I really don't gloat in the glory, in other words, because you're only as good as your last fight... I think the fact of how I got the title, beating the guy that's considered the best lightweight ever, I think that's probably the biggest accomplishment... We fought a five round decision, you know? It wasn't like I caught B.J. with a punch or a submission or anything like that. Who knows? Maybe [beating B.J.] was a fluke, but I don't think it was."

[Guest John Hancock]

Frank Edgar vs. BJ Penn- UFC Lightweight title

James Toney vs. Randy Couture- 205lbs

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard- 155lbs

Demien Maia vs. Mario Miranda- 185lbs

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis- 170lbs

[DC 536]

After watching the Countdown show, I'm seriously hyped for Toney v Couture. One aspect touched upon by Toney, as he cut one of his many promos, was the size of the gloves used in MMA in comparison to the ones used in pro-boxing. Does anyone think that'll give him an advantage?

[Guest The Beltster]

Toney has a punchers chance as they say, the dude could catch Randy and KO him, but when (lets say if to be fair) Randy takes him to the ground, what can Toney do? Can he throw a knock out punch from his back while Randy is hugged in tight?

 

Personally, as much as Toney gets on my nerves, I'd like to see him knock Randy out and somehow convince Dana to feed him to Brock Lesnar. That would be great.

[Guest Frank Botch]

Toney has a punchers chance as they say, the dude could catch Randy and KO him, but when (lets say if to be fair) Randy takes him to the ground, what can Toney do? Can he throw a knock out punch from his back while Randy is hugged in tight?

.

 

Did you hear the stories coming out from his camp that he subbed King Mo? In fact King Mo apparently confirmed it. It's more than likey bullshit but I thought it was pretty funny.

 

About the gloves, I have no doubt he can knock Randy out, let's not forget his chin is pretty suspect (though maybe I'm being a little harsh), but will he even get the chance to throw a punch? I'd like if he could at least stop the takedown and gain a clinch against the cage, that could be pretty interesting.

[Guest Jack]

Couture has a glass chin and there's no doubt that if Toney lands, he will win by knockout. That's a big if though, especially considering how fat Toney is.

 

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3759/sc3i.jpg

[DC 536]

You're going to need to reduce the size of that picture, Jack.

[Guest The Beltster]

Just watched the weigh ins and James Toney is obviously a Hulkamaniac, like the rest of us, even those in denial.

[ShaolinHandLock 73]

I watched the Countdown show last night (I have no way to watch the PPV, but the Countdown show was on, and I thought why not?), and it was quite good.

 

I had read that Toney had some brain damage, and that they needed to subtitle him. Well, I expected someone with not much coherency.....I could understand Toney fine, and he's a lot more coherent than I expected from what I read.....

 

Anyway, Toney sort of won me over, he seems to be a good talker. Despite that though, I still really want Couture to win.....

[Guest Dusty Finish]

Toney's best chance of victory is to land an uppercut as Couture shoots. Couture won't stand for any longer than he has to- he's not stupid. Far and away the best place to shoot from is inside the pocket (this is where Lesnar may come undone against Velasquez... but that's another story for another time) ie. within range, so Couture may be sucesptable to shooting from distance, thus increasing his chances of getting tagged.

 

Naturally, I want Couture to win. However, I genuinely hope Toney doesn't get steamrolled. The reason that striking is the weakest discipline incorporated into general MMA is that the top boxers can make more money in their own familiar & safe haven of pugilism (see also: kickboxers in K1, where the money is similar to MMA), so until now the standard of boxers entering MMA has peaked with Lytle & Davis. An elite boxer successfully incorporating his skills into a freestyle fight would be hugely beneficial. For 15 years everyone thought Karate was absolutely useless, and for the most part it was. However, all that was needed was forone top practicioner (Machida) to take an objective look at what aspects of the discipline could be incorporated into the MMA skillset, and for a long, long time, guys had absolutely no answer for it. So, in conclusion.... Couture by GnP, Round 1 :P .

 

Funnily enough, the absolute zen master of utilising strikes within the pocket to set up takedowns has always been BJ Penn, and Frankie Edgar was, in their first fight, the first man to effectively use footwork and lateral movement to nullify this massive aspect of his game. The main event is intriguing, but seems to have been largely forgotten amidst the curiosity that is Couture vs Toney. A motivated Penn is the most dangerous fighter in the game, bar none. If he can push the pace early, and panic Edgar into reverting to his wrestling base, BJ can get the fight where he needs to be, finish on the ground in the third

and regain the championship.

[Guest Rikidozan]

Toney clearly hasn't trained properly, he came in at 237lbs, in comparison to his last boxing match when he weighed-in at 217lbs. It's really quite pathetic when the likes of Bautista and Herschel Walker train more professionally than you in regards to debuting in MMA. My guess is Toney won't last long in MMA/the UFC.

 

The main is really a tough one to predict, both guys are kind of similar fighters. Obviously, Penn's boxing is really, really good (as Freddie Roach said, it's among the best in MMA), and Penn also has unrivalled BBJ (aside from GSP of course). The only I can see Edgar retaining is by going the distance like the first fight. I cannot see Edgar stopping Penn inside the five rounds. Edgar/Penn really is a fight for the hardcore fans, as shown by the almost total lack of coverage of the fight by sports networks, as opposed to Couture/Toney which is all the networks are covering from the PPV. The buyrate will probably be in the 700,000 region.

[Guest Jack]

That was really horrible to watch.

 

As I thought, Couture got Toney down so easily. After that, he may as well have been fighting a heavy bag for all the skills hat Toney has learned. It was completely pointless and if these fights are actually going to prove something, there needs to be a hybrid of boxing and MMA. To give Toney a chance, they should have been stood up after the first lot of inactivity. Obviously it never will be a fair fight, which is why it was so annoying how Rogan was constantly criticising Toney. What does he expect?! "He's not doing this, he's not doing that, Couture is amazing...". It was awful. Then there was the cringeworthy UFC chants from the Tapout wearing, tattooed soft lads and booing of Toney in the post fight interview.

 

I like MMA and the UFC is ok but this shit was awful. It didn't prove anything and just makes MMA look bad that such a fight ever happened and there was no objectivity.

 

Any chance of a rematch on HBO? We could get Jim Lampley doing his "bang, bang, bang" routine and Larry Merchant copying Howard Cosell with a patronising "Down goes Couture". After the fight, maybe the fans could throw rotten tomatoes at Couture for being such a disgrace?

 

Ugh.