GSP gymnastic challenges

[Philip Chubb]

That would be so awesome but I feel like Dana would protect Jones for a while. He is going to be big and basically the 205 Anderson Silva. All the money he can milk out of that is going to keep Silva and Jones from happening for a while. GSP and Anderson just isn't fair for GSP. Totally agree. I would almost rather it not happen.

[Joshua Naterman]

That would be so awesome but I feel like Dana would protect Jones for a while. He is going to be big and basically the 205 Anderson Silva. All the money he can milk out of that is going to keep Silva and Jones from happening for a while. GSP and Anderson just isn't fair for GSP. Totally agree. I would almost rather it not happen.

You can't seriously think that Jones is anywhere close to Silva's caliber. Jones actually looked sloppy in the Shogun fight and Shogun fought like crap. Jones is good, but he is nowhere near being Anderson Silva good.

[Philip Chubb]

I didn't see the shogun fight but if it is that bad then maybe not LOL. Everyone has a bad fight once in a while though. Look at Silva vs Sonnen. Though I don't know how much drugs had to do with that..

[Joshua Naterman]

Yea, they definitely had something to do with it but from what I hear Silva legitimately had a damaged rib before and during that fight. Regardless, it was a great fight and I think Sonnen took advantage of a few holes in Anderson's game that no one ever exploits and destroyed the illusion of invincibility that Silva was, and to some extent still is, cloaked with. Even so, Anderson is sublimely proficient and I hope he continues to wreck the best of his competition.

Jones is good, don't get me wrong. He is just not on Silva's level and I don't think he ever will be. He's also a jerk for saying he'd fight Rashad Evans and I hope he gets all of his teeth broken for that, and perhaps ridden and spanked the way that Randy Couture did to Tito Ortiz, I hope he alienated a good bit of his fan base but of course that won't happen... people don't understand the fight game unless they've been in it. You don't fight your training partners. Period. Ever. That's called loyalty and respect, and is part of being a stand up guy.

[Rafael David]

Jones have potencial to be the next great champion IMHO. Of all fighters is the closest to Anderson level. And Shogun, I think he had a knee surgery and had not recovered one hundred per cent to the fight, but Jones has fought very well, is true.

[Rafael David]

Yea, they definitely had something to do with it but from what I hear Silva legitimately had a damaged rib before and during that fight.

He hurt the rib in the training, before the fight. To me, Sonnen don't have any merits, he used drugs and Anderson fought injured.

[Joshua Naterman]

Yea, they definitely had something to do with it but from what I hear Silva legitimately had a damaged rib before and during that fight.

He hurt the rib in the training, before the fight. To me, Sonnen don't have any merits, he used drugs and Anderson fought injured.

Drugs don't make you a superhero. Sonnen is legitimately a great wrestler. Not good, not very good, GREAT. He also did a number of smart things, like rolling out of Anderson's hold on his heel early in the first round. Drugs don't make you do that, training (and perhaps a certain amount of natural talent) does.

Having said that, Sonnen used drugs and deserves all the negative consequences of his actions.

[Larry Roseman]

I'm not sure GSP/Silva has the same appeal anymore since the last fight with Shields.

He did about as well as he could, but it was a lacklustre from both sides - I was there.

If Silva came down to 170 it might be close though.

While Bones isn't as technical as either GSP or Silva, the fight could be interesting

because of his unpredictability. He is harder for Silva to time, although

if anyone could, it would be Silva, wouldn't you agree?

Sonnen's trash talk crosses the line IMO. I'm all for talking up a fight,

but this guy has a personality disorder. Keep him caged up until the cage fight please.

[Rafael David]

Drugs don't make you a superhero. Sonnen is legitimately a great wrestler. Not good, not very good, GREAT. He also did a number of smart things, like rolling out of Anderson's hold on his heel early in the first round. Drugs don't make you do that, training (and perhaps a certain amount of natural talent) does.

Having said that, Sonnen used drugs and deserves all the negative consequences of his actions.

Yes, you're right. I just wanted to dare to point out that drug use is illegal, even if not make you a super hero, but uses them should help somehow, dishonestly. After all, if he is so good, why he used drugs? It may be that you know better than him if he is good or not right?

Sonnen's trash talk crosses the line IMO. I'm all for talking up a fight,

but this guy has a personality disorder. Keep him caged up until the cage fight please.

Surely he must have some sort of mental disorder ...

[Joshua Naterman]

I'm not sure GSP/Silva has the same appeal anymore since the last fight with Shields.

He did about as well as he could, but it was a lacklustre from both sides - I was there.

If Silva came down to 170 it might be close though.

While Bones isn't as technical as either GSP or Silva, the fight could be interesting

because of his unpredictability. He is harder for Silva to time, although

if anyone could, it would be Silva, wouldn't you agree?

Sonnen's trash talk crosses the line IMO. I'm all for talking up a fight,

but this guy has a personality disorder. Keep him caged up until the cage fight please.

What happened with Shields? I must have missed something.

Bones is long. I think that's his primary advantage. It's almost like fighting Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards), you know? You get hit from across the ring, which is awesome for Bones. Bones seems to have great potential but unless he gets himself the same training that Anderson Silva has had in terms of honing his accuracy and speed he will be at a disadvantage. He also needs to close a few glaring holes in his game, notably his openness with the spinning elbow. He loves that move and he will get wrecked by someone with the reactions and accuracy of a Fedor or Anderson Silva.

Sonnen... definitely has something seriously wrong with him. I kind of feel bad for him. Not too much, I mean we all choose to remain what we are until we choose to change, I guess I really mean that watching someone choose to stay that way makes me sad inside, I mean what a waste of a potentially great competitor.

[Gavin Strelitz]

The Shields v GSP was quite boring, but I thought it was because GSP scratched his retina early on in the fight and so chose to just box it from the outside and not take any risks. Shields stand up is not very good at all, so it worked to get a good win on points.

Bones has the raw talent to be something really special, let's hope he gets the right training and keeps the correct attitude to fulfill his potential. His lanky build is what would make him a good matchup with Silva. He has some gaps and he needs to work on that but I'm sure he will.

[Larry Roseman]

What happened with Shields? I must have missed something.

Bones is long. I think that's his primary advantage. It's almost like fighting Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards), you know? You get hit from across the ring, which is awesome for Bones. Bones seems to have great potential but unless he gets himself the same training that Anderson Silva has had in terms of honing his accuracy and speed he will be at a disadvantage. He also needs to close a few glaring holes in his game, notably his openness with the spinning elbow. He loves that move and he will get wrecked by someone with the reactions and accuracy of a Fedor or Anderson Silva.

Sonnen... definitely has something seriously wrong with him. I kind of feel bad for him. Not too much, I mean we all choose to remain what we are until we choose to change, I guess I really mean that watching someone choose to stay that way makes me sad inside, I mean what a waste of a potentially great competitor.

Nothing happened when GSP fought Shields - that was the problem Maybe his eye was hurt, but this isn't the first time

that he's been poked in the eye. It's starting to seem like a pattern and I'm not sure I buy it 100%.

In any event, Shields' Dad died a few weeks ago, and he lost badly to Ellenberger last night. He didn't appear all there.

Ellenberger appeared very strong though, and continues to impress. Matching him up with GSP (after Condit either way) makes more sense then Silva IMO.

I agree with your analysis of Bones vs Silva. But of course if fights were decided on paper, they wouldn't have them.

Stranger things have happened and all I'm saying is that it would be exciting,

probably more exciting than a "superfight" between GSP and Silva.

[Joshua Naterman]

It probably WOULD be more exciting, and I would love to see it.

[Gavin Strelitz]

Jones demolition of Rampage shows he's getting better all the time. It wasn't an amazing fight, but a very clinical display from Bones. He's beating seasoned fighters without taking any damage and his composure is excellent for such a young fighter.

Give him time and he will be the next super fighter. I haven't seen any footage of Silva as a youngster but I'd like to see how good he was at 23.

[Joshua Naterman]

I haven't seen the Rampage fight, but bones has like a foot of reach on him. That's going to make Bones hard for almost everyone to deal with until someone gets in there with head movement like old-school Tyson. There's really no other way unless Bones loses his mind temporarily and LETS someone get in on him.

He is definitely built to be a nightmare in MMA, no doubt. I hope he continues to develop, from a purely objective position as a fighting fan, but I have lost respect in him as a person for accepting the idea of fighting one of the people who helped make him who he is. I do hope he gets pummeled into the ground for that.

[Cole Dano]

I think that Joe had it right, if Rampage would have worked Jone's leg it could have turned the battle.

[Joshua Naterman]

It could have. He also needed to trap that floating lead hand and punish it, and move forward while blocking high kicks. That's hard stuff to do but it can be done, just takes lots of repetitive training.

Regardless, that really was a great performance on Jones' part! Much better than the Shogun fight IMO, but then again Rampage is a much less diverse fighter so I suppose that is to be expected. Rampage looked pretty out of shape too, I was surprised.

[Cole Dano]

They were in Denver, there were more fighters gassing out than usual.

[Joshua Naterman]

That would do it, but I mean visually Rampage looked much worse than usual. Like flabby.

[Larry Roseman]

GSP vs DIAZ is on again! Feb 4 - assuming no more injuries :cry:

[Gavin Strelitz]

We could probably start a MMA thread to discuss fighting.

After watching Diaz v Penn I think GSP will cream Diaz. He's got too many skills for Diaz to deal with, even if Diaz is as tough as nails.

Any comments on Dan Henderson V Rua? That was an all out war.

[Joshua Naterman]

That was an absolute war! I was very surprised that they didn't stop the fight when shogun appeared completely dead, but I guess that ended up working out quite well!

[Gavin Strelitz]

hahahaha, there was a period where Shogun looked dead and if that wasn't the main event they would have stopped it for sure. Rua should have been able to sub Henderson out in the 5th, he was in a full mount for basically the whole round. Epic battle though.

[WitnessTheFitness]

I haven't seen the fight yet, but you guys make it sound pretty awesome.

I'm still recovering from the disappointment that was the UFC on Fox title match

[Joshua Naterman]

I haven't seen the fight yet, but you guys make it sound pretty awesome.

I'm still recovering from the disappointment that was the UFC on Fox title match

Lol... you saw that too, huh. Over before it began, really, but Velasquez asked for that big right hand. It's not like Junior was trying to hide the fact that he was firing it over and over, you know? He did a great job of shooting that right over the shoulder where Velasquez couldn't even see it coming.