The MMA Thread

[Assani Fisher]

Rashad gets a ridiculous lack of respect imo. The guy has one loss in 17 fights, and he has wins over Rampage, Thiago Silva, Bisping, Liddell, Griffin, etc. Yet a lot of people continue to say that "hes not that impressive" or "Hes definitely going to lose to Shogun now". His one loss came to a guy who a few months ago had a legit claim to best fighter in the world....other than that one loss, wtf else was he supposed to do in his 17 fights to finally get some respect?

[pokeriseasy]

Originally Posted by Assani Fisher

So Rashad completely dominates the fight, he gets hit with a fluke knee when he shoots in, he still manages to avoid the majority of Rampage's punches immediately after the fluke knee, he then gets up off the ground and wins the round(on 2 of the judges scorecards)....and Rashad is "very lucky"?

Are you even serious? I'm saying if any of those punches landed while Rashad was down he would've got KO'd, it's that simple. I didn't say he was lucky to win the fight, he dominated for the most part, I said he was lucky those undefended punches missed. It's not like Rashad made Rampage miss with some good head movement, he barely knew what was going on and Rampage just whiffed.

Anybody who thinks he's definitely going to lose to Shogun is retarded, matchups make fights and Rashad matches up very well with Shogun.

[DannyOcean_]

Originally Posted by Assani Fisher

Rashad gets a ridiculous lack of respect imo. The guy has one loss in 17 fights, and he has wins over Rampage, Thiago Silva, Bisping, Liddell, Griffin, etc. Yet a lot of people continue to say that "hes not that impressive" or "Hes definitely going to lose to Shogun now". His one loss came to a guy who a few months ago had a legit claim to best fighter in the world....other than that one loss, wtf else was he supposed to do in his 17 fights to finally get some respect?

You completely misinterpreted what he said.

And before this fight, Rashad didn't have a whole lot of great accomplishments. He's a fighter (as I said before the fight) who has improved tremendously, and keeps improving, but he has a ton of shaky fights. Forrest was beating him for 12 minutes standing until he caught Forrest's kick, tumbled him over, and got a GNP TKO. Tito would have beat him if not for a questionable point deduction. Bisping nearly drew his fight with him.

That said, he's tremendously improved, and seems to be still improving. Part of the reason he had doubters before this fight was because for the early part of his career, he looked so limited. TUF champ Rashad was utterly one dimensional, and the razor-close Bisping and Tito fights afterwards didn't exactly help to make him look dominating. He showed improved stand up in the wins over Liddell and Silva, but the Forrest and Machida fights showed there were several ways to beat him standing also.

But now, with this Rampage fight, he really looks like he's put both aspects of his game together. His stand up looked good (not great, but pretty good). His TDs looked good. His ring generalship was very good. And he was able to mix his TDs and his striking really well. He's definitely still improving, and that makes him very dangerous. I think Shogun will have stylistic problems dealing with his wrestling ability. It'll be an interesting fight.

[AcTiOnJaCsOn]

was so nice to see rashad beat that actor last night at the end of the fight he should have said go back to hollywood

[C-Viggity]

I understand Rashad is an awesome fighter etc etc but he just comes off like a major d-bag

[Kirbynator]

hes fine when the subject isnt fighting rampage

imo

[Wrane]

I don't have tickets to 115 but I'm pretty excited for it. Crocop has always been one of my favourites.

[mused01]

how is evans the dbag here. rampage was the whiny bitch who didn't support his fighters in the show and evans called him out on it. evans has been class since day 1.

[Assani Fisher]

Originally Posted by mused01

how is evans the dbag here. rampage was the whiny bitch who didn't support his fighters in the show and evans called him out on it. evans has been class since day 1.

+1

can any of the Rashad haters explain exactly what he does that pisses you off? To me, he seems like a totally normal nice guy. It would be like hating Cal Ripken or John Stockton. Did he have a really offensive interview or do something major that I missed?

[comeasur33]

Originally Posted by pokeriseasy

No they don't nobody thinks Chuck or Tito are contenders. You should've heard when Dana announced they would be the two coaches on TUF like everybody in the crowd groaned. Why would anybody be anxious to see two mid level fighters fight for a 3rd time when in the first 2 fights Chuck finished Tito and was never in any danger. On top of that both fighters are coming off losses and long layoffs, there's just no appeal.

You greatly overestimate the intelligence of the average MMA fan if you think Chuck vs Tito wouldn't still draw a significant number of PPV buys and interest. If they're both still alive in 5 years it would probably still draw an average number then.

[Lee C]

Man, I used to love MMA but it feels as though it is getting too saturated compared to what it was a couple years ago. That Evans/Rampage match would've been a lot better if it was a 5 round fight. Things were just starting to get interesting and both fighters had their chances there. Not enough interesting cards. Can't wait for GSP and Lesnar's next fights though

[TexArcher]

Originally Posted by Assani Fisher

can any of the Rashad haters explain exactly what he does that pisses you off? To me, he seems like a totally normal nice guy. It would be like hating Cal Ripken or John Stockton. Did he have a really offensive interview or do something major that I missed?

I find it hard to understand what people dislike about Rashad. I met him at an autograph thing and he was possibly the coolest fighter I've ever met. He went out of his way to talk to people and pose for photos and seemed really into the whole thing, completely down to earth, etc.

[JustZak]

Originally Posted by Assani Fisher

+1

can any of the Rashad haters explain exactly what he does that pisses you off? To me, he seems like a totally normal nice guy. It would be like hating Cal Ripken or John Stockton. Did he have a really offensive interview or do something major that I missed?

I think there's a mixture of things that turn people off from Rashad. Some of it might be from way back when he was showboating a on the ultimate fighter, did it again after the KO of chuck (I'm sure a lot of die hard chuck fans, which there are bazillions of, will never forgive him that), and then was talking trash mid fight as he was getting KOed by Machida. Also, despite a few exciting finishes I wouldn't exactly say he's Mr Exciting. Add on a personality that I think rubs some people the wrong way and I can see how he abrades a big portion of the MMA community.

That said, I like him way more than Rampage and kind of shocked at how the crowd seemed totally against Rashad. I expected more love for Rampage but that was ridiculous. Rampage can say and do anything and people just don't seem to care. I don't get it at all.

[Redmen62]

Originally Posted by Assani Fisher

+1

can any of the Rashad haters explain exactly what he does that pisses you off? To me, he seems like a totally normal nice guy. It would be like hating Cal Ripken or John Stockton. Did he have a really offensive interview or do something major that I missed?

[72off]

Originally Posted by Redmen62

Is that it? Hasn't Anderson Silva been like a million times worse his last X number of fights? And most people seem to like him...