Sean’s Blog

 This blog is all about Randy Couture. I have just got to say that I have been a fan of MMA since UFC 1 and watching Randy celebrate after winning the UFC heavyweight title back was the happiest moment I have ever witnessed in MMA.

 I know it may not sound “cool” or “tough” or whatever but I had tears rolling down my cheeks. So often in the fight game you have the guys with shitty attitudes winning and getting their hands raised at the end of fights. You have Tito Ortiz digging graves totally disrespecting his opponents, and then putting on stupid shirts that totally humiliate the guy he has just beat, you have Nick Diaz fighting people in hospitals, you have guys like Floyd Mayweather talking so much shit that you forget about his talent. You have right now in the fight game so FEW people who are not only great champions but also great human beings.

 Well Randy is both. The guy is a class act as a human being, and also a class act as a fighter. He is PROBABLY the most RESPECTED man that the UFC has. People FEAR Chuck and Mirko,  you have certain people that like Tito for his silly antics and aggressive dominating fighting style, yet just as many who detest him. Matt Hughes is a legend, but again with his attitude you have just as many who hate him, as who love him.

 Randy is different though. Almost everyone respects Randy and wants to see good things come his way. If karma exists then Randy is definitely on karma’s good side…….and deservedly so.

 As a fighter he has been through hell and back, and yet always kept his head held high. He was a huge underdog the moment he stepped into the Octagon….well that changed quickly. He was an underdog against Pedro Rizzo…..and he overcame that challenge. He was an underdog when he faced Liddell the first time, hell not only an underdog but Dana has admitted that he was trying to give Chuck a gimme against a guy he thought was past his prime……well he underestimated Randy Couture, and Randy beat the holy hell out of Liddell. Next was Tito. Tito tried to get cute before the fight, tried to talk smack……and Randy Couture in front of thousands in the arena and many, many more watching on PPV….. Took Tito behind the woodshed so to speak and literally spanked him right in the Octagon.

 After his losses to Chuck though, and his retirement it seemed that age had finally caught up to him. He came out of retirement and most people….myself included didnt give him a chance. Tim Sylvia talked his shit, he discredited Randy…..and Randy went out there, outstruck him, out wrestled him, out grappled him, and left Tim with a left eye that looked like it was going to fall off of his face!!

 Randy Couture isnt the greatest fighter ever. He isnt the best wrestler to take place in MMA. He isnt the strongest, biggest, fastest, most intelligent, and hell probably doesnt even have the most heart. But what Randy has more of than ANY other fighter out there is RESPECT. And that is for all the reasons I listed above…..

  And for that Randy is the biggest ICON in the sport.

WAR RANDY!!!!!

In this blog I want to talk about why I think the whole UFC vs PRIDE issue is stupid and should be a non factor.

 Certainly there are people on both sides who think that one organization is better than the other. So lets first break it down…

 At heavyweight I think most people will agree that PRIDE is much stronger here. However with the addition of Cro Cop, Randy Couture coming out of retirement, and Heath Herring coming in it definitely adds some much needed depth. Yeah Heath flopped in his first fight, but I think he will come back strong. Add those guys to Sylvia, Arlovski, Monson and a few others and its a decent division.

  At 205 I personally feel that the two organizations are fairly even. Compare the top 3 guys…Wand Silva, Shogun, and Nogueira. For the UFC, you have Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, and Rampage. (or Babalu). The head to head actually goes back and forth so you cant really read into anything there. I give the slight edge to PRIDE with their depth. However at the top its dead even to me.

 At 185 I give a big advantage to PRIDE. Hendo, Filho, Kang, Misaki and quite a few others. Anderson Silva may be my new favorite fighter, and I also love Rich Franklin. But overall I think PRIDE takes this one.

 At Lightweight PRIDE also holds an edge. Especially with new additions like Gilbert Melendez and Nick Diaz. However with guys like Sean Sherk, Hermes Franca, Jens Pulver and of course BJ Penn the UFC is stacked as hell at that division and if some of their young guys live up to the hype (Guillard and Stevenson) I think they could field a division just as deep or even better than PRIDES….especially if BJ stays down at lightweight.

 So if you look at all of that you see that im giving the slight edge to PRIDE so far. However UFC has a whole division that PRIDE doesnt even have. The 170 pound division. And in my opinion its the best division in all of Mixed Martial Arts. Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes, ill add BJ Penn here as well, Diego Sanchez, Karo Parisyan, Josh Koscheck, Josh Burkman and the list goes on and on. The talent pool in this division is endless. I also feel that when comparing the two rosters it makes up for the advantages PRIDE has in a few other divisions.

 So when having this debate based on roster, I feel its almost dead even. As far as the differences between the two organizations it really comes down to opinion. I personally prefer the cage, however I know that others prefer the ring. I like how PRIDE has a 10 minute first round as opposed to the UFC’s 5. I also like how PRIDE  allows knees and kicks to the head of a downed opponent. However I ALSO like how the UFC allows elbows. Im in the minority here but I personally dont like the yellow card system PRIDE uses. I understand wanting to make fights exciting, however some fights have to be strategic and to penalize these athletes by taking 10% of their pay (when they are underpaid anyways) doesnt seem like the best way to go about it.

  So really to make this long post short, the whole UFC vs PRIDE debate is silly in my opinion. The rosters are VERY even. Some may argue for a slight edge for one organization over the other, however its still close at this point. And the preference in rules are totally opinion based. Hopefully people can stop looking at the organization and start focusing on the fighters and the fights that we want to see.

 This latest blog is about what I believe should take place and unfold in the UFC light heavyweight division.

  As we all know Chuck Liddell recently defeated Tito Ortiz. At this point There is really no concrete #1 contender out there. I would like to lay out what sort of fights I would like to see take place so that we can determine who should be the next few guys in line to get title shots……

  First of all, your have Tito, Rampage, and Babalu who are all legit top 10 LHW’s. Both Tito and Babalu are coming off of losses. Rampage hasnt had an official UFC fight so even though he has had success in PRIDE and recently in the WFA I think that he needs a few fights before he gets  a title shot. Tito and Babalu have both lost to Chuck twice and so convincingly that I dont want to see them anywhere near the title shot for at least a few years.

 It is rumored that Keith Jardine may get the next shot at Chuck. As impressive as he was against Forrest, the fact remains that he really hasnt earned a shot yet. He lost to Bonnar, and although that was probably a bad decision a loss is a loss. Forrest was overrated to begin with and Jardine exposed him with a few big shots. Rashad Evans has looked impressive, however for some reason the UFC isnt giving him big fights. Bisping has looked good, but obviously he needs some fights under his belt before you can mention him and title shot in the same breath.

 So here is how I would play it out: Im going to assume that Rampage and Rashad are both going to win their upcoming fights. Its been rumored that Tito is going to fight Forrest Griffin next. I like that matchup as both guys lost on the same show, and this is a chance for both of them to start climbing the ladder again. Lets also remember that CHuck is out with an injury and wont be back for awhile….

  I would have Tito vs Forrest, Rampage vs Jardine, Rashad vs Babalu. I dont know when Bonnar is going to be back, however if its within the next 4 months or so I would have him fight Bisping next.

 After that I believe that Tito and Rampage would both win their fights. Rashad & Babalu is a bit of a toss up IMO. Im a Rashad nuthugger so ill give him the nod. I believe that Bisping will murder Bonnar.

 At that point I would have Rashad face Rampage with the winner getting a shot at Chuck. Then give Bisping a fight with either Griffin or Jardine. They would be coming off of losses and it would be a chance to either redeem themselves or to give Bisping another “name” opponent to have a win against. I would then have Tito vs Babalu.

 From there you have either Page or Rashad challenging Chuck for the title. Have the LOSER of page and rashad face the winner of Tito vs Babalu. At that point you have the winner of that fight face Bisping for the next title shot. That would be quite a ways down the road and at that point would be enough fights under Tito or Babalu’s belt to justify getting another title shot. On the flip side it would be enough wins against “name” opponents to justify giving Bisping a shot at that point. Obviously if Page or Rashad could beat Chuck then an immediate rematch would be warranted….especially with how dominant Chuck has been as champ.

 Alright, well I know that was kind of long and drawn out, however right now in EVERY other division we kind of have an idea of who the next title shots are going to, however at 205 its really up in the air. For anyone who took the time to actually read all of this, let me know what you think, and also what you would do differently.

I dont even know how to do this whole blog thing yet. So forgive me if im being a retard lol.

 I want to comment on something that I think the UFC needs to do now more than ever. That is to develop an official rankings system.

 We know the champs are Tim Sylvia, Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, George St. Pierre, and Sean Sherk. However do we know who the #1 contenders are? What about the #2 and #3 contenders??

  Randy Couture is the #1 contender at heavyweight. However as great as Randy is, he didnt earn that spot. More than likely it WOULD have been Brandon Vera, however we dont even know if he is still with the UFC.

 At 205 now that Tito and Babalu have been put down hard by Chuck who is that top guy? Rampage?? As great as Quinton’s career has been, he has officially ZERO wins so far in the UFC. Forrest just lost so he is out, Jardine won a big fight but you cant rank him that high right now can you? What about Rashad?

 185  is just as confusing. Travis Lutter is getting the title shot, but everyone knows if there were rankings he wouldnt be the #1 contender. I would assume it would be Mike Swick, or Rich Franklin. However what about Marquardt and Dean Lister? Where do they rank?

 Welterweight is the same thing. GSP is the champ. Matt Serra is probably still getting the next title shot. You cant really argue against Matt Hughes being the #1 contender after so many dominant years. However he backed out of a title fight…..so who is the worthy #1 contender?

  Lightweight is most confusing of all. Is Sherk not going to fight until the winner of the BJ Penn vs Jens Pulver fight is decided? That will be WAY too far down the road. You would assume that it would be Joe Stevenson, Melvin Guillard, or Mark Hominick based on their successes in the still new and improving ufc lightweight division. But there are plenty of other guys that can make a claim as well. How are we determining who is worth of the title shot?

 I think as fans a ranking system would help alot. It would force the top fighters to fight the top guys. It also would set up the proper matchups between guys trying to move up a notch. Best of all it gives us all fights to look forward to and debate.

 I think the sooner the UFC comes up with this the better. If not then it will turn into a mess like PRIDE FC currently has where the champion isnt facing the #1 contender, and MOST of the time ends up fighting a no name Japanese Can.

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