UFC 71- Liddell vs Rampage

It's just Sherk left with the UFC Lightweight belt, but he's not defended it yet. His next opponent's Hermes Franca which should be a very exciting fight

 

UN-FREAKING-BELEIVABLE!!

I thought Rampage was going to win it, but what a spectacular bout!

GO PRIDE FIGHTERS!!

 

http://www.aolsportsblog.com/2007/05/28/report-too-much-partying-led-to-loss-for-chuck-liddell/

 

I still think Chuck on his "A" game is the best 205er.

 

What about Andersson Silva? He hasn't defended his title yet either.

 

Yes he has, against Travis Luter. Having just checked it out, I was wrong - Silva didn't dethrone Franklin this year, it was October last year.
Silva's next defence will be against Nate Marquardt which has the makings of one hell of a battle and one that could very well go Marquardt's way

 

That wasn't a title defense. Lutter never made weight so they just made it a match.

 

Yeah, that's right. It's been a long day here Though it was originally slated to be a title defence
He'll be defending on July 7th
To clarify: Silva AND Sherk have yet to defend their titles this year. I was mistaken

 

Yeah...it was slated for that and Lutter was off by I think it was like 2 lbs. It's not like he didn't know the fight was coming and couldn't lose the weight properly. I'm interested to see Silva vs. Marquardt.

 

Yeah, Lutter royally screwed up on that one. Interestingly, according to Rogan, Silva had had anthroscopic surgery on both knees just a week and a half before that fight, explaining why his takedown defence was so crappy
I've got money on Marquardt already. He may not always be the most exciting fighter in the game, but he's very well rounded and I think he's got what it takes to decision Silva

 

I agree. That's why I'm interested to see the fight.

 

I have to agree with you Sever, Marqaurdt is gonna take the belt from Silva.

 

i actually think he was on his "A" game that fight. he was just beat by a better fighter. he moved around just like he did in any other of his successful fights & worked the jab the same way. i mean news about chuck partying too much is nothing new. he might have even partied harder before he fought tito. look what happened? he beat him with a torn mcl.

 

that was his A game. problem was its been the same plan since the 1st rampage encounter. oh, and i'll call it now, Silva will keep the belt imo.

 

Personally, I don't buy the notion that Silva's knee surgery was the cause of his **** poor takedown defence. He's never really demonstrated great takedown defence in his other fights.

I'm thinking Marquardt takes this one too.

 

that's the thing with brazilian fighters. they're good on the ground, and those from chute boxe are good at ground and standing up. but they can't wrestle because brazil is not a "wrestling" country. hence why they keep getting taken down, and rely on their ground skills to stay alive.

 

surgery, you don't buy surgery as an excuse for poor performance....damn i'd hate for you to be my coach.

 

It's never been what I'd describe as great, but it's usually a fair bit better than that. Watch his fight with Okami; it's not exactly up their with Liddell or Crocop's sprawl, but it's loads better than what he demonstrated against Luter

 

I gotta agree. But I don't think Chuck's partying had much to do with anything, that's just gossip to me, hard for me to believe any champ especially one hungry for revenge would let partying distract them.

I just think Rampage has a fighting style that Chuck has no way of dealing with. Rampage's chin is hard, he has excellent takedowns and GnP (though he didn't have a chance to use it this time), he's got a right hand that hurts as much or more than Chuck's right, and he has a decent jab.

I just wish the fight lasted longer. I agree that the stop was called correctly except I think that championship fights should have a little more leeway.
Chuck prolly woulda been knockedout stone cold if it went on but I think he coulda got up, I've seen guys in worse positions rebound.

I know Chuck faded for a few moments but... in champ bouts I still think he shoulda been given more time to recover.

Don't get me wrong I'm also a Rampage Fan and personally I'm rooting for him in his next fight with Hendo.

 

I am in agreement with you, he would have gone into a guard position and it would have gone from there... Bad call. It is refreshing to see someone else who is not in aggrement with the call, two bad ones that night and Big John did them both.

I like John have talked to him and worked with his dad for years, but he is getting a little to involved to stop early. He is either concerned or being told to do it.

Either way, it is pretty obvious the other night that the two stops were premature.

Din Thomas did not win by submit...The guy did not submit, the ref stopped it.

Gary