Tuesday, 18 November 2008

Fighters Only staff discuss UFC 91

With the dust settling after UFC 91: Couture vs Lesnar, here is what some of the Fighters Only team think of the main event:

Rob Hewitt (Fighters Only MD; The Boss)

I always hate to see Randy lose! When you have grown up watching someone older who you respect because of their past achievements, you always look at them as being invincible. A little bit like the way that sons always see their Dads as being Superman and impervious to normal adversities. Unfortunately, everyone has their kryptonite and for Randy it was Brock Lesnar.

A friend of mine emailed me first thing on Sunday morning to remind me of his post fight prediction coming true. In my message back I stated again the first sentence of this blog post, to which he replied - It is just like boxing was, there is always a bigger tougher guy waiting around the corner!

How right he is. But the most frightening thing is this: how big does the next guy need to be in Brock Lesnar’s case? In Randy's words - That's a big son of a bitch!

If history has proved anything, it has taught us that size is not everything and waiting round the corner is Minatauro who I feel sure is going to prove the Fighters Only team right again with their pre-tournament picks for who would end up victorious.

The best thing for me thought is that at long last, the heavyweight scene is starting to get exciting again. I am really looking forward to watching Brock fight again and letting those 'ham hocks' fly!

As much as I like seeing Randy as champion, and as much as Joe Rogan tried to intimate an imminent move back down a weight division (to level up the number of belts in weight class won and set yet another milestone in the history of the UFC), I truly hope he stays at heavyweight.

I think that Randy feels that a rematch with Brock is a challenge that he could yet overcome. We will have to wait and see.

Hywel Teague (Fighters Only Magazine editor)

So the fight we've all been waiting for happened at the weekend. In the weeks running up to the fight, all I seemed to hear was Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar. Everyone in the gym was debating the possible strategy and tactics Couture would come armed with, while everyone questioned if it was possible to handle the beast that is Brock. I even had people ask me my opinions on the fight at a dinner party, the last place I expected to be asked for my 'expert analysis'.

The fight played out much as I expected - Randy's clinch proved to be a major factor, but Brock's sheer size and power lent an air of inevitability to the entire thing. I was literally waiting for the moment that Brock would catch him from start to finish.

The ending wasn't as satisfactory as I had hoped - the clubbing punch that felled Couture was awkward and lacked skill or science, but with 285lb of flesh behind it, it was more than enough to do the business. Couture fell victim to a flurry of punches that left him on his back for minutes afterwards, and MMA fans around the world alternately cheered and cried.

Though I hate seeing Randy lose, I took some small satisfaction from this fight as I'd called it in the picks we published in Issue 44. That means we're on for a Lesnar vs Mir / Nogueira showdown in 2009. All I need is for Minotauro to win and I can put the crystal ball back in the box for another couple of months.

Jim Burman (Head of Marketing; self-proclaimed predictions genius)

So I bombed out on my pic for Lesnar Couture! Two thoughts entered my mind watching that fight - Lesnar looked huge and Couture looked old.

Seeing Lesnar in the Octagon that big made me think that with Heavyweights his size who have to cut to make 265lbs (Shane Carwin as another example) maybe it's time to have another look at that Super Heavyweight division.

So far we've only seen one fight take place in the UFC at that weight (Barnett vs. McGee) but I would argue a case to bring the limit down to 240lbs. If a guy is cutting to 265lb then even a cut of 20lbs could have them coming in on fight night 80lbs higher than the lower Heavyweight band. With a weight variance so great I think it's both unfair and dangerous to the smaller heavyweights.

My other stand out from UFC 91 was Demian Maia. I'm always impressed by fighters who can make MMA look easy and Maia just steamrolled Nate Quarry on Saturday night. Maias Jiu Jitsu was so slick and fast and despite not being the world's best wrestler had this match on the mat and sewn up quick.

If this guy can get a Plan B for the fight where he cant get it to the ground then hes a future champion for sure. Quarry didnt even get out of first gear which is a shame because hes better than his performance on Saturday night. Maia just made it look easy.

posted by john oregan at Tuesday, November 18, 2008 << Back To Main Page