Mixed Martial Arts!

[Jaakko]

So, I just watched some of the latest (?) Pride, the one with the awesome fight between Vanderlei Silva and Mark Hunt. Yay for the Atomic Butt Drop!

I also watched New Year's K-1 (Saitama?), full of weird fights culminating in Akebono vs. Royce Gracie. Oh, and let's not forget Bob Sapp's killer knockout punch in the first round of his fight against Jerome LeBanner.

MMA has truly become a great spectator sport.


Edit: almost forgot the ABD!

[Daz]

Do a search on the "flying armbar". Now, thats spectacular mma.

[Space05us]

I wish I could watch MMA events on tv, unfortunalty they arent available up here.

As for the Atomic Butt Drop, ouch!! The guy on the bottom must have been half out of it not being able enough to roll out of the way of that.

[Urban Ranger]

That looks so much like a pro wrestling match, meaning it's scripted.

[Jaakko]

They're fighting for real, the match is Mark Hunt vs. Vanderlei Silva in a recent Pride FC. The drop is just a bit of showboating because the match was a last minute arrangement and thus not a very important one.

Also, Silva (on the ground) wasn't dazed at all, he couldn't roll away because then Hunt would've had free opportunity to pass his "guard" (ie. get out from between Silva's legs and do some nasty hitting or submission holds).

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Jaakko
Also, Silva (on the ground) wasn't dazed at all, he couldn't roll away because then Hunt would've had free opportunity to pass his "guard" (ie. get out from between Silva's legs and do some nasty hitting or submission holds).

I don't see that. The guy on the ground was only on the ground, not like he was having a hold on other other guy's leg(s) with his own.

[Jaakko]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


I don't see that. The guy on the ground was only on the ground, not like he was having a hold on other other guy's leg(s) with his own.

You don't usually jump someone like that, you either let him get up or go in for some ground fighting, where getting the guard is extremely important for the defender. Once Hunt was in the air jumping, it was too late to do anything except to defend and ride it out.

But in any case, the guy on the ground definitely doesn't want to show his back to the guy on who's on his feet.

[BeBMan]

Isn't it unfair to jump on someone who is already down?

[Jaakko]

Originally posted by BeBro
Isn't it unfair to jump on someone who is already down?

The rules include both standup and ground fighting, so no. The Atomic Butt Drop was a good idea by Hunt, who was ~20kg heavier than Silva, but less skilled on the ground.

Generally, the guy on the ground is much less at a disadvantage than you might think. He can kick out his opponent's knees if he comes too close, and if his opponent comes to the ground too to fight, it's anyone's game.
One of the most legendary MMA fighters of all time, Royce Gracie, used to regularly tire out his opponents, often much bigger than him (Royce was about 80kg IIRC), on his back on the ground, then do a submission hold on them, ranging from chokes to joint locks.

[BeBMan]

Oh the humanity!

[Pekka]

Wrongo on all accounts. Silva and ChuteBox are known to use the stomp at all times, meaning if it was Silva who was up, he'd most likely look to stomp the other ones face, meaning he could also jump and go airborn, and stomp the face, which is legal. In that scenario the defendor puts his legs up to divert the course of the feet of the opponent and move your upper body and head to avoid the stomp to your face.

Hunt obviously isn't too flexible guy, he couldn't do the stopm silva does, but he goes for something weird like that. Hunt is not experienced MMA fighter, but he is experineced K-1 fighter so he knows stand up, I don't know what the hell that is he pulled off but seems to me he just wanted to do something Silva does, and make fun of him plus maybe that does hurt, after all Silva is close to 100 kg and Hunt is 125 kg. Other than that, that's not a serious move. Maybe a bit of showboating as well.

However hunt was no way controlling that fight . I agree he deserved the win though, but it was a close one and if it was me I would have ruled it a tie. but I accept Hunt win, by very close marginal.

UR, and no that's not wrestling, it's real fighting. Stop trolling you know better.

[Jaakko]

I liked Hunt's performance and think he has a lot of promise once he gets some ground experience.

I mean, Silva was getting pwned on the stand up, and couldn't make a dent on Hunt on the ground.

[Pekka]

True, but let's not forget the weight difference. It makes all the difference in the world .

I think it only proves, that Hunt was already a bit better than most expected. Of couse he should dominate stand up, being a K-1 champ, and that much heavier. But sure, I expected him to be a bit more sloppy, so he pulled it off quite nicely.

I don't think Silva was getting owned. But he didn't have the edge either.

[Jaakko]

BTW Pekka, have you seen the Sapp vs. LeBanner fight? If not, go find it somewhere. The first round is comedy gold.

[Pekka]

LeBanner vs Sapp? Not sure.. Are you sure you don't mean Sapp vs Kimo? Anyway, I haven't seen Sapp vs Lebanner I think.. LeBanner was supposed to come to Pride, he's taking too much time! Me thinks he never comes..