Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin!

What are your thoughts? I'm thinking Silva wins it. I like Forrest for his personality and heart, but Anderson Silva is the Bruce Lee of our times. Just a pin-point accurate, no-nonsense, cut your throat ninja.

Interview with Griffin.
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Just in time for the Vanderherf!

UFC 98
Date: May 23, 2009
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena

Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida
Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra
Yushin Okami vs. Dan Miller
Sean Sherk vs. Frankie Edgar
Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Wilson
James Irvin vs. Drew McFedries
Phillipe Nover vs. Kyle Bradley
Patrick Barry vs. Tim Hague
Houston Alexander vs. Andre Gusmao
Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Brandon Wolff
David Kaplan vs. George Roop

My picks in bold.
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Nice picks.
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Back from Maui just in time for this Saturday's fight :-)

Had a quick moment of stress while on vacation as I thought the fight was last weekend. Was scrambling to find a place on the island to watch it LOL
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I'm the only one that gives a damn about the Silva Griffin fight? Haters.
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I don't think so, i just think August is a long ways away, and not as hot a topic as what's happening tmrw night :-)
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I give a damn :-) I just don't see it as being a particularly well matched fight that's all.
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i think machida will beat rashad. His style is very evasive. Could go either way tho

and i HOPE serra beats hughes...but doubt it ;/
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The Machida/Evans fight is going to be an exciting one, no doubt. I'll be pulling for Lyoto but as you said, it could go either way. Rashad has some great power behind his punches and generally works the angles pretty well. But I would love to see Lyoto knock him out with a well placed kick :-)

I also hope Serra beats Hughes but really I can't see it happening. Nover takes Bradley IMO
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I hate Hughes and Evans. I'll smoke something nice if they both get their teeth kicked in.
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:-)
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I went with Machida and wasn't disappointed. Great fight!!
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Man Lyoto did an amazing job of holding back and waiting for Rashad to attack as well as pressing the action and staying aggressive. I was so happy with the result of the fight! With his first initial flurry of punches he reminded me of old Vitor Belfort when he was young. Just super quick hands/feet
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Even though I don't care much for Matt Serra, but I think he should have won that fight.
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I agree. I have always liked Lyoto's style. I just got caught up and watched the fight and he was uber-impressive.
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In case you were interested, per MMAMania:

Total Disclosed Payouts: $957,000

Lyoto Machida — $140,000 ($70,000 to show, $70,000 to win)
Rashad Evans — $200,000
Machida defeated Evans via technical knockout (strikes) in round two

Matt Hughes — $200,000 ($100,000 to show, $100,000 to win)
Matt Serra — $75,000
Hughes defeated Serra via unanimous decision

Drew McFedries — $34,000 ($17,000 to show, $17,000 to win)
Xavier Foupas-Pokam — $6,000
McFedries defeated Foupas-Pokam via technical knockout (strikes) in round one

Chael Sonnen — $50,000 ($25,000 to show, $25,000 to win)
Dan Miller — $15,000
Sonnen defeated Miller via unanimous decision

Frank Edgar — $40,000 ($20,000 to show, $20,000 to win)
Sean Sherk — $40,000
Edgar defeated Sherk via unanimous decision

Brock Larson — $42,000 ($21,000 to show, $21,000 to win)
Mike Pyle — $15,000
Larson defeated Pyle via submission (arm triangle choke) in round one

Tim Hague — $10,000 ($5,000 to show, $5,000 to win)
Pat Barry — $7,000
Hague defeated Barry via submission (guillotine choke) in round one

Kyle Bradley — $8,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 to win)
Phillipe Nover — $10,000
Bradley defeated Nover via technical knockout (strikes) in round one

Krzysztof Soszynski — $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Andre Gusmao — $5,000
Soszynski defeated Gusmao via technical knockout (strikes) in round one

Yoshiyuki Yoshida — $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Brandon Wolff — $3,000
Yoshida defeated Wolff via submission (guillotine choke) in round one

George Roop — $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Dave Kaplan — $8,000
Roop defeated Kaplan via split decision

Fight of the Night: $60,000/each - Matt Serra and Matt Hughes
KO of the Night: $60,000 - Lyoto Machida
Submission of the Night: $60,000 - Brock Larson
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Some MMA news:

UFC president Dana White announced at the UFC 98 post-fight press conference that former light heavyweight titleholder Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will get the first crack at newly crowned Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida's belt. Speculation immediately arose whether Jackson and Machida would be coaches on the next season of the Spike TV reality show "The Ultimate Fighter."

White was asked point blank at the press conference if the coaches for the tenth season of the show had been picked. White confirmed they have been chosen, but wouldn't divulge any names.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/...8850&zoneid=13
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Frank Trigg, broadcaster and fighter extraordinaire, announced on MMAJunkie Radio that he has rejoined the welterweight ranks in the UFC. The 37 year old fighter has signed a 4 fight contract with his old organization after a long stint outside the UFC where he went 9 and 2. Inside the UFC back in 2004 and 2005, he was 2 and 3 with two huge losses against Matt Hughes (Seen on the UFC intro to this day) and a single loss against George St. Pierre.

With four fights scheduled in the UFC, a rematch with Hughes is a definite possibility. Frank is currently training at Xtreme Couture with some of the best out there and has consistently talked about his lifestyle changes that he has had to embrace to remain relevant fight-wise as he has gotten older. These changes along with the passage of time could make for a different and refreshing outcome of a Hughes / Trigg rematch.

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per mmaweekly.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White on Thursday, via an Ultimate Fighter 10 teleconference, announced that the next season of the venerable Spike TV reality series would see Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans as coaches.

The tenth season, titled The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, kicks off on Sept. 16. It will be comprised completely of heavyweight athletes and culminate in a grudge match on Dec. 12 between Jackson and Evans.

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SHOGUN AGREES TO MACHIDA BOUT, IN PRINCIPLE (so much for the previous report about Rampage and Machida)

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has in principle accepted a bout with new light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, MMAWeekly.com has learned from sources close to negotiations.

Though a concrete date for the fight could not be confirmed, and Machida’s management could not be reached at the time of this writing, sources say it would likely take place in October or November.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/...8862&zoneid=13
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I like the fight, but I'm with you on Silva taking it.

I like the way Machida is finishing his fights I think he'll do the same with Rua. Rua looks back from his injuries and likes to pressure his opponents so this one should be another good fight with no worries of making it to the decision.
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More news:

UFC president Dana White talks to EdgeBoston.com about his longing to sign WAMMA heavyweight champion and arguably the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA, Fedor Emelianenko. Since ZUFFA acquired PRIDE in 2007, a deal with the "Last Emperor" has long eluded the UFC and Dana White. Emelianenko is set to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett at Affliction's third event in August.

Emelianenko is widely considered the top heavyweight fighter in the world as he sports an impressive 30-1 MMA record, with his lone loss coming as a disqualification against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka in 2000. Emelianenko avenged the loss to Kohsaka at PRIDE: "Bushido 6" in 2005 and holds notable wins over Ricardo Arona, Renato Sobral, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (2x), Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Matt Lindland, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia and Mirko Filipovic.

“I would never cross-promote. Regarding Fedor, he either wants to come over and fight here or he doesn’t. If he came over and wanted to fight I’d do a deal with him in a minute. You know we’ve been chasing him since we bought Pride. In my opinion, I think it’s going to happen. He’d be crazy not to. I mean, why not? He’ll come over here and make a bunch of money and maybe even win the title and go down in history as the greatest heavyweight ever. The problem is it’s one thing for everyone to say it, I mean I can say, “Brock is the greatest heavyweight ever” but they have got to fight. It’s the only way to find out. We can argue about it all day but in the end you just have got to get out there and fight.”

http://www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news...ventually.html

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou talks to HDNet's "Inside MMA" about his recent behavior in the ring following a win over Jan Nortje at DREAM 9. Sokoudjou quickly defeated the South African by getting him to the ground before unleashing a series of vicious blows from top position. The referee called the fight, but Sokoudjou continued punching, landing a solid five or six hard punches to a downed Nortje before finally being pulled off. A brief fracas broke out afterwords, with both corners entering the ring, but was quickly dispersed.

Sokoudjou (6-4) who had lost two straight and three of his last four had described this fight as a "must win" and have let his emotions get the best of him. He'd recently been released from the UFC after going 1-2 with the promotion and lost his first fight outside of the promotion as well, that to Renato Sobral. His win over Nortje pushed him into the semifinals of DREAM's "Super Hulk" tournament where he'll draw Hong Man Choi, Ikuhisa Minowa, or Gegard Mousasi.

"There is no bad blood. Actually, he's a really cool guy. We met at the bus on the way to the hotel. We were always nice to each other. It's just one of those moments where, you know, I lost two fights in a row and I was in a state where I told myself, 'There's no way I can lose this fight.' I got him on the ground just like I thought I would do and I was pounding and I didn't want to stop. But I should have stopped. There's no bad blood. He's been nice. We've run into each other, and every time he's always been a gentlemen. I feel like a douchebag for doing it. I'm really sorry for it."

http://www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news...t-DREAM-9.html

Matt Hughes addresses Rashad Evans' loss to Lyoto Machida via his personal website, calling into question the strategy employed by Evans through famed MMA trainer Greg Jackson. Jackson has long been viewed as one of the best tacticians in the game, but his gameplan for Machida has been called into question by many who believe that Evans played to Machida's strengths by not utilizing wrestling skills to press Machida and get him on his back.

"I went back and watched the Rashad fight again, and I think it comes down to bad coaching. In the prefight press conference, I heard Rashad say that he didn't bring anybody in who would resemble Machida's style. When I heard that, I knew that there might be some problems. That is probably a big reason why Rashad didn't do very well in the striking area. I also think Rashad should have been coached on using his wrestling talent. He didn't shoot one takedown that I can remember and he just made it a sparring match. If I was to coach Rashad against Machida, I would have told him to make it a fight, use his wrestling and groundwork to really dictate the match. Not just go out and spar with him. I think Rashad could have done a lot better in that fight. I'm not saying he should have won, but he's a lot better than he showed on Saturday."

http://www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news...vans-loss.html
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This Sunday...............the rematch!

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WEC Featherweight Title
* Champ Mike Brown vs. Urijah Faber (for WEC featherweight title)

* Jose Aldo vs. Cub Swanson
* Donald Cerrone vs. James Krause
* Josh Grispi vs. Jens Pulver
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