UFC 71

[GBORN]

I can't wait to see the fight tomorrow night.  If there is a Buffalo Wild Wings near you, they usually carry the fight free of cover.  GO CHUCK!

[Tyler]

I hope I can catch the fight.  I think it has the potential to be one of the greatest UFC fights ever.

[Ian]

Anyway of watching over here for free?? on the net

[GBORN]

Anyway of watching over here for free?? on the net

Perhaps a pub may carry the fight over there.  Buffalo Wild Wings is a bar/grill/restuarant here in the States.  I am friends with the manager.  Restuarants and Bars have to pay like $800 to show the fight, but he says they will make ten fold on the food and bar bill from people eating/drinking on these nights.

[GBORN]

I hope I can catch the fight.  I think it has the potential to be one of the greatest UFC fights ever.

Agree!  I hope you can watch it Tyler.

I just watched the weigh-ins:  http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=6021

[GBORN]

uhggg, wow, Chuck got caught. 

[Tyler]

Yeah, that right hand of Rampage got him good!

[David]

Chuck got rocked, unfortunately, though rampage is a funny/likeable dude.   

[Deadbob]

I was actually disappointed with the PPV as a whole... Only 1 good fight and that was the first one! Everything else was over WAY top fast. Yes Burkman V Parisyan went the distance, but Parisyan COULD HAVE ENDED IT IN THE SECOND!!! He stagered Burkman FOUR TIMES in the second and backed off each time! 2 more punches on any of those stagers and Burkman is O-U-T!!!

Parisyan wants a title shot? I say screw him, he does not have the killer instinct needed to KO an opponent, so have him fight scrubs until he PROVES something

[**sticks**]

I was actually disappointed with the PPV as a whole... Only 1 good fight and that was the first one! Everything else was over WAY top fast. Yes Burkman V Parisyan went the distance, but Parisyan COULD HAVE ENDED IT IN THE SECOND!!! He stagered Burkman FOUR TIMES in the second and backed off each time! 2 more punches on any of those stagers and Burkman is O-U-T!!!

Parisyan wants a title shot? I say screw him, he does not have the killer instinct needed to KO an opponent, so have him fight scrubs until he PROVES something

I agree that this UFC PPV was a disappointment....the matches were totally boring and they werent evenly matched IMO....

Parisyan is still young...he has a lot of potential...he has to know how to end the fight...it def. looked as if he was told to make the fight last longer...

thats the overall problem with UFC these days...way too much advertisement, the fighters act as though they are some amazing personalities (rather than fighters), the matches are built for PPV advertisment purposes rather than to actually have good fights....

Thats why pride fighters keep taking over and winning...they are built differently...

The chuck fight was just embarassing....he looked horrible...and he got caught on a classic return?! that was ridiculous... the henderson/rampage fight should be better...two pride fighters are starting to look better than any ufc fighter....so sad   

[BigJeffrey]

Karo Parisyan should PROVE something?  Dude, he's been competing succesfully against top tier competition since 2000.  His only losses are to Sean Sherk (UFC lightweight champion), Georges St. Pierre (former UFC welterweight champion) and Diego Sanchez (in a fight many people thought he won).  He also has wins over Nick Diaz (recently submitted Pride FC lightweight champion Takanori Gomi with a gogoplata), Chris Lytle, and Matt Serra (current UFC welterweight champion).  You can't be too critical of him for not knocking out Burkman.  Burkman, after all, has never been knocked out as a pro.  Let's also not forget that Parisyan's specialty is judo.  He's never been a devastating puncher.  I'll also say that he has as much claim to a title shot as anyone in the 170 pound division.   He hasn't fought a scrub in years and shouldn't have to now.

I also don't see complaining about the event as a whole.  Stoppages make for exciting fights.  Houston Alexander threw a big wrench into the UFC's plans for Keith Jardine.  There were talks of Jardine being next in line for a title shot after the winner of the upcoming Rashad Evans/Tito Ortiz match.  Terry Martin stopped a very tough opponent in Ivan Salaverry and may have a bright future now that he's dropped down from 205.  The only slight letdown was James Irvin blowing out his knee.  That could have been an interesting scrap.  Hopefully we'll get the chance to see it again once he's healthy again. 

We also got to see a change in the course of the 205 pound division.  Rampage dominated Chuck in their first fight and last night he proved that it was not a fluke.  With the influx of Pride FC fighters we now get to look forward to seeing fighters such as Dan Henderson, Mauricio Rua, and Wanderlei Silva.  UFC 71 could very well be the beginning of the most interesting couple of years the UFC has ever seen.


In response to the comment about Pride fighters taking over and winning.  Hmmm.. Did you see Mirko Filipovic get KO'd?  Did you see Nick Diaz dominate Takanori Gomi?  Did you see Jeff Monson choke out Kazuyuki Fujita? 

The inter-promotional competition is just proving that at the top level, anyone can beat anyone.  The fighters from Pride are not better than the fighters from the UFC.  The reverse is also true.

[**sticks**]

Well, the "stoppages make for exciting fights" is up for debate. It depends on how you view things. Yea stoppages can be fun but not one-two minutes into the fight. I personally want to see guys battle, not get knocked out a few minutes into the battle.

As for the pride vs. UFC....thats the biggest arguement between ppl these days and i know it gets pretty heated up when discussing it...so to avoid this, Ill just say that IN MY OPINION Pride fighters seem more prepared, more intense, more entertaining...but thats TODAY....my bias is that I do like UFC better as a whole... or at least wht it used to be...currently the fighters are not as prepared or entertaining as other fighters in other organizations...but once again this is my opinion....cant prove otherwise...

Anyways, Like i stated earlier, I was disappointed by this UFC... hopefully it will improve...if you disagree, well you have a different taste in how UFC should be than me....

[BigJeffrey]

I also grow tired of the Pride vs UFC debate and have no interest (like you) in rehashing it here.  I believe we have seen already that outstanding fighters stand out regardless of where they compete.  I also believe this will continue to be true as time goes on.

I agree that fights in Pride FC have traditionally been more entertaining than fights in the UFC.  Of course there are exceptions to this but I think it's true overall.  I believe part of the reason for this has to do with the rules in Pride vs the rules in the UFC.  Pride allows kicks, knees and stomps to the head of a downed opponent.  This makes being on the bottom a much less desireable position.  In the UFC a fighter can pull guard and be fairly safe from abuse.  Not so in Japan.  The use of the yellow card in Pride also plays a role.  If a fighter in Pride gets a yellow card during a fight he loses 10% of his purse.  If you're fighting for six figure prize money then that 10% hurts.  That'll motivate you to fight harder I'm sure.  These kinds of rules will never exist in the US because of the athletic commissions.  And I'm actually glad that fighters here can't get stomped in the head while they are on the ground. This rule difference does take away valuable weapons from fighters who grew accustomed to the Pride rules.  Guys like Shogun and Wandy aren't going to be able to soccer kick guys into next week in the UFC.  We'll see how that affects their game plans when, and if, they show up in the UFC.

 It does seem a shame, however, that the Fertita's and UFC seem intent on folding Pride once the aquisition is complete.  They truly seem to be purchasing the company solely for it's assets (fighters).