UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida

Date: Saturday, July 5th
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass): 18:00 LP.net / 4pm PST / 7pm EST
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1): 19:00 LP.net / 5:00pm PST / 8:00pm EST
Main Card (PPV): 21:00 LP.net / 7pm PST / 10pm PST
Live Streams: http://www.vipbox.tv (All MMA events are listed under the UFC button. Press the UFC button and you'll see the event in the list.)





Main Card (PPV)

Chris Weidman (11-0) vs. Lyoto Machida (21-4) (Middleweight Championship)
Ronda Rousey (9-0) vs. Alexis Davis (16-5) (Women's Bantamweight Championship)
Stefan Struve (25-6) vs. Matt Mitrione (7-3) (Heavyweight)
Uriah Hall (8-4) vs. Thiago Santos (9-2) (Middleweight)
Marcus Brimage (6-2) vs. Russell Doane (13-3) (Bantamweight)

Preliminary card (Fox Sports 1)

Urijah Faber (30-7) vs. Alex Caceres (10-5) (Bantamweight)
Kenny Robertson (13-3) vs. Ildemar Alcantara (20-6) (Welterweight)
Chris Camozzi (19-7) vs. Bruno Santos (13-1) (Middleweight)
George Roop (15-10-1) vs. Rob Font (10-1) (Bantamweight)

Preliminary card (UFC Fight Pass)

Luke Zachrich (13-3) vs. Guilherme Vasconcelos (3-1) (Middleweight)
Kevin Casey (8-3) vs. Bubba Bush (8-2) (Middleweight)

Other

- The will be headlined by a Middleweight Championship bout between the current champion Chris Weidman and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida. The bout was originally scheduled to headline UFC 173 on May 24, 2014. However, the bout was delayed after Weidman sustained a knee injury which required a minor surgery. (Weidman is known for having knee problems. He's the MMA version of Sergio Gabriel Martinez.)
- A light heavyweight bout between the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva was originally scheduled for UFC 173. However, the fight was moved twice - first being on May 31, 2014 at The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 Finale, and now was expected to be contested on this card. Silva was ultimately pulled from the fight entirely after he failed to submit an application to fight in the state of Nevada, as well as his refusal to undergo a random drug test and was replaced by Vitor Belfort. The bout between Sonnen and Belfort was to be contested at middleweight. However, Sonnen subsequently failed his random drug test and was removed from the bout and ultimately retired from the sport. The following day it was announced by MMA writer Kevin Iole that Belfort had also been removed from the card due to the inability of the UFC finding him a new opponent.
- Subsequently, the bout between Dan Henderson and Daniel Cormier, briefly linked to this event was moved up to UFC 173, to bolster that event's card.
- Santiago Ponzinibbio was expected to face Ildemar Alcântara but was forced out of the bout with a knee injury. He was replaced by Kenny Robertson.

First thoughts:

• Machida > Weidman
• Rousey > Davis
• Struve > Mitrione
• Hall > Santos
• Doane > Brimage
• Faber > Caceres
• Robertson > Alcantara
• Camozzi > Santos
• Font > Roop
• Zachrich vs. Vasconcelos (dunno)
• Casey > Bush

Super pumped about this fight.....................don't know what to think other than the odds are wrong imo, it should be alot closer, but rooting for weidman

machida needs weidman to gas imo. weidman is just so so good, i still think people dont realize just how good he is. the man stood with anderson silva for ~7 minutes between 2 fights and basically didnt get hit by a single punch

I wish they both lose to belfort. They took
away both silva and shogun. But ill root for
machida since hes longer a
nit

On June 30 2014 00:08 whamm! wrote: I wish they both lose to belfort. They took away both silva and shogun. But ill root for machida since hes longer a nit

Belfort probalby wont fight for a long time, plus he will post TRT Belfort... he will suck

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On June 29 2014 23:58 Daut wrote: machida needs weidman to gas imo. weidman is just so so good, i still think people dont realize just how good he is. the man stood with anderson silva for ~7 minutes between 2 fights and basically didnt get hit by a single punch

This, but then again Machida has a complete new fighting style compared to Silva. I still do root for Machida though, feels like Mid-weight is his division, I thought he s somewhat better skill wise @ LHW than anyone else, except Jones is one massive guy that knows how to abuse every lil bit of advantage he has, so he ll never lose to someone like Machida no matter how good they are.

Don't see who will even have a slight chance vs Rousey any time soon

Oh baby can't wait even though the card would be so much better with Sonnen v Wand and some better prelims.

But my first thoughts:

Weidman > Machida - This fight seems very polarizing and people on both sides seem pretty convinced, me not excluded, I think Weidman is gonna be way too much for a lot of reasons.

Rousey > Davis - If I can get Davis at +600 or better on fight day I'm gonna bet on her. She matches up much better than people think.

Struve > Mitrione - I'll bet on this if the line stays where it is - Struve is definetly better

Hall > Santos - Kinda wanna bet Hall here but thats always risky emotion wise cuz when he loses, its so frusterating but there is NO reason he should lose

Doane Brimage no clue

Faber > Caceras - The line on this I saw today was NUTS! If I can get Caceras at like +1150 which is what it was, I would throw a fat bet down trynna get rich. Faber could easily get old over night and underdogs this large are usually +ev (its statistically proven in MMA over a 10 year period or so I heard on a podcast

Dont give a fuck about the rest prelims are god awful which is a fucking joke considering if they merged this with the TUF card the next da they could make the most stacked card since 100

On June 30 2014 03:36 soberstone wrote: Rousey > Davis - If I can get Davis at +600 or better on fight day I'm gonna bet on her. She matches up much better than people think.

Which bookie do you use? Davis is +1000 on 5dimes, +1150 on SportBet, +800 on Bovada.

I use Bookmaker, and we don't have any lines up yet, except for Weidman/Machida.

It sux that Faber vs Caceres is on the prelims and Brimage vs Doane is on the main card.

My bets:

- Machida (+170) (I really think this is a very good bet, I saw all Weidman fights and he didnt look great at all in most of his fights and Machida is one of the best p4p IMO)
- Ronda Rousey + Faber + Struve + Hall (+102) (My only worry here is Uriah, he is very talented but sometimes fights very stupid).

I really Hate the UFC now is only worried about Quantity and less about quality because of the expansion shit. If UFC only had events every two weeks, they would be great events.

Weidman shall dominate again. Big believer

On June 30 2014 03:36 soberstone wrote: Hall > Santos - Kinda wanna bet Hall here but thats always risky emotion wise cuz when he loses, its so frusterating but there is NO reason he should lose

Personal opinion - don't ever bet Hall's match. Guy is so emotionally fragile you can never predict his actions, he can lose a match he should usually dominate hard and vice versa. Good athlete, many psychological issues

Makes a lot of sense to put Faber on the prelims, that way they re boosting the overall views on the card, instead of just boosting the main card, they still earn $ @ prelims ..

Machida is still my fav fighter. But his counter right cross is gonna get exposed by someone as good as chris. he has to win 3-4-5 to pull this out.

Hey thanks for making these threads, only way to keep me interested

what is a good site to watch old matches of Weidman? any new site take over for fights4all

On June 30 2014 09:02 alejandicto wrote: It sux that Faber vs Caceres is on the prelims and Brimage vs Doane is on the main card. My bets: - Machida (+170) (I really think this is a very good bet, I saw all Weidman fights and he didnt look great at all in most of his fights and Machida is one of the best p4p IMO) - Ronda Rousey + Faber + Struve + Hall (+102) (My only worry here is Uriah, he is very talented but sometimes fights very stupid). I really Hate the UFC now is only worried about Quantity and less about quality because of the expansion shit. If UFC only had events every two weeks, they would be great events.

emmm sir.............what are u talking about.......weidman is so fuckin good

On June 30 2014 18:59 Highcard wrote: what is a good site to watch old matches of Weidman? any new site take over for fights4all

Nah, I haven't found any new sites like it. Although, I haven't really been looking lately, since I've been busy. I'm free for the next two months, so I'll check around for some sites. You could always get fights off of torrents, but I'd rather not do that myself.

Machida >>> Weidman

Machida gonna dominate this division after this victory

On June 30 2014 07:43 PuertoRican wrote: Show nested quote + On June 30 2014 03:36 soberstone wrote: Rousey > Davis - If I can get Davis at +600 or better on fight day I'm gonna bet on her. She matches up much better than people think. Which bookie do you use? Davis is +1000 on 5dimes, +1150 on SportBet, +800 on Bovada. I use Bookmaker, and we don't have any lines up yet, except for Weidman/Machida.

Yah it's nuts that's not what it opened at, I use sportsbook.au which is shit and I'll be moving soon there's nothing available yet. I HIGHLY recommend putting a small bet on Davis if anyone can get her at +1000. Rhonda looks like SHIT when she get's hit and I think it's very likely Alexis survives a round or two - she's not gonna go down to a baby liver knee like McMann did, and she is a high-level BJJ fighter (as far as women go). From there, it's anyone's game.

Don't get me wrong Rhonda is the favorite and probably will win but the line is off IMO.

As far as Machida v Weidman goes, do you guys really think Machida is gonna confuse Weidman for prolonged periods of time and slow him down and make him completely hesitant? I don't. And that's when Lyoto knocks people out.

I think Weidman has this and I think he finishes him.

I think machida is EV+ at +180

lol I bet BJ at +425. I BELIEVE.

Struve is fine value @ -200... he was at like -180 or something, but theres only 1 way he loses (by being on bottom) and I really don't Mittrione can hold him down w/out getting subbed or swept for any prolonged period of time, let alone do any damage. On the feet unless he got hit with the best punch of Mitt's life he should easily be able to box him up, even if he is slow and doesn't use his reach well.

On June 30 2014 19:11 Zadan wrote: emmm sir.............what are u talking about.......weidman is so fuckin good

Yes he is good but not that great IMO, he looked very bad against Maia. I am just not sold on him yet.

On June 30 2014 18:59 Highcard wrote: what is a good site to watch old matches of Weidman? any new site take over for fights4all

http://fightnext.com/search_result.php?query=weidman&search=Search

(check version II, some of the videos are not working tho)

On July 01 2014 08:51 alejandicto wrote: Show nested quote + On June 30 2014 18:59 Highcard wrote: what is a good site to watch old matches of Weidman? any new site take over for fights4all http://fightnext.com/search_result.php?query=weidman&search=Search (check version II, some of the videos are not working tho)

I just tried that website, and I don't like it. To view the videos, you must allow all sorts of scripts to run.

I use a program called NoScript, and you have to manually allow websites to run. I allowed all of the various blocked items to run, and it still wouldn't allow me to view the website (I use Firefox). I assume that this website would work right away from Internet Explorer.

I'm currently doing a scan on my computer to remove any cookies and/or possible spyware from that website.

Do you guys remember lyoto machida vs rashad evans? rashad evans is a phenomenal athlete and he got completely dominated. After that fight, I'd never bet against lyoto machida. It was the first time rashad evans got knocked out in his fight career. He was undefeated before that fight. Machida has schooled undefeated opponents before.

On June 29 2014 23:58 Daut wrote: machida needs weidman to gas imo. weidman is just so so good, i still think people dont realize just how good he is. the man stood with anderson silva for ~7 minutes between 2 fights and basically didnt get hit by a single punch

The thing is Machida's opponent's basically never gas. Even the ones known for gassing. The pace Machida fights at makes it easy for even people with bad gas tanks to do well.

Shogun - Went 5 rounds easy with Machida
Hendo - Went 3 rounds easy and probably even won the 3rd round making it his best round.
Mousasi - Usually fades by the 3rd, but went 5 rounds with Machida pretty handily without looking tired.

Only way I really see Weidman gassing is if he spams takedowns and doesn't get most of them.

Agreed with people not realizing how good Weidman is. Dude is crazy talented. Made it to ADCC and gave Galvao a hell of match after like a year of training. Beat Anderson twice 10 & 11 fights into his career. Weidmans still at that stage where he's going to improve leaps and bounds every training camp.

On July 01 2014 08:51 alejandicto wrote: Show nested quote + On June 30 2014 19:11 Zadan wrote: emmm sir.............what are u talking about.......weidman is so fuckin good Yes he is good but not that great IMO, he looked very bad against Maia. I am just not sold on him yet.

he took that fight on 10 days notice. And the next day his uncle dies. AND STILL WINS.

he said he basically didn't really train and was cutting weight the entire 10 days

if Weidman wins he solidifies as the best middle weight, doubters can finally be silenced, but if he loses ................talks of beating Silva were flukes/lucky are gonna come up again.

I used to love Lyoto, but his style is just too timid and boring to watch, gotta root for someone like Chris who comes forward and very aggressive standing and on the ground

That said, the smart bet is probably Machida.......................fuck hahaha

Weidman has a long way to go before he proves as the best mid weight. Sure he beat Silva twice, I'd still classify Silva as the best mid-weight to ever exist in the UFC, guy s 39years old - do you know how much difference this makes and just lost for the first time in 8 years. Thats how fighters go, no matter how good you're there ll still be a guy that beats you, there re just so many factors and variables. Anyway Machida s definitely a good step forward for Weidman's career however if he wins id like to see him vs Belfort and Rockhold.

I also wonder if someone like Texeira would consider going down to MW as well, since he wont get another title shot any time soon if ever @ LHW

Texeira is a huge LHW. No way he makes MW.

Rockhold would be a great
match for
weidman

On July 01 2014 19:19 Zadan wrote: if Weidman wins he solidifies as the best middle weight, doubters can finally be silenced, but if he loses ................talks of beating Silva were flukes/lucky are gonna come up again.

Well I think those talks would be well based, Weidman beat Silva in somewhat of a weird spot the 1st time and the 2nd he rocked him and later silva got injured that is not a defeat, so while he seems impressive his position as the best MW fighter is not very solid, so Machida will be his real test.

If Weidman beats Machida by decision, it won't mean much to me.

BloodyElbow $500 Kountermove free roll: http://www.kountermove.com/join/28623...on-ufc-175-weidman-vs-machida-T-free/

http://fightland.vice.com/blog/weidman-versus-machida-the-illusion-of-speed

Jack Slack article. Great as always.

Edmond Tarverdyan reminds me of Jorah Mormont

Kinda depends what kinda decision we are talking about here though right? I mean a 50-45 type domination would be impressive no? If it's a Phil Davis type, than I'm with you, but I think Weidman ain't no bitch so I don't see that being an issue.He's gonna go for it, I'm convinced about that.

Weidman is down to -141 on some random bookie called Sports Interaction.
http://www.bestfightodds.com

On July 02 2014 20:23 soberstone wrote: Kinda depends what kinda decision we are talking about here though right? I mean a 50-45 type domination would be impressive no? If it's a Phil Davis type, than I'm with you, but I think Weidman ain't no bitch so I don't see that being an issue.He's gonna go for it, I'm convinced about that.

It has nothing to do with being a bitch or not, actually the more Weidman pursues Machida the worst he will do, the reason why he is a favorite here its because he showed a lot of patience against Silva, he never overextended

On July 02 2014 12:42 Stim_Abuser wrote: http://fightland.vice.com/blog/weidman-versus-machida-the-illusion-of-speed Jack Slack article. Great as always.

Very good read!

tho I'm curious about this technique;


What exactly did Machida do to make his opponent fall over like that? The author mentions that it's a sweep, tho it looks like Machida's stepping in and pushing him over? can't really see what's happening, because the gif is moving to fast.

jesus weidman still bigger than machida, a former LHW?
i wouldnt be surprised if weidman moves up to LHW to fight jones if he beats rockhold and belfort.

Rampage right foot was almost completely behind him trying to follow Machida circling so after machida lunges with his left straight he steps in all the way with his left leg and was going to push Rampage with both arms but Rampage was already falling down at that point since he couldnt bring his right leg under him before Machida put his left there.

Jones prob gonna lose vs Gustafsson anyways
Besides Machida has said multiple times he is a natural MW, he only fought in LHW, because he didn't want to fight Silva as they're close friends

I don't think he and silva are close friends at all. it seems to me they just have the same manager.
i dont remember seeing any news or footage of them hanging out together, or even remember silva helping machida with any upcoming fight. maybe i'm wrong but ye i dont think they are close friends. also machida always said that he would have no problem fighting silva or anyone else because he's used to fighting against his brother in tournaments

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On July 03 2014 07:27 Raidern wrote: I don't think he and silva are close friends at all. it seems to me they just have the same manager. i dont remember seeing any news or footage of them hanging out together, or even remember silva helping machida with any upcoming fight. maybe i'm wrong but ye i dont think they are close friends. also machida always said that he would have no problem fighting silva or anyone else because he's used to fighting against his brother in tournaments

They trained together a couple times but thats about it. It's not like they were really close training partners. The friendship thing came from Silva's tendency to say every fighter that was good near his weight class was his BFF. Silva basically didn't want any Brazillians in his weight class in the UFC. He threw a fit when Wandy dropped down to 185 IIRC. Got butt hurt when Vitor said he'd fight Silva in an interview back in the day. Said Filho was his best buddy when Filho was undefeated submission machine. Said Shogun was his friend despite Shogun willing to fight etc.

So that was mostly Silva saying he wouldn't fight Lyoto, because Silva didn't want to fight any brazilians. Especially any good brazilians.

Hm then my info s way off I guess

On July 03 2014 00:35 k4ir0s wrote: Show nested quote + On July 02 2014 12:42 Stim_Abuser wrote: http://fightland.vice.com/blog/weidman-versus-machida-the-illusion-of-speed Jack Slack article. Great as always. Very good read! tho I'm curious about this technique; What exactly did Machida do to make his opponent fall over like that? The author mentions that it's a sweep, tho it looks like Machida's stepping in and pushing him over? can't really see what's happening, because the gif is moving to fast.

Pretty sure he just rocked him with a perfectly timed left cross that was so clean it woulda ko'd most. Page just got back up and blocked a kick like a boss.

On July 03 2014 21:47 soberstone wrote: Show nested quote + On July 03 2014 00:35 k4ir0s wrote:   On July 02 2014 12:42 Stim_Abuser wrote: http://fightland.vice.com/blog/weidman-versus-machida-the-illusion-of-speed Jack Slack article. Great as always. Very good read! tho I'm curious about this technique; What exactly did Machida do to make his opponent fall over like that? The author mentions that it's a sweep, tho it looks like Machida's stepping in and pushing him over? can't really see what's happening, because the gif is moving to fast. Pretty sure he just rocked him with a perfectly timed left cross that was so clean it woulda ko'd most. Page just got back up and blocked a kick like a boss.

pretty sure Rampage isnt rocked at all when he rolls and stand ups in perfect balance, blocks a kick and is aware of the round ending, but the punch probably contributed at Rampage not correcting his stance faster

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$144 on Struve at -144 pretty good odds I think.

Tiny bet on Machida $15 at +166. I used to have a larger bet on Machida at +200 when the fight was scheduled the first time but they canceled that sadly.

Fight Pass prelims: http://www.coolsport.tv/stream1-live-sports-streaming.html

Struve is -135 and Machida +188 those seem worth betting.

Thank you for the free money! King Kevin Casey is back, yall!

I love Struve I wish my bookie had him at those odds I'm still betting him tho. I'm only worried about him getting cracked early but other than that he's got this. Kevin Casey is middleweight Check Kongo - not in the fighting style way, just in the racist 'man that guy looks athletic' way.

LUKE BABY

Time to see if Font is any good. Since Roop is crappy and hittable, I took Font +170.

Also, the rest of the card is good to go for live betting, so that's nice. Hopefully they add this feature in the near future for Fight Pass fights.

Boom! Font folded the stork up line a lawn chair.

The bookies didn't want to believe Camozzi was losing at any point of the fight.

Bruno Santos +227 1u
Bruno Santos +159 1u
Bruno Santos +102 1u
Bruno Santos +3.5 +140 1u
Bruno Santos +3.5 +124 1u

Faber looked a little slow out there, but he got the job done. Props to Caceres for stopping so many take downs, which made Faber slow down toward the end of round 2.

Faber never loses a fight that isnt for the championship.

anyone have a good link for this fight please?

On July 05 2014 21:11 Gsr_01_integ wrote: anyone have a good link for this fight please?

This is the one I'm using: http://www.vipboxam.co/boxing/235001/...an-vs-machida-live-stream-online.html

LOL BRIMAGE WEARING THE SCOUTER FROM DRAGON BALLZ

OMGGG IM A HUGE FAN NOW LOL

i cant believe i just saw that hahahah what a boss

pics or it didnt happen

Word is, the Struve/Mitrione fight is cancelled. Struve feinted in the locker room.

wow while looking for a pic or gif on sherdog I just read that Struve fainted in the locker room which means the fight will no longer happen. Damn.

they have to give that to brimage

HAHAHAHA 30-27 doane ufc is so stupid

On July 05 2014 21:34 RaiNKhAN wrote: they have to give that to brimage

"Have to."

I had Doane round 1 easy, and round 2 was close but Doane did enough to win it. Shouldn't have been 30-27 though.

Sucks for Struve, and it also sucks for anyone who actually paid for UFC 175, as they paid for a 4-fight card. I wonder if the UFC will give a refund.

SHERDOG SCORES
Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Brimage (29-28 Brimage)
TJ De Santis scores the round 10-9 Brimage (29-28 Brimage)
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Brimage (29-28 Brimage)



how long until this bullshit ends lol ufc

so fucking laggy

Hall is doing little flurries at the end of each round to try and steal it. Since Hall is more flashy, he'll win for sure.

Over 2.5 cashed, so that's nice.

lol these judges. wow.

LMAO... GG Alexis Davis.

It's like Ronda is racing children.

i guess ronda vs some can will be the replacement main event for ufc 176

edit: dana actually seemed kinda pissed joe asked her about fighting again

That was absolutely unbelievable. Holy fuck.

lol poor Davis...Why would Dana even give her a title shot? there was nothing impressive about her last fight with carmouche. I was expecting 1st round finish easy, but 16sec..

Round 1: Weidman (Weidman threw a bunch of different kicks, while Machida did his usual feel out process.)
Round 2: Weidman (Weidman's pressure is constantly backing Machida up against the cage, which means he has to keep circling out and can't get off his kicks and other stuff.)
Round 3: Weidman (Weidman landed a bunch of shots and hurt Machida.)
Round 4: Machida (Machida landed multiple strikes and Weidman is slowing down and backing up.)
Round 5: Weidman (Close round until Weidman got the take down.)

Weidman 49-46

CMON MACHIDA!~!~!#!#@!@!@!@!@

Wowwwww awesome round 4

sick fight, just hope Machida doest lose a decision

heh one more old school guy down.

meh weidman 4-1 easy

Machida lost himself the fight when he didn't do anything for 3 rounds and then was forced to go for broke in rounds 4 and 5...

Too bad it took so long for Machida to adapt to the forward pressure from Weidman.

Weidman did good but, he won by decision against a guy who didn't do much for the first 3 rounds, so as I said before, I'm still not impressed by Weidman.

----------

Thank goodness we still have a UFC card tomorrow. The main card of UFC 175 only had 4 fights and they weren't all that great imo.

Fuck! Machida's so good at exchanging hits. tho Weidman looks barely damaged for some reason

Great fight IMO. Honestly thought it would be terrible if it went five rounds, but that got real intense there for a bit.

what do you expect from weidman? he made machida 'not do anything' for 3 rounds with his constant pressure imo. he fought great in the 1st 3 roudns and made it look easy imo that's what's impressive.

but still i always have these double feelings about machida. i'm like god he's so good when he's attacking, why doesn't do it more often, but then i think that if he opens more and gets more offensive he will likely get punched more and bla bla bla...

everytime he lost a decision in his career so far I turned the tv off with the feeling that if he was more aggressive he would've won the fight

These brazilian masters practicing yoga and the wise teachings have forgotten theyre fighting. You can't beat weidman just by waiting for him to make silly mistakes like they expect with their zen like approach. You have to expand energy and beat him up actually.

I thought Weidman was impressive. Machida losing rd. 1 and 2 of 5 round fights aren't really a surprise. And round 3 he just got caught and hurt. I was impressed with Weidman's chin. That sequence he hurt Machida with in Rd 3 actually started with Machida landing a very clean elbow to the side of Weidman's face.

Also thought Weidman looked gassed even to start round 4 before the damage. Not sure the commentators even mentioned that til later but his strikes and shoot were noticeably slower even before he got hurt. But his chin held and fortunately for him, he regained his wind somewhat between rounds. It ended up being a pretty clear 4-1 against a guy I'd still think would be a favorite over everyone else in the division

People seem to have a twisted view of the fight.

The only reason Machida's attacks were so successful in the 4th and 5th rounds were because Weidman was exhausted. He looked really slow in the 4th especially.

Machida tried to be aggressive in the first 3 rounds, but Weidman countered him well, backed him up, used better ringmen ship, and threatened with takedowns. The few times Machida was aggressive he was taken down.

Machida was simply out manuevered in the first 3 rounds. It's not like the Davis or Rampage fights where basically nothing happened for the first 2 rounds. Weidman hit him a bunch and made Machida pay when he was aggressive with counter punches, kicks, and takedowns. The only reason that didn't continue in the 4th and 5th was because Weidman was completely exhausted.

I agree with u. What he did in the 1st 3 rounds was impressive.

Pretty solid title defense

OMG that was great
I have not seen someone beat up Machida like this ever
The other guys at MW have no chance

How bout his chin too? Are we not impressed that? How bout the ability to eat a bunch of flurries from Lyoto fucking Machida in the 4th and still come back and win the 5th round aggressively. The first three rounds he was pressuring Machida and winning the counter-battle, the truth is Lyoto was just as timid about getting KO'd as Weidman, if not more so. This guy is the real deal. You don't have to buy that he's gonna be an all-timer but if you don't favor at atleast 2-1 over every other middle-weight on the planet at this moment than you'd be mistaken. This guy is $, especially if I hear he actually has a good camp which it sounds like he didn't this time, I'll bet the house on him if the odds are there. Problem is he looks like he's always gonna be injury-riddled :/

He's atleast 3-1 against everyone else at MW, maybe more.

He was 2-1 against Machida who was BY FAR his toughest match up.

Maybe Vitor could be like 2-1 dog if he wasn't off the TRT and Weidman had an interview where he said he will insist on random testing throughout camp. So Vitor's T levels will go from like 1400 or whatever they were to like 170 which they apparently were.

Hendo lost like 7-8 pounds of muscle in like 2 months coming off TRT. Vitor will not be the same fighter.

Luke Rockhold is the only legit test left, but I'd like to see him get 2 more fights under his belt before fighting Weidman. Weidman will most likely fight Vitor next, assuming Vitor can get his TRT stuff handled with the athletic commission. After that, I assume Jacare will be next. Jacare will get owned though.

Said so the first time I saw Weidman fight. The kid is special, I think he had a great game plan up until the 4th round were he just wasn't that fit anymore. I think Weidman still has issues with the weight loss, against Maia he was super dried out and few days notice..
This time it seemed like he still had issues perfecting the weight game. Mike Dolce really seems to be better at that area with his athletes and as much as I like Matt Serra / Ray Longo... Weidman might need to increase his access to great mentors by bringing better guys over. Like a nutritional system and somehow improve his endurance. Just being critical because he didn't seem as invincible as in his last 3 fights.
He has all the tools to become one of the greatest, just needs to stay hungry and keep improving.

Still think Vitor is a very dangerous fight for him, but I agree with you guys that Vitor at this point off TRT and at his age will probably just be a shadow of himself.
Sometimes it makes one wonder if someday science perfects steroids to a point were it might be ok health wise to do them.
Maybe then it makes sense to allow it, because everyone can stay in certain norms and be healthy, otherwise obviously it should be banned (just would love to see a prime Vitor vs Weidman!!).

I think it was clear Weidman was very special when he qualified for ADCC, won his first match and gave Andre Galvao all he could handle after like a year of BJJ training. That's some insane talent.

Now after about 3-4 years of training striking he's out striking guys like Anderson Silva & Machida. Shit he TKO'd hall with a left hook in his 4th fight.

Agree he should get with a legit nutritionalist to make the weight easier. Though as a side note he said in the post fight presser that it was the worst camp of his life, he pushed his recovery from knee surgery to fast and was having trouble in camp and fucked up a legiment in his hand that prevented him from even hitting pads two weeks leading into the fight, and the he didn't even hit pads in his warm up. Two weeks before the fight Longo was on Ariel Helwanis MMA hour and said they had a rough start to the camp as well.

He s just too good for his division and at this improvement rate he s going, I don't see anyone stopping him soon. I still feel somewhat butthurt that he took Silva's title, but I guess it was Silva's time to go, he s a bit old for the sport now. Even if you're training as hard as a professional athlete your reaction time would still get worse and worse by the years.

Basically another division of the UFC who's title fights will no longer intrigue me.

Yea I think Chris is the fastest learner I've ever seen in the sport. The rate at which he adds new stuff to his game is pretty staggering.

dana must hate the way the UFC is going right now. less and less rivalries and more people just crushing their divisions makes rogan's hype machine really a hardsell. They want so many PPVs with little to no buildup material left. These fights can all be done within 2 years and nobody really hates anyone here(no drama) welter is the only division with a ton of more combos

Cain vs ?
Jones vs Gus/DC
Rousey vs ?(possibly Cat Z.)
Hendricks vs Woodley,Lombard,GSP,Lawler,Macdonald
Weidman vs Belfort/Rockhold
Aldo vs Pettis superfight
TJ beat Barao, but is not an as a draw as the UFC would like since this belongs in the midget borderline

Midgets

wut, Silva was more dominant than Weidman in reign and so was GSP, dominant champions attract people but they need to build their brand first it takes time.

Also Rousey has 2 dangerous opponents but Dana wont sign them Chris Cyborg and Holly Holm

mike dolce is a scam artist FWIW. guy is uneducated and just spouts nonsense.



"what do you usually have for breakfast?" "egg white sausage and a bunch of veggies" "GET RID OF THAT CRAP FOR A BUNCH OF CARBS IN A BOWL"

"GETS THE BLOOD PUMPING, GETS THE BRAIN TURNED ON"

"CAVEMEN USED TO EAT CHIA SEEDS"

its a joke. he has no clue what hes doing. hes definitely a pretty great motivator, but hes delusional and uneducated

re: weidman, hes ridiculous. people think hes gassed yet he takes lyoto's back in round 5. if machida had tried to be more aggressive early i think he gets KOed quite often. its just so hard to fight a guy who has great boxing, great power, great wrestling and is deadly on the ground. machida basically fought him as well as he possibly could have and won 1 round.

all of the champions, barao and mendes are just so ridiculously talented right now. funny that welterweight is the most interesting division now after years of dominance

On July 07 2014 13:36 Daut wrote: mike dolce is a scam artist FWIW. guy is uneducated and just spouts nonsense. its a joke. he has no clue what hes doing. hes definitely a pretty great motivator, but hes delusional and uneducated

You gotta respect his hustle though.

He went from a failed MMA fighter, to an MMA nutritionist, to UFC's official spokesman and creator of UFC Fit. Pretty sick.

As long as he always gets fighters to make weight the right way, MMA fighters (at least in the UFC) can't deny he is doing something right, because many of them would have continued to hurt their bodies and fail to make weight without his help.

Agree with Daut, something just seemed off. Didn't know his camp was bad when I posted my thoughts.
I was on the hype train of Weidman the first time I saw a interview with him. He just seems to be one of a kind in terms of inner toughness. Jones is super great, too I think he is way more naturally gifted, tho. Seems designed for fighting and I believe he had the easier way to the top due to that.
Both super impressive, love that there is so much fighting art in the game after so few years of mixing it mma style.

And I also agree that Dolce has weird knowledge of what a caveman diet is and that plastic bowls and spoons plus Walmart ingredients are inexpensive but def. not worth advocating to professional or aspiring athletes.
I firmly believe that Paleo/Primal is a great and up-to-date approach to nutrition. On the other hand I was raised and brought up with bread, pizza, pasta etc. and I still somehow developed a physic, had success in Starcraft and Poker etc.
Naturally there are circles where ppl go way overboard. Wheat seems to be harmful but maybe not as much as ppl make it out to be right now. Oatmeal hot water, berries some coconut stuff.. It's not that bad esp. if the fighter work out that much. Carbohydrates have a place in a good meal plan, oatmeal is debatable tho.

I was referring to Dolce mainly because he gets fighter "easy" to be at their weight and they perform well in their fights.
Maybe its a fine diet for these extreme workout ppl, maybe its sup-optimal. In terms of success he might have found something that is unconventional but works, I give him the benefit of the doubt.

Yea it seems that there isn't much to the Dolce diet. It's just paleo with a few small alterations. Most of Dolces success probably comes from the fact that he lives with fighters, cooks all their meals etc. So he can properly monitor their diet. Surprised you don't see more nutritionists doing this with fighters.

And although Dolce is his biggest promoter, almost everyone who works with him gives him very high praise and say they felt the best they ever have. Though most of them are probably guys with shit nutrition which caused them to have the problem in the first place.

I felt like Machida got tagged everytime in the early rounds when he attempted to counter... Wish he'd add a little bit more head movement (he has more than someone like Kikuno thankfully). I did think he used some more of head movement in the later rounds, along with Weidman slowing down (gastank + body shots, which is like the only thing Machida did land in the early rounds).

Btw, just me or was Weidman using the 'trademark' Machida stepping knee a ton this fight (while also being super super prepared to counter it everytime Machida tried it for himself)?

I dont understand why Weidmans striking is so effective, on paper it seems so limited and slow, he barely throws any jabs and mostly throws 1,2 hooks that seem weak yet have so much power, also he has ok footwork he doesnt make sloppy rushes and keeps his balance at all times, everything seem ok but not good enough to dominate good strikers, I honestly dont get it

Against Machida, Weidman was aggressive and kept backing Machida up and barely let him kick as much as he's used to. Machida always had to worry about the take down too.

Being backed up against the cage and having to worry about take downs is a nightmare for a karate style fighter who isn't known for being the most active fighter in the cage. The only way Machida was able to do anything to Weidman was in the 4th round when he opened up and was willing to exchange and get hit in the face. He doesn't usually have to take one to give one against other fighters.

On July 08 2014 11:29 Baalim wrote: I dont understand why Weidmans striking is so effective, on paper it seems so limited and slow, he barely throws any jabs and mostly throws 1,2 hooks that seem weak yet have so much power, also he has ok footwork he doesnt make sloppy rushes and keeps his balance at all times, everything seem ok but not good enough to dominate good strikers, I honestly dont get it

-moves forward, but doesnt chase
-doesnt give any major openings
-is patient but has good timing
-hits hard
-people worried about his takedowns
-very good knees/elbows/kicks and clinch striking

his ranged boxing is so so simple but it complements his entire game very very well.

You just described an OK fighter, not a guy who crushes the two best strikers in middle weight, it still puzzles me why those clumsy predictable hooks land every time and causing so much damage, maybe he has insane timing.

Maybe he performs really well against counter strikers who are used to bum rushes and people over extending their punches which is very common in MMA, I think it would be interesting seeing him against somebody with an aggressive outside striking game, somebody with a solid jab Rory Macdonald style.

Finally got to watch the fight even though I was in vegas this past weekend lol. Chris Weidman is fucking good. The way he handled the distancing in the first 3 rounds of the fight and his frequency of kicks and punches were impeccable. To those that say Machida could have won if he fought first 3 rounds like he did in the 4th and 5th is mistaken. Chris was tired and slowed down, that's all it was. Machida had better cardio. It is Chris' first fight that went past 3 rounds and if he worked harder on his cardio (not to mention he cuts a shit load of weight) he's basically unstoppable, Machida woulda lost every round instead. Godamn what a beast, I can't wait till he fights Vitor and hopefully destroys him.

On July 08 2014 19:58 Baalim wrote: You just described an OK fighter, not a guy who crushes the two best strikers in middle weight, it still puzzles me why those clumsy predictable hooks land every time and causing so much damage, maybe he has insane timing. Maybe he performs really well against counter strikers who are used to bum rushes and people over extending their punches which is very common in MMA, I think it would be interesting seeing him against somebody with an aggressive outside striking game, somebody with a solid jab Rory Macdonald style.

Problem with that is, Chris has some of the best reach in the division. His reach was longer than Andersons.

Also two very important points to add to Dauts list

Distance - With some of the longest reach in the division Weidman uses it very well. He's great at being at his range when he's ready to attack and not being in yours when you try to. He's very good at using distance in fights.

Timing - His timing his impeccable.

Neither Jon Jones was able to hit Machida in the first round like Weidman did. :S

I still thinks Belfort have chances against Weidman, cause the styles. If Weidman defends his title 3 more times I want to see him against Jones, the good thing about Chris is that he loves testing himself and dont refuse a fight like Silva and Jones. He also says he wanted to fight Jones a long time ago, I think.

even chael dropped some bombs on silvas chin. If you have strong wrestling, it changes the whole dynamics of the striking game.

I honestly can't see belfort doing anything against Weidman. The way I picture it, it just takes one take down for Weidman make him tired and kill his 'eagerness' to attack. Maybe he will even just pressure Belfort and KO him standing, who knows. The way UFC champs are, right now, it seems like they are all unbeatable and I don't expect them to lose, until they lose and look like ordinary fighters.

On July 10 2014 10:12 Raidern wrote: I honestly can't see belfort doing anything against Weidman. The way I picture it, it just takes one take down for Weidman make him tired and kill his 'eagerness' to attack. Maybe he will even just pressure Belfort and KO him standing, who knows. The way UFC champs are, right now, it seems like they are all unbeatable and I don't expect them to lose, until they lose and look like ordinary fighters.

pettis can pretty easily lose to melendez and a few other 155ers.
aldo can lose to mendes
hendricks can lose to rory
dillashaw can lose to barao
cain/jones/weidman/DJ/rousey are basically unbeatable in their current divisions though

On July 10 2014 12:15 Daut wrote: Show nested quote + On July 10 2014 10:12 Raidern wrote: I honestly can't see belfort doing anything against Weidman. The way I picture it, it just takes one take down for Weidman make him tired and kill his 'eagerness' to attack. Maybe he will even just pressure Belfort and KO him standing, who knows. The way UFC champs are, right now, it seems like they are all unbeatable and I don't expect them to lose, until they lose and look like ordinary fighters. pettis can pretty easily lose to melendez and a few other 155ers. aldo can lose to mendes hendricks can lose to rory dillashaw can lose to barao cain/jones/weidman/DJ/rousey are basically unbeatable in their current divisions though

Barao is an idiot for accepting the rematch in Sacramento, and with only 3 months to prepare for the rematch.

The UFC doesn't want Barao to win the rematch. Dillashaw is way more marketable, and since Cruz is coming back against Mizugaki later this year, Dillashaw can fight Cruz after that and then the winner of that fights Faber. It will bring some nice money to the UFC if they market it right, which I'm sure they will.

I'm a JBJ fanboy, but I don't see him beating Gustafson in the rematch and even if he does then Cormier is still has a chance.
I don't see Pettis losing any time soon. He has sick work ethics and improves so much with each new fight.

On July 10 2014 14:45 Spitfiree wrote: I'm a JBJ fanboy, but I don't see him beating Gustafson in the rematch and even if he does then Cormier is still has a chance. I don't see Pettis losing any time soon. He has sick work ethics and improves so much with each new fight.

Jones or someone in his camp said that he didn't train hard for his fight against Gustafsson, due to him not being that big of a name and basically taking Gustafsson lightly. Jones wanted to face Cormier first instead of doing the rematch with Gustafsson since he knew that if he can beat Gustafsson without training hard for it, he can beat him again with his best effort.

IMO, I think this will be one of those instances where people are so excited to see the rematch and expect Gustafsson to improve in a couple areas and beat Jon Jones, but I don't think that's the case. I'll have a nice sized bet on Jon Jones, I'm just waiting to see the line get better for Jon Jones after all of the Gustaffson fans and Jones haters bet on the Swede.