kimbo fight i have never seen...

[Cleaner]

Inya, I was mistaken. I think that Kimbo fight with Mercer did have mma rules. I confused that with the Tommy Morrison fight that was not mma but had modified boxing rules that the promoter tried to pass as mma. And yes, I did see that "fight" between Mercer and Kimbo.

Kimbo will not be given respect until he is able to face and beat somebody with a decent ground game. There is no bout about that. Hell, Chuck was not given respect by a lot of people until he was able to beat someone with a good standup game. It seemed that the UFC kept putting him against people who were just gonna try and take him down.

I think within the next year we will see Kimbo fight those quality fighters with all around skills.

WHAT INYA??? Tank has no cardio?!?!? Tank is a cardio machine!!! He lasted a whole 7 minutes before he was tapped out by Yoshida. LOL

I hope Cung Le destroys Frank. I hate Frank so much. I think he is so full of himself its rediculious. He's the mma version of Rick Flair. Talk about someone who handpicks their opponents. I don't think Frank can beat a top 10 middle weight. I think Lawler kicks his ass. I think Marquardt embarasses him. He doesn't even deserve to be in the same ring as da Spider.

I've been training for a little over 10 years myself. I've got a black belt in Karate and worked out in a bit of bjj, but never achieved an official rank. I've done some training with one of Charuto Verissimo's students in California also. I've been planning to join this Relson Gracie school here but haven't had the time. Do you work out up in Cleveland?

[InyaAzz]

LOL on the Tank cardio comment.

I agree with Chuck...took him a while to get respect. Chuck just had a inhuman sprawl game..you could TRY and take him down, but good luck with that. And you'll eat some punches on the way in. I like Chuck..but I like Rampage even more, and I'm glad he got his mojo back. Rampage vs Griffin in July.

I have a friend who went out to CA for a week and trained with Frank Shamrock. Frank may be an ass, but he has a lot of MA knowledge. I think I like Frank better than Ken though. Hell, they both have issues. Frank vs. Ken at the beginning of next year.

I started out with TaeKwonDo early on..it was my first MA. After about 3 years I got fed up with the lack of applicable skills. It was great for getting in shape and developing my kicks...but sucked balls for street applicability. From there I did some shootfighting and some muay-thai/juijitsu training. I did a brief stint with Strongstyle/Tracy's Karate..went to do some MMA with a former instructor of mine...and I'm currently training with Rising Dragon in Lakewood (Cleveland).

[fusion]

When Kimbo fought Ray Mercer, I was against it. (That was not an MMA fight btw) But I think Tank was a step in the right direction. Yeah, Tank is a brawler and Kimbo has no fear of a take-down in that fight but Tank has knocked people out in the past and he can do it still. It didn't surprise me that Kimbo won, but it did impress me with HOW he won. Yeah he knocked him out but he took his time. He worked the distance and he was patient. To me that show someone who is getting better.

You're confusing me a bit though. At one point you say Kimbo needs to not have an opponent hand picked for his style but then you criticize the organization for pitting Lenser versus Mir.

But I think you and I agree that Kimbo should face a tougher opponent each time he fights and wins. You're right, this isn't boxing where someone needs to win 40 fights (over cans) before getting a title shot. I don't think Kimbo OR Lesner should be fighting high level opponents yet.

(this is directed to Fusion) I think you're operating under a misconception regarding fighters being brought up in the ranks. Most fighters fight on small shows and fight "nobodys" when they fights start out. They are not fighting for one of the major five organizations. Most pro fighters start out with a hometown show like what's held here in columbus at LifeStyle Pavillion. So, I have to disagree with you when you say other fighters immediately get thrown into the fray immediately. Rashad Evans' first two fights took place at Dangerzone Cage Fighting against Danny Anderson and Dennis Reed. Jeremy Horn first fought in Quad City Ultimate 2 and Atlanta Fights. Brad Imes' first fight was against a guy who was 2-0 at the time and is currently 6 and 6. Brad Imes was hardly thrown to the wolves. Brad Imes' second fight was against a guy who was 0-1 at the time and since losing to Brad, has not fought again.

I understand what all of you are saying. That is, since Kimbo is getting all this press, put him in the ring with a REAL MMA fighter and see how he does. Well, first off, Kimbo can't help the press that he is getting. He can't help that he's a mean looking mother fucker with a nasty beard. Additionally, most other fighters who are 2-0 don't get thrown to the wolves either.

With the exception of Lesner. Who immediately got thrown to the wolves and got submitted. No it looks like the UFC has put Lesner against an opponent that will offer no serious threat to him in Mark Coleman. So, even though the UFC put him against a crafty Frank Mir it looks like they too have stepped down the competition to meet the quality of a fighter that is 2-0. (Keep in mind too that if Mir would have lost, which he was VERY close to losing btw, people would've been saying that he too was just as washed up as Tank Abbott.)

Finally, I think this is a good debate we are having and I don't want to get anyone pissed off. After all, we at least have 2 things in common, Bikes and MMA. Maybe we can hook up to watch GSP kick the shit out of that midget man Serra in April.

I think you misread what I wrote. I said, "There are a ton of MMA fighters (pro and am) grinding away in smaller venues all over the US who would love to have a shot at contract with EliteXC, HDNet, WEC, IFL, UFC..."

I know well how fighters come up. I was second (cornered) just this weekend for a fighter at the OXF show here in Dayton. These fighters can spend a good number of fights traveling from local venue to local venue.

I don't think anyone is saying throw Kimbo at a top ranked fighter, we're saying don't throw him up against people that have no chance of beating him. Mercer isn't an MMA fighter, he's a boxer. Tank is a street brawler that never really had a chance of beating anyone decent, just look at his record. If they are going to bill Kimbo the way they do he needs to prove it against real fighters and not cans. I'm talking his camp and EliteXC, not the press. Just go to the EliteXC home page and look at the that little row of fighters and if you know anything about MMA or fighting in general you know he doesn't deserve to be in that company.

There's no way Mir was close to being finished. He didn't even looked dazed when getting hit. Lesner is big but that doesn't mean he hits hard. Even striking from a "dominant" position Lesner's striking was crappy. I don't think Mir even had hardly a mark on him after that fight.

Yeah it's fun talking MMA and bikes in one forum. I don't think anyone is gonna get all pissy at anyone.

I like GSP, but Serra is way too entertaining for me not to want to see win.

[kawi kid]

^^ u u said it best if they are gonna advertise him as a world class fighter fight beat a few.

[rockybalboa]

Damn you guys are long winded today.Fusion go back and watch Mir post fight interview,He knows how bad it was getting for him.

Anytime you guys want to get together to watch a fight let me know!

[InyaAzz]

There is a MMA event the end of this month in Columbus..I thought I was coming down for that but none of us got on the card. There is a grappling competition in Pickerington sometime soon...might shoot down there for that.

It sucks that I'm all the way up here....we'll have to catch a UFC or Dream (ex-Pride) one Saturday and make a weekend out of it when it gets warm (read : lots of bike riding mixed in with some gratuitous beat downs).

Fusion:right on. You hit the nail on the head.

[fusion]

Damn you guys are long winded today.Fusion go back and watch Mir post fight interview,He knows how bad it was getting for him.

Anytime you guys want to get together to watch a fight let me know!

Hahahaha yeah maybe a little. It's been one of those days.

I watched it again and then went back and watched the fight a couple of times. Mir doesn't indicate being in trouble at all in the interview. Even after going to the ground the second time Mir was moving real well and most of the shots Lesner was dropping were at least getting partially blocked. The ones that did get through didn't seem to saze him at all.

If I'm not shooting it maybe we can all make the next Ohio UFC.

[Cleaner]

Hahahaha yeah maybe a little. It's been one of those days.

I watched it again and then went back and watched the fight a couple of times. Mir doesn't indicate being in trouble at all in the interview. Even after going to the ground the second time Mir was moving real well and most of the shots Lesner was dropping were at least getting partially blocked. The ones that did get through didn't seem to saze him at all.

If I'm not shooting it maybe we can all make the next Ohio UFC.

I would be game for that. Either watching a UFC or even going to a smaller show even in Columbus.

I've been thinking about becoming an mma agent but that is time consuming and I am not sure the sport is ready for it yet. I've been to a few shows including both of the UFCs in Columbus, but I need to go to more smaller shows as well.

[InyaAzz]

I would be game for that. Either watching a UFC or even going to a smaller show even in Columbus.

I've been thinking about becoming an mma agent but that is time consuming and I am not sure the sport is ready for it yet. I've been to a few shows including both of the UFCs in Columbus, but I need to go to more smaller shows as well.

Definately check out the smaller shows. Good stuff there..much closer to the action as well. I think the NAAFS may be the bigger of the organizations around here. Their shows are usually pretty good, plus their shows are on Sports Time Ohio every sunday night.

There are a few agents around NE Ohio...I think most fighters go it alone or let their trainer (or whoever is running the school) handle their fight plans. I think the sport is ready..but with fighters making only a couple grand per fight, they may be more inclined to keep as much $$ as possible to themselves. The determining factor will be those top fighters who want to take the next leap out of this area and unto bigger national promotions.

Two guys I train with are fighting UFC vets in Ring of Fire out in Denver in June. The fight SHOULD be on HDNet. If they do well, then that's definately a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Someone with contacts (manager) definitely comes into play at that level.

Don't give up on it...work your network, or start establishing one. You DEFINITELY need to go to the local shows though. Ask questions..generally the peeps are all approachable. Talk to the bigger gym/schools/dojo's that are training fighters.

[fusion]

Definately check out the smaller shows. Good stuff there..much closer to the action as well. I think the NAAFS may be the bigger of the organizations around here. Their shows are usually pretty good, plus their shows are on Sports Time Ohio every sunday night.

There are a few agents around NE Ohio...I think most fighters go it alone or let their trainer (or whoever is running the school) handle their fight plans. I think the sport is ready..but with fighters making only a couple grand per fight, they may be more inclined to keep as much $$ as possible to themselves. The determining factor will be those top fighters who want to take the next leap out of this area and unto bigger national promotions.

Two guys I train with are fighting UFC vets in Ring of Fire out in Denver in June. The fight SHOULD be on HDNet. If they do well, then that's definately a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Someone with contacts (manager) definitely comes into play at that level.

Don't give up on it...work your network, or start establishing one. You DEFINITELY need to go to the local shows though. Ask questions..generally the peeps are all approachable. Talk to the bigger gym/schools/dojo's that are training fighters.

Definitely find your in with local camps and local shows and go from there. Down here we already have a ton of pros and whatnot so everyone either promotes themselves, has their trainer promote them or their trainer's manager promotes then.

[Cleaner]

Don't forget to check out the WEC tonight on the Versus network.

[2insanezx10r]

Hey cleaner who won the main event last night. I had to work. I watched the WEC on Tuesday night and could'nt believe that 2 titles were lost. The big fight though is April 19th. My favorite GSP is going to kick Serra's ass. No excuses.

[Cleaner]

Hey cleaner who won the main event last night. I had to work. I watched the WEC on Tuesday night and could'nt believe that 2 titles were lost. The big fight though is April 19th. My favorite GSP is going to kick Serra's ass. No excuses.

I have not watched all of the fights. I TiVo'ed it.

FYI, I get all my mma info from: www.sherdog.com / www.fiveouncesofpain.com / www.mmaweekly.com

Sherdog has internet radio shows that are really awesome. They take listener phone calls too which is pretty cool.

[InyaAzz]

Sherdog has been a favorite of mine for years now.

I THINK my DVR caught it. I was too tired to watch TV yesterday.

[kawi kid]

april 5th i think there is a local cage fight going on near coshocton. its actually in ridgewood hs. if anyone is interested in going i might be game!

[2insanezx10r]

I'd be definatly interested in going. Are you going to the dyno day on the 5th? If you are maybe we can hook up there and talk about it. If not just PM me later in the week. I'm not sure were ridgewood H.S. is. Thanks.

[kawi kid]

i doubt i can make the dyno day. more than likely working but when it gets closer ill pm ya

[twincharge7]

for some reasons, I like this one better:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8111849117750226257