The [Official] Fight Review Thread

[jmt225]

Okay, this is a thread simply for you to review the latest MMA/Boxing fight you watched. Doesn't matter if it's recent or 100 years old... if you recently watched ANY fight, here's the place to share your thoughts on it. The only rule is please don't include fights from the same week. For example, if the last MMA show you watched was TUF Finale, then share your thoughts in the TUF Finale thread, not here, lol.

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Anyways, I'll get this started.

Anderson Silva vs. Ryo Chonan: Pride Shockwave 2004 - I watched this last night, and it was my first time seeing it in probably 3/4 years. I have to say, it is easily the most competitive, entertaining Anderson Silva fight to ever take place thus far in his career.

Now, it was in Pride, so the rounds went as follows:

1st Round: 10 minutes
2nd Round: 5 minutes
3rd Round: 5 minutes

The first couple of minutes was a feeling out process, until Chonan actually landed a couple of shots on Anderson. That lit a fire under Anderson's ass though and he exploded on Ryo, nailing him with beautiful left and rights. He would eventually drop the guy and take his back. Anderson worked to get the RNC for about a good 2 minutes, before Chonan was able to sweep and gain the upper hand. For the rest of the round Chonan would work ground and pound and just ride Silva out. Towards the end of the round the ref stood the fight back up and gave Anderson a yellow card, but nothing really happened past that.

2nd Round, Anderson is still controlling the stand-up, except this time Chonan is landing some good shots of his own. However, Anderson is still hitting the dude hard and Chonan finally went for the takedown and got it. He pounded on Silva on the ground for pretty much the rest of the round, getting Silva's back at one point, but Chonan wasn't able to capitalize on it.

3rd Round starts, Anderson is looking for the knockout. Chonan tries a couple of takedown attempts but can't land anything. So they're standing and Anderson wants that knockout bad, and then boom... out of nowhere, Ryo Chonan lands an absolutely BEAUTIFUL Flying Heel Hook that makes Anderson tap immediately. Check it out for yourself:

Spoiler

[YOUTUBE]PYN6U_85YCI[/YOUTUBE]

Easily one of the greatest submissions in MMA history.

But yeah... that fight was the best Ryo Chonan has ever looked, and perhaps the worst Anderson's ever looked, but the combo of that made this a truly great fight, that I highly recommend any MMA fan to check out.

 

[jmt225]

Wanderlei Silva vs. Kazushi Sakuraba: Pride 13

This was one of the most anticipated Middleweight fights in Pride history. At this point Sakuraba was 12-2-1, and beloved by the Japanese press and fans for his charisma, fancy entrances, and the fact that he was the first Japanese fighter to ever defeat a Gracie (4 of them at this point, including the now famous 90 minute fight against Royce).

Wanderlei Silva at this point was 14–3-1, but he was undefeated in Pride/Japan and already known as one of the most explosive, exciting, hard-hitting fighters in MMA. In fact, it could be argued that Wanderlei Silva was the most popular foreigner fighting in Japan at this point in time.

Abyways, the place was absolutely buzzing for this fight. There were great entrances/intros, and even Tito Ortiz (the UFC Middleweight Champion at the time) was there at the fight to present both fighters with flowers (a tradition in Pride).

Now, on to the fight itself...

There was a little feeling out process for about a minute, but then Wandy went after it. He pinned Sakuraba against the ropes, and when Sakuraba was able to get free, he then found himself in Wandy's clinch, receiving some brutal knee shots. Sakuraba managed to get out of it, but got hit with two beautiful punches from Wandy, which made Sakuraba react with a takedown attempt... big mistake. Wandy was able to snub it, and then just started raining down knees and scissor kicks to the head (which were allowed in Pride) while Sakuraba was still on the ground looking for a single leg. After about 30 seconds of this the ref decided to stop it. Winner by TKO... Wanderlei Silva.

I believe this fight was the very beginning of Wandy's run in Pride. In my opinion, Wanderlei Silva had the most dominant run of any champion in MMA history, and to me.... it all started with this fight. He wouldn't win the Pride Middleweight Championship until the 2nd fight with Sakuraba at Pride 17 (which I might review next), but this was the fight where everyone found out just was a beast Wanderlei Silva was.

 

[Fizzy]

Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva UFC 79

How could you not want to see this fight? Two of the most feared and dominate strikers in MMA history facing off. Everyone wanted to see this fight. We all knew it would be an all out war, and who doesn't want to see two all time greats fucking go at it. I think this was the last fight Chuck had left in him, and he should have called it quits right after this fight. The fight happened when both fighters were a little bit passed their prime, but it didn't matter. The fight itself was a fucking war.

Honestly I though from the beginning of the fight that Wanderlei would be to fast for Chuck, and we'd be in for a vicious knockout, but man i'm glad I was wrong because it made for one of the best, most exciting fights in MMA history. Chuck came out with the decision which I was glad he got, and he needed it coming off two losses. All in all it was an absolutely amazing fight, and Chucks' last good performance of his career. This is a great fight for new MMA fans to check out, because both fighters are pretty much household names, and it's just a fight you can't watch without being amazed.

 

[Fizzy]

Randy Couture vs Tim Sylvia UFC 68

Sadly I couldn't find the video. This is my favorite fight of all time, and it was just pure domination. From round one through five Randy fucked Tim up, and I loved every minute of it. I've always disliked Tim since I was a casual fan, and I hated the thought of him being champion, but every fight I saw him in he had won, and it just pissed me off. Then along comes a natural LHW who is 43 years old. I was just a casual fan at this time so of course I wrote Randy off as a easy win for Tim. Thank god I was wrong.

I thought Tim would easily outbox Randy. To my surprise what happens in the first seconds of round one? Randy lands a BOMB on Tim dropping him. The crowd is going crazy because honestly who expected this? Randy gets his back in an instant, but cannot finish though he had his back the entire round. Tim displayed good RNC defense, and Randy ended the round with Tim's back.

Round two starts and Couture is destroying Tim in the boxing game. He didn't get any powerful shots, but he used great head movement, and won nearly if not all of the exchanges. Randy got a takedown early in the round, then the fight got stood up, and Randy got another takedown right at the bell. Round three was more of the same. Randy picked Sylvia apart on the feet until Tim got a few shots in when they clinched.

Round four again Couture picked apart Sylvia on the feet, got the takedown and the mount, and just dominated Sylvia. Sylvia had absolutely no answer for Couture. Round five Couture got two takedowns and that's all he needed. He mounted Sylvia, and landed some good GNP. Total domination from Couture the entire fight.

Couture really shut any haters up, and proved he still had a lot left during this performance. He neutralized any offense Sylvia attempted, and put on a clinic. The crowd was electric the entire fight, and it was just all in all a fantastic showing by Randy. Who would have ever thought that a natural LHW Forty three year old man could dominate the much larger and younger fighter for five straight rounds? It was a fantastic showing, and I would recommend it to anybody I meet interested in MMA.