Ufc 2

[mrhnau]

Maybe if Hughes works his guys just a _littel_ harder, they will be able to fight. Really matt I think the problem is you aren't making them sweat enough in training. I mean, what else could it be???

I think he is pushing them rather hard... wonder how much of that is just wearing them thin.

something I just thought about... wasn't Mike the one who did the scarecrow event? Didn't he injure his back when doing that? I wonder how he recovered... how much time passed between that event and his fight? still, even with a bad back, you need to do a bit better...

 

[Marginal]

Keep in mind that he whole purpose of the show is to promote UFC to mostly non martial artists. There are probably more non martial artists in the world than martial artists and the producers of the show are probably more interested in getting non martial artists into watching UFC than whether he fights or fighters are good from a technical perspective. Big on hype and drama.

People watching two men in speedos circle each other, and circle, and circle.... Even the non MA folks know that the fight's completely boring. There's no real hype or drama to carry things along. Matt yelling "Train more!" is drama?

 

[Gin-Gin]

IMHO, Hughes is working his team very hard; even harder if they don't win the challenge. I don't think it's a question of physical toughness. I personally don't like his coaching style, especially when he shouted to Mike toward the end of the match, "why don't you just stand against the fence & let the clock run out?!" [other coaches might have said something like "Don't give up buddy!" or "Get back in there!" but not Matt] I realize that he was probably just trying to motivate Mike, & while some people respond well to that type of coaching, some don't. After all the hype about Mike being Matt Hughes' "assistant coach" & his best fighter, it was such a let-down. I'm not sure if Mike was injured or not - if he was, he didn't say so. However, it seemed that after his attempts to submit Rashad fell though, he just gave up. Fatigue was probably a lot of it, but I think it was more than that, & Matt's tone didn't help; it probably made the guy feel even worse.

It reminded me of the hype & let-down when Jorge fought. Here's this guy who trains with & is a friend of Rich Franklin, yet when the time came he just couldn't get it together - yes, he did have a knee injury, but he wasn't even doing what Rich was shouting at him to do! It looked like either he was out of shape or just gave up also. Not much aggressiveness at all. Those who have won, like Jason, Luke, & Rashad were all aggressive & stayed that way until the end of the match. Maybe that's the key...

 

[DavidCC]

IMHO, Hughes is working his team very hard; even harder if they don't win the challenge. I don't think it's a question of physical toughness. ...

Yes, i was being kindof sarcastic. What I really think is that he pushes them so hard in the weight room that they have nothing left for the ring. I think he is not a good coach. He's more of a trainer.

 

[Gin-Gin]

What I really think is that he pushes them so hard in the weight room that they have nothing left for the ring. I think he is not a good coach. He's more of a trainer.

Agreed

 

[FearlessFreep]

People watching two men in speedos circle each other, and circle, and circle.... Even the non MA folks know that the fight's completely boring. There's no real hype or drama to carry things along. Matt yelling "Train more!" is drama?

Well, mostly I meant the hype and drama outside the ring. I mean, the average non-MArtist new to viewing it probably isn't going to know the difference between a good fight and a bad fight itself, and I'll confess that more than a few of them look to me like some National Geographic special on mating rituals of confused young males of the species, but if they can get some dysfunctional soap opera bravado going on before the match, that's entertainment!

 

[Shogun]

Well, mostly I meant the hype and drama outside the ring. I mean, the average non-MArtist new to viewing it probably isn't going to know the difference between a good fight and a bad fight itself, and I'll confess that more than a few of them look to me like some National Geographic special on mating rituals of confused young males of the species, but if they can get some dysfunctional soap opera bravado going on before the match, that's entertainment!

You hit the nail on the head. TUF is to show how fighters prepare for fights, what a bad fight is, and so forth. Its not really about the fights themselves. if people tuned in ONLY for the fights, then they are wasting their time because there are about 57 different UFC tapes/dvds available to purchase (roughly 450 fights) and about the same for pride, KOTC, RINGS, Hooknshoot, and others. But noe of those show you the mental and physical preparation for the fights, and show what it takes and what these guys are. TUF shows the world that MMA fighters are ligit athletes, and not just angry guys who know karate.

 

[Marginal]

Also proves that running on a treadmill doesn't build mental toughness. Who knew?

 

[Gin-Gin]

Also proves that running on a treadmill doesn't build mental toughness. Who knew?

:rofl:

 

[Marginal]

I was glad Rashad won that match. Liked him ever since he tried to put a zipper on Melvin's mouth.

Don't really get how Matt manages to make all the heavyweights he touches into punching bags though. That's what I mean about the actual drama of the fights. "I'm awesome. Nobody can stop me. I'm looking forward to my UFC debut!"

Then they stand there and get beaten for three rounds straight...

Drama go boom. Schadenfreude's in for a lock.

 

[FearlessFreep]

running on a treadmill doesn't build mental toughness. Who knew?

he he

 

[tshadowchaser]

It starting to look like whom ever picked this group was sleeping
Never would I expected to see such little mental toughness and piss poor fights
Dana must be pulling his hair out or maybe thats way he has none to pull out

 

[Shogun]

maybe thats way he has none to pull out

ding-ding-ding! we have a winner. haha

 

[mrhnau]

Just watched the Cummo fight... nice knees! This was one of the best fights I've seen. Glad to see Cummo doing so well! I hope he does not splurge on snack food too much LOL I guess it does not matter too much though. How much time between the semi's and the finals? Interesting way Sammy was trying to pass Cummo's ground defense by jumping. Looked like he got clocked pretty good on the way down on the second attempt. Luke is lucky he survived that arm bar in the first round!

I'm also looking forwad to seeing Brad fight... that should be interesting matchup. Both of those guys look pretty tough...

MrH

 

[Gin-Gin]

Yes, I think that the coaches & Dana choosing the fighters for the Semis (with input from the fighters themselves) made a big difference. Last night's fight (Luke vs. Sammy) was the best of the season so far. It was Sammy's first fight, so no one except his teammates knew what to expect. There was more action in the first round of that fight than all of the previous ones; none of that "circling each other for three minutes" junk. Both fighters got in a lot of good shots, lots of good submission attempts, & at times each of wobbled a bit, but it was Luke's knee to Sammy's head that scored the knockout. Sammy took the loss pretty hard (as I'm sure anyone would who made it that far in the competition). Something new: Matt Hughes was actually comforting Sammy after the fight, being sympathetic - not being an ******* as he was to all of the other fighters who lost - maybe he is a human being after all...

 

[mrhnau]

Yes, I think that the coaches & Dana choosing the fighters for the Semis (with input from the fighters themselves) made a big difference. Last night's fight (Luke vs. Sammy) was the best of the season so far. It was Sammy's first fight, so no one except his teammates knew what to expect. There was more action in the first round of that fight than all of the previous ones; none of that "circling each other for three minutes" junk. Both fighters got in a lot of good shots, lots of good submission attempts, & at times each of wobbled a bit, but it was Luke's knee to Sammy's head that scored the knockout. Sammy took the loss pretty hard (as I'm sure anyone would who made it that far in the competition). Something new: Matt Hughes was actually comforting Sammy after the fight, being sympathetic - not being an ******* as he was to all of the other fighters who lost - maybe he is a human being after all...

Hughes a human? I doubt it As for the specifics of the fight, both fighters got clocked a good bit. Kinda funny looking seeing Sammy's knees buckle from that one shot by Luke... that knee was brutal.

How about this for a change... I don't like the concept of fighters going to the semi's w/out fighting at least once. You have eight fighters to begin with (I think?). How about everyone has to fight at least once. It would make the early competitions a bit more critical too. Its kind of strange... Luke had something to brag about, since he actually fought his way to the finals. Sammy was still an unknown... With Rashaad, this will be his third fight! I think its up to the 39th day? He probably will have fought 3 times in 20 days (I forget when his first fight was). That would be brutal for ANYONE. Just the normal wear and tear from these fights, and God forbid you get cut or have a sprained wrist (I guess the punching bag in his last fight had a hard head!). Would be nice to see everyone fight once before the semi's.

MrH

 

[Gin-Gin]

I agree--it would be more fair if everyone got to fight at least once before the Semis. I feel so bad for those who get injured in training & never get to fight...

 

[Icewater]

I just got to see this weeks fight last night. I guess I can't understand how you can train so hard and be demoralized so quickly! I know that mental conditioning is a huge part of physical exertion, but Mike Whitehead just up and quit! And almost in the first round! No punches, no bursts of energy, a few lame kicks, and several useless hugs. I could tell that Hughes was extremely upset. And from watching the last 50 something UFCs, I don't think Rashad would stand a chance in the Octagon against a UFC middleweight.

 

[lonecoyote]

I completely agree that its not fair for a fighter to get to the semis without having fought. These guys have got to conserve themselves in this tournament format and so anyone who hasn't fought has a huge advantage. Some of Hughes' team have been leaving it in the gym. I've heard that explanation in regards to boxers "He trained so hard he left the fight in the gym" That's what happened to whitehead in my opinion. It's funny that he (Hughes) said at the beginning of this whole thing that since you can't completely turn around a fighter in just a few weeks, picking the teams was the most important thing (I'm paraphrasing, but that's what he meant) He then proceeds to train the hell out of these guys like he's trying to completely change them when he was right in the beginning-the skills they bring are pretty much the skills they've got to use, they can fine tune some things, and work on strategy a little but there's no time to get them in shape if they're not already, or break down and rebuild a big part of a fighters game, just can't do it in these circumstances.

 

[grimfang]

REMINDER: the two remaining semi-final matches will be shown TONIGHT (Tuesday, Nov 01) on SpikeTV at 11pm est.