I’m gonna post this now, ahead of this card by 3 mons. Lil Nog is training boxing right now to represent Brazil in the Pan Am Games I think. Big Nog is helping him. Big Nog also heavily trained his hands for his New Years Eve battle against Barnett.
This could mean 2 things. Either Big Nog is now a complete fighter, well versed in all aspects of the game ( his boxing was his weakest area ), or he is too old to learn a hard skill late in life but believes he has and will get TKOed when he tries to stand against Herring. That to me is the drama is this bout.

Why does the UFC give top fighters from Pride complete shit opposition for their debut?! i mean who the hell was E.Sanchez to fight crocop, now we have Big Nog fighting a muppet he’s already proved himself against twice! for F’ sake! Seen as Jake O’Brian beat Heath, he should be the one given the opportunity to fight a top fighter. Surely BigNog cant be too pleased with fighting a loser – again!

I thought Dana said PRIDE fighters sucked? Why is he trying to get us hyped for two PRIDE guys fighting each other? ;)

I thought Dana said PRIDE fighters sucked? Why is he trying to get us hyped for two PRIDE guys fighting each other? ;)

Their not pride fighters man their ufc fighters now dude.

i can’t wait for 73, the joslin lytle fight is gonna be on this card too, and dana said he’s gonna add some more big fights, its a crazy night of fights, i just wish silva had a better opponent than nate marquardt, i’m not saying nates not good, but i don’t know what he’s done to earn a title shot, but i’m looking forward to the tito rahshad fight more than any in a while and its about time sherk is defending that title, now adding the debut of another big time hw is gonna be even more excitement even if he’s fighting someone he already beat twice, this is gonna make 72 look real real bad…

i can’t wait for 73, the joslin lytle fight is gonna be on this card too, and dana said he’s gonna add some more big fights, its a crazy night of fights, i just wish silva had a better opponent than nate marquardt, i’m not saying nates not good, but i don’t know what he’s done to earn a title shot, but i’m looking forward to the tito rahshad fight more than any in a while and its about time sherk is defending that title, now adding the debut of another big time hw is gonna be even more excitement even if he’s fighting someone he already beat twice, this is gonna make 72 look real real bad…

Totally agree with you there man on the 72 looking bad. 71 and 73 will over shadow 72

i just wish silva had a better opponent than nate marquardt

Man, spida, I just bit a hole in my lip when I read that. You know all of Nate’s accomplishments. I dont need to list them. But a good point is, when you are a ground fighter/Pancrase fighter and you beat a guy who won the entire ADCC 2 years ago in Lister, well I’d say not bad. Think about all the top 185er: Silva, Hendo, Lindland, Kang, Franklin, and my #1 Filho. Does Nate belong with them? Not sure yet, but this fight will prove if he is, win or lose. Besides, only Franklin is in the UFC from that list, so he has to be either the one or two contender overall in the UFC.
You havent seen enough of him since the UFC buried him, and his internet vids are mostly losses. Why? Who knows, you’d think his “people” would change that. Now folks are gonna DM or YT him and watch him get subbed over and over.

Since UFCmania for some reason didn’t posted the stuff I send him, I might just as well give you a heads-up here (for those who care).

Source: www.jutarnji.hr/clanak/art-2007,5,5,,73120.jl

My take on a translation:
ZAGREB – The boxing ring is past for the croatian master of free fight (thats what they call MMA) Mirko Filipovic. In the basement underneath his familys home in the Gajnice quarter of Zagreb very soon a new fighting ground will be installed – a eight-sided cage similiar to the one used in the UFC fights.

Due to the limited space, Filipovic’s cage will be somewhat smaller than the original, but it will allow a realistic simulation of an UFC tournament for the croatian gladiator. Even thou the UFC and Pride, a japanese organization under which wings Cro Cop build his reputation as a top-fighter of “free fight” (means MMA), his sport with the same name (MMA), specifics and differences exist especially because of the surroundings of the fight – the cage and a classic ring.

After the recent loss by knockout in the first round in Manchester against brasilian Gabriel Gonzaga, Mirko decided not to leave anything to chance anymore. The switch to the cage will help him in any way, if nothing else than at least with the mental preparation for a fight in a closed arena.

Filipovic will finish the healing process of his injured right ankle these days, which he recieved in Manchester, to start intensive training again. His next bout in the UFC scene has to be excepted during july (in the current july-schedule the only tourament is UFC 73 in Sacramento).

So to sum it up:
- he has a cage now
- his foot is healing
- he starts his full-intensity training soon
- he won’t neglect cage-specific training nor elbow-specific defense and attacks (thats what I read between the lines when he said that he won’t leave any details to chance anymore)
- rumor has it, that he’s fighting in july, so UFC73 just got the best MMA event of the year for me (thats why I post it underneath this thread)

Shout-outs to me peeps.

YT out

i still think big nog vs herring is still a better matchup than him and mccully. i would have preferred vera but oh well this card is to good to complain about

Its a better match up but its been done twice.

Where you been YTed?

I’m gonna post this now, ahead of this card by 3 mons. Lil Nog is training boxing right now to represent Brazil in the Pan Am Games I think. Big Nog is helping him. Big Nog also heavily trained his hands for his New Years Eve battle against Barnett.
This could mean 2 things. Either Big Nog is now a complete fighter, well versed in all aspects of the game ( his boxing was his weakest area ), or he is too old to learn a hard skill late in life but believes he has and will get TKOed when he tries to stand against Herring. That to me is the drama is this bout.

dude ure dumb have u watched his fights before he has good boxing hes had good boxing for couple years ya his early fights he was all bjj but him and his bro were training with cubans and hes had good hands for at least 2 years so think before you type… as for the fight they should have put obrian in there but they are probably afriad hed just take nog down and lay and pray for 15 mins

Where you been YTed?

Tried to stay away from this site and comments like the one above me. I was sending little pieces of information to UFCmania from time to time, but didn’t want to get involved again for obvious reasons.

So Herring is “top talent” now? why cause he once fought Fedor? yeah well he got Destroyed, and if it’s true that he has 2 losses to big Nog in the past I really could’nt care less about this fight. Why don’t they just put him out there with his regular training partner and just let us watch him train in the octagon for a couple minutes, no difference if ya ask me… which Joe Silva and Dana White don’t seem to do much…

… But if they did it would be Big Nog vs Maricio Cruz and Herring vs Brandon Vera. Both of these fights I would kill to see, So I’m gonna keep saying it (bare with me)… especially the Vera/Herring fight just so I can catch the special on the Learning channel where they surgically remove Vera’s entire knee from Herring’s mouth…

Tried to stay away from this site and comments like the one above me. I was sending little pieces of information to UFCmania from time to time, but didn’t want to get involved again for obvious reasons.

dude ure dumb have u watched his fights before he has good boxing hes had good boxing for couple years ya his early fights he was all bjj but him and his bro were training with cubans and hes had good hands for at least 2 years so think before you type… as for the fight they should have put obrian in there but they are probably afriad hed just take nog down and lay and pray for 15 mins

Wow ok super smart guy the last guy in the world O’brian could lay and pray on for 3 whole rounds is Big Nog. This chump would be subbed quicker than your mom’s tv dinner cooks in the microwave. maybe you should “think before you type” babaganoosh!

I like this matchup, even though its been done twice, because a lot of fans are judging Herring from his first fight he had in the UFC. First, a few of you need to get educated on the sport and learn that no one, AND I MEAN NO ONE, who fights in either Pride or the UFC is a pussy or sucks or anything related to either of those adjectives.

Now, the reason I like this matchup is because Herring held his own against Big Nog and I was surprised to see his poor performance against O’Brien. I didnt see the the fight with Imes, but I read he won the first or second round, 10-8, which is impressive. I’m not saying I see Herring winning a belt ever, but he at least deserves to be on the main card of an event.

yeah mtufc, i know he’s got talent and i know there isn’t really many others in the ufc deserving of the title shot, and lack of talent in the ufc mw is probably why he’s getting his shot, you’re right that i haven’t seen enough of him to give an honest assessment, but that is why i don’t like him getting the shot here, if he wins than we’ll have a relatively unknown champ, he has some questionable loses and really no big wins recently except for the lister fight and i didn’t get to see that one for some reason, the salaverry fight was not impressive at all, and while he has a lot of fights, i don’t know how impressed i am with the level of competition, he looks like a strong dude and a pretty big mw and he is definitely a good fighter, but in my opinion he doesn’t deserve a title shot, not yet, even though i’m not sure who else the ufc could put in there with silva…

Can’t they think of a better name? “Stacked” really really sounds awful. UFC 73 would have been ok.

damn, if cro cop fights on 73 its gonna be the best ppv ever, i wouldn’t even care who he fought…

damn, if cro cop fights on 73 its gonna be the best ppv ever, i wouldn’t even care who he fought…

Remember this is only a rumor for now. This information is from Cro Cops surroundings and said that his next fight was planned for july – it might just as well become august, which would be a very ackward event. UFC 74 with Couture-Gonzaga, while Cro Cop has to fight someone else. Then again Dana could announce, that CroCop-XXX would be the #1 contender for the winner of Couture-Gonzaga. I think we will see CroCop-Arlovski, its the only matchup that would make sense in this idea/fantasy.

i still think big nog vs herring is still a better matchup than him and mccully. i would have preferred vera but oh well this card is to good to complain about

Big Nog vs. McCully would have been a bad joke and fans would be pissed. Remember how often McCully offered Hardonk his arms? I thought he got paid to be submitted or he had a deal with Hardonk to split the money for “Submission of the night”. Big Nog would rip his arms off and that kinda neutralizes the GnP game, doesn’t it? :D

who can they find to grapple with big nog? werdum? cruz? not many i bet

who can they find to grapple with big nog? werdum? cruz? not many i bet

I’d like to see BigNog-Werdum II, the first fight (at Pride Critical Countdown Absolute 2006) was a pretty good fight with knockdowns, takedowns and reverses. It seemed like Big Nog preferred to stand and bang instead of taking it to the ground with Werdum. A rematch would be amazing.

I am not too sure about Pe de Pano as an opponent. While his submission game is great, I kinda think Big Nog is a too strong overall fighter with much better standup than Cruz. Couture-BigNog is definetly something I’d be looking for.

Duh i dont know why i didn’t think about couture, imagine the gameplan he would come up with for nogueira…

I was really hoping Vera would be fighting Big Nog but this is still gonna be one of the best cards ever.

Wow ok super smart guy the last guy in the world O’brian could lay and pray on for 3 whole rounds is Big Nog. This chump would be subbed quicker than your mom’s tv dinner cooks in the microwave. maybe you should “think before you type” babaganoosh!

Seriously, who can possibly believe ANYBODY can lay and pray on big Nog, I think again, like they tried to give CC somebody he could exploit his talents with, to the american fans taht don’t know the pride guys as well. That’s all this is I bet, havnt seen a whole lot of herring, maybe 3 or so fights from pride that’s it, (he was much better then) if he fights like he did against O’brian, he is gonna get taken down, at which point Nog will take his pick with whatever sub he wants to show off with, to the new american fans.

illl bet any amount of money that big nog could not sub obrian i swear there is no way obrian ainto no cro cop hes not gunna give him an arm as a gift like he did im not saying it wouldnt happen but id bet good money that it wouldnt i think obrian could take him down and keep it there thats it dont believe me begg the ufc to set up the fight

[/quote]
Wow ok super smart guy the last guy in the world O’brian could lay and pray on for 3 whole rounds is Big Nog. This chump would be subbed quicker than your mom’s tv dinner cooks in the microwave. maybe you should “think before you type” babaganoosh![/quote]
 by the way ur a punk talk smack like that somone will snap your little punk neck

the top parts a quote

Dude, O’brian can’t hang. End of story.

New Poll

dazzle is the new resident troll here to do nothing more than piss people off.

Yes
or
No

first vote, mine

YES.

Wow dazzle, I think you should choose your words carefully. There are only a couple of commentors on here that I respect (for there mma knowledge), MTUFC, and YouTapped. As far as O’brian, he does not even deserve to be back in the UFC un-tell he can prove that he has more than , dry humping as a weapon. As for MTUFC, and Youtapped, I may not have 18 years, but I have been watching since I was ten years old, in 1993. My Dad was a Taekwondo guy, my uncle was a Junior Golden Gloves, and I have done wrestling. So we may not be MMA but we love mma competition, and have been watching MMA events for as long as I can remember.

Later
Chris Valentine

As for MTUFC, and Youtapped, I may not have 18 years, but I have been watching since I was ten years old, in 1993. My Dad was a Taekwondo guy, my uncle was a Junior Golden Gloves, and I have done wrestling. So we may not be MMA but we love mma competition, and have been watching MMA events for as long as I can remember

Hey Chris. Thanks for the props for me and YTed. I didnt say that to be a dick or have a pissing contest with anyone. Just when someone calls me stupid about MMA, well, it seems like the most factual thing to say, then to reverb to his level. That’s all.

“than to reverb”, lol. That’s revert. My hands are tired after PBPing ADCC all day.

You guys act like the number of years is directly says who knows more. That’s not everything dude. Peole know alot cuz they are dedicated, not cuz they have watched it for so many years. I have watched for like 2 years, and can hang with any of you guys in these MMA conversations.
You guys made this to be a competition. No disrespecte to anybody, but just becaues Yt or MTUFC have watched for this long or whatever, dosnt mean other people havnt made points just as valid if not more on certain subjects. That whole idea is very frusterating.

You guys act like the number of years is directly says who knows more. That’s not everything dude. Peole know alot cuz they are dedicated, not cuz they have watched it for so many years. I have watched for like 2 years, and can hang with any of you guys in these MMA conversations.
You guys made this to be a competition. No disrespecte to anybody, but just becaues Yt or MTUFC have watched for this long or whatever, dosnt mean other people havnt made points just as valid if not more on certain subjects. That whole idea is very frusterating.

Agreed Anomaly completely. I always check what you say. But it’s what you say that makes the difference.
Oh, but I am dedicated, almost obsessively so. The only thing besides my family I care more about is….
nope nothing, since I guess my own training falls into all this also.

hahaha. Same here. MMA is the only sport for me.

Oh and im stolked!! Starting next week at the local MMA gym. It’s pretty legit. Full size regulation MMA ring, cage, wrestling matt, and every bag and lots of em you can imagine!!

“We have five UFC events lined up now through July in the US and UK, and every one of them is stacked with great fights”

UFC 72 is a fudge sh#tcicle last time I looked.

Why didn’t they give him Vera? Card looks great but Herring?? This guy sucks. He may have fought some of the best talent in MMA but he never beats any of them. The crazy horse must have one of the deepest fight reusumes in the game, fighting the whose who in MMA but he sucks. Plain and simple he won’t beat Nog. Isn’t this the third time they will fight?

Dude, O’brian can’t hang. End of story.

Remember Rashad against Bonnar: Rashad didn’t want to stand and didn’t want to be in Bonnar’s guard. So he took him down- do nothing- stood back up. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. O’Brian could follow that strategy against Nog and pull a huge upset.

Or maybe he lands the head kick.

Anomaly, I would never compare years to knowledge directly. But unfortunately the majority of UFC fans are only recent additions, and most think that watching UFC events, and TUF that they know everything about MMA. I have read your comments and they seem to be very knowledgeable, the only reason I compared years is due to the “UFC Fans” that are only here for knock outs and blood, and really know nothing else.

As for MTUFC and you being addicted, man I am right there with yah. MY wife hates that I consider checking the UFCMania web page, as checking my email. I have made some good friends in the MMA business I am constantly trying to find out whats next in the MMA world from them. I love the UFC due to its ability to market its fights.

As a good example of UFC fans vs MMA fans, I recently went to a local Theater Pub for the last UFC event (it was free) and it was hilarious and at times annoying to hear how many people think they know what they are talking about. I heard people saying “I have trained with Randy at team quest”, and “I think Bryan Bisping is the best, and there is no-one that can beat him”, and yes he said “Bryan Bisping”. I just hate the fans who think that Two years of watching is what makes them MMA smart.

I believe that two years can make you mma smart, but you have to be dedicated as you are (anomaly).

Well that is all for now.
Later
Chris Valentine

Yeah but Mama’s boy Bonner is nothing relative to Rashad compared to how Nog is to O’brian. And I think not only that but Rashad had not evolved to teh extent he has now. He had never finished a fight yet in that point in his carreer if i’m not mistaken. I know what your saying, but I think NOG is way to dangerous for that. We will prolly never know for sure, I forgot how we got to this, NOG is fighting Heath right? Well ill tell you one thing, O’brian definently has a better chance at taht strategy then Heath.
Heath seems like one of those cases that are no longer what they once were. If he fights like he did agianst O’brian, he gets submittied first round I say. That’s probably what DW wants, can build him up to the US fans and start marketing him. Then throw him in the big mix.

i think i know everything!…..just kidding.

Oh yeah Chris I know what you mean, most frusterating thing in the world, “dude, one time, I shook tito’s hand dude, im an ultimate figher”
Learned taht I can’t even argue with some people like that, just get all worked up haha.
Just wanted to say to im really excited for this Tito Rashad fight. Been dieing for this fight since Rashad finished Lambert. It is always intersting when to very good wrestles come together in an MMA bout. I have always wanted to see how Tito would handles a wrestler at close to or at his caliber. Besides Couture, we all konw what happened with that one.

I thought Dana said PRIDE fighters sucked? Why is he trying to get us hyped for two PRIDE guys fighting each other?

He never said they sucked. He just said the UFC fighters were better.

I have always wanted to see how Tito would handles a wrestler at close to or at his caliber

Me too.

I’m gonna post this now, ahead of this card by 3 mons. Lil Nog is training boxing right now to represent Brazil in the Pan Am Games I think. Big Nog is helping him. Big Nog also heavily trained his hands for his New Years Eve battle against Barnett.
This could mean 2 things. Either Big Nog is now a complete fighter, well versed in all aspects of the game ( his boxing was his weakest area ), or he is too old to learn a hard skill late in life but believes he has and will get TKOed when he tries to stand against Herring. That to me is the drama is this bout.

fedor threw nog around like a rag doll, it was laughable. if he fights arlovski, aa will avoid nog on the canvas like the last 2 fights and win baby.

Possibly so Ken, but NOG is a better striker than the past 2 fights, and is not afraid to take a shot to get in the clinch, from which piont he has better take downs. It will be interesting, maybe AA can, but it will be harder than his last couple fights, and a MUCH more dangerous opponent. NOG did it to CC, he can do it to AA.

fedor threw nog around like a rag doll, it was laughable. if he fights arlovski, aa will avoid nog on the canvas like the last 2 fights and win baby.

I don’t think NOG got slaughter as bad as your makin him out to be. And still, NOG took it the distance, so if the guy is trying to degrade NOG, ain’t doin a very good job.

Even if Nog does decide to stand, I dont think Heath can KO him. Nog has a great chin and can take a beating. I think Nog will simply do what he does best and get him to the ground and submit him.

Fedor Emelianeko is the best ground guy in this game, hands down. What does AA have to do with anything? Another UFC only, I watch TUF whenever its on, person. Eyes open, mouth closed as we say in training.

MTUFC, What kind of training do you do. Do you compete in anything? If you dont mind me asking.

I took karate and hapkido as a kid. In the military we learned what today I would call Jujitsu ( locks and throws, almost like a judo ). Then further in my career, we started to be taught Krav Maga, when the Israelis finally convinced the US Military how effective it was.
Today, I dont belong to a dojo per se, just 9-10 guys with backgrounds in a lot of disciplines. We’ve known each other for 6-20 years, so its a close group. We all take turns each couple of days to teach a class. So for the last four years, I’ve learned BJJ, Krav Maga even more, Thai boxing ( not really Muay Thai, more dirty boxing I guess ), Judo, and Wing Chun. Over the last 4 years, most of what I train for is Brazlian Jiu Jitsu or Muay Thai style striking. I’m getting old so I shifted my training to more none physically demanding disciplines. Besides, as you get older the stretching just hurts too damn much for too long!
We have no sensei. We’re all too frigging picky! ( Ya’ll heard me, I said it again ).

Me too.

You know, I really REALLY dislike Heath Herring.. I think he is mediocre at best. BUT… he definately is one of the more talented fighters in the mid-lesser ranks in the UFC. Good choice throwing him to Minotauro…

This should be a really short fight. Unless Herring lands a bomb, I see him losing by submission early.
Nog wins by submission since Herring has no guard and just about anyone can pass. Herring’s ground defense or lack thereof is let opponent pass, give opponent his back, roll back over into side or mount, repeat.
He is a really easy matchup for Nog.

I think Heath is very boring,Ihope NOG snaps his arm.

predictions….another loss for heath, 2 losses in his 3 fights in the ufc.

why have a two guys from pride fight each other, I’m guessing Dana’s weening out the bad, but still this is retarded.

Possibly so Ken, but NOG is a better striker than the past 2 fights, and is not afraid to take a shot to get in the clinch, from which piont he has better take downs. It will be interesting, maybe AA can, but it will be harder than his last couple fights, and a MUCH more dangerous opponent. NOG did it to CC, he can do it to AA.

i like aa’s standup and better yet his takedown defense. correct me if i’m wrong but when was the last time a jitsue black got aa on his back. so i can’t see nog having much success with that strategy.

Fedor Emelianeko is the best ground guy in this game, hands down. What does AA have to do with anything? Another UFC only, I watch TUF whenever its on, person. Eyes open, mouth closed as we say in training.

i like aa’s standup and better yet his takedown defense. correct me if i’m wrong but when was the last time a jitsue black got aa on his back. so i can’t see nog having much success with that strategy.

Yeah it’s just that AA has not foughten anybody near the caliber of NOG has he not? If anybody can do it it’s NOG. CC’s TD defense is some of the best in MMA period, and NOG got him.
And the other BJJ guys AA has fought were to afraid to get past his striking range. Nog is some of the best at getting in there and taking a shot or 2 no prob, along with Couture.

Dana just wants to make Pride fighters fight some shitty fighters to loose their skills….

it should be vera vs aa for title shot at nog after he beats the winner of gg/rc

nog is good… this is a fight that is a waste time! haha its like the 5th fight between them….

Dana just wants to make Pride fighters fight some shitty fighters to loose their skills….

That makes no sense… im not saying herring is a powerhouse but he isnt a shit fight.. hes beating Tom Erikson he destroyed gary goodridge he beat Igor “Ice Cold” Vovchanchyn who is a hell of a fighter… the 1st fight against nogueira was a desicion and their second was was dominated by herring until he Big Nog pulled off the choke… im not taking anything away from nogueira im a big fan of his but herring is nowhere near a pushover fight and Dana has never had problems with Pride Fighters he’s actually sat ringside a many of their events but its the stupid decisions that the owners make that pissing him off so you need to look stuff up b4 you say herring is a shitty fighter