get my email john?

this is the only post I can get up? lol gotta love it!

I think the problem is Machida is not a draw john. Just look at Houston, comes out put it all on the line against Jardine and got a sh*t load of fans. Theres still alot of people with Houston posters in the crowd john. And Machida getting boo’d after the Tito fight doesnt help him.

Comparing the UFC to the NBA is like apples and oranges. They are both sports but that’s where the comparison stops. The UFC is trying to grow it’s brand and thus they need to concentrate on the business side as much as possible…hence why lorezo was brought into the fold. It’s sad but it’s easier to compare it to the WWE in a business aspect only. They are trying to grow “characters” much like WWE does and tries hard to sell certain of their “characters” that are popular more than others.

Non-hardcore fans don’t know Machida and from what they have seen of him…they find ho-hum. Anyone that knows what martial arts is all about knows what a technical fighter he is and how smart he fights. What you have to remember is that MMA is not mainstream yet and still has a ways to go. Once people start seeing what martial arts is all about and the difference between a street brawl and a techinical fight…we will see more deserving fighters get the respect they deserve.

We all feel for Machida and his situation but it’s more a reflection of where MMA is today more so than the UFC denying Machida. The UFC needs to continue it’s momentum right now while other organizations like DREAM and Affliction and Elite XC are starting to crack and crumble. They are trying to put the nail in the coffin.

Unfortunately, the only fighters that would step up and fight Machida on short notice are not the fighters that are going to get him closer to the title shot that he should be at the front of the line for. Nobody in the top 5, even the top 10, wants anything to do with him.

it doesnt even have to be on short notice. Just get a top fighter to fight the guy. He deserves it.

Buster, I agree to a point.

There are at least 5 fights on a televised UFC ppv. To the casual fans, the card is sold by its main event. The UFC can still sell TONS of ppv’s while educating the casual fans about Machida. All the UFC has to do is have a mONSTER main event and package Machida in as the co-main event. He already beat a casual fan friendly tito ortiz. Give him another big name fighter to beat on a co-main event or 2 and people will start to know who Machida is and he will become a DRAw!

tHE lhw DIVISION IS SO stacked with big names that until Machida becomes a big draw to the casual fans, his big name opponents can carry the card. For example, if the UFC did the right thing and gave him 1st crack at Forrest’s title, the PPV will stil be a h uge success because Forrest’s big name would carry it! THe “MMA Gump” has zillions of fans that will watch his 1st title defense no matter who its against. Package that in with the title fight between NOG/mir which wil be promoted through months of a TUF season and the event would be a huge success.

say Machida wins the title from Forrest, you give him a big name contender for his 1st title defense like Wanderlei and the cards will still sell.

So dont tell me that the UFC sti couldnt sell the crap out of ppv’s with Machida as champ or as a title contender!

unfortunatly its not a sport with out a ranking system and letting top guys fight for the belt, it entertainment that is real.

Sad but true. Thats why Dana’s claim that it will be a bigger sport than football is crack head-ish!

true point roy. most “combat sports” are like that/ Boxing is more entertainment than sport too. I guess it’s ok with me, as long as I continue to get exciting fights!

What is up with all these fighters getting injured lately? It seems like it is more acceptable these days for a fighter to claim injury. No, I don’t think they should fight if they are injured, but, there are so many repercussions when a fighter pulls the injured card; there should be a fine or something. They let down the UFC as a business and they let down the fans when they do this. It’s bs. And everyone is jumpin on the injured bandwagon, it never used to happen this much. It almost looks like a strategic way to duck fighters without verbally doing so. Damn you, Thiago; possibly one of the most anticipated fights and you go and get injured. It’s your job to stay healthy while you train. Do your job!

I have a feeling that they are going to feed Machida Antonio Mendes, who is an extremely tough fighter and would make for a great match up against Machida, but doesn’t have the name recognition that Machida deserves to fight!

I havent heard anything about this, its just an educated guess.

I woudnt mind seeing James Irvin chase around machida either.

If they are going to give Machida a B-eve fighter, at least let it be Mendes or the sandman

john, I’m not advocating that they shouldn’t hype Machida…I’m just giving my opinion on what the hold up is on giving him a title shot. We can all agree that he deserves at least some consideration and I can’t argue too hard against him getting one ahead of Rashad other than being the biggest Rashad fan on this site…lol. I know that Forrest is a big draw…hence the title shot that he was awarded against another big name…Rampage. I don’t believe that Machida could hold up a main event or title shot compared to a lot of other names in terms of PPV sells right at this moment…even with Forrest. You could throw Chuck in there now against Forrest for the title and he’d draw more PPV buys even coming off a loss than Machida probably would if you could somehow count the buys between hardcore and casual fans. I think that’s one of the biggest reasons for Rashad getting a shot before Machida…that and Rashad is the man…lol. I think you’re still thinking like a hardcore fan and not seeing Machida through the eyes of the casual fan. It’s all about name rcognition to casual fans…they don’t care who is next in line…they only care about who they’ve seen before. People haven’t seen enough of Machida…which is their loss. Casual fans don’t look up old Machida fights on the net like you and I would.

I was glad to see them put him in there with Tito…one of their biggest draws of all time. It put Machida on the map to the casual fan and another big name fight will no doubtedly increase public awareness to his awesomeness. Like I said…it’s like WWE in a sense where they are trying to build Machida’s brand so that when he does get his title shot…it will have bigger PPV draws than it would right now. That’s why I’m disappointed with this fight with Silva being scrapped…it was the 2nd fight on the card only because of it being in the UK and Bisping fighting. I think Machida is a great fighter and his style is like no one else in MMA right now. I think the UFC realizes they can’t hold him back much longer which is why they are trying to get him a big name opponent so that if/when he wins…they’ll be able to really sell this guy for a main event and title shot. They want to capitalize on Machida’s victory over Tito and keep the momentum going by giving him a great opponent so when the title shot and main event happens…they won’t have to push Machida down people’s throat…they’ll already recognize. Unfortunately, this is a business as much as a sport and marketing is everything. If you want to get involved in marketing in Zuffa then you have to realize that timing is everything…you have to strike while the iron is hot.

sandman will be getting a year long vacation for drugs!

I still think that you need to build Machida by putting hiim in big fights as a co-main event. for example: put him as the co-main event of the lesnar/Couture card because regardless of if they know machida or how they feel about him, fANS will All purchase the event to see the bockbuster main event anyway and people will get to see Machida and he can start to grow on them to eventually carry a ppv.

Casual fans dont know many of the fighters. THey know the big names and as long as you have a couple big names to carry a card, you can stil throw a deserving fighter like Machida on the card to keep us hardcores happy!

There has to be a balance on each card between deserving fighters like Machida and then casual fan attractions like Liddell (who has lost 3 of his last 4 fights). UFC hasnt lost money on an American card in a long time, so I could care less about if a fight draws a litte more then a deserving fight. I still want to see the best fight the best and Machida is THE BEST!

To bad they don’t have special rounds for Machida. Over here in Wisconsin there is a MMA org that does 8 rounds of 2 minutes each along with a rule that there is stalling allowed. This means if fighters circle each other too much like Machida does they’ll get a warning right away. I thought at first this sounded like a terrible idea but after watching a couple of fights they were all really fast paced with some serious skill being shown from both the stand up and ground game. I was really impressed with it and although I do like the UFC standard more, I think that it makes the fights more explosive and interesting. Not to mention most fights don’t make it to decision.

Bottom line…you want to be treated like a legitimate sport then act like a legitimate sport. You don’t want to be treated like the WWE, then don’t act like the WWE. Come up with a legitimate point based ranking system so fighters don’t get screwed and hardcore fans don’t get disillusioned.

Machida should just be facin’ Evans to see who’s the number one contender! That should be the perfect time to tarnish Evans’ record!

Kimura by Fedor:DOn’t be surprised if the injury bug bites too often nowadays. It happens everyehere. Take the NBA as an example. Players nowadays are more often injured than they were in the past. It suck$ because no one really knows the logical and scientific explanation behind this…

Grembone- You’re not aloine in feeling this way.

You got to start wondering if the UFC will ever put a great fight card together for the UK. Yes, Bisping is a local, but that gives that card only so much profile.

Still waiting for an UFC card that will be worth the money of a flight + tickets here in europe. Meanwhile I can ponder if I wanna scrap the money for Dream 6 together, which will most likely be the card of the year (for me).

They should feed him Evans as I’ve said! Evans should be handed his first loss!!

Liddell vs Coleman

I’m tired of watching Chuck vs. wrestlers…I don’t think Chuck should get any easy fights ie. Coleman if he wants a title shot

Im hope u r right my man stinky! I would love to see the rematch between Franklin and Machida.

I still would like to see Machida vs. Silva but I dont want to see Machida vs. shogun because I dont want to see either loose.

I also hope that u r right about Siva being ready to fight by UFC 92 because I want to see him fight again before 2009

i don’t know about that, rich has a massive laceration above his eye.

If hell froze over on the same day Rich fought Machida and Rich actually won, he still wouldn’t deserve a title shot. His only other LHW fight was Matt Hamill.

I totally agree! Machida will be Champion at some point its just up to how long the UFC wants to screw him out of his shot.

I am also sick of everyone ducking him. Thats why I respect Tiago and Shogun so much because I know that they are both willing to fight Machida. I am getting a little tired of Joe Silva letting all the LHW beasts duck their way out of fighting Lyoto. He is a top fighter and deserves to fight top competition! He has been ducked by a lot of top fighters some of who I am a fan of (more so then Machida, but Im trying to keep it real). Wandy, Chuck, Forrest, Vera and even my boy Rampage have all weasled their way out of fighting Machida. THE UFC NEEDS to step in and tell a top 10 fighter: Your next fight is against Machida, the only decsion you have to make, is WHEN?

Simple as that!

No rich wouldnt deserve a tite shot with a win over Machida, but IF he can beat Machida (doubt it), he would only be another big win over a top guy away from getting a title shot especially these days when getting a title shot is ALL about marketability. Rich stlill has a BIG Name in the eyes of the casual fans as well as the hardcore fans!

If Hell does freeze and Machida looses to Rich, say he fights wandy next and wins, I wouldnt doubt the UFC giving him a tilte shot! I would love to see a 5 round fight between Forrest and Franklin! but to get that fight Rich needs to accomplish somthing like this:

TKO win over Hammil
Win over Machida
win over wanderei in a rematch of their legendary rock,paper,scissors WAR! lol

We are getting ahead if ourselves cause we dont know if he will fight machida, and I doubt he would beat Lyoto or wandy.

A good fight right now for Rich is Wanderlei. It would be a HUGE fight and wandy is a small LHW, so Rich wouldnt have to worry about putting on weight to fight him.

If it was Thiago’s choice to fight Machida or someone else he would fight someone else because he doesn’t like fighting brazilians. He’s said that before. I agree that the UFC needs to make people fight whoever they choose for them to fight, but you can’t really blame anyone for not wanting to fight the most boring fighter in the company as well a guy that runs the majority of the fight.

I agree with your assessment of guys turning down fights. It would be like chefdaddy saying "nope, not cooking pasta tonight for you!

John, Rich wouldn’t have to worry so much about Wanderlei’s size at LHW, HOWEVER, he should be terrified of Silva’s clinch. He already got destroyed by a Silva twice. Can Rich beat anyone with the last name “Silva”?

wouldnt rich would hold a size (as in height and reach) advantage over wandy?

John, you make two conflicting points there don’t you? I mean, in one sentence you say that the UFC is purposely screwing Machida, and then in the next sentence you talk about being sick of other LHWs ducking the guy.
Now, even if it is true that Machida is being treated unfairly, how is this situation an example of that? I mean he was lined up for a massive and significant bout that had possible #1 contender status up for grabs, and his opponent gets injured and pulls out of the fight. Nobody’s fault really. And one can hardly fault the UFC for the fact that most of the other relevant LHWs are already fighting in the next few events.
Personally I would like to see him in a rematch against Rich so lets hope that Mr. Stinky’s source is correct and we’ll see some combination of Machida, Franklin, Shogun, and T. Silva fighting at 91 and 92.

Im not saying Rich could win or that he would be the favorite because he probably wouldnt. I am trying t think in terms of UFC since they have thrown the concept of merit, out the window and now its all about the biggest match ups that they can promote.

I agree that he should stay away from anyone named Sllva with a Tai Clinch but I still wouldnt mind seeing it! if it does happen, Rich needs to get his plastic surgeon a front row seat to the fight1

I think my neighbor is named Leon Silva. I bet Rich could kick his ass.

does he have a Tia Clinch? lol

MOST CERTAINLY YES

Its sad but I have to agree!

But he loved Machida when he needed someone to send Tito packing!

Agreed.

Yes he does, he doesn’t want a man to have the belt who can’t put buts in the seats and get people to buy ppv’s.

its that obvious.

lmao , I love watching H . Alexander lose more they anyone else in UFC history.

Yeah, I really dont see the logic in a 5 fight extension.

There is a big difference between tactical movement (Machida) and running away in terror (Starnes).

MrNC17-

Your credibility was fine until you put Kalib and Lyoto in the same post… (sigh)

And did you write that no-name’s garbage loss is (in principle) better than a “boring” victory?

Wow. Hahahahahahaha!!!

The only reason other fighters don’t backpedal to avoid strikes is because they’re too slow. The guys that do it are the really quick ones like GSP etc. Everyone else blocks, which still sustains damage.

And some people are always going to like the waxy chocolate that comes in the tin foil coins (Houston, Lesnar etc). I prefer real chocolate from Belgium (Lyoto).

Nope, Anderson is big and strong. He blocks and counters. Machida dodges and counters. Just because he’s “technical” doesn’t mean he’s comparable to every other “technical” fighter out there. Anderson is a giant middleweight that towers over his opponents with balanced and precision and strength. Machida is way smaller. If Machida fought Anderson at Lightweight, Anderson would be a beast.

Actually dave, neither of the two will ever be able to make lightweight! I compared the two because Ballam said Lyoto actually uses his brain. Well so does Anderson, but Anderson is not a boring fighter!

Machida isnt a boring fighter

Sorry, Lightheavy, not lightweight.

And I really don’t see your point. Being smart has nothing to do with being boring or not, it tends to have a say on whether or not you win. You could start comparing any fighter. Couture/not boring, Forrest/boring etc. I don’t find Forrest boring either, but you know what I mean.

And just because Machida goes to a lot of decisions doesn’t make it boring either. GSP went to a decision with Fitch and it was electrifying. Forrest and Bonnar went to a decision in their TUF match and it’s legendary. Machida’s decisions have never been close. I haven’t seen the fight with BJ though.

Ya but GSP was trying to fin the fight, so was Forrest. Its just as boring to watch Machida as it is to watch some lay and pry, fighter

GnP is only boring when the top guy just sits in a closed guard, makes no attempt to pass and inflicts no damage, as in Jesse “Koko” Taylor.

or Tito (even though his is effective, I find it boring)

Tito does do the same thing, but at least he can finish fights with it. Koko’s fights look like those Cinemax Late Night shows except with two dudes.

no, tito can finish fights against ken shamrock. everyone else he either wins a split decison or loses.

His more recent fights, yes. But in his prime he was a GnP machine. Unfortunately, his all-around MMA game didn’t evolve proportionately to his sense of entitlement.