UFC 105 - Couture vs Vera

[Ross]

Main card
Light Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera - worried that Randy might have trouble dealing with Vera's speed, if he can get Vera against the cage without being clipped he can overwhelm Vera with his strength
Welterweight bout: Mike Swick vs Dan Hardy - Swick by decision, kind of hoping Hardy pulls off the upset though
Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang - Kang's better in pretty much every area and Bisping will be tentative after the brutal Hendo KO, everything lines up nicely for Kang to blow it
Welterweight bout: James Wilks vs Matt Brown - tough to call, leaning towards a sub win
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs Aaron Riley - Pearson looks to be the least impressive TUF winner ever, surely Riley should take him

Prelims
Welterweight bout: Paul Taylor vs John Hathaway - Taylor by decision
Lightweight bout: Terry Etim vs Shannon Gugerty - Etim by TKO
Welterweight bout: Nick Osipczak vs Matthew Riddle - Osipczak by decision
Lightweight bout: Paul Kelly vs Denis Siver - Kelly by decision
Light Heavyweight bout: Alexander Gustafsson vs Jared Hamman - guessing here
Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs Rolando Delgado - decision

 

[Vendrell]

I'm struggling to get excited for this card.

Vera by leg kicks. Swick by KO. Don't care about Bisping or Kang.

WAR MATT BROWN!!! Love this bloke. Matt Brown by whatever he chooses. Should be the main event .

Oh, and Matt Riddle by KO.

 

[drew_j]

I'm struggling to get excited for this card.

Vera by leg kicks. Swick by KO. Don't care about Bisping or Kang.

WAR MATT BROWN!!! Love this bloke. Matt Brown by whatever he chooses. Should be the main event .

Oh, and Matt Riddle by KO.

Hahaha, it's a good lulz but actually probably true. Go the Immortal!

 

[RobbyRoy]

Main card
Light Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera - Couture's best chance is the clinch game and neutralizing the significant speed advantage Vera holds. Vera is very dangerous from the clinch though so even that's risky. I think Vera will chip away with strikes without ever really threatening to end the fight and win a decision.
Welterweight bout: Mike Swick vs Dan Hardy - Hmmm tough one. Hardy's definitely got skills and shouldn't be counted out but I'll go Swick sub in the 2nd.
Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang - Kang's better in pretty much every area and Bisping will be tentative after the brutal Hendo KO, everything lines up nicely for Kang to blow it - haha, I'll go along with the first part of this comment but I think Kang will win, TKO in 2rd.
Welterweight bout: James Wilks vs Matt Brown - I think Wilks will sub Brown but he's in for the fight of his life.
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs Aaron Riley - Riley should win comfortably. I don't know what will happen with Pearson.

Prelims
Welterweight bout: Paul Taylor vs John Hathaway - Don't know Hathaway so guessing Taylor KO.
Lightweight bout: Terry Etim vs Shannon Gugerty - Etim by TKO
Welterweight bout: Nick Osipczak vs Matthew Riddle - Riddle's still really young and green but he can win a decision or get the KO late.
Lightweight bout: Paul Kelly vs Denis Siver - Meh
Light Heavyweight bout: Alexander Gustafsson vs Jared Hamman - The Swede's 6'5 and has TKO wins so whatever
Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs Rolando Delgado - Winner was the most impressive of the lightweights in that season and has good skills, but I just don't think he can put it together. Delgrado should be an easy win though.

Horrible card.

 

[likka]

Pearson looks to be the least impressive TUF winner ever

Just wait until season 10 crowns a winner.

 

[Vendrell]

Just wait until season 10 crowns a winner.

I'll pay that.

 

[RobbyRoy]

Nelson does have runs on the board, he wouldn't be as bad as the rest. Actually, even Schaub could end up being a really decent fighter.

 

[drew_j]

Nelson does have runs on the board, he wouldn't be as bad as the rest. Actually, even Schaub could end up being a really decent fighter.

The only thing that will save any of them is the relative weekness of the HW div.

 

[play2win]

Main card
Light Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera - worried that Randy might have trouble dealing with Vera's speed, if he can get Vera against the cage without being clipped he can overwhelm Vera with his strength
Welterweight bout: Mike Swick vs Dan Hardy - Swick by decision, kind of hoping Hardy pulls off the upset though
Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang - Kang's better in pretty much every area and Bisping will be tentative after the brutal Hendo KO, everything lines up nicely for Kang to blow it
Welterweight bout: James Wilks vs Matt Brown - tough to call, leaning towards a sub win

apart from swick, i think you picked every underdog. multibet $14+

 

[Magnum]

Main card
Light Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera - Vera will be a tough fight for Randy. Vera himself is a really tough guy, but I hope Randy can pull what I consider an upset. Personally I think Randy might get rocked and could well be finished. The hope he has if Randy can push Vera up against the fence and get the takedown but Vera's greco is also no joke, so this is a difficult task. Vera by UD or TKO.
Welterweight bout: Mike Swick vs Dan Hardy - Swick to take this down and work Hardy on the ground for the win.
Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang - If cant doesn't "blow it" he should take this. Tho Bisping will be hungry and if it goes to decision might get a 'favourable' judges call. Expect Kang to work Bisping in the standup and possibly get a sub if it goes to the ground. Or out of nowhere pull out a loss...50/50 I guess. But I'll take Kang just because I'll be supporting him.
Welterweight bout: James Wilks vs Matt Brown - The Immortal of course.
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs Aaron Riley- Riley is one of the most underrated LW's out there. Will take this TUF winner out easily.

Prelims
Welterweight bout: Paul Taylor vs John Hathaway - Taylor... love the way this guy brings the fight. His battle with Lytle was epic
Lightweight bout: Terry Etim vs Shannon Gugerty - Etim. Like this kid.
Welterweight bout: Nick Osipczak vs Matthew Riddle - Riddle's I think. Although Nick was quite technical and wouldn't be suprised if he pulled it out.
Lightweight bout: Paul Kelly vs Denis Siver - Kelly
Light Heavyweight bout: Alexander Gustafsson vs Jared Hamman - Gustafsson
Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs Rolando Delgado - Winner to force Roli to be cut.

 

[drew_j]

Main card
Light Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera - I really rate Vera at LHW. At his best he's serious contender material. I'd slot him in there at about the same level as Rampage. A Shogun Vera fight could be epic. At his worst you wonder how he got UFC contract. In the past he's had the ability to lose the fight mentally before he gets into the cage. I don't think Randy has that aura anymore, but he still has the ability to frustrate Brandon. Still if the switched on Vera comes in this could well end in a KO.
Welterweight bout: Mike Swick vs Dan Hardy - Swick but just.
Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang -
Welterweight bout: James Wilks vs Matt Brown - You'd think the walking sex machine that is Matt Brown will handle Wilks. But Wilks's stylistically is a bad match up for the Immortal.
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs Aaron Riley- Yeah just because.

Prelims
Welterweight bout: Paul Taylor vs John Hathaway - The guy is an animal.
Lightweight bout: Terry Etim vs Shannon Gugerty - Etim.
Welterweight bout: Nick Osipczak vs Matthew Riddle - Think Osipczak capacity for inprovment will take out Riddle. KO early.
Lightweight bout: Paul Kelly vs Denis Siver - Kelly
Light Heavyweight bout: Alexander Gustafsson vs Jared Hamman - I know littel of either.
Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs Rolando Delgado - Winner becasue of his name

 

[gytre]

Well unlike most of you, I think this is going to be a good card. Some interesting match-ups and some exciting young fighters. It'll be interesting to see how all those young Brit fighters have progressed since their appearances on TUF.

Main card
Light Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera - Randy can win this via the clinch game, but I just think the writing may be on the wall. Vera is on the improve; Randy is 46 and on the decline. Vera for me.
Welterweight bout: Mike Swick vs Dan Hardy - Should be a good even fight. Could go either way, but I'm going to back the Brit in his own country. Hardy by decision.
Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping vs Denis Kang - Bisping will find a way and get a controversial decision.
Welterweight bout: James Wilks vs Matt Brown - Brown really surprised me in his last fight, but I think Wilks has some serious talent so I'm backing Wilks by sub.
Lightweight bout: Ross Pearson vs Aaron Riley - I think you lot are underestimating Pearson and that this will be a close fight. But I just think Riley's superior wrestling will get him the decision.

Prelims
Welterweight bout: Paul Taylor vs John Hathaway - Taylor is all heart but Hathaway is a very talented up-and-comer. Hathaway by sub.
Lightweight bout: Terry Etim vs Shannon Gugerty - Don't know.
Welterweight bout: Nick Osipczak vs Matthew Riddle - Osipczak is indeed more technical, and Riddle young and green, but I'm going to assume Riddle has improved since TUF and that he can win this. Riddle by decision.
Lightweight bout: Paul Kelly vs Denis Siver - Kelly by decision
Light Heavyweight bout: Alexander Gustafsson vs Jared Hamman - No idea.
Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs Rolando Delgado - Winner too good in his home country.

 

[Vendrell]

I forgot that Delgado got his black belt from "McDojo".

 

[ICF89]

WOW. I Hate Vera but even I agree he was robbed which is saying something.

Matt Brown was awesome and Bisping showed some good heart coming back from a poor 1st round.

 

[Vendrell]

Just watched Pearson vs Riley, Brown vs Wilks and Bisping vs Kang online.

A lot of people are saying the main event was boring so I won't bother downloading it but everyone online is saying Vera was robbed in the 3rd and that it was more obvious than Machida/Shogun. That's really disappointing for the sport. Did Randy just hold him against the cage to "control" the octagon?

Very impressed by Pearson. I liked him on TUF as he had a good work ethic and conditioning. He should be nicknamed the pitbull if that name wasn't already taken. His stand up was pretty good and he worked the clinch well. Pearson has a lot of potential.

Matt Brown FTW!!!! How can you not love this bloke? Massive heart and work ethic which is one of the reasons Forrest Griffin loves him. Wilks seriously needs to take his conditioning to another level. His stand up is woeful too. Dunno if he trains at the gym he owns but he should probably think about joining a camp somewhere. When Brown was on TUF he was regarded as a powerful striker with KO power and he's really improved his grappling since. Really liked his takedown and submission defense. When The Immortal got the mount he just exploded with bombs.

Good to see Bisping back on track. His work on his back was very impressive and we haven't seen him in that position often. Loved the way he stood over Kang and came down with lots of clean strikes. I still rate the guy but everyone knows that his circling against Hendo was absurd. Most US fans online hate him because they don't get his sense of humour and realize that he's taking the piss and is genuinely a good bloke and quite humble. Dunno what to make of Kang. Sure he was good in Japan but he's been really poor in the UFC. I'd like to see Bisping fight the winner of Wanderlei / Sexyama or maybe someone like Maia.

 

[Magnum]

Also very impressed by Person. Was way off with that pick. Certainly improved leaps and bounds from the show. Riley is legit and was worked.

The main event was a stinker and yes, another questionable decision but it again (and i've been harping on this for literally YEARS) how shite the US MMA rules criteria are. Randy did win according to the way the criteria is, but control is so vastly overrated that all it took was squashing against the fence, stifling any offense and delivering zero damage to take a D. Was a poor showing but thats that. The sooner they can really take a look at it and implement something at least resembling how it was done in Pride, the better.

Matt Brown was great, love the guy, but I think he'll always be a gatekeeper, but one you always root for.

Daley suprised me, looked a lot bigger than swick and had a lot more power, that was the difference in the fight. His TD defense was good too.

Bisping and Kang was a good fight, great work from Bisping who was getting done in the first round.

Kang is a great fighter, but SERIOUSLY needs to work his cardio. I'm not sure why it's been so suspect in the UFC. This was the reason he lost today. He's easily as skilled as Bisping, but just gassed terribly and had nothing so Bisping took over.

I'd give Kang another shot, but that would be that, if he can't get his cardio right, he's just not going to make it. He has all the skills though, which is dissapointing.

 

[Vendrell]

I read yesterday that Kang's girlfriend committed suicide a couple of years ago. It probably derailed him for a while but you'd think it wouldn't affect his fights and preparation anymore.

Also, forgot to mention Matt Brown's flying knee - BRUTAL!

 

[ICF89]

The main event was a stinker and yes, another questionable decision but it again (and i've been harping on this for literally YEARS) how shite the US MMA rules criteria are. Randy did win according to the way the criteria is, but control is so vastly overrated that all it took was squashing against the fence, stifling any offense and delivering zero damage to take a D. Was a poor showing but thats that. The sooner they can really take a look at it and implement something at least resembling how it was done in Pride, the better.

It has nothing to do with the rules, it was just a shit decision. Clinching against the cage is nothing compared to getting top control on the ground so I have no idea how they gave Randy the fight. He hardly had a proper takedown all fight.

Wasnt as bad as the Shogun decision but still bullshit.

 

[Ross]

I initially had it for Vera too but upon rewatching the last round, eh. Vera's output for the final round was a body kick, a knee and a takedown to mount where he did no damage at all. Randy controlled the majority of the round and landed clean with several combos. This is the third time that Vera has lost a fight because he's been unable to pull the trigger. He wobbled Randy in the opening seconds of the fight and then was content to be pushed against the cage for the rest of the round, you could say that cost him the fight more than the third round.

I was pretty impressed with Hardy, he'll get smashed by GSP but then so would anybody else. Not sure why Hardy kept clinching though when he had Swick wobbling.

Big win for Bisping after losing the first round. He's got some nasty ground and pound, if he went to an American camp like Couture's and worked heavily on his takedowns he could add that extra dimension he needs to be a top contender. Kang's career is on the brink of falling apart, wouldn't surprise me if he was released after this as he probably didn't come cheap.

Brown and Wilks was a hell of a fight, Wilks's cardio wasn't great but he showed a ton of heart to stay in that fight for so long. Pearson's improvement was really surprising, he just smashed through an experienced veteran. Winner's KO was brutal yet he still couldn't get KO of the night, I'll have to check out Siver's when the fight is posted online.

 

[Magnum]

It has nothing to do with the rules, it was just a shit decision. Clinching against the cage is nothing compared to getting top control on the ground so I have no idea how they gave Randy the fight. He hardly had a proper takedown all fight.

Wasnt as bad as the Shogun decision but still bullshit.

Yeah it wasn't as bad as Shogun/Machida but still.

The rules for judging are effective striking, effective grappling, agression and 'octagon control'

"Octagon control" being the most overated of them all. Currently control >> damage - which is absolutely rediculous measure of winning a fight. Thats apparently where Randy won the fight. 'Controlling' vera up against the fence for 90% of the fight.

The fact is, fighters are ENCOURAGED to fight like that, clinching, controlling, staying on top to win rounds and fights. Its put in there for wrestlers honestly.

"Control" should only be considered to split a round if all other criteria are deemed equal, damage being king.

The criteria and method for scoring in US MMA is garbage and we'll continue to see garbage decisions and fighters fighting for 'control' rather than to finish a fight because that's how to get wins. Especially considering the 10-point must is so inflexible. If we saw some 10-10's or actually used the range of numbers from 1-10, then it would be useful. 99% of rounds are 10-9 regardless of what occured in the round. 10-8's are extremely rare. After Penn/Uno was declared a draw, the ufc are reluctant to have drawn rounds, and with all the betting etc...

Yes and the people making the decisions need to be better too. Hell, hire ex-fighters or something, someone who actually knows MMA.

Just do it how the japanese do it and we wouldn't see crap like this. It would take a little time to adjust to (japanese want to see you fight for the FINISH) but it would be better for MMA in the long run.

 

[Ross]

FightMetric scored it 29-29 with the first round as a 10-10 draw. I think that would have been the best result as almost nothing happened in the first round but since judges never score rounds as draws they gave it to Randy as he at least did something.

 

[Magnum]

Yeah in the end, Vera should have done more. He just can't seem to pull the trigger when he has the chance.

Hardly any damage was done to either fighter in the fight. Even though Randy took that hard shot to the mid section which crumpled him.

In terms of 'gameplan' Randy defiantely executed his better, and on that, I'd give him the win. It wasn't a robbery as people say... Not nearly as bad as Machida/Shogun.

Still, I don't mind I guess because I'm a fan of Randy, be interesting who they match him up with next. There are some very tough guys after the Vera level...

Randy vs Rich Franklin would be a big draw though
Randy vs Coleman could be interesting

everyone else, Rampage, Rashad, Anderson, Machida, Shogun would wreck him

 

[Red Black and Blue]

Don't get how they called the Couture v Vera a robbery, boring as shit but Randy only took about 10 hits for the whole fight and held Vera against the cage for the better part of two rounds, while throwing a few in the clinch himself.

Pearson was very impressive, probably should have tried to finish a bit more but his variation was great.

Hardy was good, but he also missed a lot of chances to finish, and should be comprehensively outclassed against GSP.

Bisbing was great, after he was rocked that first round on his back was something else, blocked so many transition attempts. His GnP in the second was sensational, seems very focused after his Hendo loss look forward to his next match. Maybe Franklin or W.Silva.

 

[Magnum]

Agree that Bisping vs Franklin would be good, but Franklin is staying at 205 I believe.

Also like to see Bisping vs Wand... Depends on the outcome vs Akiyama. Assuming Wand wins, that would be a great fight.

 

[likka]

Download finally finished... and that main event hardly made it worthwhile.

Pearson dissected Riley like a high school lab frog and proved to all and sundry he thoroughly deserved the TUF title, and more importantly has the talent to go a pretty deep at 155. Brilliant performance with still plenty of up side to be developed over the next couple of years.

Andre Winner with a very Dan Henderson-ish overhand right KTFO, although I didn't like him dropping his hands for most of the fight.

Agree with all that Hardy will most likely be destroyed by GSP, although GSP will need to be very wary of his heavy hands. He doesn't want another "Serra incident".

You could tell how much this fight meant to Bisping, was clearly emotional at the end of it. Huge pressure to perform after being humiliated by Hendo, and showed enormous guts to come back after being dominated in the first round.

Less said about the main event the better. Shit fight. Ridiculous result. I can understand how take downs and top control can influence "Octagon Control", but no way that type of standing clinch should contribute to scoring. I got the impression that Brandon didn't either.

Gustafsson with both the quote and understatement of the night... "ahh, it was a good punch".