Lyoto Machida VS Rameau Sokoudjou

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

I dont know how much you guys are interested in MMA or this fight in general. However, other than Wandy vs Liddell this fight makes the 3rd fight that would be a main event potential on any other ORG's card.

Sokoudjou hasn't fought in awhile but he's coming of 2 KO's of world class MMA fighters Ricardo Arona, whom has fought the most elite of elite fighters in the world.

Arona's only other losses are to Wanderlei Silva, Quinton Jackson, Fedor Emelianenko, and Shogun Rua. He's got noteable wins over Sakuraba, Wanderlei Silva(1st time), Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson, Jeremy Horn 2x, and Guy Mezger.

The 2nd KO came way of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira aka "Lil Nog." He's the younger brother of Heavyweight, now UFC fighter "Big Nog." His accomplishments are right up there with Arona's.

Now, Machida is a great fighter as well. His knock is that he doesn't bring it every night and he's a boring fighter. He's undefeated, with wins of Rich Franklin(first to ever do so) by KO, and Stephen Bonner, and BJ Penn.

This fight is going to be interesting to see who can impose their style/strategy. You can count on Sokoudjou's quick and somewhat seemingly invisible striking.

Me? I would favor Sokoudjou. He has the better most recent wins. However, Machida is opened up as the favorite and Sokoudjou @ 2.00

People, jump on this, and I mean it!

 

[weepaul]

Sorry Bro,
I would go the opposite of your pick. I believe Machida is the most under rated good fighter out there.

Both of Sok's last wins were a complete shock as the Nog brothers usually have cement for chins and Arona is world class. I think Sok can beat anyone he hits, especially in the first 30 seconds.

BUT, Sok has lost in the first round to Glover Teixeira and he is not in Machida's class.

He also only won by split decision against Gary Padilla.

Machida has never come close to losing against good opposition.

I think Machida is carefull for the first couple of minutes and then starts to take Sok apart.

We shall see.

 

[layinwood]

Machida is a lot like Huerta(before the other night anyway) in that he hasn't had any big fights. Rich is a weight class under him(the one thing that makes Rich good in his class is his size so it negates the big positive Rich has over most fighters) and hell him even fighting BJ is embarassing. BJ freaking fights in a class 40 lbs less than Machida and Machida still couldn't KO BJ.

I think with the oddsm Soku is a good bet but I doubt you'll see my money on either.

 

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

Sorry Bro,
I would go the opposite of your pick. I believe Machida is the most under rated good fighter out there.

Both of Sok's last wins were a complete shock as the Nog brothers usually have cement for chins and Arona is world class. I think Sok can beat anyone he hits, especially in the first 30 seconds.

BUT, Sok has lost in the first round to Glover Teixeira and he is not in Machida's class.

He also only won by split decision against Gary Padilla.

Machida has never come close to losing against good opposition.

I think Machida is carefull for the first couple of minutes and then starts to take Sok apart.

We shall see.

LOL...Gary Padilla was Sokoudjou's first fight, do I need to say that again? Machida hasn't had convincing wins like Sokoudjou has.

You call beating this guy by split decision convicing? http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=3419

You call beating his last 4 opponents by just laying on them and winning by dicision convincing?

Machida IMO could very well be the MOST OVERRATED top notch fighter in the world.

His fights are boring and he doesn't really fight. He just tries to win by decision and get by.

Your statement has too many flaws in it. There are world class fighters, HOF type fighters who've lost to guys that aren't in the top tier, does that mean they're not top of the line?

 

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

Machida is a lot like Huerta(before the other night anyway) in that he hasn't had any big fights. Rich is a weight class under him(the one thing that makes Rich good in his class is his size so it negates the big positive Rich has over most fighters) and hell him even fighting BJ is embarassing. BJ freaking fights in a class 40 lbs less than Machida and Machida still couldn't KO BJ.

I think with the oddsm Soku is a good bet but I doubt you'll see my money on either.

Rich Frankin is a helluva fighter, no doubt. Silva just has nis number. But we also gotta remember that Machida's win over him was in 2003.

 

[weepaul]

LOL...Gary Padilla was Sokoudjou's first fight, do I need to say that again? Machida hasn't had convincing wins like Sokoudjou has.

You call beating this guy by split decision convicing? http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=3419

You call beating his last 4 opponents by just laying on them and winning by dicision convincing?

Machida IMO could very well be the MOST OVERRATED top notch fighter in the world.

His fights are boring and he doesn't really fight. He just tries to win by decision and get by.

Your statement has too many flaws in it. There are world class fighters, HOF type fighters who've lost to guys that aren't in the top tier, does that mean they're not top of the line?

What I am saying is, Sok looked like a killer in 2 fights that he was supposed to lose.

Machida is steady, boring but steady. He is good on his feet and on the ground. He beat the shit out of Rich when Rich was supposed to be the next big thing.
He beat a fat BJ, no big deal but his Bonner win was pretty impressive as he was beating him up pretty good before the fight was stopped on cuts.
Nakamura has some very decent wins but Machida neutralized him. That is what he does, he neutralizes opponents and I expect him to do the same thing with Sok.

This reminds me so much of Houston Alexander.

As I say, we shall see.

 

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

Sokoudjou is nowhere near comparison the Alexander. Alexander was a free wild striker.

 

[weepaul]

Who posted 2 brutal KO's just like Sok. I am not trying to compare their skill level as Sok is a good Judoka, so he must have a ground game.

People see the brutal KO's and forget about their other fights, thats my point.

I know Machida has a boring style but it's the type of boring style that neutralizes his opponents strength.

You have your point of view and I have mine, one of us will be wrong at the end of December.

We shall see.

 

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

I am not doubting Machida's skills. I just think that he won't be able to neutralize Sokoudjou. One of use will be right, indeed

 

[weepaul]

I am not doubting Machida's skills. I just think that he won't be able to neutralize Sokoudjou. One of use will be right, indeed

You might be right. Especially if your MMA picks are 7-0. That's a damm site more accurate than me as of late :scared.

 

[The Sponge]

Good stuff Bucs and Weepaul. Weepaul i see you have 21 post? I hope you stick around. The two of you guys are nice additions to the Boxing MMa site. Hope you guys are around on dec 29th. Tough time with the holiday' sThis way Lay, Weasel, Kick and the rest of the guys jump in. Hell even the top boxing guys jump in from time to time. Need to work on BoxLocks thou. been trying to pry that boxing glove out of his ass for a year now to get him to watch some MMA. Think he is weakening but i may need the two of you guys to help out.

 

[weepaul]

Good stuff Bucs and Weepaul. Weepaul i see you have 21 post? I hope you stick around. The two of you guys are nice additions to the Boxing MMa site. Hope you guys are around on dec 29th. Tough time with the holiday' sThis way Lay, Weasel, Kick and the rest of the guys jump in. Hell even the top boxing guys jump in from time to time. Need to work on BoxLocks thou. been trying to pry that boxing glove out of his ass for a year now to get him to watch some MMA. Think he is weakening but i may need the two of you guys to help out.

Thanks Sponge,

Boxing was and always will be my first love but I do love MMA.

I am not a fly by night MMA fan. I have a vast collection of MMA including all the Pride's, Rings king of kings, Pancrease and shooto.

I actually have Fedor's only loss on DVD to TK on a stupid cut 30 seconds into the fight. I also have Fedor fighting one of the guys that Buc was talking about, Arona. In my opinion Arona should have won that fight. It makes Sok's win all the more impressive.

I have a rare Vitali Klitschko kickboxing match in Pancrease. He was pretty good with his legs.
I wonder if that DVD will be worth money some day. :shrug:

 

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

You might be right. Especially if your MMA picks are 7-0. That's a damm site more accurate than me as of late :scared.

I'm 7-0 when I've gambled. I participate on another fantasy league site where you play for $. However, I don't really count that as the same.

On that, I'm 62-42 Alot of the reasons my record is like that is because I bet on every match on that site. I wanna see how I can truely do by betting on every match. I think anyone could pick n chose their matches and have a really good record.

 

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

Good stuff Bucs and Weepaul. Weepaul i see you have 21 post? I hope you stick around. The two of you guys are nice additions to the Boxing MMa site. Hope you guys are around on dec 29th. Tough time with the holiday' sThis way Lay, Weasel, Kick and the rest of the guys jump in. Hell even the top boxing guys jump in from time to time. Need to work on BoxLocks thou. been trying to pry that boxing glove out of his ass for a year now to get him to watch some MMA. Think he is weakening but i may need the two of you guys to help out.

I might not show my head for awhile if Wanderlei loses

 

[weepaul]

I might not show my head for awhile if Wanderlei loses

LOL I figured you liked Silva by your sig. Great fighter but I don't know if I can ever forgive him for destroying my Favourite MMA fighter of all time, Sakuraba, 3 times.

 

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

Poor Sakuraba. I sure hope he really hangs it up for good. He's was a great fighter, but I think it's time to walk away...

I'd like to see Wanderlei fight Cro Cop and Henderson again. However, I like Wandy at LHW and Cro Cop is best at HW and Henderson is best at **. Neither are what I'd like to see Wanderlei fight at.

I'd like(not really) to see him beatup on Rampage again, because all the nutthuggin on Rampage is getting on my nerves. He's a good fighter, but I don't think he's the best LHW in the UFC.

 

[gardenweasel]

bucs...is the soukoudjou comment considered a "play".......

or just a random opinion?....

thanks...

 

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

I will be hammering Sokoudjou

 

[weepaul]

I will be hammering Sokoudjou

Then your money is safe Bucs as I will bet Machida. I am the same guy who has lost THOUSANDS on such winning bets as-

Gonzaga over Couture
Junior Assuncao over Nate Diaz
Sell over Quarry
Thomas over Florian
Sanchez over Fitch

Starnes over Belcher ($2,000). Decided to win my money back at the last minute while drunk and bet Vera over Sylvia. Lost an additional $4,000.

But my best UFC by far is UFC 73

Marquardt over Silva. Lost $1,500

Franka over Sherk. Lost $1,500

Bocek over Edgar. Lost $2,500. I trained with Bocek and was sure he would sub Edgar.

Saraiva over Gurgel. Lost $250.

Herring over Nogueira. Lost $100.

Robinson over Florian. Lost $250.

If ONE out of the 3 big bets had hit. I would have won big or broke even.
The only reason that I did not throw myself in the river is because my boxing bets have saved my arse from bankruptcy and a divorce LOL.

The night of UFC 73 was the same night as Donaire beating Darchinyan at +850 and
Joachim Alcine beat Travis Simms at +450. I bet both Dogs that night so I made back a lot of my losses but not all.

Your money is in the bank :00hour

Good Luck.

 

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

Then your money is safe Bucs as I will bet Machida. I am the same guy who has lost THOUSANDS on such winning bets as-

Gonzaga over Couture
Junior Assuncao over Nate Diaz
Sell over Quarry
Thomas over Florian
Sanchez over Fitch

Starnes over Belcher ($2,000). Decided to win my money back at the last minute while drunk and bet Vera over Sylvia. Lost an additional $4,000.

But my best UFC by far is UFC 73

Marquardt over Silva. Lost $1,500

Franka over Sherk. Lost $1,500

Bocek over Edgar. Lost $2,500. I trained with Bocek and was sure he would sub Edgar.

Saraiva over Gurgel. Lost $250.

Herring over Nogueira. Lost $100.

Robinson over Florian. Lost $250.

If ONE out of the 3 big bets had hit. I would have won big or broke even.
The only reason that I did not throw myself in the river is because my boxing bets have saved my arse from bankruptcy and a divorce LOL.

The night of UFC 73 was the same night as Donaire beating Darchinyan at +850 and
Joachim Alcine beat Travis Simms at +450. I bet both Dogs that night so I made back a lot of my losses but not all.

Your money is in the bank :00hour

Good Luck.

LOL, well atleast one of us will be winning then.

Of those bets you placed, I took a look back and here's what I had in those fights:

Couture over Gonzaga
Nate Diaz over Assuncao
Quarry over Sell...but was hard not to pick Sell because of Quarry's back condition.
Thomas over Florian...Thomas got hurt badly in this fight when he hurt his knee. Otherwise you never know what coulda happened.
Fitch over Sanchez...I think he's on Bisping level as far as overratedness. I love how Fitch brings it.
Starnes over Belcher
Silva over Marquardt
Sherk over Franca
Edgar over Bocek...Frank Edgar is the real deal
Gurgel over Saraiva
Nogueira over Herring
Florian over Robinson

Now I'm not trying to brag, because I'm not. They were simply just picks.

Anyways, over this time period, I had some really good picks going. UFC 73 I picked every single fight right. 2 fights by the exact happening, and 3 fights by the right happening, just wrong round.


What I've learned over the past couple of years in the MMA world is alot of the times you have to stay away from the picks that you WANT to win. Not necessarily who you think will win. Alot of the times you find yourself betting/picking against an opponent because you simply don't like them, or for whatever reason.

Typically, I don't try and force the issue. If you're unsure of who's going to win, or you see yourself picking a fighter because you just simply want the other fighter to lose, just stay away from it...

I know the underdogs are typically GREAT payouts in MMA, but rarely do they happen.(Yes, I know there's been alot of upsets this year, but you prolly couldn't count them all on 1 hand as far as YOU WOULD'VE NEVER EXPECTED.) Some of the upsets I've seen, IMO aren't as shockers as you'd think.