UFC 85: London 02 Arena, 6/7/08

[rawli007]

He better not let this fight hit the ground or he will be in deep shit. Werdum is not Silva.

Werdum will be in deep shit in the striking game... big time. And Werdum's takedowns are pretty poor if u ask me...

Lots of people dont know Vera was invited to the Olympic training facility in Colorado after his stint w/ college wrestling... Vera can hold his own against any wrestler... He also holds a brown belt in BJJ under Lloyd Irvin, but ur right.. anybody is vulnerable against Werdum on the ground due to his world-class sub game...

:SIB

 

[rawli007]

That is another thing that bothers me about Vera. Its like he thinks he belongs at heavy weight. Makes you wonder how much he likes to train. He takes the old BJ Penn approach to training. I don't think he is interested in dropping weight to become a L heavyweight and you know he could if he wanted too.

I dont stalk Vera at his gym or anything... but I seems Vera has REALLY stepped it up a notch w/ his training for this one...

he has a special website that mmamania.com mentioned one day called brandonveratraining.com (thats original)... and they release videos of his training sessions, etc... he's started the hypoxia training (or whatever it's called) to simulate high altitude and spars w/ Jake O'Brien now, who has great takedowns.....Just some thoughts.

i think Vera comes in hot and Werdum will find out he's in real trouble w/ the standup.... Vera by TKO inside two rounds.. :shrug:

:0corn

 

[weepaul]

Werdum will be in deep shit in the striking game... big time. And Werdum's takedowns are pretty poor if u ask me...

Sure Werdum will have the submission advantage, but lots of people dont know Vera was invited to the Olympic training facility in Colorado after his stint w/ college wrestling... Vera can hold his own against any wrestler... He also holds a brown belt in BJJ under Lloyd Irvin, but ur right.. anybody is vulnerable against Werdum on the ground due to his elite sub game...

:SIB

I agree Werdum will be in deep shit on the feet.

I know about Vera's wrestling capabilities, and how he is a very capable Lloyd Brown belt in BJJ. This is the reason I was sooo disappointed in the Sylvia performance.

I still say if (and thats a big IF) the fight hits the ground Vera will be in trouble. Vera is good but he is not in Werdums league in BJJ.

 

[rawli007]

I agree Werdum will be in deep shit on the feet.

I know about Vera's wrestling capabilities, and how he is a very capable Lloyd Brown belt in BJJ. This is the reason I was sooo disappointed in the Sylvia performance.

I still say if (and thats a big IF) the fight hits the ground Vera will be in trouble. Vera is good but he is not in Werdums league in BJJ.

I agree 100%... i edited my post to change Werdum to a "world-class" sub guy... to me he is the best sub guy in the HW division in the world... or at least one of the most capable sub guys at HW.. but everything else is pretty sloppy from him when it comes to MMA... just my opinion, of course..

Watching old Werdum fights he has a lot of failed takedown attempts and i hope it stays that way...

I hope it was just ring rust that Vera showed against Sylvia..


dance1

 

[The Sponge]

Rich Franklin, Wanderelei Silva both could drop down weight classes. Does that mean they don't train hard?

Those two don't look sloppy and if they did drop down they would look sickly and weak. If you watch the Vera Silvia match you will hear the announcers talking about his lack of training. That is why at the end of the match Vera asked the crowd if he should continue to stay at heavyweight and then conned himself into thinking the crowd was all for it while all they did was boo his pathetic performance. I too was a big fan of his but that performance put a real bad taste in my mouth.

 

[gardenweasel]

has werdum ever been stopped?....i don`t think so...and he`s been in with some quality opponents...

 

[layinwood]

Rich Franklin, Wanderelei Silva both could drop down weight classes. Does that mean they don't train hard?

Rich couldn't drop a class. He's a very very big **.


If the Vera Werdum fight goes to the ground, Vera is in big trouble. Werdum is as good as it gets on the ground with some very slick BJJ

 

[BUCSnotYUCKS]

has werdum ever been stopped?....i don`t think so...and he`s been in with some quality opponents...

Werdum has definately fought some tough fighters.

I'm not saying Vera is the better ground fighter. I'm just saying that Vera's not in deep shit on the ground. It's not like it's a wrestler vs kickboxer matchup.

As far as the best ground game in the world @ HW? First off, I don't think he's fought enough to get his name thrown in the hat, but if we were to discuss that I'd go with Big Nog hands down.

 

[rawli007]

As far as the best ground game in the world @ HW? First off, I don't think he's fought enough to get his name thrown in the hat, but if we were to discuss that I'd go with Big Nog hands down.

Big Nog has that decision over Werdum in MMA.. but I put him and Werdum on the same playing field in a grappling match. Ive watched a good bit of Werdum's tournament matches and he can hang w/ anyone in the world on the ground.

No doubt Nogueira is more accomplished in the MMA world, though.. Hope we see that matchup again in the future.

 

[weepaul]

Big Nog has that decision over Werdum in MMA.. but I put him and Werdum on the same playing field in a grappling match. Ive watched a good bit of Werdum's tournament matches and he can hang w/ anyone in the world on the ground.

No doubt Nogueira is more accomplished in the MMA world, though.. Hope we see that matchup again in the future.

Did you guys watch his fight with big Nog? Werdum was the bigger threat with subs when they were on the ground. Nog won that fight due to better stand up.

I would not be surprised if Vera wins but Werdum has heart. He stay's in there while getting beat down and has great BJJ. His takedowns are shite and his stand up is shite but he is fighting a smaller fighter in Vera, so IF it hits the ground he will have a very big advantage in my opinion.

This is one fight I will not bet on.

Good luck all.

 

[rawli007]

Did you guys watch his fight with big Nog? Werdum was the bigger threat with subs when they were on the ground. Nog won that fight due to better stand up.

Nope, never gotten to see that one... Not surprised that Werdum had the upper hand on the ground.. He can control w/ his jiu jitsu skill from top and bottom.. really incredible to see from a guy his size..... I watch a lot of footage of grappling tournaments and Werdum has been most impressive to me within the higher weight divisions...

Actually didnt even know they had fought 'til i started researching Werdum vs. Vera....

 

[muhr]

I'd include Josh Barnett as among the top HW grapplers. He fought Rodrigo twice and came closer to finishing the fight with subs. He had a scream inducing kneebar in the 1st fight that was only stopped due to time expiring and a deep guillotine in the 2nd, whereas Rodrigo only had an unextended armbar.

Werdum, against Rodrigo had several guillotines and numerous takedowns. It was Rodrigo's standup that won him the fight. I think he had 2 or 3 knockdowns.

As to Vera vs. Werdum, I think Vera kicks the hell out of his legs, thwarts Werdum's erratic takedowns and wins by decision.

 

[rawli007]

As to Vera vs. Werdum, I think Vera kicks the hell out of his legs, thwarts Werdum's erratic takedowns and wins by decision.

Luv it, muhr... thats what im thinkin.. got three units on Vera so ill be pullin for a devastating knockout, but a decision will do.. :mj07:

 

[The Sponge]

As to Vera vs. Werdum, I think Vera kicks the hell out of his legs, thwarts Werdum's erratic takedowns and wins by decision.

Muhr unfortunately i thought the same thing against Tim Silvia and Vera never showed up. You have any inside source to know which Vera shows up? Hell i watch Vera look great in five fights in a row and think he is the next big thing so i throw some cash on him and he fights like it was his first time out there.:shrug:

 

[muhr]

Muhr unfortunately i thought the same thing against Tim Silvia and Vera never showed up. You have any inside source to know which Vera shows up? Hell i watch Vera look great in five fights in a row and think he is the next big thing so i throw some cash on him and he fights like it was his first time out there.:shrug:

If Vera watched Gonzaga vs. Werdum he should have a good idea what to do. Vera certainly tapered off vs. Tim, but he's not a mentally fragile fighter like Gonzaga. I don't think Werdum's size and skill set poses as many problems as Tim's did.

 

[zac]

thanks for the pick saturday night guys- i did well. I see that kick likes J. Day. My local has him +300, so i am all over that.

 

[kickserv]

You got that right zac......Day at those odds is nice:scared He has a great shot at winning, will be tough for him to beat the hometown boy, but I really think he can do it. We will see just how good Bisping is on the ground, because Day is incredible on his back:scared

Also...nice to have a bookie with UFC odds....damn:scared And at +300, sweet:SIB

 

[kickserv]

to avoid any confusion, here is the fight card, there have been 865 corrections to the card, so here we go:

-Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves
-Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites
-Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera
-Michael Bisping vs. Jason Day
-Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick
-Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera
-Kevin Burns vs. Roan Carneiro
-Thiago Tavares vs. Matt Wiman
-Jess Liaudin vs. Paul Taylor
-Eddie Sanchez vs. Antoni Hardonk
-Jason Lambert vs. Luiz Arthur Cane

 

[rawli007]

You got that right zac......Day at those odds is nice:scared He has a great shot at winning, will be tough for him to beat the hometown boy, but I really think he can do it. We will see just how good Bisping is on the ground, because Day is incredible on his back:scared

Also...nice to have a bookie with UFC odds....damn:scared And at +300, sweet:SIB

Kick, didya see this article yet?:

http://mmamania.com/2008/06/02/michael-bisping-is-better-at-everything-than-jason-day-at-ufc-85/

... I would love to see Bisping get beat. Dont see how anyone could really fear him :shrug: Maybe its the British accent :shrug: I know a lot of people think highly of him, but i just dont get it..? Hope Day reads this and gets amped up.... think we learn a lot about Bisping this weekend..

 

[kickserv]

ummmmm.......I like Bisping and I do think he's a good mma fighter....but ummm "he's better at everything" I don't think so. I do think Bisping is underestimating Day a bit. Day has lots of experiance and won't be phased by the crowd. And Bisping is in for a wake up call if he thinks he is going to pound Day on the ground.

Oh and yes, Day is aware of what Bisping is saying, heard him on local radio and he was commenting on Bisping. Day has nothing to lose, and that could be the difference in the fight. Day is legit, should be a hell of a battle, can't wait to watch it.