*spoilers* So how do you think they might match them in the MW GP?

[Grant Ellis]

Some questions:
Will Sperry fight at LHW in the 2005 MW GP?

Do you think they would matchup Shogun with Rampage in the first round, as a sort of "Revenge!" matchup?

If DSE obtains a UFC fighter, do you think they will match them up with Igor in the first round, as Igor is probably the most dangerous striker (with solid ground skills) at that weight?
(Igor vs. Chuck Liddell!?!?!?)

Though he lost, do you think Overeem will get to fight in it again? He performed well, even in losing. Same with Ninja (who only lost the fight because the judges blinked at the wrong times for him... that's how close the fight was on both sides.)

We know Nakamura wants Ryan Gracie, but what if Ryan arrives wrapped all up like a blue mummy and says something noone can understand, not even his family, and then throws rocks a a famous jiu-jitsu player's car again? Who would be a good replacement?

Any word on Arona, Bustamante's, or Sakuraba's involvement?

If Tito is banned from MMA till his nose heals, do you think Vitor might go to DSE for the show?

Answer with your thoughts and opinions.
I'd love to hear them.

[krikit]

I see Shogun vs Rampage happening, I bet Pride wants to set up Gracie vs Nakamura question is if Ryan accepts or not.

What worries me is the lack of Arona, if both Sperry and Nogueria is in it, there might be some problems getting in more BTT players like Arona or Belfort in the event. I don't think Overeem will be there, he did decent against Nogueira but I don't see him beating any top players. He needs to improve his boxing and timing in the standing alot.

I'd like to see Ortiz in Pride, question is if he wants to leave the UFC and the cage. I don't think the NSAC ban carries much weight with Pride or at all in Japan.

[FieldingMellish]

I'd like to see Ortiz in Pride, question is if he wants to leave the UFC and the cage. I don't think the NSAC ban carries much weight with Pride or at all in Japan.

If Pride ignore the ban it could have nasty repercussions for them 'when' they run a show in the US. You know - 'when' - they run the show they've been talking about for years....

Since they probably have no intention of running in the US then I can see Ortiz being a genuine possibility, but whether he really wants to fight in a ring, which favours strikers (and he's been hurt/dropped/KO'ed by Shamrock, Liddell, Cote and Belfort now) and where he won't have the cage to pin people up against or elbows to drop on them is another matter.

One thing I do think could favour Ortiz though is the 10minute first round. He has some of the best cardio in the business and I could see him going at a very fast pace for the full round. Something not many fighters can do with any real success.

[Grant Ellis]

One thing Tito WILL have though is knees on the ground.

Remember, those are what he used to beat the shit out of Guy Mezger before he got caught in the choke.

[nycfreefight]

I read this post and what comes to mind is Vovchanchyn vs Liddell...wow, what a match-up.... Anyway,the only three fighters I can see the UFC sending to the Pride MW GP, are Liddell, Couture (which will be very unlikely) or Ortiz. Two of the UFC fighters I just mentioned, Couture and Ortiz, would come into such a tournament with a major disadvantage, Pride uses a ring, the UFC uses the Octagon. While Couture and Ortiz are great fighters in a cage, Liddell prefers the stand-up game, so when it comes to the ring, I've got to give Liddell a better chance at advancing if he's chosen to represent the UFC. Either way, I'd like to see who the UFC enters in the tournament.

[majorcunningham]

i don't expect 8 first round matches. more likely there wil be 6 or 7 matches, or at least that's what ( o Y o ) has said over the last few weeks. i say 7 matches coz wandy might get a bye, and 6 matches because saku may also be unable to make the first round.

id expect a first round that looks like this. i predict this as if silva and saku are missing.

arona vs tito

shogun vs rampage

sperry vs igor

lil nog vs chonan

nakamura vs ryan

yoshida vs ninja

and if both silva and sakuraba partcipate in round one, i think it will look different... basically because i believe yoshida will get to fight his man, silva.

sakuraba vs tamura

silva vs yoshida

ryan vs nakamura

sperry vs ninja

igor vs kondo

shogun vs rampage

lil nog vs hendo

crosley gracie vs chonan

that's the strongest line-up i can think of that is still realistic imo.

fighters i would also like to see. chuck, machida, k. shamrock, and of course randy couture. a shout for elvis schembri too. a jiu-jtsu world champion who has trained for now over a year at Chute Boxe. remember the improvement (albeit a losing effort) against saku? he'll be btter now surely. i think he has a shot of entering, if some of the other guys don't compete. then again, then there'd be four chute box members. too many imo.

i unfortunately think that DSE have always viewed chuck as a danger to silva. his laid back counter punching technique is perfect for silva imo (although i not saying he'll beat silva!!), so it makes sense for DSE to keep away from him. it's a shame, as
igor vs chuck is just about the best fantasy match that ive heard suggested in a while.

i am sad that overeem cant be involved after what sounds like a deserved, but close loss to lil nog. he's damn exciting and he's imroving all the time. plus, he's young. i hope pride can see this and bring him back in time.

i dont think we'll see vitor in the gp at all. i know pride has already come out and said that they want him, but do pride want to set up the potential second round with possibly vitor, sperry, lil nog and arona? possibly even paulo filho fom repots from ive read. that's four or five BTT members, none of which will face each other in the opening round. so that makes possibly 4 or 5 of the last 8 all representing BTT. a conflict of interests anybody? with BTT's recent controversy, they don't even need that situation. i realise that other factors (namely, the fact that they would all have to win their matches in the first round) surround this situation,but considering the talent involved at BTT it could happen.

the only reason for vitor to really be involvd is for a re-match with silva.

also, pride would have a vested interest in possibly seeing some of the BTT members go out of the tournament, so as to ensure an exciting tournament. overall imo, the pros of having all those fighters from one team are far outweighed by the cons.

btw, would anyone be excited to see five BTT members in the gp? i may have mis-read the situation.

i think we'll see crosley gracie as well, although i wish we wouldnt. he needs (and his obvious talent deserves) to be protected for this year at least imo. to be honest, i would also have liked to see shogun given a couple more full pride shows before going againt somene like rampage. still, ninja was ready at shogun's age....

[( o Y o )]

One thing you know they will push like hell is Saku vs Tamura as it is a HUGE fight in Japan which will give them "goldenhour" air time.....possibly even live, and it has the added bonus of a popular japanese fighter making it to round 2.

[AKA]

One thing you know they will push like hell is Saku vs Tamura as it is a HUGE fight in Japan which will give them "goldenhour" air time.....possibly even live, and it has the added bonus of a popular japanese fighter making it to round 2.
Tamura is really well known in Japan? I know that Saku is famous, but Tamura???
(btw one of the best japanese ever imo)

[( o Y o )]

Tamura is huge in Japan.

Almost comparable to Saku although he doesn't quite get the mass media coverage, and tends to shy away from it.

He covers both puroresu and MMA fans so is a massive draw.

Lets not forget the last MWGP that didn't sell out until Mr. X was announced as being Tam......

[Toffa]

I want a rematch between Igor and Rampage, Igor vs Ryan would be pretty good too :D

[roadfighter3]

if anyone from btt, id like to see arona. i feel he is the only one with a legitimate shot from btt at the title.

qj vs shogun will more than likely happen in the 1st round now.

i hope yoshida vs silva does NOT happen in 1st round, as id like to see yoshida advance a little.

tamura vs saku has been lingering for a while and probably will happen.

everything else is just speculation

[Grant Ellis]

Arona has a legitimate shot, but Rogerio who was twice as active and undefeated in PRIDE doesn't deserve a shot? :X

[roadfighter3]

Arona has a legitimate shot, but Rogerio who was twice as active and undefeated in PRIDE doesn't deserve a shot? :X


i dunno, maybe its just me, but rogerio never impressed me all that much. i dont think he has what it takes to beat silva. maybe if he submitted overeem i would feel otherwise. i see him making it to the round of 8 or possibly the final four but not any farther. arona on the other hand i think has a great shot at beating silva. he has a lot of strength and can wrestle silva down as long as he doesnt eat too many knees in the process. in a rematch i see arona beating rampage.

[Grant Ellis]

i dunno, maybe its just me, but rogerio never impressed me all that much. i dont think he has what it takes to beat silva. maybe if he submitted overeem i would feel otherwise. i see him making it to the round of 8 or possibly the final four but not any farther. arona on the other hand i think has a great shot at beating silva. he has a lot of strength and can wrestle silva down as long as he doesnt eat too many knees in the process. in a rematch i see arona beating rampage.

I don't know, if you say Rogerio doesn't impress you because he didn't finish Overeem, but Arona does (because he finishes SO many guys...)... I guess you're entitled to your opinion, but it doesn't seem really consistent.

Arona's last win was over a fighter with no mma experience.

Arona has the takedown over Silva, but he even said himself after losing to Jackson he knows he would need to be much more prepared to fight Silva, in the standup portion especially.

About wrestling Silva down, a single knee is one knee too many in this sort of thing. And the takedown should rely on technique (Sakuraba style), not strength. Just using stength will burn out your energy; ie you'll gas.

Now, I don't make predictions on fights, and Arona very well might be able to take Silva down and hold him on the ground for twenty minutes, but PRIDE has basically become an organization to stand the fight up quick if it gets boring on the ground. I don't find Arona boring, but a lot of people do. Arona spends a lot of energy on his takedowns (we've seen him gas) so he would have to be very active down there.

Rogerio's jiu-jitsu is far more technical than Arona's. By that I mean he has the better submissions, and I think he also has better standup than Arona. Sure, Silva is a monster, but Arona's style is "Control where the fight is fought and try to score takedown and positioning points"...which means he isn't going to try to finish Silva unless the opportunity presents itself (but we've seen Arona be conservative in Abu Dhabi...doesn't really finish guys there, but rather wins on takedown and position) Rogerio's style is "strike and submit." He might not finish every opponent, but at least he constantly tries to. It would be a more exciting fight for the fans.

He came close to submitting Overeem two or three times, which is pretty impressive on this level. He struck with Overeem, he out conditioned Overeem, and he won the fight. And it was an exciting fight. Fights can go the distance and still be exciting.

I'm not sure what I'm getting at... probably that "Rogerio has never impressed me because he didn't finish a fighter, but Arona has a lot of strength and can wrestle Silva down" isn't built on much logic, because Silva has fought strong grapplers before... but the guy to beat him is probably going to have a style close to his.

We'll see what happens.

[roadfighter3]

I don't know, if you say Rogerio doesn't impress you because he didn't finish Overeem, but Arona does (because he finishes SO many guys...)... I guess you're entitled to your opinion, but it doesn't seem really consistent.

Arona's last win was over a fighter with no mma experience.

Arona has the takedown over Silva, but he even said himself after losing to Jackson he knows he would need to be much more prepared to fight Silva, in the standup portion especially.

About wrestling Silva down, a single knee is one knee too many in this sort of thing. And the takedown should rely on technique (Sakuraba style), not strength. Just using stength will burn out your energy; ie you'll gas.

Now, I don't make predictions on fights, and Arona very well might be able to take Silva down and hold him on the ground for twenty minutes, but PRIDE has basically become an organization to stand the fight up quick if it gets boring on the ground. I don't find Arona boring, but a lot of people do. Arona spends a lot of energy on his takedowns (we've seen him gas) so he would have to be very active down there.

Rogerio's jiu-jitsu is far more technical than Arona's. By that I mean he has the better submissions, and I think he also has better standup than Arona. Sure, Silva is a monster, but Arona's style is "Control where the fight is fought and try to score takedown and positioning points"...which means he isn't going to try to finish Silva unless the opportunity presents itself (but we've seen Arona be conservative in Abu Dhabi...doesn't really finish guys there, but rather wins on takedown and position) Rogerio's style is "strike and submit." He might not finish every opponent, but at least he constantly tries to. It would be a more exciting fight for the fans.

He came close to submitting Overeem two or three times, which is pretty impressive on this level. He struck with Overeem, he out conditioned Overeem, and he won the fight. And it was an exciting fight. Fights can go the distance and still be exciting.

I'm not sure what I'm getting at... probably that "Rogerio has never impressed me because he didn't finish a fighter, but Arona has a lot of strength and can wrestle Silva down" isn't built on much logic, because Silva has fought strong grapplers before... but the guy to beat him is probably going to have a style close to his.

We'll see what happens.


yeah i understand what you're saying. i suppose it's just a matter of opinion and the impressions i got from the fights ive seen.

i think the reason i feel arona is a better fighter than rogerio is because the moments that ive seen him (now i wont admit to seeing all his fights, but ive seen a few), i never really saw him in any sort of danger of losing, and he seemed to control the pace of his fights (although he made them slow and boring for the most part). in addition, i was actually very impressed with his bout vs rampage. even though he lost, he was clearly winning up to the point he made a mistake and got KOed by the slambutt.

he's also been displaying some improved standup and some of the nastiest leg kicks ive ever seen. QJ reportedly said he had a hard time walking for days after that fight.

also, the guys arona couldnt finish were guys like mezger (whom rogerio couldnt finish either), ninja, and hendo, all top 10 fighters at the times. rogerio has yet to score a win against a top 10 opponent.

on paper, you're totally right about how arona has been very inactive as of late, and how rogerio has been on a hot streak. my opinion is mostly just absed on a hunch from what ive seen. its my opinion that arona has a hell of a lot of potential (he even gave fedor a tough match), and hopefully this GP he will showcase his ability. your opinion is as good as mine, and i guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens in the GP.