jbrettlip wrote:4) MMA is pretty much a coin flip, considering how good the top fighters are. It should almost be a best of 3 series. One punch, or knee can end it. Look at the wEC guy (Faber I think) that looked unstoppable,beat everyone, and still got KO'd te other night.
You are absolutely correct.
A wrestler shoots in, a striker throws a knee at the same time....catches him and it's over. Misses him, and get taken down for the ground and pound. Is their timing that precise? i.e. Can a guy time the knee perfectly when the wrestler shoots? Not really. One time it works, the next time the wrestler is feinting the shoot, then grabs a single leg after the knee attempt. But there are countless examples, and they all involve a high level of luck/chance.
I'm talking about 2 guys fairly evenly matched. There are certainly classes of fighters and a high-level fighter is gonna beat a low-level fighter 95 out of 100 times.
This is a by-product of a few things. Mixing of styles - there are so many combinations and permutations of what might happen and depending on how the dice roll, one or the other will win. Also the lightly padded gloves - one punch can end it and it doesn't have to be a haymaker.
It is gonna be a rare thing to see someone dominate like Anderson Silva. And he will lose too. And it will probably be to a lesser fighter.
This is why MMA is, in my opinion, not as accurate in testing a fighter's skill as boxing. In boxing, you take a guy that is significantly better than another guy, and he will beat him, say, 99 times out of 100. In MMA, if you take an equivalent matchup, the better fighter might only win 80 times out of 100. This is why who is champion at any given time is not as exciting to follow as other fighting sports. There's a good chance that the champion is not the best fighter.
The most entertaining MMA fights are when they are both most proficient at the same style. A good standup fight when nobody really tries to take the other down. Or two real good wrestlers grappling for 15 minutes (with strikes when a superior position allows it). Or two jiu jitsu guys trading submission attempts and defending the same. Sure, there are some fights where the clash of styles is interesting and entertaining, but the best fights are when the rules are "narrowed".
Oh, and did Randy Couture throw the fight? Give me a break.
Excellent fight. They both did well. Couture went to a Thai boxing clinch and tried a knee to Lesnar's head. Not good against someone taller, bigger, and stronger than you. You don't want to create distance in the clinch like that...he should knee to the sides, but keep your body close. It looks to me like Lesnar responded with a knee to Couture and Couture never recovered. That was the first bif mistake I saw by Couture and it cost him the fight in my opinion.
Regarding the Mir fight: Losing to Frank Mir is no embarrassment. Mir can beat anyone on any given day. Mir went for Lensar's "Achilles' heel" and got the win. But Lesnar will beat Mir about 7 out of 10 fights I'd guess. Lesnar's "current brawling style" would have been a simple ground and pound with most fighters. Not too many guys have the wrestling ability to defend the takedowns like Couture. That's the only reason it was on the feet for so long. Lesnar is for real.
Regarding Lewis and Tyson: Sweet science.
