ufc futures

[No1mikefan]

Randy cant pick every fight correct.....LOL!! he is due for a loss. I dont know that he picked Rashad as much as he basically said what you have pointed out. He said that Rashad presents a bad match up for Tito.....He also said that if Rashad doesnt stick to his game plan that Tito will capitalize on any mistake? You could take his statements either way. Bottom line, it was the best countdown show yet. Check the listings for the replay, definately worth checking out! Yea, the muscle shark is something else, Joe rogan said he looks like a comic book character....His build is unreal! I cant wait buddy!!!!

[yukoncornelius]

Didn't see the show but apparently Couture picked Rashad... :-D


I did see all access Sherk... that guy has the most amazing dedication with training and eating right that I have EVER seen. Its hard to not like someone who is that intense about keeping the belt. That said, the value is with Hermes, and theres a damn good chance that Franca catches him in a sub from the bottom. Hermes better bring a full gas tank though.

Marquardt better follow the game plan that Greg Jackson has put together for him, and not choose the "hey I'm proud, I'm gonna stand and bang". Nate follows smart game plan - he wins.

[No1mikefan]

It seems that Rashad Evans has been drinking the same kool-aid as my fellow capper Yukon....... Just kidding buddy, here a clip from his interview. Dont forget they are showing the countdown to 73 tonight on Spike followed by a Sean Sherk special, should be good. I cant wait!!!

Many people believe that Tito hasn’t been the same in a while. After all, his last three fights he has beaten Ken Shamrock twice and lost to Chuck Liddell. “I feel like he’s really only fought Ken Shamrock,” Evans said. “He tried against Chuck. But he’s scared of Chuck, and he doesn’t look like the same fighter. His fight with Forrest Griffin could have went either way.”

Evans trains out of the very popular Greg Jackson camp, which has fallen on hard times as of late. Joey Villasenor, Keith Jardine, Diego Sanchez and Georges St-Pierre have all lost their last fights, but that doesn’t affect Rashad. “Every time I go out there, I fight for the Jackson team. I always try to go out there and represent. It’s unfortunate that we lost a few in a row, but that’s the name of the game. I won’t feel any added pressure though.”

Rashad is looking to get his camp back on track with a win over Tito Ortiz. His training partner Nate Marquardt is fighting on the same card for the middleweight title. Many people say that you are only as good as your training partners, and Evans agrees. “It’s been a great experience, and it’s a privilege to get to train with those guys.”

Rashad believes that he has some large advantages over Ortiz that will help lead him to victory. He believes his wrestling and speed will be determining factors in this fight. “I think I’d beat him in a wrestling match, but it isn’t a wrestling match. I am faster than him and I am quicker than him. I’m good at scrambling,” said the Michigan native. “Tito doesn’t like to get hit. He doesn’t like to exchange. Patrick Cote rocked him a couple times and he took him down. I don’t care what he says, his game plan will be ground and pound.”

With Ortiz’ busy schedule and very public relationship with Jenna Jameson, Rashad believes that distractions have made him less of a fighter. “I kind of think he’s went in a downward spiral lately. There are too many distractions. He hasn’t looked like himself in a long time. I don’t think he believes in himself as much as he says he does.”

With all of the hype surrounding this match up, and with some of the things that Ortiz has said about Evans, Rashad doesn’t let any of it get to him. “If I let him get under my skin, I guess I’m just as weak as he is. He has no confidence in himself. He’s an insecure guy.”

Evans is completely confident in his abilities to defeat Tito and offered a prediction. “They are gonna raise my hand in victory, in the second round, 3:36. It’s gonna be a knockout!”

[No1mikefan]

Yukon,
You have to remember to take my posts with a grain of salt! Im A HUGE Tito fan and self admitted Tito opponent HATER!!!! Its not a Rashad thing as much as my opinion is forever biased when it comes to Him. Believe me, I argue for real with people all the time about Tito. As of late, you can imagine I have been left feeling betrayed by my MMA hero! The latest lines I have been seeing have Tito as a slight favorite, which I agree is about right. Rashad is fast, better striker, and probably equal conditioning? We both know that when two grown men, great athletes, are fighting each other with 4oz. Gloves ANYTHING can happen! I just am hoping that this is a wake up call for the HBBB and that he wins this on heart alone! Part of me wants to bet the house on my boy, the other part of me remembers the fight with mohawk boy..... I lost 3 bills on Tito! That **** brought a tear to my eye!!! LOL!! Its all good, Ill have to check into some of those undercard fights. Im not touching that Nate/Spider fight.....But you might be right on that one, you have been money lately!! Talk to you later buddy!!!:beerbang:

[yukoncornelius]

hahaha its all good fun man... I love this kind of debate.

I definitely respect Tito, and will not be surprised if he wins. However, I certainly will not be surprised if "Sugar" (hahah what a nick name) gets the W. The betting lines are exactly right if you ask me, this a very close MATCHUP. I definitely disagree with alot of what you said, but we'll see. All of that said, its close, but I'm sticking with my pick of Rashad, no doubt.

Rashad, Hermes, Marquardt. 3 pups that are going to be barking LOUD. I can't wait for this event (as a fan). Anxious to see the undercard lines too, like Bocek vs Edgar. Apparently Bocek has incredible BJJ. I predict Frankie to be a huge favorite because of his fight with Tyson Griffin (fight of the year in many people's minds). So hopefully Bocek is huge underdog and its worth it to put some money down.

[No1mikefan]

My Bad Yukon..Forgot to mention, I do respect your opinion and you have proven yourself in this forum with solid pics. That being said, YOUR NUTS.....just kidding buddy, I just love to argue about Tito, nothing personal and I would love that friendly wager if you can think of something. :beerbang:

[No1mikefan]

Yukon, Ill come meet you and WE will go kick the **** out of Salomen. You dont give yourself any credit! We could take him.... he is garbage! If you dont want to fight him, Ill just use you to distract his fat ass and I will kick him in the face ala Rashad.... LOL!!! I havent looked at the lines but I HOPE TO GOD that Tito is not the dog! That will cause me to empty the bank and have His destruction of captain nipples pay for christmas!!!!! Ill have both my sons and the wife all decked out in PA gear!!! You are correct sir, I DO NOT give Rashad a chance to beat Tito. Just as you obviously do not give Tito a shot to beat Rashad! Brad Imes is big so that makes beating him something to be proud of???? Yao Ming is big too, and Tito woud crush him. Yukon, you could write to me all day and all night and you WILL NEVER convince me that captain nipples has beaten anyone that has a clue. He is so over hyped and he will get exposed, then they will feed him to that punk ass Bisbing. He'll lose again and he will be off the the WEC. You say you dont hate Tito but damn, you havent given him credit one time. You do remember he put the UFC back on the map dont you? You have to agree that UFC 40 was the start of this MMA snowball in the U.S. And you and I know, nobody remembers mohawk boy kicking babalu in the face. They remember Tito pounding out Shamrock. Say what you want about Tito, but this sport and all its athletes owe him. They would not be making these type of dollars without the UFC pimping his marketablitly. Dana even knows this, you never saw tito nodding off mid interview after a heroin bing... Give the man his due, he was the Champ and has beaten fighters that could beat Rashad blind folded! Vitor Belfort would beat rashad senseless, and pussy ass, no stand up Tito took him. Titos stand up sucks? Well, you are partialy correct, its not his stong point and he never said it was. the good thing is that he wont need it, and Rashad super nipples sure as hell doesnt hit half as hard as mohawk boy. Have you ever seen Tito K.O.d with one shot.......me neither. Like I said before, I agree to disagree with you and enjoy the argument, if you want to call it that. Each of us will bet and the good thing is that one of us will win, works for me.

damn Yukon, we should work out some kind of gentlemans forum wager, just something for ****s and giggles......come on buddy, I know your smiling...... lets think of something. while you think of something we can wager, Im going to go look for salomen, Im going to kick his ass and stamp YUKON on his forehead. Just for you buddy.....LOL! talk to you later buddy!
damn, I never even looked to see if we agree on any of these matches?? LOL!!!!!!

If tito wins, Im going to send you a PA hat. What color do you want Yukon? I owe you one anyhow.:beerbang:

[yukoncornelius]

lol dude you're hilarious...

Salmon isn't a joke, you couldn't beat him, he'd beat the **** out of you. Brad Imes is a big, and since Rashad is more of a 205'er, thats impressive to beat someone that big. There are MUCH worse big HW's...

You're just giving Rashad no respect man. When I said hes stronger, or strong, I mean at defending the takedown (he's going to be hard to takedown and keep down). Tito's STANDUP IS BAD. He only uses it to set up a shot for the takedown. Rashad actually has pretty polished striking.

As far as babalu and laughing at that, .... Babalu would have a DAMN GOOD shot at beating Tito. Sobral is certainly NO JOKE.

I respect your opinion, but you're fighting bashing and you're certainly not respecting Rashad. We'll see what happens July 7th, if Tito loses, I'm going to laugh at you, because you act like Rashad has no chance of winning. Others agree with me, afterall there is a reason why Rashad is now the slight favorite :)

[No1mikefan]

Damn Yukon, been trying to see things from your point of view...Sytle wise I agree that neither has an advantage. Strength? Dont know about Rashad, but Randy Said Tito was one of the strongest "physically" fighters he had been in with. We can debate styles till the 7th but my opinion, all bias aside...., goes with Tito based on experience alone. He did go three with the super mohawk boy. Do you really think Rashad would of lasted that long? Do you think Rashad could of went all five with Randy? Yes Tito got dominated by Couture, but his face was spotless, Chuck sure couldn't say that after his first match against the natural. You know as well as me that Tito would of beat Imes, Bonner, and The fish. Brad Imes was a huge punching bag for Rashad, Brad was slower than a turtle and had no MMA ability. The bottom line for me is that Tito's back is against the wall in the UFC. If he goes down to Rashad, he will be fighting babalu on the undercard...LOL! You just have to agree that putting the HBBB in the hotseat like this should bring out his "A" game. I hope, and if Tito brings his "A" game, rashad wont make it out of the 1st...... If Tito dances around like he did with forrest, I think the judges will give super nipples the nod. Once again, in my opinion, Tito doesnt let this one get to the cards. He has TOO much to lose! If Rashad goes down, people will just say, hey, Titos back! The pressure is all on Tito. As long as he can save his energy and not bang Jenna everyday, he should be just fine. Yukon, I agree to disagree with you buddy!! Im done with my rambling opinion, ill post my bet when i make it. GOOD LUCK GUYS!!!:beerbang:
See Ya!

[No1mikefan]

Yukon, come on man....I respect your knowledge of mma but your getting a little crazy here... Brad Imes is garbage! He is big but thats it. He even admitted he was a newbie to mma and he had no clue against rashad! Steroid Bonner, garbage!! His claim to fame is the blood bath with forrest?? GARBAGE! that was a tough man fight with NO DEFENSE WHAT SOEVER!! If either one of them could punch worth a damn that fight would of ended in the first. Being able to get your face bashed in does not make you a good fighter. yes, he has good BJJ skills and was a golden gloves winner but Tito would whoop him and Rashad in the same night. Jason Lambert, he is a better example but he is NOT TITO!!! Shawn Salomen, come on Yukon, we could kick his ass!! There is a reason why Tito opened at Pinnacle 3 to 1! I did not see those lines but I take your word for it. Like they always say, at least one of us will win some money and thats all that matters...Keep the forum cashing in. Dont get me wrong Yukon, not trying to start with you, we are just on opposite sides opinion wise on this one and there is no changing each others minds...LOL!! Brad Imes.......come on yukon, a man with your mma knowledge knows better than that.......LOL!!! If Tito goes down, Ill be the first to say you were right! Until then I think Ill put on my punishment athletics gear and do roll with my sons....LOL
Talk to you later buddy!!!!

[yukoncornelius]

Pinnacle is smart then... cause Tito is gonna lose lol.

Rashad hasn't just beat nobodies, aka cans. Thats absolutely ridiculous to say...

He beat Brad Imes, a MUCH MUCH bigger fighter at heavyweight. He beat Stephan Bonnar which has caused problems for some. He beat jason lambert who is no joke whatsoever, and beat him clearly. His last fight was the brutal headkick as you said to Sean Salmon. Granted, Rashad hasn't had the absolute highest tier matchups, but they haven't been tomato cans.

Rashad was a HW, has dropped to 205 which was the best move he made. In doing so, he became much faster, and is a very strong 205'er. Like I said, nothing Tito does is better than Rashad. Rashad = better wrestler, and better striker. He also is coming from a great training camp. I don't hate Tito at all, I'm just looking at this objectively, from a match up, style vs style point of view.

Good luck though no1mike :)

[V3r1f13d]

Yes I know, but I am talkng about months ago...when the fight was first announced. Pinny started taking bets and Tito was a 3-1 fave. Then they pulled the line...just like they have done in the past.

[No1mikefan]

Regarding some of the more future bouts...

Crocop in my opinion is a good bet right now. I'm telling you right now, unless Fedor gets signed by the UFC very soon, crocop is gonna be champion by the end of the year (although him vs big nog would be awesome). After Randleman KO'd him in Pride, he came back on a damn mission. Last year he looked incredible in the OWGP... and won. He sounds SO motivated now and really wants to win. When he is fired up, he is quite incredible. It's pretty obvious that he didn't take Gonzaga seriously, and was pretty laissez-faire regarding the UFC in general. Now he got beat, and refuses to embarass himself and his reputation anymore.

Couldnt agree with you more on Crocop! Embarassed is the perfect word for it, and yes after the monstor K.O'd him he went off! That guy is so serious about fighting and WINNING, he WILL do what it takes to get that belt! I cant wait to see him back in the cage. I feel sorry for Chieck Kongo, I like that guy, he made me some money in the past. The good thing for Crocop is that if the fight goes to the ground, Chieck is horrible! Cant wait for that one.

As for Tito, I was a fan way before most, before the title, before Punishment athletics, you name it. Yea, he has looked "off" lately, but we have to remember that he lost to Randy and Chuck. I dont count the loss to Frank as that was a long time ago and before Tito realized the importance of cardio. That being said, look at all the other guys that have lost to Randy and Chuck.....thats a long list fellas! Tito has fought the best of the best and been on the biggest stages period. Rashad has not, nor has he beaten ANYONE! I just think Tito knows this is make or break for him in the UFC and he is insulted at the idea of being a Stepping stone for anyone! especially a fraud like Rashad. Yes, my opinon is biased because Tito is my favorite fighter but I just think it has become fashionable to hate on Tito and the UFC average fan "Not you Yukon....LOL" is so damn bandwagon with such a pea sized brain that all they can remember is your last fight. Tito= loss to mohawk boy, Rashad= head kick K.O. of the millenium. Once again, the HBBB exposes Rashad and makes me some money!!!!!!! Good luck guys

P.S. there is plenty of room on this Team Punishment bandwagon.......LOL, its just me......Ha, ha!!

[yukoncornelius]

Regarding some of the more future bouts...

I think GSP beats Koscheck but its hard for me to touch that fight unless GSP gets around -140. Koscheck is a TREMENDOUS wrestler. Even though GSP is a ridiculous athlete, its hard to outpower Koscheck's wrestling. His standup has also greatly improved as he is training with some great guys at American Kickboxing Academy. I love GSP though. Koscheck fights to win though, not to entertain fans....

Crocop in my opinion is a good bet right now. I'm telling you right now, unless Fedor gets signed by the UFC very soon, crocop is gonna be champion by the end of the year (although him vs big nog would be awesome). After Randleman KO'd him in Pride, he came back on a damn mission. Last year he looked incredible in the OWGP... and won. He sounds SO motivated now and really wants to win. When he is fired up, he is quite incredible. It's pretty obvious that he didn't take Gonzaga seriously, and was pretty laissez-faire regarding the UFC in general. Now he got beat, and refuses to embarass himself and his reputation anymore.

[yukoncornelius]

Hey friends....

Tito opened at around what no1mike said... and there is a reason for it. I would not TOUCH in Tito in that fight. Rashad has better hands, he's a division 1 (big ten) wrestler, a great base, and is strong. He also is quite fast for his size. Tito doesn't really have any advantages here. I'd actually put a couple units on Rashad.


verified - Nate and Anderson is so close because Nate is a bad matchup for Silva. We know that Greg Jackson is gonna give Marquardt the right gameplan, its just a matter of Nate not wanting to stand for too long and executing the plan. Marquardt is much better on the ground, hes stronger, etc. Silva is devistating though on the feet. I honestly think Nate surprises alot of people and wins this (even though it might be pretty boring). Value is definitely with Nate.

You are also right that Hermes is a great bet against sherk, very good value there. Hermes just can't be content with staying in sherk's guard like he normally does... he will get punished with GnP and the judges love giving the edge to top position in the guard.


Rashad, Nate, Hermes, all very good bets. I will not be surprised if both belts change hands.