UFC 68 from Columbus, OH

Interesting card tonight:

Babalu vs. Jason Lambert
Rich Franklin vs. Jason McDonald
Matt Hughes vs. Chris Lytle
Martin Kampmann vs. Drew McFedries

And, for the UFC Heavyweight Title:
Randy “The Natural” Couture vs. © Tim “The Maineiac” Sylvia

What’s your bets?

I don’t really follow UFC. Does Randy really stand a chance against Sylvia? Sure he was a great fighter, but he’s in his 40s (?). Is Sylvia that overrated? I’ve only seen one of his fights (against Miir) and he was way outclassed. I’m wondering if his success is like Semy in K1, size and reach.

I would LOVE to see Couture win, but I don’t see how he can. Sylvia has to cut weight to make the upper limit of the division, while Couture’s a natural 205 fighter.

Sylvia is by no means a great fighter, though, and certainly isn’t in the same class of fighter as Couture.

Babalu got KTFO by Lambert on a sweet left hook.

My guesses for the rest of the night: Hughes wins, Franklin wins, Sylvia wins a decision.

HOLEE CRAP.

Randy Couture just dominated Tim Sylvia like I’ve never seen before.

A unanimous decision, 50-45 on every scorecard.

I can’t believe it.

I’ve been calling this for Randy since it was rumored earlier this year and WOW what a payoff. I knew he could do it and he did it convincingly. My heart was pounding as soon as that first punch landed and pretty much stayed that way through the final bell. I’m actually glad that it didn’t get called in the first because Tim would say it was a lucky shot and demand an instant rematch. After such a devastating loss I hope they feed him to Cro Cop and then void his contract when he loses. Let him go play his boring games in Pride where they’ll dock his pay for putting the fans to sleep.

As far as the other fights . . . Babalu’s loss really surprised me. This is a guy who has hung with the best in the world - and I mean that literally: he took Fedor to a descision - and Lambert made him look like an amateur.

Hughes Vs. Lytle - 30 - 27 sounds a lot more dominant than it was. A very close fight and I think Lytle proved that he deserves another chance.

Franklin/McDonald - Expected. I can’t say that I really like either one of these guys very much so I kind of shrugged at the outcome.

Kampmann/McFedries - Great fight! I was shocked that McFedries was getting the better of the standup, and equally shocked and impressed that Kampmann took it to the ground and submitted him. I think Kampmann is someone to keep your eye on.

Overall a pretty good card, but I think it should’ve been called UFC 68: Miletich.

What a fight by Couture! That was one of the best all-around fight performances I’ve seen in MMA. Stand up, take down, ground control, side control, Randy dominated every aspect of that fight from the first punch to the last. Awesome, awesome, awesome fight. He’ll get killed by CroCop though :frowning: .

99% of MMA fans 12 hours ago: " . . . he’ll get killed by Sylvia though."

How come Randy got a title shot so quickly?

You’re joking, right? The man is a living legend coming out of retirement. Dana would’ve arranged a fight between him and God if he would’ve asked for it.

Read my first post. :wink:

:confused:

I think a fight between Couture and Cro Cop would be very interesting. Randy has a lot of experience, but few people can stand one of those kicks from Cro Cop, that guy’s legs are deadly.

[I think a fight between C]ro Cop and Couture would break the PPV numbers for Liddell/Ortiz? Is that what you were going to say?

This is probably going to be ruined by the edit window

My first post in this thread I said, “I don’t really follow UFC”. Nevertheless, you answered my question. :slight_smile:

Wow…well i like both fighters,glad Cotoure won,hope Sylvia makes a good comeback.Is Royce gonna fight anymore? Who is Cro Cop? I love the UFC but haven’t been able to follow it lately.

Royce . . . he fought Matt Hughes last May and looked like an amateur. He said he would be back (I’m pretty sure he signed a multi-fight deal) but AFAIK there hasn’t been another word said about it. He’s in the unfortunate position of not being able to compete with the top guys anymore, and I don’t think his family’s pride could handle him losing to a can.

Cro Cop is considered by most people to be the 2nd baddest dude on the planet. He’s a former [Cro]ation [Cop] who has a deadly left-hightkick. If you’re familiar with Chuck Liddell, Cro Cop is considered a heavyweight Chuck with better kicks. Until last night I thought he would be a shoe-in versus Randy, but now I’m thinking it would be a very interesting fight, and could potentially go to the Natural.

I hope Cro Cop fights Tim for the #1 contender spot and knocks his head into the cheap seats.

Mirko Cro Cop
Whatever you do, don’t drop your right hand.

Hehe, I agree with this almost word for word. Randy made my night. That fight definitely saved the PPV from being one of the lesser liked PPVs in recent history.

WTF is up with Chuck Liddell in this video?

I’ve never seen him anything but intelligent and coherent… is he drunk, on heroin, punchdrunk? :confused: :frowning:

The line is that he was sick and took too much NyQuil. I think it’s more likely that he stayed out drinking all night and was still drunk. Warners Brothers and Dana White should both be extremely pissed about this. Very unprofessional.