MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

If Kongo wins, do we get Vera vs Kongo? I think the only way it would be interesting is if it is Vera vs Nog. Otherwise, I’d like to see one of the bigger LHW’s move up and get a shot.

I agree.

Sylvia vs anyone just isn’t interesting to me anymore.

As much as I like Vera and HATE Sylvia, I think Tim wins by decision. I have a feeling Vera doesn’t show up…he will get frustrated by Tim’s size and reach. WHERE THE F–K IS ARLOVSKI???
I WANT ANDREI VS. KONGO

Man why does this big oaf get a shot at the title so quickly? Shouldnt he at least fight two fights before he gets his shot. Well if they are gonna do that then wandy better get a shot at the title IF he beats chuck….which by the way is a longshot…., My boy andrei should get a title shot or at least fight the winner of tim/vera for a title shot….boohoo that andrei didnt win his last fight in devastating fashion..he should be considered OVER tim any day. Bt that is just my opinion.

ya especially since he’s lost his last 2 fights to him…. give silvya a chance me friends. He has had boring fights but he has knocked the heads off of a lot of people and i think vera is going to be one of them. Vera even admitted to not being prepared when he sparred with extremely tall men at training camp and sylvia is the best 6.8 guy out there. I dont think he’ll be able to handle it. In fact I think he will do worse than assuerio silva or jeff monson did.

The UFC is back in the same situation they were before Randy’s comeback. I hope Big Nog is the next champ. He is the only one right now that I think can be dominate. Arlovski is still #2 in my opinion. I hope Tim gets his goofy head kicked in by Vera. If Vera does win at least we will get to see him tested by top level guys and see what he can do. The way things are going lately we will have Kongo vs Tim for the title. Hopefully Vera and Nog win so we can see a decent title fight.

well i think that vera will have a better chance than a monson, or assurio, vera is a better all around fighter and he can hurt you almost at any time and at almost any position. And the way silvia fell when he got punched by randy he damn near couldnt get up. Now if vera hits him like that he will finish silvia i think. And how many 6′8 mma fighters are out there? Close to none, so of course it would be hard to prepare for someone that size. But in my opinion silvia has a 20-something-and 3 record. So there are 3 ways to beat a tim sylvia, vera is undefeated so i think sylvia will have a harder time i think than vera will have. GO VERA!!!!!

@ mad—– AMEN!!!!

man, i really hope Tim beats the hell out of Vera, and you haters will still talk sht about him. He could beat Nog and Fedor and you guys would STILL talk sht about him. Like i said many times, dont say anything you wouldnt say to the guys face.

You can say hes a boring fighter, and i agree, im also still an Arlovski fan, but how can you rank him higher than Tim when he beat him 2 out of 3 times??? what planet are you living on?? get your head correct! an quit the fckn hate..

i just dont think Tim is as good as HE thinks he is. Yea he is dangerous………if he hits u with a clean shot. Hes a nice guy and all but i think he is a top 10 fighter but not a top 5…

well thats a much more respectful way to put it, id be inclined to agree with you when you put it that way. Ont the other hand, Vera might not even be a top 10 fighter, let alone top 5. Tim Sylvia was the champ man, nobody can deny that, its a fact written in history forever. This in mind im sure it helped his ego and his belief in himself as a fighter. Now look at Vera, hes never been the champ, and he already proclaims himself the best! He has a really big mouth considering he hasnt accomplished much in mma yet.

This will be Veras first real test and if he wins it will prove some of the hype. Though you cant really blame the guy, if you wanna get paid in the UFC, you need some kind of buzz surrounding your name. Look at Tito, hes made a ton of money surrounding himself with hype, so i guess Vera is on the right track, getting people talking, but now he has to back up all that talk and prove himself.

Sure Tim won 2 of 3 but that don’t mean I have to like the guy. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and Tim is not an entertaining fighter. Sure he’s a good fighter or he wouldn’t even be in the UFC I just don’t think he’s champion material. Not hating on Tim just don’t like his fighting style lately. As far as ranking them I rank fighters by not only their record but also on their fighting style and their ability to entertain. To me Arlovski has a better style and is more entertaining so I like him as a fighter more.

well Mad, i think rankings should be based on fight records. Who the guys fought, when they fought, and if they won or lost. The guys personality should have nothing to do with rankings. I personally like Arlovski more than Tim too, but i wouldnt rank him higher because of that.

I like Genki Sudo, his personality, his fighting style an showmanship, if it were based on those things he would be the #1 lightweight in the world. The problem is when he keeps losing fights, its pretty hard to keep him ranked, besides him being retired ofcourse, just an exaple..

Ok tim and arlovski where THE only two top guys in a dead division. So with his skill yes i expected him to be champ. But seeing that we have some comp now we will see if ol timmy can talk the talk cause he seems to do a lot more talking than vera. And just like vera said “dont believe the hype, believe what you see”, and like i said vera never been stopped….period, and never even came close to being stopped. so i think he can talk a little. and vera only has 8 fights, hes proven hiself so far. So yes he is on the right track. But this should be a good fight. but in all honesty i seen him fight his competition and he is impressive, so now he is begining to fight top level guys. So from this fight on we will be able to see if vera is really the “truth” but so far he has proven to be.

oh and how can you say hes not champion material when he WAS the champ lol! Not champion material is a guy who doesnt have the heart, or he doesnt have the determination to get in the gym and work his azzz off everyday. Tim was a guy who didnt come from a martial arts background, he was just a big guy, he changed his whole life around, competing against very dangerous fighters who had been training since they were kids. Not only did he make it in the UFC, he became the HW champ! i mean, he might not be pretty, he might not be exciting to watch, but look what the guy has accomplished!

I have alot of respect for Tim, he went in there with very limited skill and no experience and he made it to the top on nothing more than determination and set of balls that would put a blue whale to shame! lol.. like when Mir broke his arm, i thought it was Herb Dean with another bad stoppage, then ofcourse when they showed it again and i saw his arm pop, it was like.. daaaaaam, thats one tough sob!

He deserves his respect, what more does everyone want from the guy???

Of course their record is the most important factor in ranking but not the only one. The level of competition has a lot to do with it also as well as their ability to finish fights. Tim used to finish fights but now his style is to out point people which sucks. I think he started this trend when he won the championship from Arlovsi. Maybe now that he’s had his back problem fixed he will come out and fight to win again. I’m sure being the champion and not wanting to lose the belt made him hold back and fight more cautious but that’s not what won him the title in the first place. We’ll see what he looks like this weekend maybe he hungry again and will come in swinging.

Damn BV, you type pretty fast. I have respect for all fighters it takes balls just to get in the ring. True Tim has accomplished a lot in his career but he needs to start fighting like he used to to win back his fan base. It doesn’t help that he flips off the crowd and things like that. I think this will be a tough fight and anything can happen. I know he was the champ but no one cared about him even then. All the other champions are well like and respected and have a great fan following. Tim just gets to people for some wierd reason. Either way I’m not going to continue to bash the guy I hope he does well. We’ll see which Tim shows up.

If you want to look at it that way, at one point Tim was 16-0 with only 1 win by decision. He also beat alot tougher guys than Vera has ever faced in his life. Abu Dhabi champs like Ricco Rodriguez who was ranked #1 in the world at one point and Jeff Monson whos one of the best submission guys in the game. Plus beating down big guys like Cabbage and Gan Mcgee, not to mention highly skilled fighters like Arlovski, Wes Simms and Tre Telligman..

Now who has Vera fought? Frank Mir (after his accident) Assuerio Silva (Tim already beat). Then the only others worth mentioning are Justin Eilers who lets face it.. he has a bit of a weight problem lol and Fabiano Scherner (he will never be a contender).

ya Mad, i agree with you 100%, hes been fighting “not to lose” since he became champ. Hes probably the most boring fighter to watch in the UFC besides maybe Sean Sherk lol.

Lets break it down for a second..

Vera is 6′1 and 225 i think.. and Tim is 6′8 and he has to cut weight to get down to 265 LOL.. i mean, he could be around 300lbs in the fight and Vera will still be at 225.. So were talking about 75 pounds and 6 inches of reach! and Vera hasnt fought anyone over 235lbs yet. Ofcourse its not all about whats on paper.. but thats a hell of a disadvantage for Vera and hes never been tested by a guy this big and if he loses, theres a very good chance he will drop down to 205.. i think he should.. crocop too..

they really need a super HW division.. maybe cut off Heavy at like 235lbs then the super heavy limit at 265.. its the only division with such a broad range of weights. Now that i think about it, they should have a featherweight division too.. its pretty tough being a natural 155 and having guys cutting down from like 185 coming into your division to fight you..

very sucks balls… sylvia will rock him

Ok you only named 7 people, dan mcgee…..4 yrs ago…… hes a wrestler with ok power—monson…….wrestler/grappler—-wes simms—he got dominated by everybody WHO he fought. So just because sylvia fouht a abu dahbi fighter once and beat him…..ok…… congrats to tim!!! Ill give him credit thought for beating telligman,arlovski(2). You act like he knocked out all well rounded fighters that were ranked high in the world or something…He has fought some good fighters and WON. Im not taking nothing away from tim, i just think vera can beat him thats all. Give vera some time to prove himself, he has been impressive up to this point so lets see where he takes it from here. Sylvias time is up.

Them advantages mean nothing if you dont know how to use them. And tim surely dont know how to use that. That was evident in his last fight. The only time ive ever seen him use his “advantages” is against monson, and the ONLY reason he did so was because he was trying to avoid getting took down…….You see what happend in his last fight when he fought someone with b level striking. He got knocked down in the first round..belt got took…and his eye was shut. BUT i do think he is dangerous….but i dont think he will get the title back……but i DO think he can beat kongo…for whatever its worth

ya Todd, i named a bunch of Marquii fighters who Tim has beat over the years, who Vera hasnt. Im not trying to say Tim is the best or anything, what im saying is he deserves his respect, and nobody gives it to him. Hes probably the most hated on fighter in all of mma, besides maybe Frank Shamrock, but that was all his own doing. Tim did nothing wrong besides not going in for the kill in his fights as the champ. Can you really blame him for that? #1 priority for him is to win fights, not to put on a show its not the wwf man. When both guys are tired and hes ahead in the points, you want him to step in and potentially get knocked out or submitted? would you?

Todd, Randy Couture is an anomaly.. you know that, everyone knows that.. Randy also had VERY extensive training with Tim and hes an INCREDIBLY experienced and intelligent fighter and competitor. Like Tim said himself, Randy kept him guessing the whole fight and he knew Tims every movement.

Vera doesnt know Tim, he never trained with Tim, and he is NO Randy Couture, thats for dam sure..

People always hated Tim, but since his loss to Randy, alot of people think he “sucks”. Im not saying Vera cant win the fight, we all know anything can happen.. but i hope Tim crushes him.. that might shut some people up atleast..

and in response to the guys Tim beat.. you trying to discredit all the guys i listed.. Gan Mcgee i mentioned because hes actually bigger than Tim, Monson was an Abu Dhabi champ you dont think thats stripes man? Ricco was a multiple Abu Dhabi champ you dont give Tim credit for that 1st round TKO?

No, i dont think it has anything to do with Tims skill or Tims record, people just like to hate on someone.

Anyways.. i dont have to defend Tim, he can defend himself, and his record speaks for itself..

Im willing to bet that you Rank GSP above Hughes Todd.. i can just tell that. I personally DONT, as far as imconcerned theyre 1 and 1, and ill be betting on Hughes in the rubber match.

this is how my rankings look

Hughes
GSP
Serra

ok..ok..ok..i was a little out of line for not giving him credit for rico, that is impressive, and i dont hate timmy, i just think he is a big “oaf” which he is..and i just think his reign as champ is up, thats all. He can fight and hes proven against some good guys. I just think that vera can beat him.

and why would you rank hughes over gsp? Because he’s ancient and fought way more competitors than gsp? Explain to me the science behind your reasoning?

and actually i got it for right now until gsp fights serra again…..
if he fights serra again….

serra
gsp
hughes

and i have him ranked over gsp.and i say that because 1) serra beat him 2) serra beat him convincingly to take the belt, and i have him(gsp) ranked over hughes because gsp beat him…and beat him convincingly to take the belt. And we ALL know gsp can beat serra..but until he does i have him ranked over gsp, that is just the reality of it…to me. Now if hughes beats serra which i think he will, then i will have it differently…..

and i know and you know (i hope) that gsp can beat hughes 8 out of the 10 times they fight. And im talking about on their BEST days.

thats cool, atleast your not hate on my boy Timmy hehe im probably the only Sylvia fan out there. I see Tim as the favorite here, but if Vera manages to beat him, which im sure he could too, that will be his biggest win yet and it will look great on the resumee. I like Vera and im interested to see how far he goes in the UFC, especially with all the tough guys at HW now.

I dont agree with the title contention for the winner, i think its too fast for both Tim and Vera. Tim should have to win another fight atleast to be fighting for the title again. Vera.. err.. theres so many guys in the division now.. and he hasnt fought any of them, i would put him at about the middle of the division right now. He should definately have 2-3 fights before fighting for the belt. Maybe have him fight Arlovski or Herring, then Nog for the title.. becase Nog will be the champ soon, i dont think anyone has any doubts about that hehe

Hughes, GSP and Serra..

Why do i rank Hughes #1? because he has proved his dominance in the division and i wouldnt knock him off the #1 spot for losing 1 fight in the past 3 years.. and a total of 2 fights in the last 6 years! and he had the longest reign of any WW champ while GSP lost his first title defense. I mean the guy is the best grappler at 170 in the UFC hands down. Anyone can lose a fight.. especially after getting kicked in the stones 3 times in a row lol. Its not an excuse, it was Matts fault for opting to stand with GSP, if he took him down (which he didnt even try) i think he would have submitted GSP (again) and i believe he will when they fight again.

Why do i rank GSP above Serra? again, anyone can lose a fight, GSP i a much more rounded fighter and he has come out victorious against tougher competition. That one fight just doesnt cut it for me.

Matt Serra, hes had limited success in him mma career and his submission grappling career. Hes fought some tough guys.. and lost, but he still has the experience. If not for TUF and that one fight vs GSP, where would Matt Serra be ranked? not even in the top 10 man. This surge of success hes had has launched him into the #3 spot, thats a huge jump man lol. But just becaus he beat GSP in that fight it doesnt make him #1.. not in my book.

i agree, i think now vera has proven himself up to this point..which is good for the ufc. I see it as vera NOW should be able to fight a kongo, or a crocop now. That is the RIGHT way. Vera now could be a top fight on a fight card because he is popular, exciting, and he is good. and he has proven himself. So i see it this way……………

Noguira-arlovski for vacant belt
vera-kongo—–
timmy-cro cop—-

well i look at it this way, despite a competitor competition or how he rose to get a title shot, if he beats the champ…….and beats him convincingly then he IS the champ regardless or what and deserves the number 1 spot. Yea i know and you know that gsp could destroy serra. But i dont care what no one says..even gsp, he shouldnt have went in that fight not wanting to destroy serra. Serra caught him, and put him away. My theory is fair i think. Now as for matt hughes, he is a top 2 fighter and i believe he could be ranked 2 in my book. But he lost convincingly to gsp(by knockout) but if he beats serra convincingly then i will have him ranked 1 and gsp two. Past defenses and past opponents have nothing to do with my ranking.

past opponents and all the title defenses only will matter when he gets inducted to the mma hall of fame in my book.

although it is impressive (hughes).

I think both our ways of ranking could be argued as right or wrong, but one thing seems to be consistant, Hughes, GSP and Serra are the top 3 fighters in the UFC right now.

I give Serra all the respect for being the champ man, i might not rank him #1, but hes still the champ. It was a cinderella story with Serra, everyone doubted him, and right after the ref stoppage, Serra didnt even look happy about the win, he looked pissed off man! as if to say “There! what you think of me now *******!”. Inspirational bro… Inspirational.

yea i hear ya man, that is some cinderella story type stuff right there.

@bvrasp
who do you think would win anderson silva/dan henderson—and kongo- arlovski

Hendo if he decides to drop down, which would be great because he will dominate that division. With all the new talent in the UFC the MW division is still sort of lacking. Theres some good fighters, but not too many GREAT fighters. I would definately pick Hendo over anyone at 185 in the UFC.

Kongo vs Arlovski would be a very interesting fight, i would definately go with Arlovski, because i like him hehe.. and he has the advantage on the ground. If he works his sambo game i think he could take out kongo. Standing up wouldnt be a good idea, Dre could catch him, but why fight Kongos fight?? ofcourse you have to get him down first, but theyre about the same size anyways.

how bout you Todd?

Let me see here…………dan and anderson, that would be so fun to watch because they are both good at what they do and imposing their will. Dan i think he COULD win if he used his grecko to wear anderson out, then get him on the ground and do some more damage, then eventually i think dan would tko anderson…But that is if its the hendo that fought with determination against wandy 2. But anderson is long and has incredible hands. I think he COULD pick dan apart on the feet. I dont know how dan would fare in andersons clinch since i never seen hendo in a clinch. But anderson is good on the ground and so is hendo, but hendo is bigger and stronger i think and it MAY have and effect on anderson. That is a great fight to watch though. Dan By 5th round tko

Arolovski–kongo

This one is a good one. Because they both are exceptional on their feet and they can both do damage with the leg kicks etc. I thought kongo was pretty weak on the ground but he fared well against cro cop but he did outweigh cro cop in some pounds and all. But that would be a good one too. Arlovski is my fav but his performance has been just “ok” in his past fights. I wish for him to be aggressive like he used to and WANT to finish the fight like he did back in the day. But that would be a good fight but i would take arlovski by decision.

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Whoopee… who cares … eventually in these situations the creme will rise to the top and the best will come out, in this situation it will take about a year for the champ to arise, several fights will take place… and then still yet, with fighters spread out in other orgs, we wont see the best win the UFC title because the champ resigned and his closest competition is in M-1 so in the end…. whoopee… who cares..