Dana White On Rampage vs Rashad Rematch: "Who Wants To See That Crap Again?"

He's simply not the type of fighter who goes in with a strategy to outright win a fight, he will try and win a match. There are technical aspects of wrestling that are part of fighting, but keep in mind, these are supposed to be FIGHTS.

YOU seem to mistake MMA with something like wresting or bjj.. Where we might call a guy a wrestler who wins wrestling MATCHES, or a bjj player, who wins bjj bouts, these are supposed to be MMA FIGHTS.. Key word: FIGHT.

Most of us are not against a wrestler taking a guy down and doing everything he can to pound his opponent out, or sub his opponent. While many of us didn't like guys like Hughes' attitude, most of us loved his style, and loved him as a fighter for going in and trying to beat the crap out of his opponents.

I don't care so much that Rashad didn't finish Rampage, I care that he didn't even try. It's just too often that Rashad Evans is content in stalling. It's good enough for the win, but its not good enough to make me a fan of his.

There is also a difference between boxing and MMA. Boxing includes pugilism, meaning exchange of hands. Floyd is a defensive fighter, but no matter how defensive a fighter you are in boxing, you need to land punches, for Floyd it's counter punches. He at least leaves open the possibility that he can finish opponents off with hard counters, cumulative damage, refinement in style and speed.

MMA isn't necessarily a pugilistic sport. It leaves the option for pugilism, but it isn't necessary to win a fight. If Rashad said he was going to whoop some ass, I expect him to try and do that. If he manhandled Rampage and slammed him around, went for submissions and at least came close, I wouldn't dislike him so much.. He has shown he's content being an elusive MMA player, and fighter at times.. That means just avoiding exchanges altogether, and not trying to finish his opponents off.. He has had his moments, but as he has refined his style, he has been a fighter who avoids engagement, and doesn't seem to have or be working on a skillset to pound his opponents out, or sub them as a wrestler.

Granted, this isn't all the time, but against certain opponents, it turns into his strategy.. To win the match at all costs, rather than to finish off his opponent.

 

Not bad

 

Again you are back tracking from your idiotic statement that Evans is exciting, he clearly is a talented fighter though. But stand my original statement. You've said he was exciting by the fact that he won more rounds. But you havent mentioned how he won those rounds have you? Ive given my opinion that he just fights to neutralise his opponents weather it's by backtracking, clinch against the cage or lay and pray which you've done nothing to counter except call me idiotic and say he won more rounds.

And I'll reiterate my 'exciting fights by accident' statements just one more time. Which was the most exciting fight John Fitch has ever been in? When he got his ass kicked by GSP for 5 rounds right? Griffin was the one who made that fight exciting. But we all know Forrest likes to get carried away and his chin isnt the best. Same thing happend in the Jardine fight, he got tagged, albeit in a quicker fashion.

Now if your still unclear bot this read Koa's excellent Post. He said what I was tryna say much better than I could.

 

Not a Rashad fan, but the fact is he fought a smart fight vs Rampage and won. Wrestling is part of MMA and Rashad did what he dose best vs Rampage. I killed this fight on the boards because it stunk..but the bottom line is too Win. Wasn't Dana the one that down play Strikeforce when the card a little while ago was all first round KO's. So wich is it Dana..a fighter winning fights or 1st round KO's?

 

Also if the UFC or all of MMA don't like the way Wrestlers are winning, then change the scoring system.

 

I read a post somewhere saying Rashad is a TUF product. I laughed.

He's clearly not a product. He's beaten Rampage, TS, Griffin, Liddell and Bisping. You can't be a product when you've beaten them names, and people can say, myself included, "oh he got hurt in pretty much all of those fights and was close to being stopped" or that we're close decisions, but the fact is, he won.

Not a big fan of the way Rashad fights, but I'll give him his due.

 

He was on a TV show , he was face to face with Rampage every single day for 6 weeks , what was he supposed to say , im gonna wrestle you to death ??!! , ofcourse he is gonna shoot the **** with Rampage , but how you win a fight in the cage is a different story , i am of the opinion that , that was one of the worst versions of Rampage that we have seen in a long long time , and Rashad squeeked out a decision after barely surviving the last round , bro i aint a Rashad Evans nut hugger , not by a long shot , i respect good technique coupled with strong athletesism and heart and for me Rashad ticks them boxes .

Id say thats a fair analysis of Rashad / Rampage , Silva , but for me , it still doesnt take away the fact at the manner of his wins were an impressive display of wrestling & strategy with the occasional stand up exchange with two very accomplished stand up fighters .

Rashad Evans is not a one dimensional wrestler , im gonna refrain from saying he is not a boring fighter underlined and in bold because people have there opinions and mine is of that Rashad keeps me entertained enough for me to stay tuned in , at least most of the time .

Im gonna ask to you state why you think im confused about the sport of MMA and individual disciplines that make up an MMA fighter , but i will come back and say this , this is mixed martial arts , made up of the following ;

Muay Thai
BJJ -JJ
Boxing
Wrestling
Kick Boxing
Judo
Karate

Among many other disciplines , in all of the above , you have to defeat your opponent in a " FIGHT " , of sorts , in them individual martial arts disciplines it does not always in fact very rarely involve " just beating the **** out of somebody " , " or knocking somebody the **** out ", it requires you apply your skill set in that discipline and perform on a higher level than your opponent , who is also skilled in that discipline , to secure a win !!!!

If that is a submission , a KO , a TKO , a pin , top control , a throw , a head kick .................................... what ever , its a win , in a martial arts event .

Now .............. if you are Rashad Evans and you are a fantastic wrestler who can stand a little and trade on the feet enough to get by , and your fighting Rampage , or Silva , after being KO'd in the biggest fight of your life because you beleived your better off on the feet , WHAT WOULD YOU DO ?? HOW WOULD YOU FIGHT ?? ............. thank you :good

 

My original post is above , enlighten me and tell me where it says Rashad Evans is Exciting ?? , for the record , as you have a great habit of reading exactly what you want to read and ignore everything else , it says , RASHAD EVANS IS NOT A BORING FIGHTER ................ like we have said , thats my opinion .

Evans won 4 round in total against 2 Elite level LHW's in the sport of MMA by beating them !!! , he beat them in strategy , he utilised superior speed , athletesism and wrestling ability timed with perfect executions of transitioning from stand up to shooting , and he done it against 2 of the top fighters in the world , who would not look out of place on a P4P list , that for me STOO ........................... is impressive , at no point was i bored watching him acheive this , once again opinion based !!

You cannot be in an exciting fight by accident , if you counter an over aggresive fighter and finish the fight , that makes you a better man on the night , if you knock somebody out , that closes the fight then all roads lead to you being the superior fighter , the fact that Rashad Evans is not the aggresor in his fights does not make him boring , or the styles of his wins are not marred by the fact he was in there with an inferior fighter technically , it all points to the fact that Rashad Evans is just a better fighter , with a sound strategy .

I really want to avoid getting into this with you , we see things differently , im happy to settle on that , i do this sport mate , i train MMA , and im comfortable with the knowledge i have of this sport and how this reflects in my posts , i cant say the same for you , but again were gonna have to agree to dis agree :good

Peace Bro .....................

 

Fair enough fella. I do appreciate what your saying about the technical aspect and I appreciate that too in a fighter. I guess id like to see him go for it so to speak a bit more because it's obvious that he can
But lets just agree to diasagree

 

I would have liked seeing Rashad vs Rampage II before I see Jackson vs Hamill. I think Jackson is a mismatch for Hamill. I don't care for mismatches. I don't feel as doomed for Hamill as I did for Forrest when he went up against Silva. Hamill found a way to beat Jardine, defeated Ortiz, and should have been awarded the decision against Bisping. I hope he can at least be competitive, but I don't see it happening.

 

Though I'm not at all interested in the fight, I think people are sleeping on Hamill a little bit, especially at this stage of Rampage's career. He's not knocking guys out, he's not slamming them, wrestling them or taking him to the ground. His offense is his boxing, something he's not having a huge load of success with, to be fair. Give him credit, hurt Rashad and stopped Machida from doing, really, anything for 2 rounds but I wouldn't say he's a force that'll worry Hamill or make it too one sided.

 

If Hamill is able to close the distance, and take Jackson down, he could make it interesting. I just don't see it happening. I think Jackson is going to win the fight with his boxing. I think Hamill will take to many of Jackson's punches cleanly, and this fight will end by tko.

 

How would I fight? Generally speaking I'm looking at fighters strengths and weaknesses. The emphasis in MMA isn't supposed to be about the scorecards, is it?

The scorecards are there in the situation that the fight happens to go the distance. Sometimes guys are so evenly and well matched that it is an inevitability.

With Rashad against Rampage, you ask what would I do, how would I fight? I already explained that. I suggested Rashad should continue to adapt his style. He's spent so much time trying to be elusive that he's neglected any semblance of a submission and gnp game.

If I were so good a wrestler that I could dominate Rampage Jackson, who is no slouch at wrestling himself, then I would work on my gnp and sub game. Granted, Rampage isn't an easy guy to sub, so I might focus more on gnp, and try to punch his lights out. When I have him against the cage., I'd pull his legs out and try to stuff his head against it so its difficult to defend punches for example. Is this a bad strat? Does it not make sense? I mean this is a clear no brainer for me, it naturally would play into what I'm already good at, and give me a chance to back up my words and show the world I have a brain to go along with the pair of balls every MMA fighter has who steps into the ring in the first place.

You speak of other disciplines, you don't defeat your opponents in fights necessarily in all of those. Judo, BJJ, Wrestling matches and bouts, not fights. Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai those are pugilistic matches which are fights as I already explained. At least these disciplines are rooted in the very opportunity of a win by knockout, as you must land strikes in these to win period.

This is a guy who calls himself Sugar, but at times embodies a John Ruiz take on MMA.

 

So WTF are they if there not fights OF SORTS ?? , these are the disciplines that make up MMA , you clown , do you think these guys decide one day to walk in off the street and say hey im an MMA fighter , want to fight me ??!! , what are you talking about :-(

You must land strikes in a BJJ match to win period :huh .................. interesting , the last time i checked it was about submitting your opponent or mounting up points on the scorecards (sound familiar) ??? , same with wrestling and with Judo , in essence .

Ok , so your saying the scorecards are a non entity and yet the best P4P fighter in the world (debatable) , has failed to KO or TKO an opponent (Penn retirement although a TKO , GSP never actually finished Penn) in his last 5 fights , and is still seen as an elite level fighter , this is a guy who banks on the fight going the distance and looks to apply a better strategy than his opponent for 5 whole rounds without giving his opponent a single chance to capitalise on a) St Pierre's weaknesses or b) there own strengths .

Its strategy , its about learning the art of fighting smart , that is not boring , that is not being a ***** , that is refining your skill set so much so that your opponent can not apply there game and can not in effect beat you in any aspect of the sport , its called being a better fighter , its called being a disciplined martail artist and not giving away a defeat .

This has not caught on in MMA yet , you only really see some fighters fighting smart in MMA , as it is a sport that lends itself naturally to wanting to finish a fight , but them days are going to fade with the constant evolvememt of our sport , and the need for a better strategy to protect your record , was Miguel Torres's last fight boring ??? i thought it was a fantastic display of stand up fighting and fighting to your strength , is he a chump too ???

 

If they are not fights, they are matches. Remember, the UFC stand for ultimate FIGHTING. Implication is ultimate fighters, not ultimate bjj players or ultimate wrestlers.

Of course there is an aspect of fighting that is tactical and smart that doesn't necessitate being careless at all. If your a fighter, you play into your own strengths, you take into consideration who your opponent is, and his strengths before you get into the ring with him. So the case which we have been discussing is Rashad Evans. He trains, and its quite obvious he has a game plan as any other fighter has. So, what was his game plan against Rampage? I think it was clear, his game plan was to stall, to pull off the MMA version of John Ruiz. It's one thing to take your opponents power away by taking them down, stuffing them against the cage for the purpose of tiring them out for the sake of sapping their energy to take them out later in the fight. Its a common strategy. Evans has shown he is more than willing simply stall for the sake of stalling as a strategy, and not to use it as a tool to tire his opponent out in order to finish them at a later point in the fight. His intentions come across clear as day..

St. Pierre is probably the worst example you could use in Comparison to Rashad Evans. St. Pierre utilizes serious gnp tactics, and commits to subs, subs which when he has not landed have led to his opponents gaining better position, or escaping mount. St. Pierre clearly tries to finish his opponents every time he gets into the ring. He is always actively looking to improve position to better his odds at a finish, without being careless.. St. Pierre may not have finished many recently, but his fights have been entertaining because he at least attempts to do such via controlled aggression and calculation. This is clear in his fight against Hardy.

So you want to call me a tool? When you come out and say you are going to kick someones ass, I expect you are pretty serious about that.

NO? Its for show? So your implying that **** talk is more similar to drama? So maybe your punk ass WWE fan. Thats cool, I'll tell you what though, I don't like the association of soap opera male drama for kids being associated with the adult sport I have loved since I was a young adult. You mistake me for having a simplistic understanding of what MMA should be, but my understanding of the sport is a robust one.

I'm a fan of fighters showing respect towards one another because of the seriousness of the sport. This is a violent sport, not a masculated soap opera. The concept of a fight means something very specific to me. It's rooted in the intention of knocking out or submitting someone/making them unable to continue to fight. The concept of scoring a fight are more a byproduct of the fact that rounds/ breaks in a fight are necessary, and if neither fighter can finish one another off after a certain amount of time, the fight becomes inhumane and overly dangerous, or possibly boring if both fighters are exhausted beyond reason. This is an important fact you don't seem to understand.

So yeah. The name UFC itself invokes certain implications. For one, its about fighting, fighters. Not about players or matches, or masculated drama.