5 Fights for Non-MMA Fans?

Discussion in 'MMA Forum' started by sugarngold, Feb 8, 2008.


  1. sugarngold

    sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

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    I get a bit tired of the bias against MMA in the general forums and main page of ESB. There seem to be many boxing fans that feel threatened by the rise of MMA to the point where all they can do is try to denigrate the sport. I find that really sad because as everyone here knows - one can be a fan of boxing and MMA without some kind of fan-centric conflict of interest.

    So my question to you is:

    What five fights would you pick to show to non-MMA fans?

    and/or

    What five Youtube MMA clips would you show to non-MMA fans?

    Once we come up with a list, I think we should post the links on the Boxing Forum and try to help boxing fans appreciate MMA.
     
  2. sugarngold

    sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

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    Here are a few I can think of:

    Metzger/Silva - A classic kickboxing brawl in the MMA arena.
    Griffin/Bonner I - Classic toe-to-toe slugfest from beginning to end that would make Arturo Gatti proud.
    Noguiera/Coleman I - Noguiera's juijutsu was beautiful in this fight. He controlled Coleman from beginning to end until he sunk in that brilliant triangle choke.
    Shamrock/Gracie I - Fast paced grappling match showing a smaller man in Royce keep pace with the much larger Shamrock.
    Frye and that big ass Japanese wrestler whose name I can't recall at the moment. This was a classic brawl of unbelievable ferocity.

    There are plenty of great matches that one could recommend. I'm curious to see what you all think.
     
  3. Beebs

    Beebs Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Griffin - Bonnar might not work as they would just ***** about the "bad boxing" same for Takyama and Frye...of course you could just show them nishijima vs anybody who can fog a mirror.

    The others I like.

    This would be a good one to show top level skill in almost all aspects.
    [yt]AgHN_yYYYzY[/yt]

    Maybe this to show what happens with even the best strikers if they dont have a ground game to match.
    [yt]ShZgeQ2s-LE[/yt]

    Shogun Arona
    [yt]L52TubcIDLE[/yt]

    A nice submission Highlight
    [yt]DU62bLbBSm8[/yt]

    Koscheck's Takedowns (Couldn't find one of GSP's so save the comments)
    [yt]sdTr91kVtVc[/yt]
     
  4. boxingcar

    boxingcar Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Personally , if i had 5 fights to show to a "non mma" fan , i'd select the shortest ones. and i would also avoid the most "technical" ones (see arona vs Lister). I also would avoid the type of fights that have lots of stand up striking....(the typical boxing fan will automatically compare the striking styles and conclude that fighter A would get koed by fighter B because fighter A's striking as nothing in common with boxing...if i'm gonn a select a fight with lots of striking , i'd pick the ones that get closer to kickboxing rather than boxing most mma fighters don't look good with their hands)...

    The short & spectacular fight has to be distanced from what we usually see in boxing to avoid any stupid comparisons too...

    So my picks are...(i(m gonna select 10 instead of 5)

    Randleman vs Emelianenko (best suplex in mma history , short & great finish)

    Hansen vs Ribeiro (technical but short , with an impressive sub)

    Taylor vs Sato (too short maybe , but spectacular sub )

    Coleman vs Nogueira (short , and very technical sub finish)

    Akiyama vs Manhoef (solid & fast muay thai fighter getting subbed)

    Igor vs Filipovic ( short , accurate and extremely brutal finish via hk)

    Randleman vs Filipovic (short , solid wrestling & perfect left hook)

    Schilt vs Kharitonov ( short , tall striker gets brutally owned sambo style)

    Sylvia vs Mir (very short , guy gets his arm broken , perfect armbar)

    Sapp vs Nogueira (freak of nature with brute strength smashing bjj artist on the ground , spectacular slams , and great finish)
     
  5. sugarngold

    sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

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    Good point about "bad boxing" Beebs. I wasn't thinking along those lines as I was just trying to come up with exciting fights that I think everyone could enjoy.

    But seeing as how we are dealing with die-hard boxing fans - it is probably best to avoid any stand up fights where the technique would be found lacking.

    Thanks for posting those links. I'm going to give those a look over.

    Great suggestions so far.
     
  6. sugarngold

    sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

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    Thanks for the great suggestions, boxingcar. I almost put the Randleman/Fedor match in my list as well. I agree that the suplex from Randleman was one of the craziest I've ever seen. Fedor had to be part cyborg to survive that.

    Nice to see some more love for that Nog/Coleman match. Juijutsu at it's best is such a joy to watch.

    You've posted a few matches that I'm not familiar with. Will have to look into them.

    Thanks for the suggestions.
     
  7. sugarngold

    sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

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    Those are some great choices, beebs. The gomi/penn match is a classic. I had forgotten about the Ludwig/Penn match - but anothe rgood one. Shogun/Arona was good - but it was such a beat down. I was thinking more about fight that went back and forth a bit. That submissions video is definitely sweet. We should keep that in the running unless someone comes up with something different. The Kos video is good - but since it's just takedowns we might leave that one out.

    Great suggestions, all. Thanks for posting.
     
  8. sugarngold

    sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

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    Some others fights I was thinking about include:

    Frank Shamrock vs John Lober. Shamrock showed a masterful blend of stand up striking with his ground fighting and slowly broke Lober into pieces.

    and

    Rampage Jackson vs Arona: The slam heard around the world.
     
  9. sugarngold

    sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

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    Does anyone else have any suggestions?
     
  10. Beebs

    Beebs Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Everybody watching the Hughes - Trigg 2 fight went ****ing berserk at the ened, thats an all time classic.
     
  11. sugarngold

    sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

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    That is one that I keep meaning to mention. It's definitely a back from the edge victory. My buddies and I all thought it was over - but then it shifted. Great fight.
     
  12. sugarngold

    sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

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    SPOILERS

    I don't usually think about spoilers as a problem when talking about fights unless they occurred within the past two weeks and you as a fan just haven't had a chance to see them yet. However, I have seen some mention of people complaining about fight spoilers here - hence the spoiler warning above.

    That first Hughes/Newton fight was very interesting. Newton was actually competetive in that fight as opposed to the second where Hughes dominated him. The ending has always stuck in my craw a bit as Newton actually choked out Hughes - who while unconscious dropped Newton on his head - knocking him out and winning the fight. Definitely a bizarre ending.
     
  13. Beebs

    Beebs Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Thing that people forget is Newton clearly broke the rules by grabbing the top of the fence to avoid the slam, giving him time to choke Hughes, without the illegal move only Newton would have been out.
     
  14. sugarngold

    sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

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    Good point. Newton was really a dumb ass for holding onto the hold after Hughes was able to get him into the air.

    I'm a jiujustsu guy at heart - so you have to understand I'm biased for jiujustsu fighters.
     
  15. sugarngold

    sugarngold RIDDUM Full Member

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    After taking all these suggestions to heart, I've come with a top ten list of fights for your consideration.

    Feel free to add or subtract from the list as you see fit.
    Once we can come to some kind of agreement, we can try to find some Youtube or Dailymotion clips for our final list. If we come up with several fights - but don't have the videos to support it, we'll just make a recommendation with the corresponding DVD release - be it Pride, UFC, etc.

    gracie/shamrock 1
    hughes/trigg 2
    crocop/noguiera
    shogun/arona
    wanderlai silva/guy metzger
    BJ Penn/Gomi
    Noguiera/Coleman
    Randleman/Fedor
    Igor/Crocop
    Bob Sapp/Noguiera