http://mmajunkie.com/2016/12/rizin-...ve-video-stream-and-official-results-1-a-m-et Mirko Cro Cop 233 lbs vs. Baruto 397 lbs Amir Aliakbari 256 lbs vs Valentin Moldavsky 225 lbs Winner vs Winner Some super epic introduction going on now.
I expect more of these old legends have a sudden career revival in Japan where there is no testing for PEDs or if it is it's just a formality. The new USADA testing in the UFC really ruined some of these older legends. Guys like Barnett and Vitor should definitely consider Rizin.
In any case it's still a good performance from Cro Cop given where he is in his career. Mo and Aliakbari are a lot younger and haven't exactly been clean themselves throughout their sporting careers.
Yes definitely. I'm happy for him. This victory really came out of nowhere. It's just another boost to what is already a great resume for MMA standards (top 20 ATG IMO since the sport is so young). And not just MMA, he also fought the who's who of kickboxing and was an amateur boxer in the past. Combat sports are his life since he was a little kid.
USADA testing has ruined MMA in the US, period. There is a reason the NFL gives 4 game suspensions(basically a month suspension), doesn't release the substance then sweeps it under the rug. No one cares. Hell, if you poll NFL fans I bet most fans would want their team to be on PEDs while every other team has USADA testing if it would help their team win. Think of how shitty Pride would have been with USADA testing. It would have folded before even getting off the ground.
Amir Aliakbari can be a force to be reckoned with. Hes basically an Iranian version of Brock Lesnar. Aliakbari is a Greco- Roman World Champion getting by with his elite wrestling skills, size and athletic ability, while not having much submission or boxing like Lesnar. It would be interesting to see how Heath Herring would compare Lesnar and Aliakbari, having gone the distance with both. Heath replaced Shane Carwin's spot in this Rizin GP.
I think USADA was implemented by the Fertito bros to temporarily raise the value of UFC (as a supposedly "legit sport") just before the big 4 billion sale. I think new owners are already figuring out how to get rid of it as quietly as possible.
