Fights That Surprisingly Never Happened?

[Luvhawky]

He, and his team fucked up, that's the bottom line. Stop giving him a free pass because his "organ failed him." They miscalculated and it's 100% their fault. It's a risk you take when you want the advantage of being as big as possible.

Lol, you are clueless. It's not a free pass. I can understand how organ failure is something that is tough to account for in a weight cut especially when cutting consistent amounts of weight across cuts. It is a risk for an advantage, not arguing that, but it is also done across all athletes so the advantage is dampened.

 

[Ogata]

Karo Parisyan vs Matt Hughes

Diego Sanchez vs Matt Hughes

Joe Riggs vs Karo Parisyan

Karo Parisyan vs BJ Penn


I know I know my mind is still stuck on the mid-2000s...

 

[hot carl]

Which Arlovski was it that Fedor faced then?

he was riding a 5 fight win streak

the one tat got koed by a guy that was koed by a mw lol.

i think even 2 years earlier would have been a better fight, but maybe not.

I am not a AA nutthugger, but i thought he was winning the fight until he threw that flying knee. What the fuck!! lol

AA isnt known for his fight IQ, so maybe teh knee would have come from any version or age of AA.

 

[hot carl]

His organ never failed him before, if he were to try to cut from the same weight then yes it would be on him for not learning but the sports nature is weight cutting and while he participates in perpetuating the concept, simply putting the blame squarely on him is shortsighted. His cut might have been too big for him that day but not any other day before that. How is a person to know when there threshold moves?

im gonna jump in to someone else's e-argument, and here goes....

fuck that, he is a professional fighter that is paid to fight and failed to fight for reasons that were solely in his control.

 

[pbateman]

the one tat got koed by a guy that was koed by a mw lol.

i think even 2 years earlier would have been a better fight, but maybe not.

I am not a AA nutthugger, but i thought he was winning the fight until he threw that flying knee. What the fuck!! lol

AA isnt known for his fight IQ, so maybe teh knee would have come from any version or age of AA.

Yeah, Andrei was just getting into a good rhythm, he was winning the fight for sure, though i think it was closer than some do.

I don't know man, I think the AA we see saw destroy Ben Rothwell was on the top of his game.

But i also may just be over valuing Ben haha

 

[bigbangspiritbomb]

Anderson vs GSP Vs Bisping (not that shocking given one's tendency to duck/excuse the fight from happening).

Fedor vs Reem/Brock/Mir/Couture/Vitor

Dj vs TJ

 

[bigbangspiritbomb]

Yeah, Andrei was just getting into a good rhythm, he was winning the fight for sure, though i think it was closer than some do.

I don't know man, I think the AA we see saw destroy Ben Rothwell was on the top of his game.

But i also may just be over valuing Ben haha

AA was lighting up Fedor until that stupid knee. If he stuck to boxing with Fredie Roach, I think Fedor would have wilted IMHO. I felt like he was slipping and playing safe for far too long after 05 when Pride ended. The Brett Rogers fight was indicative of a Brock fight being brutal especially after UFC 100 where Brock GNP Mir to death.

 

[Was at Pride GP 2000]

Royce Gracie vs Mark Kerr

 

[Uber KO]

Maia vs Palhares was the fight I always wanted to happen.

 

[Luvhawky]

im gonna jump in to someone else's e-argument, and here goes....

fuck that, he is a professional fighter that is paid to fight and failed to fight for reasons that were solely in his control.

Organ failure is not in your control. Some guys cutting get seizures randomly once also not in their control. That's bad luck.

 

[Mark]

Fedor vs the UFC

Fedor beat Coleman (x2), Randleman, Big Tim, and Andrei.

 

[shino]

I really wanted Frank vs Sakuraba to happen. Frank wanted it but Pride kept jerkin him around back in the day so Frank said fuck it.

 

[TheBrownRanger]

UFC
Penn vs Guida
Rampage vs Shogun 2
McGregor vs Swanson
Velasquez vs Overeem
Filho and Arona even getting signed at all

WEC
Jens Pulver vs The Lightweights
Cantwell vs Marshall
Sonnen vs Mayhem
For some reason, I thought Dillashaw fought in the WEC at some point.

Strikeforce
Diaz vs Lawler 2
Any combination of Jacare/Shields/Le
Melendez vs Noons
Fedor vs Overeem
Cormier vs Overeem
Hendo vs King Mo or Mousasi

Bellator
Konrad vs Volkov
M'Pumbu vs Newton
Shlemenko vs Carvalho (could still happen)
Askren vs Daley
Straus vs Weichel

 

[Son of Jamin]

Filho's fight with the ghost, the ghost never engaged!

 

[Vil7]

Someone already mentioned Igor/Wand. One I always wanted to see was Maurice Smith vs. Igor Vovchanchyn. I thought it would have been interesting to see the really orthodox & technical kickboxer vs. Igor's brawling style. I think that Igor would have tried to work for the takedown & possibly would have won by punches on the ground.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

Conor vs any title challenger

 

[VAfan]

Fedor beat Coleman (x2), Randleman, Big Tim, and Andrei.

skipped the ufc, never tested himself there. ducked repeatedly.

 

[hot carl]

Organ failure is not in your control. Some guys cutting get seizures randomly once also not in their control. That's bad luck.

no, its acceptance of an appreciable risk. accepting that risk is wholly and solely within the fighter's control.

 

[DaPunkMinowaMan]

Whether it be 2 fighters that were under the same promotional banner for years, fighters that were out there bouncing between promotions for years, or even fights that are such a compelling match up its surprising nobody took advantage of it, what are some of your favorite fights that never happened? Some of these fights may have even been booked at one time but never materialized. Btw, I was inspired to do this thread by eworden78 and a thread he just opened.

-Rich Franklin vs Nate Marquardt: Two guys from the same era that were at or near the top of the MW division for quite a while, mostly at the same time, its surprising this fight never happened. Also a pretty compelling match up along with making sense rankings wise.

-Babalu vs Randy Couture: Both guys had been mainstays in the top 10 forever and both guys fought at both 205 and Heavyweight. Also from the same era.

-Robbie Lawler vs Phil Baroni: These 2 guys were cut from the same cloth in the early to mid 2000s version of the UFC. Both aggressive, hard hitting, inconsistent (to different degrees), 170-185ers that where not only in the UFC at the same time but were bouncing around other promotions when they exited the UFC at the same time. I cannot believe this fight never happened in Cage Rage, ICON, EliteXC, Rumble on the Rock, or some other promotion, it was a no-brainer.

-Karo Parisyan vs Sean Sherk 3: Most people know that Sherk beat up a teenage Karo twice outside the UFC way back in the day. This, and the fact that they were 2 UFC WW mainstays at about the same time, makes it a surprise they never booked the 3rd fight in the Octagon.

-Rumble vs Thiago Alves at 170: Pretty simple concept, 2 HUGE welterweights that miss weight all the time and KTFO people all the time.

-Shinya Aoki vs Takanori Gomi in PRIDE, Sengoku, or Shooto: Probably the 2 best JMMA 160ish pound fighters with different but equally exciting styles that were kicking around for much of the same time.

Frank Shamrock vs Kazushi Sakuraba: Both MMA pioneers who were all time greats from the same lineage and fought in Japan a whole lot and comparable in size, this fight would've been so awesome.

There are many more. What are some of your favorites?

Rickson vs Saku

Rickson vs Ruas

BJ vs Saku

Hughes vs Saku

Babalu vs Saku

Spider vs Saku

Spider vs Pele (MMA)

 

[Luvhawky]

no, its acceptance of an appreciable risk. accepting that risk is wholly and solely within the fighter's control.

Like I said earlier cutting is part of the game. Everyone does it. If that needs to be addressed so be it but this is the accepted risk of the organization aand all the fighters. They all share one failure. Not just Khabib. It is shortsighted and ignorant to blame Khabib. He is just a cog doing his job.