Just watched the Gohkan Saki fight

[That209]

I totally understand that. I also know he only had one MMA fight prior to that. It's just that he is jumping the gun a bit with the whole "this is my house shit". I'm not even trying to hate on the guy, it's just he has a long way to go if he ever wants to compete with the top guys.

I felt the same way when he said "this is my house". He only just got there and beat a nobody. He's an amazing kickboxer and has been at the top of that game for a very long time, but he should've had to work his way up through another promotion first. He should've had to get some more experience and improve in the other aspects of MMA that he's obviously lacking in (grappling), but we all know how UFC is. It really shouldn't matter who he is and how good he was/is at kickboxing.

This is a different sport and he, as well as many other fighters from different sports, should not have the red carpet rolled out for them because of it. I'm not going on about fairness, but more about him simply not having the skills to compete against anybody that's actually legit. None of us will be surprised when he fights somebody that doesn't block punches with their face and can complete a TD on him and maul him on the mat, or easily clinch him against the fence and maul him there.

Then there's the possibility somebody else would do the same to him shorty after. No matter how great he is at kickboxing, this kind of thing really is not smart on the UFC's part because somebody could end up getting hurt because of it due to lacking the necessary skills and such. It's all about money, though, the usual. Once again, UFC/WME is just looking for another money grab. It's just another way for them to pick some pockets, but this time they're going after the kickboxing fans.

I wish we could go back to the old way of doing things.

 

[Dessyboy]

This was effectively his first MMA fight. He did very well considering

Yes he has a long way to go before being a challenger but he has some awesome tools to work with

 

[welcometohavoc]

Was a little worried from what I read on here at first, but he didn't look as bad as I expected him to. Crisp striking, especially in the beginning. Hes also younger than I thought he would be at 33. I wouldn't really say he was in any trouble at any point in the fight to be honest.

Work on his cardio, or just get more used to MMA in general and he could do pretty good at LHW considering how shitty the division is. Give him favorable match ups like Shogun (at this point of his career) and I can see him climbing the ranks fast.

He was 10 seconds away from being put away by an unranked opponent.

I don't like his chances in the top 10

 

[tramendous]

Was a little worried from what I read on here at first, but he didn't look as bad as I expected him to. Crisp striking, especially in the beginning. Hes also younger than I thought he would be at 33. I wouldn't really say he was in any trouble at any point in the fight to be honest.

Work on his cardio, or just get more used to MMA in general and he could do pretty good at LHW considering how shitty the division is. Give him favorable match ups like Shogun (at this point of his career) and I can see him climbing the ranks fast.

id hate for him to fight shogun because i would be sad to see either guy lose

 

[Strategery]

More leg kicking! Cardio and crocop style tdd and get-up. This gonna be interesting.

 

[PancraseForever]

If Saki really makes a push in MMA I might actually start following it more again. Fucking love Saki. He throws and LANDS the hardest and fastest looking fucking punches.

 

[Caio]

Anderson would have beaten him with those knees in the clinch. I liked his interview though, he adressed his problems very honestly (clinch, grappling cardio).

 

[king of theRing]

Even in Spong's debut for me though he looked apprehensive, not comfortable with how open the big gloves made things. Saki's more aggressive style is I think potentially a much better fit for MMA.

Honestly as well I think its a good sign that he faced a bit of adversity and still came out ontop looking impressive rather than limping to a decision as Spong did.

Again give me slightly unpolished raw potential over some slick jack of all trades type today of the week, LHW has been full of the latter for years with the likes of Corey Anderson being hyped up but ultimately coming unstuck vs anyone good. A slightly cooler head and better tactics can be learnt a hell of a lot more quickly than high level kickboxing ability.

Actually spongs debut was a first round ko. His second fight was a dominant win but he just blasted low kicks for 15 mins. Naturally when you transition from kickboxing to mma, you look like shit. Actually most turn into grapplers

 

[Shotcy]

Didn't look good to me.

 

[HHJ]

I thought he looked good too. As sluggish as an MMA debut is expected to be. The opponent started throwing heat near the end,but that didn't faze him at all. He was very calm and was looking to slip and counter in that whole final exchange. It aint nothing Saki never saw before.

 

[Human Bass]

He ate too many knees against a mediocre opponent with bad fight iq. Not impressed, but yeah, his striking is amazing (as long it isn't clinching).

 

[Evangelion]

I just watched a brief clip of the ending, and gotta say, he doesn't look like a contender, IMO. Possibly, if he really works on cardio, and his grappling, and the ability to deal with it, and be more efficient in the clinch, and other positions, but he looked like an older fighter to me.

Could've been Octagon jitters, and rust, which isn't out of the realm of possibility, since it happened to DC as well, against Mir, but he's been in many striking battles, and could be damaged goods as far as his physical prime goes. Hoping he does become a force, because the more contenders at LHW, the merrier.

Lol at two paragraphs of analysis based on a gif of the ending. Thats what you watched right a gif (or as you call it "a brief clip").

You are whats wrong with the world

 

[KORMAN]

Lol at two paragraphs of analysis based on a gif of the ending. Thats what you watched right a gif (or as you call it "a brief clip").

You are whats wrong with the world

Jeez man, didn't think youd get that upset over it, otherwise I wouldn't have made that post.

I'm so sorry, sir. Please forgive me. Lol calm down.

 

[TheChosenOne]

Am I the only one who thinks the fight was stopped early? The guy wasn't KO'D cold and usually in MMA the guy hits the mat then dude jumps on top, a few hammer fists and then the fight is stopped right?

 

[HHJ]

Am I the only one who thinks the fight was stopped early? The guy wasn't KO'D cold and usually in MMA the guy hits the mat then dude jumps on top, a few hammer fists and then the fight is stopped right?

I think it was an ok stoppage. The guy went down bad,but then again Gokhan has never had to finish a guy in that position before so its possible he could have pulled guard and survived. The way he slumped when he got hit is probably what made the ref jump in for the save. Plus he could have seen his eyes,and the guy recovered only after the brief respite after the ref stopped it.

 

[DrGlaze]

This whole thing makes me sad Spong isn't still fighting MMA. I also wish Rampage or Maldonado were still in the UFC to fight, they would make great fights for Saki.

 

[HHJ]

I always found Spong to be overrated.

 

[Eyepokesftw]

Um. Did any of you actually watch the fight?

Gokhan was getting his ass handed to him by Silva and was about to be TKO'd lol...Then Gokhan threw a counter that knocked Silva down. The ref stopped the fucking fight immediately while Silva was still falling lol... Silva was perfectly fine, his head didn't even bounce off the canvass like it should if he was actually KO'd. Silva stood up immediately and protested the stoppage.

It was a bullshit stoppage.

If the fight were to continue Silva would have most likely overwhelmed Gokhan

 

[HHJ]

Um. Did any of you actually watch the fight?

Gokhan was getting his ass handed to him by Silva and was about to be TKO'd lol...Then Gokhan threw a counter that knocked Silva down. The ref stopped the fucking fight immediately while Silva was still falling lol... Silva was perfectly fine, his head didn't even bounce off the canvass like it should if he was actually KO'd. Silva stood up immediately and protested the stoppage.

It was a bullshit stoppage.

If the fight were to continue Silva would have most likely overwhelmed Gokhan

lol @ this guy.

 

[moreorless87]

Actually spongs debut was a first round ko. His second fight was a dominant win but he just blasted low kicks for 15 mins. Naturally when you transition from kickboxing to mma, you look like shit. Actually most turn into grapplers

Yeah I known but even in that fight he looked quite gunshy throwing relatively little with his hands against an opponent he should have just walked though and destroyed.