Anyone else think Shlemenko will have a tough time with Tito

[Killme]

If this were all about size, Dan Severn and Mark Coleman could come out of retirement and beat Shlemenko. (Severn could never make LHW, but that's beside the point.) You're not considering how age, injuries and wear-n-tear affect a fighter's ability to shoot for double-legs.

Its not "all about size" Tito is not some untrained old guy, he can still fight, he gave forrest a good fight on the way out and has had his neck issue cleared up. His wrestling is as legit as you get, Shlemenko on the other hand...

 

[Stokanator]

I think Titos size and grappling will give Shlemenko a lot of trouble. I see him wearing Shlemenko down via top control and eventually subbing him or maybe just grinding out a decision. Anyone disagree with me....

No. Only a hard core Tito Ortiz fan could possibly be disillusioned with the idea that he will create any sort of problems for Shlemenko or any other current mid level LHW for that matter.

I thought it was quite apparent in Tito's last few showings the sport had long passed him by. Also taking into account he just had to recently drop out of the fight with Rampage, I'm not exactly buying into the idea "he is healthier then ever". My guess is this will be another lackluster performance by Tito followed by a long spill about how he felt rushed to come back for the fans and he was fighting injured and that is why he lost.

 

[Dixon0023]

I can see tito having the upper hand during the first 2 rounds, then I see shlemenko taking over.

 

[AlteredStates]

I think Ortiz will give him some "trouble" in the first but Shlemenko takes him out in the second. I see this fight going like Evans/Ortiz.

 

[mkt]

. His wrestling is as legit as you get, Shlemenko on the other hand...

"As legit as you get?" Maybe back in 2003. But even then, there were better wrestlers like Randy. Tito got soundly beaten by Matt Hamill a few years ago. Matt freakin' Hamill. As far as I remember, Tito didn't get a single TD in that fight.

 

[Zuni]

I agree with you TS.

Big skilled guy beats small skilled guy nearly every time. I'm rooting for Storm, but Tito is going to take him down and grind him out.

Tito has good wrestling and top control, Storm is not great off of his back. This fight has a Tito win written all over it.

 

[Bigj383]

Its not "all about size" Tito is not some untrained old guy, he can still fight, he gave forrest a good fight on the way out and has had his neck issue cleared up. His wrestling is as legit as you get, Shlemenko on the other hand...

Forrest was Shot by then as well. Forrest was smart enough to retire after that fight. He knew his day was done. It's not like Forrest is being dug up to fight Luke Rockhold, Yoel Romero, or Tim Kennedy. People would flip their shit if that was a fight offered.

 

[mkt]

I agree with you TS.

Big skilled guy beats small skilled guy nearly every time.

Assuming both are in roughly the same physical condition and age range.

But this isn't a 29-year old Shlemenko vs. 29-year old Tito, where both are around their physical primes and have few injuries.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I still think this match-up makes no sense. If Tito wins, congratulations Bellator you just buried your MW Champion to a guy who's had one win since 2006. If Schlemenko wins, it does very little to move his stock up.

 

[Bigj383]

I still think this match-up makes no sense. If Tito wins, congratulations Bellator you just buried your MW Champion to a guy who's had one win since 2006. If Schlemenko wins, it does very little to move his stock up.

This^ This fight is such a lose/lose for Schlemenko. Storm should beat Tito and should do it by KO. Anything less would only serve to Damage his credibility. Tito is old (for an athlete he is pushing 40), injured (has a lot of miles and has taken a lot of beatings), and rusty (he hasn't been in a ring since July 2012).

 

[SynthMMA]

I still think this match-up makes no sense. If Tito wins, congratulations Bellator you just buried your MW Champion to a guy who's had one win since 2006. If Schlemenko wins, it does very little to move his stock up.

I think they just wanted to get Tito on a card. I agree it doesn't make sense for the sole fact that if Schlemenko loses, his stock drops significantly and if he wins, it don't really mean shit. This is also the same organization that let go of a dominant WW champ in Askren so such fights don't surprise me.

 

[Killme]

"As legit as you get?" Maybe back in 2003. But even then, there were better wrestlers like Randy. Tito got soundly beaten by Matt Hamill a few years ago. Matt freakin' Hamill. As far as I remember, Tito didn't get a single TD in that fight.

Matt Hamill is a great wrestler, how about you check back here after the fight has happened.

 

[Killme]

I think they just wanted to get Tito on a card. I agree it doesn't make sense for the sole fact that if Schlemenko loses, his stock drops significantly and if he wins, it don't really mean shit. This is also the same organization that let go of a dominant WW champ in Askren so such fights don't surprise me.

u mean...

If tito wins he beat the great bellator middleweight champion on a 12 fight winstreak... and will fight the winner of king mo-rampage

If Schlemenko wins he beat a ufc LEGAND after moving up a whole weightclass, proving just how dominant he is.

 

[SynthMMA]

u mean...

If tito wins he beat the great bellator middleweight champion on a 12 fight winstreak... and will fight the winner of king mo-rampage

If Schlemenko wins he beat a ufc LEGAND after moving up a whole weightclass, proving just how dominant he is.

Are you Tito Ortiz?

 

[mkt]

Matt Hamill is a great wrestler, how about you check back here after the fight has happened.

Hamill had a decent (Div. 3) wrestling background but his MMA wrestling was quite mediocre. Did you see what Rich Franklin did to him? And Rich never had much success at LHW.

So will you be here if Tito gets TKO'd and embarrassed? With or without excuses?

 

[mkt]

Are you Tito Ortiz?

Or is he Schlemenko? I love these "either/or's" where one way or another someone has proven to be an ultra-elite fighter. I guess if Rampage beats King Mo, it means he's beaten a guy with a great wrestling pedigree. If Mo wins, he beat another UFC "legand" (sic) and could probably take Jon Jones if he wanted.

Tito is a legend because of what he did from 1998-2006 (and to be honest, 2004-2006 were a little shaky; mostly losing to Chuck while beating the over-the-hill "legand" Ken Shamrock). He's done nothing in the last 8-10 years to put him in elite status.

 

[SynthMMA]

I lold.

And yeah, I agree 100% with the latter part of your post.

 

[Paradigm]

It would be great if Tito took Storm down and pounded him out.
I'm a sucker for resurgences and Tito deserves a more graceful exit from the sport than the Monkey Forrest spectacle.

that was ridiculous. i was at the event and am still a little bitter towards Forrest about that.

on the other hand, you could also say its karma for what Tito did with Mark Coleman's last fight in the UFC.

"As legit as you get?" Maybe back in 2003. But even then, there were better wrestlers like Randy. Tito got soundly beaten by Matt Hamill a few years ago. Matt freakin' Hamill. As far as I remember, Tito didn't get a single TD in that fight.

Tito also had Lyoto in a bit of trouble...could have derailed the whole Machida mystique a lot sooner than Shogun.

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

TKO via body shots within the first few minutes, most likely.

 

[SynthMMA]

Tito also had Lyoto in a bit of trouble...could have derailed the whole Machida mystique a lot sooner than Shogun.

No need to make more out of that than there was though. Although that triangle-choke looked tight, that was really all Tito did in that fight. That was also 6 years ago.