Fights that made you question everything you know about MMA?

[textwarrior]

Karate guys looked like a joke in early UFC. Then Gracie came in, oh no, I said...another guy with a gee(Gi). But when he started winning, it was like...what?!.... the guy tapped out? huh....and he was deadly....I realized then I gave too much credit to the striking game. Soon, I didn't see boxers as the baddest people on the planet.

 

[Grappling Magic]

GSP vs Serra 1 was the on for me. I was shocked, along with the fact that fight was the first and LAST time I have ever bet $$$ on a fight.

 

[sllimkcaj]

Cro cop gonzaga and Pettis vs clay I thought Pettis would destroy him

 

[Saskatoonmike**]

Shogun/Jones is really the only fight that I was truly shocked.

Big upsets shock me but you also kind of expect them with enough fights. Especially the ones of the 'catch' variety (Serra/GSP).

The reason Jones/Shogun shocked me was because Jones did not just catch Shogun. He just beat him up everywhere. Dominated him like he had no business in the cage with him and I did not think anyone could do that to Shogun. I thought Jones had a good chance to win prior to the fight but not like that.

 

[Goon Dog]

Gabe/Cro Cop and Rashad/Chuck. Never saw these coming in a million years.

 

[LSXMMA]

Mccorkle beating Mark Hunt

 

[Blayt7hh]

For me it was Shogun vs Forrest. That was when I realized that top fighters are a lot closer to each other in skill than I had previously believed

 

[Shoryukennn]

Karate guys looked like a joke in early UFC. Then Gracie came in, oh no, I said...another guy with a gee(Gi). But when he started winning, it was like...what?!.... the guy tapped out? huh....and he was deadly....I realized then I gave too much credit to the striking game. Soon, I didn't see boxers as the baddest people on the planet.

gracie won ufc 1, before it was even called ufc 1. no disrespect, i just dont want to see you run into an idiot who will bitch attack you for that one.

 

[Drake]

Stopped reading once I saw unreadable yellow letters.

 

[SammyPops]

Houston Alexander and Kimbo Slice. I was left in awe of their athleticism.

lol I fogot about this fight.

Fedor vs. Verdum

 

[PalharesIsHulk**]

Never really felt this way. One of those sports where you prepare yourself for anything.

CC Gonzaga was my biggest wtf moment though as was his loss to Kevin.

Same here... that was just unreal.

 

[ferpers]

Fedor v. Minotauro I

 

[TheProphetAxel]

Silva vs Hendo. I thought it would have gone a little longer. Especially after the first round.

Silva vs Sonnen I. Maia's win wasnt a fluke, Chael has atrocious sub defense.
http://www.ufc.com/media/SUB-MaiaSonnen0095 (LOL at the AHHHHHHs in the bg)

Silva vs Sonnen II. Spinning backfists should only be used by Jones or Silva. In theory it is a very destructive strike, but if you miss, you look like an ass in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

 

[Marx Marvelous]

When Royce Gracie triangled Dan Severn from the bottom. I had no idea it was possible to finish a fight in that manner. No one I was with had any idea what had happened. We were like "is he injured?", "is the fight over?", "huh wtf just happened?". Granted it was a really early UFC and I knew sweet fuckall about mma, but that blew my mind that skinny Royce could submit Severn with his legs from his back. Magic!

 

[clubberlang]

Pulver vs. Lauzon for me.

I was talking up Lil Evil so much and was sure he'd run through this no-name Lauzon guy during a triumphant return to the Octagon. 2 minutes later, I was stunned when he was brutally knocked out.

 

[Bovlowski]

Chuck vs. Jardine was confounding for me.

Jardine had no power, a weak chin, and he pressured with short punches on his way inside going up against a devastating puncher with long-range counters that came at odd angles.

The event was even CALLED knockout, that's how sure everyone was that Chuck would KO Jardine.

When Rashad knocked Chuck out it was utterly shocking but at least there was an explanation. Chuck clearly dove in hands down chin high and are a punch that could've killed a horse. There was no explanation for the Jardine fight. It made no sense. I had lost faith.

 

[Manila**]

There are fights that I call totally wrong, but they don't really change the way I think about the sport, they just make me realize immediately that I've made an error. For example, I believed that Nate Diaz would beat Ben Henderson, but when Henderson was dominating, it wasn't making me question everything I think about these guys or about the sport, I just realized that I had completely underestimated Bendo's athleticism, strength, striking - I had effectively just underrated him quite severely. I still think Nate Diaz is an excellent lightweight (his performances against borderline top 5 guys Miller and Cerrone were brilliant), and I'd still favour him over a lot of good guys, even good wrestlers who don't possess Benson's special athleticism.

But there are other fights that I call equally wrongly, but that I cannot so easily make sense of. For example, I still can't really understand how easily/dominantly that Frank Mir beat Roy Nelson. That fight really did make me question everything. Considering everything I have seen of those guys before or since, I still don't really see the logic of how/why Frank beat him so comfortably. Sometimes this sport is just weird! And I realize I have my limitations in knowledge.