How good was Ricco Rodriguez?

[mkt]

Very good in his prime. He finished Arlovski, Couture, Monson and had wins over guys like Pete Williams, Buentello, Travis Fulton, Gary Goodridge (when he was still a decent fighter in 2000). All of those fights were finishes except Goodridge.

He was never the same after the underappreciated Tim Sylvia KO'd him then he had the controversial decision loss to Big Nog in Pride. That said, he was still a good fighter for another 6 years or so, winning the majority of his matches. He had a close fight (SD) with a prime-ish Bigfoot Silva in 2008.

He sadly fought a lot longer than he should have, ending with a bunch of KO losses. I hope he's not a CTE case. He was never submitted in 82 fights--there's something to be said for that.

I really don't know who he trained with besides BJJ. He seems like the type that might have had a GOAT-ish career with the right trainers, better discipline/conditioning and if he stayed away from drugs.

 

[MikeyB]

He's pretty good, in bed.

 

[JustOnce]

I watched him get smashed by Tim Sylvia at UFC 41. It's the only UFC I ever attended. Had a few names on this card:
Tim Sylvia v. Ricco Rodriguez
Frank Mir v. Tank Abbot
BJ Penn v. Caol Uno
Matt Lindlan v. Phil Baroni
Vladimir Matyushenko v. Pedro Rizzo
Din Thomas v. Matt Sera
Dan McGee v. Alexandre Dantas
Yves Edwards v. Rich Clementi

In hindsight, sick fucking card

 

[JustOnce]

Very good in his prime. He finished Arlovski, Couture, Monson and had wins over guys like Pete Williams, Buentello, Travis Fulton, Gary Goodridge (when he was still a decent fighter in 2000). All of those fights were finishes except Goodridge.

He was never the same after the underappreciated Tim Sylvia KO'd him then he had the controversial decision loss to Big Nog in Pride. That said, he was still a good fighter for another 6 years or so, winning the majority of his matches. He had a close fight (SD) with a prime-ish Bigfoot Silva in 2008.

He sadly fought a lot longer than he should have, ending with a bunch of KO losses. I hope he's not a CTE case. He was never submitted in 82 fights--there's something to be said for that.

I really don't know who he trained with besides BJJ. He seems like the type that might have had a GOAT-ish career with the right trainers, better discipline/conditioning and if he stayed away from drugs.

I think that Nog robbery killed his career. If he didn't lose, he prob stayed in PRIDEFC.

 

[RonMachineGunJhun]

Din Thomas v Matt Serra spinning backfist ko. Da best.
Ricco was a beast and one of the best potential guys at HW. Just issues with camps, trainers and drugs. Wish he would have had better direction. A real good braddah too.

 

[JustOnce]

Din Thomas v Matt Serra spinning backfist ko. Da best.
Ricco was a beast and one of the best potential guys at HW. Just issues with camps, trainers and drugs. Wish he would have had better direction. A real good braddah too.

Just curious, talking about how good Ricco was, who do you think is the best fighter coming out of Hawaii? It would have to be between BJ and Max? Who do you think is the best Hawaiian fighter?

 

[caesar]

This thread always comes up once and a while,....the Pride fight against Nog,...that hurt him,...Ricco, rightfully so,...just didnt take that loss well, and he ended up putting his foot in his mouth,....wrongfully so,...Ricco, his mouth, and making the huge mistake of joining up with Tito Ortiz and that bullshit lifestyle hurt him,...but was he good,...absolutely,...he was fast,...great submissions,....ok, he lost to Nog in Pride, but he subbed the fuck out of him with a leg lock in ADCC.

 

[gono btw]

He beat Big Nog in Pride. It was a robbery

Beat Nog in Pride....

Edit...

I think this is why fucked up judging should stop, you know what I mean. If Ricco didn't get robbed against Nogueira, his entire life may have changed. He probably eventually got a shot at Fedor, and probably didn't bounce around in smaller orgs.

What. In no planet earth should Ricco have lost that fight against Big Nog.

I mean at least when Fedor fought Arona and it was in Rings and at least Fedor's sub attempt look like they were like locked.

Nogueira's sub attempts looked like it was nowhere near close imo.

Zero chance for a Ricco win... in Pride.

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/deconstructing-mma-myths-part-37-controversial-decisions-scorin´systems.4020275/

but he subbed the fuck out of him with a leg lock in ADCC.

Decent possibility that Nog was [slightly] injured, tho...

 

[NILLI]

I think this is why fucked up judging should stop, you know what I mean. If Ricco didn't get robbed against Nogueira, his entire life may have changed. He probably eventually got a shot at Fedor, and probably didn't bounce around in smaller orgs.

By that you mean he would have fucked his life up even faster? He did countless shitty decisions and was lazy as hell. Just watch some documentaries. He was banging whores and not training. If he would have gotten any more famous he would probably be dead now.

Why did he succeed in MMA was because he was a HW and HW division is utter shit and especially was back in the day.

 

[JustOnce]

By that you mean he would have fucked his life up even faster? He did countless shitty decisions and was lazy as hell. Just watch some documentaries. He was banging whores and not training. If he would have gotten any more famous he would probably be dead now.

Why did he succeed in MMA was because he was a HW and HW division is utter shit and especially was back in the day.

Would have wiped the floor with Liddel or Ortiz.

 

[JKS]

What. In no planet earth should Ricco have lost that fight against Big Nog.

I mean at least when Fedor fought Arona and it was in Rings and at least Fedor's sub attempt look like they were like locked.

Nogueira's sub attempts looked like it was nowhere near close imo.

It was all about control and leading the pace. If you watch the fight, Big Nog controlled and led the grappling off his back. All Ricco did was follow him on top while Nog was ahead in all positions. He had the sub attempts and won the stand up was as well. Again, different scoring criteria. Just read Matt Humes who was a judge explanation how Nog won.

Just read the post a few above.

 

[JustOnce]

It was all about control and leading the pace. If you watch the fight, Big Nog controlled and led the grappling off his back. All Ricco did was follow him on top while Nog was ahead in all positions. He had the sub attempts and won the stand up was as well. Again, different scoring criteria. Just read Matt Humes who was a judge explanation how Nog won.

Just read the post a few above.

 

[Bamboozled]

I watched him get smashed by Tim Sylvia at UFC 41. It's the only UFC I ever attended. Had a few names on this card:
Tim Sylvia v. Ricco Rodriguez
Frank Mir v. Tank Abbot
BJ Penn v. Caol Uno
Matt Lindlan v. Phil Baroni
Vladimir Matyushenko v. Pedro Rizzo
Din Thomas v. Matt Sera
Dan McGee v. Alexandre Dantas
Yves Edwards v. Rich Clementi

I remember when we couldn't watch prelims and when we got them we were excited. This card is proof as to why. Now? Prelims are full of fuckstick nobodies

 

[Bamboozled]

Ricco stacked and stalled the entire time he was on top. He didn't try to win at any point.

 

[NILLI]

Would have wiped the floor with Liddel or Ortiz.

Maybe at his peak that lasted 15 minutes. LHW was also utter shit at that time.

 

[Sticko]

This lol cant believe ppl are still parroting that myth when a PRIDE judge himself whos also one of the GOAT coaches clarified it like 2 decades ago

That said prime Ricco is a problem for most HWs ever. One of the best grapplers ever at the heavier weights and a solid enough allaround game to compliment it



Wrong

https://www.sherdog.com/news/news/PRIDE-Judge-Matt-Hume-Defends-Nog-vs-Ricco-Decision-1157

"Let’s take a look at the recent match between Nogueira and Rodriguez to better understand the criteria:

1. Effort to finish by KO or submission:
Nogueira wins by a large margin due to his multiple submission attempts and active attack. Based on this, there is no reason to consider any further criteria as they are in descending order, however, for educational purposes we will continue.
2. Damage:
No damage from striking by either party. Possible damage from deep Kimura in round 3 by Nogueira, however, no award given to either.
3. Standing combinations and ground control:
Neither fighter showed superiority in standing skill. Nogueira dominated ground control as he constantly went for submission and gave away neutral position for inferior position, yet he was able to move back to neutral position with relative ease each time. Nogueira also had a forced reversal. Rodriguez had a reversal while Nogueira was passing guard. Forced reversals are more difficult to achieve and more valuable for ground control. Rodriguez was warned many times throughout the match to improve position but chose to stay in neutral guard without damaging strikes or attempts to pass to dominant position.
4. Takedown and defense:
Nogueira scored one clean takedown and defended 2 times. Ricco scored 3 Takedowns. Ricco wins this criteria.
5. Aggressiveness:
Nogueira wins by a large margin due to his many attempts at submission and his forward progression while striking. The referee warned Ricco many times in this area, but did not award a yellow card penalty.
6. Weight difference:
N/A. Ricco had a sizeable weight advantage but was not more than 15 kilos.

Penalties: No penalties were given although Ricco had many warnings to improve position.

Decision: Nogueira"

OK so I've never watched this fight before so I'll keep an open mind but that judge seems to be saying that if one fighter is more aggressive nothing else matters.

So Nogueira had more attempts at finishing the fight. Did any of them come remotely close to succeeding?

 

[RicardinhoPT]

Din Thomas v Matt Serra spinning backfist ko.

I think that wasn't Din but Shonie Carter?

 

[RonMachineGunJhun]

I think that wasn't Din but Shonie Carter?

your absolutely right. Dang braddah losing it

 

[GIBLERTBAPTISTA]

He was good

But Nog was better

 

[HunterAcosta]

Very good in his prime. He finished Arlovski, Couture, Monson and had wins over guys like Pete Williams, Buentello, Travis Fulton, Gary Goodridge (when he was still a decent fighter in 2000). All of those fights were finishes except Goodridge.

He was never the same after the underappreciated Tim Sylvia KO'd him then he had the controversial decision loss to Big Nog in Pride. That said, he was still a good fighter for another 6 years or so, winning the majority of his matches. He had a close fight (SD) with a prime-ish Bigfoot Silva in 2008.

He sadly fought a lot longer than he should have, ending with a bunch of KO losses. I hope he's not a CTE case. He was never submitted in 82 fights--there's something to be said for that.

I really don't know who he trained with besides BJJ. He seems like the type that might have had a GOAT-ish career with the right trainers, better discipline/conditioning and if he stayed away from drugs.

Trained with Bas a lot early on but think he stopped after or right hefore Sylvia fight .