Serious Movie Discussion XLI

[Graves The Elder]

just scanning, saw high plains drifter referenced.

after seeing it dozens of times, in comparison to films before and after it,

I really think it's a stand alone classic. western/allegory/biblical themed moralistic movie.

the staging, the cast, the music, the direction. it all combines to make a very compelling epic.

 

[Flemmy Stardust]

Jones screwed Jones. I look at this era in the UFC now and it's the first time in a long time where I feel every weight class title picture is wide open- save for DJ who has that 125 belt on lock.

Jones was the only other guy right there with DJ who still had that aura of invincibility but he now might not fight for another year or more. Damn shame.

If anyone can come back and quickly return to form, it'd be him.

Speaking of 205...Anderson could have an interesting last hurrah there imo. If he had a camp dedicated to avoiding the clinch and keeping a distance with Cormier, i would be somewhat enthusiastic about his chances.

He did a great job defending/avoiding damage from bottom when he was taken down.

Tate vs. Nunes now headlining but Brock's presence is the real bread and butter in terms of drawing power. Gotta imagine Hunto tkos him in the second or late in the first. Four years away from the game is like a lifetime when it comes to combat sports I feel. But Brock was never in a dull fight and I don't expect tomorrow's to be either.

Was his dullest fight, but he showed some maturity. Did what he needed to beat Hunt, and did actually try to do damage when he was on top...so i ain't mad. I hope this wasn't a one and done fight for him. It's a good return performance, but disappointing if it was to be his last (didn't hear the post-fight interviews or read any articles yet).

Alvarez winning last night was huge. Just underscores my point that a lot of these belts very well might get hot potatoed.

The performances that led to Eddie getting his title shot made it difficult to get behind that fight, and i've been so high on RDA (and a bit low on Eddie) i just didn't see it being competitive.

But I've been a big fan of Eddie's since the Dream GP...So I'm pumped for him and the performance he turned in. He was confident in his hands, didn't give RDA's punching power too much respect (especially given how frequently Eddie gets dropped in fights), and he went for the kill.

Dude has legit been in 4 FOTY caliber fights (Hansen, Kawajiri, Chandler x2), and had been in the top 10 for the last 8 years, so it's awesome to see it all lead to the UFC title.

 

[HenryFlower]

Aldo looked phenomenal last night. That fight was a ton of fun to watch from start to finish. Hungry for Vengeance Aldo has started down his warpath folks.

Unfortunately, the entire event, while not terrible, was massively underwhelming for being "the biggest event in UFC history."

 

[Tycho- Taylor's Version]

Was really impressed with Brock. Would have been even more impressed had Cain not gone full Terminator-mode a few fights earlier.

Fuck that guy's scary.

Aldo looked phenomenal last night. That fight was a ton of fun to watch from start to finish. Hungry for Vengeance Aldo has started down his warpath folks.

Can't believe how much shit Aldo's getting in the Heavies (well.. actually I can). He was on point and looked great against a game-y Edgar.

 

[HenryFlower]

Can't believe how much shit Aldo's getting in the Heavies (well.. actually I can). He was on point and looked great against a game-y Edgar.

I would think that I should be desensitized to the Aldo hate in the heavies by now, but nope, still really annoying/frustrating, especially after such a great performance. Edgar looked lost out there by the third round. It's not often we see Edgar so lost & frustrated in a fight, & how often do we see Edgar get tossed around like a football when he went to takedowns.

Even though Aldo was eating Edgar's best shots like cracker jacks, & returned fire w/ some venomous counters, I am admittedly still a little worried by how many shots he did take, & he did end up w/ a good sized hematoma on his cheek, knowing full well what McGregor is capable of.

 

[Tycho- Taylor's Version]

I would think that I should be desensitized to the Aldo hate in the heavies by now, but nope, still really annoying/frustrating, especially after such a great performance. Edgar looked lost out there by the third round. It's not often we see Edgar so lost & frustrated in a fight, & how often do we see Edgar get tossed around like a football when he went to takedowns.

Even though Aldo was eating Edgar's best shots like cracker jacks, & returned fire w/ some venomous counters, I am admittedly still a little worried by how many shots he did take, & he did end up w/ a good sized hematoma on his cheek, knowing full well what McGregor is capable of.

Y'know it took me a while to really see that he was getting the better of the striking exchanges - thought Edgar had him shook a little in the first until that weird spinning kick to Edgar's lower leg seemed to slow him down. Then Joe was just all over Aldo's nuts for the next two rounds though he didn't really start to pull away until late in the third.

Anyway I think it was a close fight despite the difference in damage, but Aldo stood out by making every strike look dangerous (those knees were gross), and by tossing Edgar around which you mentioned - which was really just remarkable and got me a little excited for the McG rematch.

That pic floating around in the Heavies of McGregor standing to watch the fight with his hands behind his back is glorious.

 

[HenryFlower]

Y'know it took me a while to really see that he was getting the better of the striking exchanges - thought Edgar had him shook a little in the first until that weird spinning kick to Edgar's lower leg seemed to slow him down. Then Joe was just all over Aldo's nuts for the next two rounds though he didn't really start to pull away until late in the third.

Anyway I think it was a close fight despite the difference in damage, but Aldo stood out by making every strike look dangerous (those knees were gross), and by tossing Edgar around which you mentioned - which was really just remarkable and got me a little excited for the McG rematch.

That pic floating around in the Heavies of McGregor standing to watch the fight with his hands behind his back is glorious.

It's true that it was close for a few rounds, but after the first I felt as though Aldo was looking like the more potent fighter at nearly every turn. Rogan was insufferable throughout the fight, especially early, no denying that, but Aldo was on fuego last night.

Speaking of Rogan, how awkward was this shit last night? lol

I started to sweat it was so uncomfortable.

So what was everyone favorite fight of the weekend? It's a tough call between Alvarez/RDA & Joanna/Gadelha for me.

 

[europe1]

I started to sweat it was so uncomfortable.

The fact that it happened at UFC 200, in concurrance with all the other crazy stuff that happened (including the "gold"-coloured floor) -- makes it all to perfect to believe.

So what was everyone favorite fight of the weekend? It's a tough call between Alvarez/RDA & Joanna/Gadelha for me.

Alvarez vs RDA was really good becuse both where actually showing their brilliance in that short first round. What Alvarez has that Two Years Olds previous opponents lacks is some really cunning circling against the cage and some really subtle headmovement (which he displayed against Chandler as well). So even when RDA put the pressure on him against the cage Alvarez was so crafty that he turned what is supposed to be a disadvantageous position into a hard fight. I'll say this, I loath the whole "just got caught" mantra that everyone spews whenever someone losses. But this is a fight I think could easily have gone the 5 rounds. One of Alvarez punches just looped past Two Years Old's defence and cracked him. Big fan of Two Years Old and hopes he has an amazing comeback -- but man seeing Alvarez as the champ is a treat all in it's own, especially since I've been following him since his DREAMS days, which was just around the time I really started becoming fascinated with MMA.

Brooks vs Pearson was magnificent too. Pearson really showed how crafty he can be despite his loss. When Brooks fought Chandler he managed to put on a flawless defence since Chandler always throws these big, ostentasious strikes that a guy like Ill Will can just forsee and evade as their incomming. But Pearson was so crisp and techniqual with his strikes that he lit Brooks up. Brooks hammered him with some lumbering kicks, which traditionally has been Pearson's achilles heel, since he becomes disorganized when having to deal with something outside the strick boxing game, but this time he really managed to stay composed and on point despite of it. Also loved how they both went to the body constantly.

Jouban vs Muhammed is also to be mentioned, though it was basically fun carnage. Jouban seemed a lot more composed than he usually is, and Belal showed relentless resolve.

 

[Flemmy Stardust]

Aldo is seriously getting shit for his best performance since the WEC?

He looked like he was fighting a perfect fight against one of the pound for pound best.

 

[ufcfan4]

If anyone can come back and quickly return to form, it'd be him.

Speaking of 205...Anderson could have an interesting last hurrah there imo. If he had a camp dedicated to avoiding the clinch and keeping a distance with Cormier, i would be somewhat enthusiastic about his chances.

He did a great job defending/avoiding damage from bottom when he was taken down.

Anderson is an interesting spot. He may be near the end of his career but I think he's still got some fight left in him. DC outright said on the post-show that that body kick got him into desperation mode to get the fight to the ground quickly. Dominant win from Cormier, which makes sense, but I think Anderson definitely has sign of life in his career. Never been a huge fan but I think he's got an awesome style and would like to see him notch a win or two before calling it a career.

Was his dullest fight, but he showed some maturity. Did what he needed to beat Hunt, and did actually try to do damage when he was on top...so i ain't mad. I hope this wasn't a one and done fight for him. It's a good return performance, but disappointing if it was to be his last (didn't hear the post-fight interviews or read any articles yet).

I look at it as a testing the waters type situation- Brock seemed to have a great time getting back in there and he proved he can beat a very relevant dude. I was quite impressed. Hunt is not easy to take or hold down these days and Brock beat him bad once he had him there. Since Brock had a good time and he looked good in the process I'm betting Vince and co. will allow another fight down the line if there is money to be made for all.

The performances that led to Eddie getting his title shot made it difficult to get behind that fight, and i've been so high on RDA (and a bit low on Eddie) i just didn't see it being competitive.

But I've been a big fan of Eddie's since the Dream GP...So I'm pumped for him and the performance he turned in. He was confident in his hands, didn't give RDA's punching power too much respect (especially given how frequently Eddie gets dropped in fights), and he went for the kill.

Dude has legit been in 4 FOTY caliber fights (Hansen, Kawajiri, Chandler x2), and had been in the top 10 for the last 8 years, so it's awesome to see it all lead to the UFC title.

[/quote]

Yeah Eddie is a legend as far as I'm concerned. I'm a big RDA fan, but I couldn't feel bad about Eddie winning that. The guy is awesome and it's always impressive when someone looks solid but not spectacular in the fights that get him to the title match and then delivers the goods (think Holm against Pennington and Reneau and then against Rousey).

The thing too is that Eddie had an insanely tough road from the get go of his UFC tenure. I mean Cowboy, Melendez, Pettis, and then RDA- are you kidding me.

 

[Flemmy Stardust]

Did you guys catch the Doo Ho Choi fight?

He is straight merking dudes with that straight right.

 

[HenryFlower]

Yup. The kid is a killer. The second they got to their feet in that instant I said aloud that Choi is gonna throw the right, & then bam. Felt good. He does need to shore up his takedown defense, but he was good at staying calm & getting back to his feet. Pls pls pls let him fight Cub Swanson. Win or lose that fight will be great fun.

 

[europe1]

Did you guys catch the Doo Ho Choi fight?

He is straight merking dudes with that straight right.

Brutal finisher for sure. Dude is one of those guys who knows how to put every part of his body into a punch. He even rises to his toes as the punches connect

 

[ufcfan4]

Aldo looked phenomenal last night. That fight was a ton of fun to watch from start to finish. Hungry for Vengeance Aldo has started down his warpath folks.

Unfortunately, the entire event, while not terrible, was massively underwhelming for being "the biggest event in UFC history."

It was certainly not on the level of UFC 100 but it was a fun show. 199 was significantly better in my opinion just a month ago.

Aldo looked good- he fought a tactical, effective fight. Frankie was game- tried to use activity level to earn the decision, but he just was coming up short too often and though Aldo was not particularly active, he was making every strike he landed count. Key example of damage being the main criterion for a decision.

 

[ufcfan4]

Yup. The kid is a killer. The second they got to their feet in that instant I said aloud that Choi is gonna throw the right, & then bam. Felt good. He does need to shore up his takedown defense, but he was good at staying calm & getting back to his feet. Pls pls pls let him fight Cub Swanson. Win or lose that fight will be great fun.

Love that dude and he is ultra dangerous. It's all the more funny cause he seems so good-natured and likable and looks like a little kid. Hell even his interpreter was extremely amiable lol.

 

[ufcfan4]

I love Joanna. Always rooting for her. That was a great fight. I was starting to doze during the TUF fights- not implying they were boring- the woman's fight was actually quite good, I was just tired as hell, but when Joanna and Gadelha started up I was wide awake for the duration. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Awesome bout and Joanna's cardio is something else.

 

[JSN]

Choi is a fucking G.

 

[europe1]

I love Joanna. Always rooting for her. That was a great fight. I was starting to doze during the TUF fights- not implying they were boring- the woman's fight was actually quite good, I was just tired as hell, but when Joanna and Gadelha started up I was wide awake for the duration. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Awesome bout and Joanna's cardio is something else.

Man I missed the JJ vs Gadelha fight. By the time the TUF finals rolled around it was already past 6 in the morning over here. I just had to sleep.

 

[ufcfan4]

Man I missed the JJ vs Gadelha fight. By the time the TUF finals rolled around it was already past 6 in the morning over here. I just had to sleep.

I'm sure you can track it down online, man. Definitely worth it.

That Nunes vs. Miesha fight was pretty insane too for the brief moments it lasted. Miesha is very tough so it's really a testament to Nunes' finishing prowess how badly she murked her. That belt has just been hot potatoed around since Rousey lost and I could actually envision Julianna Pena outgrappling/grinding Nunes to win the belt next time out.

 

[Flemmy Stardust]

Yup. The kid is a killer. The second they got to their feet in that instant I said aloud that Choi is gonna throw the right, & then bam. Felt good. He does need to shore up his takedown defense, but he was good at staying calm & getting back to his feet. Pls pls pls let him fight Cub Swanson. Win or lose that fight will be great fun.

Tavares isn't a slouch at getting people down for that division, so i think he is coming along. Got taken down very early, didn't panic, stopped Tavares from advancing position, and got back up relatively quickly.

Really don't want Cub to beat Crusher, but i do like Choi vs Cub much more than Choi vs Crusher.