UFC 72 Yushin Okami vs Rich Franklin

[cattygurl]

I'm hoping for Okami to kick rick "the creationist" Franklin's butt back to adam and eve and their vegetarian t-rex.

[jaehwan]

I just saw that. That's ridiculous; Franklin's got Bible-thumping verses on his official site along with pictures of the creationist "museum." And he used to be a math teacher too, someone responsible for educating (and hopefully not indoctrinating) children.

I hope Okami pounds him.

[cattygurl]

Ya know, Franklin's got a good attitude. He is at least respectful of other people, a consummate professional and not a shit-talker. I didn't mind that he was religious, but I'm sorry to say that the fact that he's creationsit is a whole other matter.

Go Yushin! I even have a Team Okami shirt being made up for this event, because I'm a geek like that.

[nekohead]

Edge is HOT!!
That is all I know.

[theme]

Great to see a skilled japanese fighter in the octagon but I see Franklin pulling out with the victory.

[nekohead]

By the way I am not into sports. I hope it does not show..."

[zhangfei]

Martin Kampmann was scheduled to fight Franklin, but had to withdraw due to a knee injury suffered during training. Okami took the fight in a relatively short notice, which gives him only a month to prepare for Franklin. If I were Okami's manager, I wouldn't let him do it.

[cattygurl]

Might be a good experience for Okami, though. You can learn from losing than winning if you keep your head on straight. You grow more by challenging people better than you. I don't think Rich is better, but he's more experienced, and Rich is pretty serious about what he does.

Yushin still has more time left in MMA compared to Franklin, since he's @ 7 years younger. I'm just bouncy about this fight, because I really dig Yushin.

[jaehwan]

Despite his relative lack of experience, I wouldn't be surprised if Okami won. The past few UFC's have been underdog after underdog beating everyone. I think it's hard to hold on to a lead in this sport. Look what happened to Crocop.

And I also have nothing against religious people, but I get irked by people who use religion to define themselves. Franklin has a good attitude, but I hope Okami pounds him.

[cattygurl]

Nah, I wouldn't be surprised if Okami won, either. I'm rooting for him big time. Anderson Silva is apparently rooting for Okami because he wants to fight him again. He's also known as being incredibly strong and a really tough G n P-er. Win or lose, I think Okami has a lot of gain from this fight, and I think he's got a schweet future ahead.

rich seems like an all-around decent guy. I have nothing against religious folks, but once you get into promoting creationsim as scientific fact, my tolerance goes out the door.

either way, rich is still better than Matt "jesuslovesmemorethanyou" Hughes.

[jaehwan]

either way, rich is still better than Matt "jesuslovesmemorethanyou" Hughes.

Matt Hughes is a Bible-thumper? Oh my. I just checked out his official site, and he too has a verse from "the Book" posted. Good golly.

Whenever Matt Hughes fought, I always cheered for the other guy, not because I knew Hughes was a thumper, but because Hughes is so cocky. His cockiness is so bad that it ticks me off (though for some reason, I like Tito.). BJ Penn could've kicked the crap out of him in their last fight; Penn was winning the whole time before an unlucky injury, and Hughes made it seem like he was ahead the whole time. What a cocky jerk.

Plus, Hughes is, in my opinion, a boring fighter. It's just the same old wrestle and hold, ground and pound. I prefer the Quinton Jackson style knockouts, or at least someone who has the ability to pull one off.

I'll be cheering for Okami too.

[cattygurl]

Hughes is a dumbass, and again, I don't care that he's religious but his "Jesus loves me more than the other fighters" shtick is nauseating. Besdies, he's got (aside from chuck Liddell) the worst haircut ever.

If BJ would train like a motherfucker, he could kick a lot of ppl's ass. I love the guy, but he's not hot on doing cardio and endurance work, so he tends to wilt energetically towards the end a lot more than if he actually had GOOD conditioning. I'm rooting for BJ, I do hope he OWNS Pulver in the next fight that's coming up.

BTW, dunno if anyone's watching Ultimate Fighter 5, but I'm rooting for J-lau on that one.Nice to see a pretty bright guy with a good attitude that can kick ass.

[theme]

Plus, Hughes is, in my opinion, a boring fighter. It's just the same old wrestle and hold, ground and pound. I prefer the Quinton Jackson style knockouts, or at least someone who has the ability to pull one off.

I'll be cheering for Okami too.

I admit I bought into the Hugh-Hype before GSP pounded him into the living death but I don't think he deserves to be called 'boring'. Both fights with Trigg were awesome, especially the second one when he overcame a groin shot and an idiot referee to RNC Trigg twice in a row.

[jaehwan]

Hughes is a dumbass, and again, I don't care that he's religious but his "Jesus loves me more than the other fighters" shtick is nauseating. Besdies, he's got (aside from chuck Liddell) the worst haircut ever.

If BJ would train like a motherfucker, he could kick a lot of ppl's ass. I love the guy, but he's not hot on doing cardio and endurance work, so he tends to wilt energetically towards the end a lot more than if he actually had GOOD conditioning. I'm rooting for BJ, I do hope he OWNS Pulver in the next fight that's coming up.

Haha. You're right about Hughes's haircut.

Yes, a lot of the time, BJ doesn't really seem grounded. He's got more natural talent than just about anyone, but he isn't grounded, which is why his cardio suffers. You can tell by the fact that he goes up and down in weight class so much.

I'm rooting for BJ too. Maybe his loss to Hughes will motivate him.

I admit I bought into the Hugh-Hype before GSP pounded him into the living death but I don't think he deserves to be called 'boring'. Both fights with Trigg were awesome, especially the second one when he overcame a groin shot and an idiot referee to RNC Trigg twice in a row.

I agree that both of those were good fights, but Trigg isn't exactly a championship level fighter. Trigg's fighting ability is so much less than Hughes's that it's bound to be exciting, especially after a turnaround such as the ref missing an obvious groin shot. Hughes's fight against Gracie was also very exciting for the same reason--Gracie is no longer a championship level fighter, and so it made Hughes look like a superstar.

I'm not blaming Hughes--after all, his background is just wrestling, and I'm sure he doesn't choose his fights--but he's a one dimensional fighter. (I give Tito a pass because at least Tito is a good trash-talker.). Compare Hughes to Liddell, Rampage, Sakuraba, Emilianenko, Crocop, Parisyan, and GSP--don't tell me he's not boring by comparison.

[cattygurl]

Damn, okami lost. *WEEP* He barely lost, and I think he was nervous. I think he spent too long figuring franklin out, and once he did, it was in the 3rd round. Damn.

[jaehwan]

I actually missed it, but I heard it was dull and people were booing. Sorry to hear that Okami lost.

Hey, speaking of dull fights, did everyone hear what happened to Royce:

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=7908

[cattygurl]

It was pretty dull in the first 2 rounds. Franklin was very wary, and so was Okami, so they were just circling each other, with an occasional punch/kick. Franklin won first rounds, only because he initiated just a tad more. That said, Okami is known to be a response fighter re: his standing game, so I wasn't too surprised by that. The third round, Franklin was barely able to slip out of a kimura. All that flexibility training he does came into effect here, because Okami was putting some serious pressure deep into Franklin's shoulder joint.

Okami's young, he's got a good long career ahead.

The best fight @ 72 was the fight between Guida and Griffin. That was batshit insane. I thought Guida won, I was really surprised that Griffin got the round. :( I'll be looking out for Guida and Griffin, they're both really amazing.

[awong]

I actually missed it, but I heard it was dull and people were booing. Sorry to hear that Okami lost.

Hey, speaking of dull fights, did everyone hear what happened to Royce:

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=7908
I guess he had to cheat to win lol

[kwak76]

I think in a rematch Okami make take it. As I see it in the middle weight division for UFC Okami is rank third behind Franklin and Silva.

It's good to see an Asian doing well in MMA. Guys like Gomi, Okami and other Japanese fighters in back handed way are showing the world that Asian guys got some steel in them.

[jaehwan]

Catty,

I should rent it!

I guess he had to cheat to win lol
From what I heard, "winning" is a matter of opinion...I heard the decision was controversial. What I found funny was the idea of an over-the-hill has-been having to use roids.

[cattygurl]

The Guida/Griffin card was worth the price of the PPV, IMHO. That fight was fucking insane. Watch that fight and watch out for both guys- they're pretty sick fighters.

Kwak, Okami was taller and looked to be bigger than Franklin. That guy is fucking HUGE. Honestly, I think he had the big game jitters, and IMHO, both parties were fighting not to lose and playing very safe.

I think Okami's a future champion. I think the more experience he gains, if him and his coaches take advantage of what they learn in the cage, in a few years, Okami's going to dominate his division.

[theme]

He's physically one of the strongest in the division but in terms of striking he's not even close to the top. So, I think if he improves his striking and amps up the aggressiveness he could be a big threat. Until then all he has is his physical strength to overwhelm smaller oppornents.