[slacker00]

I just saw my first UFC fight on DVD about a month ago. I bought a couple DVDs in the bargain bin at Blockbuster (UFC 54 & 55). I am ADDICTED. I gradually have kept buying more and more DVDs until now I have all of UFC from 40-60, except missing 41, 42 & 57. I've got 58, 59 & 60 coming in the mail any day and I can't friggin wait. Last night I stayed up all night watching TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) season 1. If the Griffin-Bonner fight doesn't make you scream at the TV virtually rooting for both guys, you don't have a pulse. I'm just pumped up about this stuff and it has really filled the void nicely for me during this NFL lull waiting for the Super Bowl. Anyone else?

P.S. Don't post any spoilers about anything after UFC 56. I've intentionally avoided UFC forums because this stuff is all new to me and I honestly don't know who wins any of the UFC matches in my upcoming DVDs. Although I have seen some talk shows and stuff about UFC in passing and I know Liddell is the Light Heavyweight current champ, and he must be cleaning house in any matches I will likely see. Otherwise, I'm pretty much in the dark. Thanks.

[goldengoat]

for a real trip you could get them all and start at UFC 1 and watch the evolution of the fighters

things were a bit different back then

the fighters were not as skilled (by todays standards) and the rules were few and far between

it was style vs style back then instead of the hybrid fighters of today

Pride is another good fighting organization that came after the UFC and is big in Japan and starting to have shows in the USA

Pride has lost a couple fighters to the UFC including the widely accepted #2 heavyweight fighter in the world Mirko Cro Cop

Pride still has the best fighter in the world though in Fedor Emelianko

there is also an evolution of the fighting efficiently if you watch all the pride videos which is many

if you watch the guys today first and then watch UFC 1-3 or Pride 1-3 you will be like "these guys suck" but at the time they were highly regarded

[slacker00]

Good info, GG.

I know what you mean about the evolution of the fighters and the evolution of the sport. I know it started as "no holds barred, anything goes", but now it is regulated basically like boxing. No head butts, no eye gouges, no hits to the back of the head, no crotch attacks, etc. In UFC 1, was it really "anything goes"? I mean, could you just grab a guy by the balls and try to rip them off or something? That would be nasty! haha

In terms of style versus style, it's still apparent what kind of background and preference each guy has, but yeah, fighters will just become more and more hybrid. St. Pierre impresses me the most in this regard, because I think he could stand/grapple/kickbox/whatever with anyone in his weight class. I've only seen a half dozen of his fights, but he's the complete package. I see him use every kind of discipline that I can imagine in every single fight. There really isn't an obvious weakness he has that can be attacked. Liddell is different type of hybrid, in that he is so good at staying upright and so dangerous when he is upright, he doesn't need to be a ground wizard. But yeah, it would be interesting to see how the sport evolved to this point, and most interesting would be the stuff that "doesn't work" which isn't even seen today in fights.

The biggest thing that impresses me with the fights I've seen is the mutual respect most fighters have for one another. Especially the best fighters have a deep respect after a match is complete: win, lose or draw. I think there are a lot of unwritten rules with these guys at the top level. They all know each other, and they all want to be able to fight another day, so I think they all approach the fights with a delicate mutual understanding, which I am still trying to understand. I mean, if a guy wanted to really fight dirty, and was demonstrating this willingness, he wouldn't last long in the sport no matter how good he was, because his opponent(s) would see the dirty tactics and the guy would have to get what he dishes out, and he would either put up or shut up in terms of getting a career ending injury, or try to get back in line with the sport.

[goldengoat]

tank abbott back around ufc 7 or so was the biggest example of a guy giving no repect

he is a punching bag today but he had good power and a bad attitude back in the day and made things interesting

of course he got served up by a good fighter down the road in one of my favorite fights

[slacker00]

I was watching and rewatching some of my DVDs last night, and eye-gouging seems to be an interesting tactic. I know eye gouging isn't legal, but it's tough for the ref to police it in a clinch or when they are grappling. Even standing up, I see guys try to rake their fingernails across a guys eyeball to maybe give them a moment of blurry vision and then send a kick right to the head or something. It took me 100 UFC fights to pick up on it, but I think eye gouging is a key tactic for a lot of the top guys. Lidell is really good at it, and it looks so harmless when it does it, but sure enough he lands very clean punches right after some of his clinches, and I know it's because he got a good thumb across the eyeball and blinded a guy long enough to send a knockout punch home.

[goldengoat]

liddell takes a lot of grief on MMA forums for poking people in the eye whether accidental or not

the "eyes man" instead of iceman is a popular joke

[slacker00]

Interesting stuff. I didn't mean to single out Liddell, I think they all do it. But I think Liddell gets the maximum utility from the tactic because he can send the nastiest strikes down the pipe to capitalize. The grapplers don't gain as much from an eye gouge.

Dang, still waiting on my UFC DVDs in the mail....

[ukgaz]

This is the best sport in the world.

I would highly recommend reading "No Holds Barred" by Clyde Gentry which covers the early days of mma and the UFC and the battle they had to keep the sport alive. There is more than one version of this book - he released it in the US then release a more upto date one in the UK. Best mma book out by a mile. It covers so much

[moses millsap]

I like the fighters in PRIDE better.