Tap Selections: UFC 89

I see Bisping took a page from Machida for the fight, is this the future of the UFC? Fighters playing for points? Here’s to hoping he gets a shot against Silva, even though I don’t think he deserves it. I just want to see him try that shit with him and get his shit ruined. His hype can leave already too.
Or even have Franklin take care of him.

Yeah Anon, what an idiot.  What kind of good athlete picks a strategy that allows them to win.  He shouldn’t change it up to fit different types of fighters, he should just run at the other guy fists flying so we can all say “Ohhhhh!” and “Daaaayummm!”.

Karate tournament fighters. Gee, another Machida connection.
A good athlete picks the winning strategy. But the UFC doesn’t cater to the top athlete, it caters to the top PERFORMER. Why do you think nobody gives a shit about the occasional karate tournament on ESPN? It’s the same exact thing happening there as what happens in these kind of fights. Think about that next time you try to be a smart ass, because the fact history shows those kind of showings fail is behind me. What’s supporting YOU?

Same applies to anyone else who’s got a problem with it. Scoring points doesn’t show fighting ability at all. Again with the karate connection. I realize the UFC is already watered down a little, but you start fighting like this, and it can barely be called a combat sport anymore.
In karate, the idea is to hit the other opponent and not get hit. Doesn’t matter a damn bit if it doesn’t do any real damage (i.e. Bisping clearly not doing much to Leben) just the fact you tap the dude counts. STARNES could do that. I suppose if he won fights he’d be a top contender?
Fuck that. Evasion is all good, any fighter who stands there like a tree deserves to lose, as does anyone who just bull rushes.
But this shit is going to get out of control. The UFC needs to adopt the PRIDE system of scoring based on trying to finish the fight. If I’m a fast guy, and I can evade Bob Sapp all day, and tap him with punches, am I a better fighter? Hell no, at the end of the day, Sapp is going to rip me in half. Scoring points shows nothing, and should stay in karate tournaments.
And it really doesn’t matter a bit if you disagree, because obviously the suits at Zuffa agree else Machida would be the boring ass LHW champion right now. Again, it’s technically sound, and it’s not the fact it’s not “aggressive” or “showy” that pisses me off. It’s the fact that scoring points like that doesn’t show true fighting ability. What’s the other guy supposed to do? Not engage? Seriously. When one guy does that it fucks the entire thing up. Should we blame Leben because he was dumb enough to move in? He wanted to finish the fight.

Finally, in case you or anyone else is too dense to get my points: short version.

1. Had Leben adopted the same strategy, they would have been booed and had their careers put in jeopardy for not engaging properly.

2. UFC is coveted over karate tournaments because you can look at a karate tournament and think “Yeah, but would that guy last in a real fight?” You can’t just sit there and back off, back off, back off the whole time in a real fight, and it leaves the question of whether Bisping is actually worth a shit. After this, I’d say Leben would steamroll him outside the octagon.

3. I’m not saying a fighter put on a spectacle while forgetting good strategy. I’m saying they display fighting ability and not take advantage of the sport rules.

You guys are taking the karate analogy too far.  Imagine if there had been 5 rounds… By the end of the 2nd round Lebens face was already showing alot of damage.  By the end of the third, you could tell that he couldnt take much more of what Bisping was dishing out. 

Anon, you said “After this, I’d say Leben would steamroll him outside the octagon.”

Well then in that case, lets just all hop on the Kimbo bandwagon because you could say the same for him.  You guys are confusing someone who is a performer, with someone who has the BEST results from a gameplan.  Bisping had a good gameplan, but it wasnt the best.  That doesnt mean that you should talk shit and doubt him as a fighter.  The way he whooped up on Chris makes this fight clear who the winner was. 

You guys are stupid if you want to compare UFc to one of those lame karate tourneys where everytime the guy gets a good shot they separate the two and mark down a point.  If you want to compare the point chase to anything, compare it to bozing, where people are outstriking the other, but still making a mess of their face.

I think that this fight showed that Bisping cant knock out Leben.  But he had a feeling that was the case coming into the fight.  If you fight a guy that you cant knock out, and you are going to stand, you pick them apart and hope that you can break them mentally.  Leben wasnt fighting Bisping with the same strategy of stick and move and get the points, but he still couldnt beat Bisping.  If thats not a good fighter to you, then go watch Kimbo and Crazy Horse because thats who you define as “good fighters”.