http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/pride/headlines/20040929-00000100-spnavi-spo.html
Barnett vs Mirko
Hendo vs Nakamura
Confirmed fights.
Glad to hear it has been confirmed.
Im going with Barnett by sub although it wont bother me if Cro Cop can land the finisher on Josh.
Wow!!!
Excellent fights!!
good fight
If Josh wins, who knows when we'll see him fight again. I'm rooting for Crocop.
And Dan by KTFO R:1
Mirko by KO round 1.He is more aggressive than Pedro and hits hard as hell.Josh hasn't fought anyone good since he beat Couture illegally so he is in for a suprise.Also Henderson will KO Nakumura.
Awesome- they finally schedule a fight for Dan.
Josh is perhaps the most well rounded of the top ten HW's and Mirko is clearly the most one-dimensional. He's clueless on the ground and can be taken down by closing the distance or simply bullrushing him. Barnett is bigger and stronger, way more experienced. It took Rizzo 15 minutes of standup to catch him and that was 5 years ago. I don't think Josh will try to go toe-to-toe with CroCop that long. He'll take him down, overpower him, then submit him. JMHO.
"Mirko by KO round 1.He is more aggressive than Pedro and hits hard as hell"
Pedro actually hits pretty hard too and IMO Josh was testing his standup in that fight, his only loss. I think this is a weak analogy.
These will be two great fights.
Nakamura is good but Dan could be the best P4P fighter out there. That sledge hammer right hand of Dan's could give Nak some trouble. This will be a great bout!
I pick Josh.
"Pedro actually hits pretty hard too and IMO Josh was testing his standup in that fight, his only loss. I think this is a weak analogy."
Pedro does hit hard, but your wrong on your other point. Barnett was forced to stand.
"Josh is perhaps the most well rounded of the top ten HW's"
There's a guy named Fedor who smokes Josh in every single category, and another guy named Nogueira who has better standup and better submissions (though probably worse wrestling and definitely worse GnP).
If Josh gets KO'd in this fight, will people admit that maybe he's been over-rated and doesn't deserve his frequently-given top 3 ranking, or will there be a flurry of "anyone can get caught"s and "there's no shame in losing to Crocop"s?
"That sledge hammer right hand of Dan's could give Nak some trouble."
How many fights has Dan won with his right? Renzo and Shungo are the only ones I can think of.
Kick some ass Barnett and Hendo!!
orcus - I'll offer to eat crow if he does lose to Crocop... but that ain't happening.
And as far as this statement is concerned:
If Josh gets KO'd in this fight, will people admit that maybe he's been over-rated and doesn't deserve his frequently-given top 3 ranking, or will there be a flurry of "anyone can get caught"s and "there's no shame in losing to Crocop"s?
One has to ask where you have Crocop ranked? I have him sitting at 4th, right behind Josh, so a loss to him is no shame. And if you say it is, then Crocop must be shit in your eyes.
great fight.. can't wait to see Josh and Hendo in action again..
"One has to ask where you have Crocop ranked? I have him sitting at 4th, right behind Josh, so a loss to him is no shame. And if you say it is, then Crocop must be shit in your eyes."
My point is, is there anyone who isn't an obvious tomato can that Josh can lose to that will convince people that he never deserved a ranking in the top 5? In other words, who is the "worst" fighter he could lose to that would show people that maybe a win over Couture and a couple over Schilt don't put him in the ranks of today's top heavyweights?
"Crocop's clueless on the ground and can be taken down by closing the distance or simply bullrushing him."
Tell that to Randleman, probably the second best wrestler in MMA (after Coleman) and sambo champion Alexander Emilianenko, both of whom got Crocop in the corner and could do nothing with him. As for being clueless on the ground, Nogueira (the best HW sub guy on earth) only caught him after getting mount and after Mirko made a mistake, one which I have no doubt he will not repeat (that fight was a year ago).
"Barnett is bigger and stronger"
Bigger, but I'd bet a lot that Crocop is stronger in any way that counts. Look at how he tossed Alexander around (a guy who's quite a bit bigger and probably at least as strong as Barnett).
"It took Rizzo 15 minutes of standup to catch him and that was 5 years ago."
Rizzo fights many fights in which he doesn't "catch" his opponent at all; e.g., Ricco, Matyushenko, Randleman, etc; it certainly doesn't prove that Josh has some amazing standup.
"Pedro actually hits pretty hard too and IMO Josh was testing his standup in that fight, his only loss."
Pedro definitely hits harder than Mirko with his hands, but Josh has said before that he didn't "choose" to stand with Pedro -- he knew he couldn't take him down. Crocop is faster, stronger, and more aggressive than Rizzo, and, in fact, faster, stronger, and more aggressive than anybody I can think of that Josh has fought (okay, not stronger than Ambriz).
orcus: If Barnett lost to Herring, Waterman, Coleman, or some other heavy that rounds out the top 8-15 ranking, then I would readily admit that I may have hyped him. But that isn't going to happen =^)
"But that isn't going to happen =^)"
Supposedly DSE has got Barnett for multiple fights, so hopefully we'll actually get to see how he really ranks. I have nothing against Josh, I just think that, having not beaten any top fighters in the current HW scene, he can't be legitimately placed among them yet.
Josh has told me in the past that he wanted this fight and I
believed him, but after so many fall-throughs and so many
rumors I got skeptical. I don't dig the 'he ducks fights' theory, I
feel he doesn't fight enough. He proved me wrong though
and I'm pumped for the match up