Busta MIA?

Only two years ago Busta looked like the most complete fighter in MMA. After three losses and a lackluster win in Bushido 6 he's dropped off the map.

What happened?

Isn't Murillio over 40?

I think they chose him for the pride WW grand prix.

Busta would still be a force at 185. I'd love to see him in the Bushido Grand Prix.

Busta vs. Baroni/Kang/Chonan/Gono would be cool.

ttt for Bustamante v Baroni

I would love to see Busta pick him apart.

Good call! Busta/Baroni would be great. I'd love to see Busta choke Phil out.

Has he actually been named for the 185gp?

i know they were considering busta in the grand prix but i havent heard anything official....they mentioned alot of fighters that they were choosen from and he was one of them

I think he made a huge mistake in being inactive after he left the UFC. He was already pretty old then and seemed to finally finding his groove in MMA but then he let his hotness simmer and though his fights with Liddel and Rampage were close, things still went more downwards then up for sure.

I agree that he had to be one of the most complete fighters when he beat Menne and Lindland but I still dont consider him a great because to be that imo you have to consistently fight when people are coming after you ala Sak, Hughes, Nog, Fedor, BJ, Randy, Chuck, etc.

Still, if he's in the 83kg GP, he could do very well.

I'll always be excited to see him fight.

I agree.

"If he is over 40 and hasn't won in a while, he'll probably be Penn's next opponent in K-1."

so true

"He fought well against a bigger Nakamura and lost a decision"

  • Are you sure about "bigger?" Whats "bigger?" More than 20lbs because i seriously dont Nak had that on Busta. Everyone thinks Busta is a lot smaller than he actually is.

"He beat the the lesser known Sakurai (not Hayato) but that guy is much better then people realize. Just like Nakamura showed he's legit, so will this other Sakurai in time, and people will see then that Busta's performance was in fact very good."

  • I believe Ryuta Sakurai has been around for quite some time and although he may not suck he is def not top 10 or even top 20 material.

It was a good win no doubt for Busta to get back on the road but Ryuta Sak is still not that good.

"I think what happened to Busta was that at 38 years of age, you can't be taking long layoffs from fighting and always look sharp."

  • Exactly and I think that was Busta's own mistake to not try and capitalize on his streak esp. since it was so late in his career (though its also true that he couldnt have been really worn/torn because he never fought with pretty big gaps over his career).

I think a Busta/Hendo rematch would be just dandy but too bad since both of their stock has dropped lately. And FTR, Im sure the head clash in that fight did affect Busta but at the same time, Busta ran his own head into Hendo's not the other way around.

Agree with Justin and (as usual) with Wasa-B.

Murilo just took too long a layoff when he was on top. He had a small window due to his age and should have capatalized on it more. That being said, Busta has amazing all-around skills and I think if he rededicates himself he could be on top again.

I hope.

Too bad, cause he outclassed Lindland in a way that hasn't happened ever again.

Good post Justin. I'm always eager to see Bustamonte fight,he's always been one of my favorite fighters.

Gotta love Busta... He is allways exciting to watch fight, great style on the ground and good stand up.

I'd love to see him in the WW grand prix.....

I'd love to see him win the WW grand prix...

I think that at 185 he would be the man...

"i watched him beat chuck liddell the other night and wondered where he has been myself"

LOL

Are you sure you didn't get your brain pierced along with the rest of your body?