I agree. Chuck hasn't been the same since that fight.
Xad - P.V.Jena, did you create that gif? If so, how did you make the slow-mo look so smooth? What program/plugin did you use?!?No, I just linked the gif that BlueFlamer put up...but it certainly is very nice.
Source: http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/143066/34sm9m8_medium.gif
it also just got to the point where chuck had to start facing great strikers...of course they're going to figure him out.
it's easier to not be figured out when you're constantly fighting grapplers and wrestlers.
look at who his 7 wins in a row were over, now starting with rampage look who he's faced in his last 5 fights. you can't do the same things against good strikers that he was doing against tito, couture, babalu, jeremy horn etc. I just watched the jeremy horn fight again the other night and it's pretty slow, very similar to the jardine fight minus taking kicks to the ribs. horn just ate the last finishing shot whereas it just never seemed to happen against jardine.
offensively I don't think he's declined that much, he doesn't look THAT much different although he's certainly slower, it's just that he's been facing different opponents stylistically than he was before who have been able to exploit glitches and weaknesses in his game.
his reflexes and inability to take shots post-rampage fight #2 seem to be his main issues rather than decline in his striking game. also the rashad he fought was clearly not the same rashad that showed up against tito and bisping even if chuck was winning the fight up until the point he got clobbered.
also I don't think many people take into account the kind of damage and punishment he took in the wanderlei fight despite him winning. it almost reminded me of ali vs frazier to a small degree...even though ali won, the punishment he took affected him permanently.
Can we all stop the Chuck wasn't that good stuff. Chuck was an all time great, who put the sport on the map, but all good fighters get old and get carried out on their shields to coin a phrase, the smart ones retire just before the slide. it wasn't the Rampage fight, any Pride fan can tell you Rampage just has Chucks number... it was the i misremembered Griffith it was Silva fight when the speed went, he lost the athleticism, the hop in his step the snap in his punch. It happens to everybody, aura or otherwise. He's 40 years old.
Thief!!!
chuck fought forrest?
gotta youtube that one...
i misremembered it was Silva, Forrest had dibs on him if he beat Rashad, i like and idiot didnt double chech Chuck's card. sorry about that
Graffight - Chuck, even though he lost to Rampage in 2003 won 7 times straight after that and against fighters like Tito, Babalu, and Randy Couture twice and all of them were in their prime, you don't think Rampage could see that Chuck wasn't the same fighter he faced previously?
It had been 4 years and 7 KO or TKO wins by Chuck since they fought the first time, add that to the hype that the UFC and the public placed around him as the toughest man on the planet? I don't care if Rampage beat Chuck 10 times before that 4 year span, he had to feel the intimidation factor before that fight.
Rampage was in Pride, the intimidation Chuck had in the UFC was very distant. Rampage beat him before, and he already knew who the baddest man on the planet was, Fedor.
BlueFlamer -
Check this out:
http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/143066/34sm9m8_medium.gif
Chuck has slowed. Considerably.
Either that, or he has become a terrible judge of distance.
*Edited for spelling
Blueflamer, how did you create that ultra smooth look for that slo-mo? What software/plugin did you use?
Fair assessment.
wow nobones sure knows what everybody thinks in their heads
how do you do that? special powers?
P.V.Jena -Xad - P.V.Jena, did you create that gif? If so, how did you make the slow-mo look so smooth? What program/plugin did you use?!?No, I just linked the gif that BlueFlamer put up...but it certainly is very nice.
Source: http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/143066/34sm9m8_medium.gif
Mine isn't the credit to claim either. BE had it up on 4/21/09.