I see alot of people suggestion different matchups involving Gardner. However, im wondering why since I was not impressed at all and don't see him ever having any sort of impact in MMA. This is not meant as fighter bashing, but his standup was horrid, and his ground and pound was very weak and uneffective...
so what can he do?.. basically push his opponent around and hope for a judges decision. Yoshida simply matched up very badly with him (since he has no standup)... but anyone with decent standup would reck Gardner IMO. And, odly enough, I think Yoshida has a better future then Gardner, even though he lost (since he actually has the tools to finish ppl). Gardner was able to avoid Yoshida's subs, but would have no chance of avoiding a decent strikers fists.
Again I don't want to bash Gardner and I respect him for trying, but I was just not impressed.
I was impressed. Would have likes to see some more throws and brutal ground and pound but it seems like he picked up Coutures style pretty well in the short amount of time he had. It didnt help that Yoshida basically held on the whole time.
I wasn't that impressed, but it was his first fight and his opponent had lots of experience and skill. I think with his talent and size, there's no doubt he has tremendous potential. Time will tell.
"i was impressed...its easy to sit back here and talk about it..its another thing to do it..."
I completely agree. It was just my oppinion as to what i saw.
Also I agree with some people that have said that he stuck to his gameplan. He would probably act very differently against a striker. However I still feel he would not win. Im sure he could get the fight to the ground, but then what? I doubt he has many subs (so far), and he's ground and pound didn't seem very effective. Eventually the fight would be stood up again and he would be vulnarable once again (even more so since he would probably have less gas left). Thats how i personnally see it going.
Ofcourse theres no knowing untill it actually happens, thats just my oppinion from what ive seen so far. Maybe he'll prove me wrong! I actually hope he does well since he could be good for American MMA.
So big and strong is all it takes to beat Yoshida? You think he'd lose to Waterman? Or how about Scott Ferrozzo, maybe he could make a comeback and beat Yoshida?
It's not just size and brawn - it's the fact that Rulon has skills and strategy to back up the size that made it difficult for Yoshida.
very much so, the dude punches straight and very hard and fast, he has great stamina and very quick for a big man as evident by his sprawl vs yoshi...great addition to sport!