The official UFC:70 Nations Collide thread

[Immaculate]

Edilberto "Crocota" de Oliveira Vs. Paul"Relentless"Taylor

My pick: I'll go with Crocota. He is a Big Nog prodigy. He s undefeated, and all I've heard is watch out for this kid.
He has great Jiu-Jitsu, Great boxing, and can fight for days.

Crocota in the 2nd by RNC.

[Chiefnj2]

That was some kick. Mirko must have robotic legs. I don't know how the hell he was standing and walked out of the ring after his foot turned 180 degrees when got KO'd.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Gonzaga knew what to do standing up, in mount, and respectable at the take downs.

He's going to be brutal with some seasoning. His specialty was supposed to be ground fighting and he turned out the lights on Mr. Kickboxing with a kick...

He didn't disappoint when he went to the ground and pound either. He was continuously dropping elbows, and had already opened a cut. I think the early elbows to Cro Cop already had him out of sorts, leaving the high kick open.

[Fishpicker]

Originally Posted by Simplex3

I would say that so far it's being shown that the UFC guys are significantly better than the Pride guys.

I dont think that's the case at all. the crossover fights indicate that considerable adjustments have to be made when switching rules/rings. It will take some time for the pride fighters to adjust to the ground rules.

Since Pride fighters get reset anytime they lay near the ropes, they lack one essential skill set. They dont know how to fight their way off the fence. Crocop is probably wary of the cage. Crocop had trouble defending against Gonzaga's elbows (another difference in ground rules)

When Liddell fought Rampage he got pounded near the ropes. he seemed to be stuck on his back. If chuck could have braced himself against a fence he could have gotten up. without a fence, he was out of his element. Liddell also fought in Pride in 2001 against Guy Mezger. He didnt exactly look sharp in that fight either. Mezger landed alot of solid punches against Liddell. The only thing Liddell connected with was a KO counterpunch in the second round. Undoubtedly, Chuck is a better standup fighter than Guy. Maybe the ring (that was Liddell's first fight out of a cage) had something to do with Liddell looking rusty.

Rampage won't struggle with the rule changes or cage as much since he got his start in King Of The Cage.