contains a spoiler

BIG YAWN. Absolute garbage.

In terms of the fighters on the Strikeforce roster, all of those fights were evenly matched and evenly ranked.

OSP is a new fighter with very little experience, Radach is an experienced vet with big power.

Smith-Daley I've already gone over and with the UFC putting on Alves-Howard this weekend, it's comical to even consider criticizing that fight.

Lindland is done, but it wasn't a mismatch. Lawlor has not impressed of late, was in need of a challenge and he upped his game to face

Hendo-Babalu was a great match-up. Unquestionable. Babalu is still a good fighter, still top 15-20 in the world and Hendo was coming off his worst career loss and was moving up in weight.

Righty O then mate.

It is what it is

Finney was 8-7 when she fought Cyborg AND she is a natural 135er. She wasn't top 5 in the division and she's a shit fighter. Complete mismatch as the fight showed.

Didn't you pick Toney to beat Randy in the predictions?

Exactly that's my point. Before the GSP fight he was a monster and got to 2nd in the rankings. Being drained and the layoff has LED to his poor form in the last two fights. We know he's capable of at least being 2nd in the world, and he isn't now. I think that shows his out of form a bit. And even if it doesn't, then it backs up my previous statement of him not quite being ready for the top yet. Im not just having a go at your boy here Anfield, I just think he could do with an easy win.

I already mentioned Shields. Shields is a career WW with 3 fights at MW. I think thats acceptable considering he beat a top 10 Kampmann, Daley, the goat, Pyle, Condit, Okami ect and hasn't been beaten since 2004.

Right now I'd put Diaz and Kos above him. Kos won 2 over top 10 opponents, one borderline top 5 and Diaz hasn't lost in three years and has a couple of top 10 wins.

ChelseaQuinsfan wrote:Finney was 8-7 when she fought Cyborg AND she is a natural 135er. She wasn't top 5 in the division and she's a shit fighter. Complete mismatch as the fight showed.

Didn't you pick Toney to beat Randy in the predictions?

Exactly that's my point. Before the GSP fight he was a monster and got to 2nd in the rankings. Being drained and the layoff has LED to his poor form in the last two fights. We know he's capable of at least being 2nd in the world, and he isn't now. I think that shows his out of form a bit. And even if it doesn't, then it backs up my previous statement of him not quite being ready for the top yet. Im not just having a go at your boy here Anfield, I just think he could do with an easy win.

I already mentioned Shields. Shields is a career WW with 3 fights at MW. I think thats acceptable considering he beat a top 10 Kampmann, Daley, the goat, Pyle, Condit, Okami ect and hasn't been beaten since 2004.

Right now I'd put Diaz and Kos above him. Kos won 2 over top 10 opponents, one borderline top 5 and Diaz hasn't lost in three years and has a couple of top 10 wins.

Kos got his ass handed to him by Alves and has no top 5 wins(Daley wasn't top 5, not off beating average fighters). Who has Diaz beaten that was top 10? His run of wins is impressive by no way he's over Alves.

Shields started his career at MW, dropped down and then moved back up. He's probably more natural at 185. 170 is a big cut for him and as we say with the Kampmann fight, it's not an easy cut.

I think anyone at 170 not named GSP, Shields or Fitch is an easy win for Alves. He's the number 4 guy in the world and some1 like Condit or Hardy would be a much better fight for him, and is just as winnable. Instead he's fighting a bum, which means that because he is the way he is, he probably won't train as well as he should.



You can't compare SF's 145 womens division and the available depth to the UFC's HW division. Finney had experience, a good run of wins and asked for the fight. Toney could have been very badly injured. That fight should never have been sanctioned, but with the palm greasing that goes on and the Mass. Commission eager to please the UFC they let it happen. And i did pick Toney, as i pick everyone that fights against Couture. A win for Couture is a win for fightspoiling.

I dont rate Alves top 5 since Shields and Penn joined the devision but I agree its piss poor matchmaking.

Penn, Condit, Hardy, Kampmann, Diego Sanchez, Lytle theres a handfull of higher ranked fighters in his devision who come to bang.

how was Mirko Crocop (2-0) vs Kazushi Sakuraba (13-3) a clear mismatch in favour of Cro cop? this is pretty much prime Saku vs newb-cop.

Regarding the Alves v Howard fight, is it always in the fighter's best interests to fight equally matched competition? Alves has just lost to the number one and two ranked welterweights, prior to those fights most rankings had him at two or three now we're debating whether he's top five. Howard is a decent fighter, one who won't ever be a title contender though, who had won five fights on the trot prior to the loss to Ellenberger. So what we have is a contender looking to get a win under his belt against a fighter looking to make a name for himself. It's a fight Alves ought to win, hopefully with a nice KO that'll get folk talking about him again. The UFC has other options though, a luxury Strikeforce doesn't always have, Condit or Ellenberger would surely have been better opponents for competitions sake.

rudeboyben84 wrote:I dont rate Alves top 5 since Shields and Penn joined the devision but I agree its piss poor matchmaking.

Penn, Condit, Hardy, Kampmann, Diego Sanchez, Lytle theres a handfull of higher ranked fighters in his devision who come to bang.

Penn's not top 5. KOing a finished Matt Hughes doesn't put him above Alves who battered Hughes as he was on the slide, not after it.

Sanchez-Alves would actually be an amazing fight!

Youd hardly put Penn outside the top 5 after 1 loss to Edgar.... Fuck me off hand it seems like 2010 had a LOT of bad decisions.

Anyway regardless of who is ranked where Diego vs Alves would have been a few more evenly matched fight seeing as they were both number 1 contenders a couple of fights ago.

I suppose they are just giving Howard a shot because his last 2 wins were KO's and he matches up well style wise but If someone is going to stupidlt stand and trade with Avles I think id rather see Diego shouting "Yes" as he runs into shots and gets dropped!

Penn is certainly top 5 at LW, probably top 3 with Gilbert and Aoki, but not at WW. This is a ridiculously stacked division and beating a past it Matt Hughes doesn't get you top 5 IMO.

I'd like to see Diego Yes Cartwheel his way into a flying knee.

Because Saku is a MW who in his prime could have made WW. Cro Cop was HW who could have made LHW. That is a big size difference.

Kos got his ass handed to him by Alves and has no top 5 wins(Daley wasn't top 5, not off beating average fighters). Who has Diaz beaten that was top 10? His run of wins is impressive by no way he's over Alves.

Shields started his career at MW, dropped down and then moved back up. He's probably more natural at 185. 170 is a big cut for him and as we say with the Kampmann fight, it's not an easy cut.

I think anyone at 170 not named GSP, Shields or Fitch is an easy win for Alves. He's the number 4 guy in the world and some1 like Condit or Hardy would be a much better fight for him, and is just as winnable. Instead he's fighting a bum, which means that because he is the way he is, he probably won't train as well as he should.



You can't compare SF's 145 womens division and the available depth to the UFC's HW division. Finney had experience, a good run of wins and asked for the fight. Toney could have been very badly injured. That fight should never have been sanctioned, but with the palm greasing that goes on and the Mass. Commission eager to please the UFC they let it happen. And i did pick Toney, as i pick everyone that fights against Couture. A win for Couture is a win for fightspoiling.

Alves beat Kos over 2 years ago. Since then Kos has gone 4-1 while Alves has gone 0-2. Kampmann was borderline top 5 I think when Daley fought him. Also Alves dropped due to inactivity and when he returned he lost. Zaromskis was top 10 when they fought. Diaz hasn't lost a fight since 07 and has won 8 in a row. He also just beat Noons, was borderline top 10 at LW and around top 15 at WW.

He's definitley a more natural MW but that doesn't change the fact that he has fought the majority of his career at WW.

But Condit and Hardy were matched up together and Hardy was KTFO. So those two couldn't fight.

I think Diaz could give Alves a good fight. He would have reach on him and his striking has massively improved. He doesn't have as much power, but he could swarm Alves with punches and outpoint him. Daley I think could also give Alves a big test.

Penn's not top 5 for me either. I'm not sure what Penn is hoping to achieve at WW anyway. Any of GSP, Fitch, Shields, Kos and Alves will beat him and thats just the UFC guys.


No ofc not, but Toney vs Couture was a freak show that had no bearing on the title picture what so ever. It was nothing more than as I said before. A chance to make a lot of money and to get bragging rights over boxing fans.

Finney vs Guyborg was a title fight that should never have happened. Guyborg is the best female fighter on the planet while Finney is essentially a bum. It's like putting Melendez vs Andy Wang, GSP vs Frank Trigg (2010 version) or Fedor vs Mark Hunt (2010). A complete and utter mismatch. I know the talent pool in the women's division isn't great, but someone like Erin Toughill would have been a much better matchup. Or they shouldn't have had the fight at all. It was nothing more than a chance to show off Guyborg's skills.

Kos has gone 4-1 but not fought anyone ranked above where he was himself. Yoshida and Trigg are poor/past it. Rumble was barely top 15, and Daley was low end of the top ten. And Alves has fought two of the 3 best in the division. No way Alves moves down based on those fights. Can't move down due to inactivity when he's fought as often as the champion of the division.

Zaromskis was top 10? Maybe on here but not anywhere else and he was a nobody until the Dream GP and his headkickfest. Diaz got dropped by Zaromskis and Alves hits a fuck load harder than Zaromskis. He'd walk through Diaz's shots and Diaz doesn't have the wrestling to take him down. Alves would KO Diaz in a round. Terrible terrible fight for Diaz.


You can't compare Women's MMA to Mens MMA because there's not the same volume of fighters and like it or not, Finney is a decent fighter with a lot of experience. Yes she was out of depth but it's not close to the Toney-Couture fiasco.

GSP fought Hardy sooner than Alves fought Fitch. There was more than a year where Alves was off, and that's when you drop people for inactivity. Kos was just outside the top 5 so wins over a top 15 and a top 10 guy moved him up. Yoshida was undefeated in 9 fights and Trigg undefeated in 4. Also 2 or 3 years ago Trigg was borderline top 10 at MW. Not a bad win to have.

Quite a few places had Zarmomskis in the top 10. I remember you had Zaromskis in the top 10 as well. I think this was back on 606 when I said Zaromskis wasn't a top fighter, and you said any fighter in the top 10 is a top one. He was a nobody but Shogun was a nobody before the 2005 tournament.

If Alves caught him then he would KO him. The Zaromskis fight is one instance where he got reckless with his striking. He has a habit of doing that but that was much improved in the Noons fight. Alves would eat quite a few shots trying to close the distance, Diaz uses his reach to good effect. Fitch and more so GSP did very well against Alves standing. Niether of them have as good boxing as Diaz. I don't think Diaz could get it to the ground unless Alves slipped or was dropped though.

Ofc it doesn't have the same depth, but Finney is a can. Currently 9-8 in her career and she is also a natural 135er. While there isn't a whole lot of challengers in the women division there are a whole bunch of other fighters who would have been better. Tate, Toughill, Kedzie, Davis and Larosa. I realise not all those are available, but atleast three of them would be and all of them would have been better options. I'm not saying Toney vs Couture wasn't worse, but that was just a chance to show off MMA being superior than boxing and to get money. Guyborg vs Finney was just a chance for SF to show of there champion against a can.

It's not a case of if Alves caught him. It's WHEN Alves catches him. Alves would destroy Diaz. GSP and Fitch have better takedowns than Alves and dryhumped the shit out of him. Not something Diaz is capable of doing and not something Alves needs to worry about. Therefore he could fight his normal style and would finish Diaz.

I don't think I ever had Zaromskis top 10. Again, beating someone ranked well below you doesn't move you up. Kos was 6th. He beat two guys ranked below him and moved up 1 to 5th. He didn't move above Alves who had a convincing win over him and Kos also got beaten by Thiago which affects his rankings.

Alves was not inactive, he was INJURED. He had brain surgery. It's not like he was sitting at home not wanting to fight. Fact is, he's fought just as many times since UFC 100 as GSP has.

Alves is a bad match up for Diaz, the way i see that fight going is Diaz getting his legs chopped off with kicks, and getting finished with punches in 1st or 2nd rounds.


Diaz would have a better chance against Daley i reckon but even that is not a very good matchup for him.


Im giving Howard half a chance in this fight though, im prediciting a win for Alves in the 2nd round, but Howard does have alot of power in his hands, and if he lands 1st and hurts Alves then anything can happen after that.

He might catch him, but he might not get the big shot he needs to put Diaz away. GSP and Fitch both did well standing up against Alves, GSP out struck him. Diaz has faster hands than Alves and he throws an insane number of punches. He might not be able to put Alves away, but he can outpoint him the way he outpointed Noons. I would pick Alves to win the fight, but you can't rule out someone who has the ability of Diaz.

It's too long ago for me to find but I am sure you had Zaromskis in the top 10 at one point. Ye Kos moved one up, and Alves moved down due to inactivity. Most rankings have Kos above Alves right now. He lost to Alves but he had very little time to prepare.

I don't agree that that's how it should be down, but being injured still means your inactive. Thompson got moved down and went out of the top 10 after being injured for a year. GSP fought before Alves did and he won his fight as well.

GSP has still been as active as Alves. So you can't penalize Alves for being inactive when other fighters without the injury issues have fought as frequently as he has. Thomson was out for longer.

Some rankings do have Kos higher, others have Alves higher. Alves is still a much better fighter. And Alves was about 3 places above Koscheck so each moving one in either direction doesn't put Kos above him.

GSP didn't outstrike Alves, he outreached him. He hit him with a couple of jabs, did some dancing, then took him down and dryhumped the shit out of him. No exchanges, no risk.

Alves doesn't need a big shot. He hits like a truck and if he caught Diaz with a 60-70% shot he'd drop him and it's all over from there.

No but at the same time GSP didn't lose. He won his fight, had to wait untill they came up with someone new, they couldn't find anyone who deserved it so they picked Hardy and he won that as well. Champions never fight reguarly, it's all down to the UFC and when they decide it's appropiate for them to fight. Most champs fight twice a year.

Alves lost, was inactive for over a year and then lost again. If Alves had won his return fight, even if it was against someone of lower standard then I would agree he deserves to stay top 5 ahead of Kos. I agree Alves is a better fighter than Kos though.

I think GSP landed more shots than Alves in that fight. But the point about GSP outreaching him can also be applied to Diaz. I'm not sure of Diaz's reach entirley, but it has to be longer than Alves and his T-rex arms. Diaz has long arms, wouldn't be suprised if it was close to or longer than GSP's.

Diaz has a pretty good chin. Alves has very heavy hands but his strikes aren't very quick. I think Diaz would be quick enough to avoid the big ones. Every time ALves comes in, he would eat leather. He would have to slow Diaz down at first with leg kicks. With Alves, there's always that worry about his conditioning as well.

Alves has quick hands but he needs to be inside. Diaz has a good chin but it's not an iron chin. Diaz has better boxing that most but GSP has a great jab that he sits behind. Diaz doesn't have that.

Actually something I forgot about as well is that when Alves fought GSP, he was always worried about the take down. GSP mixes his striking well with his take downs. Diaz doesn't have the best take downs while Alves does have good take down defense.

I think it would be a great fight if it happened.