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CLittle · 08-30-2005, 01:14 PM

I am a big fan of MMA and have been watching the UFC since day 1 (UFC 1) and have been watching Japanese versions since the King of Pancrase back in 1992 or 1993 (possibly later, senility is getting the best of me somedays

) but after watching last night I'm not going to watch the Ultimate Fighter 2 anymore.

I was a big fan of Ultimate Fighter 1, liked all the twists they did albeit a reality show but it was still well done. Watched the first Episode of Ultimate Fighter 2 and thought it was going to be a good followup until last night's fight between Melvin and Josh. My biggest fear over the years is that the MMA's would eventually become a shadow of Boxing where the "show" dictates the "skill" overall and last night put the foot in the door for me on the path to lameness.

They both seemed tentative during the fight, feeling each other out probably longer than seemed necessary but it was their first time fighting on the show ... could have been some tension, what have you.

The first round showed Josh doing some flashy takedowns (seems to be the new eye-catcher for Judges now, not only can I do a takedown but I can pick him up higher than 2 feet and slam him down like a WWE Wrestler Mom!) and outside of the flash of the takedown, it's still a "takedown". I proceeded to watch Melvin do a few reversals from the ground and even got up while I was unimpressed with Josh who left himself get into 2-3 potential guillotines. I say potential because a more skilled grappler would have put him unconscious quickly by watching Josh's defense against it. Josh gained full mount several times during the first round and did nothing except the odd lame elbow which did absolutely nothing to Melvin.

Second and third rounds were exactly the same as the first. Josh seemed ineffectual on top even with a FULL MOUNT which are most ground and pound
's wet dream when it comes to fighting and after hearing his pre-fight Interview about taking him down and doing the ground and pound, he apparently forgot to do it while having FULL MOUNT on Melvin several times. For the 2nd and 3rd rounds, Melvin proceeded to do more reversals, got in a good punch and kick (albeit without follow up but still) and even got out from under Josh several times.

We get to the end and the decision... unanimous for Josh. This puzzled me beyond belief because the man did nothing more than 2-3 flashy Takedowns... and NOTHING else. He was presented with Full Mount several times and failed to do anything about it. Josh never hit Melvin ONCE during the entire fight and I re-watched it via recording to make sure. Josh was presented several times with a bank crank which he seemed totally uninterested in until the 3rd round but by then he was too winded to do anything about it. Josh presented himself as a 'wrestler' each round and the smart defense against that is to wait for the shoot and deliver counter punches which Melvin did several times even though he was taken down a few times.

I hope others will start mentioning this around the scenes to see if UFC can get back to the MMA department and not the Flashy "Matt Hughes" Takendown hour. If MMA is going to end up where ground defense and takedown defense scores nothing in the eyes of the judges, but takedowns score ... it's going to become a very sad sport.

I hope I'm not the only one who thinks this. I didn't start this for a flame war, or to start an argument... I was just taken aback by the seeming lack of Martial Arts now involved in the scoring system.

08-30-2005, 01:14 PM	#14 (permalink)
CLittle Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2 Groans: 0 Groaned at 0 Times in 0 Posts	Ultimate Fighter 2 I am a big fan of MMA and have been watching the UFC since day 1 (UFC 1) and have been watching Japanese versions since the King of Pancrase back in 1992 or 1993 (possibly later, senility is getting the best of me somedays ) but after watching last night I'm not going to watch the Ultimate Fighter 2 anymore. I was a big fan of Ultimate Fighter 1, liked all the twists they did albeit a reality show but it was still well done. Watched the first Episode of Ultimate Fighter 2 and thought it was going to be a good followup until last night's fight between Melvin and Josh. My biggest fear over the years is that the MMA's would eventually become a shadow of Boxing where the "show" dictates the "skill" overall and last night put the foot in the door for me on the path to lameness. They both seemed tentative during the fight, feeling each other out probably longer than seemed necessary but it was their first time fighting on the show ... could have been some tension, what have you. The first round showed Josh doing some flashy takedowns (seems to be the new eye-catcher for Judges now, not only can I do a takedown but I can pick him up higher than 2 feet and slam him down like a WWE Wrestler Mom!) and outside of the flash of the takedown, it's still a "takedown". I proceeded to watch Melvin do a few reversals from the ground and even got up while I was unimpressed with Josh who left himself get into 2-3 potential guillotines. I say potential because a more skilled grappler would have put him unconscious quickly by watching Josh's defense against it. Josh gained full mount several times during the first round and did nothing except the odd lame elbow which did absolutely nothing to Melvin. Second and third rounds were exactly the same as the first. Josh seemed ineffectual on top even with a FULL MOUNT which are most ground and pound 's wet dream when it comes to fighting and after hearing his pre-fight Interview about taking him down and doing the ground and pound, he apparently forgot to do it while having FULL MOUNT on Melvin several times. For the 2nd and 3rd rounds, Melvin proceeded to do more reversals, got in a good punch and kick (albeit without follow up but still) and even got out from under Josh several times. We get to the end and the decision... unanimous for Josh. This puzzled me beyond belief because the man did nothing more than 2-3 flashy Takedowns... and NOTHING else. He was presented with Full Mount several times and failed to do anything about it. Josh never hit Melvin ONCE during the entire fight and I re-watched it via recording to make sure. Josh was presented several times with a bank crank which he seemed totally uninterested in until the 3rd round but by then he was too winded to do anything about it. Josh presented himself as a 'wrestler' each round and the smart defense against that is to wait for the shoot and deliver counter punches which Melvin did several times even though he was taken down a few times. I hope others will start mentioning this around the scenes to see if UFC can get back to the MMA department and not the Flashy "Matt Hughes" Takendown hour. If MMA is going to end up where ground defense and takedown defense scores nothing in the eyes of the judges, but takedowns score ... it's going to become a very sad sport. I hope I'm not the only one who thinks this. I didn't start this for a flame war, or to start an argument... I was just taken aback by the seeming lack of Martial Arts now involved in the scoring system.