That is not BJJ's "point of view". It's not nearly that simple.

The guard can be both offensive and defensive. Brazilian jiu-jitsu recognizes a hierarchy of positions, and within that hierarchy, the guard is actually more or less neutral. A BJJ player will always seek a superior position, so it makes the most sense to go for top-rear mount or bottom-rear mount (i.e., taking the back), the basic mount, knee-on-belly, side-control, or north/south. The guard has offensive, defensive, and transitional applications--it can be used for submitting the opponent; it can be used to control the opponent so as to limit strikes and defend against subs; and it can be used to move to a better (more dominant) position (eg., by sweeping the opponent, etc).

Indeed, Brock needs to pull guard more. He should train with Josh Barnett in Japan to get some high level Catch Wrestling, and then start leg-locking guys, putting them in crazy catch-as-catch-can style moves. But to prepare, he has to go back to the WWE.

Brock is already coached by someone well-versed in catch wrestling--Erik Paulson. Paulson is an ex-shootfighter, who competed regularly in Japan for years. In addition, Paulson has trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under various eminent teachers, including Rickson Gracie.

And what exactly would Brock have to gain MMA-wise, by returning to the WWE?

Nothing perhaps, but I suspect that MMA would gain a good bit in the long run.

Please elaborate.

I was joking about the WWE, but regardless anyone who thinks Brock should be doing anything other than taking guys down needs to seriously reconsider the guys skill-set and honest, actual potential, and not pay attention to crazy, hyperbolic UFC-hype machine "BADDEST MAN ON THE PLANET" stuff.

His skill set is fairly poor, I admit, but potential? The dude's reach is incredible, he's definitely able to give his tremendous mass a tremendous acceleration (let me remind you the fight against Heath Herring) - why should he stick to one dimention only? Wrestling and takedowns are his definite strong points, but if that would be all he does then it would be very easy to crack him - we all have seen what happened to him when a person can out-maneuver his takedowns, it cost him the belt.

In general - it might be easy to bury the Brock now, but let's not forget that a. he's unexperienced and b. has only recently recovered from a serious illness.


Oh, and the guy with the tremendous delay - yes, Silva would beat Brock any day.

There is a difference between remaining one-dimensional and pulling guard as someone suggested he do. But, once again, regardless of all that, the guy his a tremendously good wrestler with extreme strength and good speed for his size, but let's not pretend that he's not lumbering and out-of-place looking on the feet, that his recovery skill is poor, and that, when he gets swarmed all of his coordination seems to fly out the window. He is a great one-dimensonal fighter though, and that will be more than a lot of guys can handle, however, I don't see him beating someone with good striking and the ability to not just get entirely wrestle-fucked by him, like Cain. Again, not to say that that is everybody, because it certainly isn't.

Could someone PM me a link of the Lauzon vs Sotiropoulos fight? I can't seem to find it.

Great match that. Soitropoles's ground game is awesome. Still not title shot for him. It's insane. I believe they want him to fight Denis Siver next.

They want him on that Australia card.

Strikeforce last night was amazing. Great card, great finishes. Not a single weak point.

Horrendous decision on the NamPhan Garcia match over at the UFC. It doesn't get any worse than this. But DFW and the UFC actually gave Nam Phan the win bonus, which is somewhat a consolation.

http://thegarv.com/Judging-the-Judges-U ... Bonus.html

Yeah, my band was giging on Saturday, and the bar was cool enough to put on TUF finale. The Pham/Garcia decision was announced right before we hit; I was actually dumbfounded as Nam was tooling Garcia for the good majority of the fight. What a way to put a damper on the UFC featherweight debut match. But that's cool of that asshat DW to pay the man.

Strikeforce seemed like a great show but since I don't have cable, let alone Showtime, and the bar wasn't springing for Showtime, I missed out. Oh well; fuck Showtime, and thereby fuck Strikeforce.

Looking forward to GSP vs Koscheck 2, this weekend.

Here's Freddie Roach, giving his thoughts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpkjn8Wufz8

The Struve fight and the Oliveira fight interest me more than the GSP fight really.

Same here. I mean I'd watch the fight, but I don't get that excited about koscheck and GSP fighting.

Sean Mcorkle vs Struve is going to be great. I've participated in their threads over at the UG. It's pretty interesting lol. Howard Alves is going to be a war! All around decent card.

Wooooooo! Koscheck got his ass handed to him last night. It was completely his fault though, because he barely faught. there was no passion, no ferocity! I'd have expected a little bit more of an effort out of him for a title fight

The broken orbital bone that Koscheck suffered in the first round likely took some of the "ferocity" out of him...

It's not like he did much to prevent it in the first place. Dude's really got to learn to put his money where his mouth is. Anyway, what makes you think bones were broken? I think that's how an eye would "naturally" look after being continuously jabbed at for twenty-fucken-five minutes.

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/286228/Koscheck-in-Boston-for-surgery-posts-picture-of-eye-24-hrs-later/

Why did you put quotations around ferocity? lol I thought it was a decent choice of word! And i do understand that having his face decimated by gsp would probably take a bit of gusto out of him, but he was fighting terribly, like he was afraid. He talked too much shit, and he just seemed like he got into the octagon and got scared.

Anyone watch WEC 53 last night? Holy shit at that Pettis head kick! The whole fight was awesome really and was a really close fight(until the end anyway). No shame on Henderson though, he did a great job and has one hell of a chin. Nice to see the WEC go out with a bang.

Twas awesome. I wanted Bendo to win because I'm a huge fan, but damn, I'm a Pattis fan too now. The guy is so dangerous. I'm not disappointed with Henderson, it was a close fight, and I though he had Pettis with he had him in that rear naked choke, no clue why he couldn't finish it there. Bendo definitely proved his chin too. Not only is Bendo almost impossible to submit, he has an amazing chin too. And Pettis, I though the later rounds would favor Ben since he is known for his conditioning but Pettis actually picked up the pace in the 5th round and went fucking flying through the air like it was Mortal Kombat video game.

Yeah man, that kick was probably the craziest fucking thing I've ever seen in mma. I couldn't believe it actually landed. I think if it landed with the shin instead of the foot, it probably would've been a KO. And I also thought Pettis was done for sure with that rnc in the 4th. Hell of a fight. I'm glad these guys are going to the UFC though. Their lightweight division needs some fighters who actually try and finish a fight. I'm sick of all these lay-n-prayers like Gray Maynard. Can't stand that guy. And lol @ Varner getting choked out and losing his 3rd or 4th fight in a row. I wonder what his latest excuse was.

That kick was pretty damn impressive, but something tells me that that's a once in a lifetime thing from Pettis. Not that I think he's a shitty fighter, as it is clear he's very skilled aside from flashy theatrics, as from what I hear that fight was back and forth and highly competitive for five rounds (didn't get a chance to see it).

Seems like another all around great card for WEC. Drag that Jorgensen wasn't able to catch the title, but Cruz is damn hard to get past. Hopefully this level of competition continues well into the UFC.

And I fuckin' super stoked; UFC 128 in my "glorious" state of NJ on 3/19/2011. I missed 111 when they came through last year, and I'll be damned if I miss them again. It sucks that it's in the asshole of NJ, Newark, but Shogun/Evans, and the rumored Mir/Schaub and Ortiz/Lil' Nog makes a pretty solid card. Hopefully they round it out with some bantam/featherweight bouts and the tickets aren't too steep.

EDIT: I'm shitty at typing.

WEC's last event was great. Being a bend0 fan, was a little disappointed in seeing him lose, but the nInja kick was one heck'uva way to steal it.
Looking forward to new year's events of Dream/K1 and Strikeforce. Some good matchups on there and some still in the making(fedor/silva-Ubereem/tba etc)

Dynamite!! 2010
Strikeforce 30

Doesn't look like Fedor/bigfoot is happening at SF 30.

Anyone wants to share his thoughts about UFC 125?

For me it was a great event overall, kinda completes UFC 124 - on the previous one, all the bouts besides the main event were awesome. On this one it's the main event that overshadowed them all and stole the show. A spot on decision in the end, too.

Sweet! I've got options!

Strikeforce 31 on 2/12 and UFC 128 on 3/19 in NJ.

I was planning on going to both but money is not allowing me to do so. At first I was eyeing up UFC, as the card is pretty stacked, but since Strikeforce has secured Fedor for their show (and the tickets are cheaper; $30 as opposed to $60 for UFC nosebleeds), I decided I'd go with Strikeforce. Figured I'd better take advantage of the opportunity to see Fedor once before more contract hijinks occur. That, and the fact that Strikeforce's show is in a much safer area (the Meadowlands in East Rutherford as opposed to the true asshole of NJ, Newark) makes it a no-brainer.

If I hadn't shelled out for tickets to Godspeed You Black Emperor in March, I would've certainly gone to both.

Got my Strikeforce: Fedor Vs. Silva ticket. I plunked down for a slightly more expensive ticket (the cost of this ticket is roughly equivalent to that of the lowest priced nosebleeds for UFC 128), so that extra cost may pretty much negates my going to UFC 128 (unless I'm able to shift some funds around).

Fedor for my first live MMA show since getting into the sport; not bad!

EDIT: Apologies, double post.

The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand-Prix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa5pGXyZ26Y

Can't wait for this. As much as I love watching the UFC, Strikeforce's HW division is a lot more interesting at the moment. Bring on February!!!

Crazy. I want to see him fight before he retires.

Yeah, you know, I'm not even that big of a fan; I've only seen his recent Strikeforce fights, and some clips of his classic fights in Pride. UFC 128 in and around the same time frame and price was a lock for me (such a stacked card) until it was announced that Fedor would fight at the Strikeforce show. I figured since Fedor is a legend, I should jump on the opportunity to see him fight in person before who knows what happens (i.e. a decline or losing streak, M1's usual shenannigans). And he's got a pretty good shot of winning against Bigfoot Silva. Hopefully M1 doesn't fuck things up.

I'm looking forward to the Arlovski/Kharitonov fight as well. Hopefully AA bounces back from his losing streak to face Barnett in the semifinals of the GP. I see the tournament playing out as (without consideration to any of Barnett's legal scenarios):

Opening Round:
Fedor over Bigfoot
Overeem over Werdum
Arlovski over Kharitonov
Barnett over Rogers

Semifinals:
Overeem over Fedor
Barnett over Arlovski

Finals:
Overeem over Barnett

Hopefully I can generate some scratch to make UFC 128 a reality, but the cheap seats (which coincidentally are more expensive than my 2nd cheapest price level Strikeforce ticket) are gone and the cheapest available are around $120.

WOW. How good was that front kick? And Jonny getting his title shot. Great event UFC 126.

Damn Vitor Belfort got knocked out by Sliva's Front foot of doom!

Yeah, 2 stellar numbered shows from the UFC this year thus far. And 127, 128, 129, and 130 all look to be excellent stacked cards. Plus 133 is announced for Philly in August this year, so if I can't make 128 happen, I can shoot for that.

Anyways, I was rooting hard for Silva to lose, because I hate that cocky motherfucker (the only time I've rooted for Silva was against Sonnen, someone I hate even more), but I simply can't deny he's the P4P GOAT right now. That kick was brutal and spectacular.

And Jones, whew. The guy is just a phenom. Dispatched of Bader with relative ease. Now comes Jones' real test; an allegedly healthy Shogun with six weeks prep. I truly think that Jones has go this in the bag. And this is a better matchup in terms of explosiveness than Evans (although I do not believe in the "lay and pray" myth and think that Evans/Shogun would've been a methodical technical clinic).

But now the real main event for 2011 kicks off next week-the Strikeforce HWGP! All right, I'll admit I'm biased cause I'm going to the opening round next weekend, but there's potential for 7 fantastic HW bouts over this year. And with the upcoming UFC's being loaded, it
s a good time to be an MMA fan!

Have fun at the event bro. I envy those tickets in your hand. Yeah those.. right there!
Get some hi-def pics for this thread, or at least just one good looking one that tries to capture the essence of the night.
Can't wait to watch it!

It was a great event on paper, wasn't so great though. Torres fight kind of sucked. Ellenberger fight sucked after the first round. Griffin fight was pretty boring. Pretty much the lest exciting Jones fight I have ever seen.