Almeida vs Hughes UFC 117

[Vizion]

His biggest victory was going the distance with Kendall Grove at MW.

That's not bad, but 4 out of his last 5 fights have been decisions.

[Irish Pride]

Originally Posted by Vizion

His biggest victory was going the distance with Kendall Grove at MW.

That's not bad, but 4 out of his last 5 fights have been decisions.

and Matt wants to face top guys to get him back in title contention or I thought that's what he said? I don't see how this gets him back in title contention. The guy has one fight in WW...

[bj44]

Originally Posted by Irish Pride

And he has one win in the WW division... I would think this wouldn't up Matt on the totem poll much. He needs top wins. Renzo didn't advance him much and a win against a guy with one fight in the division won't advance him much either.

n Vitor Belfort has zero wins in the mw division whats your point... Almedia has been a respectable fighter for years and its obvious there selling a grudge match here because of Matts wins over serra and Renzo... This is a good fight!!!

[Irish Pride]

Originally Posted by bj44

n Vitor Belfort has zero wins in the mw division whats your point... Almedia has been a respectable fighter for years and its obvious there selling a grudge match here because of Matts wins over serra and Renzo... This is a good fight!!!

I know how they are MARKETING the fight...that's not my point.

First I'm not bashing Matt at all...this is my point. After his loss to Thiago people were saying, who do you think Matt should fight next? I mentioned Dennis Hallman. He had beaten Matt twice, once in the UFC. I thought it would be easily marketable and allow Matt to avenge two losses. People here on the forums responded with LEGITMATE opinions about that. They stated that Hughes has more to lose if he loses that fight then what he would gain. I agree. If he won, he would avenge two losses. But if he lost he would lose to a fighter just returning to the UFC and not a main event guy. After the Thiago fight I thought Matt said that he wanted to face TOP level guys. Since then he has fought Renzo Gracie. A 43 year old fighter that had not fought in three years. And who's last "true" win was against Carlos Newton in 2006. Now, this fight was easily marketed. Hughes had beat a Gracie already and now would be facing another. I understand the marketing, but Renzo was far from a "top" guy in the UFC. His next fight is against Ricardo Almeida who's had only one fight in WW and is no where near top competition in the WW division.

I just feel that if Matt said he wanted top competition, that Renzo and Almeida do not fit this. I support Matt. I want him to kick Ricardo's butt. It just seems like nobody is confused by these match-ups and the fact that Matt wanted top competition. When I responded with Dennis Hallman people jumped on me (not attacking me mind you) because Dennis isn't top competition. How is Renzo or Almeida top competition? (Nobody answers this question, they just point to the marketing of the fight and not Matt's words of wanting top competition and again I am only stating that I THINK that's what Matt said, pretty sure but I have no quote for it)

I'm ready for the rematch with Alves. If memory serves me correctly I read or maybe saw on youtube in an interview from Matt that Alves is the only person he has ever asked for a rematch with. Maybe Almeida is not the top competition Matt wants. But hey it's a fight. Better than us having to wait over a year to see him fight. Didn't Alves get hurt anyways? I was thinking he pulled out of a fight over an injury recently.

I know I read somewhere (around the time of finding out about the Renzo fight) that Matt was at a point in his career where he was no longer interested in a championship run. As I recall, he was looking for "big name" fights, instead of taking on top contenders. He also mentioned that he had no interest in the likes of Koscheck, Fitch, and Swick when they all called him out at the same time.

Sorry I couldn't find the link... I tried!

[Irish Pride]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

I know I read somewhere (around the time of finding out about the Renzo fight) that Matt was at a point in his career where he was no longer interested in a championship run. As I recall, he was looking for "big name" fights, instead of taking on top contenders. He also mentioned that he had no interest in the likes of Koscheck, Fitch, and Swick when they all called him out at the same time.

Sorry I couldn't find the link... I tried!

Aren't "big name" fights and top contenders the same thing?

No... "big name" fights refers to certain fighters that have some sort of history, or maybe an older legend, or some fighter with a marketable storyline.

Renzo, for example, was Serra's instructor, who Matt had beat. And Renzo himself had beat Miletich, who was Matt's instructor. It was a marketable storyline, as is Almeida.

It's like Randy fighting Coleman. No one thought Coleman would win, but it was a good storyline, with two legends going at it.

Matt has no reason to risk anything at this point in his career, so I doubt we'll be seeing the likes of Fitch, Alves, Koscheck, etc. anytime soon...

Although I don't think the fight will happen, Dennis Hallman would be another example of this idea.

[VCURamFan]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

No... "big name" fights refers to certain fighters that have some sort of history, or maybe an older legend, or some fighter with a marketable storyline.

Renzo, for example, was Serra's instructor, who Matt had beat. And Renzo himself had beat Miletich, who was Matt's instructor. It was a marketable storyline, as is Almeida.

It's like Randy fighting Coleman. No one thought Coleman would win, but it was a good storyline, with two legends going at it.

Matt has no reason to risk anything at this point in his career, so I doubt we'll be seeing the likes of Fitch, Alves, Koscheck, etc. anytime soon...

Although I don't think the fight will happen, Dennis Hallman would be another example of this idea.

I'm going to disagree with you just slightly, but only because I think your category is too broad.

I think having 3 distinctions (Top Contenders, Big Names & Good Stories) makes better sense. The Alves fight was a Top Contender (winner moves to title shot). The Gracie fights were Big Name (someone whose name is widely recognized, even if he's not contender). The Almeida fight would be a Good Story (he's not a highly-recognizable name/face, but it's easy to market the whole "cleaning out the gym" angle).

Obviously the best match-ups are combinations of all three (i.e. Rashad/Rampage), but just so long as it's got at leat one, it's main card worthy.

And since Matt is a HUGE Name, he will never be on a pre-lim!

[Irish Pride]

Originally Posted by VCURamFan

I'm going to disagree with you just slightly, but only because I think your category is too broad.

I think having 3 distinctions (Top Contenders, Big Names & Good Stories) makes better sense. The Alves fight was a Top Contender (winner moves to title shot). The Gracie fights were Big Name (someone whose name is widely recognized, even if he's not contender). The Almeida fight would be a Good Story (he's not a highly-recognizable name/face, but it's easy to market the whole "cleaning out the gym" angle).

Obviously the best match-ups are combinations of all three (i.e. Rashad/Rampage), but just so long as it's got at leat one, it's main card worthy.

And since Matt is a HUGE Name, he will never be on a pre-lim!

I can agree with this, specifically the 3 distinctions.