Comments on: FINAL ROUND of Five Ounces of Pain’s MMA Fantasy Mock Draft http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/ Your Destination for Insider MMA News and Opinion Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:28:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: L Grant http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-28085 L Grant Tue, 20 May 2008 20:39:18 +0000 http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-28085 Wow, these last two rounds really sucked. Ha! Cava wins in my opinion. I thought Cupitt was going to take it with the Clay Guida, Nate Diaz, and Bisping picks in the middle rounds. But, the Rickson and Sakuraba picks just ruined it. I really like Cava's line up. He's got the most talent on any given roster, and although he doesn't have a huge superstar like Kimbo or Chuck, he really doesn't need one to be successful. His org can grind it out with live gate revenue in large markets where the die hards will show up. The other orgs will start bringing attention to MMA with their star power, and eventually Cava can start throwing out some impossible to ignore cross promotional challenges. When his fighters decimate the competition his org will reign supreme. If the other orgs refuse to set up the fights, his aggressive marketing campaign will simply imply that they're afraid to lose. The fact that the other orgs try to duck him will be what ends up making him successful. Wow, these last two rounds really sucked. Ha!

Cava wins in my opinion. I thought Cupitt was going to take it with the Clay Guida, Nate Diaz, and Bisping picks in the middle rounds. But, the Rickson and Sakuraba picks just ruined it.

I really like Cava’s line up. He’s got the most talent on any given roster, and although he doesn’t have a huge superstar like Kimbo or Chuck, he really doesn’t need one to be successful. His org can grind it out with live gate revenue in large markets where the die hards will show up.

The other orgs will start bringing attention to MMA with their star power, and eventually Cava can start throwing out some impossible to ignore cross promotional challenges. When his fighters decimate the competition his org will reign supreme.

If the other orgs refuse to set up the fights, his aggressive marketing campaign will simply imply that they’re afraid to lose.

The fact that the other orgs try to duck him will be what ends up making him successful.

]]> By: croyalporter http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-28080 croyalporter Tue, 20 May 2008 17:58:57 +0000 http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-28080 My inital take on Cupitt's first card (ignoring his hideous plan of having Saku vs. Rickson-by-armbar) Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira Frank Shamrock vs. Kazushi Sakuraba Gesias Calvancante vs. Yves Edwards Takanori Gomi vs. Josh Thompson Roger Huerta vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida Cung Le vs. Tim Kennedy Stephan Bonnar vs. Vitor Belfort Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida Joe Stevenson vs. Nate Diaz My inital take on Cupitt’s first card (ignoring his hideous plan of having Saku vs. Rickson-by-armbar)
Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Frank Shamrock vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
Gesias Calvancante vs. Yves Edwards
Takanori Gomi vs. Josh Thompson
Roger Huerta vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida
Cung Le vs. Tim Kennedy
Stephan Bonnar vs. Vitor Belfort
Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida
Joe Stevenson vs. Nate Diaz

]]> By: the Levi http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-28078 the Levi Tue, 20 May 2008 17:22:46 +0000 http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-28078 with a draft this short there is going to be a lot of quality fighters left undrafted. i know 22 rounds seems like alot but when there is only 6 fictional orgs. that is only 132 fighter drafted. i think 8 more rounds should have happened to get the top 180 fighters inthe world. 1. Mike Huckaby. i like his philosophy of stacking 2 div. he has the best Lhwt div. by far, and his Hwt div is pretty good,even possibly the best. 2. Sam Caplan . has a real good Hwt div. the only thing i don't like is the wrestlers taking in the last rounds. if the wrestlers work out then this will be the best Hwt div. 3. Matt Cava . decent Mwt div. some decent match ups including some rematches for Anderson Silva. even Penn vs. Pulver 3. 4. Adam Morgan . the Wwt div. is stacked with 3 different Wwt champs. if you want tosee the best Wwts this is the org. to watch. 5. Sam Cupitt a real good Lwt div. this is where all the best Lwts not named BJ Penn fight. 6. Ram Maramba should have focused on less div. lost out on having a marqee div. for his org. evrey one else has a least one stacked div. I surprised that no one took Hwt the Manic Hisanic Eddie Sanchez - Lhwt the Monster Kevin Randleman - Mwt the PredatorPatrick Cote - Wwt the Irish Hand Grenade Marcus Davis & Anthony Rumble Johnson with a draft this short there is going to be a lot of quality fighters left undrafted. i know 22 rounds seems like alot but when there is only 6 fictional orgs. that is only 132 fighter drafted. i think 8 more rounds should have happened to get the top 180 fighters inthe world.

1. Mike Huckaby. i like his philosophy of stacking 2 div. he has the best Lhwt div. by far, and his Hwt div is pretty good,even possibly the best.

2. Sam Caplan . has a real good Hwt div. the only thing i don’t like is the wrestlers taking in the last rounds. if the wrestlers work out then this will be the best Hwt div.

3. Matt Cava . decent Mwt div. some decent match ups including some rematches for Anderson Silva. even Penn vs. Pulver 3.

4. Adam Morgan . the Wwt div. is stacked with 3 different Wwt champs. if you want tosee the best Wwts this is the org. to watch.

5. Sam Cupitt a real good Lwt div. this is where all the best Lwts not named BJ Penn fight.

6. Ram Maramba should have focused on less div. lost out on having a marqee div. for his org. evrey one else has a least one stacked div.

I surprised that no one took Hwt the Manic Hisanic Eddie Sanchez - Lhwt the Monster Kevin Randleman - Mwt the PredatorPatrick Cote - Wwt the Irish Hand Grenade Marcus Davis & Anthony Rumble Johnson

]]> By: croyalporter http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27955 croyalporter Mon, 19 May 2008 17:11:35 +0000 http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27955 Understandable, but at the same time, no promotion exists for any length of time with only 22 fighters. Virtually all of these rosters are only good for a few ppvs, unless they're suplemented with "free agents" from the pool of undrafted fighters. Cava's group, to me, has the best long-term potential with the quality of the fighters regardless of match-ups. Other match-ups are out there; just look at some of the fighters that didn't get drafted at just the LW class: Thiago Tavares, Kurt Pellegrino, Spencer Fisher, Bart Palaszewski, Ryan Schultz, Deividas Taurosevicius, Luiz Firmino, Luiz Azeredo, etc. That's just the tip of the iceberg. The same goes for the other weight classes. Understandable, but at the same time, no promotion exists for any length of time with only 22 fighters. Virtually all of these rosters are only good for a few ppvs, unless they’re suplemented with “free agents” from the pool of undrafted fighters. Cava’s group, to me, has the best long-term potential with the quality of the fighters regardless of match-ups. Other match-ups are out there; just look at some of the fighters that didn’t get drafted at just the LW class: Thiago Tavares, Kurt Pellegrino, Spencer Fisher, Bart Palaszewski, Ryan Schultz, Deividas Taurosevicius, Luiz Firmino, Luiz Azeredo, etc. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The same goes for the other weight classes.

]]> By: SteveXtreme http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27945 SteveXtreme Mon, 19 May 2008 16:41:15 +0000 http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27945 When can we vote on who has the best roster? Great idea having the draft guys. I've really enjoyed reading each round. Yall had very interesting picks and will be hard to pick a clear winner. When can we vote on who has the best roster? Great idea having the draft guys. I’ve really enjoyed reading each round. Yall had very interesting picks and will be hard to pick a clear winner.

]]> By: Jye http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27899 Jye Mon, 19 May 2008 11:45:32 +0000 http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27899 I agree that Cava does have a lot of quality fighters in there. But if you look at the rosters, you don't see that many quality matchups for the top guys over their next 2 to 3 fights. I like the BJ Penn Sherk matchup that he has. And that would be my top pick for a first main-event, but after sherk or BJ when then who's next..... The same with Silva, there's the potential matchup with Lindland which would be a good fight, but if Silva wins there isn't many matchups there that would draw a lot of PPV buys. I agree that Cava does have a lot of quality fighters in there. But if you look at the rosters, you don’t see that many quality matchups for the top guys over their next 2 to 3 fights. I like the BJ Penn Sherk matchup that he has. And that would be my top pick for a first main-event, but after sherk or BJ when then who’s next….. The same with Silva, there’s the potential matchup with Lindland which would be a good fight, but if Silva wins there isn’t many matchups there that would draw a lot of PPV buys.

]]> By: croyalporter http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27898 croyalporter Mon, 19 May 2008 11:35:13 +0000 http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27898 1) Matt Cava by a mile - he went with the philosophy of fighters who win, and ultimately, that's what athletes are judged by in this, and any other, sport. 2) Ram - A little bit all over the board, but with three fighters to build from in the very short term (Couture,) the present (Rampage,) and the future (Faber,) he's got a roster full of solid guys and very few misses. 3) Huckaby - I think people will want to watch his promotion. Take a bunch of big guys and let them beat on each other--it's a good organizational philosophy to draw in the casual fan. 4) Morgan - I think he wasted two picks on the female fighters, but overall, his talent pool is still OK, and he should have some fights worth watching. 5) Cupitt - Yeah, he started rising a few rounds back...and then lost me with his last two picks. Saku, yeah, maybe, but Rickson Gracie...I don't believe the hype. Sorry. 6) Caplan - I don't know if I qualify as a "hardcore fan" or not, but I am unimpressed with the attempt to pander to the wrestling fan by filling your roster with a bunch of guys who are going to have to wait to compete for a while until Vince's steroids flush out of their system. I understand your strategy, and I'm not saying it's the worst idea in the world, but it's one I can't get behind at all. 1) Matt Cava by a mile - he went with the philosophy of fighters who win, and ultimately, that’s what athletes are judged by in this, and any other, sport.
2) Ram - A little bit all over the board, but with three fighters to build from in the very short term (Couture,) the present (Rampage,) and the future (Faber,) he’s got a roster full of solid guys and very few misses.
3) Huckaby - I think people will want to watch his promotion. Take a bunch of big guys and let them beat on each other–it’s a good organizational philosophy to draw in the casual fan.
4) Morgan - I think he wasted two picks on the female fighters, but overall, his talent pool is still OK, and he should have some fights worth watching.
5) Cupitt - Yeah, he started rising a few rounds back…and then lost me with his last two picks. Saku, yeah, maybe, but Rickson Gracie…I don’t believe the hype. Sorry.
6) Caplan - I don’t know if I qualify as a “hardcore fan” or not, but I am unimpressed with the attempt to pander to the wrestling fan by filling your roster with a bunch of guys who are going to have to wait to compete for a while until Vince’s steroids flush out of their system. I understand your strategy, and I’m not saying it’s the worst idea in the world, but it’s one I can’t get behind at all.

]]> By: Jye http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27890 Jye Mon, 19 May 2008 05:33:54 +0000 http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27890 Alright I'll be the first one to give my opinion on the drafts. I gotta say that there wasn't much in it between my top 3 at all. I liked the steal of Marcelo Garcia in the last round (probably cause i mentioned it after rd 16 or so..) and that probably swayed me a fair bit. Anyway here's my preference: 1. Adam Morgan 2. Mike Huckaby 3. Sam Cupitt 4. Sam Caplan 5. Matt Cava 6.Ram Maramba I gave big points to Morgan's WW division as it leaves a lot of options for big fights on multiple cards, the same with Cupitt's LW division. I just feel that WW has always been a bigger draw the LW so that made a bit of an impact. Plus with GSP the guarantee to sell out in any event in Canada makes a big difference. Plus the fact that Kimbo is a major draw for casual MMA fans. Alright I’ll be the first one to give my opinion on the drafts. I gotta say that there wasn’t much in it between my top 3 at all. I liked the steal of Marcelo Garcia in the last round (probably cause i mentioned it after rd 16 or so..) and that probably swayed me a fair bit. Anyway here’s my preference:

1. Adam Morgan
2. Mike Huckaby
3. Sam Cupitt
4. Sam Caplan
5. Matt Cava
6.Ram Maramba

I gave big points to Morgan’s WW division as it leaves a lot of options for big fights on multiple cards, the same with Cupitt’s LW division. I just feel that WW has always been a bigger draw the LW so that made a bit of an impact. Plus with GSP the guarantee to sell out in any event in Canada makes a big difference. Plus the fact that Kimbo is a major draw for casual MMA fans.

]]> By: mo http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27869 mo Sun, 18 May 2008 23:24:44 +0000 http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27869 SO where do you guys go from here? I know there was talk about setting up a pay-per-view event, but i think with putting together a promotion you really have to think about if you can last. If you put on one great show and that is it, well i would think it is useless and a big waste of money. The draft was a great idea, and hopefully you guys continue this in some way or another SO where do you guys go from here? I know there was talk about setting up a pay-per-view event, but i think with putting together a promotion you really have to think about if you can last. If you put on one great show and that is it, well i would think it is useless and a big waste of money. The draft was a great idea, and hopefully you guys continue this in some way or another

]]> By: Vern http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27849 Vern Sun, 18 May 2008 16:27:37 +0000 http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/05/18/final-round-of-five-ounces-of-pains-mma-fantasy-mock-draft/#comment-27849 No Genki Sudo? No Genki Sudo?

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