Comments on: What about Jorge?

By: Patrickk

Patrickk — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:19:25 +0000

Seems like Jorge messed himself up. I’m sure Joe Silva, Dana White, and the Fertitas analyze everything in a fighter’s career BEFORE they release them [unless it's something like War Machine did]. Therefore, they know that Jorge is a great fighter, but he just wasn’t using his skills the right way.

I’m sure it is very awesome to get the crowd to cheer for you when you stand and bang. However, you HAVE to win in order to be anything in this organization. I think even Stephan Bonnar might get released or just put off for another year or so after his loss to Mark Coleman. Some things just can’t be put up with…ya know?

Sorry though Jorge, you’ve learned a valuable life lesson…fight to win, not to please.

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By: munche

munche — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:48:56 +0000

metalmulisha,

It isn’t to say that Gurgel wouldn’t be near the top of the heap in the bigger local promotions, but he’s still not on UFC’s level.

Think about it this way, who in the UFC do you think he would be likely to beat?

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By: mac wilson

mac wilson — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:22:53 +0000

Jorge has some skill but he if he can’t get over his inability to use a gameplan, then he’ll never be a legit threat to any top tier talent.

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By: MMA-LOGIC

MMA-LOGIC — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:01:58 +0000

In my opinion the UFC should lose half of its fighters and use the money it saves to get the cream of the crop.

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By: s13

s13 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:05:31 +0000

If you recall, Cole Miller tapped him out and I believe he was a purple at the time so I’m not even impressed with Jorge’s ground game what so ever. That is unheard of in the world of jiu-jitsu unless your name is BJ or Rickson.

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By: metalmulisha

metalmulisha — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:00:58 +0000

Maybe it’s just because I’ve been to a lot of local shows in New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, and Iowa that I’ve seen the local talent at these small shows and to compare guys on this level to Gurgel is not only unfair it’s crazy.

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By: cage_rage

cage_rage — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:35:29 +0000

I don’t blame the UFC for releasing him. He has done nothing to improve his game or even evolve as a fighter. I personally have never thought any of his fights were exciting. His striking is sub-par and his BJJ does not seem to be a factor. He goes in there, gets his face smashed, and loses.

UFC fans don’t want to see him anymore. Give the opportunity to someone else.

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By: edub

edub — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:56:56 +0000

Gotta agree with Munche. Jorge is a great jiujitsu player. But it does not translate well to mma. He got beat up on the ground by Alvin Robinson. He got choked out by Cole Miller in a great fight. Hes a really nice guy and he likes to put on a show, but he just is not on the UFC level.

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By: PlagueAngel

PlagueAngel — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:44:07 +0000

Totally agree with munche. He was just stating the obvious facts/opinions about Gurgel and not being a hater. He cited specific examples and well thought opinions on this article. The Jiu-Jitsu thing is such a copout, if you watch his fights his jiu-jitsu game does not transition well to mixed martial arts. He has never finished anyone in the UFC and most of his fights went to decision. That does not make anyone excited. That is why he was cut by the UFC…AMAZING! I personally was not excited to see Jorge fight on any of his fights. To say that Munche was being asinine against Jorge is simply foolish or asinine.

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By: munche

munche — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:19:10 +0000

@metalmulisha

You’re right about the other fighters, and about TUF fighters in general. If this was a post saying “What about Seth Petruzelli?” or “What about Jason Guida?” I’d be replying in kind.

Gurgel is out of the UFC because he’s at a local show level. This isn’t to downplay the guy…look at his wins. Look at his losses. Every guy he’s beaten has flunked out of the UFC and is now fighting in local shows. Even the guys who beat him aren’t making much noise.

let’s look at his UFC opponents:
Lost to Aaron Riley, who then lost his next fight to Shane Nelson
Lost to Cole Miller, who then beat Junie Browning. This is probably the best opponent he’s fought.
Win over John Halverson, who’s last fight was in Superfights MMA
Lost to Alvin Robinson, who proceeded to lose to Nate Diaz and Mark Bocek
Win over Diego Saraiva, who then left UFC and has fought in various small shows, most recently PFC 12
Win over Danny Abbadi, who’s most recent fight was in FFI – Ultimate Chaos
Lost to Mark Hominick, who then went on to mixed success in TKO and WEC at a lower weight, most recent fight Affliction: Banned.

Notice a trend? None of his opponents have been successful in the UFC, the ones who haven’t gone back to the small shows are bouncing around the bottom tier of the division in UFC. Even with this caliber of opponent, he still lost more than he won.

Going 3-4 against the lowest tier of competition in the UFC is a pretty good sign that you need to go fine tune your skills at the small show. Good for him that he managed to find work in Strikeforce, I’m sure he’s making more money than KOTC or wherever would pay him. He’s fighting local show/UFN undercard caliber guys, but in Strikeforce that’s main card material for him, so good for him. Doesn’t mean he needs to be in the UFC.

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By: Angry Mike

Angry Mike — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:30:21 +0000

Maybe Gurgel should consider striking for two rounds and attempt a submission win in the third. If his BJJ is as good as everybody says, he’d win more often. He’d get his rocks off striking, the fans would enjoy the show, and UFC would be satisfied that he won. His unwillingness to play to his strength is bizarre.

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By: metalmulisha

metalmulisha — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:04:40 +0000

@munche
What did Gurgel sleep with your girlfriend or something? Otherwise that’s a lot of hate for a guy you don’t even know.
To say Gurgel’s skill level is that of a guy fighting on some local show is more than a case of just being a hater it’s asinine.
As far as him just being brought in because of Rich Franklin you could say that about nearly every guy that’s cast on TUF. It’s all in who you know and who’s getting a favor done for them. Do you think Jason Guida or Lance Evans for example would have been given the chance to be on TUF if not for their connections?

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By: Jstew3785

Jstew3785 — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:32:44 +0000

What about him?

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By: munche

munche — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:59:57 +0000

Jorge Gurgel was brought in because he was a friend of Rich Franklin and couldn’t beat anyone other than people who went nowhere in UFC. Fight of the Night honors or not, he never won any traction with fans. I never looked forward to any of his fights.

If nobody wants to see you fight, and you can’t beat anybody worth damn, then there’s no need to keep you on. Every guy he beat in UFC is back in the small shows now, and even the guys who’ve beaten him in UFC are still lower level contenders in UFC if they haven’t already gone back to the small show.

Gurgel’s skill level is fighting local show guys. He doesn’t have the chops to hang in the big leagues, and that’s why he’s been booted back down. The only reason Strikeforce picked him up is he has more name recognition than the average local guy due to being on TV.

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