UFC 149 Faber VS Barao AKA UFC 149 Does Anyone Care

[Kilroy]

Originally Posted by kcb

For me, this is why the fight wasn't very good. It felt like a sparring match. Don't get me wrong, Barao was throwing powerful leg kicks and one of his knees broke Faber's rib. There was some good action at times, but overall, according to my memory now, it was mostly Urijah feinting and Barao landing about 10 leg kicks spaced out over the course of 5 rounds.

Yes this, we can totally agree on.
I don't remember much of anything from the fight except for Fabers inability to close the distance effectively and Barao punishing him from the outside.

For me, the energy of the fights is what makes them great.
I love technical grappling or striking clinics, but, without energy, I don't care.

Barao was content with how the fight was going, I can't blame him in anyway for sticking with it.
But Faber? He was losing, what did he try and change between rounds?

[DCBooks]

Originally Posted by Kilroy

I don't remember much of anything from the fight except for Fabers inability to close the distance effectively and Barao punishing him from the outside.

His strength has always been his wrestling and ground game. His Division 1 collegiate wrestling career was impressive and he has a very creative ground game. His ground game and athletic ability was plenty to keep the belt in the WEC, and he knocked out wins over Fernandez, Cruz, Pulver, Curran, etc. He ruled the division for 5 years even though he was undersized for 145.

Now as he's slowing down from age and injuries, and he appears to have lost his shot. Faber is tough as nails and still very competitive as Bowles, Mizugaki, Wineland, and Assuncao can attest. Those guys are all bad bad men, but elite strikers who can stuff his shot are going to outclass him standing.

Lots folks like to hate on the California Kid, but he's been a great ambassador for the sport. Always has time for fans and humble about his career. He carried the WEC on his shoulders for quite a while when no one cared about the little guys in the States.

It's sad to see legends of the sport fade slowly into history, and I doubt Faber will hang up his gloves while he's still able to go the distance with top contenders and champs. I hope he picks his fights wisely, and puts on some great shows before his exit.

[Don]

I kept thinking as I was watching it - Why do strong wrestlers choose to strike instead of doing what got them there?

[Lappari]

Originally Posted by DCBooks

The pre-lims were money. The fights that cost money weren't worth it.

Yeah, I fell asleep during Boetch/Lombard. I did make over 300€ with 20€ though.

Good knockouts in the prelims and Kuivanen/Clarke was a good fight too. Other than that... I might as well slept throughout the event.

[DCBooks]

Originally Posted by Don

I kept thinking as I was watching it - Why do strong wrestlers choose to strike instead of doing what got them there?

If it was an effort to be exciting it failed miserably. It's funny that Matt Riddle got sub of the night after letting his opponent up multiple times to try for FOTN bonus.

[Kilroy]

Originally Posted by DCBooks

His strength has always been his wrestling and ground game. His Division 1 collegiate wrestling career was impressive and he has a very creative ground game. His ground game and athletic ability was plenty to keep the belt in the WEC, and he knocked out wins over Fernandez, Cruz, Pulver, Curran, etc. He ruled the division for 5 years even though he was undersized for 145.

Now as he's slowing down from age and injuries, and he appears to have lost his shot. Faber is tough as nails and still very competitive as Bowles, Mizugaki, Wineland, and Assuncao can attest. Those guys are all bad bad men, but elite strikers who can stuff his shot are going to outclass him standing.

Lots folks like to hate on the California Kid, but he's been a great ambassador for the sport. Always has time for fans and humble about his career. He carried the WEC on his shoulders for quite a while when no one cared about the little guys in the States.

It's sad to see legends of the sport fade slowly into history, and I doubt Faber will hang up his gloves while he's still able to go the distance with top contenders and champs. I hope he picks his fights wisely, and puts on some great shows before his exit.

I hope you don't think that I am hating on him, because I am not. I am disappointed in the fight and his performance.
Is he as hungry as he was?
Why didn't he try and go crazy grapplestyle in the later rounds to try and change a fight he was clearly losing?
I really think that Faber has better cardio and endurance than Barao.

It sort of felt like he was content with losing in some way.
But I may be totally unfair, both to Faber and to Barao, Faber might have been hurting badly after all the punishing strikes from Barao and didn't have it in him to push like I wanted him to.

[H]

he never has seemed the same since Mike Brown KO'd him. it took the fight out of him. he doesnt fight the same anymore. but i dont like Faber anyways. so its easy for me to say that. but thats how i see it.

[Don]

Originally Posted by DCBooks

If it was an effort to be exciting it failed miserably. It's funny that Matt Riddle got sub of the night after letting his opponent up multiple times to try for FOTN bonus.

It was a nice sub. I do like that one, not hard to setup from slipping a cross.