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A little more than five years ago, then-UFC hopefuls Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar contested one of the most entertaining bouts in the organization's history at the first-ever The Ultimate Fighter Finale – the night the UFC first aired live on Spike TV.
This past Saturday night, Leonard Garcia and Chan Sung Jung engaged in an equally rousing affair while placed in a similar position: the lead in for "Aldo vs. Faber," the WEC's first-ever pay-per-view event.
Following the event, UFC president Dana White expressed his gratitude for the performance and said he wouldn't mind letting "Bad Boy" and "The Korean Zombie" do it again.
Full Article -Here-
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Post #1 4/27/10 3:16:05PM
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Where's Reed Harris? He was actually worthy of respect and not a Vince McMahon wannabe.
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Post #2 4/27/10 3:49:27PM
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Korean Zombie should have got that IMO but it was a really close (at least it appeared close) crazy fight. He should get another crack at Garcia for sure.
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Eddie Would Throw
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Post #3 4/27/10 3:57:55PM
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CwB
MMA Sensei
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Garcia vs Chan is nowhere near the level of importance as Griffin vs Bonnar was.
Garcia vs Chan may be that Boom for WEC but it has little to no historical significance.
Griffin vs Bonnar was a Boom for the entire sport of MMA, and is one of the most important fights in MMA history.
Horrible comparison...
And as far as a rematch goes, it wont be nearly as exciting or relevant, if these guys follow in the Griffin/Bonnar comparison...
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Post #4 4/27/10 3:57:57PM
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Posted by CwB
Garcia vs Chan is nowhere near the level of importance as Griffin vs Bonnar was.
Garcia vs Chan may be that Boom for WEC but it has little to no historical significance.
Griffin vs Bonnar was a Boom for the entire sport of MMA, and is one of the most important fights in MMA history.
Horrible comparison...
And as far as a rematch goes, it wont be nearly as exciting or relevant, if these guys follow in the Griffin/Bonnar comparison...
I wouldn't say it's a horrible comparison. There are several similarities...and impact, albeit on a smaller scale.
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Post #5 4/27/10 4:34:21PM
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CwB
MMA Sensei
| Posts: | 1,262 |
| Career: | 221-151 | |
| Joined: | Feb 2007 |
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Posted by grappler0000
Posted by CwB
Garcia vs Chan is nowhere near the level of importance as Griffin vs Bonnar was.
Garcia vs Chan may be that Boom for WEC but it has little to no historical significance.
Griffin vs Bonnar was a Boom for the entire sport of MMA, and is one of the most important fights in MMA history.
Horrible comparison...
And as far as a rematch goes, it wont be nearly as exciting or relevant, if these guys follow in the Griffin/Bonnar comparison...
I wouldn't say it's a horrible comparison. There are several similarities...and impact, albeit on a smaller scale.
ya agreed, its a good comparison on a smaller scale.
But ten years from now Griffin vs Bonnar will still be remembered and Garcia and Chan wont. Larger scale horrible comparison...
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Post #6 4/27/10 4:40:27PM
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Posted by CwB
Posted by grappler0000
Posted by CwB
Garcia vs Chan is nowhere near the level of importance as Griffin vs Bonnar was.
Garcia vs Chan may be that Boom for WEC but it has little to no historical significance.
Griffin vs Bonnar was a Boom for the entire sport of MMA, and is one of the most important fights in MMA history.
Horrible comparison...
And as far as a rematch goes, it wont be nearly as exciting or relevant, if these guys follow in the Griffin/Bonnar comparison...
I wouldn't say it's a horrible comparison. There are several similarities...and impact, albeit on a smaller scale.
ya agreed, its a good comparison on a smaller scale.
But ten years from now Griffin vs Bonnar will still be remembered and Garcia and Chan wont. Larger scale horrible comparison...
Perhaps, it's easy to read too much into it, but White simply said "these guys are definitely the Griffin and Bonnar of the lighter weight divisions." I don't believe that he over-extended himself with that at all.
Last edited 4/27/10 5:09PM server time by grappler0000
Edit note/reason: n/a
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Post #7 4/27/10 5:08:24PM
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I think he was just making the reference with regard to the attempt to push WEC to the next level. That was a complete war between those two and easily the most exciting fight of the night for me. If anyone ordered this PPV without having seen a WEC event before, I am sure they were massively impressed by those two and would easily watch a rematch.
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Post #8 4/27/10 5:16:56PM
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Posted by grappler0000
Perhaps, it's easy to read too much into it, but White simply said "these guys are definitely the Griffin and Bonnar of the lighter weight divisions." I don't believe that he over-extended himself with that at all.
I agree with White that Jung vs. Garcia rivals Griffin vs. Bonnar in terms of entertainment, but the effects of Griffin vs. Bonnar were difficult to gauge immediately. I think White is just trying to draw interest in Zuffa's WEC product with a comparison like that, when time can only tell if the impact of a fight like in terms of getting (and keeping) new WEC fans.
I don't mind the rematch. I think it was pretty obvious that the judges' decision was off.
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Post #9 4/27/10 6:08:10PM
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Posted by lohmann
Posted by grappler0000
Perhaps, it's easy to read too much into it, but White simply said "these guys are definitely the Griffin and Bonnar of the lighter weight divisions." I don't believe that he over-extended himself with that at all.
I agree with White that Jung vs. Garcia rivals Griffin vs. Bonnar in terms of entertainment, but the effects of Griffin vs. Bonnar were difficult to gauge immediately. I think White is just trying to draw interest in Zuffa's WEC product with a comparison like that, when time can only tell if the impact of a fight like in terms of getting (and keeping) new WEC fans.
I don't mind the rematch. I think it was pretty obvious that the judges' decision was off.
Yeah, the impact is the one thing that is yet to be seen. It definitely won't have the same impact to the sport as a whole (I don't believe that could ever be repeated on the same scale, considering the current popularity of the sport), but could very well be the saving grace to the WEC as Griffin/Bonnar was to the UFC. You can draw other comparisons as well with the timing and placement of the fight relative to the big push by Zuffa or how more people may become interested in the lighter weights similar to people giving MMA a chance a few years ago. Of coarse, Dana didn't even clarify how deep his analogy was, so beyond the obvious similarities, it's pure speculation.
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Post #10 4/27/10 6:29:31PM
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Well, my main concern here is that they did little to promote the fact that it was a WEC event. So, now that I think about it....this seems odd.
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Post #11 4/27/10 6:39:53PM
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It was a dman crazy fight. Both guys gutted it out until the last buzzer. I wouldnt mind a rematch. Hopfuly somone is the definitave winner though. Thats all that fight needed was a KO!!
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Post #12 4/27/10 7:40:16PM
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It was many peoples first ever exposure to the WEC...and thats what they got. I say it was a decent comparison.
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Post #13 4/27/10 9:29:36PM
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I think it was ten times the fight that Griffin/Bonnar was. I think it could mean something down the road, this was akin to Rocky Balboa beating Apollo Creed by split decision in Rocky. I watched UFC 1, Griffin/Bonnar was a good fight but didn't mean anything to me back then, at the time it was Rich Franklin's coming out party for me.
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Post #14 4/27/10 11:38:49PM
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I still need to see this fight....anyone know of any links
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Post #15 4/28/10 1:20:38AM
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