Juan Manuel Lopez v. Rafael Marquez: Final predictions!

That's a shitty decision.

 

Then RJJ should have been permanently suspended after the Johnson fight:Steve-Dave/MMA:

 

It could have been worse, he could have had to quit because he actually had to hit the stool like Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis.

 

I disagree with your disagree.

Seeing that fight all I saw was a much bigger (and worse) fighter beating up on a much smaller fighter. People can make more out of this then it is but to me it proves very little. JuanMa was so imposing in that fight that I was thinking maybe the ref or Marquez's corner should consider stopping this. Because as good as Marquez appeared to be doing it was obvious he was taking the bigger damage from an obvious bigger and stronger opponent and I have no problem with him making up a shoulder excuse to quit because Mexican fans have been known to attack sports stars who fail and Marquez was in over his head. I'm just shocked nobody seemed to notice it but me.

 

JuanMa vesus Gamboa.

This is a tough one. Although I think Gamboa has a huge edge in talent and skill level, JuanMa has the edge in durability and heart and their are plenty of examples of one beating the other.

When Gamboa beat the shit out of Mtagwa I was totally impressed, moreso by the defense he showed then by his offense. I thought he had turned into a well balanced offensive/defensive force, but his next fight he showed none of that same defensive presence. So I can assume he's slacking on his training when not feeling challenged or a need to impress as he did when given the oppurtunity to 1 up JuanMa by wiping the floor with Mtagawa.

I also assume he'll be thouroughly motivated against JuanMa so Gamboa is my pick. However, like Reed said, Gamboa has shown enough holes and a mediocre enough chin to where I would never be confident enough to put money on the guy.

 

Understandable that you think so, but look at it from my point of view. I feel Marquez was getting unnecessarily beaten up and the fight needed to be stopped. I was actually waiting for the part where Marquez wouldn't answer the bell because I had it feeling it might happen. Even during the fight I was thinking poor Marquez he fights for the Mexican people and if he loses they may actually attack him when he gets home and that sucks because he can't win this fight. So to protect Marquez from getting killed in the ring against a guy who was obviously bigger and stronger than him the fight had to be and was rightfully stopped. If Marquez also needed to fake a shoulder injury to prevent crazy Mexican fans from pulling him out of his car and stomping him into the ground when he gets home I totally understand.

 

It's an excellent matchup and it reminds me of Hamed vs Barrera. Just as in that matchup, I'll go with the phenom talent over the more conventional skilled guy. Just as in Hamed vs Barrera I could be wrong, but I'm fairly confident.