Official Fight Poll= PRIDE MW GP 2005: Pick The Favorites

[robbypark]

Alright guys, this edition of the official fight poll is simple. Who are your SIX favorites to win the Grand Prix?

Out of all 16 possible fighters, choose six and vote for them. Let's see which six come out on top as the favs.

Also, post here who your six favorites may be.

[cumthedestroyer]

i'm real tired but i think i chose:

Wanderlei Silva
Kazushi Sakuraba
Rogerio Nogueira
Igor Vovchanchyn
Dan Henderson
Mauricio Rua

my vote for Mauricio doesn't seem to have registered on the poll,maybe i accidentally clicked someone else.

[maestro]

This is a great poll. These are the guys I pick and why

Silva- best in the world at 205

Rogerio- I think he has all the tools and I believe he will beat Henderson

Kondo- One of the elite. I think he will pull off the upset on Igor and can go on to make some noise

Jackson- #2 205 guy in the world. It would be foolish not to consider him

Belfort- When Belfort is set and ready to unleash, he can be one of the best.

Randleman- He has all the physical tools to win the whole thing. Let's hope he worked on his submission defence for Nak.

[kimura]

1. Ricardo Arona = I'm not sure if he's my favourite out of the group, but he's a guy who I have tremendous respect for: he's ****ing huge for a 205 pounder, strong as hell, has the best ground game in the GP, has a great chin IMO, his striking has become better and better, and he has the gas to pull it off.

2. Silva = Consistency. I like Arona more, so I picked him first.
3. Rampage = Just love the guy, has the tools.
4. Hendo = Like this dude too, has all the tools in the world to pull it off.
5. Igor = Igor at 205 is a beauty to watch, with his fast hands he could pull it off.
6. Kondo = I like this guy too, one of my favourites out there right now, but I just think he's too small to compete with some of the big dogs.

[cumthedestroyer]

i'm the only dreamer who picked Sakuraba as one of six so far....

i guess that could be deemed a privilege, or whatever you might call it.

and i know what you might call it. so don't.

[Ghost]

Silva- As they say, In order to be the Champ, you have to beat the champ!

Igor- The northern Weapon has abs?! This is going to be gooood!

Rampage-Still very Dangerous, don't let his relaxed demeanor fool you in his last fight. He stands a chance like anyone in this tournament.

Randleman- I hate to vote for this guy, but it is scary having him drop weight to enter this tourney.

Lil' Nog & Hendo- Could be the best rd 1 Matchup. Winner to pose a threat to Silva.

[WEREWOLF]

Tournaments are unpredictable things. How it's gonna play out is impossible to say. The first round will seperate the men from the boys and the following match-ups are just gonna get tougher and tougher.

With that said Silva has got to be the heavy favorite.

Rampage behind him.

Lil Nog, Hendo, Arona all possibilities.

But I will go with the dark horse Igor Vovchanchyn.

[DaBigHurt]

My favorites in order:

Wanderlei Silva - no need to say anything. The guy is a machine.
Quinton Jackson - Can hang with the best of 'em (Silva could stop him)
Rogerio Nogueira - The guy can Sub his way through
Kevin Randleman - If he's prepared to fight, he'll make an impact.
Vitor Belfort - Focus, and he'll make a name for himself in front of the biggest & best MMA croud & company on the planet, he'll be apreciated is his return to PRIDE fighting. I hope he wins one for the home team.
Ricardo Arona - Has the tools necessary to make a splash in the GP, he might not win it, but he'll impress a lot of people.

If this was 5 years ago or even 3, Saku would be on my list, but it seems like father time (& PRIDE Fighting) has cought up to SAku and he's been proven more vulnerable recently than ever before in his career. I would pick Yoshida as an ALternative 6th man. He'll defenetly win a fight or two, but I dont think he can win it.

I Think the Key to winning this GP is to get rid of Silva early, If he's eliminated in the first round (Which I DOUBT), its anybody's game. But he's the guy to beat.......

[Jeremy]

Silva and Rampage.

[Cbear]

Arona
Silva
Little Nog
Hendo
Jackson
Igor

[Hannibal_JSayto_Lecter]

1.- Arona
2.- Shogun
3.- Silva
4.- Belfort
5.- Igor
6.- Randellman

[destro713]

Silva, Nog, Hendo, Saku, Igor, Yosh

Silva is the obvious favorite. Nog and Hendo are what I'd call dark horses. I haven't seen enough of Igor to really know how he is at 205 but I suspect he may be like the old Igor but faster so I can't write him off. And Yoshida is on there because of how buch better he handled Mark Hunt than Wanderlei did. It's all about matchups and Yoshida could take it if the cookie crumbles right.

Wanderlei Silva is so frighteningly good that I've gone around the horn from hating him to liking him (it was totally awesome when he said he was gonna ruin Vitor's pretty boy face) but I'm also sick of seeing him dominate 205. A convincing loss to another 205'er would really stir things up, so I'm rooting against him kinda-sorta.

As for Sakuraba, he is my hero and I will only give up hope for him once he's dead.

[dhk1980]

Tournaments are unpredictable things. How it's gonna play out is impossible to say. The first round will seperate the men from the boys and the following match-ups are just gonna get tougher and tougher.

With that said Silva has got to be the heavy favorite.

Rampage behind him.

Lil Nog, Hendo, Arona all possibilities.

But I will go with the dark horse Igor Vovchanchyn.
surprise, surprise :p

[themunchies]

In no particular order:

Silva
Arona
Kondo
Vochanchyn
Hendo
Rampage

[nhbfan8080]

Main Entry: dark horse
1 a : a usually little known contender (as a racehorse) that makes an unexpectedly good showing
b : an entrant in a contest that is judged unlikely to succeed

The only dark horse is Yong Dong-Sik and who got one vote. The others in the GP are too well known and too good to be considered a dark horse.

[robbypark]

I haven't given my favorites yet, so here they are:

-Silva
-Rampage
-Igor
-Kondo
-Arona
-Rogerio

[muhr]

Nogueira
Vovchanchyn
Silva
Jackson
Rua
Arona

[Manfred]

1. Arona.

I really think he's going to come through in this tourny. This is his time to shake things up.

2. Silva
3. Vovchanchyn
4. Henderson
5. Yoshida
6. Lil Nog

Ramapage'll do a Cro cop and dive bomb straight out in the first round..

[ACIDBATHBELFORT]

1 Silva
2 Rampage
3 Vitor
4 Arona
5 Hendo
6 Lil Nog

[kai]

Arona
Silva
Nog
Kondo
Vovchanchyn
Rampage

[SanLuis97]

I see Arona is the new flavor of the month.

1. Silva
2. Jackson
3. Igor
4. Noguiera
5. Arona
6. Belfort

[dogofwar]

Silva, Rampage, Arona, Vitor, Igor, and Hendo...

[cumthedestroyer]

i don't understand why everyone's so hot for Arona...

For a submission grappler his record is awfully light on submission wins.
He has a decision over Murillo Rua and Jeremy Horn...
He has split decisions over Dan Henderson, Guy Mezger, and Jeremy Horn again....

He did knock Quinton Jackson out with that up-kick before the KO slam but he's mostly boring and rarely finishes.

[ColeTrain]

1) Silva
2) Jackson
3) Nogueira
4) Belfort
5) Henderson
6) Vovchanchyn

I like Arona a lot, but I don't think he or any fighter can win the whole tourney while being so one-dimensional...And I know I put Igor in there, but his power and experience somewhat overcomes his lack of ground game. I doubt he'll win though. It'll be Silva, Jackson, or Nogueira most likely.

[sars]

How about picking some of the underdogs?

Lister
Dong Sik
Overeem
Nakamura
Randleman
Shogun

[LiveinTokyo]

I went for
1 Silva
2 Lil Nog
3 Sak
4 Vov
5 Belfort
6 Yoshida

A mix of experience and new blood. If Yoshida pulls off the win against Silva (not likely but would sort of like to see it happen) he could do the whole thing. Depends on so many factors its not even funny. Silva is the obvious fav not only cause he is super strong but also cause of his recovery!!! Sak is a legend but his injuries are are factor. Lil nog could come through with subs, Vov could bang out a decision (I think he is the least likely of my list except that Yoshida is facing Silva in the first round and Vitor is Vitor - god knows where his head is at:))

[Hammerhouse]

this one is an easy one...

Silva
Jackson
Randleman
Henderson
Sak
Igor

If anyone of those six lose its a work...

[kai]

not too many people going with Lister and Sik huh?

[just Brian]

Sometimes I have the bad habit of missing the obvious...that could be happening now. Why are we picking six favorites? Is there something magical (or even logical) about the favorite six out of a sixteen man tournament? I'm missing something here aren't I? Or is six just an arbitrary number for the sake of starting this conversation?

[sleekdom]

My top 6.

Arona
Silva
Kondo
Saku
Jackson
Nakamura

[Brock8]

Sometimes I have the bad habit of missing the obvious...that could be happening now. Why are we picking six favorites? Is there something magical (or even logical) about the favorite six out of a sixteen man tournament? I'm missing something here aren't I? Or is six just an arbitrary number for the sake of starting this conversation?
I think that's a good point. I assumed 6 was simply an arbitary figure, and I noticed some people choosing favorites who face each other in the first round, such as picking both Nog and Henderson, which seems kinda wrong.

[DaBigHurt]

6 is fine. I picked 6. 7 or 8 seem a little too much, but I think about 4 have a legitimate shot at winning it all. But anything can happen.

[robbypark]

Sometimes I have the bad habit of missing the obvious...that could be happening now. Why are we picking six favorites? Is there something magical (or even logical) about the favorite six out of a sixteen man tournament? I'm missing something here aren't I? Or is six just an arbitrary number for the sake of starting this conversation?

it was just a random number that popped into my head. It very well could have been 4, 5, 7, 8.

[Lefty]

how bout we pick one, vanderlai silva. I cant see anyone beating him. the only guy with a slight chance is igor, but thats it.

[forescore]

I know this might be slightly a bit off topic, but Silva's name is WANDERLEI not VANDERLAI.

Why is it so hard for some Americans to understand this? In no form is his name spelt with a V. That is an incorrect spelling. Yes, his name is pronounced with a V, but it is spelt with a W. His name is Wanderlei Silva. his website is wanderleisilva.br.

W folks, not V.

Is that so hard to understand?

[SanLuis97]

how bout we pick one, vanderlai silva. I cant see anyone beating him. the only guy with a slight chance is igor, but thats it.

Silva is the heavy favorite according to this poll. Second-place Igor and Jackson are well behind. And this makes sense because Silva is the champion, previous winner of the MW tournament, and until someone beats him, he's the man.

[charles]

Overeem, Sik, and Lister are the only ones that aren't in double figures.

[spaedonex]

I know this might be slightly a bit off topic, but Silva's name is WANDERLEI not VANDERLAI.

Why is it so hard for some Americans to understand this? In no form is his name spelt with a V. That is an incorrect spelling. Yes, his name is pronounced with a V, but it is spelt with a W. His name is Wanderlei Silva. his website is wanderleisilva.br.

W folks, not V.

Is that so hard to understand?
Vhat do you mean?