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09 Apr 10
02:51
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Date Joined:
26 Dec 08
17th April
Middleweight Championship bout: Jake Shields (c) vs. Dan Henderson
Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Gegard Mousasi (c) vs. Muhammed Lawal
Lightweight Championship bout: Gilbert Melendez (c) vs. Shinya Aoki
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A few things annoy me here.
Fedor was meant to fight Werdum but he wasn't happy with only getting paid $400,000 for beating Rogers, so he, or M1, are now in contract renegotiations before fighting Werdum in late Summer.
The replacement is Jake Shields vs Dan Henderson.
Henderson left the UFC because he couldn't accept, rightly or wrongly, that he is not at the top of the food chain anymore (losing both Pride belts at 185lbs and 205lbs in back to back fights with Silva and Rampage in the UFC) and simply was not that big of a draw for PPV numbers and was thus 'only' offered a certain amount of money for his next contract. Strikeforce ceased the opportunity and paid him what he wanted, just like they thought with Fedor, (this is the reason Strikeforce will be around 3 years tops - paying for things they can't afford) and now he fights for their 185lb Middleweight championship.
This is the thing that annoys me here. Jake Shields is one of the few guys (three on this card ironically) in the world never to have fought in the UFC and is currently deserving to fight in the UFC, but is not in MMA's number one promotion. I fancy that to change pretty soon though (even though the last thing the welterweight division needs is another dominant wrestler). He owned Paul Daley 18 months ago. This is his last fight on his Strikeforce contract. And they have deliberately given him Dan Henderson hoping he'll get KTFO, or at the very least lose his belt. See, while Hendo is comfortably big enough to fight at 205lbs, Shields is really a welterweight. He is hardly cutting anything to make 185 and his true home is 170lbs. So by fight night, we will really have a welterweight vs a light heavyweight for Strikeforce's Middleweight title. It would be a killer for them to watch Shields, their champ, vacate their title and go to the UFC, or actually have to pay Shields something like Henderson or Fedor or Mousasi because he is one of their top guys.
There's nothing I'd like more than to see Jake take this. I had liked the idea of Henderson, a UFC also-ran, immediately coming in and winning a title at Strikeforce, just to show the gap in quality between the UFC and everywhere else (because I think it would be best for the sport of MMA under one organization). But the way he has been treated has been poor. In adverts, they hardly mention him it's all about Hendo. Jake is their champ and yet its built around Dan. Not right imo.
Unfortunately, Henderson has at least as good wrestling ability as Shields and has better standup/heavier hands. The first point is key. Shields is a legit BJJ black belt and must get this fight to the ground in order to win. He can mix it up with GnP and submission work to get a result. Hendo's been tapped by Silva and Nogueira twice, and also lost to Arona (BJJ) and Misaki, an old school judo (with submissions) fighter. Those are 5 out of the only 7 losses in his career. However, I don't see Shields being stong and/or good enough to get Hendo down and keep him down for long spells. Hendo should keep this standing and take this by 3rd round TKO imo.
Gegard Mousasi is Strikeforce's 205lb champ, a very good fighter, but slightly overrated imo. Some say he is a top 5 LHW. Not for me. He is about 8th in the world imo. He is like Shields - hasn't/doesn't fight in the UFC but deserves to, but unlike Shields, he is exciting to watch with his kickboxing/judo (submissions too) style. He's just left M1 so when his 2 remaining fights are up on his contract with Strikeforce, we may see him in the UFC too. He's also a gent and I like him.
His opponent Mo Lawal is well known in Japanese MMA having fought for Sengoku. He is 6 and 0 with 5 KO's and switches between Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight, but should really concentrate on being a LHW because at 215-220lbs he is too small to be a top heavyweight (as well as not being good enough). King Mo was a top US national freestyle wrestler, which it can be argued is better than being a top college wrestler due to the difference in rules, i.e. freestyle permits grabbing, throwing and holds below the waste, collegiate wrestling does not. But just to be sure, he was also a NCAA Div 1 All-American anyway, so its safe to say he is a pretty good wrestler. He is unorthodox in his standup - unlike most top wrestlers, he is very relaxed on his feet and his hands are often down at his waste. He regularly transitions from right handed to southpaw and back again while changing levels a lot - almost down to his knees sometimes. He has a very strong (but ugly) overhand right and very strong GnP. He also has a big mouth. He's called Mousasi sh1t and called out Fedor (in his mind of course its not because he thinks Fedor isnt great anymore, its because he is great) having beaten nobody of note. This is a major factor in him getting this shot (along with the fact they hardly have anyone else to fight Mousasi) so I guess its done him no harm.
One thing Mo he doesn't like is pressure. When someone comes after him he runs in order to attempt to dictate the fight at his pace. He wants to decide when to engage. This should/will not be allowed against a quality fighter like Gegard. He is also a glutton for leg kick punishment and Mousasi has some great low kicks in his arsenal. Mousasi has also already warned him to not hold his hands low otherwise he's going to get his head kicked off. The champion has also said he'll not mind getting took down as Mo has little BJJ/Judo/submission experience and he'll catch him in something there too.
I love the fact Mo says Mousasi is sh1t and Mousasi is saying he'll beat Mo everywhere. Which he will. Gegard is far too technical and far too good for Mo and should win by 2nd round TKO.
Shinya Aoki is a head the ball. A total and utter nutcase. He wears things that make Timmy Mallet and Lady Gaga look like James Bond and Una Healy. He does and says things that make Brock look like GSP. Shinya is the Dream Lightweight champ and in his last fight he took on Sengoku's Lightweight champ in the biggest MMA fight in Japan in many years, since the demise of Pride in fact. Aoki broke Mizuto Hirota's arm with an incredible and brutal hammerlock, then proceeded to stand over him and give him the middle finger. Needless to say despite such actions, he is another who hasn't/doesn't fight in the UFC but deserves to. He has fantastic BJJ, not as good as Demian Maia, but visually more stunning - he is probably the most flexible man in MMA. Aoki is worth the admission fee alone if he comes up with one of his crazy submissions. He once choked a guy out with a Gogoplata from top position. Even the way he pulls guard is superb sometimes - he won't just use one, he'll mix it up and use rubber guard or butterfly guard or open guard and even some positions used only in grappling tournaments, like spider guard or de la riva guard. The guy is a BJJ god. Some would argue he is the best lightweight in the world, although these people should be carted off by men in white coats - BJ would crush him. Aoki's weakness is and has always been his striking. He has got to the stage where Damien Maia is looking to get to - good enough on his feet to be ok for a period of time, be skilled in the clinch, but all in order to make it easier to get his opponent to the ground and into his world, not theirs. However, BJ's boxing is so crisp he'd pummel Aoki and even if it did go to the ground, Penn isnt bad there either, being a 3 year black belt and BJJ world champion and all. It could be put forward as a legitimate argument Aoki is 2nd best at lightweight in the world, although Kenny Florian would have something to say about that.
Aoki will attempt to win the Strikeforce lightweight title on his US debut by defeating Gilbert Melendez. GM is a good solid 155lb-er with good wrestling and ok BJJ. He is 17 and 2 and has since beaten the two guys that beat him. But will he be good enough to keep his belt? To cut a long story short, no. He won't. Aoki is going to take him down and make him tap.
Shinya via armbar in round 1.
Fan favourite Jason 'Mayhem' Miller fights on the card too. He's gone from title contender to can crusher in two fights. He'll be taking on the brother of the UFC's Sam Stout - Tim - who is a bum with a record of 8 and 7. In fact, he is such a bum, I'm sure Fedor will be on the phone to Strikeforce when Miller beats him up telling them that's who his next opponent should be. But that's not even the funniest thing. Oh no. They have matched poor nice but dim Tim, a guy who has been tapped out 6 times in 7 losses, to a pretty competent grappler in Miller! And Stout has taken the fight on 3 weeks notice!! Jesus. Just brutal from Strikeforce. Not sure why im even giving them their own thread....................
:^0
Middleweight Championship bout: Jake Shields (c) vs. Dan Henderson
Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Gegard Mousasi (c) vs. Muhammed Lawal
Lightweight Championship bout: Gilbert Melendez (c) vs. Shinya Aoki
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few things annoy me here.
Fedor was meant to fight Werdum but he wasn't happy with only getting paid $400,000 for beating Rogers, so he, or M1, are now in contract renegotiations before fighting Werdum in late Summer.
The replacement is Jake Shields vs Dan Henderson.
Henderson left the UFC because he couldn't accept, rightly or wrongly, that he is not at the top of the food chain anymore (losing both Pride belts at 185lbs and 205lbs in back to back fights with Silva and Rampage in the UFC) and simply was not that big of a draw for PPV numbers and was thus 'only' offered a certain amount of money for his next contract. Strikeforce ceased the opportunity and paid him what he wanted, just like they thought with Fedor, (this is the reason Strikeforce will be around 3 years tops - paying for things they can't afford) and now he fights for their 185lb Middleweight championship.
This is the thing that annoys me here. Jake Shields is one of the few guys (three on this card ironically) in the world never to have fought in the UFC and is currently deserving to fight in the UFC, but is not in MMA's number one promotion. I fancy that to change pretty soon though (even though the last thing the welterweight division needs is another dominant wrestler). He owned Paul Daley 18 months ago. This is his last fight on his Strikeforce contract. And they have deliberately given him Dan Henderson hoping he'll get KTFO, or at the very least lose his belt. See, while Hendo is comfortably big enough to fight at 205lbs, Shields is really a welterweight. He is hardly cutting anything to make 185 and his true home is 170lbs. So by fight night, we will really have a welterweight vs a light heavyweight for Strikeforce's Middleweight title. It would be a killer for them to watch Shields, their champ, vacate their title and go to the UFC, or actually have to pay Shields something like Henderson or Fedor or Mousasi because he is one of their top guys.
There's nothing I'd like more than to see Jake take this. I had liked the idea of Henderson, a UFC also-ran, immediately coming in and winning a title at Strikeforce, just to show the gap in quality between the UFC and everywhere else (because I think it would be best for the sport of MMA under one organization). But the way he has been treated has been poor. In adverts, they hardly mention him it's all about Hendo. Jake is their champ and yet its built around Dan. Not right imo.
Unfortunately, Henderson has at least as good wrestling ability as Shields and has better standup/heavier hands. The first point is key. Shields is a legit BJJ black belt and must get this fight to the ground in order to win. He can mix it up with GnP and submission work to get a result. Hendo's been tapped by Silva and Nogueira twice, and also lost to Arona (BJJ) and Misaki, an old school judo (with submissions) fighter. Those are 5 out of the only 7 losses in his career. However, I don't see Shields being stong and/or good enough to get Hendo down and keep him down for long spells. Hendo should keep this standing and take this by 3rd round TKO imo.
Gegard Mousasi is Strikeforce's 205lb champ, a very good fighter, but slightly overrated imo. Some say he is a top 5 LHW. Not for me. He is about 8th in the world imo. He is like Shields - hasn't/doesn't fight in the UFC but deserves to, but unlike Shields, he is exciting to watch with his kickboxing/judo (submissions too) style. He's just left M1 so when his 2 remaining fights are up on his contract with Strikeforce, we may see him in the UFC too. He's also a gent and I like him.
His opponent Mo Lawal is well known in Japanese MMA having fought for Sengoku. He is 6 and 0 with 5 KO's and switches between Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight, but should really concentrate on being a LHW because at 215-220lbs he is too small to be a top heavyweight (as well as not being good enough). King Mo was a top US national freestyle wrestler, which it can be argued is better than being a top college wrestler due to the difference in rules, i.e. freestyle permits grabbing, throwing and holds below the waste, collegiate wrestling does not. But just to be sure, he was also a NCAA Div 1 All-American anyway, so its safe to say he is a pretty good wrestler. He is unorthodox in his standup - unlike most top wrestlers, he is very relaxed on his feet and his hands are often down at his waste. He regularly transitions from right handed to southpaw and back again while changing levels a lot - almost down to his knees sometimes. He has a very strong (but ugly) overhand right and very strong GnP. He also has a big mouth. He's called Mousasi sh1t and called out Fedor (in his mind of course its not because he thinks Fedor isnt great anymore, its because he is great) having beaten nobody of note. This is a major factor in him getting this shot (along with the fact they hardly have anyone else to fight Mousasi) so I guess its done him no harm.
One thing Mo he doesn't like is pressure. When someone comes after him he runs in order to attempt to dictate the fight at his pace. He wants to decide when to engage. This should/will not be allowed against a quality fighter like Gegard. He is also a glutton for leg kick punishment and Mousasi has some great low kicks in his arsenal. Mousasi has also already warned him to not hold his hands low otherwise he's going to get his head kicked off. The champion has also said he'll not mind getting took down as Mo has little BJJ/Judo/submission experience and he'll catch him in something there too.
I love the fact Mo says Mousasi is sh1t and Mousasi is saying he'll beat Mo everywhere. Which he will. Gegard is far too technical and far too good for Mo and should win by 2nd round TKO.
Shinya Aoki is a head the ball. A total and utter nutcase. He wears things that make Timmy Mallet and Lady Gaga look like James Bond and Una Healy. He does and says things that make Brock look like GSP. Shinya is the Dream Lightweight champ and in his last fight he took on Sengoku's Lightweight champ in the biggest MMA fight in Japan in many years, since the demise of Pride in fact. Aoki broke Mizuto Hirota's arm with an incredible and brutal hammerlock, then proceeded to stand over him and give him the middle finger. Needless to say despite such actions, he is another who hasn't/doesn't fight in the UFC but deserves to. He has fantastic BJJ, not as good as Demian Maia, but visually more stunning - he is probably the most flexible man in MMA. Aoki is worth the admission fee alone if he comes up with one of his crazy submissions. He once choked a guy out with a Gogoplata from top position. Even the way he pulls guard is superb sometimes - he won't just use one, he'll mix it up and use rubber guard or butterfly guard or open guard and even some positions used only in grappling tournaments, like spider guard or de la riva guard. The guy is a BJJ god. Some would argue he is the best lightweight in the world, although these people should be carted off by men in white coats - BJ would crush him. Aoki's weakness is and has always been his striking. He has got to the stage where Damien Maia is looking to get to - good enough on his feet to be ok for a period of time, be skilled in the clinch, but all in order to make it easier to get his opponent to the ground and into his world, not theirs. However, BJ's boxing is so crisp he'd pummel Aoki and even if it did go to the ground, Penn isnt bad there either, being a 3 year black belt and BJJ world champion and all. It could be put forward as a legitimate argument Aoki is 2nd best at lightweight in the world, although Kenny Florian would have something to say about that.
Aoki will attempt to win the Strikeforce lightweight title on his US debut by defeating Gilbert Melendez. GM is a good solid 155lb-er with good wrestling and ok BJJ. He is 17 and 2 and has since beaten the two guys that beat him. But will he be good enough to keep his belt? To cut a long story short, no. He won't. Aoki is going to take him down and make him tap.
Shinya via armbar in round 1.
Fan favourite Jason 'Mayhem' Miller fights on the card too. He's gone from title contender to can crusher in two fights. He'll be taking on the brother of the UFC's Sam Stout - Tim - who is a bum with a record of 8 and 7. In fact, he is such a bum, I'm sure Fedor will be on the phone to Strikeforce when Miller beats him up telling them that's who his next opponent should be. But that's not even the funniest thing. Oh no. They have matched poor nice but dim Tim, a guy who has been tapped out 6 times in 7 losses, to a pretty competent grappler in Miller! And Stout has taken the fight on 3 weeks notice!! Jesus. Just brutal from Strikeforce. Not sure why im even giving them their own thread....................
:^0
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Replies: 67
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*(this is the reason Strikeforce will NOT be around 3 years tops - paying for things they can't afford)
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Nice write up as always. You want all professional MMA to be under one organisation? Doubt the fighters would like that. Nobody wants to see MMA go the way of boxing with numerous belts under numerous organisations but the UFC having a monopoly is just silly.
I quite like Bellator's tournament style set up. There were some very nice fights last night at Bellator 13 plus Judo Jim Wallhead is fighting soon. |
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Yea, its been argued back and forth for a few years now and there are obviously pro's and con's for having one org vs competition with many MMA promotions.
But the way I see it, MMA isn't even mainstream yet. You don't get it on the back pages of newspapers or front pages of sports websites. You don't get updates on Sky Sports News. ESPN won't cover the sport in the US. And the way forward imo is to have one organisation with coherent branding and marketing strategies - not different promotions all in competition and naturally trying to run each other down. What I don't want is people confused about who is the true world champion, just like in boxing. I don't want a Strikeforce champ, a UFC champ, a Dream champ, a Bellator champ (Alvarez only world class fighter) and a Sengoku champ. Oh, then there is WAMMA, who only have two belts and both given to fighters outside the UFC. I also don't want the greed from promoters, including all the politics that come with it, that has ruined boxing. One promoter, i.e. Dana White, to look after the financial and sporting interests of all fighters, is the way to go. Mugs like Vadim, as has been shown, hurt MMA. Although Fedor must cop some of the blame too. And that is another positive of having one organization. If Fedor was in the UFC because they were the only promotion about, he would have no way of ducking the best fighters in the world. He would either fight who he is told to fight, or else vacate the title. But because of Strikeforce, or Affliction or EliteXC and all the other mug organisations that went bust before you knew it, he is able to avoid the top 5/6/7 MMArtists in the world and still claim to be the best HW in the world. With one organisation, we get the fights we want to see 100 times out of 100 and not 98 times out of 100 the way it is now. Of course, this is still a whole lot better than a sport like boxing which is divided and greed ridden. Imagine Manny and Floyd were UFC fighters - that fight would have happened by now. But as they are represented by different promoters (which is the equivalent of Fedor with M1 and Brock with UFC) oe has been able to run from the other and the sport and the fans have been robbed blind. |
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If only we lived in an ideal world. Best we can hope for is the cross promotion option and that's a longshot.
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Hendo will smash Shields,Miller was a real threat to Shields who as you rightly say just isnt big enough. Hendo to knock him out for me.
Id love to see Aoki come to the ufc and given to Kenflo! |
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Big chance for Strikeforce to make its mark and gain some ground after the disaster that was UFC 112.
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anyone found anywhere to bet on this? nothing on here and anyroad the liquidity would be awful
my picks going with a 4 fold of: mayhem aoki mousassi hendo |
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woops it is listed on here...liquidity is awful though haha
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Paddy and Stan have odds
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Goooooooooooooo Mayhem Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Cant wait for the intro :) shame its not main card. ....I think King Mo - Mousasi will last 1 round...someone is getting f'ed up there. |
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Nice write up kauto but i disagree with the ufc only argument as we have discussed before, competition breeds success. The sport would die a death within 3 years if the ufc was the only organisation. Within a few months brock would fight fedor, machida v mousasi, gsp v shields, penn v aoki and then what? Everyone gets bored no more hype, sport dies. All these fights will happen eventually they always do and of course i want to see them but there has to be competition and hype for mma/boxing to remain interesting to the masses!
When fedor jumps ship to the ufc (and he will eventually) it will be be massive and create a huge interest boost to the sport, if all the cream was there already nobody would bat an eye. |
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Eventually? Sorry Fedor is getting old, cant wait patiently for this one, he's already past his prime imo
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Shields is moving to the UFC after this isnt he?? free agent apparently.
Could be Silva vs Shields next :o |
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Shields v gsp very soon i think
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Is this live on tv?
If not, then a reason all in itself not to support multi-promotions. |
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No not live which is a shame as id rather pay £15 box ofice to watch this stacked card than an amir khan fight thats for sure
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Yep, I know where my £15 would go.
So because of a rival organisation, we don't get to see these fighters live. It beggars belief that people support the system used in boxing, it really does. |
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10pm 2moro night bravo
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Justin TV job :)
live on CBS so someone will have a feed. mma core tomorrow morning. |
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i agree its poor that skysports havent picked up strikeforce but dont be ridiculous about the 1 fight organisation, think about it without your ufc branded shades on for a minute! It would completely destroy the sport if there was nobody to keep dana on his toes.
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I'm with you there Stalingrad, pity there's nobody to keep skysports on their toes
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disagree with cauto. i think melendez will stay on his feet and pound aioki out. far far superiour standup. great cardio . dont know if aioki can get him down. good sprawl also. melendez by tko
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stalingrad 17 Apr 15:19
i agree its poor that skysports havent picked up strikeforce but dont be ridiculous about the 1 fight organisation, think about it without your ufc branded shades on for a minute! It would completely destroy the sport if there was nobody to keep dana on his toes. Boxing and WWE (yes, just check PPV figures of UFC and WWE to see the crossover) are more than enough competition to keep Zuffa on their toes. The only argument which I believe has merit is the issue of fighter pay/treatment. Although I'm sure some smart people can work out a way to prevent this happening through contractual arrangements. More fighters having a % of event/PPV revenue springs to mind. I think the threat of other organisations is a good thing but having numerous organisations all striving to be number one is not good for the fans/sport. That's just cannibalisation. |
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What time does the main card start over here so i can try and find a stream?
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It starts at 9.00 ET in the States according to the CBS tv schedule so that would be about 2.AM here.
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:x
that is all :-| |
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http://www.justin.tv/kid305_3#r=PQ9bFB4~
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http://www.justin.tv/chaos_replay#r=yb116Ns~
King Mo vs Mousasi up |
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vex...missed king mo's entrance.
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Thanks for the link Baxter!
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Thanks for the link ELG!!
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link just went dead ELG
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ffs links are dead.
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mine too.
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http://snapples.forumotion.com/
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http://www.sportppv.com/Stream-1.html
and when it loads up...press F11 for full screen. |
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Thanks ELG
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dr glass Jaw's one is better...
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oh dear....this one's over.
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