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Banned
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Who's got Heart?
What's a great display of heart that you've seen in MMA? Notice I didn't say "greatest" or anything like that, I just want to know what you guys see as great displays of heart. I'll start out with four:
1. Matt Hughes-Frank Trigg 2: Yeah, I know, big surprise, I'm a big Hughes fan, blah blah blah. But, I was arguing with some BJ Penn fan who was telling me how this fight didn't show heart, just that Matt Hughes was strong. Whatever, but by my definition, this was an awesome display of heart. Matt got hit in the nuts, blatantly, and the ref didn't see it and let the fight go. This led fairly directly to Trigg taking Hughes back and getting a Rear Naked Choke locked on. Hughes recovers and manages to escape the hold, though, and almost immediately he gets up, pickins Trigg up, runs him across the octagon and slams him. Soon thereafter, Hughes locks on his own RNC for the win. A great show of heart.
2. Fedor Emelianenko-Kazuyuki Fujita: Fedor gets absolutely rocked by a vicious right hook by Fujita. I've never seen a guy get so close to being unconscious without actually getting there. Fedor was wobbling, barely able to keep his feet beneath him. As Fujita realizes what he's done, Fedor manages to latch on to Fujita to try and recover some of his faculties. Eventually, the clinching is broken, and Fedor appears recovered, but all of a sudden, he wobbles again, and it's clear he is NOT recovered. Fujita moves in for the kill, but Fedor latches on. Apparently this break in the action from the clinch allows Fedor to recover and he rocks Fujita on his own and eventually applies a RNC for the win. One of his punches, the one that most rocked Fujita, appears to hit Fujita in his throat. It is truly a vicious display. I've never seen someone so close to being unconscious and survive, but one thing is clear: If you hurt Fedor, be sure to finish him. If you don't, he gets pissed.
3. BJ Penn-Matt Hughes II: BJ Penn showed ME tremendous heart just by walking out for the third round. I mean, the guy had a fractured and separated rib. Most guys quit on the stool in that case. But BJ walks out for the third round like a man. Let's be real, up until this point, BJ had never shown (at least to me) any real heart in the face of adversity. In those situations, BJ seemed to fold or not be able to rise to the occasion. In this case, he still lost by TKO, but he had an injured rib. It's a legitimate loss, but BJ earned my respect by walking out there to try and fight, he just wasn't really physically capable of defending himself. I know he cheated to get his back, which is when he supposedly injured himself, but that doesn't matter. BJ went outside his norm and showed me that maybe he's finally figured that part out...push through the adversity. Hopefully in the future, when he's faced with adversity to a lesser degree, he shows as much heart as he has here.
4. Kazushi Sakuraba-Wanderlei Silva II: Really, Sak showed heart in all of his fights, but notably in this one. Wandy was really too much for Sak in any case, but the second fight was a true testament to his heart because he gave the brutal Wanderlei, much too big for Sak to fairly be fighting, all he could handle and more.
I'd like to say that I'm sure all fighters deal with adversity, and I applaud anyone with the balls to step in the cage/ring. Some guys respond to adversity and some don't. I don't want to get into anybody who showed no heart in this thread, let's just use it to applaud those who have.
War Heart!!!!! (The weakest Planeteer, but maybe the most valuable tool in sports).
Feel free to add your own, but let's keep it positive.
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