Juanito Ibarra Needs to Leave MMA
By Brandt DeLorenzo on Jul 07, 2008
I didn’t expect Quinton Jackson’s trainer to admit any fault after his loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 86. I expect the usual “he was injured” or “Griffin was on drugs” response from Ibarra. But, this takes the cake. Ibarra plans to appeal the UFC 86 judges decision in hopes to overturn the decision and take back the belt. He told Sherdog that he got robbed on Sunday and he hopes to learn exactly how the bout was scored. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
At the end of the bout, Jackson admitted that Griffin beat him. The NSAC judges scored the fight as they saw fit from their cage-side perspective. I personally agreed that Griffin won even after I thought Jackson was going to easily knock him out in a couple rounds.
So, Juanito Ibarra, go back to boxing. Go back to fighters who can take a knee to halt the action. Go back to the “sweet science” of standup with too many weight classes and not enough talent. Get away from MMA because you’re a nuisance.
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By all means, express frustration about a decision, but there is a certain line between being critical and being an ass.
According to Dave Meltzer, Ibarra asked the press crew who they thought and most said Forrest.
Add to that the fact that many fighters (this is from Sherdog news) thought Forrest won.
This is nothing new for Ibarra either. He has always had an excuse when Jackson lost in Pride, but most of those revolved around drugs. I didn’t expect him to stoop this low when his fighter let the fight go to decision. Maybe he should take this loss as as a reason to try something different to help Jackson instead of trying to say that everyone else did something wrong.
B,
I usually agree with you atleat in part, but he did help Rampage transform his game into the one that helped him win and hold the belt. He is ovbiously good at what he does.
HOWEVER…haha I do not think that Rampage won that fight at all. I was shocked when I heard all of the news about Ibarra wanting to protest and was upset about the decision. You can never complain about the way the judges go in a fight, if you can’t finish you are at the mercy of the judges…
LOL. Juanito Ibarra does NOT need to leave MMA. Are you kidding me? Look at Rampage’s record since Ibarra became his coach/manager. A hard-fought win against Lindland. Good TKO win vs. Eastman. First-round KO against Liddell. Hard-fought 5-round fight-of-the-night win against Henderson. Hard-fought fight-of-the-night against Griffin.
Juanito is largely responsible for Rampage’s great string of fights. I don’t care if Juanito flaps his arms like a chicken and squawks all the way to the Supreme Court! He’s been good for Rampage and has helped him to deliver great fights one after the other. I would want a trainer who is willing to make a fool of himself to defend my record and my fights rather than some Joe Cool who is only in it for the money. He’s a crusty old-school Mickey Goldmill type. Juanito is good for the sport. Everyone needs to lighten up.
While I don’t think he needs to go, he does need to show a little more class. He acts like an ass. If he chooses to act like that, then he deserves the criticism that is being dished out.
That stupid comment about retiring if Forrest won was a fine example of being tacky.
Ibarra isn’t the one that is up to judge, he is a man that is supposed to be behind the scenes. He is getting all the attention. He should be designing a way to prevent Rampage from taking leg kicks with his boxing stance, not crying because his cash cow got beat.
I hate it, I just hate agreeing with Curtis but he is right again. Brandt, Ibarra doesn’t need to leave MMA, he needs to pick up a few more fighters. Maybe someone like C.B. or Koscheck with a large wrestling background. Combine that with a solid stand up that he can produce and you have a solid MMA fighter.
Jackson got robbed!!!! This UFC thought is pure ignorance .. Next time u feel to right a piece do it with out speaking for the mma fans in general speak for yourself or the site.. MMA as a whole is becoming a joke being raped by the almighty dollar and shot callers.
Juanito, is that you? Shoudn’t you be working ona new strategy?
David…are you serious? How do you see Rampage winning that fight? This is an opinionated site…thus Brandt providing his opinion, that is what makes it fun.
Why don’t you assessment of the fight and tell us all how you think Page won?
Also why don’t you tell us what you think they should do? Take the belt, gift wrap it, and mail it to Rampage?
Juanito is not in boxing for a reason….
and why is that?
Gift wrap it and send it to Rampage? Kind of like ufc did to Forrest? lol.. I dont agree with the judging. Ive seen the score cards and the compustrike figures.. I think we have more of a issue once again with the scoring and judging. This was a title fight in a stacked division and org .. So its gonna draw a shit load of attraction. I dont think Forrest dominated enough to pull out a decision like he did let alone a score like he did..Its not like he was the defending champ he was the challenger. Im not a fan of rematches because of shit like this.. But all in all it doesnt matter he wont carry the belt past his first defense.
We’ll definitely find out if he deserved it during his next fight. Jackson will get it back if he wants it bad enough. He’s admitted to not wanting to train hard while Griffin is a trainaholic. Whoever wants it most will get it.
Brandt, just saw this posted.
Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of Juanito, but my problem isn’t that he’s in MMA, and so I don’t think he needs to leave.
My problem is that he needs to figure out leg kicks and he needs to figure out the thai plum.
The fact is, Juanito is a great boxing coach, but he’s a BOXING coach. If Rampage is going to figure out the game at that level, he needs to also have a thai coach or at least some partners who are very skilled in Muay Thai.
Ibarra is a great coach, but he shouldn’t be working as the head coach of a top 5 fighter. He should be ONE of ‘page’s coaches, and he definitely shouldn’t be the lead.
How come he didn’t retire already? Perhaps my memory is not serving me correctly but I recall the manager stating that he would retire or leave the sport (or something to that effect) if Quinton lost to Forrest. Or is he trying to get the ruling reversed (although ridiculous and hopeless) so that he doesn’t have to leave the sport? It’s understandable and I don’t blame him for trying to save face, no matter how stupid he looks. He needs a hair cut and a shave.
and how many time have you heard that crazy played out story… C’mon man, you know those are just words. He still has to feed his family.
Why is everyone calling for his head all of a sudden? Sure he disagreed with the decision but that is his job. He is Rampage’s hype man, he is supposed to back him up! No he should not retire, how should however get a muay thai coach as well as a BJJ coach to help him out.
You may have almost said something intelligent…ALMOST
Page has a Jits coach, its not Saulo Ribiero but it is good enough.
A Thai coach would help with leg kicks and the plum. None of the above will help in front of the cops.
You guys need to set up an amateur fight and duel it out!
Yea…haha are you playing promoter?
Curtis, Page has a jiu-jitsu coach and a thai coach. Neither are very good. That needs to be fixed.