In two years...
In two years...
Was supposed to be Ferguson but he bitched out.
Always pulling for Eddie A but I see Khabib grinding him out. Most likely wins via decision, or if he exhausts Eddie enough with his ground control, RNC in round four or five.
How is Khabib's chin btw? Has it ever been properly "tested"?
Alvarez didn't sign for 205 apparently but they now want Alvarez/Nurmagomedov in Toronto for 206. I'm going to guess that they will be going with McGregor vs. Aldo 2 then, but can't see it before Superbowl weekend because of the weight cut. And I can't see Cormier "saving" another big show on shortish notice so soon after 200. So I'm predicting the underwhelming main event of Woodley vs. Thompson with Joanna Champion or Cruz/Garbrandt as chief support, with the stacked card getting the hype over the main. Conor has changed the game really, 5 years ago a double title fight and ex-champs in feature fights would have been big (think UFC 112, great buyrate for an afternoon show), but now these marquee events seem flat without the Conor or Ronda (or to a lesser degree Jones, GSP and Anderson) circus on top.
It seems to me that there's been a shift in the last year too, particularly now that the public sale of $4billion went through. Guys are realising that anchoring a PPV that sells in the hundreds of thousands at $60 a pop should give them more than $50k/$50k and $10k in sponsor money. Only a minuet fraction of a fraction of a fraction of what the company's worth to train for 3 months then get your head kicked in. Gonna be an interesting year as the pay structure will have to change or these guys could go independent (with HBO and Showtime getting a cut) and start earning proper money. For example how can you have a guy like Chris Weidman, 3 PPV main events, 2 co-main events with a buyrate average of around 700,000, making 250,000 flat 1 fight after losing his title? Yes his cards were stacked (1 Silva and Rousey, 1 Silva, 1 Rousey, 1 Conor), but if he has by my math been a significant part of making the company 3.5million x $60 ($210 million), he shouldn't have to ever worry about earning another penny.
The problem with Weidman is that his detractors will always point to the other draws on his cards. Ronda wasn't quite at her overhyped drawing peak when she played second fiddle to Weidman/Machida (as she should have) and that ppv did well iirc.
Weidman/Belfort would have been big had it happened when it was supposed to when both guys were hot. Instead it got delayed for 2-3 years until nobody cared and it had to co-main with minimal proper promotion. I think Weidman was a missed opportunity whether it was his inability to fight frequently or all the salty doubters who were just convinced that he wasn't any good and that all of his wins were luck. Hopefully he starches Romero in front of his home crowd and builds steam towards another title shot. You have to favor him over Bisping or Hendo.
Last edited by Mark Hammer; September 22nd, 2016 at 8:47 AM.
So are you saying Khabib has been bitching out for the last 2 years?Originally Posted by Mark Hammer
I've openly agreed with many that Weidman deserves his props in what he did in those fights. The closest to arguing about it might have been me saying "Maybe if Anderson wasn't acting like a dunce it wouldn't have finally caught up to him" or said it was unfortunate Anderson broke his leg....Outside of that I've just sat back and enjoyed you freaking about it. You could be on a mountain top with no internet and still know someone on this board mentioned the words "fluke" and "Weidman" and you'd find a way to comment about it lol.
And you know what's funny I was listening to Rogan, Schaub, some other dude on Rogan's podcast and they were talking about Chael and his WWE scripted Bellator promo and they started making the comparison to what Chael and Conor saying the exact same shit I did. Again, when I make those comparisons with Tito, Chael, Conor, I'm just keeping it in the realm of MMA so we're not talking about 700 other personalities he could have been influenced by.
I agree about 205. I heard on one site that McGregor would be out until February due to an injury, then another said he was in fact ready to throw down with Alvarez if need be. If he's injured, totally get why he's not on the card, if he's healthy, there is zero reason not to do the fight....
Has nothing to do with detractors homeboy. Rousey was a bigger draw than Weidman before she even came to the UFC, Silva for sure was a bigger name than he was, McGregor obviously a bigger draw. Weidman was practically a nobody who's biggest fight was headlining one of the early Fight Pass cards maybe 12 people saw when he fought Silva for the belt. He has no personality and people didn't buy into his ability and it's sad because I don't think the majority want to ever truly give him props for the top level fighter he truly is. Is it a bunch of haters that say Aldo isn't much of a draw when he's easily one of the best p4p fighters of all time? Same with Mighty Mouse, is it just haters or is it just the reality that not every fighter you love more than life itself is going to be what you think they are?
No, he wasn't scheduled to fight for most of that time. Ferguson was supposed to fight Khabib but backed out like a week in advance so the argument that his win over Daniel Horcher should disqualify him from the next title shot is almost as retarded as the argument that Ferguson should get it over Khabib. Almost.
You do know that Khabib pulled out of the first fight scheduled with Ferguson right? Not to mention twice when scheduled to face Donald Cerrone....And yeah, Ferguson "backed out", I'm sure you would have gladly stepped in to fight Khabib with blood and fluid in your lungs.....Going 9-0 in the UFC's LW division is nothing to scoff at. Khabib, the only reason I'm not jumping up and down for him to get a title shot is because of how inactive he's been in general. Maybe if he was the champion and was stripped like Cruz I'd more accepting but he wasn't, he is literally riding on a win over RDA which is only impressive due to what RDA did AFTER that win. Prior to that, pretty much all of Khabib's wins were against nobodies in Russia and guys who were written off or barely ranked in the top 30. Not saying Ferguson has beaten a bunch of top 5 guys but he's been way more active and doesn't talk a bunch of shit about people only to slip on a banana peel and not fight for 2 years.
So UFC 205 doesn't look like it's getting Conor. I thought it was too quick a turnaround after that war, shame he hasn't just flat out said he can't fight there but he's got to keep his name out there I guess. Slot him in against Aldo for Superbowl weekend.
While it's lacking the one huge fight, Woodley/Wonderboy, Joanna/Karolina, Weidman/Romero (hopefully), Cowboy/Gastelum, Evans/Kennedy, Edgar/Stephens and Tate/Pennington is deep. The likelihood is 2 former world champs will be on the prelims, I'd call that stacked. It would just be off the hook if it was Conor/Alvarez instead of the Joanna fight. I guess they could still make Alvarez/Khabib too for a title triple header.
Last edited by Fanny Batter; September 23rd, 2016 at 5:04 PM.
Ok man. Sorry for making your blood boil by disagreeing but if you can look at everything from an objective stance Khabib and his undefeated 20 something win streak is a much easier sell than Ferguson and his lower ranked spotty record. Thankfully the people who matter agree with me and we're not getting an Alvarez/Ferguson main event. Can you imagine those buyrates lol.
Last edited by Mark Hammer; September 23rd, 2016 at 5:21 PM.
So, this looks to be UFC 205/MSG. Can't say I'm terribly excited for any of the fights, maybe Weidman/Romero.
Champ Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson – for welterweight title
Champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz – for strawweight title
Yoel Romero vs. Chris Weidman
Donald Cerrone vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy Stephens
Rashad Evans vs. Tim Kennedy
Tim Boetsch vs. Rafael Natal
Liz Carmouche vs. Katlyn Chookagian
Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Gian Villante
Thiago Alves vs. Jim Miller
Lyman Good vs. Belal Muhammad
Alves/Miller is random but intriguing.
Still think something gets added to the top.
Press conference to announce the card on Tuesday and Dana is gonna throw some cash around to get an Alvarez/Khabib/Conor/Aldo something up there.
Also Tate vs Pennington is on there now. Just sayin.
Really? Thats a great card, its just not one fight away from being one of the top 3 cards of all time...any fight with McGregor on it.
Yeah it's a deep card. I was thinking, maybe they've kept McGregor out of it because of the spectacle he brings? They want the New York debut to go off without a hitch and they've stacked it with media savvy fighters who will be able to do the generic press clippings and look reasonably intelligent while doing so; Evans, Woodley, Edgar and Weidman will show MMA athletes as articulate and educated. The LGBT community is represented by Carmouche and Pennington. It's a PR friendly card, which is possibly why Conor and his absurd trash talk that frequently becomes controversial when he uses derogatory slang that can be deemed offensive to certain clusters of society. You can't have some nutter calling Eddie Alvarez a cholo faggot off the cuff or something, the New York press would kill it. And what's an extra x number of buys worth for New York to say "no ta" to the sport? Play it safe, gain PR points, get favourable coverage then go from there.
So fuck all that Alvarez vs Khabib noise, Alvarez/McGregor has been made official for 205.
No way that card was going down without something big on top. And that's really some kind of big.
Hope Conor's foot is good to go though. Don't want any sour grapes bullshit after the fact.
Has there ever been a card with three title fights? I know UFC 200 was originally set to have three but one was an interim meaning it really shouldn't have counted as a title fight.
Looks like this will be the first to have three title defenses.
That adds a lot to the card. Definitely needed a shot in the arm
It's a shame Jones/Rumble couldn't have found itself on this card. I'd be a fool to complain though, this card is ridiculous. It's what 200 should have looked like. All these fights are relevant to their division vs the freak show aspect they went with for 200.
Strikeforce: Nashville is the only major card that I know of. It had Mousasi/Mo (LHW), Melendez/Aoki (LW) and Shields/Hendo (MW).
And Alvarez/McG
If they can get Weidman/Romero over the finishing line it's far and away the best card they've ever put on. Champion vs. Champion 2 legit champions defending against the #2 contenders (as the champs have beaten both #1 ranked fighters), Cowboy facing top 5 competition, 3 (hopefully 4 if the Chris gets signed) former champions in rebound fights against top 10 competition, and Thiago Alves lightweight debut against a vet like Jim Miller. Unreal.
I wasn't personally excited about most of the fights. Never said it was a bad or weak card. It's a damn deep and stacked card, and now with EA/McG on top I'm officially excited.
well I went from an excitement level of 2 to an excitement level of 10 now
is this good for the sport or bad that there are only 1-2 fighters that can trigger this kind of response from the fans worldwide?
anyway, I hope Weidman/Romero gets on the card. From what everyone says about Weidman and all the politics he had to play in getting UFC legislated in NY, he should be on the card more than anyone
and why the FUCK is Miesha Tate on the main card over Frankie Edgar/Jeremy Stephens??? I hope this is just early/wrong
as of right now, Frankie Edgar and Rashad's fights are both on the pre-lims lolol
Really hoping McConor can prevent being pushed against the cage for 5 rounds
Tate's on the main card because she is a draw but who knows it could definitely change from now until then.
I'm loving this card. Great main event, 2 solid title fights underneath that, stacked top to bottom for the most part. A little over a month, let's make sure everyone stays healthy!!! Rashad I'm looking at you!
Lol Miesha Tate is not a draw. There is no excuse for that fight being over Edgar/Stephens (former defending champ vs a guy who would be next in line should he win) outside of boosting viewership for the prelims.
Chris Weidman/Romero just got announced
at this point I guess Miesha/Edgar/Rashad are all going to be pre-lim partners
most stacked pre-lims in history?
Good lord of McGregor wins this he is taking over!
More people know who she is than most of the people on this card. Rarely in a boring fight. She has the main quality you look for in fighters, great looks. With that said, I would rather have Edgar/Stephens on the main card. Probably pointless as Sped just pointed out Romero/Weidman will be on the main card and I'm sure so will the Cerrone fight.
Definitely.
This show has so much to chew on.
Alvarez vs. McGregor - title fight with two divisions hanging in the balance ... Khabib/RDS/Ferguson/Aldo/Holloway/Edgar all eagerly watching
Woodley vs. Thompson - title fight, plain and simple
Jedrzejczyk vs. Kowalkiewicz - title fight, with far too many consonants to be considered plain or simple
Weidman vs. Romero - title eliminator to go with Souza/Rockhold eliminator two weeks later ... best showing of the two faces winner of Bisping/Hendo
Cerrone vs. Gastelum - this scene's a bit tricky. does Lawler return to face the winner of Woodley/Thompson. does he return to face Maia for the winner of Woodley/Thompson. does the winner of this fight face the loser of a possible Lawler/Maia fight while the winner faces Woodley/Thompson. does the winner of this fight face a returning Robbie Lawler or Demian Maia while the other faces the winner of Woodley/Thompson. yikes. think I covered all of that.
And a prelim card with three former world champions fighting to work their way back up.
I'm very excited to see McGregor at 155. I feel that weight class is going to be where we see him at his absolute best. The cut to 145 was rough and 170 I think he loses a little in the gas tank. 155, happy medium. He has a great chance at winning this fight and completely cementing his status as one of the greatest fighters of all time. Alvarez is no joke, very talented fighter who has had tough fights left and right but I just see McGregor coming in and getting the W. Maybe he doesn't finish the fight, but I could see him getting a 48-47 UD.
I'm def pulling for Wonderboy. Love his style, he just has to watch out for the power that Woodley has. I don't think Lawler was banged up from wars, I just think Woodley is a strong motherfucker. Explosive and athletic, too.
I honestly don't know much about Kowalkiewicz. The only fight I've seen was the Rose fight, it was really good. Just read JJ is now going to train at American Top Team, good camp there. Love the story of this fight, both undefeated except Karolina did lose her 1 and only amateur fight to, you guessed it, JJ. So 2 undefeated fighters, as pro's, with them having fought each other when they both started, they're both from Poland.
Yeah the rest of the card is just nuts. I'm really looking forward to Jeremy Stephens v. Frankie Edgar, always love when my hometown gets to represent in big fights as Stephens is from Des Moines, well technically Norwalk which is basically a suburb of Des Moines. People still talk about him and Josh Neer fighting scrubs at Toad Holler back in the early 00's when nobody really knew MMA had evolved so they were knocking out drunk idiots left and right lol.
What will all these fluctuations in weight, constant media attention, and having to get RIGHT back into another marquee fight (and arguably the biggest fight in the history of the sport, which is becoming every time McGregor fights now) after a grueling 5 round dog-fight do to McGregor??
From going to traumatic weight cuts at 145 where he looked skeletal, but still fighting at minimum 3 times a year, to making an incredible change at fighting at 170lbs, to now going back to different weight of 150lbs... will this have a negative effect with such a short turn around?
His cardio is suspect, but his technical striking prowess and accuracy cannot be questioned... I am just concerned that all of these changes of routine will fuck him up. He certainly isn't Floyd Mayweather in fighting once every 2 years against hand-picked opponents. He is seriously taking hard fucking fights.
His cardio issues can be attributed to fighting a much larger Nate Diaz. Punch a 200lb punching bag non-stop vs. a 100lb punching bag at the same right... you will be dramatically more tired punching the heavier bag. Your body requires much more energy.
This fight with Alvarez is a whole new ball game. Not only will he be fighting a much larger guy, he will be fighting a guy who will not be looking to engage... and when he engages, it will be to close the distance to grapple and use his weight to clinch and get the takedown.
Having looked at Alvarez's record made me feel old. I still remember the Aaron Riley fight in Bodog. Time flies. Forgot he used to also fight at Welterweight but he wasn't very big at that weight class. I think that he and Conor match up nicely and again the only reason question is how will McGregor's cardio hold up with the going up and down in weight. But with that said, he has a great mind for training and I think that he will find his peak performing ability at 155. I don't see Alvarez just holding him up against the cage like he did with Pettis and going the safe route points style. I'm actually more curious to see how McGregor's shit talk with affect Alvarez. Dude has never really to my knowledge mixed it up with a fighter like McGregor who can get in your head and make you fight out of anger.
Isn't there supposed to be a press conference for 204 or 205? Also what's the time
Yep. 6pm ET
Khabib vs. Michael Johnson has been announced. So the FS1 Prelims will more than likely be Edgar vs. Stephens, Tate vs. Pennington, Evans vs. Kennedy and Nurmagomedov vs. Johnson. The 10th fight down (Alves vs. Miller) is as good as a lot of FS1 co-mains too. Just a ridiculous card.
Conor is so fucking money.
Selling the women's title fight short by not mentioning both fighters are undefeated which always adds intrigue to a fight.
Also I think it's safe to write Lawler out of the title scene unless he goes on another ridiculous tear. His reign was plagued by narrow controversial decisions, similar to Benson Henderson's the only difference being Benson was actually the lineal champ who won the belt following a 4-1 dominant win compared to Lawler's iffy split decision where Hendricks probably should have won on points but likely disgusted the judges with his tactics to the point where they voted against him out of spite.
I was going on more about what each fight means for their divisions moving forward, so didn't really mention anyone's pedigrees.
I know you're down on Lawler as the champ, so ok. I think the guy can mix it up with anyone in the division and people would want to see it. If you don't, ok too. I also included a plan where he'd face the winner of the Cerrone/Gastelum fight, the fight that was his to begin of course. So, ok.
I'm sensing unwarranted sarcasm, but ok.
I agree with everything you posted for what it's worth. Lawler is a very fan-friendly fighter but he didn't beat Hendricks the second time and he most certainly didn't beat Condit. Doesn't deserve a rematch vs Woodley (who I hate) either after getting clobbered the way he did. Upper level gatekeeper with name value among the hardcore fanbase is an adequate position for him. But no title eliminators until he can string together a few decisive wins.
Last edited by Mark Hammer; September 27th, 2016 at 7:10 PM.
Nothing too sarcastic, just didn't want to get into a tiff over Robbie Lawler. I certainly admit his reign was far from dominant. But the guy's super competitive, well received, stylistically appealing, and one fight removed from being a defending champ so I included all his options. Fact is we don't really know what the UFC brass are ever really considering ... Bisping/Hendo for goodness sake.
Honestly just wanna see the guy shake off getting ko'd to come back and compete. The top of 170 is chock full and I like him being a part of that.
Excellent, Khabib can fight Johnson instead. This is more exciting.
The talking between Alvarez and McGregor is going to be amazing. Can't wait. Who wants to bet that if McGregor wins, he'll be looking to challenge the winner of Thompson/Woodley for the trifecta? He and Kavanagh mentioned 3 belts months ago as a possibility. I'd bet anything that's the plan. Bonus points if GSP comes back and wins the belt beforehand. Would be the biggest card in history. Tate shouldn't be on the main card after that abysmal performance at UFC 200. On paper prior to any injuries/pulls, I can't think of a better card off the top of my head.
Was going to pos-rep this but apparently I have to spread rep so hey.
McGregor should focus on Alvarez. And even if things go his way in this fight no way whatsoever should he remotely be considered to immediately cut in line of a stacked 170 division that he's all of 1-1 against Nate Diaz in.
And Tate's not on the main card.
No way should he but I wouldn't be surprised. Conor is a bigger cash cow than Brock was during his UFC heyday. Dana will do anything for him as he should.
It wouldn't blow my hair back with surprise, but not much in the fight game would anymore. Still wouldn't be a reasonable and worthwhile move, imo.
155 right now for Conor slots in at just the right weight at just the right time for them to capitalize. RDA getting rinsed, Khabib's relative inactivity, Conor's merking of Aldo combined with his mixed success at 170, his need to move beyond the 145 weight cut, this card in need of star power at MSG, and of course his meteoric popularity. 170 though doesn't need McGregor and he's done nothing (even if he were to beat Alvarez) to warrant a ticket to the front of this ultra-competitive line. Not to mention after having left 145 in shambles it would just be a terrible look for him to take the 155 strap and then leave another division in the lurch.
It's kinda like the point I made about Punk ... didn't mind at all them rolling the dice on a guy (celebrity) they could attempt to make some marginal excuse for in a relativistic athletic sense this one time. Now that Punk got his arse handed to him running it back again with him on another PPV setting would look terrible and smack of wonton exploitation. Just like I don't expect them to have an octagon celebrity wing just because Punk pulled a good number.
Flirting with their credibility is one thing, especially when there's a ton of money to be cashed in, but crossing over that line brazenly is risking a lot of people (fans, media, fighters, etc) who stand up for the sport routinely to at some point start to sour on even bothering to waste their time.
Every intelligent thought in my brain wants to agree with this but holy fuck could you imagine the buyrates of the most popular MMA fighter of all time: FW + LW champ challenging for the WW title? That would be worthwhile to everyone on the card.
Agreed. And Aldo's interim belt will be all the more legitimate when Conor is forced to leave the division. Aldo will still be recognized as the top featherweight in the world in Conor's absence because he beats everyone else in the division.155 right now for Conor slots in at just the right weight at just the right time for them to capitalize. RDA getting rinsed, Khabib's relative inactivity, Conor's merking of Aldo combined with his mixed success at 170, his need to move beyond the 145 weight cut, this card in need of star power at MSG, and of course his meteoric popularity. 170 though doesn't need McGregor and he's done nothing (even if he were to beat Alvarez) to warrant a ticket to the front of this ultra-competitive line. Not to mention after having left 145 in shambles it would just be a terrible look for him to take the 155 strap and then leave another division in the lurch.
If I wasn't so addicted I would boycott the next UFC ppv Punk is on. Everybody says he should have his next fight on the regional circuit but fuck he is almost 40. He needs to return to WWE and help them.It's kinda like the point I made about Punk ... didn't mind at all them rolling the dice on a guy (celebrity) they could attempt to make some marginal excuse for in a relativistic athletic sense this one time. Now that Punk got his arse handed to him running it back again with him on another PPV setting would look terrible and smack of wonton exploitation. Just like I don't expect them to have an octagon celebrity wing just because Punk pulled a good number.
As a long time fight fan, I admit that one thing would be super tempting. And I get the temptation, how often does this kind of opportunity come around. Just a snatch and grab at 155 would probably sour it a little for me. Maybe if he defended it once and established his rank there beyond one fight and give 170 a minute to settle. Then it would be nuclear.
But, we're getting stupid ahead of ourselves here. I'm not so sure Alvarez doesn't man up Conor from one end of the cage to the other. Not sure either way in this fight really. But this barnburner is around the corner now and I wanna enjoy it before blowing more hypothetical smoke up McGregor's very talented ass.
Way I see this going from here McGregor beats Alvarez, finagles his way around Dana/the UFC so he can defend both belts simultaneously, pops back down to fight Aldo, then the winner of Ferguson/RDA fights the winner of Johnson/Khabib to decide the next 155 title shot. Can't see anything other than a McGregor win.
I'm not sure Aldo wants to stay with UFC. I heard he asked for his release
Good for him. Maybe he can learn from his mistakes and actually promote himself in Bellator.
Yeah, would it have been that hard for Aldo to have bought a ticket to 202 and throat slashed Conor or something? He knows the game. Alvarez put himself in the shop window with the media and despite being the lesser known, lesser respected fighter than Aldo, the fans wanted him to get the Conor fight. Aldo needs to get back to work, fight Holloway and he'll either be undisputed champion again or fight Conor again with a win. Conor will take at most 15 months between winning the title and defending it, only 2 months more than Aldo's biggest break while fitting in 3 fights out of the division. Great fighter, but seems a sour human.
Watched the 205 press conference and now I'm hyped for the event.
Eddie wins btw.
I get Aldo's frustration but I think he's being over the top with wanting released or he'll "retire". The reality is DW said that if McGregor wins he has to vacate one of the titles. Probably won't happen but you never know. I think we can all agree that really the only true draw under 155 since Faber in WEC is McGregor. Aldo, easily one of the best fighters of the modern era, but unfortunately in this sport it's not always about talent. But it's crazy when you think how big of a draw GSP was/is, and he never talked shit hardly and that one time he did it was out of character (I was not impressed with your performance). Aldo wants that big money fight and again, I get the frustration especially being INTERIM champion plus wanting to get that win back.
Last edited by Nash Diesel; September 28th, 2016 at 9:48 AM.
Aldo probably cares less about the title and more about an opportunity to avenge the most humiliating title fight loss of all time. Well get in line Jose!
Nah, my boy Conor via head.clean.off.
Naw the most humiliating was that Rousey-Bethe fight. There's no shame IMHO of getting knocked out that quick, it was more of a disappointment for us as fans who wanted to see more out of the fight than 2 punches lol. Or maybe that was just me.
And Chuck Liddell.
Ok man. If there's no shame in it then why was Jose Aldo on the floor bawling in his locker room afterwards?
No shame in being emotional after a loss either.
Just read the stuff about Aldo. I get it, dude is interim champion in a division where the actual champion never defends his belt and is fighting in all over the place in multiple weightclasses. No title unification coming up, no shot at proving youre the best at 145, it's gotta be frustrating.
Exactly. I mean I get the hesitation from the UFC's end, from Conor's end, Conor pretty much dismisses any thought of a rematch I think due to the first time they were supposed to fight when they were on that crazy world tour. But on the flipside, this is still at the end of the day a sport, and if you're the champion and you have an interim champion but have no plans on fighting that guy.....I guess it's just something we'll have to wait and see how it plays out. I don't think Aldo is in the wrong here wanting to fight McGregor and unify those belts, but the UFC isn't in the wrong by putting together the Alvarez fight either in terms of money. I just can't think of a time in MMA where the interim champion defended the title while the actual champion was still very active. 3 fights it'll be since McGregor won the belt and if anything Aldo is going to wind up defending it more as an interim champion that McGregor-at this moment.
Dana said he would try to find something nice for Aldo so I'm thinking he's more than likely going to offer him Holloway and Aldo will say peace out and go play soccer.
Jose Aldo is one of the GOATs in the sport due to his long reign. He made the Featherweight division relevant before Conor McGregor completely took it over.
However, I can see why Conor does not want to fight Aldo - especially right now. There are so many more new and big money opportunities out there.
Aldo is jumping the gun and being temperamental. Fight Pettis or Holloway, let the McGregor/Alvarez fight play out, and take it from there.
Aldo got viciously knocked out in 13 seconds, had a decisive (but at the same time, not really exciting or balls to the walls type performance) against Edgar, but it wouldn't be insane for him to have one more fight before having a rematch with McGregor.
If there ever was one exception in this sport right now that should be given a pass, it should be McGregor. Look at all the buzz, hype, and revenue he is generating. Everyone else should get over it.
If Edgar beat Aldo, I believe Conor would have faced Edgar. But Aldo vs. Conor II just doesn't have that much appeal. Maybe if Conor loses to Alvarez it will.
I agree with Aldo and I agree with the UFC here. McGregor is going to fight again before Aldo is anyway, Aldo likes to have a 10 week camp to get ready and McGregor is fighting in 6 weeks, its highly likely that by the time McGregor has fought Aldo wouldn't have a fight booked and once McGregor has fought they can either tell Aldo whether he is the undisputed champion or whether his fight would be against McGregor for the undisputed championship.
Like I said yesterday, I get where Aldo is coming from. He wants that win back, and he wants to be the undisputed FW champion. He's not a guy who is all about flash, so I get that mentality of where he doesn't give a shit if McGregor does a 1.2 buyrate on ppv, he gives a shit about being champion and the best. But again on the flipside, the UFC is also spectacle, and if Aldo is just now figuring that out well then he should have retired awhile ago.
Plus he wants that big money fight and he knows there isn't anyone including himself at 145 that will give him that kind of payday.
So John Lineker missed weight for his fight against John Dodson tomorrow. That's a record five times he's missed weight AND now in two different divisions. Man, I thought Anthony Johnson was a good weight limit offender but nobody misses weight like John Lineker. GOAT.
Looks like Josh Samman is in bad shape. He was found in critical condition in his apartment. He's reportedly in critical condition in the hospital. Suicide attempt or OD perhaps? Read that his his girlfriend committed suicide in 2013.. Same thing happened to Denis Kang, he was never the same fighter afterwards (girlfriend/suicide that is).
Three fighters on that card missed weight actually. Linker, co-mainer Oliveira (by almost 6 pounds), and Hecran Dias. Inexcusable.
Yeah did you see Will Brooks during the weigh in? He was like WATCH THIS, THIS IS HOW A PROFESSIONAL WEIGHS IN, TELL THEM WHAT THAT NUMBER SAYS. "156" THAT'S RIGHT 156.
Yeah, it was pretty gangster. Then he hopped in the sauna after making weight lol. I think Brooks should have gotten a higher-ranked opponent. Here's to hoping he wins, Dana likes when one fighter goes above and beyond when his opponent misses weight. Just look at Woodley.
I know it hasn't been a month yet but NOW I'M TIRED OF LOOKING AT EDMUND'S STUPID FACE so I hearby release you from your obligations and you may choose a new avatar at any time.
Thank god.
Speaking of which, Mark, how about we do a very friendly avatar bet for the Eddie/Conor fight? I've never done it before, just for funsies and to tell the grand kids that (yo Adrian) I did it. I'm fairly (but not over) confident in Eddie's chances here..
Deal, just please no Edmund. 2 months with the av if we guess the correct round and method. Conor via R1 (T)KO.
Oh snap!
Promise, no Edmund..
I'll ponder the way Eddie will win for a bit.
This video is enjoyable.
Anybody giving Dan Henderson a shot on Saturday? It's a weird fight given that Henderson can without hyperbole go down as the GOAT with a win considering the accomplishments he would gain with a win (oldest world title winner in history, longest span between winning first and last world title, only person to hold PRIDE, Strikeforce and UFC titles, I think most wins against former champions in those orgs, second 2x 2 division champion), and Bisping will undeniably go down as a legend with a win too (first to record 20 UFC wins, first Brit to defend a World title, most wins at MW, would have avenged all but 1 stoppage losses); yet it just seems a bit odd. Luke Rockhold is fighting Jacare Souza and Chris Weidman is fighting Yoel Romero while the gatekeeper Brit and the past-it legend are fighting for the title in the middle of the night in Manchester. That's what 1 night in June can do to a division.
Personally, I feel Henderson has been a bit undervalued going in. While Bisping is the superior fighter, I feel his career-best form has perhaps made him look better than he actually is. It's only a little more than a year since he fought to a contentious points verdict with Thales Leites. Anderson Silva has shown nothing since his injury to show he isn't shot, and Rockhold showed no respect to a fighter he comprehensively beat in his best form. I love Bisping, he has good fundamentals, great cardio, heart for days and an underrated chin (put out cold once by THAT punch), but he's not the knockout artist the Rockhold fight suggested, he caught a man clean with small gloves on and got a stoppage. He can do the same to Henderson. But against a slugger like Dan, will he be planting his feet and getting the power in his shots? Can he afford to go forward against Dan when Dan still has that timing in the pocket? His effectiveness as a puncher reduces drastically when he uses the movement style of his pre-Anderson fights, which give Dan 25 minutes to land a clean shot. Dan isn't Thales Leites or CB Dolloway, he's got freaky power and only needs one.
The fight I look at most is the rematch with Shogun. By then, Dan had lost 3 in a row and got beaten up for 2 rounds against a more mobile fighter. He needed one shot to take the iron chinned Shogun out. In his last fight, the timing was still there to hurt Hector in the first, took his best shots then knocked him out in the second. He could get caught cold, but despite his frequent knockdowns suffered he still has only been cold briefly against Vitor the first time, the others were flash KO's. So his chin, like Bisping's power, has likely been incorrectly valued. He's getting dropped a lot based on balance. While I expect Bisping can drop him, can he put him out?
While I have Bisping as favourite, I have it about 60/40 whereas I feel the aforementioned 4 middleweights destroy Dan 90% of the time.
I give Dan pretty much no chance unfortunately.
Not very many people gave Michael Bisping a snowball's chance in Hell to beat Anderson let alone go on and win the title from a beast like Luke Rockhold. He's a right place right time champion. And the weird part is, Henderson shouldn't be in this fight either lol. What the fuck has he done to earn a shot other than being a legend? The division isn't weak like when Couture came out of retirement to fight Tim Sylvia at HW. I understood why he was given a title shot against Jon Jones coming off the KO win over Fedor plus the great fight with Shogun. Now it just seems like a thank you for your contributions, for both men. Bisping obviously wants to avenge this loss, Hendo is getting a title shot because he's a legend, but in reality, neither guy should be fighting for the belt. I'm not saying either guy sucks or anything like that it's just an odd fight.
I can't believe how active Hendo has been in the last 3 years. 9 fights, but he's 3-6. Bottom line is I would like to see Hendo win and go out on that kind of a high note but on the flipside I would rather not see another vacated title because that is exactly what will happen. Because think about this....Let's say Bisping wins....We're going to run into a "who's performance was better" when deciding who gets the next shot between Romero, Rockhold, Jacare, and Weidman. If Weidman and Rockhold win, but Weidman gets the title shot against Bisping, you'll have people saying Rockhold should get it because he finished Weidman-even though I feel the fight was pretty Weidman heavy until that stupid ass kick he did lol.
Now if Hendo wins, Bisping will probably get pushed to the side and the above scenarios will play out the way they play out and they go from there. I don't see some WWE shit where Bisping gets an automatic title shot because he was the champ prior to the loss. So he will more than likely sit out, and the winners of the Jacare/Rockhold & Weidman/Romero fights will then fight for the vacant 185 belt. After what I literally just posted above, this actually might be best case scenario because just because Weidman maybe has a lackluster fight with Romero and Rockhold has a banger with Jacare, that doesn't mean Weidman should just automatically not get a title shot against Bisping-if Bisping wins. And I think Rockhold could beat Bisping again, plus it'd be a trilogy fight and people love trilogies, I know I do. Not counting out Romero and Jacare either. Jacare though, I feel for him, he lost to Rockhold already, he's lost to Romero, but he did beat Vitor so that was a pretty big win for him in terms of name value and if going by UFC rankings Vitor is the #3 ranked MW or he was at the time I believe. It's a fucking mess.
UFC 204 is going to have a thread shortly, felt kind of bad we already have a 205 thread lol but that card is a wet dream. 204 has some good fights on the main card though.
I am not very excited about this card, but it can deliver. It is pretty much just a filler in between a couple great free cards and then a monstrous UFC 205.
That said, the 3 main card fights are pretty good.
I definitely give Henderson more than a puncher's chance and think he is definitely undervalued. Anything can happen in that fight. The edge is in Bisping's favor, but I wouldn't bet on that fight and if I did depending on the odds (I haven't seen them, I assume Hendo is a big underdog), I would take Henderson.
Jesus Michael Bisping better win this fight. This is as close to a gimmie for a defending champion as possible.
That was exactly what people said about Bisping v. Rockhold 2 and look how that ended....
I think no fight with a heavy hitter who has already knocked you out when you're a little light fisted is a gimme. I honestly think that this is a 50/50 fight.
Which is unbelievably silly.
Im pulling for Mike (this time) but a Hendo win would be fucking epic.
Being a legend is not why these two are rematching. Both fighters want this fight and Dana owes Bisping for saving 199 on 2 weeks notice. Not a single person sees this as a ratings matchup but nobody is questioning it because it's pretty obvious why this is happening. And the simple "what if" factor, we all know what Hendo can and has done. Are either of these guys any better honestly than they were when they fought 7 years ago? There is a very big posibility that Hendo becomes champ, making two back to back UFC champions who were old, past their primes, and completely written off in the title scenario.
There is potential history about to be made. If Mike wins, good for him. He avenges the most humiliating and high profile loss of his career and in spite of being a "Chael Sonnen wannabe" (that is what we call fighters who talk trash to promote their fights correct?) he deserves this opportunity for both saving a ppv and giving us a real life Cinderella Man story. Anybody who doesn't care for this fight is simply not a fan of MMA.
Last edited by Mark Hammer; October 4th, 2016 at 8:04 PM.
The aforementioned 4 middleweights destroy Bisping 90% of the time too.
Agreed. Well, maybe 85% of the time in keeping with the math! But yeah, it'll be a huge shocker if Bisping has more than 1 title defence. I can't see him beating Tim Kennedy more than a third of the time either, just a horrible match-up for him still. But he's caught lightning in a bottle this year and put himself in that position by being remarkably consistent outside the top 8 or so fighters in the world.
BJ Penn injured and pulled from fight against Ricardo Lamas at UFC Fight Night 97 in 10 days.
Card is in the Philippines and beyond the main event, I can't even click some of the other fighters on the main card because they don't have a wikipedia page. This fight night went from "interesting, I am excited to see how BJ Penn will do against a real tough opponent" to absolutely forgettable.
Josh Samman has now passed, according to Jamal Smith.
Rest in Peace.
Fucking GUTTTTED. Not to mention I just cancelled my Fight Pass for the time being to free up some bills. I just wasn't watching it enough and it froze up constantly. I literally found myself watching Cyborg fights and Invicta in general more than anything else. Oh and Bushido, the later ones. Where suddenly Pride started looking like the UFC and the freak show fights were a minimum. A Freak Show fight became Fedor v. Mark Hunt or some shit lol.
Yeah that's a sad fucking story. I remember his gf died not too long before a fight he had coming up. I liked him on TUF, he was very energetic. RIP!
Bryan Caraway is trying to get the replacement spot against Ricardo Lamas. Props to him for wanting to step up a weight class, although I know he's fought at 145 in the past. Tough opponent and a win would definitely help him in his quest to getting a title shot at 135 by beating a top guy like Lamas even if it's a higher weight class.
Awful news regarding Samman.
UFC 206 is shaping up. December 10th. Possibly headlined by Rumble v. Cormier 2 for the LHW title. Also announced is my new favorite "nobody", Lando Vannata as he takes on John Makdessi. For those that are unaware of Vannata, go watch his UFC debut against Tony Ferguson. One of the best fights of the year straight up.
Cormier is already talking some weird shit about how he's going to "prove a point" and walk to the center of the Octagon and bang with Rumble and knock him out in the first round. I love it. I respect the hell out of Cormier but with that said sometimes I just want to see him get his block crushed. It's the same way I feel about Michael Bisping. Hell of a fighter, great at the booth, but sometimes they just rub me the wrong way and I want them to get destroyed lol. I'm hoping Rumble wins. I don't really have a desire to see Cormier v. Jones 2. Really the only 2 fights I care about for Jones at 205 is Rumble and a rematch with Gus. A guy he's never fought and the only guy to really come close to beating him. After that, super fights with someone like Weidman, maybe Anderson Silva because I like death, and a move up to HW.
Fight Night in Manila has officially been cancelled.
Cormier has to be full of shit. He would be out of his mind to stand and bang with Rumble. If he does anything other than walk right up to Rumble and try to grapple fuck him then it is going to be Head.Clean.Off and not in his favor.
Rumble has a 6 inch reach, more power, more versatile with his boxing and kicks, it would just make no sense. Look at Rumble's MMA record results. It really is a plethora of knockouts.
His last last was against DC when he blew his gas tank after clippping DC and getting wrestle fucked, and prior to that his last loss was 4 years ago against Vitor Belfort at Middleweight when he came in 13 pounds overweight against a prime roided Vitor.
I think he is just trying to get in Rumble's head and make him think about his gameplan.
Last edited by Spedizzo; October 7th, 2016 at 2:12 PM.
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