UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship

[Fanny Batter]

His fight with Usman, also a non-draw, did a pretty good gate for a non-star (essentially Conor, Khabib, Jones and maybe Cormier at this point). Certainly brings in more fans than a Mighty Mouse or Amanda Nunes. He himself, his talent and likeability, doesn't necessarily do that, but the domino effect of the clickbait stuff keeps the shows he's on trending and that translates to interest. Not in a Conor way of course, but an increase. Bad blood is vital though, he'll draw against Woodley and Masvidal because it's genuine, nobody cares if he fights a Chiesa or Cerrone.

250 is running with Nunes vs. Spencer in the main event. Glad it's free over here! Not too fussed though, it means the bigger fights can get time to build anticipation. 249 was an anomaly with the enforced break, big fight timelines will return to the status quo now and this card has fallen between the cracks. I think we'll be getting some pretty drab cards on paper through June as, again, we're in that middle ground between fighters who have stayed in camp and ones that were waiting til May 9th to see if the sport was genuinely coming back. If you're a Jon Jones, why fight on 2 weeks notice when you can take a fight in 7? I think they hit the July PPV card hard.

[Nash Diesel]

His fight with Usman, also a non-draw, did a pretty good gate for a non-star (essentially Conor, Khabib, Jones and maybe Cormier at this point). Certainly brings in more fans than a Mighty Mouse or Amanda Nunes. He himself, his talent and likeability, doesn't necessarily do that, but the domino effect of the clickbait stuff keeps the shows he's on trending and that translates to interest. Not in a Conor way of course, but an increase. Bad blood is vital though, he'll draw against Woodley and Masvidal because it's genuine, nobody cares if he fights a Chiesa or Cerrone.

250 is running with Nunes vs. Spencer in the main event. Glad it's free over here! Not too fussed though, it means the bigger fights can get time to build anticipation. 249 was an anomaly with the enforced break, big fight timelines will return to the status quo now and this card has fallen between the cracks. I think we'll be getting some pretty drab cards on paper through June as, again, we're in that middle ground between fighters who have stayed in camp and ones that were waiting til May 9th to see if the sport was genuinely coming back. If you're a Jon Jones, why fight on 2 weeks notice when you can take a fight in 7? I think they hit the July PPV card hard.

I just personally think that due to a tiny handful of fighters who have generated interest via "drama" means that anyone who even attempts something like that certain fans think fans flock to it regardless. I disagree. I think the only reason a fight with Usman and/or Jorge would draw interest is because Usman is the champ and Masvidal is an actual draw. Take the title away from Usman and him and Colby are just a mediocre bad blood fight that nobody really cares about. One dude is a complete racist and the other despite being black is completely unlikeable even in this situation lol.

250 should be ok.

Conor showed he can still generate attention by posting his personal GOAT list which caught the eye of people like Khabib and Jon Jones. I guess when you get to a certain level you can literally post your top 5 Pepsi logos and it'll bring out the wolves lol.

[Fanny Batter]

It's amazing people take what he says seriously when he built his name on ridiculous hubris. Not that he doesn't believe it himself, he probably does, but I think I've got a 12 inch cock on cocaine as well.

[Nash Diesel]

It's amazing people take what he says seriously when he built his name on ridiculous hubris. Not that he doesn't believe it himself, he probably does, but I think I've got a 12 inch cock on cocaine as well.

LMFAO

I think he truly believes his own shit and that's perfectly fine. I've seen top guys in other sports do the same shit, breaking everything down on social media or in blogs or editorials. But there are those guys, like Conor, who I do think are on some shit or just wild as fuck in general that go on these analytical tangents like madmen.

Dude's like, "GSP was great but his lack of finishing ratio in the last 5 years of his career v the first 7 were not as good as me own during a similar timeframe against different people" Like what the fuck does that shit mean? LOL.

[Percussion]

Colby Covington admits his UFC persona is an act

[Nash Diesel]

Yeah I know a lot of white dudes who say "I was just playin'!" Usually after getting their shit smacked up by a person of color but hey, let's give this fuck a Razzie for the least convincing role to date.

And of all places to say this lol. This chick is so...so...dumb. Joe at her alive on his podcast, not even on purpose.

[Fanny Batter]

He's a nutter. GSP won 4 titles (2× welterweight, 1 interim WW and middleweight) and he finished all of those fights. So he's got 4 finishes to win titles compared to Conor's 3. He has more stoppage finishes in a title defence than Conor, based on actually having a title defence, regardless of ratios. Finished, what, 5 former UFC champions? Conor with 2. Stoppage wins to avenge his defeats, Conor squeaked by via majority decision to avenge 1 of his (the other 3 unavenged). So even if you argue the stoppages drying up as a reason to disparage GSP, if you draw a line under his career after UFC 100, his career up to that point trumps Conor's up to now. Easily. Aldo, Alvarez and Mendes in the form they were in were spectacular wins. Holloway and Poirier are great wins in retrospect. Cerrone and Diaz are good wins. In terms of momentum though, Aldo is the only true world class win. The other 6 had lost inside their last 5 wins. Hughes, Fitch, Alves and Shields were all on incredible runs before GSP handled them. He was so good man.

Conor might be top 15 all time. Doesn't have the volume but has the quality. No title defences, 7-2 in fights against good opposition isn't particularly memorable but he did beat an all time great and won titles in 2 divisions.

[Nash Diesel]

He's a nutter. GSP won 4 titles (2× welterweight, 1 interim WW and middleweight) and he finished all of those fights. So he's got 4 finishes to win titles compared to Conor's 3. He has more stoppage finishes in a title defence than Conor, based on actually having a title defence, regardless of ratios. Finished, what, 5 former UFC champions? Conor with 2. Stoppage wins to avenge his defeats, Conor squeaked by via majority decision to avenge 1 of his (the other 3 unavenged). So even if you argue the stoppages drying up as a reason to disparage GSP, if you draw a line under his career after UFC 100, his career up to that point trumps Conor's up to now. Easily. Aldo, Alvarez and Mendes in the form they were in were spectacular wins. Holloway and Poirier are great wins in retrospect. Cerrone and Diaz are good wins. In terms of momentum though, Aldo is the only true world class win. The other 6 had lost inside their last 5 wins. Hughes, Fitch, Alves and Shields were all on incredible runs before GSP handled them. He was so good man.

Conor might be top 15 all time. Doesn't have the volume but has the quality. No title defences, 7-2 in fights against good opposition isn't particularly memorable but he did beat an all time great and won titles in 2 divisions.

Love the break down.

I think that for me, I never got caught up in the idea that GSP going the distance was this bad thing. Probably because some of those guys I really liked, I mean Condit is one of my top 5 of all time. Why would I want to see him get rinsed in 2 minutes? That just means he apparently isn't that much of a challenge. Yes it's cool to see dudes just murder guys but then what?

One of my all time favorite fights is Chael v. Anderson 1. I fucking hated Chael, still kind of do lol. But that fight put Silva to the test. Forget those Pride losses those were what they were, but in the UFC he hadn't been truly tested yet and the drama was there. The fight was hot. I think GSP has had those fights as well in his later years, especially in the Condit, Hendricks, and even the overall doubt of whether he could pull of the Bisping title fight.....Prior to that who really fucked with him other than that first Penn fight? Hughes got super lucky in the first fight, that was really it.

GSP v. Shields, so glad we got that fight. I was a HUGE Strikeforce fan and thought if anyone was going to beat GSP it was Shields. That Henderson win impressed me so much I thought yep, here's a guy that isn't super flashy but tough as hell and you know what, he didn't do too bad!

[Fanny Batter]

It's telling that Conor disputes Mighty Mouse being ranked high due to strength of schedule, then ranks GSP lower due to lack of finishes. Correlation, my guy. Shields, Fitch, Hendricks, Condit, Diaz, just notoriously durable fighters in their primes. Jake Shields went 5 rounds up a weight class against Dan Henderson, and pretty much sweeped him! I rate the 7 great fighters he fought highly, but other than that version of Aldo he finished nobody with that level of durability. Didn't finish Max or Nate, because they're hard as fuck. Like GSP's run of opponents.

Silva vs. Sonnen I was fantastic. Such a fortunate result for the history of the sport too. A minute and a half away from the GOAT at that point losing to a man that would fail his drugs test afterward. Could you imagine? At least Jones had already beat Cormier classed as clean when that happened.

[Mik]

I think Conor just likes to keep himself in the headlines. He knows that his tweets generate news.

[Fanny Batter]

I do miss the charm of 2015 Conor. There was still a nasty undercurrent to some of the stuff he said but it felt genuine. Since then, only the Diaz fights have shown him in a favourable light, as Nate is a nutcase too. His attacks on RDA, Alvarez and Khabib were all pretty spiteful though always entertaining. It just feels uncomfortable to me a man playing up his role as an abusive, intolerable cunt still gets the adulation of the public.

[Nash Diesel]

I do miss the charm of 2015 Conor. There was still a nasty undercurrent to some of the stuff he said but it felt genuine. Since then, only the Diaz fights have shown him in a favourable light, as Nate is a nutcase too. His attacks on RDA, Alvarez and Khabib were all pretty spiteful though always entertaining. It just feels uncomfortable to me a man playing up his role as an abusive, intolerable cunt still gets the adulation of the public.

Well, I think there's a reason he's the only guy that is really able to pull that off. Unless they're vets like Chael and Tito who have been doing that shit for 20 years. Even then, those guys stood out because others didn't really do that either.

[Fanny Batter]

Chael pretty much always donned the black hat though. Maybe against Bisping he was the fan favourite, other than that he antagonised, got booed then generally got his shit pushed in. People still adore Conor McGregor, even though he's a cock. He got cheered against Cowboy Cerrone. Cowboy Cerrone!

[Nash Diesel]

Chael pretty much always donned the black hat though. Maybe against Bisping he was the fan favourite, other than that he antagonised, got booed then generally got his shit pushed in. People still adore Conor McGregor, even though he's a cock. He got cheered against Cowboy Cerrone. Cowboy Cerrone!

I don't know man, I knew A LOT of people that were hoping Chael would win. Some were wrestlers or guys who liked that style more than the stand up stuff. Others I think just wanted to see a guy that good lose, you know how it goes. Same shit happened to Fedor and GSP and even Jon Jones (long before his personal life went to shit lol).

Tito was like Conor. I remember hating the guy and wanting to see Shamrock beat his ass. Then they show members of Korn supporting Tito, all these celebs and athletes showing love to Tito and I'm like, fuck that guy and fuck these people!! Lol. And I have felt that way about Conor, especially when he hits that racist ignorant shit like with Siver, Nate Diaz, Khabib, a few others I'm sure that I'm missing. But he's a joy to watch fight, hard to find anyone as consistently exciting in the new breed that stands out like McGregor.

[Fanny Batter]

The Tito comparison is apt, attracted a lot of casual fans for the time period. Once Chuck came out to the Ice Ice Baby remix his days as most popular were numbered though. He was just a bit juvenile really but I don't remember him being too insulting. Possibly homophobic with the T Shirts, but different times.

Woodley vs. Burns tomorrow. Big one for Tyron, a loss and it's curtains for him as a contender but a win probably puts him a win away from a title shot. The ideal is him vs. Colby after, assuming he wants to stay active. Burns is no joke though, great hands and elite BJJ. Woodley needs to get on the front foot early or Burns' output will be too much. If he stays on the outside like he has a tendency to do he's in trouble. Interesting fight.

Rest of the card is the definition of filler content, but fights are fights. Couple of action fights on the slate at least. One thing I've noticed on these upcoming cards is the percentage of women's bouts, I guess they stay closer to fighting weight for the short notice cuts.

[Nash Diesel]

The Tito comparison is apt, attracted a lot of casual fans for the time period. Once Chuck came out to the Ice Ice Baby remix his days as most popular were numbered though. He was just a bit juvenile really but I don't remember him being too insulting. Possibly homophobic with the T Shirts, but different times.

Woodley vs. Burns tomorrow. Big one for Tyron, a loss and it's curtains for him as a contender but a win probably puts him a win away from a title shot. The ideal is him vs. Colby after, assuming he wants to stay active. Burns is no joke though, great hands and elite BJJ. Woodley needs to get on the front foot early or Burns' output will be too much. If he stays on the outside like he has a tendency to do he's in trouble. Interesting fight.

Rest of the card is the definition of filler content, but fights are fights. Couple of action fights on the slate at least. One thing I've noticed on these upcoming cards is the percentage of women's bouts, I guess they stay closer to fighting weight for the short notice cuts.

I think Tito still has his fans too. I mean you look at this UFC career, never on the undercard, 1 time I think for free TV, right? Ultimate Fighter finale with Ken? So they saw the value regardless if Dana hated the guy for corny reasons lol. I was never a fan. I respect him and that he is a draw and that people do actually like him but I never cheered for the guy. Even against Chael lol. The first time I ever saw Tito was a segment on Best Damn Sports Show with him and Ken via satellite and Tito was talking mad shit so I was just from the jump you know what? Fuck this guy.

But he did his job. I hadn't ordered a UFC ppv in my life (keep in mind I was like 23 when Vendetta happened) and hadn't watched a UFC event since oh wow, maybe Severn v. Shamrock in Detroit. Pretty much when Shamrock left the UFC I stopped and then when he came back, against the right guy, I tuned back in and never looked back. I remember that card it had the infamous Liddell-Babalu headkick finish, Matt Hughes was on the card, Arlovski was on the card, BJ Penn did commentary on a fight it was the perfect ppv to come back to.

[Fanny Batter]

Woodley fought exactly how he shouldn't have and got beat. What a frustrating guy to watch. Had 4 successful title defences without showing his full skillset. The Woodley that leg kicked the shit out of Carlos Condit and power doubled him at will was special, other than that he's been a right hand here and a round of dominant top control there. Inconsistent. Burns took advantage and threw frankly a far more interesting name at the top of the division, because he'll fight you at every range for 25 minutes. Time to get some fights booked now, I think that was the only ranked scrap on slate for the division. For me - Usman vs. Masvidal, Burns vs. Edwards for #1 contender, Covington vs. Woodley, Lawler vs. Neal, Wonderboy vs. Chiesa, Ponz vs. RDA and Luque vs. Pettis. Throw in a Cowboy vs. Maia legacy bout and you're set.

Liked the smaller cage for Fight Nights but think numbered events should get the 30 footer to mix things up considering all the shows will be VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL in that Apex.

[Nash Diesel]

Woodley fought exactly how he shouldn't have and got beat. What a frustrating guy to watch. Had 4 successful title defences without showing his full skillset. The Woodley that leg kicked the shit out of Carlos Condit and power doubled him at will was special, other than that he's been a right hand here and a round of dominant top control there. Inconsistent. Burns took advantage and threw frankly a far more interesting name at the top of the division, because he'll fight you at every range for 25 minutes. Time to get some fights booked now, I think that was the only ranked scrap on slate for the division. For me - Usman vs. Masvidal, Burns vs. Edwards for #1 contender, Covington vs. Woodley, Lawler vs. Neal, Wonderboy vs. Chiesa, Ponz vs. RDA and Luque vs. Pettis. Throw in a Cowboy vs. Maia legacy bout and you're set.

Liked the smaller cage for Fight Nights but think numbered events should get the 30 footer to mix things up considering all the shows will be VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL in that Apex.

Shit he was lucky to get that win on Condit.

I've never liked the guy. Fuckin loved when Nate Marquardt gave us that highlight real finish in Strikeforce. I just never understood his constant race baiting and delusional approach to the business aspect of the sport. Boring fighter for the most part, his 2 best fights ever were the 1st Wonderboy fight and the one where he smashed Koscheck, another guy I fuckin hate.

[Fanny Batter]

He's had his moments still, like the Lawler and Till fights. Generally though, happy to wait on the outside to land that one right hand. Dull. The division is better without him on top. I just hope some of the strikers (Ponz, Neal, Alhassan) can keep winning too.

[Nash Diesel]

So Jon Jones vacated the title to become The Punisher?

[Fanny Batter]

Interesting turn of events for Jon. I can't disagree with him over the pay issues. It's just numbers. Jan fight maybe does 300k buys, Reyes slightly more. Ngannou fight would get close to a million I think. $65 a pop for the PPV would give UFC what, nearly $40million extra revenue? He should be getting the lions share of that. The headliners always should. Maybe $30 million is slightly excessive considering you're losing nearly 8 figures on the gate, but it's in the ballpark. I'd rather the fighters get rich and not the executives, and that's somebody that finds Jon to be an intolerable sociopath half the time.

Good for him getting out and trying to help his community.

[Nash Diesel]

I think with a good main card, Jones v. Ngannou could probably do a million. And I don't mean like some crazy stacked main card but the co-main at the very least has to be a fight in the same realm. Khabib v. Gaethje or Masvidal v. whoever the fuck, or..... maybe throw Anderson v. McGregor on that card and just let those 2 fights shatter the record. Overdose the fanbase in one ppv like it was Summerslam 1990 all over again.

What would be on the list of the biggest main/co-main pairing in the UFC's history? I know that's a big request from people to think of it or research it but I'm actually curious.

[Fanny Batter]

Lesnar and GSP at 100, easily. GSP was coming off the Penn fight and a top 5 draw of all time, and Lesnar was a star but had just been legitimized by beating Randy Couture. What a time to be a fan, Penn/Florian and Silva/Griffin was the very next PPV!

[Percussion]

UFC 79 was pretty rad.. Liddell/Silva followed by Hughes/GSP III (iWW Title)

UFC 46 at the time was huge.. Penn/Hughes (WW Title) followed by Belfort/Couture (LHW Title)

[Fanny Batter]

79 was the event where I committed fully to following the sport, I'd watched when I could from around the first Tito and Chuck fight and watched the majority of cards, but that was the event where I got fully invested with the build up after buying the PRIDE 2003 Grand Prix and buying Wanderlei as the most dangerous cunt of all time. Good times. GSP vs. Hughes is surely top 5 submission of all time based on the calibre of Hughes as a grappler? Up there with Mir on Nog (unfortunately).

Most of the recent big double main events have a virtual nobody in one of the positions. Not disrespecting skill at all, but if Jones/Santos or Cormier/Oezdemir gets a better B side they'd be all timers.

[Nash Diesel]

SUPPOSEDLY, Woodley has accepted the UFC's offer to fight Colby Covington and likened it to fighting a race war. I'm not a fan of either guy but when it comes down to it, I at the very least respect Woodley and I'll be honest guys, I have zero desire to see this fight to begin with but I want to see Woodley just beat the life out of Colby like I would anyone else.

Curious when this fight would even happen though as it doesn't seem like Woodley is going to be cleared to fight anytime soon especially after that nasty cut.

[Fanny Batter]

I don't love it, just based on the trajectory of Woodley. Backing off against Colby would be a shitty fucking strategy but that's how he fights. Colby is abhorrent but he can fight like hell, I think he'd be a huge favourite against low output Tyron. Probably gets a late finish too with his pace. It's the kind of fight to book if you want to set Covington up for another title shot, as Burns and Edwards match up much better with him and would nullify his strengths with pressure and body work like Usman did.

Hopefully this Usman vs. Masvidal fight gets announced soon. Nearly 6 months since Usman fought and not lined up yet. Has to be the July 11th main event I think. Volkanovski too, but that's more understandable with the flight situation. That will be their last unopposed day for a PPV so it should be a monster.

[Fanny Batter]

Fight card tomorrow then, decent enough fare with an unexciting main event. However, for the good of the sport I think it's important that fighters like Amanda Nunes and Demetrious Johnson (when he was champion) get top billing. Yes, the PPV's are going to bomb, but you can't go around calling them the best ever and then putting them on anything other than a Jones, Khabib or McGregor undercard. Maybe Cormier too based on his all time great billing. Basically, the best shouldn't be fighting before non-draws. No draws are available apparently, so here's the main event. Hopefully they get that Usman vs. Masvidal fight made tonight and announced tomorrow, as Gilbert Burns is happy to take the fight in July and that's probably enough for Masvidal to take what is offered. A guy like that shouldn't be benching himself. Anyway...

Nunes vs. Spencer is actually pretty interesting. Spencer is durable and the heavier woman, and has a good top game. We haven't seen Nunes carry the weight as her one fight at 145 in years has been that early drubbing of Cyborg. So the intrigue is if Spencer can take Nunes' shots, can she start to wrestle control of the fight down the stretch and use that size and top game to pour it on late. It's not as cut and dry as the pundits think, as we've seen her take Cyborg's shots for 15 minutes and have a little success of her own on the feet. She'll have been buoyed from that fight and will be a better version of herself. Throw in Nunes not getting her usual training camp in and having a pregnant fiancée and you can paint the picture that she won't be at her physical and mental peak. I still think it will be enough but I envision more of a dogfight than we've ever seen her in, but predicting she'll prevail on points after a late scare. Her wife is 6 months pregnant so I'm presuming she sits the year while 135 gets sorted out, and we see her again around March.

Assauncao vs. Garbrandt is a banger. Cody is one of those guys that always comes off pretty hotheaded and annoying but he always comes to fight. Never in a dull one. Raphael is finally slowing down after a long, hard career, but he's still very dangerous. It basically comes down to Garbrandt's disciple. He'll be the better man on the feet. But Assauncao is durable, Cody can get hit, and if it becomes a firefight then you'd have to favour the chin of the Brazilian. I know it goes against form, but I do think Cody can learn from his failures and get back on the horse with a patient win, managing to avoid the pocket exchanges and pulling away on points. But then in the back of my mind there's the image of him thinking a statement win is needed to rush back up the ladder and he gets knocked out. Interesting crossroads fight.

Sterling vs. Sandhagen should be the co-main considering the rankings, or at least should have got a portion on the Countdown show. Alas, it's a great fight at bantamweight and almost certainly a #1 contender's fight with the winner waiting in the wings for the Yan/Aldo fight to take place, or perhaps even slotting in instead against Yan if the timing dictates. It's really close on paper, with 2 rangy, high output strikers with good wrestling and scrambling. I think Sterling's the slightly better fighter in terms of skill, but I prefer Sandhagen's intangibles. We've seen him get cut and caught in deep submissions and still come through to win. So that leans me towards him in a coin flip, but I think it almost definitely goes to a split decision. I really can't see it being emphatic either way as it's so well matched and neither have shown big knockout power.

Magny vs. Martin is a mainstay fight. Both guys have been around forever it seems, but apparently only 6-7 years each. Both quite active, both win a lot more than they lose (Martin 8-2 in his last 10, Magny 7-3), both pretty well rounded with knockouts and subs, both got good cardio. Kind of a mirror match really, not necessarily in style but in application. I think Magny's slightly better though. He's the bigger man, and he fights long well. I like him in the clinch too. Both will be looking to make a statement too as they're both in win now mode in their careers as they can't afford more speed bumps. Leaning Magny on points in a fun one, with a dominant third round.

O'Malley vs. Wineland I like a lot. Perfect fight for Sugar Sean at this point, being in there with a hard hitting vet who comes to throw down every fight. It's tailormade for him to look spectacular, as he's a big talent. Considering the well matched nature of the rest of the main card, I think O'Malley makes the biggest statement of the night with a first round knockout, which will launch him into a fast tracking up the ladder for his next fight. If Cody gets a win for example, they can spin Cody vs. O'Malley into a big ESPN main event.

Prelims have depth but no real big fights. Looking forward to seeing how the undefeated prospects do, and Evan Dunham vs. Gilbert Burns' brother buried in the first fight! The early prelims are better than the televised ones oddly, Perez vs. Formiga is a great fight too. TV prelims do have Stamaan vs. Kelleher though, that's a strong fight for the bantamweight division again even though it's at 145. Stamaan is underrated, one of those high output grinders that will be a tough out for anybody but doesn't have the ammo to trouble the heavy hitters.

Should be fun.

[Fanny Batter]

Looks like Usman will be fighting Burns instead of Masvidal in July, UFC lowballing Jorge. Mas would at least treble Burns' numbers against Usman so financially in this instance he has to get paid more. The world wants the Masvidal title fight, imagine losing that over a few quid.

[Nash Diesel]

I'm over Dana and some fans trying to use the pandemic as a way to pretend like this hasn't been an issue for damn near as long as the UFC has been around. I remember Tito Ortiz almost 20 years ago saying he doesn't get paid enough when he's seeing how much the promoters are taking home in comparison. Let's not forget Dana White threw his son some ridiculous million dollar+ party for his son's while he can't even bother paying Donald Cerrone half that upfront.

Total bullshit and I get that argument that it's not boxing or the NFL or whatever the fuck but it ain't like Reebok has a stranglehold on Floyd Mayweather.

And now we have McGregor announcing his retirement lol. What the fuck? I'll say this......Could you imagine if McGregor, Jones, Masvidal, Cejudo, and a handful of other fighters coming together and helping jumpstart a new promotion? I know I'm probably just on a fantasy island somewhere about this but it happens.

[Percussion]

So, The Athletic polled 170 pro fighters from pretty much everywhere and asked them a bunch of stuff..

the site requires a subscription, but these are some of the ones that have been shared online..

The Greatest of All-Time-

• Georges St-Pierre - 35.7%
• Jon Jones - 22.2%
• Anderson Silva - 13.5%
• Demetrious Johnson - 9.4%
• Fedor Emelianenko - 5.3%
• Khabib Nurmagomedov - 2.3%
• Conor McGregor - 1.2%
• Dan Henderson - 1.2%
• Matt Hughes - 1.2%
• B.J. Penn - 1.2%

Who is the most underrated fighter in MMA?

• Demetrious Johnson (17)
• Leon Edwards (9)
• Douglas Lima (7)
• Justin Gaethje, Khabib Nurmagomedov (5)
• Henry Cejudo, Patricio Freire (4)
• Dan Hooker, Petr Yan, Alexander Volkanovski, Cory Sandhagen (3)

Who is the most overrated fighter in MMA today?

• Conor McGregor (42)
• Jon Jones (13)
• Sean O’Malley (9)
• Paige VanZant (7)
• Henry Cejudo (5)
• Darren Till, James Gallagher (4)

Who’s the most underrated trainer?

• Firas Zahabi (18)
• Mike Brown (16)
• Marc Montoya, Greg Jackson-Mike Winkeljohn (8)
• Eugene Bareman, Sayif Saud (7)
• Trevor Wittman (6)
• Eric Albarracin, James Krause, Henri Hooft, Duke Roufus (5)
• John Kavanagh (4)

Who is the most overrated trainer?

• Greg Jackson (28)
• John Kavanagh (16)
• Edmond Tarverdyan (15)
• Firas Zahabi, Jackson-Winkeljohn (as a unit) (6)
• Mike Winkeljohn (5)
• Duke Roufus/Joshua Fabia (4)

If you had to switch gyms, where would you go train?

• American Top Team (ATT) (31)
• American Kickboxing Academy (19)
• Tristar Gym (11)
• Roufusport (9)
• Hard Knocks 365 (7)
• Fortis MMA, Elevation Fight Team (5)
• Xtreme Couture (4)

Who is the best commentator, whether its color commentary or play-by-play, in MMA?

• Joe Rogan (67)
• Dominick Cruz (29)
• Daniel Cormier (20)
• Jon Anik (18)
• Paul Felder (9)
• Michael Bisping (5)

Who’s the biggest jerk you’ve met in MMA?

• Dana White (7)
• Colby Covington (4)
• Jon Jones, Michael Bisping, Uriah Hall (3)
• Randy Couture, John Kavanagh, Brock Lesnar, Luke Rockhold, Henry Cejudo, Jake Ellenberger, Dillon Danis, Donald Cerone, Matt Hughes, Terry Trebilcock(2)

Who is the dirtiest fighter in MMA (it terms of committing fouls, not cleanliness)?

• Jon Jones (52)
• Rousimar Palhares, Yoel Romero (21)
• T.J. Dillashaw (3)

What is your favorite fight of all time?

• Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Weili Zhang — UFC 248, Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson 1 — UFC 165 (21)
• Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald 2 — UFC 189 (19)
• Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar 1 — The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale, Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua 1 — UFC 139 (11)
• Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Hughes 2 — UFC 65 (6)
• Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 1 — UFC 196 (3)

[Fanny Batter]

There would be a breach of contract lawsuit that the UFC would drag on until they bankrupted a guy like Masvidal. Similar to WWE, it's going to take the backing of somebody with a lot of capital to get them out of that "independent contractor" purgatory. The "you signed the contract" argument simply doesn't add up, because in any other line of work good performance should advance your pay grade. Masvidal has the numbers to back them up. Really they should go high on incentives if they actually don't think he's worth it and give him 50% on all buys over 600k or whatever. I genuinely think that on July 11th, without any of the big 4 US sports running, him and Usman for the World title, with a decent undercard, does close to a million buys. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Jorge is wrong. Make it a scenario where if he's wrong you pay him the contract to the penny, if he's right you fill his pockets. A near $15million swing but he'd have earned every penny and then some.

Those polls are interesting, particularly the underrated category. It's hard to quantify how good a guy like Khabib is because he's doing that in one of the optimum weight classes for MMA performance. Jones is a stud but he's fighting guys who's technical attributes can't compare to anybody 170lbs and below. You have to of course take into account the increased intangibles of one shot power and greater size discrepancies as the weight climbs, but I feel competing against a greater volume of highly skilled opponents is the greater challenge. What guys like Khabib, Holloway and to a lesser extent (as of now) Usman have done over the years is incredible. Khabib's barely lost a minute of a fight and beaten stud after stud for years. Max Holloway navigating the power of guys like Stephens, the wrestling and BJJ of Lamas, the creativity of Swanson and Pettis, destroying the all time great Aldo twice before defusing and dismantling Ortega and Edgar in title defences. 3 Hall of Famers. Jones keeps winning of course, but skating by Reyes and Santos shouldn't have him pegged as #1 P4P based on the strength of his last few fights.

[Fanny Batter]

Next 2 PPV's are set - 251 is at Fight Island on July 11th with Usman vs. Burns, Volkanovski vs. Holloway and Yan vs. Aldo as a triple title fight headliner. Sick lineup and finally getting some traction in those divisions. Gutted it isn't Masvidal, but maybe he's happier to take another fight with Nate Diaz in the interim if the risk/reward makes more sense, or maybe he takes a 3 rounder on that proviso. Or he sits until crowds come back and they can't excuse low balling him anymore.

252 is presumably in Vegas, August 15th, Miocic vs. Cormier 3. Generational fight, proves the best heavyweight of the era and likely the end of both as top level athletes. Cormier's definitely bowing out. If it's in Vegas, I like that cage for Cormier.

Next cards would be Khabib vs. Gaethje and Adesanya vs. Costa unless they choose to combine them or have one with the Stipe card. That buys them until November to get Masvidal, Jones and Conor sorted.

[Nash Diesel]

So are we just not going to talk about Werdum v. Gustaffson at HW? LOL

[Fanny Batter]

Gustafsson surely beats the piss out of him. Might be the most outrageous speed discrepancy in a fight since Chad Mendes body punched that homeless looking guy inside a minute! I love it though, proper random. Gus would climb the ranks at heavyweight I think, there's guys with length that trouble him but I can see him beating the Ivanov's and Oleinik's of the world. That card has Lil Nog vs. Shogun 3 too, underneath Till vs. Whittaker.

[Nash Diesel]

Gustafsson surely beats the piss out of him. Might be the most outrageous speed discrepancy in a fight since Chad Mendes body punched that homeless looking guy inside a minute! I love it though, proper random. Gus would climb the ranks at heavyweight I think, there's guys with length that trouble him but I can see him beating the Ivanov's and Oleinik's of the world. That card has Lil Nog vs. Shogun 3 too, underneath Till vs. Whittaker.

Is Shogun v. Lil Nog 3 simply happening because it's an exciting match up and nobody else in the division gets sacrificed by a potential loss? I mean, Shogun's on a pretty decent run, Lil Nog I'll be shocked if he makes it.

I agree about Gus. I think that he's still a solid fighter and could offer a lot to the HW division if he doesn't get smoked.

[Fanny Batter]

They're more willing to keep older guys on decent contracts nowadays rather than cutting them. Look at Arlovski, still turning up up for his tidy paycheque every 4 months or so. Contractually the UFC has to offer them 3 fights a year, so that's how fights like Shogun vs. Nog get made. Beats the hell out of either of them getting put to sleep by Ion Cutelaba or whoever.

There's some big guys at the weight class, so maybe his style built around finesse won't hold up against the 265ers. But then you look at a guy like Ilir Latifi doing well against Black Beast and OSP running Rothwell close and there's nothing to suggest that a top light heavyweight, particularly a rangy one like Gus, can go up and do more damage. Problem being he's so injury prone and inactive that even if he wins, how does he build momentum anymore?

[Nash Diesel]

They're more willing to keep older guys on decent contracts nowadays rather than cutting them. Look at Arlovski, still turning up up for his tidy paycheque every 4 months or so. Contractually the UFC has to offer them 3 fights a year, so that's how fights like Shogun vs. Nog get made. Beats the hell out of either of them getting put to sleep by Ion Cutelaba or whoever.

There's some big guys at the weight class, so maybe his style built around finesse won't hold up against the 265ers. But then you look at a guy like Ilir Latifi doing well against Black Beast and OSP running Rothwell close and there's nothing to suggest that a top light heavyweight, particularly a rangy one like Gus, can go up and do more damage. Problem being he's so injury prone and inactive that even if he wins, how does he build momentum anymore?

Yeah he definitely benefited being at LHW during a time where Jones had cleared it out, was fucking up, Cormier was doing whatever, so Gus could come in off 1 win and get a few title shots. At HW he'll have to work right now, a lot of guys fighting for the top 10 spots so I get why they're having him fight Werdum. He comes in and starches Werdum, that's a good start. If he blows out his back or some shit again, well, what the fuck do you do next?

[Fanny Batter]

He got the Cormier fight coming off that smashing by Rumble too. Won 3 fights in 7 and a half years! Dominick Cruz has won that many fights in that time period. But in 2 of those wins and 2 of the 5 losses he looked a fantastic fighter so who knows how good he is still. We'll see.

This Saturday's event is beyond my fandom. Eye vs. Cavillo main event. Not much supporting it either obviously as that's got top billing. Shows the need to get the international based fighters in play. Card the week after isn't as bad. Loving some of these fighters activity, Roosevelt Roberts fought last week and is fighting on the 20th, Ian Heinisch is doing a three week turnaround the week after too. Gilbert Burns obviously. Real chance to build a name and momentum.

[Nash Diesel]

He got the Cormier fight coming off that smashing by Rumble too. Won 3 fights in 7 and a half years! Dominick Cruz has won that many fights in that time period. But in 2 of those wins and 2 of the 5 losses he looked a fantastic fighter so who knows how good he is still. We'll see.

This Saturday's event is beyond my fandom. Eye vs. Cavillo main event. Not much supporting it either obviously as that's got top billing. Shows the need to get the international based fighters in play. Card the week after isn't as bad. Loving some of these fighters activity, Roosevelt Roberts fought last week and is fighting on the 20th, Ian Heinisch is doing a three week turnaround the week after too. Gilbert Burns obviously. Real chance to build a name and momentum.

Yeah I mean, of the 3 title fights Gus has been in, 2 he lost by split decision against IMHO 2 of the absolute top tier best in the history of the game.

This weekend has a nice headliner. I'd like to see Cynthia get the W here. I think she can pull it off. Eye got murdered in her last fight so she's probably going to play this shit safe.

I'll be honest, I can't speak on the rest of the guy. I saw 2 names that I knew off the top of my head so hopefully a lot of fresh faces make waves for Dana and company and get on some bigger cards eventually.

[Percussion]

Ripping this straight from sherdog, but it's a fairly interesting idea and so what they hey..

Who is currently the best fighter under the age of 30..

• Paulo Costa
• Zabit Magomedsharipov
• Sean O'Malley
• Yair Rodríguez
• Edmen Shahbazyan
• Petr Yan
• Robert Whittaker
• Max Holloway
• Islam Makhachev

Almost impossible to argue anything other than Max's resume. That said I think it's entirely possible when we look back 10 or so years from now Yan may have the most bulletproof career.

Zabit, O'Malley, and Edmen are all hella interesting though. To think how many fights we could/should see from combinations of all of these guys over the coming years.. pretty cool..

[Fanny Batter]

Yan I think has the best chance of getting to the next tier just based on how his early resume has been afforded the chance to get two all time greats on it back to back before stepping into top competition that are in their prime, and he's shown few signs of weakness thus far. Holloway and Whittaker obviously stand above at the moment but have accumulated significant damage already in their careers. Habit doesn't seem to have 5 round cardio and will have to improve that as he reaches the top 5. Yair has a few holes to shore up, he was out pointed over 5 rounds against Zombie until the kill shot and dominated on the ground by Edgar. Islam is inactive. I guess based on youth Edmen and O'Malley have the most potential but haven't been brought along to the levels of the others yet. Costa will likely fade later in his career based on his future likely lying at 205 which is historically an older weight class.

How good is 145 for young names by the way. The 3 mentioned and Ortega is still in his 20's too. Burgos and Ige are on rolls and around the top 10 too. All ridiculously talented and mostly well rounded. The stand up in that division man. Zombie, Volk and Kattar aren't bad for "old men" either!

One notable name not on the list is Geoff Neal, though perhaps that because he turns 30 this Summer. Welterweight is a tough weight class to navigate and he's not been tested too much yet, but his stand up is absolutely a threat to everybody in that division if we can get proof of his TDD. He trains with a great judoka with power in Alhassan so that should be an iron sharpens iron situation. Hoping for a main event against a striker next (Lawler, Luque) then the grapple challenge against a Chiesa or RDA.

[Fanny Batter]

Didn't watch last night, but some relevant results. Calvillo beat Eye on points so probably enters the "get killed by Valentina next" raffle. The gulf in talent between Shevchenko and the rest is the biggest in the sport - not because Valentina is the GOAT or anything (though she is very good), but nobody towards the top of that weight class have any fight changing power or world class wrestling. So nobody's getting her to the ground, nobody's outstriking her, and nobody's landing the heil Mary. At least at Nunes' weight girls like Holm, GDR, Ladd and Anderson COULD, on their day, find the sweet spot. Valentina will reign until Amanda retires, then she'll go up and have a few more competitive fights hopefully.

Marvin Vettori won the co-main. Underrated fighter, took Adesanya to a close decision a couple of years back and has never looked out of place or outclassed even at that level. A person of interest at middleweight. Elsewhere, Julia Avilia looked a potential top 10 threat, Tyson Nam killed a man, and Andre Fili continues to remain somewhat relevant. Feel quite sorry for him actually, his UFC record isn't great but he's losing to elite guys before they're famous (Yair, Kattar, Max, potentially Yusuf), which is a reflection of their quality and not his lack of. He's probably fringe top 15, maybe 20.

Next week's card has the relevance as well as some OG's floating about. Much better. Blaydes vs. Volkov is a fine main event with both guys pretty much the elite of the division. Volkov might have got the call to fight DC at MSG if he didn't get caught last second by the Black Beast, and Blaydes has been pretty much perfect besides his Ngannou fights. Talent-wise they're probably just behind Stipe, DC and Francis at 4 and 5 respectively. Burgos vs. Emmett is a big one at featherweight, both top 10 and on win streaks. Good vs. Muhammad is a banger between 2 guys who have, like Fili, come unstuck against great fighters. Jim fucking Miller against Roosevelt Roberts in a fight I like for Jim. Prelims have got Clay Guida vs. Bobby Green and some decent women's fights.

[Nash Diesel]

First 3 fights ended in under a minute last night. CRAZY.

Cavillo v. Schevchenko wouldn't be too bad. I don't see Cynthia winning but I've seen bigger upsets. It's a shame that Shevchenko has come so close to beating Nunes, many consider it 1-1 but obviously it's 2-0 in favor of Nunes. Making a 3rd fight would honestly come down to a few factors. Superfight is a given, but who's title? Could Nunes make 125??? Does the UFC see value in Shevchenko beyond what they see in Nunes so maybe they roll the dice one last time and see who truly is the best between them.

It's crazy looking at Valentina's record. 3 losses, she avenged the 1 against Liz Carmouche from forever ago. Never been finished in MMA. Only 32 but she's probably had some wars in MT that were harder than the ones in MMA so idk if she's truly in her prime, but if she's not she's fooling the world. It's a shame we won't probably see Nunes v. Cyborg 2 before a part 3 with Valentina.

[Fanny Batter]

The thing with Nunes and Shevchenko is that while they're the two best female MMA competitors, they don't really mesh as rivals or opponents. Dana's probably right in that Zhang and Shevchenko should probably be built into the WMMA superfight down the road if they keep winning. For Nunes, I think you keep her active after the birth of her child and see if she can beat Anderson's 16 fight UFC win streak, providing Khabib doesn't first I guess. 5 to tie, should do that within three years.

[Nash Diesel]

The thing with Nunes and Shevchenko is that while they're the two best female MMA competitors, they don't really mesh as rivals or opponents. Dana's probably right in that Zhang and Shevchenko should probably be built into the WMMA superfight down the road if they keep winning. For Nunes, I think you keep her active after the birth of her child and see if she can beat Anderson's 16 fight UFC win streak, providing Khabib doesn't first I guess. 5 to tie, should do that within three years.

Nunes is talking about possible retirement sooner than later as well. It's the reality of her position. 135....She's cleaned it out and there's no real reason to revisit any of the fights unless by some chance Cat returns on some killer win streak with a W over Cyborg. Cyborg at 135 doesn't happen, a rematch at 145 is probably out the window now.

Nunes v. Cyborg 2 is seriously the only fight that I could see Nunes giving a shit about. She has the W's against Valentina even if they're close calls. It's like trying to put together GSP v. Penn 3. We would have loved it I'm sure, but it didn't make much sense, especially when BJ fell the fuck off but even if he hadn't, still a hard sell without the rubber match aspect.

Zhang v. Shevchenko would be the super fight, I did kind of sleep on Zhang with my earlier posts not even thinking about her. She's a killer. She also has a growing list of fights that could derail that super fight.

[Fanny Batter]

If she gets through the strawweight top 5 then she'd have earned every bit of a title fight. Comfortably the best women's division. She's got options too - Joanna rematch will be big if Joanna is coming off a win or 2, Namajunas/Andrade winner will have eyes on them being on a huge card, and Suarez is undefeated. Potentially an all Chinese fight with Xiaonan if there's a market for that over there.

I've started to sour on immediate rematches because of it. If Volkanovski beats Holloway by split decision for example, that's it for the rivalry already.

[Nash Diesel]

If she gets through the strawweight top 5 then she'd have earned every bit of a title fight. Comfortably the best women's division. She's got options too - Joanna rematch will be big if Joanna is coming off a win or 2, Namajunas/Andrade winner will have eyes on them being on a huge card, and Suarez is undefeated. Potentially an all Chinese fight with Xiaonan if there's a market for that over there.

I've started to sour on immediate rematches because of it. If Volkanovski beats Holloway by split decision for example, that's it for the rivalry already.

Yeah under certain circumstances I don't mind. But like you said, if Volk wins even by SD that's kind of it. I guess it depends on how awesome the fight is. Going back to GSP v. Penn, I loved both fights and while the first one imo was the better, and in the 2nd GSP turned it up on BJ later, I would have paid for a 3rd. Knowing what we know now with how Penn's career went, he probably couldn't shake Grea-SP (see what I tried to do there....lol). I mean, he campaigned for like 5 years to get that 3rd fight to show he was better than GSP.

Anyway.....Superfights are hard to really come by. Personally I'm hoping we get Anderson v. McGregor. McGregor loses, he lost to a guy on the very very short list that could be considered the GOAT. He wins, he beat one of the greats. It's funny, I don't think size is as big of an issue as people think when you realize Anderson has lost to people smaller. Ryo Chonan is not in any way bigger than McGregor. I'm rambling. Peace out!

[Fanny Batter]

Yeah, I don't see the issue with that fight if they both want it, why keep both on ice when you can have something like that that would get the fans talking. It's a freak fight obviously considering the age and weight differences, but it's a filler before the inevitable Conor title fight next year anyway. Conor would win too, Anderson is an old dude now and Conor would hardly lack function at 177 or whatever Silva suggested.

GSP vs. Penn 3 needed a little longer to grow I think. If BJ had beaten Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard he'd have effectively cleared lightweight out at that point. Possibly happens instead of GSP/Shields if that happened. GSP was too big and too good for him once he hit his own peak, but that 2008/09 lightweight Penn was special.

[Fanny Batter]

Curtis Blaydes is firmly in no man's land after last night. In no way marketable and has been stopped twice by the next contender in line, while at worst being the fourth best heavyweight in the world. He'll have to take another fight, probably with Black Beast (if he beats Oleinik), as there's no way, after that championship rounds performance, he A: gets a shot before Ngannou or B: faces Ngannou for the vacant title if Cormier wins and retires. Best case scenario is probably another year from now he fights Stipe after Miocic beats Cormier and Ngannou without accumulating injuries. That's, what, 20% chance at most? If that's the best case, there's no way he'd get a title shot ahead of Black Beast if he tracks up another win after Oleinik. So he'll need to stay active, and he's mad if he thinks he doesn't.

Co-main was a banger. The top 10 at featherweight won't produce a bad fight. Just loads of stand up killers in that division. Ortega/Zombie and Rodriguez/Zabit are FOTY contenders on paper and they're on slate for the summer. Emmett can fight the Kattar/Ige winner as long as his leg isn't fucked, imagine Kattar's boxing against that power!

[Nash Diesel]

I can't sleep on Blaydes but he definitely hasn't earned a title shot over Francis. If by some weird situation occurs where Stipe and Cormier both get hurt, then I GUESS 3rd times a charm for Blaydes against Francis? Lol.

Outside of that....I mean, who do you have him fight? If Lewis wins, that seems reasonable and that would leave enough time for Francis to get the winner of DC/Stipe. Even if DC wins, he's retiring. So you're probably looking at Stipe v. Francis in what, February? Fuck that would mean Blaydes maybe sees a title shot a year from now. Might be good. Work on the stand up, the cardio, add more submissions to the grappling.

[Fanny Batter]

The problem for Blaydes is that it's possible he's an anti-draw at this point, after that fight and embarrassing gasping interview. No chance a year from now he'd be considered for a title shot if Black Beast keeps winning. Derrick hasn't fought Miocic and has a win (yeah, that fight) over Ngannou, so if he's ranked behind Curtis he'd still get the shot based on name value. Blaydes will need to beat him to leave no doubt for a title shot, not on talent just purely on his marketability in comparison to others.

Banger of a main event this weekend, Poirier vs. Hooker. Dustin is one of the more underappreciated fighters in the sport I think. Tremendous human being, always in great fights, good kill shot ratio, and he's an excellent fighter too and has been for a long time. I can't think of a fight I'd want him to lose at this point, I hold him in such high regard. Hooker's a great fighter too with a similar mixture of knockouts and submissions. Granite tough too, he eventually went down against Barboza but that was the most vicious stand up beating I've ever seen. I think there's levels to the game though - his power hasn't translated as he's got to the top 10 (though Al and Felder are ice men too), and he's not quite as varied. I've got Poirier taking it in the championship rounds, working the body until a D'Arce opens up on a desperate takedown attempt.

Not too much else on the card, it fell apart a bit with Ladd/McMann falling off and Ian Heinisch's injury. I do love the Mike Perry vs. Mickey Gall fight though, because Mike's actually a pretty good fighter who has been found out at the top level, but should have bangers with Matt Brown, that guy who beat Brown last, Condit, Belal Muhammad etc. This fight purely exists to get Mike Perry looking like Mike Perry again, because Gall has fuck all on the feet.

[Nash Diesel]

The problem for Blaydes is that it's possible he's an anti-draw at this point, after that fight and embarrassing gasping interview. No chance a year from now he'd be considered for a title shot if Black Beast keeps winning. Derrick hasn't fought Miocic and has a win (yeah, that fight) over Ngannou, so if he's ranked behind Curtis he'd still get the shot based on name value. Blaydes will need to beat him to leave no doubt for a title shot, not on talent just purely on his marketability in comparison to others.

Banger of a main event this weekend, Poirier vs. Hooker. Dustin is one of the more underappreciated fighters in the sport I think. Tremendous human being, always in great fights, good kill shot ratio, and he's an excellent fighter too and has been for a long time. I can't think of a fight I'd want him to lose at this point, I hold him in such high regard. Hooker's a great fighter too with a similar mixture of knockouts and submissions. Granite tough too, he eventually went down against Barboza but that was the most vicious stand up beating I've ever seen. I think there's levels to the game though - his power hasn't translated as he's got to the top 10 (though Al and Felder are ice men too), and he's not quite as varied. I've got Poirier taking it in the championship rounds, working the body until a D'Arce opens up on a desperate takedown attempt.

Not too much else on the card, it fell apart a bit with Ladd/McMann falling off and Ian Heinisch's injury. I do love the Mike Perry vs. Mickey Gall fight though, because Mike's actually a pretty good fighter who has been found out at the top level, but should have bangers with Matt Brown, that guy who beat Brown last, Condit, Belal Muhammad etc. This fight purely exists to get Mike Perry looking like Mike Perry again, because Gall has fuck all on the feet.

Mike Perry has absolutely no place in this world. I think anyone who supports Mike Perry has a disturbing moral compass.

This guy is not an act. He has literally said racist shit toward black people like Michael Jai White and other black men because he's fucking delusional. He's either fucking delusional, or a piece of shit that thinks he's playing games but I don't see it.

I find it hilarious that the only reason he gets a pass is because it's being treated like he's Flip from the movie Whiteboyz.

I don't know, maybe I haven't made it clear in 10 years that I'm not exactly a fan of fighters who do racist shit. I don't play the whole "Oh it's a gimmick" The fuck it is. Pretty sure you don't go around pretending to be racist, or in this idiot's mind, a black man. I hope Gall chokes him out and we are rid of this piece of shit.

[Nash Diesel]

And I agree about DP v. Hooker. This Hooker guy isn't a chump, but he's fallen victim to doing the McGregor routine all the sudden. Hard to predict honestly. DP has been going at a high level for years and while I'm sure Hooker will scream for a title shot if he wins, I don't know if it'll warrant one because I don't see him finishing or owning Dustin.

DP choking him out sounds about right, finishing him with strikes possibly but maybe soften him up for a submission. DP has a great ground game, hard to sleep on his skills.

[Fanny Batter]

Granted about Mike. Geoff Neal running through him like a knife through shit must have blown his tiny brain. Irritating that Perry has been booked before Neal, that's a guy I'd be pushing big as I've said before, but 6 months after that fight he hasn't been booked. Hopefully he gets on that Stipe/DC card against a Lawler or RDA.

Yeah, it's weird people going the outspoken route when good guys like Poirier have got themselves to a good contract and title shots by simply being themselves and putting on great fights. Can't say enough good things about Dustin as a human being. Future Hall of Famer, but his legacy will lie out of the cage and that's a testament to him.

[Fanny Batter]

Fucking hell that main event. Two absolute animals. Poirier edged ahead in the end by banking damage in the firefights, so even though Hooker was out scoring him and hurting him more in those first two rounds, Dustin landed the shots that wore on Dan. Amazing fight and neither man lost a thing, with Poirier's legacy as one of the greatest action fighters of all time not in doubt.

Considering timelines and rankings, we're going to get Tony Ferguson vs. Dustin Poirier aren't we?! There is of course a chance Tony will be shot after the Gaethje beating, but if he's not? Chaos. Absolute chaos.

[Nash Diesel]

I definitely think Tony v. DP would be a great fight and deserves to be seen before we die. 155 is the most dangerous division in my opinion. So much depth and when you think about how guys from 145 and 170 seem to find their way to Lightweight....there's a reason it's been one of it not the deepest division in the last 12-13 years.

[Fanny Batter]

135 through to 170 have crazy depth, I guess based on it being the optimal size for athletes that don't have much of a future in basketball (height) or football (mass). I think it's the division that most combines skill and finishing ability at the moment, with so many of the top guys able to go in the cage and finish one of the other top guys. Welterweight, for example, you're not hanging your hat on Usman, Colby, Wonderboy and Edwards, 4 of the top 7, finishing each other very often, whereas that Khabib, Gaethje, Tony, Conor, Dustin, Hooker, Felder and Oliveira, the current top 8, full of finishers. And great fighters too. Featherweight is approaching that too, with a bunch of animals in the top 10. Bantamweight too. Good time for the sub 170 weight classes, but the 185 and above are currently stagnating a bit. Nice top 10's but not too much depth.

Fight Island starts in a fortnight then. It's looking like they'll be alternating month by month, so July is Fight Island, August is Vegas, and September looks to be Fight Island too with Khabib vs. Gaethje likely. Can't fault that, these last few ESPN cards, while absolutely performing on paper, have been quite shallow in terms of relevance as that loaded Jacksonville triple shot left them a bit short on name US talent who are happy to take a short notice scrap. The cards are pretty damn good over the fortnight, with plenty of under the radar fights on the prelims to get the fighters some action.

[Nash Diesel]

Ringside Collectibles has released the new UFC figures and they look sweet. My son is very excited to get the Max Holloway.

[Percussion]

Gilbert Burns tests positive for COVID-19, out of UFC 251 headliner vs. Kamaru Usman

Well, fuck..

[Fanny Batter]

Should have paid Masvidal! Seriously, it was a hardcore fans dream card but the casual had no interest in Usman/Burns, Masvidal could have named his price and it would have been worth it economically. Cheap bastards.

I've read Usman isn't flying out and the cutting off point for tests has gone so there will be no replacement - should've had a "spare" fight for the PPV title scraps like they have for the flyweight (Pantoja gets moved up if DF misses weight). If the card had Edwards/Covington, Moraes/Font and Zabit/Yair (instead of the other 2 main card fights and the top prelims- Moraes getting that slot) you have ready made solutions.

[Percussion]

Sources: UFC in negotiations for Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251

I'm not holding my breath, but I didn't even expect negotiations at this point..

[Fanny Batter]

Looks nailed on at this point. Unbelievable. Wish it had more than 5 days hype the stingey bastards, but the right fight the whole time. Set Burns vs. Edwards for the next shot when they're back on the island.

[Nash Diesel]

Come on Gamebred! If there was every a savior for the lackluster draws we've had at 170 carrying the title the last 4-5 years it's Jorge.

[Percussion]

Was rather looking forward to Burns/Usman, and while I got nothing against Usman Jorge is def an easy guy to root for.

Just be great if they put together something memorable.

[Nash Diesel]

Was rather looking forward to Burns/Usman, and while I got nothing against Usman Jorge is def an easy guy to root for.

Just be great if they put together something memorable.

I don't see how they won't unless Usman tries to hold Jorge up against the cage and point fight. I don't see Jorge letting that happen but Usman is the type of fighter that makes people not want to watch his fights. Burns was the guy willing to fight for food stamps so I applaud him for at least thinking if he wins the title he'll get a big fight against Jorge.

My question is, will this be title v. title?

[Percussion]

I know I'm in the minority 'hardcore' fan demographic, but I like watching Usman. I don't love watching him, but he fights in a suffocating manner that's technically above reproach and I think it's appreciable. Again, jmo. Also happen to think that Jorge doesn't want to let him get in a rhythm rocking back and forth between striking and takedown attempts. He needs to establish a threat early even if the fight goes long. At any rate it's a pretty dope matchup and fingers crossed it pulls through.

[Nash Diesel]

I know I'm in the minority 'hardcore' fan demographic, but I like watching Usman. I don't love watching him, but he fights in a suffocating manner that's technically above reproach and I think it's appreciable. Again, jmo. Also happen to think that Jorge doesn't want to let him get in a rhythm rocking back and forth between striking and takedown attempts. He needs to establish a threat early even if the fight goes long. At any rate it's a pretty dope matchup and fingers crossed it pulls through.

If you gave me 10 fights to watch of Usman I wouldn't hate them and would enjoy most of them because like you I enjoy watching a variety of fights whether they're technical, bloody, over in 13 seconds. Usman unfortunately is a guy that I personally would rather skip over even if half the time he's giving a seriously good performance that isn't some Jon Fitch lay and pray bullshit. BUT he can be that Jon Fitch bullshit. Plus his personality so you listen to him after having to listen to T-Wood, we need better champions at 170 not just in terms of drawing ability but human beings.

[Fanny Batter]

Masvidal's got the kill shot, and he's durable as all hell. That's the sell. Usman might be 4 10-8's up but that fifth round starts on the feet with a desperate Jorge Masvidal flying across the cage. He'll always be in a fight. Do I think Usman fights a sensible fight and wins without causing or taking significant damage though? Yes. He's a cerebral mixed martial artist.

[Fanny Batter]

So many banging fights inside the next 3 weeks. The PPV is going to get the shine and rightfully so, but there's so many former champions and contenders fighting over the 4 cards. 4 title fights, #1 contender fight at WSW, probable #1 contender fight at middleweight (Till vs. Whitaker winner surely in line after Costa), #1 contender fight at men's 125lbs, Frankie Edgar bantamweight debut against Pedro Munhoz, Rogerio Nogueira retirement fight against Shogun Rua, Alexander Gustafsson heavyweight debut against Fabricio Werdum, Jiri Prochazka promotional debut against Volkan Oezdemir, Hermansson vs. Gastelum, Ige vs. Kattar over 5 rounds, loads of unbeaten and streaking prospects, PVZ vs. Ribas. Just a mad run of events. I just hope it goes off without too many hitches now, as it's going to be fun to watch.

I don't think the likelihood is very high, but the old timer fan in me would love it if Joseph Benavidez, Jose Aldo and Jorge Masvidal were all world champions in 2020. I think I give Aldo the best chance, him going a close 3 rounds with Marlon Moraes gave me hope that he can be effective at bantamweight, and Yan hasn't really faced a real quality operator yet. Some crafty vets and fringe contenders sure, but he's earned the title shot without fighting Moraes, Assauncao, Sterling, Garbrandt, Sandhagen or Munhoz. He's passed the eye test so far, but Aldo is a huge step up in terms of ability to who he's been beating, regardless of how well he's looked. Benavidez I think has started to fade and would need to be first to the punch against DF, and Usman is a freak who manages to implement his skill set to shut his opponent down offensively. Other title fight? Have to favour Volkanovski, though I'd love a Holloway rebound win.

[Fanny Batter]

Mike Perry's surely done then. Recorded punching an old man and using racist language, with the police report suggesting he attacked a woman as well. Stupid cunt.

[Nash Diesel]

Mike Perry's surely done then. Recorded punching an old man and using racist language, with the police report suggesting he attacked a woman as well. Stupid cunt.

It's funny because the other day you were hyping him up and then my oldest son tells me he's becoming one of his favorite fighters until I showed him the stuff he was saying about Michael Jai White and yeah....What do people expect? He's not the only delusional white guy out there who listens to Post Malone and thinks it's all good because he has face tats lol.

I wouldn't be shocked if he gets booked again in 2020 by the UFC, they're idiots.

[Fanny Batter]

I just like seeing him stay around so he can get hit in the head to be honest, power and chin makes him a very watchable fighter. But yeah, reprehensible bloke that I'd passed off as just being stupid and naive, he's both, but he's a bigot and a thug too clearly.

There's definitely a level of bias with the disciplinary system in place. They've sacked guys for racism in the past (think it was the heavyweight, Cody East maybe, white supremacist) but he was shite. Will Chope got sacked for historical domestic abuse. They did suspend Travis Browne for it. Generally bar fights they let slide (Jeremy Stephens, Conor), but if he has hit a woman then he's toast I think.

[Nash Diesel]

I just like seeing him stay around so he can get hit in the head to be honest, power and chin makes him a very watchable fighter. But yeah, reprehensible bloke that I'd passed off as just being stupid and naive, he's both, but he's a bigot and a thug too clearly.

There's definitely a level of bias with the disciplinary system in place. They've sacked guys for racism in the past (think it was the heavyweight, Cody East maybe, white supremacist) but he was shite. Will Chope got sacked for historical domestic abuse. They did suspend Travis Browne for it. Generally bar fights they let slide (Jeremy Stephens, Conor), but if he has hit a woman then he's toast I think.

Man I have stories for days about Jeremy Stephens. One of those guys who didn't really mature until he hit 30, and even then....

I think for Perry he should have been released awhile ago. Him dropping the N bomb constantly and even directing it toward black people, there's zero reason behind keeping someone employed just because they're a wigger.

[Fanny Batter]

I can imagine about Jeremy, he always seemed like he'd throw down if asked whether it was in a cage or a barbers. Mad bastard.

You're probably right about Perry. If he was an employee he would have been, this "independent contractor" designation pretty much allows for abhorrent behaviour because you're not legally seen as representing the company. For me though, you can't have racist thugs in the promotion. That's just obvious to me but I guess free speech and hate speech has an ambiguity to enough people that it's a blurred line.

[Nash Diesel]

I can imagine about Jeremy, he always seemed like he'd throw down if asked whether it was in a cage or a barbers. Mad bastard.

You're probably right about Perry. If he was an employee he would have been, this "independent contractor" designation pretty much allows for abhorrent behaviour because you're not legally seen as representing the company. For me though, you can't have racist thugs in the promotion. That's just obvious to me but I guess free speech and hate speech has an ambiguity to enough people that it's a blurred line.

There's no blurred line. He fights exclusively for the UFC, he represents their brand, and for the last 2 years they've allowed this piece of garbage to say the dumbest shit ever simply because it comes across as ignorant and not hateful. He's fuckin delusional, it's sick. He's not a draw, quasi-exciting in the cage but so what?

Then again, this is the same company that turns a blind eye to Jon Jones and he's probably the biggest piece of trash since Joe San.

[Fanny Batter]

Yeah they have never really disciplined behaviour outside of domestic violence. Jon Jones actually caused a miscarriage! They do not run a tight ship, probably because Dana himself doesn't want to get exposed for any of the shady shit he probably gets up to. It is mad that Drew Brees can say something that was ignorant but not from an area of hate and get (rightfully) called up on it, but these UFC fighters can bang people out in restaurants and say actual hateful shit and it barely gets acknowledged. It's like poor behaviour is expected in this sport, but rightfully stamped out elsewhere.

This card tomorrow is fucking ace. It might be one of the more potentially historical of all time.

Usman vs. Masvidal is huge. Masvidal wins and he's in that rare superstar position. Maybe he already is. But the sport is his oyster if he pulls it off. On the flip side, Usman is putting together a legendary run. He'd go up to 12-0 in the Octagon, up there with Khabib. If he wins, he can continue on that path. His fighting style and personality will never lead to stardom so this may end up being his biggest fight in terms of profile. Stylistically Usman hasn't fought anybody like Masvidal, but Jorge has struggled against grapplers. Struggling is probably overplayed though. He barely gets out pointed by grapplers. Masvidal historically loses because he doesn't do enough. He seems to have got through that psych block. Usman will force him to fight which probably favours Jorge, honestly. When he gets in a sparring pattern he's at his technical best but it doesn't help him win fights. However, just because it suits him more, doesn't mean Kamaru won't beat him up. He's really good. I think he goes grapple heavy. I like Masvidal getting his licks in in the clinch but losing the positional battle, before fading late and getting beat up on the mat. Usman wins handedly for me but Masvidal does enough in the first 3 rounds to say he's been robbed, like Max in the last Alex fight. Full camp rematch later in the year based on that.

Volkanovski vs. Holloway 2 I'm excited about. The first bout didn't catch fire but these guys have spent 25 minutes in the cage with each other so should get at it early. Holloway is smart and will have made adjustments, but Volkanovski is as cerebral as any fighter so he'll have a plan B. It's body work for me. Max needs to dig to the body more. He gained later in the fight but I think he'll have a greater chance at really gaining momentum if he banks the work to drown him late. I think he will, too. I like that he hasn't sparred. He fought for 75 minutes last year. Took a lot of clean shots against Poirier and carried them into the next 2 contests. I think he'll be rejuvenated and take a really close decision that requires a trilogy rematch. If Volk wins though, all of a sudden he's a top 5 all time featherweight and starting a legendary reign, still unbeaten in the Octagon too. Holloway puts a stamp on UFC featherweight GOAT with a win. Major fight.

Aldo vs. Yan another huge one. It's like this card is surging legends vs. Hall of Famers. Yan another guy unbeaten in the UFC and just a lethal fighter. Aldo of course is undoubtedly a top 10 all time fighter and at his early 10's peak possibly the most talented fighter in history. Post prime Aldo, Volk fight aside, has shown plenty of fight still. He's less tactical, more dangerous and thus more vulnerable. This goes one of two ways for me, either he meets fire with fire and he lands something huge early for the win, or he starts hot, fades and melts late. The latter more likely as Yan looks solid, but so did Moicano and Aldo blew through him, a much bigger guy, a year ago. Another legendary fight, an Aldo win puts him in that Jones, GSP, Silva, Fedor tier, a loss would potentially have him fall down the list as the losses mount up. I've got Yan in 3, but would love an Aldo win. As I've said, all 3 underdogs winning would be iconic, but the favourites winning would forge 3 new legends.

Rose vs. Andrade 2 is another big fight. The first fight was great, with an excellent performance from Rose and a spectacular come from behind knockout from Jessica. Namajunas is the better fighter, but Andrade is slightly more dangerous in all facets. She can end it anywhere at any time, whereas Rose is more likely to have to break her down. I see the latter happening, with Andrade getting hurt and choked out in 2 rounds in a beat down of the year level performance to set up Rose vs. Zhang for the title.

PVZ has her foot out of the door. Ribas looks a great talent who has an infectious personality. It's essentially a passing the torch fight, without the plastic tits. Ribas overwhelms her and finishes it by choke inside the distance. Fair play to Paige parylaying being a decent enough fighter into stardom, but this is the end of the fight journey.

Volkan vs. Jiri might be a firefight. Big step up for Jiri, Volkan got the doors blown off by DC but he's a very good fighter. Ran Reyes close and faded against Smith, but well in both fights. Jiri is RIZIN champ but doesn't have anybody as remotely good as Oezdemir on his resume. I've got Oezdemir knocking him out inside a round.

Salikhov vs. Dos Santos is a spinning shit banger of a fight. Looking forward to this one. 2 very solid strikers. All depends on strategy, as there's a clear path to victory with his grappling for dos Santos but it's easy to get lulled into a kickboxing battle. If he does, Muslim gets the better of it. I'd say he's smart enough to get it to the deck, probably after a rough opening, and taps him out in the second.

Amirikani vs. Henry should be solid enough. Mr Finland is decent.

Leonardo Santos fighting again is a novelty. He knocked out Kevin Lee on that McGregor vs. Aldo card, and CONOR has fought way more since then. But he's on a great win streak, great grapple, got the one punch power. Fighting an unbeaten guy and at 40 he needs to be winning and getting back out there quickly.

Early prelims are early prelims. Last 4 prelims solid, main card one of the best ever.

[Nash Diesel]

I just don't know what else Masvidal has to do to get the respect against grapplers he apparently never gets despite beating some of the best. The weight cut will definitely be an issue IMO for Masvidal but he's a different breed. He's a fighter's fighter. Usman is a guy who was talked into MMA and always been a bitch ass fool (remember him on TUF? Always complaining). He's a guy you don't want as champion. Not exciting, not a draw, no fans, but I have respect for him for being champion in 1 of the 2 toughest, deepest divisions out there. No easy fights, even the vets like Maia still pose threats.

Pulling for Holloway. He wins, he's IMHO the best fighter in the UFC today.

Aldo v. Yan is crazy. I don't think Aldo should be in this fight, the only reason I understood him being in a title fight was to try and draw since Cejudo can't draw his own family to watch him fight let alone fans. But now that Cejudo is out, why is Aldo still in? Odd. Marlon deserves the shot against Yan.

Pulling for Thug Rose. Jesus Christ this card is pretty fucking stacked.

[Fanny Batter]

The Maia fight with Masvidal stays in my mind, if he's that Masvidal he gets run through. Mentally he's on another level to that now, and 3 more years of work. He can get it done. Usman really is excellent though. Not exciting or compelling, just a high IQ and a well rounded, methodical skillset. But Masvidal's definitely the best striker he's faced, and probably the most durable too. It's a great fight. Imagine if he pulls off another flying knee! It will be the most legendary title win of all time if he wins, 6 days notice, different continent, no crowd, after the story of his whole career. Maybe it's destiny. Bisping knocking out Rockhold is the measuring stick, but this would top that for me.

Holloway's style against Yair, Zabit or Zombie would be fireworks. Volkanovski is a great fighter but he'd neutralise those guys rather than take them head on skill for skill. What a division for monsters that is, ridiculous kill ratio on a lot of them.

Yeah, Marlon vs. Aldo was close but no robbery, and it's a shame Moraes has effectively been iced for winning a fight. He was meant to fight Yan before COVID, mind. I think Aldo will be better after the second weight cut, so I'm expecting the fight of the night out of it. Oddly, I think Sterling beats Yan and Aldo beats Sterling, so we'll see how it plays out.

[Percussion]

Ridiculous card all around.. action, stakes, characters.

Think Usman is just too much all around. Mas really is his nickname and it's a hard thing not to root for, but Usman is something else altogether in high stakes mma.

Rooting for Max to put it all together in a well-rested showing at his correct weight if for nothing else to see these two in a nuclear rubber match for everything.

My brain says Yan but my heart says Aldo. Wouldn't be mad at all either way but Yan can always bounce back big from a hard fought loss while Aldo's window as 'that guy' is closing fast.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

So, all these fights -- are these all taking place on Dana White's private "Mortal Kombat" island, or what?

Should we expect the losers to have their souls ripped out by an Asian sorcerer?

[Percussion]

It's on an island in the United Arab Emirates that's already hosted a few UFC events before.

'Fight Island' just gets all the attention. Imagine that.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

It's on an island in the United Arab Emirates that's already hosted a few UFC events before.

'Fight Island' just gets all the attention. Imagine that.

As long as they have to take a magic boat shaped like a dragon to get there, I'm okay with that.

[Kdestiny]

Usman may win this fight, but Masvidal is tough enough to withstand a lot of damage and the power to knock anyone out at anytime.

Should be fun.

[WWXChairman]

There's been an uptick in UFC fighters showing interest in WWE, I wonder if Usman will toss his hat in there.

[Fanny Batter]

Yeah it's just been well marketed obviously. They hosted the Khabib fight there last September, it's not new. Though they have put the whole fight operation in a bubble for the fights so it is literally a fight island this time, as the whole operation on the island is built around the fights.

[Fanny Batter]

Flyweight title fight next weekend is in jeopardy, with Figuieredo (if anybody needs a nickname it's that guy) posting a positive test for COVID - he's getting another test done but the likelihood given his weight cutting issues is that he'll be out even if he gets clearance. Pantoja would go from the main card opener to fight Benavidez for the belt. Honestly, prefer a winnable fight for Benavidez so I wouldn't be too upset about that, hopefully get that feel good moment and give DF the winner.

[JuveLeo]

Anybody watching right now? Pretty stacked card tonight. Im excited for Holloway/Volkanovski.. don't really know who's going to take that.

I think Usman grinds Masvidal for the win

[JuveLeo]

Horrible refereeing on the Yan Aldo fight. Aldo probably took at least 30 to 40 shots and he did not stop it. I understand he's trying to give him chances, but Aldo was just there in a turtle position taking repeated shots. Not intelligently defending himself at all. Aldo is a warrior but that was tough to watch

[Fanny Batter]

Yeah, it was over as a contest at that point. If Aldo's up 4 rounds maybe you let it go that long, but he was only going to lose on the scorecards. Thus, you save him from himself.

Volkanovski showed championship smarts by making adjustments late. Tale of two halves, with the third being really close. Holloway is still elite but I guess he gets bumped to "fun fights" category for now.

Oh man, that Usman fight reminded me so much of the GSP reign. Vaunted strikers and he'd just shut it down. Not as dominant as Georges, but equally as effective. You can't blame him, but hella frustrating.

The champions between bantamweight and light heavyweight are a combined 68-1 in the UFC, with the 1 being that DQ loss of Jones. We're entering a new era it seems, I can't remember a more dominant roster of champions since maybe Summer 2011?

[Nash Diesel]

I had Aldo winning that fight on the scorecards so a little depressing to see a guy get a gifted title shot, come that close and lose.

JORGE. FUCK. I was actually shocked at how little Usman tried to do other than headbutts and footstomps. What the fuck is he Chris Lebend? lol. I know Masvidal was staying in shape and props to him for jumping in. Very rare to do we see someone jump only 6-12 days prior and walk away with the strap. A few more fights, maybe we see them rematch. I'll be honest, if Jorge can win his next fight and Usman loses the title to Burns, then I see nothing but Burns v. Jorge in the future.

Right now 170 is not really poppin with draws outside of Jorge and the bouncing up and down of McGregor. Not a long line of legit no doubt contenders either.

Holloway...I'll be honest this dude has been robbed TWICE now against this guy. Why? Holloway won this fight 4-1.

[Fanny Batter]

Jorge has the built in grudge matches with Leon and Colby, the Nate rematch and maybe Conor if he wants to stay out until a COVID cure. Usman vs. Burns is the co-main to Stipe vs. Francis 2 or something at the end of the year.

Aldo was at best 2-2 going into the fifth. He fought well but that pressure just swamped him in the end. Long career. Can see him waiting for Dillashaw's return for his next fight. Yan vs. Sterling is a good title fight.

Timeline for Volk is bad. Wonder if they just scrap the Zombie/Ortega fight and just give Zombie the shot, with that winner fighting the Yair/Zabit winner? Ortega can fight Wednesday's winner.

[Tainted Eclipse]

Sources: UFC 251 generates around 1.3 million PPV buys, most since 2018
https://www.tapology.com/search/mma-...w-buys-buyrate

pretty stunning number if true. obvious jorge had a massive year last year but i wouldn't have pegged him a mcgregor-level draw.

[Fanny Batter]

Perfect storm with the circumstances. Not that it wouldn't have done excellent, probably high Jones level numbers, but the 6 days notice, the Fight Island, the lack of other sports, and to a lesser extend the depth of the card, nudged it up significantly. There will be calls of "Usman killed the casual audience" bollocks but the OG's will remember Rashad and Rampage pulling huge numbers for a likewise dull fight and still we're here. Big fights are big fights, they have neither positive nor negative impacts on fandom regardless of how good they are. Glad Jorge held out for more on the PPV, he'll have made a killing hopefully.

We roll on on Wednesday. It's the weakest of the Fight Island cards but there's still plenty to like. Main event should be a war, Kattar has grown into one of my favourite fighters to watch with his boxing, and Ige brings it every time. Elsewhere, Razak Alhassan comes back after being found not guilty of rape. He might be the hardest hitter in the sport after Ngannou. Monster one shot power. Riviera vs. Stamaan is a tidy fight too. Not much else, it fell apart a bit with COVID tests so the prelims I'm a bit blind too.

[Nash Diesel]

Perfect storm with the circumstances. Not that it wouldn't have done excellent, probably high Jones level numbers, but the 6 days notice, the Fight Island, the lack of other sports, and to a lesser extend the depth of the card, nudged it up significantly. There will be calls of "Usman killed the casual audience" bollocks but the OG's will remember Rashad and Rampage pulling huge numbers for a likewise dull fight and still we're here. Big fights are big fights, they have neither positive nor negative impacts on fandom regardless of how good they are. Glad Jorge held out for more on the PPV, he'll have made a killing hopefully.

We roll on on Wednesday. It's the weakest of the Fight Island cards but there's still plenty to like. Main event should be a war, Kattar has grown into one of my favourite fighters to watch with his boxing, and Ige brings it every time. Elsewhere, Razak Alhassan comes back after being found not guilty of rape. He might be the hardest hitter in the sport after Ngannou. Monster one shot power. Riviera vs. Stamaan is a tidy fight too. Not much else, it fell apart a bit with COVID tests so the prelims I'm a bit blind too.

1.3 million buys is 1.3 million buys. Masvidal has proved his worth. I won't sleep on Holloway or Aldo. 3 title fights definitely helps but it definitely matters who is fighting.

Usman might have killed off some casuals but that's ok. I don't know how many casuals even know Usman and I have yet to read or hear a single person shit on Jorge so I think we're all good. The fact is more hardcore fans are shitting on Usman, they can speak for the casuals all they want but the casuals don't care. They know 2 styles: boring wrestling or bloody bangin'.

Not really feeling this upcoming card.

[Tainted Eclipse]

is casuals getting killed off by boring fights something that actually happens? weren't mayweather's fights always boring? people might have a sour taste in their mouth after a boring fight they paid money for, but i think people don't really "learn their lesson" in this case. if there are compelling personalities who get over as stars, people will be excited to see them fight even if the last fight sucked.

[Nash Diesel]

is casuals getting killed off by boring fights something that actually happens? weren't mayweather's fights always boring? people might have a sour taste in their mouth after a boring fight they paid money for, but i think people don't really "learn their lesson" in this case. if there are compelling personalities who get over as stars, people will be excited to see them fight even if the last fight sucked.

It depends.

Like you said, personalities matter. Usman isn't Mayweather by any stretch of the imagination. You're more Floyd Mayweather than Usman. Are you familiar with Jon Fitch? That's Usman. Finishes dudes once in awhile, but mostly uses his pressure and flypaper ground control to win fights while also boring the fuck out of people.

And the funny thing is, the guy never drew a dime, but when he finally got released all the sudden people gave a shit about him and praised his style lol. Usman is a very unlikeable, he's been a shithead since TUF and it's a shame the last 2 champions have been more miss than hit when it comes to exciting fights. I definitely could see fans not tuning in to watch Usman, it'll be 100% about who he faces.

[Fanny Batter]

Usman's slowly putting together a legendary resume though. Only 4 fights away from tying Anderson's UFC winning streak. I think his next 2 fights will struggle (Burns and Edwards?), but after that he'll be on track for icon status if he gets through them. Say if they can keep Masvidal cooking in the interim (Diaz 2 and Pettis maybe?) then part 2 does a huge number at the end of 2021. Then the fight after that would be for the record so there would be intrigue.

I just hope these exciting fighters that are bubbling slightly off the radar get some traction. Usman vs. Michael Chiesa might be the least appealing title fight of all time. If Geoff Neal, Razzak Alhassan, Miguel Baeza, Santiago Ponzinibbio or Vicente Luque can put the wins together, I want to see them fight Usman. Masvidal aside, and Burns bell to bell, the top of that division lacks excitement. Compare that to that 155 bubble underneath Khabib (Ferguson, Poirier, Conor, Gaethje and Hooker, do any of those guys ever fight without getting a bonus?!) and you can see why there's less hype for Usman.

Looking forward to Yan vs. Sterling. First legit, deserved title fight at 135 since what, Cody vs. TJ 1? The last 4 title fights have had at least 1 guy coming off a loss, or not having won a fight in the division either ever or in years. Hopefully be the start of a legit era for 135, the depth is there to create strong number 1 contenders.

[Mik]

Mayweather is a total anomaly. People talk about wanting to see the dominant fighter lose, but that only tends to turn into ppv buys when they seem like an unbeatable monster crushing people like Rousey or Cyborg. I can’t think of another predominantly defensive fighter who usually has boring fights that have become box office draws other than Floyd. I guess GSP was close, but he established his audience when he was mostly still crushing people and not too many of his fights were that boring.

[Nash Diesel]

I just read that Marlon Moraes accepted a fight against Cody Garbrandt and then tested positive for Covid. Not sure if that matters but fuck that would be a beastly fight.