I'm not really a huge fan of any particular style over any others. I just like the totality of mma and I like to watch some dudes impose their will on others. It's just part of the competition. One day someone will clip the fuck out of Usman and/or impose their will on him physically and take the strap. As of yet no one can and I'm intrigued.
Oh yeah for sure. I know there people all about the Woodley-Usman fight for that very reason. It was what made the GSP-Jon Fitch good imo. Fitch was so good and point fighting and being a human blanket. GSP came in and basically no, this is who you do it and that's what GSP does so well. Takes your gameplan and flips it on you and does it better. Striking, grappling, didn't matter. Nick Diaz, great boxer, picked apart on the feet and had nothing off his back despite being a god off his back, GSP shut that shit down.Originally Posted by Percussion
It's too bad GSP is pushing 40, past his prime imo. These calls out by people over the years would have been cool 5 years ago.
Main event is sneaky relevant tonight considering the lack of depth at heavyweight. Overeem has heavy losses to Ngannou, Blaydes and Rozenstruick (though he was up until the hail mary in that one), but he's parked behind just them and Black Beast really. Sakai is unbeaten in the UFC and therefore can get in the mix with those guys with a win. He's not aesthetically very good but he's underrated and could give Reem some trouble. I'm hoping Reem wins though and stays in the bubble, he can't be too far off a title shot with a couple of top 10 wins.
OSP vs. Menifield could be decent too, OSP fights range from a frustrating crawl to a mad finish, never know what you're getting win or lose. Looking forward to Pereira as well, nutcase.
This middle age transition by Alistair Overeem, going from front running flake to resilient hard case is something else. I don't think he's EVER come back from a rough start to win a fight, now he's done it twice in four months. If ever somebody's legacy has improved via persistence it's him, so many setbacks but he always dusts himself off and makes another go at it. Seventeen knockout losses in recorded combat competition but is somehow tougher now than he was 15 years ago. Can't help but admire the man. Sakai fought well but had no answer from the bottom, amazing how that single leg worked like clockwork every time.
OSP continues to be weird. One of the rare fighters that has a win and a loss in all 3 rounds and points in UFC competition. Was a good KO, Menifield needs to lose some of that muscle and try 185, he's not got the frame to handle the bigger boys and his cardio sucks.
Reem is incredible really. His fight iq and inability to defend himself under pressure or fight back from deep waters was always his failing, now it’s his strength.
Arlovski is somewhat similar, but that's been to the detriment of his offensive skills. Reem still has the firepower and versatility. They really need to fuck that Blaydes/Lewis match off and go Lewis/Reem and Blaydes/Rozenstruik - essentially the winner of the former challenges if Ngannou beats Miocic, and if Miocic wins the winner of the latter takes it. Though I guess the Jon Jones sized spoiler means if Blaydes and Ngannou won they could go straight to the Ngannou vs. Jones blockbuster. Looking like the heavyweight title fight is January at the earliest so International Fight Week next year for the Jones shot sounds likely enough.
Rumor has it Nick Diaz is returning to MMA in 2021. Everyone and their mom claims that a fight with them against Diaz makes perfect sense. Let's be honest, this dude isn't coming back. He doesn't want shit to do with getting hit in a controlled environment. He's better off throwing hands in situations he knows 40 people will break it up lol.
No chance Diaz fights again. He's in this weird paradox where he's in no way relevant from a ranking perspective yet too much of a draw to fight anybody that isn't a draw themselves. And generally, people are draws for being relevant from a ranking perspective. An enigma. Anybody that has been a star at 170 or 185 who have also fallen from relevance have had their stars dim drastically like Weidman and Lawler. You can't comprehend matching a guy who hasn't won in 9 years with a Masvidal or a Conor, when they're both likely a win from a title shot. At an absolute push he fights Condit in a revenge bout if Carlos can get a win. But that's a huge push given how far he's fallen off. Not happening.
Dreadful fight card tonight. First one I've skipped in a while. Not even worth discussing. Next weekend has a few banging fights though, Woodley vs. Covington, Cowboy vs. Price, Spann vs. Walker, the return of Chimaev after his 2 routs in 10 days on Fight Island, Dern vs. Markos and Holland vs. Stewart, possibly the best main card TV offering of the year.
Yup, I'll just be checking the results from tonight tomorrow morning.
I'd be interested in seeing Diaz vs Masvidal. It would sell too. I also think that Masvidal would take it and so would Diaz.
I'd be interested in it, but I'm not sure it would be in any way logical. Masvidal is a top 5 welterweight, and Diaz hasn't fought in so long. I think you can comprehend it with Diaz coming back and beating a Cerrone or Maia, but I'd prefer to see a number by Diaz's name to sign off on a Masvidal fight just for legitimacy. But saying that, it's got absolute banger written all over it.
Any thoughts on Chimaev vs. Maia, if Chimaev wins next week? Not sure I like rushing him into that level, nor essentially giving up Maia as an assumed scalp. I like the guys confidence and he's shown all the potential in the world, but if he wins he's a top 15 fighter already and you're already putting him in there with the Luque's and Magny's before you've let the hype really gain pace, and if he loses he's lost to an (albeit legendary) old man. If you wanted a sacrificial lamb with a name attached, Condit is right there with the frailties to make Chimaev a heavy favourite without rushing him into the rankings.
Hill got screwed again tonight. Judge gave Michelle 49-46? Yeah, ok.
Ferguson vs. Poirier is no longer scheduled because they won't give Dustin the raise he asked for. Tight bastards. If anybody deserves the world it's that guy, he is value for money every single fight, and more importantly he contributes significantly to charitable organisations. Make a man like that rich and the world becomes richer. But UFC going to UFC.
Didn't watch last night, but not surprised Angela got robbed again. Her style isn't aesthetically eye catching, even though she's winning given the criteria given to win a fight. Shame. I see Ed Herman won again to make it three straight, has to be one of the most tenured fighters in the company at this stage? Been chugging along for 14 years without even coming close to a title shot. Generally guys that have been there ages had a high peak, decent popularity and keep their spot based on that, Ed has basically managed to just about retain his spot all this time mostly on prelim cards. Perseverance.
The fact that the talk is Diaz would return in LATE 2021 shows it's just more bullshit out of him. He doesn't want to fight. It's that simple, these dudes do not want to fight. It's never been about money it's just how they are, especially Nick. If anyone ever saw that in-depth interview with him awhile back the dude is dealing with a lot of shit mentally. He has serious coping issues and he absolutely 100% can't handle the pressure of being a UFC fighter. He had no problem in Strikeforce but once he came back to the UFC it was back to introverted Nick Diaz.
I'd question if that guy was every a real draw. 3 of his last 4 UFC fights were against absolute legends that were proven draws. Probably if he comes back he isn't fighting someone in the middle, he's fighting a top guy or a very very well known legend.
This Chiameav dude is already old lol. Fuck this guy and hopefully he fucking loses.
Total bullshit this fight isn't happening over money. Once again the top fighters are wondering why it's such an issue for a company who's "President" is making 4-5x the amount of top fighters not named Conor but they can't put a little more in DP's bank account? Savages.
Dude did you catch that Herman fight? Super Super Super controversial. Herman benefited enormously from this ref's unfortunate decision to say Ed was hit with a low blow when in fact it was a knee to the stomach.
Poor Angie Hill. I had it Karate Hottie. I was also a little shocked people thought this was the original main event. Many fans on the internet shitting on the UFC for making this the main event, not realizing the original fell through just a couple weeks ago. I mean fuck, the one prior lost like 5 bouts within 12 hours due to Covid-19.
They need to change the rules to allow immediate replays. While they're at it switch out their shitty gloves for the ones Gateje and his coach showed Joe Rogan so we stop getting so many eye pokes.
Those gloves need field tested. You would still get poked in the eye by those. Hard to tell if they would be any better but the reality is, the gloves they have now are not that great.
Immediate replays are used so few and far between in sports in general so I wouldn't be negative to them using it but holy shit you'd be stopping a lot of fights and killing a lot of momentum by stopping that fight just to make sure something was a low blow or an eye poke.
Not a horrible card this weekend. The main event should be decent. I'm not fan of either guy, nothing about either man excites me enough to watch their fight and show any kind of support toward people like Colby Covington.
Very excited to see Niko Price v. Donald Cerrone. Dern v. Markos should be an interesting fight considering both are good on the ground so hopefully we get something exciting there.
What a picture. I wish Khabib was there.
I really hope it doesn't fall through though.
Deserves the opportunity to fight in the UFC, but ridiculous all round by UFC. They'll be paying the guy to just weigh in rather than, you know, paying Poirier extra to fight.
He's probably paying the guy less than the difference between DP's contract and the increase he wanted just for the chance. Imagine if you're Chandler and Gaethje misses weight. Chandler is in the title fight right?
This makes me think they're going to be able to piece together Tony v. Dustin. Why wouldn't they have TONY be the back up?
Too bad Gaethje is there because I wouldn't be negative to a Mars Attacks scenario with the other assclowns.
What a picture. I wish Khabib was there.
I think they can justify Dustin's demands more for a five round fight, so I'd expect that to headline an ESPN card in November. That's what I'm presuming. To be fair, it should be a headline attraction fought over the championship distance.
The look on Ferg's face if something were to happen to Gaethje that allowed Chandler to swoop in and fight Khabib for the undisputed title in his octagon debut..
Pricefuckinless.
Who knows....maybe the gods are saving us from Khabib and Tony fighting because it would be the worst fight of all time.....? Hard to tell why they won't let us have this one.
Apparently Tony was offered to fight Chandler but he didn't want to do it. That's how Chandler ended up in the backup spot. Which sort of makes sense because Khabib has to be more likely to not make the fight and I don't have much interest in seeing Justin beating Tony again.
I heard Dustin also turned down the fight out of respect to Tony. Weird. Idk, maybe they don't see value in Chandler like the UFC does.
I can understand not wanting to take on a debuting fighter like Chandler from the position each of them are in, lots of risk with a debatable amount of reward.
And like FB alluded to earlier the doors still open to them main eventing a ppv and still getting paid.
Tyron decked out in BLM and "Legalize Being Black" gear had to make the Trump Sisters "happy" . You could see the disgust in Dana and his son's eyes when T-Wood came out.
I'll also say this, did not realize there was good 2-3 inch height diff between Klansman Kolby Kovington and T-Wood.
You sympathize with Tyron because you're both race baiters. Tyron is just doing whatever he can to try to get himself some fans because no one likes his boring ass.
“The only race there is in this fight is the race to get him out of the UFC.”-Colby
Tyrons walk out theme:
Khamzat is an animal. One punch knockout power to go with the grappling acumen, definitely a person of interest but chin, cardio, heart etc are still question marks. All the skills but we'll see with the step up if he has the intangibles. The signs are good.
Cowboy had a close fight with a good fighter in Niko Price, with the draw the fair result after the fouls. Give him a big step down next, a Tim Means or Alan Jouban or something.
Tyron Woodley is absolutely shot to shit. He's the JDS of 170, can't keep his back off the cage and gets dominated accordingly. Covington no doubt is a very good fighter, but he's not a fun watch. Maybe just match him and Usman again as they're each others only fun fight honestly.
Derns sub hurt my arm just watching.
Johnny Walker had me worried but I'm glad he pulled off the win.
I want Khamzat on the UFC 254 card. It's my birthday weekend and that would make it really great.
Cowboy shouldn't have shaved his beard. He was saying at the press conference he had to man up and talk himself out of taking a knee in round 1 and stop being a pussy. He also said he didn't show up tonight, didn't know why, didn't have fun and probably won't fight the rest of 2020. He wants to take enough time off he starts to miss fighting. He also might see a sports psychologist.
At the end of the day Tyrons woke pandering couldn't save him. He looked ready to quit after the elbows against the cage. It's time to retire or go to Bellator. Colby cuts great promos. I think I'd like to see him vs Mas Vidal.
Hate to say it, but no black fighter is going to be particularly popular covered in #BLM shit.
UFC is still, at its heart, a sport for stupid, white rednecks to watch. They'll latch onto a big, badass black dude if he wins a lot and has good fights. But these are the same redneck fucks who probably voted for Trump, wear MAGA hats, and "don't want politics in my kung-fu fighting, y'all!".
Bad idea.
Bad idea especially if the guy came out dressed in all that shit, pandering to the SJW's watching UFC, and he got his ass flattened. That's a bad combination. Focus more on the fight and less on making your gear look like an angry Tweet, dude.
The same people who say they don’t like Woodley for his politics, want Colby to beat him...one of the most politically blatant fighters.
Woodley probably needs to head out to Bellator, he’s in Weidman and sadly Lawler territory. Can’t match him up with anyone in the top 10 and assure a victory.
Dern looked good at the weight. Walker looks like he’s a single punch away from winning or losing at any point. Hard to know how much of that is just his clumsy footwork. He’s like Bambi on ice, can barely walk straight at the best of times.
You just know that Khamzat has a granite chin too.
He grew up in Ferguson, Missouri, he's hardly pandering to a crowd, he's lived through shite and trying to make a difference. Say all you will about Woodley the fighter, he deserves some flak for his passive performances, but his character is an authentic one based off lived experiences in his community, unlike Colby's lowest common denominator horseshit.
Anyone else miss the good old days of UFC, when guys who had absolutely no idea what the fuck they were doing got booked to fight, because they were all either -- 1. Great liars or 2. Shameless self-promoters?
I know the action of modern UFC is miles ahead of like 90's UFC. But there was something about some random muscle head Chad developing his "own fight system" and getting bodied by somebody who, even if they knew what they were doing by 1998 standards, wouldn't make it off the popcorn matches in 2020. The personalities and the idiots who tried the shit they saw in Van-Damme movies were just more fun than a "good" fight now.
Maybe I've read too many Seanbaby articles and now I'm just nostalgic for Tank Abbott and Dan Severn.
I just remember a friend of mine renting some UFC tapes from our local video store. You actually needed to show ID to get them, and the only other thing they did that for was porno (and some anime), but my pal knew the kid working there and he let him rent them.
And that silly shit was like some whacked out combination of The WWF and Bloodsport. Absolutely nothing classy about it. It looked like a redneck version of "Mortal Kombat". One dimensional fighters, guys who had no chance because they didn't know how to fight, big, muscle heads who looked like they'd pop if you stuck them with a pin, freak show fighters, super tall guys, super fat guys, 592 Gracies every show, and then the occasional guy who looked like he knew what he was doing. At least by the standards of the time.
Man, this shit used to be fun. Before it went all mainstream and "legitimate".
Last edited by Spudz Mackenzie; September 20th, 2020 at 5:01 AM.
I think there were elements of it in the MMA world long after the UFC went legit, but I think the monopoly that came about with Fight Pass has gently weeded the mad stuff out of the sport. 10 or so years ago there was the DREAM Super Hluk tournament, Bobby Lashley vs. Bop Sapp, pro wrestlers like Shibata fighting legit competition, the YAMMA pit fighting tournament, the Kimbo Slice experiment etc. It is why something like the CM Punk debut and "Fight Island" get eyeballs because as you say it's something different from the sanitized weekly product of anonymous well rounders battling each other until a couple of known veterans clash over 5 rounds, with video packages with emphasis on buzz words and training footage scattered throughout the 6 hour broadcast. I love fights but something different would be nice, even if it was just a random guest commentator or different presentation every now and again. I'd take an occasional celebrity fight too honestly, would be a laugh.
I just remember when UFC tried to be cool and it was just super cheesy.
Now when it tries to be "cool" it just as corporate as WWE or the NFL.
The Chuck Vanilla Ice entrance is legendary. Fucking metal version of Ice, Ice Baby. In 2003. Mad. They kept that nu metal attitude long past the relevance, but it made it kind of endearing. They kept the gladiator for years. Cheesy but brilliant. Can't really fault them for their success though, you don't sell a company for $4 billion if the product is stuck in 2001.
I actually like Covington's style. It's not fireworks of course, but it's precise, it's relentless volume, it's in an opponent's face, just lacking power really. And he can do it for 7 rounds. This one was actually a relatively low volume output for Colby and it still kept Woodley continuously on his back foot never able to load up and totaled up enough damage for a stop.
I miss the 'good ol days' every once in a while, and then I watch a bit of the low rent, talentless heap and pretty quickly snap back to preferring the modern sport of mma. The only real era I ever get too nostalgic about is the Pride heyday. That was just such an eclectic mix of old school mismatches and intrigue into what different guys were about style wise, but also the modernity of elaborate entrances and progressive in-ring martial arts with 'big fight feel' top of the ladder matchups.
Nonetheless I'm perfectly content with a well polished, even if a bit too homogenized, legit sport feel. No different than football or baseball or basketball, as a sports fan, I look at pro fighting the same - I'm entertained by watching the hierarchy unfold of who the best is.
I'd run a PRIDE style Grand Prix every year, with same day semis and final (2 round semi, 3 round final). There's so many fucking divisions that it would add intrigue to one of the lesser weight classes. Easy to run too with seedlings - champ fights 15, 1 vs. 14 etc. There's a certain prestige that winning a tournament that doesn't exist in anything else, so fights like Pena vs. GDR and Holm vs. Aldana, which frankly I'm not arsed about, would therefore feel more relevant.
Tournaments are impossible not to at least tune in to.
Not sure though, could same day brackets get sanctioned today? Genuinely no idea if there are any rules actually prohibiting that kind of thing anymore.
Agreed though, it would add intrigue into the tougher to promote divisions. Make them out to be relentless prize fighting dynamos. Their names and highlight reels up in lights over and over for nights at a time with seemingly substantial stakes at hand. Sounds pretty cool.
I definitely like the idea of Colby v. Leon Edwards next. You give Masvidal the winner of Usman-Burns. Fuck this BMF rematch bullshit. Get a proper camp in but don't over train. There ain't shit at 170 that makes a lick of sense other than a title shot for Jorge, right?
Run it back with Cerrone v. Price, fuck it lol. Dern with a solid win, Markos with the fight IQ of Fedor when he fought Werdum. She thought she was going Alan Belcher this Paul Harris level grappler and yeah it didn't work.
Khamzat fight looked stage. "Jokes" aside this is what I LOVE about MMA. These possible "next big stars" that either float or flop. This dude needs put to sleep sooner than later. I think he has what it takes to be a top guy if he fucks up people the way he's been fucking them up.
I don't appreciate your lack of ability to read a room and I definitely don't respect your inability to come up with your "clever" meathead comment. Colby read Matt Hughes book and related too much with the high school and college stories. "It's a gimmick" Imagine if we could get away with saying every fucked up thing we said and did in life was simply us playing a gimmick. What does that even mean?You sympathize with Tyron because you're both race baiters. Tyron is just doing whatever he can to try to get himself some fans because no one likes his boring ass.
“The only race there is in this fight is the race to get him out of the UFC.”-Colby
What does what you just said even mean? "Read a room"
What fucked up things? Connor has said way worse and everyone loves him.
Everyone doesn't love Connor. That's the most absurd comment I've read about McGregor. EVERYONE? That's a stretch.What does what you just said even mean? "Read a room"
What fucked up things? Connor has said way worse and everyone loves him.
Hasn't Colby already admitted it's an act? He's just tapping into a demographic with lowest common denominator bullshit. I'm fairly sure, given the lengthy rap sheet that he has, that Conor is an actual lunatic. So even he's a piece of shit, people take him at face value which they can't with Colby.
What can't be disputed is how excellent he is at the fight game. He lacks any real pop but other than that he is class. Without the gimmick they'd definitely bin him with a loss a la Jon Fitch, so I guess he's smart to ham it up despite it being rank.
Conor calling Siver a fucking nazi was probably the shittiest thing he's said. And it was for sure shitty. I have enough posts to back up that I'm not a fan of Conor McGregor. I can appreciate what he brings to the table, I can enjoy a fight he's in depending on who his opponent is.
There's a price to pay for wanting to play a gimmick like Colby. The problem is he's basically Chael 2.0 but a very very bad version. I don't think Colby is playing a gimmick, he truly believes what he is saying and he's not alone. He's not some outlandish minority sticking out, he represents a good chunk of this country with the way he thinks. If he says it's a gimmick, then it's Stone Cold as opposed to The Fiend. Stone Cold was "Steve Williams" real persona amped up to 11. Colby doesn't go home at night and put on a pussy hat throwing darts at a Trump poster lol.
He's generally a bit of a nobhead is Conor, but he can be very funny when he's attacking the fighter and not the man. That press conference roasting Cowboy and Lil Heathen was a classic. Whereas Colby is an audible barrage of generic twitter posts. I believe he admitted to not even voting for Trump in 2016, that's where I get that from!
Thoughts on the double title fight on Saturday?
Adesanya vs. Costa is a monster 50/50 fight between two undefeated fighters. I usually pick the more skilled matador, but Costa is a granite bastard and I just see him staying in range and knocking Adesanya out. I'd be on him big if it was at the APEX but appreciate the cage size benefits Adesanya, but I still like Costa to win. Adesanya is a superstar with an impressive win though, with the only issue being the fighters that might move the needle against him (Till mainly) aren't too close to a shot so his next defence would probably be the Whittaker/Cannonier winner. We'll see. Costa in 2 for me.
I like Polish Jan against Reyes. Think he's got more power, though he will lose rounds. Reyes should go off the rightful favourite due to the Jones performance but we've seen fighters actually look worse quite often after a demoralising loss like that. Jan in a comeback KO in 3.
Not much else to consider on the card but the top 2 fights are great so no problem with that.
Conor's a lot like Chael. They've both said some shit that is borderline racist but those were few and far between.
Colby is like the worst part of these guys only he's getting his info like you said from what sounds like generic tweets lol.
I haven't seen enough of Costa to really know what we're going to get out of him in this fight. His inactivity over the last 3 years might work against him.
Jan v. Reyes.....I'll be honest, don't care lol. It's 2 fighters that I should like, but I don't. We'll see, they could win me over. The LHW division is being rebuilt from the ground up with this fight. We'll see where we go from there.
DC on his show with Ariel said Khamzat will be double champ in 2021. He takes this hype train conductor thing seriously.
Yeah, I'm going to need to see more than beating a guy that Ian Heinisch finished with strikes. Not that the potential isn't there, but it's not like he cleaned out Leon Edwards or Derek Brunson even. Maia will be a fun test, but it will be the 40 odd version of Maia and not the monster of 2013 or so.
Cormier deepthroating the Russians, nothing new here but #1 bullshit. Unless he thinks we're going to get top guys sick of this dude talking shit even though he just beat a guy ranked #25 in the division. Not trying to shit on Khamzat, for a young guy he's impressive against like-ranked talent.DC on his show with Ariel said Khamzat will be double champ in 2021. He takes this hype train conductor thing seriously.
@OD50 thoughts on your newest export? I know he's Russian born but he fights out of Sweden.
Who Ian beat in about a minute with strikes.
I told my oldest son the fight looked staged and he just sent me a bunch of angry emojis lol.
My question is....Does Hazmat look like he's playing a gimmick?
I'm definitely on the Khamzat hype bandwagon, he's looked badass so far (and has a really interesting personality) but we need to see him against better competition before deeming him the next big thing, many hype trains has derailed badly in the past. I honestly can see him handling and even stopping Maia at this stage. His first real test could be Leon Edwards or Wonderboy, or possibly the winner if they fight each other first. As for him playing a gimmick, if I see him getting interviewed in swedish it will be a bit easier for me to judge his "real" personality.
Note, Khamzat is 196-2 (strikes landed/strikes absorbed) in his first three UFC fights. That's pretty insane and must be some kind of record (?).
Found this clip, seems like a pretty cool guy there:
Last edited by OD50; September 23rd, 2020 at 1:54 PM.
I'm hearing him v. Wonderboy could be next.
Probably the toughest stylistic match-up for him in the top 10.
He's pushing 40 but he's still very solid imo. I still think that's too early.
If Khazmat doesn't enter the arena to a song about toxic waste or dirty bombs or chemical weapons or something and also call himself Khazmat "The Hazmat" *Last Name*, he's missing a real trick.
And his walkout gear looks like a hazmat suit and a mask.
Oh, dude should come out to Slayer's "Chemical Warfare". Yeah.
Thompson (#5) might still be tricky and fleet footed enough to take the decision from Khamzat. RDA (#9) would be a very interesting stylistic fight though. How about him fighting RDA (#9) -> Maia (#6) -> Wonderboy (#5)/Edwards (#3) winner?
As for the title scene I'm guessing we get Usman/Burns with Colby facing the winner, or Colby/Masvidal with the winner getting the Usman/Burns winner. I think there's interest in both Masvidal and Colby rematches for Usman.
I would say the majority are more interested in the Colby rematch. He didn't get held on the cage like Jorge did.
If it's Burns I would say Jorge. If we're comparing Usman's 2 fights against Colby and Jorge then I could see people being more interested in the Colby fight. But let's not forget that Woodley v. Wonderboy 1 was a fucking banger, FOTY. The rematch? Considered one of the worst fights of that year lol.
I think Colby needs to get a win bigger than Woodley for a title shot. You can't give people title shots when they beat guys on 3-4 fight losing streaks. Makes ZERO sense.
Ok but, Connor Mcgregor.
I'm confused. Are you saying he beat people on losing streaks to get title shots because I don't think that's true at all. He was undefeated at 145 when he fought Aldo and due to being FW champ he was given a title shot against LW champion RDA and then Alvarez.
I'm saying if Gateje wins expect him to fight Connor because, money. UFC only cares about rankings to a point.
OK no wonder I was confused lol. McGregor is in a league of his own. I personally don't see that happening. Masvidal proved that he's just as much of a draw with that million plus buyrate.
If the UFC cared about money they wouldn't be booking Usman v. Burns. Even Jon Fitch needed 9 wins in a row to get a crack at GSP.
Speaking of Khamzat, it's confirmed that he will headline a UFC Fight Night in October against...
LOL
So no other fights but Hazmat and Cerrone want to fight more than twice a year?
I would love to see Costa win but I really feel like Izzy wins. Especially if it gets into championship rounds. I don't think Costa has the cardio.
MMA Middleweight version of Ali/Foreman..
I'm not saying this 100% matters but Costa is so inactive that it's hard to really gauge how good he truly is. His cardio is obviously questionable if you look at the Romero fight.
I would love to see Costa win but I really feel like Izzy wins. Especially if it gets into championship rounds. I don't think Costa has the cardio.
Izzy is so spotty though. Are we going to get the Izzy who fought super fucking cautious against Anderson Silva and Romero? Or are we going to get the guy willing to engage like he did against Gastelum and Whitaker? Shit, if Anderson is his idol then he's sort of following in his footsteps. You never knew if it would be a Maia or Leites bullshit performance, or some Vitor/Griffin type performance where he just capsizes their domes.
Adesanya's a counter puncher. His output will, like it's always been, be dictated by his opponents'. He'll engage to match.
Bigger question will be just how forward Costa will be knowing that it's both his bread and butter but also something Izzy will want to exploit.
That's probably why Dana was on Romero and not Izzy about the lack of action in their fight. But Chuck Liddell was also a counter puncher and you never saw him in a boring fight. Obviously the level of striking ability today versus Iceman's peak are not the same but shit, look what happened to him when he started headhunting? Killed.
I'm leaning toward Izzy. I keep going back and forth but I think your comment about him being more of a counter striker will get him the W.
I don't really view Chuck in the same class of counter-striker as an Izzy or Anderson. He would definitely counter shots from opponents when the time was right, but he was just as apt to dig his feet in and press forward just when he saw still head movement or low hands etc. His willingness to exchange was in part why his career never seemed to have a dull moment and also in part why his chin withered so badly over time and he couldn't take a punch later in his career.
And I love Chuck and always appreciated his style, his precision brawler gusto. Just he wasn't that nth degree of patient at all costs counter puncher.
I can agree with that for sure. It was almost like sometimes he would wait for you to engage and fireworks. He wasn't exactly like Machida or even Cro Cop who I always found to be someone who never just started throwing bombs in hopes he killed the guy. He wasn't spamming the left high kick.
I wanted Dom to win but I'm still happy for Jan. He's a great dude. Polish power.
Anybody see the gyno on Adesanya's right pec? It would be funny that after bashing guys who use roids, he gets popped for it.
I saw Jones mention it on Twitter. I'd love it. Izzy is so cringy.
The fight went just like I thought it would though. I have no idea why Dana kept saying it was going to be a potential fight of the year.
I thought Paulo would come to fight. Like Reyes, he strayed away from his own personal successful gameplan to try and adapt to an opponent, and failed. Sure, maybe Izzy catches you coming in, but you know you can win with forward pressure and volume, and not by waiting and pot shotting. Adesanya was masterful but Costa gave shockingly little resistance.
Happy for Jan. For as much as I love dynasties and legends, the sport needs the washed out fighter come good story every now and again. Less than 3 and a half years ago he lost to Patrick Cummins, now he's World champion. He probably would have been released if the division was less shallow! Perseverance.
I think Santos beats Glover and Jan as long as his legs are healed. Dude's a monster.
That wasn't even close.
Adesanya has come pretty close to cleaning out the division already, just based on nobody really breaking through. The winner of Jared and Bobby Knuckles deserves it (even though Rob got merked, he was on a great run and Till and Jared back to back is enough), after that you can make an argument for Hermansson if he beats Till. I guess if Till wins that they'd give him a shot that wouldn't truly be warranted given he'd be 2-3 in the last 5. It's not a particularly deep division either so I'd be surprised if he's not going for 205 in 18 months.
I'm just glad Izzy isn't anywhere near as cringy as Cejudo
I think Dana was factoring in various things to make him feel like it could be a fight of year contender. Things like they aren't fans of each other, the motivation of all the shit talking and how good each person is when they are on there a game. It didn't turn out to be in the talks after watching the fight but it was still an entertaining fight. I wish Costa had fought his normal fight but I think part of the reason he didn't was because he was conserving energy incase it went into deep waters.
Costa...what the fuck? Lol. He had to have been fighting on pure emotion. I've seen enough of him to know that is not normal. Izzy got into his head and he was doing stupid shit he's never done before and it was a wrap. I picked Izzy to win but not like this. If I'm Costa I'm fucking retiring.
Yeah, what a shit performance, here I was expecting a war ala Adesanya/Gastelum.. I think we should be thankful Izzy was on in his game wanting to melt Costa, otherwise I expect we could have gotten a stinker of a staring contest like Adesanya/Romero. Just like with Anderson Silva back in the day you aint going to beat Israel by being cautious and staying on the outside.
I don't even think Izzy expected Costa to fight this way. I started having flashbacks of Cro Cop v. Yamamota at Bushido where Yamamota was acting like he could take the leg kicks. Then he was murdered lol.
Seems after the Romero fight Costa was hellbent on not going into the 3rd, 4th, and 5th rounds absolutely spent against Izzy. Except he also underestimated Adesanya being a baseball bat wielding octopus from outside range. It's an understandable but ultimately fatal mistake.
Remember how Fedor beat CC? Relentless pressure, which is how you must fight superior technical strikers (especially kickers with better reach like AS, Barboza, Izzy and some others). Unlike Costa, Fedor was willing to walk through fire though, and very nearly got his head taken off. Wand did the same against CC in their fights and had some success (before he got decapitated in the second fight). To this day I blame CC slipping on a sponsor logo when throwing the LHK causing his kick to hit Fedor too high on the head. 1-2 inches lower and it would have connected flush on the chin/neck. That's a whole different story though..
Just to prove I'm not a super biased CC fanboy. Fuck Draft One.
Costas first comments about the fight:
Thank you all the haters too for the messages, Costa said. “To my friends, and also those who aren’t — but especially my friends and those who cheer for me — don’t worry, I’m fine. I already know what happened, I know what was done wrong, and it won’t happen next time. I won’t keep waiting. Some things happens, I had some problems but I won’t give any excuses, ok? The fight is over, he won, but I guarantee you that the next one will be different. Next time I meet him, if he continues the champion, it will be different.
There are a lot of people saying things they don’t know about on YouTube. Don’t worry, I know exactly what happened. We spoke with the whole team, we know what happened. Only we know what happened. Don’t worry, we’re focused here. We’ll bring the belt to Brazil. It will happen, whether you like it or not. Nothing changes. Only the ‘when’ changes. It would be now, but will be soon.
I'd like to believe he will learn from this and come back better. Yeah Costa, we all know what happened. You let the shit talk and haters on the internet get to you because nobody prior really talked that shit to you. Brazil fighters are fucking hot heads they do not appreciate the kind of talk and will no doubt fight on emotion and not the gameplan.
I actually wish he had fought like a hothead instead of having such a rigid gameplan..
With any unbelievably high level striker demonstrating such command of timing and accuracy as Adesanya, never underestimate the ability to freeze their opponent. I don't think Paulo Costa's problem was a matter of aggression. He couldn't properly recognize openings in an advantageous way so he was constantly forced to reset his stance to his detriment.
I would love to know what his gameplan was other than slapping his leg and standing there waiting for the guy lol.
IMHO, his problem was mental. He's not a shit talker and he doesn't fight shit talkers. Him and Izzy have been going back and forth for awhile and like I said, Brazilian fighters do not fuck around when it comes to shit talk. They either embrace it and go crazy, or they freeze up. I didn't see this as Izzy was so much better on the feet Costa couldn't figure it out. He didn't try to do a damn thing. Look at the stats, he didn't even really throw anything just fucked around. Once Izzy figured out Costa wasn't going to fight, he came in and pieced him up like a fucking amateur.
I agree completely that Costa couldn't find his footing, much less a rhythm, staring down Izzy's length, feints, and footwork. Nonetheless he was never going to match Adesanya skill for skill and would much rather see him throw caution to the wind hoping to back him up and make the cage smaller, even with the risk of a counter and/or running out of gas later. Easy af for me to say on my keyboard of course, but it's also what got him to this point in his career and regret of dying by the sword probably hurts worse for a fighter like Paulo than regret of not even unsheathing it. Also wouldn't hurt for him to see another highly ranked fighter or two more before stepping in full go again against a guy the absolute tip-tippy-tip-top of the mountain skill-wise as Adesanya.
Wallid Ismael said that:Costa’s game plan was to hold back during the first couple of rounds and unleashing in the final three, Ismail said, but wasn’t the right call in the end.
“All merits to Adesanya for landing the kick, but ‘Borrachinha’ was too passive and the strategy was wrong,” Ismail said. “We should have changed (the strategy) after the first kicks landed and went to war. We know that now. He’s not a tactical fighter, he’s a war fighter.”
Love me some Ismael. His beef with Ryan Gracie....legendary.
I mean on one hand, it's not a bad gameplan. On the other, when you're only offense is to slap your own leg and just take a headkick, wtf? And props to Izzy getting in super shape for this one.
What about Jan? Smoked Reyes. Him and Jones could happen but not anytime soon.
I mean if it's "exhibition" then the UFC can't do shit about it, right? Unless they both have specific verbiage that they can't participate in anything MMA-related. I think competing in BJJ tournaments are one thing, but when was the last time you heard Overeem was going to fight in K-1 for funsies lol? The UFC supposedly were going to let Fedor still compete in Sambo so you have to think if there's striking then it's out of the question but grappling is cool.....
It looks like they're in Tron but I still like it.
Please let neither of these guys have to drop out.
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