UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship

[Fanny Batter]

Stipe vs. Jones would be a mega fight. For me, and obviously there's the asterix's with all of the drug failures and what not, but if Jones were to beat Stipe he would be without question the greatest of all time. No questions asked. I don't think it can be understated how good his initial title run was. Cleaned the division out in just over a year, fought 2 popular middleweights while other contenders were built, then cleaned it out again. Bader, Shogun, Rampage, Machida, Evans, Belfort, Sonnen, Gustafsson, Teixeira and Cormier in a row, with a 60% finish rate. All of that inside 4 years. I'd absolutely love to see him against Miocic, more so than the Cormier trilogy in fairness, just because Jan or Corey in my eyes are the least intimidating challengers he's ever had. Deserving yes, but I've seen both men have absolute stinkers against much worse fighters than Jones, and not too long ago. Reyes, at least, has looked very good in his fights and I can buy him, with his length, confidence, athletic ability and power, to make it interesting on Saturday night.

[Nash Diesel]

Stipe vs. Jones would be a mega fight. For me, and obviously there's the asterix's with all of the drug failures and what not, but if Jones were to beat Stipe he would be without question the greatest of all time. No questions asked. I don't think it can be understated how good his initial title run was. Cleaned the division out in just over a year, fought 2 popular middleweights while other contenders were built, then cleaned it out again. Bader, Shogun, Rampage, Machida, Evans, Belfort, Sonnen, Gustafsson, Teixeira and Cormier in a row, with a 60% finish rate. All of that inside 4 years. I'd absolutely love to see him against Miocic, more so than the Cormier trilogy in fairness, just because Jan or Corey in my eyes are the least intimidating challengers he's ever had. Deserving yes, but I've seen both men have absolute stinkers against much worse fighters than Jones, and not too long ago. Reyes, at least, has looked very good in his fights and I can buy him, with his length, confidence, athletic ability and power, to make it interesting on Saturday night.

I wouldn't argue it because even with all the asterix's I can't say with 100% conviction that everyone he beat weren't on something as well. Or that those who haven't failed a drug test are 100% clean. So I'm with you in the sense that if Jones beats Stipe, he's the GOAT. Not just of his era, but any era.

If Reyes wins you have to think either Jones moves up to HW or gets a rematch if he wants it. I think if Jones does leave, that was the last bit of star power this division had and they're going to need some spectacular shit to happen to blow it back up and I have no idea HOW.

[Fanny Batter]

There would be an automatic rematch if Jones loses surely. If Dominick Reyes can chin him, he won't want any from Stipe Miocic.

[Nash Diesel]

There would be an automatic rematch if Jones loses surely. If Dominick Reyes can chin him, he won't want any from Stipe Miocic.

Has anyone ever even wobbled Jones? I'm asking you mainly because my memory is shit and you seem to lock down those key moments in great fighters' careers lol. Maybe Gus in the first fight?

[Fanny Batter]

Not significantly that I can recall. As well as having every athletic and technical attribute you want in a fighter, he's also a massive hard bastard. It wouldn't surprise me that if he ever did get dropped he'd have Tyson Fury recuperative abilities too.

[Nash Diesel]

Not significantly that I can recall. As well as having every athletic and technical attribute you want in a fighter, he's also a massive hard bastard. It wouldn't surprise me that if he ever did get dropped he'd have Tyson Fury recuperative abilities too.

LMFAO. Very true.

Does HW pose more of a threat to legit testing his chin or will that matter if he's up there looking like an even bigger killer? I know people are talking about Stipe because he's the champ, but the guy I want to see fight Jones is Ngannou. Honestly I want to see him fight a lot of dudes at HW, mainly because there's a lot of star power there in comparison to LHW but also those stars are also big threats due to the size and power they might possess over Jon.

Even Jon Jones v. Cormier at HW had great appeal. But I really want to know what happens if Frances hits him.

[Fanny Batter]

Jones has called his shot already, in an interview with Helwaini. Cormier stomping his feet and bursting into tears at the broadcasting desk if Jon wins Saturday.

[Nash Diesel]

Jones has called his shot already, in an interview with Helwaini. Cormier stomping his feet and bursting into tears at the broadcasting desk if Jon wins Saturday.

Nice!

How about Reyes saying Jones has never fought an athlete until now? And Jones just lit him up with the response.

https://m.sherdog.com/news/news/Jon-...st-Foes-169619

[Fanny Batter]

Yeah, just nonsense from Reyes. Not even entirely sure what he meant to achieve by saying it. Most MMA fighters have athletic backgrounds in basketball, football or wrestling, that's how they crossover into MMA when that endeavour ends. Like Reyes did. Imagine not thinking an Olympian like Daniel Cormier wasn't an athlete, or somebody that played at a similar level in football like OSP? Odd. I know he's just trying to talk a good game, but he's not very good at it. Still, a fight's a fight, and he can throw down. I'm interested to see if he can defend Jon's shot, as it's a fight of interest on the feet like the Santos fight turned into.

What's the thoughts on the Shevchenko co-main? Is she already into Mighty Mouse territory of nobody really being given a prayer against her, besides the (reduced due to lower weight class) punchers chance? Chookagian is a perfectly reasonable fighter, but she's not past good at any one thing I wouldn't say, and Shevchenko is better everywhere. Other fight of interest is Black Beast vs. Ilir Latifi. Beast can stay in contention based on those wins against Ngannou (blinked less) and Volkov (very definition of Hail Mary in MMA), so picking up a win is vital. Hasn't fought Stipe either so he's not far behind in the queue. Latifi will look ridiculous at heavyweight considering the smarter play was dropping muscle mass and moving to 185, so it's going to be interesting. Latifi absolutely has the skill set to beat Derrick, but Lewis is still in it until he isn't and should put him away inside the distance.

[Nash Diesel]

Yeah, just nonsense from Reyes. Not even entirely sure what he meant to achieve by saying it. Most MMA fighters have athletic backgrounds in basketball, football or wrestling, that's how they crossover into MMA when that endeavour ends. Like Reyes did. Imagine not thinking an Olympian like Daniel Cormier wasn't an athlete, or somebody that played at a similar level in football like OSP? Odd. I know he's just trying to talk a good game, but he's not very good at it. Still, a fight's a fight, and he can throw down. I'm interested to see if he can defend Jon's shot, as it's a fight of interest on the feet like the Santos fight turned into.

What's the thoughts on the Shevchenko co-main? Is she already into Mighty Mouse territory of nobody really being given a prayer against her, besides the (reduced due to lower weight class) punchers chance? Chookagian is a perfectly reasonable fighter, but she's not past good at any one thing I wouldn't say, and Shevchenko is better everywhere. Other fight of interest is Black Beast vs. Ilir Latifi. Beast can stay in contention based on those wins against Ngannou (blinked less) and Volkov (very definition of Hail Mary in MMA), so picking up a win is vital. Hasn't fought Stipe either so he's not far behind in the queue. Latifi will look ridiculous at heavyweight considering the smarter play was dropping muscle mass and moving to 185, so it's going to be interesting. Latifi absolutely has the skill set to beat Derrick, but Lewis is still in it until he isn't and should put him away inside the distance.

I mean, if Amanda Nunes wants 3 championships and can make 125, that might be Valentina's only kryptonite at this point in her career. And Nunes is pretty good at making that sole dominant champion in a division look like an idiot (see Ronda and Cyborg). Valentina is basically in the same boat as a lot of champions in weight classes 145 and under. The men's not so much when you think of 145, but even 135 never really had much depth until people started dropping from 145.

I'm leaning on Derrick for the win. He's hilarious and despite not being much of a versatile fighter oh well, nobody is paying to see Lewis shoot for a takedown and snatch a choke. It's just not a fight that's going to move him anywhere realistically in the rankings.

Kind of like how I'm still a little confused as to how a win over Weidman in his 205 debut=title shot against Jon Jones.........The 3 fights before it imo for sure. One has to think that fight was pieced together in hopes Weidman would win against a top guy in the division to justify a long overdue fight with Jon Jones.

And let's speak on Weidman real quick. Dude should call it a day. He's been finished in all but 1 fight since losing to Rockhold on my birthday.

[Fanny Batter]

Nunes has discussed it before, maybe she will try it, who knows. I think it'd have been more likely if she hadn't beaten Val twice already, regardless of how close they were. As is, she's the only 2 division women's champion and holds 2 wins over the woman in the division below, nothing to prove.

Derrick is great, yeah. One of my favourites. A great character in a game full of try hards, he's authentic and ridiculous.

The Weidman fight was them trying to get the last bit of juice out of the Weidman fruit. He got sparked and made a new contender, if he won the juice would keep flowing. I think he's done, but at this point I tell you what fight interests me? Silva part 3. It's still Anderson's only clean loss, that first fight. Other than that there's been an excuse. Not valid ones, but still. I'd like to see them run that back, in Brazil, to see if Silva can avenge it.

[Nash Diesel]

Nunes has discussed it before, maybe she will try it, who knows. I think it'd have been more likely if she hadn't beaten Val twice already, regardless of how close they were. As is, she's the only 2 division women's champion and holds 2 wins over the woman in the division below, nothing to prove.

Derrick is great, yeah. One of my favourites. A great character in a game full of try hards, he's authentic and ridiculous.

The Weidman fight was them trying to get the last bit of juice out of the Weidman fruit. He got sparked and made a new contender, if he won the juice would keep flowing. I think he's done, but at this point I tell you what fight interests me? Silva part 3. It's still Anderson's only clean loss, that first fight. Other than that there's been an excuse. Not valid ones, but still. I'd like to see them run that back, in Brazil, to see if Silva can avenge it.

Nothing to prove? I disagree. I always look at Rampage-Wandy 3. Wanderlai, unlike Nunes, diced up Rampage and finished him convincingly both times. A 3rd fight was a "nothing to prove" moment for Wandy, but they ran it back 2 more times and it did him no favors lol. At least with Nunes, it's the whole 3 division champ appeal I guess. Plus she maybe has the W's, but she didn't really put a stamp on either fight imo that she was the better of the 2 like Wanderlai did against Rampage.

Silva-Weidman 3 at this stage? I'd love it. Silence the critics once and for all that it wasn't 2 fluke wins. God I can hear Mark Hammer screaming at me from space saying that lol.

[Fanny Batter]

The Wanderlei/Rampage fight was Wanderlei's attempt to get a quick title shot I think. Rampage had lost his title and his marbles, Silva was coming off a knockout win, timing lined up for him to fight the Evans/Griffin winner if he'd knocked Rampage out again. A calculated, unsuccesful risk. Nunes is a competitor though, and these people don't think how we think. Some would say "I beat her twice", but the fighter in her probably thinks she needs to knock her out to prove dominance. Plus, the third title would put her in the stratosphere in terms of best ever, man or woman. I genuinely can't see any man ever doing it, maybe 135, 145 and 155 at an absolute push. Considering we know Jose Aldo can actually make bantamweight without dying from the first punch he takes, it was probably him early last decade. He'd have chewed Cruz's legs up, and the Henderson's and Edgar's weren't taking him down. Nowadays, nobody who can healthily cut weight to 135 is stuffing Khabib, while still being small and mobile enough to deal with Cejudo's pace. The ship has sailed, whereas women's MMA is in that growing era where it's still a logical possibility. My lean would be that the weight cut, if successful at all, would have Nunes in economy mode, and the last Shevchenko fight both sucked and was a coin flip decision because of it.

Watching his interview with Schaub, Kevin Lee is saying he'll be going to Russia to fight Islam Makhachev in June, if he beats Olivera in March. I've become a fan of Lee over the years, a fighters fighter, very talented too. He's one of those "winning until he loses" guys, but if he can put it together there's championship potential there. If he gets three road wins on the bounce he'll be on the doorstep.

[Nash Diesel]

The Wanderlei/Rampage fight was Wanderlei's attempt to get a quick title shot I think. Rampage had lost his title and his marbles, Silva was coming off a knockout win, timing lined up for him to fight the Evans/Griffin winner if he'd knocked Rampage out again. A calculated, unsuccesful risk. Nunes is a competitor though, and these people don't think how we think. Some would say "I beat her twice", but the fighter in her probably thinks she needs to knock her out to prove dominance. Plus, the third title would put her in the stratosphere in terms of best ever, man or woman. I genuinely can't see any man ever doing it, maybe 135, 145 and 155 at an absolute push. Considering we know Jose Aldo can actually make bantamweight without dying from the first punch he takes, it was probably him early last decade. He'd have chewed Cruz's legs up, and the Henderson's and Edgar's weren't taking him down. Nowadays, nobody who can healthily cut weight to 135 is stuffing Khabib, while still being small and mobile enough to deal with Cejudo's pace. The ship has sailed, whereas women's MMA is in that growing era where it's still a logical possibility. My lean would be that the weight cut, if successful at all, would have Nunes in economy mode, and the last Shevchenko fight both sucked and was a coin flip decision because of it.

Watching his interview with Schaub, Kevin Lee is saying he'll be going to Russia to fight Islam Makhachev in June, if he beats Olivera in March. I've become a fan of Lee over the years, a fighters fighter, very talented too. He's one of those "winning until he loses" guys, but if he can put it together there's championship potential there. If he gets three road wins on the bounce he'll be on the doorstep.

Yep that's what I'm saying. Nunes has those 2 wins, but they weren't decisive. Especially the last fight. And with the appeal of a 3rd belt, and if she can make that weight.....

And I'll say this, I think a guy who has a shot at doing 3 titles would be McGregor. I know it sounds crazy, but he already has 145 out of the way and that was the toughest (in terms of cutting weight) and he was extremely dominant at that weight class showing almost no signs of weakness against all types of fighters.

170 is just so beastly. But I mean, how many people outside of like Ben Henderson can say they smoked Cerrone in under a minute? I don't care what kind of mileage that dude has, we've seen guys going into their prime get dusted (again, Cerrone v. Henderson or how about Cain V v. JDS 1?) Finishing Cerrone like that is not easy, just ask the other 50 dudes he's fought lol.

I think it just depends on the right champion. If it's Usman or a grapple heavy type guy, that might be a problem because a guy like Usman is on that Tony Rumble type weight cut mission, going from 200+ to 170, yikes. But I think Conor has just as much of a chance winning the WW title as BJ Penn did when he first stepped up to a prime beast in Matt Hughes. I mean, GSP went up 15lbs and fought a guy who used to cut to make 205, and he won after being on the shelf 2-3 years.

[Fanny Batter]

It's match-ups. I don't think there's ever been a welterweight champion that Conor McGregor would have beaten. Lawler at a push. Oh and Serra of course. Other than that, every champion grounds him into submission. Hughes, GSP, Hendricks, Woodley and Usman were all top pressure grapplers, heavier than Khabib and certainly Chad Mendes who chucked Conor around too, and all of them had championship round conditioning too. Thinking of it, I'd probably take a flier on Conor beating early Hughes, like BJ did, but once the athletes got well rounded in general men's MMA, there will always be a styles clash that would catch people out outside of their natural weight class - Edgar and Aldo will find out that the speed at 135 negates some of their strengths that come with being heavier than the opposition, and likewise if they went to 155 the size and strength would show the difference. Essentially, that's why there are weight classes. There are examples in boxing where guys have jumped through the equivalent weight classes (Pacquiao, for example, a remarkable leap from 112lb to 147lb), but they haven't had to defend takedowns from the bigger fighters. Now the sport has evolved, I just can't see it.

Thinking about it, 2008. Anderson Silva would have been the light heavyweight champion if he fancied it, and I think he'd have beaten Couture or Mir at that point too. Maybe Big Nog too. But prime Silva would get smoked by Jones, Cormier, Miocic or Ngannou, obviously. I think the window probably closed with Jones and GSP, whose dominant reigns eliminated the "specialists" from the game, at least at the highest level, because they each had virtuoso performances on the feet and on the ground. You can't not be competent at both anymore. Now that every top level fighter is competent at all levels, it's difficult to imagine a champion getting to the top without being well rounded, and I just can't think a guy that works his way through a division, facing all styles, would lose to somebody that can get their weight down 25lbs more than what they'd be fighting at. Some guys fight better up, like Whittaker, because not cutting weight can benefit the chin and energy. Some guys fight better down, because they're physically strong against that opposition and feel they hit harder. Three weight classes? I just don't see it at the highest level anymore.

It's a good discussion though, who could have done it if they tried back then. Can't count people if there's no proof they can make a certain weight. So GSP, never fought at 155 so no proof he could have made it.

Penn up until Aldo beat Mike Brown. We know Penn could have made 145, and I think he beats Faber or Brown at that point in their careers, though obviously in the WEC. Penn with Marv in 2008/09 was a beast, if the Penn that faced Sean Sherk cut to 145 he'd have wrecked Mike Brown.

Likewise, Aldo same era. Of the 155lb champions, I think he beats all of them in that era, up to maybe RDA who would have significant size and pressure. He'd have beaten Edgar and Henderson, like he beat Edgar at 145, Pettis he'd beat, and he was a better fighter than Penn at all times. 135 I think he'd have beaten Cruz, and he was basically just a bigger, better Barao so would have wrecked him too. Dillashaw beats him though, a better Moraes with a takedown threat.

Silva, as mentioned.

Other than that? No proof Jones or Cormier could get to 185lb without conceding a kidney on the scales. Rashad maybe around 2008. Again I'm taking old man Couture as the weak link champion at heavyweight, I don't think it's realistic for any of the middleweights of that era to beat Brock or Tim Sylvia. Old man Randy was just a bit smaller than Chuck, less pop in his hands, and a fading chin. Rashad fought at middleweight at the end of his career but if he'd got down in 2008 he'd have given Silva a Sonnen-level challenge I think.

A hypothetical champion at 170 Conor could have beaten was if RDA had scraped past Colby in 2018. That was a pretty close fight. Would have been a 50/50 fight at that point at welterweight. Tyron would have put him through the mat if he were to fight him though, and Usman would absolutely molest him. RDA fucked up the big picture with that injury in 2016, the plan was Conor to beat him then fight Lawler for the welterweight title at 200, wasn't it? I think Robbie at that point was waiting to be tuned up after all those wars, so maybe I can buy Conor doing it back then. No chance now though, window's shut.

[Nash Diesel]

This is why I love your posts in this thread, and others, but mainly this one.

It's hard to disagree. I guess for me it's more of that "We have to see it to believe it"

I think you're right about the trajectory for Conor. Beats RDA, goes on to fight Lawler @ 200 for his 3rd title. History on this board can show I'm not exactly a McGregor fan, but real recognizes real and that dude is imo one of the elite. Like I said he's one of the only fighters I can see pull it off mainly because he already had that 145 championship because McGregor at 185 probably isn't a smart move for him lol.

I'll be honest man, if Masvidal beats Usman, and he fights Conor, I'm not scoffing at the idea of McGregor beating Jorge for the belt. That is not a knock on Jorge's skill level but he's not going to try and grapple Conor and I think that's where Conor would win the title, on the feet against someone. I don't imagine guys like Usman or Covington would try and box McGregor because he has dynamite. A fucking shoulder strike about KO'd one of the toughest mugs in the game.

But ultimately, it probably won't happen for the reasons you pretty much explained in awesome detail.

[Fanny Batter]

He would have a chance against Masvidal, just based on Jorge's machismo. Their mutual opponents show the size advantage he'd have though. Conor was clearly the smaller man against Diaz, and Masvidal was pretty comfortably bigger, ate Nate's shots easy enough and beat him down. Questionable stoppage but Masvidal pieced him up. The Cowboy that Masvidal beat had won something like 12 of 13 going into that, but that's one of those fights with an asterix because Cerrone took it so soon after the gruelling fight with Matt Brown. He dominated Donald though, knocked him out twice pretty much, head and body. Just a violent drubbing. The Cowboy Conor beat had taken some kickings lately.

I'm really interested in Jones and Miocic though. That would be just an outstanding fight. It would be the first time a fighter I recognise as the current pound for pound best was moving up too. He's losing tomorrow now, isn't he?

[Nash Diesel]

He would have a chance against Masvidal, just based on Jorge's machismo. Their mutual opponents show the size advantage he'd have though. Conor was clearly the smaller man against Diaz, and Masvidal was pretty comfortably bigger, ate Nate's shots easy enough and beat him down. Questionable stoppage but Masvidal pieced him up. The Cowboy that Masvidal beat had won something like 12 of 13 going into that, but that's one of those fights with an asterix because Cerrone took it so soon after the gruelling fight with Matt Brown. He dominated Donald though, knocked him out twice pretty much, head and body. Just a violent drubbing. The Cowboy Conor beat had taken some kickings lately.

I'm really interested in Jones and Miocic though. That would be just an outstanding fight. It would be the first time a fighter I recognise as the current pound for pound best was moving up too. He's losing tomorrow now, isn't he?

LOL probably now that you said that.

If Jones loses to Reyes it's going to be odd. I mean, nobody really stays dominant forever. He's basically the same age as Fedor was when he lost to Werdum, and up until that fight Fedor had that 1 stupid loss as well, via cut in Rings or wherever. So it could be his time. I don't think it will raise interest in 205 or make Reyes a big name, but it'd be wild.

I honestly have not seen enough of Reyes to give him the edge anywhere other than being the lesser name and sometimes lesser names come to fight. We saw that in Jones' last fight, fuckin split decision against a guy despite having main evented on free tv was still pretty much unknown to the masses. SPLIT DECISION. On one leg for more than half the fight right? I'd actually want to see that rematch, Jones hasn't had a split decision win since never.

[Fanny Batter]

I just can't imagine Jones losing, honestly. The Fedor comparison is apt, but we've not even seen Jones wobbled like Fedor had been against Fujita, or piledriven through the mat like against Randleman. Those 2 fights added to the legacy of the great man, but we've not seen Jon in even that much peril, ever. A couple of lost rounds here and there, a couple of bad cuts and the broken toe, but never truly hurt, never at a point of being dominated in any metric, in any fight. An unbelievable fighter. I won't believe it until I see it, and I won't predict it either. He matches up better than anybody in the world except maybe Ngannou, and perhaps by the time he might face him he'll have chucked Stipe around the Octagon to the point of being heavily favoured in that too?

[VHS]

I'm fairly certain Reyes just beat Jon Jones. Up to the judges here.

[VHS]

Total bullshit... wow. That is utter bullshit.

Jon lost that fight and he knows it.

[JuveLeo]

I thought Reyes won that fight 3 rounds to 2. He clearly won rounds 1-3 and Jones took 4 and 5. Not surprised by the result as i have seen crap like this for the past 20 years. I just knew the judges would give it to Jon.

Another thing that's mind boggling is one of the judges scored the fight 49-46 for Jones lmao. What an utter joke.

[Mik]

I thought it was 1 and 2 Reyes, 4 and 5 Jones. 3 was close with Reyes landing more, but Jones pushing the action. I personally scored it for Reyes, but when it’s close and one fighter is clearly in total control at the end, I don’t mind them erring on the side of the aggressor. However scoring it 4-1 for Jones is total blind bullshit.

[VHS]

Rogan and his co host were also going off on a judge earlier on for not even watching a fight.

[Fanny Batter]

Yeah, round 3 was a coin flip, I can see an argument for either. No robbery, just a close fight to score. It's taken the edge off the potential Miocic fight anyway, Jones needs a resounding win at 205 now.

[Nash Diesel]

Yeah I think the majority of us are laughing at the judge who gave Jones 4 rounds. Round 3 is the toss up for a lot of people. Those calling it a robbery, they need to watch more MMA and/or stop being a Jones hater. Either one will work.

What I'm not understanding in Jones' last 2 fights is what's up with trying to be a kickboxer? Get these fuckers to the ground and drop hellbow after hellbow. But yeah his last 2 fights are showing Jones might be more human these days than we expected.

[Fanny Batter]

Interesting enough fight card on Saturday, with the main event taking on new meaning after Jones' performance Saturday. A big finish would probably set the winner up for a title shot, or at worst a no doubt #1 contender fight next. I vaguely remember their first fight, was just takedowns rinse repeat for Anderson. Corey would be a deserving challenger with a win, Glover, Jan, Latifi and Walker is a strong resume. I think he does win, and he matches up well with Jones given his size and pressure. Jan not so much.

Got winners from the first and last TUF on the same card which is a novelty. A testament to Diego's longevity, can't think of anybody still active in the UFC that were on the roster then? The guy he beat in the finale has been retired a good 8 years! He's against a nut case in Perreira, it's a cut and dry case of Diego gets drilled early or he comes on strong and wins on points. Chiason is against a former champion(!) in Montano, a solid enough fight at the soccer mom weightclass.

Elsewhere, John Dodson, never finished, against a guy who has finished his first 3 UFC fights. I can't take to Dodson but he might be one of the underrated tough guys of the sport. Yan, Moraes, Lineker, Dillashaw, Munhoz, Wineland and DJ are great finishers and Dodson's spent over 2 hours in the cage with them without getting stopped, and he beat a few of them. Jim Miller fights, looking to extend some records he has. He's looked good against shoddy opposition lately but Holtzman is a step up. Lando vs. Yancy is a guaranteed banger. Tim Means is always worth a watch. Ray Borg against a 16-1 finisher. Very solid.

[Nash Diesel]

If they don't do a rematch with Reyes then the winner of Anderson-Jan would be a good option for Jones. Fighters have to be looking at Jones' last 2 fights and drooling over the idea of being the 1 to finally give Jones a real loss. Split decision win over Santos (who was on 1 leg for 20 minutes) and this close decision win over Reyes....I'm just confused with how Jones fights these days. Where are the suplexes and vicious ground and pound? The dude isn't known for being a knockout artist so why so much stand up in these last couple fights?

The Jones pre-cocaine would have taken down Santos and Reyes and pummeled the fuck out of them. I remember early on in Jones' career that's what you were always scared to see happen, like that Vera fight, oh boy.

[Fanny Batter]

I'm not so sure if it's fighters getting better or Jones getting worse. Or not necessarily better, but certainly more physical tools. Reyes, Santos, Gustafsson and OSP all fight long, and they're the fighters Jon has looked bad against. Length leads to a solid jab, straight and uppercut, meaning Jones fights longer to adapt. He is good enough there to win, but not good enough to dominate. His bread and butter was always the wrestling, and his striking usually opened up when his opponent was tired from having Jones on top for the fight. Or he had a huge reach advantage and could successfully pick his man off like against Rashad. No fighter is perfect, styles make fights and it's clear Jones isn't as dominant when the physical skills are closer.

For me, I'd run Santos vs. Reyes and Jones vs. this weekend's winner. I get there's the temptation for an immediate rematch, but for me that's rushing Reyes. He's a young man and he'd be in limbo without much of a name if he lost. Why rush that when there would be a suitable challenger in the interim. Plus, he's only getting better. Do Jones vs. Anderson/Jan in June then Jones vs. Reyes 2 at the end of the year if they both win. An immediate rematch, you kind of need Reyes to win it don't you?

Watching a Jared Cannonier interview, what a lovely bloke this guy is. That middleweight division is full of likeable, charismatic killers. Adesanya could be a Conor level star if he runs that gauntlet.

[Nash Diesel]

I'm not so sure if it's fighters getting better or Jones getting worse. Or not necessarily better, but certainly more physical tools. Reyes, Santos, Gustafsson and OSP all fight long, and they're the fighters Jon has looked bad against. Length leads to a solid jab, straight and uppercut, meaning Jones fights longer to adapt. He is good enough there to win, but not good enough to dominate. His bread and butter was always the wrestling, and his striking usually opened up when his opponent was tired from having Jones on top for the fight. Or he had a huge reach advantage and could successfully pick his man off like against Rashad. No fighter is perfect, styles make fights and it's clear Jones isn't as dominant when the physical skills are closer.

For me, I'd run Santos vs. Reyes and Jones vs. this weekend's winner. I get there's the temptation for an immediate rematch, but for me that's rushing Reyes. He's a young man and he'd be in limbo without much of a name if he lost. Why rush that when there would be a suitable challenger in the interim. Plus, he's only getting better. Do Jones vs. Anderson/Jan in June then Jones vs. Reyes 2 at the end of the year if they both win. An immediate rematch, you kind of need Reyes to win it don't you?

Watching a Jared Cannonier interview, what a lovely bloke this guy is. That middleweight division is full of likeable, charismatic killers. Adesanya could be a Conor level star if he runs that gauntlet.

I think Dana said what a lot of us are thinking: (taken from Sherdog)

“When you take a guy like Jon Jones, all the things he’s accomplished, all the killers that he’s beat — you set this expectation for Jon Jones that he should come out and destroy him,” White said. “Jon Jones isn’t 25 anymore and he’s taking on these young killers. He finds a way to win these fights. I think the bar is set so high…coming into this fight in no way shape or form did I think Jon Jones was going to walk through Dominick Reyes. Dominick Reyes is the real deal. I knew it before and I know it even more now.”

[Fanny Batter]

Yeah, these guys have access to nearly 6 hours of fight footage of Jon Jones. When he fought Bader, Bader sees the wrestling credentials and focuses on that, discounting the difference between NCAA and MMA wrestling. When he fought Shogun, he hadn't fought a Shogun, great stand up and good sweeps off the bottom, so Rua trains sweeps and keeps his stand up sharp. Jones proves he has an elite base and poise from top position for the first time, and better stand up than what he'd shown. Rampage, doesn't see Jones' boxing and striking fundamentals (was still wild against Shogun) as a threat, so if he keeps it on his feet he wins. Nope, gets dissected moving forward and submitted. Machida, more seasoned striker, hasn't seen Jones fight at distance and having to lead, so gameplans around the presumption that his skillset matches up in that regard. Evans, explosive ability and elite wrestling, Gustafsson range, Glover's power in close quarters, Cormier's clinch, wrestling, uppercuts, conditioning. By now, we've seen him against every kind of style, and while he's great everywhere, there's a little something to take from every fight to implement into your game to give you the best chance. It's not just a "better boxer so I'll just box him" scenario, it's finding a range and a pace that makes his skills less sharp, and being conditioned enough to do it for 25 minutes. Which is difficult because the pace he doesn't like is fast, high levels of movement and strong defending the takedown against the fence. These are 205lb men, and that's the hardest way to fight for 25 minutes. Sitting down on their punches would deplete the energy further so it's harder to land continuous big, scoring shots and maintain it. He's got an elite chin so he's hard to put out anyway if you do.

He's still a huge puzzle. Maybe Reyes needed a five rounder to fine tune conditioning? Or maybe that is the maximum level his body can realistically achieve, an excellent 10 minutes, a good additional 5, and merely OK in the championship rounds? Maybe if his conditioning was to a 5 round pace his performance in the first 3 rounds is lesser and he loses a methodical 50-45? Cormier fought really well early too in both of their fights, but sustaining that pace against a motor like Jones is unrealistic.

[Nash Diesel]

Somewhat on a related note, after his 1 venture into the LHW division was met with an ass-beating by Reyes, Weidman is going back to MW, hoping for April.

[Fanny Batter]

Weidman just needs to take a lay up fight I think. 1-5 in his last 6, and finished in all of them, but he's been fighting the best. 5 of the 10 best middleweights of the era, and Reyes who has shown how good he is. Only got trounced against the latter, gave everybody else a fight before fading. I think he's probably a step below elite, the injuries he had early in his run as champion shortened the window of his prime quite drastically. I'd still favour him against a Tavares or Brunson. Failing that, give us Anderson part 3. Perfect Brazil PPV co-main. Cejudo/Aldo, Silva/Weidman, Moraes/Sandhagen, Barboza/Emmett (Edson moving to 145 apparently) and Gadelha/Calvillo sounds about right for the card there.

[Nash Diesel]

And that 1 win was a nice victory over Kelvin. I'm still agreeing with you about doing Weidman-Anderson 3.

[Fanny Batter]

I just think it's a sensible fight. I don't want to see Anderson against any other middleweight as the top 5 hand him his arse without question, and everybody else likely does too without the name for it to mean anything if Silva did happen to win. With Weidman you get the history, but you also get the intrigue that Anderson can actually pull it off because he's fighting a guy that's on a skid too and seemingly lost his ability to take a shot. It would be a retirement fight for Andy too, another loss and he'd surely accept it's curtains, and a win would be the perfect bookend for a 45 year old legend, avenging his greatest ever defeats. Although at this point, maybe he's happy turning up to spar with a fringe contender, take the loss and come back again next year. It's not like he's at BJ Penn territory, the guys he loses to have been good fighters. He might see Couture's age as obtainable to fight to.

[Nash Diesel]

I just think it's a sensible fight. I don't want to see Anderson against any other middleweight as the top 5 hand him his arse without question, and everybody else likely does too without the name for it to mean anything if Silva did happen to win. With Weidman you get the history, but you also get the intrigue that Anderson can actually pull it off because he's fighting a guy that's on a skid too and seemingly lost his ability to take a shot. It would be a retirement fight for Andy too, another loss and he'd surely accept it's curtains, and a win would be the perfect bookend for a 45 year old legend, avenging his greatest ever defeats. Although at this point, maybe he's happy turning up to spar with a fringe contender, take the loss and come back again next year. It's not like he's at BJ Penn territory, the guys he loses to have been good fighters. He might see Couture's age as obtainable to fight to.

Yeah he's approaching BJ Penn territory, the major difference is Silva at least seems to go the distance more often than Penn lol. That's the 1 nice thing about Anderson, he doesn't have a record where his last 6 fights he lost were all brutal KO's like Chuck Liddell for example. Or hell look at Weidman's losses, he's been finished in every fight due to strikes, in pretty brutal fashion.

[Mik]

Yeah, these guys have access to nearly 6 hours of fight footage of Jon Jones. When he fought Bader, Bader sees the wrestling credentials and focuses on that, discounting the difference between NCAA and MMA wrestling. When he fought Shogun, he hadn't fought a Shogun, great stand up and good sweeps off the bottom, so Rua trains sweeps and keeps his stand up sharp. Jones proves he has an elite base and poise from top position for the first time, and better stand up than what he'd shown. Rampage, doesn't see Jones' boxing and striking fundamentals (was still wild against Shogun) as a threat, so if he keeps it on his feet he wins. Nope, gets dissected moving forward and submitted. Machida, more seasoned striker, hasn't seen Jones fight at distance and having to lead, so gameplans around the presumption that his skillset matches up in that regard. Evans, explosive ability and elite wrestling, Gustafsson range, Glover's power in close quarters, Cormier's clinch, wrestling, uppercuts, conditioning. By now, we've seen him against every kind of style, and while he's great everywhere, there's a little something to take from every fight to implement into your game to give you the best chance. It's not just a "better boxer so I'll just box him" scenario, it's finding a range and a pace that makes his skills less sharp, and being conditioned enough to do it for 25 minutes. Which is difficult because the pace he doesn't like is fast, high levels of movement and strong defending the takedown against the fence. These are 205lb men, and that's the hardest way to fight for 25 minutes. Sitting down on their punches would deplete the energy further so it's harder to land continuous big, scoring shots and maintain it. He's got an elite chin so he's hard to put out anyway if you do.

He's still a huge puzzle. Maybe Reyes needed a five rounder to fine tune conditioning? Or maybe that is the maximum level his body can realistically achieve, an excellent 10 minutes, a good additional 5, and merely OK in the championship rounds? Maybe if his conditioning was to a 5 round pace his performance in the first 3 rounds is lesser and he loses a methodical 50-45? Cormier fought really well early too in both of their fights, but sustaining that pace against a motor like Jones is unrealistic.

I honestly think it’s partially that. It’s partially people getting better rounded. It’s partially that he has gotten older and slower and his habits and inactivity have taken some wear and tear on his body. It’s partially that he isn’t on PEDs now and it’s partially that he isn’t crushing significantly smaller fighters anymore.

[Nash Diesel]

I think Dana said it best in the quote I posted. The bar was set so high that anything less than what we saw against guys like Cormier, Rampage, Machida, etc makes us go "Oh shit he might be a real human as well!" And honestly, this is a good thing. 205 for a long long time had such a gap between Jones and everyone. Even Cormier, while much better than everyone in the division, was still a distant 2nd to Jones.

Now you can kind of build up these guys like Reyes and Santos for when Jones dips out. Hopefully it helps. This isn't really like pro wrestling where you beat a dominant champion or come close and you look great to other fans and you become a big star. So fingers crossed guys like Reyes' stock goes up despite losing. He came close to winning.

The reality is, Jones should be tested and that's what helps the division, to show there are actual contenders and not just bodies. Anthony Smith came in with a lot of hype, great finishes, proved his fucking worth no doubt! But looked like he wasn't mentally ready for Jones-as crazy as that sounds.

I'm just still feeling the effects of Santos on one leg almost winning the title. See, judging needs some serious help. We need more former fighters, refs, coaches, etc that are educated and know what to look for.

[Fanny Batter]

Smith is a big boy too. It's mad to me that him and Santos were making 185. How much must they have been depleted at that weight? Obviously they've grown into their 205 frames a bit, but still crazy how big they look in a class they're new in. Santos against Manuwa looked pretty much the same size as a natural 205er only 4 months or so after last making middleweight. Madness. The reality of that early Jones super run is that most of the guys he fought were natural 185lb'ers, and would certainly have to fight at that weight to be competitive in today's sport. Bader is retrospectively probably his best win from that pre-Gustafsson era, and that was Bader before he really got good. Machida, Rashad, Shogun and Belfort were considerably smaller men.

There's suddenly fights to make at the weight class, which is good. It had been sucky for a bit, and while it wasn't ideal for Walker and Rakic to bite L's, there's talent all through the top 10. Jones is going to be busy to the point where heavyweight all of a sudden looks a way away.

[Nash Diesel]

Smith is a big boy too. It's mad to me that him and Santos were making 185. How much must they have been depleted at that weight? Obviously they've grown into their 205 frames a bit, but still crazy how big they look in a class they're new in. Santos against Manuwa looked pretty much the same size as a natural 205er only 4 months or so after last making middleweight. Madness. The reality of that early Jones super run is that most of the guys he fought were natural 185lb'ers, and would certainly have to fight at that weight to be competitive in today's sport. Bader is retrospectively probably his best win from that pre-Gustafsson era, and that was Bader before he really got good. Machida, Rashad, Shogun and Belfort were considerably smaller men.

There's suddenly fights to make at the weight class, which is good. It had been sucky for a bit, and while it wasn't ideal for Walker and Rakic to bite L's, there's talent all through the top 10. Jones is going to be busy to the point where heavyweight all of a sudden looks a way away.

Well and I also think that Jones' first run you had all those legends that we don't have in there today. And Jones, man I wasn't completely sold on him until he won the belt. I was convinced Shogun was going to win that fight and Jones smashed him. Smashed arguably the best LHW in the world up until that point.

I get the size argument but I mean, Vitor took him into round 4, Rampage came in the best shape of his life and couldn't fuck with Jones really. It was just known dude after known dude getting beat whereas now....I can't say I was too hyped up about his last 2 fights. I was hyped up for Smith because he had a great story going in. Basically a young journeyman who suddenly starts starching all the top guys not named Jon Jones. Fuck even after Jones he put Gus into retirement. That kid deserves another crack at the title down the road imo. But I could say that about Santos and Reyes as well, and they had a much much better showing against Jones than Smith did.

[Nash Diesel]

I figured we needed a little change of pace. My son has been sending me these youtube videos that either the UFC or fans will make and put online. This one is every UFC finish via SLAM. Some fights you can expect would be the obvious Matt Hughes v. Carlos Newton, Rose v. Andrade, Harris v. Branch, and more!

[Fanny Batter]

That Khabilov one is filthy. Best ragdolling I've seen in MMA, just a mauling. Shame he never came close to replicating it and morphed into a point fighter, that and the Masvidal wheel kick knockdown had me thinking champion with that guy.

[Nash Diesel]

Does anyone feel bad for Jan? Everyone just kind of looking at Corey like it's in the bag but I think Jan can pull it off. I'd lean toward Corey with a gun to my head just for the fact that he's younger and has a style that wins more fights than most on the scorecards. But Jan has power and I think if he can get in early and land some big shots he could get it done.

Now everyone is definitely on this mission to dethrone Jones and hopefully that intrigues Jones and the UFC. Jones is looking at HW even more than before. I laughed my ass off on the BJPenn FB page when someone tried to say Jones was wanting to get the fuck out of the LHW division before he loses and I'm like, he has more of a chance of getting fucked up at HW than at LHW. Did they forget about Big Frances???? Jones won't even mention fighting that guy.

[Fanny Batter]

Jan is a functional, unspectacular fighter. I can see why he's being written off, but he shouldn't be. He's tough enough and hits hard enough to be in a fight against anybody that isn't absolutely world class, and Corey isn't. Questions remain over his striking defence and chin. I see the issue for Jan is that he's become a low output counter striker, and I don't like that against the wrestling and pressure. So I've got Anderson on points.

The second point, surely the logic is that a loss at heavyweight would come with valid excuses, whereas losing at light heavyweight would hurt his legacy. He'd probably slide back behind GSP if he gets beaten at 205. A loss at heavyweight wouldn't be ideal but he'd still be seen as the GOAT I think. Losses are a difficult thing to measure, as everybody great is either still great, has lost so much that their prime is doubted, is discredited due to weight class, or is GSP. Jones is the former, if he falls into the second category his greatness fades, like Silva, Penn and Fedor.

[Nash Diesel]

Jan is a functional, unspectacular fighter. I can see why he's being written off, but he shouldn't be. He's tough enough and hits hard enough to be in a fight against anybody that isn't absolutely world class, and Corey isn't. Questions remain over his striking defence and chin. I see the issue for Jan is that he's become a low output counter striker, and I don't like that against the wrestling and pressure. So I've got Anderson on points.

The second point, surely the logic is that a loss at heavyweight would come with valid excuses, whereas losing at light heavyweight would hurt his legacy. He'd probably slide back behind GSP if he gets beaten at 205. A loss at heavyweight wouldn't be ideal but he'd still be seen as the GOAT I think. Losses are a difficult thing to measure, as everybody great is either still great, has lost so much that their prime is doubted, is discredited due to weight class, or is GSP. Jones is the former, if he falls into the second category his greatness fades, like Silva, Penn and Fedor.

I agree about Jan and Corey.

I agree about Jones. Plus he has all the other shit loaded on his resume to where him losing a fight at 205 would be those fans' final fuck you to Jones, especially the current landscape where absolutely no one and I mean NO ONE is even in the same universe when it comes to drawing power. Jones leaves 205, they are fucked.

[Fanny Batter]

That Diego fight is the shittest thing I've ever seen in MMA. Comically awful performance, and the mad cunts nicked a win!

[Nash Diesel]

That Diego fight is the shittest thing I've ever seen in MMA. Comically awful performance, and the mad cunts nicked a win!

Really? What happened? I heard he won by dq.

[Fanny Batter]

He turned up off his bonce on psychiatric drugs seemingly, stood in a karate stance as a guy 20lbs bigger occasionally kneed him in the ribs, until it dropped him. Got kneed to the head when down then took the DQ win as soon as he knew that would be the result if the fight was stopped at that point.

[Nash Diesel]

He turned up off his bonce on psychiatric drugs seemingly, stood in a karate stance as a guy 20lbs bigger occasionally kneed him in the ribs, until it dropped him. Got kneed to the head when down then took the DQ win as soon as he knew that would be the result if the fight was stopped at that point.

Ah ok I read some comments about that whole DQ situation but I wasn't exactly sure what they were talking about.

And how about Jan knocking out Corey? Jon v. Jan next? Might as well.

[Fanny Batter]

I like Jan, seems a good bloke. Would actually love to see him be the one to beat Jones, but on paper he's the least threatening opponent for Jon since OSP probably. Great win streak and possesses power, but stat for stat the match up is good for Jones. Still, I'd prefer it to the immediate Reyes rematch. Let that one marinate. They rushed Reyes into a title shot and were nearly left with a barely known guy dethroning the GOAT. Give Jan the shot, put Reyes on a big card against Santos (both deserve a rematch, honestly), match the winners. Timeline should match up for Jones vs. Reyes 2 in the Garden.

[Nash Diesel]

I like Jan, seems a good bloke. Would actually love to see him be the one to beat Jones, but on paper he's the least threatening opponent for Jon since OSP probably. Great win streak and possesses power, but stat for stat the match up is good for Jones. Still, I'd prefer it to the immediate Reyes rematch. Let that one marinate. They rushed Reyes into a title shot and were nearly left with a barely known guy dethroning the GOAT. Give Jan the shot, put Reyes on a big card against Santos (both deserve a rematch, honestly), match the winners. Timeline should match up for Jones vs. Reyes 2 in the Garden.

That's how I'm seeing the future. Jon/Jan this summer with Reyes/Santos as the co-main (in case someone falls through you have back up), winners face off at the end of the year as long as everyone stays healthy.

Jan is a guy that has been under the radar and could be the darkhorse to dethrone Jones.

[Nash Diesel]

The MMA discussion isn't deep enough these days to create a thread over it but I fell down the rabbit hole today watching this video:



I start @ Vernon White after some crazy stat about how going into the Liddell fight he had a 20-24 record, just terrible but I remember the build for this fight and Vernon talking shit about Chuck outside the UFC. Anyway....So I somehow wind up on Rich Clementi and what blows my mind is that he has a submission win over Rumble Johnson.

So it got me thinking and I know it won't spread out far enough to get more than a handful of replies but what are some wild and crazy wins that come to mind that are in the same ballpark. One of those fights where you're like, can you believe Rich Clementi subbed Rumble Johnson????

[Fanny Batter]

There's quite a few weight class jumps that make for some interesting MMA math. Manny Gamburyan knocked out Jorge Santiago, which puts him within the six degrees of separation from beating Fedor.

[Nash Diesel]

There's quite a few weight class jumps that make for some interesting MMA math. Manny Gamburyan knocked out Jorge Santiago, which puts him within the six degrees of separation from beating Fedor.

LOL.

It was nice seeing some names that are still going elsewhere or retired that at the time were very entertaining to me. Guys like Jason Lambert, Tyson Griffin, Marcus Davis, Mike Swick, you know that stretch from like UFC 60 to UFC 100.

[Nash Diesel]

Valentina Shevchenko v. Joanne Calderwood @ UFC 251 for the Flyweight championship.

I like JoJo but she might be in for a long (or maybe short) night with Bullet.

[Nash Diesel]

Is Diego Sanchez creeping into BJ Penn territory? Remember that Frankie Edgar fight at 145 where Penn had that weird stand up going on? Did he have the same dude?

[Fanny Batter]

He's got an absolutely bonkers cunt in his corner I know that much. I don't think he's like BJ because prime Diego was essentially mad pressure, good wrestling and an insane chin, not really a great fighter but a real tough man. Today his chin is fading and his athleticism is shot, so he's getting increasingly tough to watch. He's absolutely not a welterweight either and has no business at that weight.

[Nash Diesel]

He's got an absolutely bonkers cunt in his corner I know that much. I don't think he's like BJ because prime Diego was essentially mad pressure, good wrestling and an insane chin, not really a great fighter but a real tough man. Today his chin is fading and his athleticism is shot, so he's getting increasingly tough to watch. He's absolutely not a welterweight either and has no business at that weight.

I want to know more about this death choke that starts out as a guillotine then transitions into a Stone Cold Stunner. Sounds like the Twist of Fate lol.

[Fanny Batter]

Hooker vs. Felder should be a good appetizer for the boxing later. 2 rock solid veterans going to war. Leaning Hooker because he's got more weapons, but it's a coin flip fight.

[Nash Diesel]

Lil Nog v. Shogun Rua 3....WHY? Lol. I guess Lil' Nog might go out a winner. Never really was a fan of Lil' Nog. Appreciate his skillset but I just never really gravitated toward him. Probably because the first fight I saw was him getting SMASHED by Sokodjou and then didn't see another fight of his until fuck, his fight against Bader in the UFC? He is saying this will more than likely be his last fight though, so win lose or draw a final fight with Shogun should be a banger.

[Fanny Batter]

I prefer that to Ion Cutelaba or whoever caving their heads in inside a minute. Should be a fan friendly brawl at least, considering both move in treacle nowadays so can't dodge a strike. Shogun should probably have enough to take it, which would run his late career record to 5-1-1, a very respectable near end to a career. His losses to OSP and Anthony Smith ended up looking not so bad in retrospect too. On the flip, Lil Nog would close out on 2-5, but again to respectable fighters.

There's a title fight on Saturday, Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo. Hopefully Benavidez can finally get his world title, and it's a story that for me has been swept under the rug disgracefully because it's a great story to tell if they bothered to tell it. Nearly 10 years since his first title fight against Cruz, two more agonising failures against Mighty Mouse, beat Cejudo but injured his knee and fell behind him as Cejudo dethroned Mighty Mouse. Looked flat in his comeback against Pettis in a loss but once again showed great resolve to get himself back in contention with a 3 fight win streak with 2 finishes. Might be the feel good story of the year, but nobody has a clue about it. Other than that it's an LFA card, so I can't see many people dedicating their evening to it. I won't, and it's a main event I want to see.

[Nash Diesel]

And as we all figured, UFC 250 will be headlined by Henry Cringe King Cejudo v. Jose Aldo for the BW championship. Gotta love it. All sarcasm aside if Cejudo wasn't such a piece of trash I would actually be down with this fight. Not a fan of people coming off a loss getting rewarded with a title fight but it happens and the smaller weight classes have basically no draws so we get what we get.

I am 80/20 thinking Cejudo wins this because that's how it goes with these turd fighters. They keep fucking winning and we have to be subjected to their nonsense that draws NOTHING.

[Nash Diesel]

I prefer that to Ion Cutelaba or whoever caving their heads in inside a minute. Should be a fan friendly brawl at least, considering both move in treacle nowadays so can't dodge a strike. Shogun should probably have enough to take it, which would run his late career record to 5-1-1, a very respectable near end to a career. His losses to OSP and Anthony Smith ended up looking not so bad in retrospect too. On the flip, Lil Nog would close out on 2-5, but again to respectable fighters.

There's a title fight on Saturday, Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo. Hopefully Benavidez can finally get his world title, and it's a story that for me has been swept under the rug disgracefully because it's a great story to tell if they bothered to tell it. Nearly 10 years since his first title fight against Cruz, two more agonising failures against Mighty Mouse, beat Cejudo but injured his knee and fell behind him as Cejudo dethroned Mighty Mouse. Looked flat in his comeback against Pettis in a loss but once again showed great resolve to get himself back in contention with a 3 fight win streak with 2 finishes. Might be the feel good story of the year, but nobody has a clue about it. Other than that it's an LFA card, so I can't see many people dedicating their evening to it. I won't, and it's a main event I want to see.

Very true. I didn't even know there was a fight card this weekend OR that it was for a championship. I think you mentioned it a few weeks back but it was out of sight out of mind. Never even heard of the dude Joe is fighting but I haven't heard of maybe 70% of the roster so what's new? lol

[Fanny Batter]

I don't think it was mentioned on the last fight card, though that itself was another filler event. I guess regular UFC cards are just like regular season basketball games now, watch them if you fancy it but none of them are made to matter.

[Nash Diesel]

I don't think it was mentioned on the last fight card, though that itself was another filler event. I guess regular UFC cards are just like regular season basketball games now, watch them if you fancy it but none of them are made to matter.

haha, great point!

It just shows that Mighty Mouse was right this whole time about how little promotion they do for 125. Or even 135. Shit before Conor, what did they even do for 145? Give them Florian and Edgar to get beat? Wow thanks! How about some fucking promotion and then people will care? Obviously Cejudo's antics aren't paying off one bit. And God forbid they would try to promote a 2 division champ who is also an Olympic medalist based solely on those credentials.

Now watch.....Joe will fucking choke.

[Fanny Batter]

I don't think he'll choke per se, but he's pretty old for a flyweight and Fig hits hard. It's a coin flip fight, but a fight that deserved a little bit of hype behind it. If they're not going to hype a show, they may as well just have a middling main event like the Magny fight on the 248 card, and have the flyweights as a third title fight on that show. I get title fights on the smaller cards to bump them up, but that only works if the proverbial bear shits in the woods.

[Nash Diesel]

I agree. I can't imagine 10 years ago, even 5 years ago, the UFC acting like a title fight was about as important as the 5th fight on the prelims.

[Fanny Batter]

Yeah they'd generally at least have a bit of respect and put it on big FOX and have a decent support cast. That Henderson/Diaz card was great for example. Chucking a title fight on a throwaway card on a leap year day, not so much. Before that they had Cruz defend against Mighty Mouse way back before the FOX deal on a regular TV card, but I think that was as a thank you to the long serving broadcast partner of the WEC who obviously had hosted the bantamweights and featherweights the years before. This is, I would say, the most low profile UFC title fight of all time. You could argue Zhang vs. Andrade from last year, but at least that was aimed at a foreign market with the intention of growing the sport in the largest market on the planet. This one's in Norfolk, Virginia, folks.

[Nash Diesel]

Yeah they'd generally at least have a bit of respect and put it on big FOX and have a decent support cast. That Henderson/Diaz card was great for example. Chucking a title fight on a throwaway card on a leap year day, not so much. Before that they had Cruz defend against Mighty Mouse way back before the FOX deal on a regular TV card, but I think that was as a thank you to the long serving broadcast partner of the WEC who obviously had hosted the bantamweights and featherweights the years before. This is, I would say, the most low profile UFC title fight of all time. You could argue Zhang vs. Andrade from last year, but at least that was aimed at a foreign market with the intention of growing the sport in the largest market on the planet. This one's in Norfolk, Virginia, folks.

Yeah I mean it's not like the UFC doesn't have time to promote their potential champions and future title fights. Where else is the other 84% of profit going ot?

[Fanny Batter]

Dana's gambling habit I'd imagine.

[Fanny Batter]

Cejudo vs. Aldo confirmed then. Dumb title shot but that's the world we're living in. Hope they match Yan and Sterling in a five rounder around the same time (think there's a planned show in Russia, so that card Ramadan depending), as well as Sandhagen vs. Moraes. Gardbrandt vs. Assauncao winner against the Vera vs. Rivera winner and the divisions rolling. Do Cruz vs. Edgar too, because that's the fight to make for both.

Remaining title fights for the year:

Cormier/Stipe winner vs. Francis/Rozenstruik winner, with Blaydes vs. Lewis winner getting in the queue.

Jones/Jan winner vs. Santos/Reyes winner, with Glover vs. Volkan winner queued up.

Adesanya/Romero winner vs. Costa, Cannonier vs. Whittaker around then for next fight. Unless Rob is ready for Oz in June, if so run him vs. Till.

Usman/Masvidal winner vs. Woodley/Edwards winner, providing it's not Usman/Woodley.

Khabib/Tony winner vs. either Conor or Conor/Justin winner. If straight into Conor do Justin/Hooker for the shot after.

Volk/Holloway winner vs. whoever wins a fight between a combination of Yair, Zombie, Zabit and Ortega.

Cejudo/Aldo winner vs. Yan/Sterling winner

Flyweight, fuck knows.

Nunes defends FW against whoever looks best this weekend, while Aldana fights Pena/Ladd winner for next shot at BW. Holm rematches GDR.

Valentina's division, probably fits in another win against Roxanne or whoever after beating Joanne.

Zhang/Joanna winner vs. Andrade/Namajunas winner, with Suarez fighting someone around that time to set up a title shot.

[Nash Diesel]

It's an exciting time if you're a fan of the sport that's for sure. If you're just someone who is looking for the big money fights, there's definitely fights on the horizon this summer. Anything involving the top tier of the LW and WW divisions are going to be top drawing fights with Conor and Masvidal in the mix.

[Fanny Batter]

I think it helps that the champions are beyond solid. The RDA's and Lawler's winning titles were great times, but they never felt truly like the best fighter in their weight class. Same with the transitionary period with Conor leaving featherweight and Jones being stripped at 205. Today, I think the jury is still out on Cejudo and Zhang, but other than that the champions are the clear best in the weight class until proven otherwise. Yet you've got Cormier (holds a win over Stipe), Reyes (unbeaten besides the Jones decision), Costa (unbeaten), Masvidal (superstar) and Ferguson (absurd win streak) in line for shots this year.

[Nash Diesel]

I think it helps that the champions are beyond solid. The RDA's and Lawler's winning titles were great times, but they never felt truly like the best fighter in their weight class. Same with the transitionary period with Conor leaving featherweight and Jones being stripped at 205. Today, I think the jury is still out on Cejudo and Zhang, but other than that the champions are the clear best in the weight class until proven otherwise. Yet you've got Cormier (holds a win over Stipe), Reyes (unbeaten besides the Jones decision), Costa (unbeaten), Masvidal (superstar) and Ferguson (absurd win streak) in line for shots this year.

I think Cejudo is a deserving talented champion it's his bullshit outside the cage that bothers me lol. I wish it bothered me to where I want to see him get smashed but I can't find the energy to put money toward his fights even if he doesn't get ppv points (does that even exist with ESPN?)

[Fanny Batter]

I think he's got a bit to prove at bantamweight, I see Yan as the uncrowded champion really, terminator that bloke is. Yeah he's an abysmal character, tries to project superstardom but he's more Stevie Richards than Shawn Michaels.

[Nash Diesel]

I think he's got a bit to prove at bantamweight, I see Yan as the uncrowded champion really, terminator that bloke is. Yeah he's an abysmal character, tries to project superstardom but he's more Stevie Richards than Shawn Michaels.

Oh fuck, that is HILARIOUS.

At bantamweight I think he has proved himself by knocking out TJ in 30 seconds and then finishing Moraes who is one of if not the toughest dude at 135. I know TJ was technically at 125 but he was the champ @ 135 so that has to mean SOMETHING. I hope. But with that said I think he is definitely ducking Sterling and Yan. His reasoning for not fighting Yan is so fucking hilarious, even Yan pointed out how Cejudo was saying he needed to learn more English but then he accepts a fight with Jose Aldo? When has Jose ever spoken English?

I mean like you were saying, they might as well have Sterling v. Yan and the winner faces Cejudo or Aldo. Makes perfect sense to do that fight and I'd be aiming for a card right around 250 if possible. Yan just fought in December so he might need a little time but Sterling's been off since June so he might be ready to go this summer as well.

[Nash Diesel]

When is Mighty Mouse's deal up? I have a feeling the only fight that makes sense in a year or so would be the trilogy fight with him and Cejudo.

[Fanny Batter]

The Yan vs. Sterling winner would at least have a boost in name value going into a title fight, neither are well known at the minute. Dillashaw was an emancipated 125lbs and Moraes kicked fuck out of Cejudo early, I'd favour him with adjustments if they had a rematch.

Demetrious has no interest in coming back unfortunately, maybe they can trade Askren back for him!

[Nash Diesel]

The Yan vs. Sterling winner would at least have a boost in name value going into a title fight, neither are well known at the minute. Dillashaw was an emancipated 125lbs and Moraes kicked fuck out of Cejudo early, I'd favour him with adjustments if they had a rematch.

Demetrious has no interest in coming back unfortunately, maybe they can trade Askren back for him!

You know I'm not too concerned with name value because that just leads to situations like Aldo getting a shot because he's an old school name. Same reason why Nick Diaz got a title shot coming off a loss. We need to build up the divisions as credible divisions because when you give a guy a title shot coming off a loss who just so happened to be a staple of another division for 10 years.....What kind of message does that send to the fans and fighters? The FLW title can't even get a shout out on ppv lol.

I would favor Moraes because he's the man and could win. But still, can't hate on Henry for finishing the guy, that's huge.

I mean I don't really blame DJ for not wanting to come back. More appreciated in One.

Speaking of One.....I wish we could get Brandon Vera back. Dude doesn't fight much these days but damn he was one of my favorites back in the day.

[Fanny Batter]

It's a PPV driven sport so a name goes a long way. The Aldo title fight is stupid but when you've got building commitments and viewing metrics to achieve then it is what it is. Probably doesn't happen if they don't go to Brazil every May, otherwise they'd put Cejudo vs. Yan as a co-main somewhere.

Cejudo showed great heart and fight IQ to win yeah. All credit for his ability.

Vera's surely mid 40's by now, he was deceptively old a decade ago.

[Nash Diesel]

It's a PPV driven sport so a name goes a long way. The Aldo title fight is stupid but when you've got building commitments and viewing metrics to achieve then it is what it is. Probably doesn't happen if they don't go to Brazil every May, otherwise they'd put Cejudo vs. Yan as a co-main somewhere.

Cejudo showed great heart and fight IQ to win yeah. All credit for his ability.

Vera's surely mid 40's by now, he was deceptively old a decade ago.

Vera is 42. And yeah he was older than I think people realized when he first came on the scene. His destruction of Frank Mir, and those of you out there attempting-spare me the details of what kind of Mir that was, don't care, fuckin loved it. I still remember how pissed off Chuck Liddell was when Vera won his first UFC fight and simply said "My goal is to be a 2 division champion" and Chuck was the champ at the time, he was not having it.

Anyway.....I think that it's widely known now that ppv is dead and that ESPN deal....It doesn't even matter realistically because the UFC are getting paid the equivalent of 500k buys. Very very very few UFC ppvs consistently hit that mark, usually they're in the 2-300k range. But yeah I mean IMO it's more about filling up a venue in Brazil than anything. Plus the fact Cejudo last title defense was against Moraes but I still think a rematch would have been better than gifting Aldo a fight that he will probably lose anyway.

I hope not. What a story that would be if he won the title at this stage in his career? And I mean, he arguably won that last fight so he's not exactly a joke.

[Fanny Batter]

Figueiredo missed weight, because of course he did, so only Benavidez can win the title with a win. Surely condemns the division if it remains vacant due to this, Benavidez kind of has to win. Maybe they shut it if he wins anyway and have him get a title shot at bantamweight for their "champ champ" quota for the year. You just know he gets banged out in a round though, because MMA.

[Nash Diesel]

Figueiredo missed weight, because of course he did, so only Benavidez can win the title with a win. Surely condemns the division if it remains vacant due to this, Benavidez kind of has to win. Maybe they shut it if he wins anyway and have him get a title shot at bantamweight for their "champ champ" quota for the year. You just know he gets banged out in a round though, because MMA.

Is it harsh of me to say that if you miss weight for a title fight you should either A-be fired or B-never get to challenge again? Especially in this scenario. For fuck's sake. And yeah, I have a feeling that Joe is going to choke and get fucking smashed because as you said "Because MMA"

Completely unrelated to the UFC but did you see that KO from Sexyama to Sheri Mohamed at the recent OneFC event? Holy shit! Sexy looked good as always, too bad he never panned out in the UFC, always an entertaining fighter.

[Fanny Batter]

I'd give first time offenders the benefit of the doubt. He's not missed weight before, maybe he's put on weight expecting to move up to 135 with the division appearing to wind down, then he just hasn't got the weight off? It's not like Romero who clearly cuts so much weight that it's a crap shoot whether he makes 185 or not.

[Nash Diesel]

I'd give first time offenders the benefit of the doubt. He's not missed weight before, maybe he's put on weight expecting to move up to 135 with the division appearing to wind down, then he just hasn't got the weight off? It's not like Romero who clearly cuts so much weight that it's a crap shoot whether he makes 185 or not.

If it weren't a title fight sure. But this is a pretty important title fight honestly. It's vacant, it's for a division that has literally never been given any respect to the point where Dana was willing to trade DJ for a fucking dud in Askren. Hindsight or not lol.

But I just have such negative feelings when fighters miss weight, even more when it's for a title because there is no wiggle room. .5lbs over you're fucked. And it's literally the #1 thing you have to do, make weight. Everything else is secondary. You don't even have to box, work on your grappling, just make weight. That simple. And if you're trying to beef up, don't accept a fight at 125 if you have plans to move up. I know that's just you throwing that out there but man idk....

I'll be honest this whole Goldberg beating The Fiend has put me in such a negative mental state. I'm 38 years old ready to fuck up anyone who is pro Goldberg lol.

[Fanny Batter]

Yeah I think it fucking sucks and he's unprofessional, but one time I think the benefit of the doubt can be given. He should have to make weight a couple of times before he's eligible for a title shot though, because this shit has potential to be embarrassing.

Nunes is fighting the best winner of tomorrow night's featherweight fights at UFC 250 underneath Cejudo vs. Aldo. At least that should incentivise a pair of decent fights.

[Fanny Batter]

That Cutelaba fight was the worst stoppage of all time. Looking to be a banger of a fight as well. Number one bullshit.

Fuck, poor Joe. That's fucking sad man. Headbutt the beginning of the end. And the nutter Wallid Ismael in his corner! That guy could have actually been a marketable champion in Brazil.

[Nash Diesel]

That Cutelaba fight was the worst stoppage of all time. Looking to be a banger of a fight as well. Number one bullshit.

Fuck, poor Joe. That's fucking sad man. Headbutt the beginning of the end. And the nutter Wallid Ismael in his corner! That guy could have actually been a marketable champion in Brazil.

Wallid Ismael....I'll never forget the Pride event where he was just straight talking shit about Ryan Gracie lol. Those 2 would have had a knife fight in the ring if they allowed it.

And yeah....Joe is like Kenny Florian, never a bridge always a bridesmaid. And he's beat Cejudo! Smart thing I guess would be to just scrap the fucking division, call it a loss, and move on. Let the Asian market monopolize the under 135lbs weight classes. We can barely get the needle moving with 135 and we had one of the best MMA fighters in Mighty Mouse doing fantastic shit at 125 but nobody cared on the level that they should have.

[Fanny Batter]

Dana likes to blame DJ for that, when the fact is that the flyweight division was so underrepresented at the top of the card that nobody could possibly give one iota of a shit about most of the challengers, and therefore the knock was on Demetrious. The biggest opportunity he had, on that McGregor/Poirier (admittedly pre-superstardom) and Cowboy/Alvarez card, they gave him fucking Chris Cariaso. Who's previous fights were 6 fights down, 7 fights down and 9 fights down, doing a bit of research. The latter being the only win that was even remotely emphatic. Top contender coming off a split decision win against Louis Smolka, 6 fights from top on an FS1 card in Cincinnati. Of course he himself could have done a bit more, but he's the fighter and Dana's the promoter, and he failed him.

[Nash Diesel]

Dana likes to blame DJ for that, when the fact is that the flyweight division was so underrepresented at the top of the card that nobody could possibly give one iota of a shit about most of the challengers, and therefore the knock was on Demetrious. The biggest opportunity he had, on that McGregor/Poirier (admittedly pre-superstardom) and Cowboy/Alvarez card, they gave him fucking Chris Cariaso. Who's previous fights were 6 fights down, 7 fights down and 9 fights down, doing a bit of research. The latter being the only win that was even remotely emphatic. Top contender coming off a split decision win against Louis Smolka, 6 fights from top on an FS1 card in Cincinnati. Of course he himself could have done a bit more, but he's the fighter and Dana's the promoter, and he failed him.

Well, it's like we talked about last week how the UFC didn't even advertise the upcoming title fight @ Flyweight.

I think in the West we don't care as much about super small fighters in MMA. Guys under 155 never really broke out beyond the hardcore fanbase. McGregor is a rare breed. He came in and before his first fight he was sitting front row with Dana and Lorenzo. I remember laughing my ass off when Joe said "I haven't seen someone with this much hype since Brock Lesnar" but he was right when looking back. If you want someone to be presented as a big deal, you have to put in the work. They didn't put in the work for DJ or the 125 division and just let the hardcore fans dictate it's position.

[Fanny Batter]

I guess the model also dictates who gets promoted too. It's a lot easier to give Mark Hunt TV main events throughout his career rather than Joseph Benavidez, because Hunt's a kill or be killed giant of a man. They do have contracts with expectations, and therefore I can see why they do what they do. It's only disappointing when they put guys in prominent positions that don't have the talent compared to a flyweight NOR the potential drawing power. By all means give me that lunatic Michel Perreira on my TV screen. Give me Cowboy Olivera, or Mike Perry, or Douglas Andrade. Don't give me Maurice Green or Devin Clark because they're heavy or 205. They suck.

[Fanny Batter]

Really good fight card on Saturday. Not quite as good as intended, as 2 bangers in Kattar vs. Stephens and Brunson vs. Shahbazyan got moved to later cards, but still plenty to like. 2 title fights and pretty action friendly too.

Adesanya vs. Romero absolutely would not be remotely competitive a year from now. And a year ago, I probably would have leant the other way. That's where the trajectories of these guys are. Romero is due a steep fall off in his athletic abilities. Yes, he's an absolute freak, but he's also 43 years old next month He just can't be this good forever. There were signs in the last fight with Costa that there was a drop off, but he was still powerful and explosive enough to be very much in the fight. Which I find he will be here. The power hasn't left him. He will still be Yoel Romero, but his output will decrease and he'll have to depend on efficiency like never before. In this fight next week, I think he's capable of winning. Adesanya has been learning on the job at the big boy's table, having only taken on 2 world class operator's in their prime. Romero has fought a murderer's row for years. So he hasn't fought anybody remotely like Yoel, and the fighting style that has got it done against more classically skilled pressure boxers in Kelvin and Whittaker won't work against Yoel due to the crazy bursts of aggression. Consistency creates patterns, and a tactician like Israel can create openings based on that. Yoel won't give you patterns because of his unorthodox modes of attack. So I'm excited to see if Adesanya goes into the lion's den with the machismo he has and goes out to wreck Romero, or whether he goes for a smart, tactical outside fighting style which, as specified, would probably actually be to his detriment. He'll win every round that way, but he'd give Yoel 25 minutes to find something, and 25 minutes is a long time to be in a cage fight. I love Adesanya's style and I think he's hard nosed and arrogant enough to do the former and win in quite spectacular fashion. But, he could get caught. It's a great fight. It shouldn't be happening given Yoel's weigh in record and recent results, but it's a great fight.

Zhang vs. Joanna again is a fight that doesn't really have logic to it with Joanna 2-3 in her last 5, but it's a great one. Not as egregious as the main event either considering Namajunas and Andrade are coming off losses and Joanna isn't. Zhang is a badass and looks to be getting better all the time, but is also comfortably the least proven of the champions. She beat the breaks off of Andrade in super impressive fashion, but it was more a testament to her aggression working perfectly against Jessica's on that night. Other than that, she's not blown the doors off anybody, and hasn't been super emphatic in victory against lesser opponents. All of her opponents have been on the shorter side for the weight class too. Stylistically, it's a fight where Joanna will absolutely fancy her chances. Obviously her aura of invincibility is gone with the defeats, and maybe that template will work against her in the future now that people have figured her power isn't great on the back foot and her chin won't hold up. But, if her skills are sharp she's easily the more proven competitor in this fight. The intangibles make it hard to give her more than a 50/50 chance, but I do actually favour her regaining the title. Proven over a five round pace, longer, kicks to halt forward pressure. Always a chance she gets caught, and if Zhang wins we have a star on our hands because she'll win emphatically, but I like Joanna on points. Possibly controversially, but I see her doing enough.

Klose vs. Dariush, two quality operators on three fight win streaks in a feature match-up. No complaints here. I really like Dariush, one of my favourite underappreciated fighters. Bloody lovely bloke, and he can fight as well. Not a big Klose fan so I'd love to see Beneil get it done. I like his chances too. His main weakness is a tendency to get caught flush by heavy hitters, but Klose isn't one. I see a patient jab, well timed takedowns and probably a decision win, but he could submit him too.

Magny vs. Jingliang is sensible matchmaking with Zhang on the card. I presume, due to the Coronavirus, a card in China will be on the backburner, but that shouldn't decrease interest in that part of the world. Magny, to his credit, generally brings it in entertaining fights, either being outgunned and getting his shit pushed in or being outgunned, weathering the storm and beating his man down. The Leech is entertaining fare too, big power and he's improving all the time. Won 7 of 8, 5 by knockout. It'll follow either Magny pattern, but considering Li has been getting late finishes I can't see him tiring to the point where Magny takes over, so going Leech by comfortable decision with a couple of knockdowns thrown in.

Cowboy Olivera vs. Max Griffin has war written all over it. Going to be a fun one, but it's been made to get Brazilian Cowboy back in the winners circle as Griffin is a clear step down. Cowboy by rear naked choke after a nip and tuck brawl on the feet.

ESPN prelims have Sean O'Malley, Mark O. Madsen and Rodolfo Viera in showcase fights. All unbeaten, and should remain so against borderline UFC calibre opponents.

[Nash Diesel]

I'm digging the 2 titles fights. The skillsets for these 4 make the fights very interesting. Especially the MW title fight. Top notch kickboxer with great TDD against a top tier grappler with powerful strikes. Honestly reminds me of Wonderboy v. Tyron.

[Nash Diesel]

Marlon Moraes v. Petr Yan in Kazakhstan June 13th. I'll be honest, a little surprised it wasn't Sterling v. Yan but the way I see it is this.....The idea could be if Moraes and Aldo win, their rematch for the title with that questionable SD win for Moraes makes the fight even bigger. If Yan wins, he just beat the #1 contender, Yan faces winner of Aldo/Cejudo. And even if Cejudo wins and rematches Marlon, that's a great fight too.

Sterling should be waiting in the wings though. Maybe he faces Marlon next, try to avenge that brutal KO from a few years back or maybe Sterling v. Assuncao since that was a SD loss for Sterling he'd probably like to avenge against a top tier guy.

[Fanny Batter]

Sandhagen vs. Sterling would be a good fight in the interim. Winner can fight the Cejudo/Aldo loser. Interested in the weigh in tomorrow. Romero being Romero and all. Joanna with the new girls is a tough cut too.

[Fanny Batter]

What an unbelievable fight Zhang vs. Joanna was. Holy shit. Best women's MMA fight of all time hands down. The difference in standards between 115 and the rest of the game is staggering, the old adage of iron sharpens iron rings true. A competitive, deep division produces great fighters, plural. Could have gone either way but how can you go against the damage Zhang did? Joanna became a Hall of Famer off the heart shown here, if she wasn't already. Sick injury to fight through, can't imagine the pain and discomfort.

Romero vs. Adesanya was the opposite. Glorified staring contest. You get that sometimes though, it's fighting. Tension was always there but the counter striking tendencies cancelled each other out. I actually scored it Romero too, but it would have been a bit of a travesty winning the title like that. Onwards and upwards.

Great to see Dariush get a big win. One of the sport's truly great human beings. One of those guys with a shit ton of sneaky good wins. Crisp striking, knockout power and a great submission game who always comes to fight, what's not to like.

The two welterweight fights were good. Magny looked excellent after his layoff and should slot back into the rankings. Cowboy won a war but showed his limitations, always worth watching though.

Prelims went as well as could be for the 3 undefeated prospects. They'll all kick on. Good day for streaks all in all with Zhang and Adesanya extending their lengthy win streaks too. Enjoyable card.

[Nash Diesel]

I know the UFC has bills to pay but I'm not a fan of Dana acting like Adesanya's never had a boring fight. Did he forget about the Anderson Silva fight? I'm not saying Romero isn't guilty, but to put it all on him is just another example of protecting investments.

Zhang v. Joanna....Wow. I was surprised it went to a split decision as I felt Zhang won 4 of the 5 rounds, for sure 3 of the 5 but it was close. I'm sure stats will show I'm wrong lol.

[Fanny Batter]

Dana has to sell PPV's with Adesanya in the main event going forward, not Romero. His words always come with a promotional agenda. Look at Mighty Mouse, went from greatest of all time to couldn't draw flies to shit with one judge's scorecard.

[Nash Diesel]

Dana has to sell PPV's with Adesanya in the main event going forward, not Romero. His words always come with a promotional agenda. Look at Mighty Mouse, went from greatest of all time to couldn't draw flies to shit with one judge's scorecard.

Yeah I mean, you know, maybe don't book someone on a 2-fight losing streak for starters. But I also don't think we expected that kind of a fight. I actually thought Romero could have won this fight and he would have if he were more active. But maybe if he were more active then Izzy would have lit him up...I don't know. Izzy isn't the killer he's been made out to be imo. He couldn't pull the trigger against Anderson or Romero, like if you're over 40 he can't beat your ass. He struggled with Kelvin but he did bust up Bobby Knuckles.

The way I see it, if this kid wants a piece of Jon Jones he can't fight super cautious like he did against Anderson and Romero. Even this current version of Jon Jones would dust him. Curious to see if Costa can do anything though. Not super familiar with his work.

[Fanny Batter]

It's clear he fights to the activity of his opponent. Anderson, like Romero, is a low output counter striker. Whittaker and Gastelum are aggressive fighters so came at him, and that suited him in terms of getting his shots off. He still took damage in both fights, particularly in the war with Kelvin. The read on Costa is that he's as aggressive as they come, but generally gets his man out of there early with that style. It'll be interesting to see if he alters that style knowing he's scheduled for five five's against a world class operator. He fought well against Romero and took his big shots, but he was breathing out of his arse towards the end. I guess the call is Costa early or Adesanya late, unless Costa drastically changes what brought him to the dance.