MMA/UFC thread

[bushytop]

So the Herb call was obvs wrong but fair play to Lawler he took it on the chin like a G. Can't help but love Askren though... big grapple fan in general so he does play into my wheelhouse (though his grappling wasn't its usual standard last night) but his 'doesn't give a shiz' attitude is great too... and just what the UFC needs. His comments about Dana (last night and in the past) take me back to my youth when watching Stonecold hose down Vince McMahon with beer in the WWE.

Forgot to add... **** Jon Jones!

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

I like askren. He usually tells it like it is. But if he's gonna use his verbal skills to become the next Sonnen/McG, count me out.

Yesterday, of all days, was not the day to gloat.
If he could think of a way to take a jab a Dana without taking a jab at lawler, i'm fine with that too. But saying "is that the best you've got" when the guy dumped you like a bag of potatoes and rearranged your face in under 2 mins was pretty stupid.

 

[bushytop]

I like askren. He usually tells it like it is. But if he's gonna use his verbal skills to become the next Sonnen/McG, count me out.

Yesterday, of all days, was not the day to gloat.
If he could think of a way to take a jab a Dana without taking a jab at lawler, i'm fine with that too. But saying "is that the best you've got" when the guy dumped you like a bag of potatoes and rearranged your face in under 2 mins was pretty stupid.

Fair... but he also said Lawler was one of his favourite fighters. My point is that it's nice to have a guy on the roster who isn't just kissing Dana's a$$.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

To be fair he did preface it with something like "well if I won I was gonna say it, so..."

He's just playing the game, he said as such during the Embeddeds, when he and Usman were both doing their cuts in the UFC PI and Askren said he'd never **** with someone who was cutting weight cause it's a dick move

 

[TRF_Olyy]

RIP Till - absolutely merked by someone not known for his power. Think he needs to go the Whittaker route, this weight cut is killing him.

Edwards got a convincing win over Nelson, which was excellent to see.
Gutted that Breese had to pull out - same issue as his last UFC London fight (erratic heart beat/racing heart rate). Apparently he has severe anxiety issues around fighting - sucks because he's so damn talented, and his last win was very impressive. I hope he can make it back into the cage at some point, but if he can't then he definitely has a career in coaching, Renegade JJ is going from strength to strength.

Wood and Allen both got convincing wins and continue their rises to the top as well. UK MMA is in a good place atm.

 

[bushytop]

So just watched last nights UFC... if you're a fight fan and you haven't watched it yet, get on that sh@t! Two of the best fights that I have seen in years as the co-main and main events... bravo sirs!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Agreed, both fights were incredible
Izzy vs Gastelum one of the best ***le fights in recent memory - Max vs Dustin would be fight of the year if not for the one a few minutes before!

All fighters so respectful as well - I mean they've thrown a few jabs beforehand, and Adesanya loves a meme, but it's so refreshing to see fighters respect their opponents and leave it all in the cage.


Adesanya vs Whittaker is gonna be absolute fireworks. There's talk of it being held in a rugby stadium in Aus, it'd be a huge sell out crowd.
Gonna be real interesting, I think Whittaker takes it but who knows! Gastelum was landing on Adesanya but was having to throw a 4 punch combo to close the distance and land the last shot, Whittaker won't have the crazy height/reach distance to overcome.

 

[bushytop]

Stylebender has slowly grown on me... didn't used to like him (though I've always considered his talent undeniable) but his last couple of post-fight interviews have shown me a different side to his personality, devoid of his ego. Think i might have him as a slight favourite against Whittaker... but that's just me.

Poiriers emotion at the end actually made me well up a bit at the end (I'm an easy mark tbf) I remember watching Fightville years ago and being struck by his dedication do responsibility for someone so young. Glad that it has all come together for him. Still... Khabib is a mountain that is yet to be climbed by anyone.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Stylebender has slowly grown on me... didn't used to like him (though I've always considered his talent undeniable) but his last couple of post-fight interviews have shown me a different side to his personality, devoid of his ego. Think i might have him as a slight favourite against Whittaker... but that's just me.

There's no denying his rise has been meteroic - his first fight was good, but against a can, his fight vs Vettori was....OK. Nothing special. But he's looked exponentially better every fight. I have Whittaker as favourite but I wouldn't be surprised to see Adesanya win, at all.

Still... Khabib is a mountain that is yet to be climbed by anyone.

Yeah, I don't see Dustin beating Khabib. I'm a big big Dustin fan, but I don't think he has anything stand out to really worry Khabib - he's basically a harder hitting Iaquinta (nice boxing, decent wrestling, good jiu jitsu). His gas tank doesn't look anything special (though next to Max no ones does) so I could see Khabib just slowly wearing him down and cruising to a UD.

 

[bushytop]

There's no denying his rise has been meteroic - his first fight was good, but against a can, his fight vs Vettori was....OK. Nothing special. But he's looked exponentially better every fight. I have Whittaker as favourite but I wouldn't be surprised to see Adesanya win, at all.



Yeah, I don't see Dustin beating Khabib. I'm a big big Dustin fan, but I don't think he has anything stand out to really worry Khabib - he's basically a harder hitting Iaquinta (nice boxing, decent wrestling, good jiu jitsu). His gas tank doesn't look anything special (though next to Max no ones does) so I could see Khabib just slowly wearing him down and cruising to a UD.

What's up with Tony Ferguson... haven't heard anything from since that awesome win over Pettit, surely he is in the mix to fight the winner?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

What's up with Tony Ferguson... haven't heard anything from since that awesome win over Pettit, surely he is in the mix to fight the winner?

He's dealing with some pretty serious mental health issues atm - was tearing up the walls in his house thinking people were spying on him. He's had major issues with alcohol in the past and apparently fell off the wagon pretty hard recently, but is now sober again and getting the help he needs and is back on his meds.


It's a tough situation - Poirier deserve the khabib fight, as interim champ. Tony deserves the khabib fight as he's (stripped) interim champ. Neither should have to fight before facing khabib, but it would mean a long lay off for one of them, and if they made them fight each other in the summer (Khabib not back till end of September) then one of them loses their deserved shot at the belt.

For my money Tony deserves the fight the most, and him vs Khabib is biggest what if in combat sports atm.

Whichever doesn't fight khabib should get Conor or Diaz just for the payday/as compensation

 

[bushytop]

He's dealing with some pretty serious mental health issues atm - was tearing up the walls in his house thinking people were spying on him. He's had major issues with alcohol in the past and apparently fell off the wagon pretty hard recently, but is now sober again and getting the help he needs and is back on his meds.


It's a tough situation - Poirier deserve the khabib fight, as interim champ. Tony deserves the khabib fight as he's (stripped) interim champ. Neither should have to fight before facing khabib, but it would mean a long lay off for one of them, and if they made them fight each other in the summer (Khabib not back till end of September) then one of them loses their deserved shot at the belt.

For my money Tony deserves the fight the most, and him vs Khabib is biggest what if in combat sports atm.

Whichever doesn't fight khabib should get Conor or Diaz just for the payday/as compensation

Dayum! I'm sorry to hear about that as a long time fan of El Cucuy... although not totally surprising, the guy is a rare one (part of the reason I like him). What is it, like 4 times that the Ferg vs Khabib fight has fallen through?

Scheduling this is a tough one for sure... I'd prob go with Khabib vs Poirier (just because they both have the belts right now) with Ferg to fight the winner. I'd be down with your suggestion too though as can see it both ways. However it plays out... if we could get (a hopefully fully fit) Diaz vs either Piorier or Ferg I'd be a happy punter.

 

[bushytop]

Fair play to Cejudo, I really struggle to 'like' the guy (for whatever reason) but the guy deserves and has my total respect. The way he turned that around last night, as well as his other accomplishments... one of the greatest ever (if not THE greatest).

Valentina... just wow!

El Cucuy vs Cowboy - gutted it went down the way it did, was really enjoying the fight and in fairness to Tony, even if Cowboys eye hadn't blown he had a huge uphill struggle against him in the 3rd.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

The worst part about Cejudo's win streak is having to see more of his coach with the white glasses

 

[bushytop]

The worst part about Cejudo's win streak is having to see more of his coach with the white glasses

... and Henry's lid! I've taken to referring to him as Henry Ce-hair do.

 

[bushytop]

Skills...

 

[bushytop]

So watching last night's ufc (not finished it yet mind) and seen that next week's ufc will be the first one to charge pay-per-view in the uk. Im not the biggest Jon Jones fan anyway and think next week's bout will probably be a blow out but there are some fights I'd definitely like to see (Masvidal, Nunes, Rockhold etc).

I'm currently thinking that I won't pay to view as I begrudge the extra expense after my monthly sports bill (sky sports, bt sports, prem sports etc). Anyone gonna pay to watch this?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I won't pay PPV, flat out.
It's also crazy that they chose this card to trial it on - they really really overestimate Jones' popularity, especially vs a relatively unknown fighter (if it was Jones vs DC at heavyweight I could understand it).

When they announced some cards would be PPV I thought they were keeping that in their back pocket for Conor cards, didn't think they'd just randomly drop it on 239

 

[bushytop]

Agreed about the value they place on Jones. Hopefully this'll massively backfire and very few people will sign up.

Ironically (considering Dana always thought he didn't move the needle) the only fighter I'd probably pay for (& it would have to be against someone great too) would be Nate Diaz.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I think Masvidal is a PoS, but 5 seconds. Wow. Just insane. The force in that knee on the slow motion replay - two guys running at each other then the jump and the shoot at the same time - I wouldn't be surprised if his skull is fractured.


Damn, one legged Santos came real close.
I think Jones would win a rematch way easier though - he didn't try and grapple at all, wanting to beat Santos at his own game.