MMA/UFC thread

[TRF_Olyy]

I can understand why khabib's not got a ***le shot straight away - he's not fought a ranked opponent in almost 2 years.
If his fight with Ferguson had gone ahead, and he won,it'd be a no brainer. Hes still unbeaten and ranked no.1. They should have made Ferg vs Khabib rather than Ferg vs RDA.
That said he deserves the ***le shot 100 times more than McGregor, who has never fought at lightweight and is completely ****ing over the featherweight division. Dana has repeatedly said conor would have to surrender his belt if he didn't defend, yet once again conor gets what he wants instead. I imagine, if he beats Eddie then he'll give up his belt. If he loses then he's still got the security blanket of being champ and drop back down.


The way the ufc has treated Khabib the past few months is disgusting though. They've not given him a fight, despite him calling out everyone under the sun since Ramadan finished, and they've been saying he'll get a ***le shot instead.
They send him the documents to fight Alvarez, he signs them.....then finds out they were just playing him to get Eddie and conor to play ball. "Eddie if you don't accept this deal then you'll fight Khabib instead. Conor if you don't accept then Khabib gets the ***le shot instead of you".
No wonder Khabib is raging on twitter. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to leave the ufc now. There's a lot of money flying around in the eastern European MMA scene atm, and Khabib has developed a big following out there. Japan and Bellator would also be (less lucrative options). Not as prestigious as the UFC but at least he'd get his ***le shot.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

I agree with most of that.
I'd be happy with McG fighting either Aldo or Khabib. If i had my pick, i'd want Khabib to through him across the octagon, TKO, no re, end of.

I think both Alvarez and McG would rather fight between themselves than take chances with Khabib. Sure, Khabib is probably rusy, but style wise he has an edge vs both of them in my book.
Convincing Alvarez was probably quite easy too, as he will make more money fighting McG.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yeah, I'd love to see Khabib ragdoll conor all over the octagon too.
My only worry is (and this is what I expect to happen) that conor beats Eddie, has his ***le defence rematch with Aldo, third fight and ***le defence vs Nate and then retires.
He's said all along he wants to retire early.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

That possibility has crossed my mind but, call me an optimist, my money is with Aldo.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

So Khabib gets Johnson at MSG, which is the fight they should have booked before fannying around with the Alvarez stuff. Happy with that.

Worryingly, though, Aldo says he's done with the ufc, after they refused to strip McGregor of his ***le or make him defend.
He would clean up in bellator or rizin

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Alvarez to Conor: "You were the easiest opponent that made the most money".

T-shirt worthy phrase. I still prefer his "If Sambo was easy, it would be called Jiu-Jitsu" but this one is a close second.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Anyone else staying up for 204?
On paper there's a lot of quality fights, annoying to see so many people writing it off because they're not all big names.

A lot of Brits on the card, too.
Looking forward to seeing Rocky Edwards (cause he's from just down the road from me) and Danny Roberts vs Mike Perry.
Mike Perry is a proper love-to-hate character, he's a massive douchebag and embraces it (face tattoo, platinum grills and a stomach tattoo that says "GOD'S GIFT"). He produced one of my favourite weigh in moments, as well, when he pretended to shake his opponents hand then pulled it away and screamed "YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD A FRIEND, BOY, AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHH".

Edit:
Crazy card. Main event could have gone either way.
Word is vitor is retiring. Shame to go out on a couple of losses but he's had a long and successful career, and he still looked decent tonight. Delighted for moose, though, he's one of my favourites (when he's focused, that is). Hopefully works his way into ***le contention from here.
OSP straight merked.
Rocky got the big upset win.
Davey got his arm broken, possibly twice.
Roberts vs Perry was probably my fight of the night, great scrap.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Anyone else going to try an watch 205 tonight?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

You knows it!
Cage Warriors on BT Sport (and weirdly live in their studio) before hand too, Fishgold and Pimblett defending their belts.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Fuuuuuuuuuu** I love Khabib, he's a God damn beast when he gets his hands on an opponent.
For all money, in the first, he looked like his legs were going in the first, dives at Johnson...seconds later he's in mounted crucifix dropping hellbows in his face.
Just can't beat that Dagestani bear wrestling background.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

What a mess.

God I hate that ole chant.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Scenes.
I said all along that Alvarez is probably the easiest fight in the top 5 at LW, despite being champ, but I didn't expect it to be so one sided.

I've already unfollowed all mma pages on social media, McGregor superfans (who have watched maybe 4 MMA fights) are literally the worst sports fans going, bar none. Gonna give it a few weeks to chill

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Man, when Khabib gets a hold of Conor...
Khabib strengths are conor's weakness. Other than a lucky early first round KO i don't see how he can win.

Khabib has had little trouble bringing the floor to the ground with people who have a much better take down defense than McG. Once there, it is a matter of time. Either he will tire them, beat the crap out of them or submit them. Whatever he feels like at the time.

The only question mark for me was if Khabib's 2 year hiatus would affect them much. I think he answered that question yesterday.

Media wise would be interesting too. A verbal jouster vs a guy who doesn't say much but can put fear into people just by staring.
I don't see Khabib pulling an Aldo here and imploding.

Again, it would be smart from McG, given his #1 interest is money, to avoid this fight.

 

[Larksea]

Being as objective as I can.

Conor is a tough one to pick as his road has been so different to the standard path to championships. And I still think its hard to judge just how good he is.

In particular because the Mendes fight was short notice, also note that Conor looked in terrible shape for that fight. It looked like he/his camp got the weight cut completely wrong and it seriously hindered him. They got the cut right for the Aldo fight, conor looked fantastic but he totally got into Aldo's head, Aldo was doomed.

I never really rated Eddie as a champion, but Conor didn't just beat Eddie he completely dominated him. Knocked him down 4 times in a round and a half? made him look silly. Conor grabbing and slapping Eddies lead left hand really put him off. Was very interesting to watch it unfold.

Eddie is a good fighter and he was the champion but I dont consider him the best 155er. To me he's bottom end of the top 5 His UFC record is now 3-2. Him beating RDA was a shock and went against form.

RDA went on a blitz for a while but he seems to be back to being fairly average.

If Conor wanted a true test at 155 then Khabib & Ferguson are his biggest threats. And also Diaz who has been a bit of a mixed bag. He tends to show up to fights either in great condition or he picks up injuries in camp and carries them into fights and he suffers. I think Diaz in good shape can beat Conor because he has the best style to counter him. He has the reach, he can take a punch, he gets stronger as a fight goes on and if it goes to the ground his BJJ completely out classes Conor. 155 would suit Diaz, even more so knowing Conors best counter to him is leg kicks. The Third fight at 155 would be a serious challenge for Connor.

Khabib - its easy to say Khabib would walk into the ring and rag doll Conor but that under estimates just how good Conor is at controlling the range of fights. In theory Eddie should have rag dolled Connor. Mendes too. But it didn't happen because Connors pressure, range control and push kicks are hard to deal with. Plus he is still a big fighter at 155.

Ferguson - has an awkward style and a long reach, and can operate at many different ranges and levels. Hes on a long run and is a very different challenge to anything Conor has faced before. Tony has a crazy style but hes not as tactical, calculated and well drilled as Conor but ti would still be a good, unpredictable fight.

I think a Max Holloway rematch at 145 would be really good. I think Franky Edgar would be a better fight than an Aldo rematch but I think Conor would beat them both. Aldo's style is bad against Conor and hes in Aldos head. Edgar has the chin, footwork, cardio and all round game to make a more interesting fight.

Conors run has been pretty amazing but he has now put two divisions into limbo. Hes the champion of two divisions and hasn't defended either of them yet. The Greats of the UFC became that way from defending multiple times. Its much harder to do that than just win the ***le. Conor has a low attention span though. Multiple defenses is not his style.

His intentions are very clear. if the UFC want him to keep fighting now they have to pay him with shares in the company.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Khabib - its easy to say Khabib would walk into the ring and rag doll Conor but that under estimates just how good Conor is at controlling the range of fights. In theory Eddie should have rag dolled Connor. Mendes too. But it didn't happen because Connors pressure, range control and push kicks are hard to deal with. Plus he is still a big fighter at 155.

We saw different fights then. It most certainly did happen.
First round (less than two round fight) Mendes took McG down 3 times. Three times in one round.
Mendes gassed out, period. until that last exchange, Mendes was winning, clearly.

I agree with you that McG has good take-down defense, but i hope you agree with me that, once they are on the ground, he will be in trouble. So the question becomes, can McG's defense stand to Khabib's takedown attempts? I don't think so. Khabib's chin ain't soft either, so McG needs more than a lucky punch to win it.

Could happen, i just don't see it.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Eddie's a good wrestler but people are talking like he's one of the best in the UFC, he doesn't have the background/pedigree of so many others. He's a good wrestler and implements a wrestling heavy style but Mendes, for example, is far more technically sound.
Eddie still managed to get Conor's back against the cage despite being heavily rocked early on. He didn't do anything with it, but when Khabib got rocked by Johnson he took him down with ease. I think Khabib would have to be literally unconscious to not take anyone down if he gets a hand on them, he's just straight up the best wrestler in MMA. Apparently he regularly gets the better of Daniel Corries, who is significantly heavier and an exceptional wrestler, in training.

That said Conor's distance management and speed is excellent. Khabib ate a lot of shots early on and there's no way of knowing whether those shots coming from Conor would put him out.
I REALLY really want to see that fight, though.
I reckon Conor/Diaz III happens first, though, and they'll make Tony and Khabib fight (which Khabib will probably refuse) which would be an excellent fight.
Beyond that I don't know what will happen with McGregor - his kid is due in may and he's talking about taking a year off early doors.
He took zero damage this fight so could fight in like January and then (depending on damage) April, then that could be it until 2018.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

He will take Diaz a third time and retire. He'll do promotions for the UFC after that.

 

[munstermuffin]

Had the privilege of visiting McGregors camp up in SBG during camp. I'm not a huge follower of MMA but always intrigued with learning about athletes for my job. Must say regardless of what people think of him, the discipline and techniques in training he follows is scary. Admittedly I think the regime shortens your peak but major respect for him. Got to meet his nutrition team (who involves Dee his girlfriend) and like the way this guy manages not only what goes in to his body but timing down to minutes is mad.
He does talk the big talk BUT behind it all is an extremely focuses and calculated man.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I know **** all about this sport but surely McGregor is up there with the best at this stage?!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I know **** all about this sport but surely McGregor is up there with the best at this stage?!

Of all time?
He's definitely well on his way but it's easy to forget how green he is considering his achievements.
If he gets a couple of ***le defences under his belt he definitely will, but he needs a couple more big fights (as in opponents, not ppv numbers).


Currently? Absolutely. I imagine they'll make him pound for pound number 1 after this, however I still think mighty mouse is it. Conor definitely deserves to be up there with the Johnsons, Joneses and Cruzs though. It's easy to say he's not as complete an MMA fighter as they are but realistically he's snarching people so early we don't know what level his grappling is at these days.