MMA/UFC thread

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Olyy's right. I didnt mean too late for it to happen. I mean too late for it to be interesting. I was thinking of fights that didn't happen or happened too late in combat sports.
GSP vs Silva, Mayweather vs Pacquiao, Fedor v Couture, Khabib vs Ferguson, Ngannou vs Jones, give Aldo a second shot vs Conor, etc. I mean, Conor vs Khabib took AGES to happen.

Or things like Pereira vs Jones at Light Heavyweight. That would be monstrous.

Middleweight: Dricus, Strickland, Adesanya, Khanzat, Bo

Or do Leon vs Rakhmonov at welterweight. Or bring Makhachev up.

The potential, right now, is astronomical.

And we fans keep being fed names like Gaethje, Poirier, Oliveira... no disrespect, but they are all, right now, second tier when compared to the names/fights I'm mentioning above.


This is why i like, no, love Volk. He demolished his division and not only talked the talk, he walked it, taking ridiculous risks in the process. Short notice? no problem. Another category? No problem. Coming from an injury? Sure, I'll deal with it. Concussions? **** that!

And sure, he is not the only case where a guy goes up a category. But... he did so after demolishing, beyond any doubt his former division, as in, he was not running away, AND he went and faced an opponent who is on the run to become the greatest lightweight of all time. And he didn't even blink, and performed brilliantly. No 'let s meet in the middle' or 'i need this or that'. He just went and faced a formidable opponent, outside of his class, and stood his ground. I am looking for comparable examples and i cant find them. The only one i cant think of is BJ Penn (beat all and went up to face GsP), but he kinda ruined it at the end IMO. You need to know when to retire i guess.

Khabib could have done it, maybe, but we'll never know. I am not going to blame Khabib for that, obviously. And sure, Jones beat everyone in Light Heavyweight BUT i look at both divisions and i see a hell of an opponent in light heavyweight and not much competition in heavyweight so the obvious question that comes to mind is, if he is really looking for a legacy, why doesn't he go down again and face Pereira?
I see Volk and i see someone who, on top of being world-class, was/is actively and constantly looking to fight against the best. Not buts, no ifs, no excuses. It is, IMO, incredibly rare and it ****** me off.
End rant/

 

[munstermuffin]

Will McGregor get knocked out again?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Will McGregor get knocked out again?

Very possible
Chandler is a ball of fast twitch muscle fibres, very fast and very strong.
Prime McGregor beats him easily but modern McGregor?
Conor coming back from a serious injury and didn't look great in his fights before that, looking like a plodding boxer rather than the karate stance darting around the cage that saw him reach the heights he did

Both fighters the wrong side of 35, and both been on the sidelines multiple years so who knows what level of athleticism they'll show (no USADA will help that though)
Conor doesn't look like he's been training seriously, whereas Chandler is a notorious gym junkie

I could see either of them getting clipped in an early exchange and it being over within a minute or two

 

[munstermuffin]

Very possible
Chandler is a ball of fast twitch muscle fibres, very fast and very strong.
Prime McGregor beats him easily but modern McGregor?
Conor coming back from a serious injury and didn't look great in his fights before that, looking like a plodding boxer rather than the karate stance darting around the cage that saw him reach the heights he did

Both fighters the wrong side of 35, and both been on the sidelines multiple years so who knows what level of athleticism they'll show (no USADA will help that though)
Conor doesn't look like he's been training seriously, whereas Chandler is a notorious gym junkie

I could see either of them getting clipped in an early exchange and it being over within a minute or two

McGregor just living the life now. Not the hungry lad that was unbeaten. And the thing that made him get to the top, his mouth, will ultimately be his downfall. The body can't cash the cheques that mouth writes these days

 

[Yulia]

I'm not an expert in fighting,but last videos I saw with Conor (recent ones, with his trainings I mean) was super impressive! He's in a good form now, in my opinion. Maybe finally calmed down and decided to continue his career

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Ok, need a pair of fresh eyes and since this thread is quiet i thought i'd use you lot.
I came across (again) Khabib's only loss in combat sambo. He was 17, fighting against a 20 year old dude.
Video in case anyone's interested:


So I heard his opponent's name and it sounded familiar: Magomed Ibragimov
So i googled him there it was. Highly decorated wrestler, olympics, the lot.
But for some reason i recalled the guy bigger, as in heavier and taller, so i check again. This guy is 1,9 meters.
The problem i have is that the guy in the video is considerably shorter than Khabib (WHILE Khabib was 17!). So i'm guessing 170 cm.
I know... i can see the 'he grew up' retort. Who the ***** grows 20 cms after turning 20? Mass, weight, muscle, i understand. I can understand someone growing after 20. But it is very, very rare and rarer if it's 20 cms on a 170 person.

Is it just me or there is some weird stuff going on here?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Wonder if it might be crossed wires, in translation, combined with a lot of similar names from that region and the guy who has been attributed with the win having a more successful career after that so people presuming it's him?

If you google the guys name there is another wrestler/sambo fighter from around the same time who looks more like the guy in that video (same low hairline, whereas the guy who's wikipedia talks about beating Khabib is balding)

Guy with the Wiki:


Other guy with same name:

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

My thoughts, exactly.
I 'convinced' myself when i read this



but i guess you are right. Either we are in front of the most extreme non surgical physical transformation in history or someone made a mistake.
The latter seems more likely.

 

[munstermuffin]

Just seen McGregor trolling Khabib.
Probably aiming to get Khabib back in the octogon,

Wouldn't it be great if Khabib came back for 1 fight and retired McGregor with a broken jaw to quiten him.

 

[Yulia]

Ok, need a pair of fresh eyes and since this thread is quiet i thought i'd use you lot.
I came across (again) Khabib's only loss in combat sambo. He was 17, fighting against a 20 year old dude.
Video in case anyone's interested:


So I heard his opponent's name and it sounded familiar: Magomed Ibragimov
So i googled him there it was. Highly decorated wrestler, olympics, the lot.
But for some reason i recalled the guy bigger, as in heavier and taller, so i check again. This guy is 1,9 meters.
The problem i have is that the guy in the video is considerably shorter than Khabib (WHILE Khabib was 17!). So i'm guessing 170 cm.
I know... i can see the 'he grew up' retort. Who the ***** grows 20 cms after turning 20? Mass, weight, muscle, i understand. I can understand someone growing after 20. But it is very, very rare and rarer if it's 20 cms on a 170 person.

Is it just me or there is some weird stuff going on here?

I've seen that video a long time ago when I was interested in Khabib's career.
It's not this Magomed Ibragimow. In fact there are really many fighters with the same last name and first name, but I found one article about that loss and it says "As for the career of Magomed Ibragimov, he had 5 fights, 3 of which he lost and finished competing in 2011."

 

[Yulia]

My thoughts, exactly.
I 'convinced' myself when i read this

View attachment 20678

but i guess you are right. Either we are in front of the most extreme non surgical physical transformation in history or someone made a mistake.
The latter seems more likely.

Someone made a mistake, as in the Russian page in Wiki there's no such information for this wrestler. Plus,the one who was fighting with Khabib ,was Chechen and didn't have Uzbeck origins.

Just seen McGregor trolling Khabib.
Probably aiming to get Khabib back in the octogon,

Wouldn't it be great if Khabib came back for 1 fight and retired McGregor with a broken jaw to quiten him.

I know that McGregor is terrible...but I like him for some reason would love to see him again tbh. And let's be honest,he did a lot for the UFC popularity with his "trash talk"

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Well Leon got dominated - think he got rocked badly in the first by an uppercut and was either on autopilot or scared of putting himself in danger for the rest of the fight, had his moments in the grappling but comfortable win for Belal (minus the last 15seconds - his nose was a mess!)
Belal's made huge improvements the last two years, be interesting to see how long his ***le reign lasts - shame Usman is old and crippled because prime Usman vs this Belal would be interesting
Hoping Shavkhat gets the next ***le shot

Paddy looked great, you forget how good his grappling because most his fights are sloppy kickboxing matches

Dominance from Aspinall - did get a bit nervy after he got clipped a couple of times but got the job done. Travesty he now has to sit on the sidelines until Jones/Stipe is done and Jones has however long out to recover (if he doesn't immediately retire)

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

I was impressed by Ian Garry. I cant believe Rakhmonov actually managed to escape from one of those positions (body triangle from back, etc). I thought Rakhmonov vs Chimaev would be an interesting fight but now i am not so sure.
Kron was, well, i'm lost for words to be honest. I enjoyed Elvoev's performance a lot.
I read Topuria wants Oliveira. Mental stuff imo.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yeah, same here - I think Belal handles Shavkhat pretty comfortably after that, and if Khamzat moves down (unlikely, after he struggled with cuts before and is now older and also more settled at 185) he'd take the belt pretty easily

Think Topuria has hinted at vacating 145 and moving to 155 permanently, guessing he's sick of the cut? KOing Volk and Max back to back is a pretty decent way to bow out of the division

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

What's the craic with Ian Garry? To say he gets zero media time here is an understatement.

The country has largely turned it's back on UFC. Mostly because McGregor is a grade A scumbag and Dana White doesn't help things.

Have casually picked it up again. Big fan of Lazy Boy for the vibes!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

What's the craic with Ian Garry? To say he gets zero media time here is an understatement.

The country has largely turned it's back on UFC. Mostly because McGregor is a grade A scumbag and Dana White doesn't help things.

Have casually picked it up again. Big fan of Lazy Boy for the vibes!

He started out being a massive Conor wannabe so everyone just dismissed him - he also jumps gym to gym a lot so I guess harder to build a local fanbase if he's in Brazil one month, Thailand the next etc.

Bit of a prick (got kicked out of a gym in Birmingham for bringing a camera crew to sparring, which is a big no no), very confident(/arrogant, depending on your way of looking at it), but is a legit fighter - feel like his attitude has mellowed/matured a bit recently and is gaining more fans as a result

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Mostly because McGregor is a grade A scumbag

If i may, i don't think that's it. being a scumbag aint a problem as long as you can back it up*. Khabib not only demolished him inside the ring. He destroyed his image, his brand, his persona. There is no conceivable comeback.
He went from being a scumbag who beat his opponents and called fights, to a scumbag who was said, mid-fight, 'It's only business' in order to calm his opponent.
People are willing to tolerate, or even embrace, the former, but never the latter.

MMA is a tough guy or quiet guy business. If you can't shut your pie whole, you better win. He lost.

*: not what i would like it to be, but it is what i see, unfortunately. And this is not exclusive to fighting sports, nor even sports in general.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ireland saw McGregor's true colours way before the Khabib fight tbf, he hasn't been popular there in a long time

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

If i may, i don't think that's it. being a scumbag aint a problem as long as you can back it up*. Khabib not only demolished him inside the ring. He destroyed his image, his brand, his persona. There is no conceivable comeback.
He went from being a scumbag who beat his opponents and called fights, to a scumbag who was said, mid-fight, 'It's only business' in order to calm his opponent.
People are willing to tolerate, or even embrace, the former, but never the latter.

MMA is a tough guy or quiet guy business. If you can't shut your pie whole, you better win. He lost.

*: not what i would like it to be, but it is what i see, unfortunately. And this is not exclusive to fighting sports, nor even sports in general.

He was losing popularity before the Khabib fight. There was a lot of rumours around Dublin of his goings on in private. Relations with gangs and sexual abuse etc... It's more or less all come to pass in the public eye since.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Ireland saw McGregor's true colours way before the Khabib fight tbf, he hasn't been popular there in a long time

I guess i wasn't clear. My point wasn't specifically about Ireland. I used Ireland because, well, we were talking about CM. But the argument, i believe, is universal. If you are really, i mean really good at what you do and what you do happens to be a somewhat popular or high value added endeavor, changes of you getting away with murder are rather high. Conor, Maradona, Mayweather, Tyson, Balotelli, Suarez, McEnroe, Keane... the list is endless.
As much as i hate it sports are a form of entertainment and controversy appears to entertain a LOT of people. People, i sadly but undoubtedly believe, look the other way. I am using the word 'believe' rather generously there, as there is a gargantuan amount of evidence to support this.
Of course behaving like an arse will make you lose some fans. But my point is that the meaningful increases or slumps in popularity generally come from winning or losing, rather than being a good or a bad person.

he hasn't been popular there in a long time

I'd love to see the Irish viewership numbers for his fight vs Khabib and see if that looks reasonable or not. My anecdotal experience: i'd guess mma is more popular in Brazil than in Ireland, and i've never seen brazilians prepare for a ufc event the way the irish did when Conor was fighting. It wasnt just about how histrionic they were. It was about sheer numbers. Including (and specially) his fight against Khabib.
But again, anecdotal and i havent seen the any figures.

My argument is impossible to prove as it is counterfactual by construction, but here it goes: had he won his fight against Khabib, people wouldnt have given a flying turd about his dealings with gangs or his abuses (overall figures, course). His problem, popularity wise, wasnt that he was an arse. The problem was that he lost. The how didnt help either.

Anyway

I think Belal handles Shavkhat pretty comfortably after that, and if Khamzat moves down (unlikely, after he struggled with cuts before and is now older and also more settled at 185) he'd take the belt pretty easily

Not sure about Belal. My dream fight was Khamzat vs Shavkat and last weeks fight kinda destroyed that idea. I have read some people claiming he had a knee injury but you it's hard to know what to believe at this point.