Official Mixed Martial Arts Thread

[Gotters]

What a turn up the fight night card with cerrone v miller was - didn't know who most of the fighters were but every fight was a good un with none going to the judges

[Doomguy]

Bit of cheating on Millers part pretending to get hit below the belt?

[Kingpin]

Fight week is boozier than I was expecting. Got to meet Forrest Griffin, Cub Swanson, Sean Shelby and Eddie Gordon last night. Nice guys - Graham Boylan who owns Cage Warriors bought me a pint as well, bonus!

Heading to the weigh-ins today - I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do next week when the UFC crew are not randomly strolling around Dublin or putting on seminars in my gym.

The Cerrone/Miller card was awesome. Jim Miller wasn't pretending to get kicked in the balls, that was the ref's fault. Cowboy caught him in the liver and dropped him. Ref should have stopped the fight then, but Miller is hardly going to tell him that. I think it had most finishes for a card this year, hope Saturday night is as good!

[Yobo Ahoy]

Yeah the phantom groin kick was definitely the ref's fault. Cerrone looked a class above though, he's surely only one big fight away from a title shot now.

Excited about Saturday too, I don't think Brandao will be as good an opponent for McGregor than Cole Miller but it is what it is. The rest of the card looks great too, Pickett vs McCall should be awesome.

[Kingpin]

Yep, that one has fight of the night written all over it. I don't mind Uncle Creepy (best nickname ever by the way) but I hope Brad smashes him after watching his interviews this week, and also because he agreed to the Seery fight in London, effectively getting Neil into the UFC. Pickett is so pissed off from the weight cut. Hopefully he wins and gets a shot at Mighty Mouse (after his next fight, which is a foregone conclusion).

[Yobo Ahoy]

Yeah me too. Good time to repost this from the first time their fight was cancelled because of McCall's injury:

[Doomguy]

Been watching a few Machida fights. Really wish he was more aggressive. It's like he's playing with the guys he's fighting but rarely pulls the trigger. Wonder how he'll be remembered? feel if he had made the drop to 185lbs earlier we'd be talking GOAT.

[McFly]

I didnt warm to Machida for ages, check back through this thread for evidence, but he's put a few good KOs together over the past few years but i doubt he'll be in the GOAT discussion even if he'd been at 185 since the beginning really, since he'd never have beaten Silva (rather than Rashad) to get the title, it'd be good to see fight Anderson SIlva now though, that'd be great. I wouldnt say i'm a fan but he's got skills for sure.

The card on wednesday was fantastic, been a huge fan of Cerrones for ages now,and even got to meet him at the Jones/Sonnen fight and he was really cool, he's gotta be up for a title shot soon, if not next fight. Cant wait for saturday either, especially being able to watch it properly on saturday night, rather than sunday morning with breakfast, though its good for motivating me to go to the gym I guess.

[Don Rosco]

Great night in the O2 in dublin! Lots of finishes and the atmosphere was NUTS. The prelims are well worth a download too if you didn't see them. Pendred fight was the pick of the bunch. He walked out to put em under pressure (Italia 90 World Cup song for ireland), he knows his audience alright.

He's been pretty unconvincing so far I think, but tonight he pulled out a win with a choke after getting a fierce hiding in the first round. Fair play to him.

[Gotters]

Yeah second decent fight night card of the week, this one definitely assisted (even on tv) by the atmos coming over from the crowd.

Still can't bond with BT sport coverage, its like footy coverage when Brazil were on (before that game obviously) with every presenter and commentator talking everything up way above its actual level - and their female host just seemed to be there to show 1 thigh in a mini skirt.

Kudos to them though for getting Dana White up for 20m or so post the main event, he's always worth listening to despite the people sat around him.

Also noticed lots of shoulder acne on McGregor just before main event, often a tell tell bad sign.

[Kingpin]

Greatest night of my life. Insane. 100% run for club and country. Can't wait to watch it on fight pass now.

Gotters, if you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting, I would bet my house that you're wrong on that.

[McFly]

I get back acne, i've never taken steroids, it just happens when you grapple or get sweaty day in day out. It could even be from shaving or waxing his shoulders.

Wasnt sure how McGregor would do, afetr all the hype/pressure, but he did it with style for sure.

Kingpin, is it SBG you train with? I was SBG in Aberdeen for a while when i trained, i liked the style with the "aliveness" philosophy.

[Kingpin]

Yeah, train in a sweaty rashguard everyday - you just get manky skin sometimes.

Yeah, I'm in SBG Ireland under John Kavanagh. It's the only place I've ever trained so I have no basis for comparisons, but the philosophy that comes down from Matt Thornton makes sense to me. Very much an emphasis on the fundamentals of posture, pressure and passing against fully resisting opponents.

It's an interesting place as every now and then, they'll do a class where all members are welcome and you'll have everyone from Cathal Pendred to 9 year old Nate Kelly* on the same mat, all learning the same movements together. Great team atmosphere in the place and unique in that all the UFC fighters were basically coached by John since their teens.

*Nate btw, got more exposure this weekend than most fighters do - someone even asked Dana about him in the post-fight presser, met Lorenzo and told him that he would get signed by the UFC, had a "sparring" session with Forrest Griffin in the octagon before the show started, tweeted by Ariel Helwani.... He's like a kid McGregor, there's something in the air in the gym - and there's more guys that are UFC bound for sure.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Really good event on Saturday. I must admit I dislike Conor so I wasn't ecstatic he won, made for an awesome atmosphere though. Mostly glad Parke and Nelson won though, the former because of the harsh draw in Brazil in his previous fight, and the latter because he is a fucking monster. Can't wait for them to let him loose on a top 10er.

Also I genuinely laughed out loud hearing 'whoomp there it is' in place of the 'vai morrer' chant. Amazing.

[AlfromSleep]

Kingpin, is it SBG you train with? I was SBG in Aberdeen for a while when i trained, i liked the style with the "aliveness" philosophy.

Small world, when did you train there? I was a regular from 2006 - late 2007 until fatherhood took over!

[Kingpin]

BTW for anyone interested - there's a Fighting Talk thread in the health and fitness folder for discussing training and so on.

Edit: doh, you were talking Aberdeen, not Dublin...

[McFly]

Small world, when did you train there? I was a regular from 2006 - late 2007 until fatherhood took over!

Thats almost exact the same as me! I started about december 2006 then stopped about the same time 2007 as i was so busy with my nursing degree at the time and my arthritis was as yet untreated combined with tearing 2 ribs from my sternum kinda ended my training there. I mainly went on sundays at 4 - 7 with John the policeman for BJJ then wednesdays when i could for the rolling sessions, occasionally thursday MMA stuff to. I fancy going to the combat centre as iits 5 min walk from my flat, which is Carlos place i think, as the times for SBG are useless for my work. I used to train in white gi pants and sometimes a Shogun t-shirt.

Kingpin: I agree theres a really good basis on fundamentals and everyone gets treated the same, no bullshit or pick on the new guy type stuff like you get at another gym (AMAG, allegedly) in Aberdeen where they just batter you until you get battered less and less.

[AlfromSleep]

Thats almost exact the same as me! I started about december 2006 then stopped about the same time 2007 as i was so busy with my nursing degree at the time and my arthritis was as yet untreated combined with tearing 2 ribs from my sternum kinda ended my training there. I mainly went on sundays at 4 - 7 with John the policeman for BJJ then wednesdays when i could for the rolling sessions, occasionally thursday MMA stuff to. I fancy going to the combat centre as iits 5 min walk from my flat, which is Carlos place i think, as the times for SBG are useless for my work. I used to train in white gi pants and sometimes a Shogun t-shirt.

Kingpin: I agree theres a really good basis on fundamentals and everyone gets treated the same, no bullshit or pick on the new guy type stuff like you get at another gym (AMAG, allegedly) in Aberdeen where they just batter you until you get battered less and less.

I've been thinking of going to the Combat Centre as it is, like you, a 5 min walk from my flat but not sure how the old neck will hold up against the young beasts that are trianing MMA/BJJ in Aberdeen these days!

We're bound to have rolled at some point, I busted my ribs not long after a Glasgow gi comp in late 2007 which set me back no end

[Kingpin]

Gus out, Cormier in!

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/7/23/5931629/mma-news-alexander-gustafsson-injures-knee-daniel-cormier-vs-jon-jones-ufc-178

This card is looking like the best of the year.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Gus is one of my favourites so feel for him, but I can't wait to see DC go to town on Jones. Hope he doesn't disappoint.

Agreed 178 is looking crazy, so looking forward to seeing Cruz fight again too.

[Kingpin]

I'm loving Fight Pass as well, been checking out old Fedor fights, and also looking through Poirier's fights now that he's fighting McGregor at UFC 178

Conner to get the winner of Frankie / Cub ? Winner takes on Aldo for the belt?

Has Frankie/Cub been announced? I think Conor will beat Poirier at 178 and then he's definitely getting a top 5 after that. FW is really interesting right now - definitely no guarantees that Aldo beats Mendes again. Actually - if Aldo loses, that's a definite rematch so that might slow things down a bit.

I would love to see McGregor vs. Korean Zombie (who must be due to return soon). That would be a war.

[V3zna]

I can't wait to see DC go to town on Jones. Hope he doesn't disappoint.

Jones is 6'4" with over an 84" reach. DC is 5'11" with a 71" reach. No doubt Cormier is capable of a wrestling master class but the size difference is surely a concern? He might just find Jones is a rather elusive target.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Yeah, I'm just banking on the fact DC is a much better wrestler than anyone Jones has faced. More in hope than expectation!

Also, I see the other day Chael Sonnen got a 2 year ban for the whole drug debacle. Does that include his BJJ fight he has planned or purely MMA?

[Kingpin]

Just MMA - Metamoris is unregulated.

[Tofu]

Wow this is fucked up.

So Nick Diaz gets a worst punishment because of marijuana metabolites than someone who has obviously used EPO and HGH.

WTF??

I really want DC to ragdoll Jones and beat him. Jones is a fantastic fighter and his excellent range of skill and eye poking is why he's the best. However, please, please let DC win.

Jones is 6'4" with over an 84" reach. DC is 5'11" with a 71" reach. No doubt Cormier is capable of a wrestling master class but the size difference is surely a concern? He might just find Jones is a rather elusive target.

Did you see the Josh Barnett vs DC fight???.

Size doesn't matter, its the reach which is the issue.

[Kingpin]

I love DC - getting past the jabs and pokey fingers will be the problem. If he does......

[Tofu]

Yup that Josh Barnett fight is a classic, however, another issue is DC's knee surgery which he delayed because of this. Could be a factor.

[Kingpin]

Yes, most definitely. I wonder how long Gus has been injured for? When Cole Miller pulled out of the McGregor fight, I remembered someone casually mentioning he had injured his hand on a podcast weeks before the announcement. Didn't think much of it at the time but it later came to light that he's out of the fight. Gus was tweeting about his "USA Camp" just two days ago though.

According to this article, DC was due to go into surgery at the start of this month. Either they knew about the injury, or asked him to hang on as a backup option http://www.mmafighting.com/2014/6/18/5822426/daniel-cormier-elects-to-undergo-knee-surgery-after-final-wrestling

I hope DC knew well in advance of the announcement - he's got about 8 weeks until the fight, has to get the weight cut right etc. I'm actually nervous for him, I want him to be 100% when facing the monster that is Jones!

[Tofu]

Interesting interview with DC's coach about Jones's reach.

[Gotters]

shame about Gus having to withdraw but its an exciting switch to Cormier, styles make fights and will be fascinating to see how they match up, can make a case for most scenarios which is what makes it interesting.

said previously that DC does have the hint of the bully about him so be interesting to see how he handles the angles and creative striking of Jones, if it goes to the ground, as it surely will at some point though, hard to see Jones getting back up. Just a question of whether or not he gets submitted.

like I say though, no outcomes seem silly - Jones KO DC, Jones on his bike jabbing at distance on points, DC by submission or grinding it out on the floor for 5x5s