Official Mixed Martial Arts Thread

[Yobo Ahoy]

Excellent PPV.

To be honest I was disappointed with the two title fights - Belfort looked saggy and old and Rumble was just swinging ludicrously, asking to be taken down. Doesn't help that Weidman and DC are arseholes either.

Thankfully I already felt I had my proverbial money's worth before then, every fight was great and AA/Browne was incredible. Arlovski vs Overeem next please.

The Bader stuff is weird. Does anyone actually want to see that fight? Having said that I don't think LHW is quite as stacked as it seems - no one is really on a good run. I guess if you are looking for an instant contender you need a bit of drama as everyone else's recent records don't really warrant a title shot (maybe Rashad but he is forever injured). I guess Bader will have to do until Jones' fate is decided.

Lastly Cerrone... Give that man a title shot!

[angel]

i think rumble took a huge adrenaline dump in that fight, his first for a title. i think he'd win a rematch.

the bader thing is DC's WWE promo kicking in, has he really hated bader for years and only this week vocalised it? nope, its fake hype and a waste of a title fight. DC v Bader as a main event, seriously? i dont like DC for lots of reasons, this is one of them.

i think vitors whole career has been cycle on/off to avoid tests, and he has fake credentials in BJJ. he was throwing strikes from guard, hes basically a fraud who was probably awarded it by some crooked brazilian trainer and juiced his way to a career. 'legend of the sport', my arse.

[AlfromSleep]

Victor Gracie didn't show much of a guard game!

[Gotters]

I think the only chance Rumble has to beat DC is to clip him early with a huge shot (as almost happened) - he can't avoid the take downs for long and will just get ground down every time otherwise. For me that shows how fantastic Jones' performance was in totally shutting down DC's wrestling almost with ease.

I never doubted that Weidman would batter Vitor (as predicted above) - the fight with Rockhold is quite interesting as it seems a match up of very similar fighters.

Cowboy must get a shot soon just by virtue of clearing up the division below the champion

[AlfromSleep]

Hopefully Nurmagomedov can get fit again as, in my eyes, he's the #1 contender by virtue of totally shutting down the champ when they fought. Cowboy is definitely deserving of a shot if he's out for a while though.

[angel]

i think anjos beats cowboy, and yeah i think cockhold might beat weidman unfortunately.

[angel]

i think styles make fights, dos anjos will take cowboy down after kicks and grind him out, cowboy is basically a 'not quite as good as pettis' pettis, and hes never fought for the title. dont forget before that record sheet, cowboy got dominated by pettis, he freezes in big fights as he openly admits hes working on.

agree, nurmy hasnt really beaten anyone apart from dos anjos, and that would go very differently next time

[Yobo Ahoy]

RDA has already beaten Cerrone so we don't need to speculate, but you can't keep ignoring a guy with a stupid win streak like that (including wins against top contenders).

On the subject of MW, has Rockhold been confirmed as the next shot then? Even though I know Rockhold has beaten him already in SF, I would still prefer to see Jacare against Weidman.

[angel]

im not saying ignore him, just that i think he wont be next in line, they'll probably save him for nurmy.

jacare is gona be next for chris, thats who white prefers. (IMO because chris beats jacare but not luke)

http://www.mmafighting.com/2015/5/25/8653619/morning-report-ufc-dana-white-luke-rockhold-chris-weidman-jacare-souza-ronda-rousey-cormier-mma-news

[schmojo]

Donald deserves the shot for a number of reasons, but Nurmagomedov is the best in the division. Whoever has the belt is just keeping it warm.

Great card though, so much action. Belfort and Johnson got some severe deficiencies exposed, so I hope that they work on them and come back stronger. Belfort's lack of defensive grappling was embarrassing, and Johnson really needs to sort his cardio out - assuming that he even can. Weidman really needs to stop trying to intimidate people into being his fans though.

You can wear all the star-spangled banners you like, but if you come across as a cunt, people will work it out. God knows that whiney champs aren't good for business. I wish the sport wasn't quite so Jesus-heavy, either.

Cracking opener by the flyweights, and I'm glad that Arlovski exposed the sham that is the HW division by absolutely lighting up the number 3. I hope his tear continues - I think he fairs better against JDS than Miocic but, (pending the result of Cain/Werdum), JDS may not be a path for a viable contender.

[ckny]

Just caught up on 187. I love Weidman in the cage but fuck as soon as he opens his mouth with Joe afterwards I just hate the guy.

[Doomguy]

Anyone want to elaborate as to why Weidman is so hated?

[ckny]

I think it's just because he's perceived as being rather bland. Looks bland, doesn't have an exciting style, talks bland, comes across like a Mormon. Plus the flukey (yeah, yeah) wins over Anderson. I dunno, maybe it's more than that.

[schmojo]

the bulk of Weidman's unpopularity comes down to it being the changing of the guard. Many of us still feel that Anderson is the greatest ever, and Weidman put an end to that halcyon period. Couple that with the fact that, even though both wins had reasons to doubt Weidman, he's shown zero humility, people rebel against him. He even claimed that he used a special kick check to break Anderson's leg, like the world's least self-aware man.

He has stories of him being a great guy, and rescuing an old woman, but he (like many overtly Christian fighters), shows nothing resembling real humility in front of the fans.

Throw in him wearing a US flag all the time for cheap heat, being a whiner about people not liking him, and beating other fan favourites, and you can see why a successful, entertaining fighter might be disliked by some.

[angel]

anyone thanking jesus at the end gets an instant frown from me.

[ckny]

I give the Brazilians a pass, but otherwise, yeah, same.

[angel]

possibly interesting if there were any muslim fighters who felt like praising their deity immediately after a fight.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Weidman is the MMA equivalent of John Cena.

Anyway, Saturday's was really good, especially the main event. Shame there wasn't a 3rd round but was incredible while it lasted. Dunno what it is about Condit but he's just mesmerising to watch, his combos are so fluid and he always seems to be one step ahead . Like something out of Tekken! Obviously not perfect but such a great (and above all, entertaining) all round fighter. Hope they go with a Woodley rematch next, really not up for another Hendricks grindfest.

[Orion]

Jose Aldo today called the Reebok deal "shit" for fighters and said MMA fighters need to unionize to not get screwed over by these kind of deals by the UFC.

This whole Reebok thing seemed sketchy from the start and the complaints from fighters about it losing them money have been there for awhile. Props to Aldo for being a champ and saying something.

[Doomguy]

Just read they've given Gus a title shot against DC!?

I like Gus but this is just mad. He's lost two of his last 3 fights and his last fight was against Rumble where he got completely destroyed.

I think Bader has zero chance of beating DC but he's the only light heavy on a win streak - 4 fights.

[schmojo]

The LHW division has lost a lot of momentum really quickly.

It was the division with the unbeatable champ, but 5 contenders who could be champ in any other era. As big a shark tank as you'd find outside of MW.

Jones - fallen from grace, but nobody had him looking vulnerable.

Johnson - quickly exposed as having stamina issues.

Cormier - A title shot coming off a loss

Gus - A title shot coming off a loss

Machida - Beaten convincingly at 185 by a contender, not just the champ

Bader - As legit as anyone else in the division, which I never thought I'd say.

[Doomguy]

Only guys on a win streak in the division are Bader (4), OSP (2) and Rashad Evans (2) who hasn't fought since 2012.

I'd have given the title fight to bader and stacked the card with light heavyweight bouts to get some contenders - Gus vs Glover, OSP vs Rumble, Rampage vs little nog rematch, Rashad vs anyone willing to wait for him to comeback.

Injuries aside, some of the match making has been shocking this last few years which is one of the reasons the UFC is running out of genuine contenders.

[Orion]

Sucks for Bader but Gus vs Cormier is a more interesting and I think more competive match up.

Glover is fighting OSP and Little Nog is fighting Shogun supposdly.

Rashad wants to fight Bader in his come back fight. To put the boot in he says the reason is he wants an "easy fight".

[Corrogate]

boutta watch Hendo vs Boetsch. Boetsch's like one of those safety fighters, like Bisping, like whoever, they're good for a fight every now and then but they ain't making moves. I think Hendo still fights because he would go to shit if he wasn't to be honest, might not matter to him who he fights.

[Doomguy]

Man alive... the Ben Rothwell post fight interview is something to behold.

To me he's always come across as having an extremely low IQ and/or special needs and that interview reaffirmed it.

e.g. There's a video on youtube of him beating up a fat 16 year old kid in a barn then celebrating like he just beat a prime Fedor.

[Gotters]

I thought Ben Rothwell's post fight was awesome, it was like watching Louis Theroux being trained how to do wrestling promo's, it was so awful it was brilliant.

Really good card that I didn't expect at all, good finishes and all exciting fights

[Corrogate]

Gus deffo deserves another shot at the belt too.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Rothwell/Mitrione was a bit embarrassing really. But yeah overall the event was way better than expected, you know you're in for a good time when the downloaded video file is well under 2 hours. Ortega/Tavares was probably my FOTN, so good.

Quite surprised by Hendo, genuinely thought he was done!

[schmojo]

Ortega/Tavares was really great. Who would guess that 145 would be one of the most interesting divisions these days?

Rothwell/Mitrione was looking like a standard HW garbage-fest, but that was a nasty, well-scouted submission.

Hendo was what he always is - a very good puncher's chance with a strong chin. Boetsch isn't relevant, but Hendo will no doubt be happy to drop a bomb on whoever they put in front of him. He's really not very good now, but you can't rule him out from landing on anyone's chin.

[Yobo Ahoy]

I didn't really know much about Ortega pre-fight, just read up on his ban for steroids. Hope he's clean now, seems a really exciting talent.