Official Mixed Martial Arts Thread

[Couch Corpse]

Pettis looked shite. Cruz clearly won that fight 1, 2, and 3.

[4ndo]

No way has Mcgregor ever weighed 190lbs in his life lol.

[Gotters]

Can't stand that type of fight that Alvarez fought, its effective but dull as anything to watch. I agree with Rogan who always says that if that is what somebody is doing to you then you should have a way to beat it, its just that I don't want to watch it. If that's what we're missing with Ben Askren then he can stay wherever he is.

At the moment Pettis is looking in dire need of a nice friendly match up next against somebody who will stay on their feet and let him look good again.

Cruz was fantastic against TJ, who I thought fought a fairly dumb fight. Thanks to BT sport my recording cut off and I missed the last round but the 4 I saw lead me to believe a comfortable win for Cruz.

Freaky run of titles changing hands in recent months

[Yobo Ahoy]

I'm glad Cruz won as he is pretty much unique and he has worked his arse off, but the fight was really close and could have gone either way. I see Faber is now campaigning for a rubber match vs Cruz, I guess that's the money fight but he's pretty much just been treading water and crushing cans in prelims since the Barao fight. Then again I dunno who else there is, McDonald (until recently) and Assuncao have been out for ages and Sterling and Almeida probably need another big win each before title contention.

Pettis' next fight should be vs Barboza I reckon. Nothing to lose for either of them.

[schmojo]

That was a surprisingly good event.

I had the main event going either way. Probably just towards TJ (3,4,5) , but a draw (or even the Cruz win) isn't the worst thing in the world.

Cruz has such minimal output this time around. If he could work in some strikes that weren't just telegraphed, looping carpark haymakers, then he'd add a dimension to his game. Obviously his movement alone is *enough*, but if he could actually put together varied strikes that threaten, he'd be even more amazing to watch. Maybe it's incompatible with his rapid style and wrestling.

TJ shouldn't feel too bad - he mixed things up and landed most of the better shots for me.

Travis Browne is such a bad guy. You have to be to make me cheer for Meathead. His wide stance and long legs are so great for takedown defence and retaining top control, but he has so little skill in other places. He has limp GnP, and never even tries to lock a sub up.

Good showing by Alvarez against a sub-par Pettis. I think it was a UD for Eddie too, not a split. He'll make a good title contender to build up once the Conor show leaves town, but I can't see him besting RDA.

[tec1122]

Agree with Travis Browne, he pretty much has got to where he is by being fucking massive. His Kimura attempt was a joke, 4 stripe White belt level Bjj at best.

[Corrogate]

Me too man. If he does DA I'm 100% converted.

"I'm good with Jesus"

[Yobo Ahoy]

Talking about going up again to WW after as well if he wins which I think would be a bridge too far. Shame about the lack of FW belt on show anywhere, I know he's the challenger but champ vs champ always looks better.

I've definitely come round to Conor but I think I'd prefer to see RDA retain, everyone would come out with some credibility that way.

[Doomguy]

Dana did not look amused when Conor said 'I run this show'. ha

[Tourist]

Some quite scary stuff in this (old) video:

But it looks like Conor's already got into his head.

[Corrogate]

I reckon a left kick from RDA to Conor's body would abso buckle him, if he can land it in Conor's stance. Makes me wonder wtf Aldo was doing.

[Doomguy]

If he beats RDA I truly will be impressed. You don't need a flashy record to be a two weight champion as Randy and Penn both are like 17-11.

Speaking of BJ he's come out of retirement to have a run at the 145lb belt again... pure madness, but then again that's kind of the reason he was so great.

[Gotters]

for those interested in movement coaches Carlos Condit is on Joe Rogan last week doing a 3h chat with his one, a very serious and earnest french chap.

to be honest I found it pretty dull as Condit is quite dry and sell obsessed, and all the way thru when they were talking up the theory and how making your feet stronger and having brains in your feet makes you a better fighter all I could think was 'but you lost'.

I love what Conor does but am detecting signs of the levels of delusion Rousey had pre Holm, I don't think he has got to RDA yet but the verbal assault has only just started.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Looking forward to the fight more now. Miocic and Arlovski had a legit number one contender match so I'm glad it's happening now. Now Velasquez can work his way back like he should have done in the first place (vs Overeem ideally) and everyone's happy.

About BJ ... I see he's with Jackson/Wink now, but he should have changed camps ages ago. I think he could still have something to offer.

[Gotters]

no surprise to see Velasquez injured yet again, my recollection of him as champ was one of inactivity and one defence a year of the belt if you were lucky.

I know Miocic has been around for a while now and fought most of the other guys but for some reason he doesn't feel like a 'proper' contender to me, not sure what more he could have done etc to make me feel different but its not a fight that has me excited against Werdum.

Stories of BJ were always that he was hard to train and manage and just does everything his own way, he's in that old school of fighter that undoubtedly made the UFC great, but not sure there is a place for them against these newer guys who have been born and bred as MMA fighters, and are used to the rigours of multi discipline training and weight cutting.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Yeah, but losses to Diaz, Rory, GSP and Edgar x 3 are nothing to be ashamed of (even though some of those were horrifically one-sided) - it seems Siver is likely going to be his first opponent, so if he can't win that then he may as well go home.

As for Miocic I really think he's earned it. KOs of Arlovski and Hunt are not to be sniffed at and I think he put on a good show in the JDS fight (who was a lot better then than he is now). I think it'll be a pretty even fight.

[angel]

for those interested in movement coaches Carlos Condit is on Joe Rogan last week doing a 3h chat with his one, a very serious and earnest french chap.

to be honest I found it pretty dull as Condit is quite dry and sell obsessed, and all the way thru when they were talking up the theory and how making your feet stronger and having brains in your feet makes you a better fighter all I could think was 'but you lost'.

I love what Conor does but am detecting signs of the levels of delusion Rousey had pre Holm, I don't think he has got to RDA yet but the verbal assault has only just started.

I had condit winning that fight, as did many.

[angel]

BJ is an absolute arse, I can stomach conors mad ramblings because he does it with panache, but the BJ/Lentz thing leaves me cringing.

[schmojo]

Yes. Every time people talk about how badly Lentz has 'burned' BJ, and see it's another one of his interminable childish screeds, I just want the whole thing to go away.

Happy with Stipe getting the HW shot. He might not have a huge following, but he's a fresh contender and one of the most diverse, legit guys in the division.

He's basically the new breed HW that Browne claims to be.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Werdum has pulled out now. Fucks sake.

[Doomguy]

Bader physically looks like Jon Jones equal, the guy's a tank!, but he's so one dimensional. Rumble by KO. R.I.P.

Think you guys are shitting on BJ a little too much. Yeh he should have retired ages ago, but he's never been someone to duck the big fights. He's a 145lber who fought Machida at 205lbs, Matt Hughes, GSP, Rory, and Diaz.

[schmojo]

If Bader can weather the 4 minute Rumblestorm, he's got a good chance. He's shown himself to be a hard worker, and Johnson's work ethic can be questioned.

Rumble obviously has great wrestling, but he doesn't seem to utilise it much now, and faltered against top flight wrestlers (Koscheck, DC). Though both of those knew how to sink in subs to finish, and Bader doesn't seem to have many at a high level.

Rothwell/Barnett is good fun. Both guys have been surging of late, though I have to assume that Josh has his way if he can get Big Ben down. Happy to push either for a title shot off the back of it, as we just lost a fresh viable contender in Arlovski.

Can't believe Werdum backed out so readily. He's obviously amazing but, much like DC, he really doesn't come across as a fighting champion.

[Floyd]

I reckon a Rumble first round knock out. I really hope they don't wrestle, they'll cancel each other out, both are good, though not on DC's level.

I was really looking forward to to the Cain/Werdum rematch........then Cain went out, I KNEW Werdum would pull out after that, such a shame. It also sets Miocic back, and now will probably face Overeem, possibly?

[Yobo Ahoy]

I actually think Bader will win, he really looked like he stepped up a level in the Rashad fight.

[schmojo]

The world's gone crazy, but I'll be cheering Bader on, and hope he gets his (well-deserved) title shot.

Both LHW and HW divisions have been held up by inactive champs who are stifling 2nd tier guys (Bader, Miocic) from advancing.

Johnson is scary, but he needs to sharpen some of his old skills.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Saffiedine is back too, on the prelims vs Ellenberger. Hope he can come back strong - I know he's been injured but I dunno why he's been out for so long, ability-wise he should really be near the top of the division.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Bellator last night was decent, all KOs. Their WW division is actually pretty good - they have Koreshkov, Lima, Ward, Page and Daley (and Honeycutt, Bradley and Koscheck who are decent) but they are really going for the slow build and seem reluctant to let them loose on each other.

[Doomguy]

Those KO's were ridiculous last night. The Ryan Couture one was particularly brutal.

Bit unsure about daley mouthing off at koscheck. Like, the entire reason he's not in the UFC is because he fucked up not Koscheck.

Both LHW and HW divisions have been held up by inactive champs who are stifling 2nd tier guys (Bader, Miocic) from advancing.

That's an excellent way to put it. Bader might be second tier but HE HAS done more than enough to gain a titleshot and potentially be champ. The whole Jones situation doesn't negate what he's done in the last two years.

[angel]

Kos is an absolute cock though, and a real money mercenary.

[Doomguy]

Well, kind of went exactly how everyone thought it would go. Feel bad for Bader. Ironically if he'd have kept it standing instead of shooting in he might have had a chance. The immediate takedown was basically signalling to Rumble ' I have no standup at all.'