Official Mixed Martial Arts Thread

[tec1122]

As a BJJ practitioner I was thrilled with the way the co-main and main event ended

[Bacon Horsemeat]

Conor was too cocky, he never kept his guard up.

 

That Holm-Tate match though, very entertaining. Holm didn't even tap out, she fought to the end

[Doomguy]

This loss was needed to bring Conor back to reality. GSPs camp is probably the most scientific with weight cuts and they were saying at least a full year is needed to adjust.

 

I think Conor should push on at 155lbs. 

 

 

 

[Chooch]

http://m.imgur.com/bGbZcBQ?r

 

he does look pretty shaken up here

[glb]

9 hours ago, Stevedave said:

This loss was needed to bring Conor back to reality. GSPs camp is probably the most scientific with weight cuts and they were saying at least a full year is needed to adjust.

 

I think Conor should push on at 155lbs. 

 

 

 

 

Jesus H Christ, he looks fucking ill in the top pic. Did think Rogan made a good point about the madness of cutting as Conor was walking to the Octagon - find a healthy weight and aim for the nearest division. I know they rehydrate post weigh-in, but there's too much risk attached to yo-yoing that much.

 

Dana is pushing for Tate Rousey III aparently :/ http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/06/jose-aldo-conor-mcgregor-ronda-rousey-miesha-tate-ufc

[Yobo Ahoy]

Just caught up. The main was a great fight, and that's all it needed to be really. It's not going to affect anyone's career massively, Conor is still the champ and still has scary knockout power at the lower weight classes - I don't think the RDA fight should be off the table on the evidence of this one fight, maybe make him defend at FW soon but it's not like he did no damage at all to Nate here, he more than held his own until mid-R2.

 

Diaz will carry on being Diaz, good in spurts but as soon as someone comes along to stifle him and attempt to win by decision he'll throw his toys out of the pram.

 

Must admit I did laugh at one tweet I saw about Rousey - paraphrased but she didn't watch the fight, and when she was told Tate won she said 'ok I'll start training again'. Sums her up really.

[schmojo]

Main and co-main seemed more predictable than a lot of the media are giving them credit for.

 

Conor looked great moving forward, though taunted with his hands down a little too often. Then two weaknesses that people willfully overlook came into play: his lack of endurance, and his lack of ground game. How the bookies ever had got on the Mac hype train so hard that Nate was 4/1, I'll never know. I'd actually fancy Conor's chances against Lawler much more than against Nate though. Styles make fights and all that.

 

For the next Mac fight, they're really going to need to push the 'Icarus flying too close to the sun' storyline. Either Aldo or Edgar at 200 is a good one for me. Conor's great for business though. He's probably put the brakes on being the first to ever demand co-promotion, but he's getting paid and helping others get paid.

 

Holly Holm fought like she did in every non-Ronda MMA fight. Tight jab control, good footwork, no risk of a KO. She absolutely fought out of her skin to win the belt, but never looked like  good style match for Tate. I like to imagine that the three of them will end up in a game of pass the belt. Tate was losing the fight, but I still pick her over Holm 9 times out of 10.

 

[angel]

7 hours ago, Yobo Ahoy said:

Just caught up. The main was a great fight, and that's all it needed to be really. It's not going to affect anyone's career massively, Conor is still the champ and still has scary knockout power at the lower weight classes - I don't think the RDA fight should be off the table on the evidence of this one fight, maybe make him defend at FW soon but it's not like he did no damage at all to Nate here, he more than held his own until mid-R2.

 

Diaz will carry on being Diaz, good in spurts but as soon as someone comes along to stifle him and attempt to win by decision he'll throw his toys out of the pram.

 

Must admit I did laugh at one tweet I saw about Rousey - paraphrased but she didn't watch the fight, and when she was told Tate won she said 'ok I'll start training again'. Sums her up really.

 

Not quite, dana text her the result and she said "ok ive got work to do", but I agree she's a bit of a dickhead.  I think this was a big mistake by conor, if he loses to aldo or frankie he's basically over PPV wise - I think RDA murders him too.

[schmojo]

Conor's got very little to worry RDA, and RDA is a very bad man indeed. I'd pick him over most WW's. Including Lawler.

 

But then, I don't think Lawler's the best WW in the UFC. The second Rory fight impressed me, but he's not done a lot else to convince.

[Orion]

Lawler had incredible wars with Hendriks, Brown and Condit. As well as that amazing fight with Rory.

 

Its amazing how he has rebuilt his career at a late stage.

 

You may not think he is the number 1 welterweight in the UFC but every single MMA website, journalist and expert think he is.....

[angel]

I think he would do very bad things to GSP, although we've seen that hendricks is a spent force now. Really like wonderboy if he can get past rory.

[schmojo]

9 hours ago, Orion said:

Lawler had incredible wars with Hendriks, Brown and Condit. As well as that amazing fight with Rory.

 

Its amazing how he has rebuilt his career at a late stage.

 

You may not think he is the number 1 welterweight in the UFC but every single MMA website, journalist and expert think he is.....

 

Based on the match results, sure. But many who watched didn't have him beating Condit or Hendricks. He's one dimensional, and a great slugger, but at the moment it's a tough sell to suggest that he has more to offer than Condit, Woodley, Thompson, or Hendricks. If Rory went back to his wrestling, that'd be another on the list.

 

Hendricks did get torn apart by Wonderboy, but it remains to be seen if it was an off night, or the start of a real downswing.

[angel]

Coincided nicely with the increased testing, I've always had my suspicions about Hendricks. He looks (or looked) like a bookworm with this incredible body, and he was noticably smaller last time out. It doesnt help that he's a bit of a wally either.

 

I'll make a bold prediction, Wonderboy vs Rory next, and WB takes it to get a title shot (and then wins it)...I think Rory may never be the same after his recent tear ups.

[Doomguy]

Updated cover:

 

[schmojo]

Dana seems keen to push Nate as a star, but I don't think it'll work out. He's too unreliable, and too abrasive in a dumb way. People can get on board with Conor's trolling, but Diaz often just looks slow.

 

If Nate wants to take WW seriously, there are interesting fights with Hendricks, Condit and Woodley to be had. All headline-worthy, and none are that predictable.

 

Conor's got to go back and make a dominant defence of his belt. I hope he does, but both Aldo and Edgar are very tough fights, and a second loss in succession is a real problem for everyone. 

 

[Yobo Ahoy]

On 08/03/2016 at 7:16 AM, schmojo said:

 

Based on the match results, sure. But many who watched didn't have him beating Condit or Hendricks. He's one dimensional, and a great slugger, but at the moment it's a tough sell to suggest that he has more to offer than Condit, Woodley, Thompson, or Hendricks. If Rory went back to his wrestling, that'd be another on the list.

 

Hendricks did get torn apart by Wonderboy, but it remains to be seen if it was an off night, or the start of a real downswing.

 

Woodley isn't all that. His main UFC win to speak of was Condit, by default pretty much... Gastelum at a push. Hendricks is finished at WW I reckon, he was clearly so worried about making weight for the Thompson fight he physically drained himself. 

 

Personally I love Lawler. No-one can seriously say they don't like seeing him fight, and he keeps pulling it out of the bag.

 

[schmojo]

11 hours ago, Yobo Ahoy said:

 

Woodley isn't all that. His main UFC win to speak of was Condit, by default pretty much... Gastelum at a push. Hendricks is finished at WW I reckon, he was clearly so worried about making weight for the Thompson fight he physically drained himself. 

 

Personally I love Lawler. No-one can seriously say they don't like seeing him fight, and he keeps pulling it out of the bag.

 

 

Oh yeah, Woodley's a workmanlike Top 5 guy, but he's strong and dangerous. fully agreed on the Condit result.

 

But Woodley is arguably the most qualified wrestler in the division (him or Hendricks), despite having adopted a more KO-heavy style as many do. He's a bad style match for Lawler, (especially if he decides to use subs, which a quick glance at his Wiki page suggests he hasn't used since his first handful of fights).

 

Lawler's the same as my previous opinion on Conor - if someone's style is stand-up with TDD and nothing else special, I'll likely never consider them the best in their division, even if they hold the belt.

[Orion]

So Conor could beat Aldo again and Edgar at 145 and you still would not think he was the best at 145? Even though he cleaned up the division and beat all the best fighters.

 

Or Lawler could beat all those guys you mentioned plus say a returning GSP and he still would not be a worthy enough champ for you.

 

Those are some rather odd high standards you have right there.

[schmojo]

They're not high standards, as much as they're about roundedness in the game. And it would depend how those wins went down. Conor's win against Aldo proved little to me apart from Mac's ability to make Aldo angry and clumsy with promos.

 

Even if (and it's a big if, unless Frankie keeps it standing) Conor beat Edgar, a great wrestler, we'd already know that decent grapplers can absolutely have their way with him. I could easily see him decisioned by a one-dimensional Fitch type.

 

To truly consider Mac the best, I'd need to see him win in different positions, in different ways, and in later rounds. Otherwise he's the best stand-up fighter in the division until he gets tripped and smothered. And what if Edgar lit him up on the feet? What would he even have left?

 

Similarly with Lawler, who in the top 5 could he beat on the ground, bearing in mind that he's never successfully subbed anyone?

 

It's the real difference between being a bad style matchup for the previous champ, and being the legit best.

 

[angel]

I think he's just saying that anyone doing that will eventually be found out by a fighter with everything in his locker, someone like RDA.

[Orion]

So if Conor KO's both of them, which you have to admit there is a good possibilty he will. It won't mean much to you. He has take them both down and sub them as well.

 

Being an all rounder is an important aspect of MMA but stand up fighters who concentrate on keeping the fight standing can still have huge success in MMA and become legit champs. Lawler has excellent counter wrestling and takedown defense to keep fights on their feet. Those are great skills to have. Its rather dismissve and insulting to a fighter of Lawlers standing that you consider him 5th best in his division because his lack of a sub game. He can beat anyone in top 10 at welter with the skills he has. He doesent need one.

[schmojo]

It's about number of ways to win the fight. If you only have one route, you'd better hope that your gameplan doesn't get interrupted. 

 

Conor KOing Edgar (and I'm not sure how you can talk about a 'good possibility' of this, since it's never happened before), would rely on him controlling the fight, and not simply surviving long enough to give his punch some room, like he did against Mendes.

 

Great stand-up fighters have been marginalised throughout the evolution of the sport. They're the throwbacks that Dana loves, but they're still throwbacks. I'm thrilled that Lawler got his heyday so late in his career, but I can't expect everyone to want to fight his fight as they have been.

 

Speaking of which, apparently GSP's coach has called out Nate Diaz...

 

EDIT: And now RDA is calling out Lawler for 200. Conor's certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons when it comes to people putting themselves out there.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Aldo had never been knocked out either, but here we are. 

 

Anyway, yeah I'm a bit puzzled by the GSP/Diaz chat (mostly from Zahabi from what I can see). I'm not sure what's really in it for GSP... Highly likely he will grind his way to a decision win, Diaz will throw his toys out of the pram (but console himself with his big pile of money) and the only losers will be us.

[Orion]

I don't want to drag this out for pages as it will just carry on forever. So best just to move on and agree to disagree schmojo.

 

I was thinking the other day Nate vs GSP would be a fantastic fight to make. You have all the history and bad blood between George and Nick to play of as well. The stumbling blocks are Nate is loaded right now and might do what Nick did when he got rich after the GSP fight ie fuck of for ages smoking weed and running tri-athlons. Dana asked him after the show on Saturday "whats next?" and he said he was going to buy a yacht and he doesent care.

 

George is a funny one. When he retired he said the fights and injuries were mounting up and the Hendriks and Condit fights were so tough he was fucked up after both of them. Which you can believe he took a ton of damage in them. Brendan Schab told a story on his podcast that GSP would freak out before fights, saying he was scared and he ain't fighting this guy cos he will kill me and his team would have to help get his shit together. He did this every fight but GSP would then go out and batter them. I think by the end he hated fighting and being banged up all the time.

 

But then he turns up at the show Saturday and Dana admits they were in talks. You have to think it was a McGregor fight for 200. If Conor had won that would have done mental business. I think GSP would have fancied it as he is so much bigger and could out grapple Conor. Now Nate won whats the biggest fight you could do with George ? When he retired he said the guys at 170 are getting to big for him and he is considering moving down to 155 if he ever came back. Recently though he said he has put on so much muscle for film roles he doesent think he can ever make 170 again.

 

If the guys at 170 were getting to big whats he gonna make of the giants at middleweight like Rockhold or Weidman. I thinks he will get back down to 170. So does he want to fight Lawler ? That would be a brutal fight, if he hated the aftermath of his fights with Condit and Hendriks you got to think he might not fancy that fight. Even if he won he is probably taking a ton of damage. Plus if he won is he back as a one off or to stick around awhile. He need a big name who will fight him at 170 who he is favourite to beat. Nate Diaz would be perfect for that role.

[Orion]

5 minutes ago, Yobo Ahoy said:

Aldo had never been knocked out either, but here we are. 

 

Anyway, yeah I'm a bit puzzled by the GSP/Diaz chat (mostly from Zahabi from what I can see). I'm not sure what's really in it for GSP... Highly likely he will grind his way to a decision win, Diaz will throw his toys out of the pram (but console himself with his big pile of money) and the only losers will be us.

 

Lol yeah it will probably be a crap fight to watch but would do huge business for the UFC.

[schmojo]

GSP is always money in Canada, and I have to assume that the money Conor's getting has piqued his interest.

 

One thing's for certain - WW is in mega disarray. Over the past two weeks, Lawler has been talked about less than three unranked guys fighting at 170. 

 

Compound the fact that RDA's throwing his hat in, Condit was 50/50 for a (deserved) rematch with Woodley and Maia surging, it's hard to see what the next path for the division is.

 

GSP vs Diaz is a good title eliminator, but it's also a good exhibition match. If Nate's making big money as a feature, I'm not sure how bothered he'll be about being in the title scene. The Diazes are all about getting paid.

[Orion]

Wonderboy if he beats Rory would be next in line I think. Depends what GSP does, if he comes back and wants a title shot he is getting it. Unfair for some of the others guys but he never lost it and he brings mega business.

 

I'm not sure if either would do it but a GSP vs Macdonald fight in a huge stadium in Canada would be some spectacle.

 

Its messy situation but a ton of great fights could come out of it. Its one stacked division talent wise.

[schmojo]

Wonderboy vs Mac is such a risky fight.

 

When Wonderboy/Lawler is such guaranteed fireworks, and he's just beaten a former champ, why put him against someone who's already lost to the champ twice and won't get a shot from beating him?

 

Dream fights at this point, if everyone was healthy:

 

Wonderboy/Lawler

Condit/Brown (for fun, if he's not getting the shot)

Maia/Woodley

Hendricks/Lombard

[Doomguy]

Conor vs Aldo II

 

Conor vs Edgar 

 

That order then off to 155lbs. 

 

Diaz doesn't deserve a titleshot at 170lbs for beating a 145lber. Dana White logic that. 

[schmojo]

Dana's claiming 1.5m buys for the last event. That's incredible.

 

Mitrione has gone to Bellator, and Rory is touting the Thompson fight as the last on his contract. I really hope these free agent wars keep heating up - may even see some in Rizin. 

 

I have to admit, I was a little surprised that Overeem didn't leave for the land of cans and horsemeat, but I suppose he's never been closer to the top prize than he is right now.