Official Mixed Martial Arts Thread

[Orion]

I can see the UFC being dicks and not backing down. The ego's of Dana, Lorenzo won't be able to handle a fighter saying we are gonna do promotion my way not yours. Even if it fucks over UFC200 - Tate vs Nunes.

 

[angel]

They already have, rumours are they've pulled the fight officially from 200, when they could quite easily let him train and make them a fortune.

 

Few things I've been pondering, if he were to walk away, where could he make his money? I'm a fan of the UFC but not the UFC if that makes sense, a fan of their events but not them as a company. Conor is teaching them a long deserved lesson in how to treat their fighters, and the irony of it all is that his dopey contemporaries, the "pros", are 50/50 in praising or slagging him off. I would love to see him stitch them right up and drop the mic. He is the one person that made Nate Diaz any money, sure the UFC wrote the cheque but Conor brought that money in, and yet theyre all clinging on to their 10k show 10k win contracts like some sort of demented fighter Stockholm Syndrome.

 

Anyone who becomes a breakout star quickly fucks off outta there, which I think speaks volumes on the UFCs methods of business. I'm just not quite sure how they can make any actual money away from the UFC themselves (I dont count Rousey doing her straight to DVD films, or commentary on the UFC itself).

[Doomguy]

He's spot on. The UFC are making an absolute fortune and paying the fighters 20k with NO sponsorship. WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING.

 

It's not into promotion as they've nailed the means to promote all the fights on the cheap; youtube, twitter, 30 min fox countdown shows. This is why nobody trusts Dana. Total clown. 

[angel]

 

15 minutes ago, Stevedave said:

He's spot on. The UFC are making an absolute fortune and paying the fighters 20k with NO sponsorship. WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING.

 

It's not into promotion as they've nailed the means to promote all the fights on the cheap; youtube, twitter, 30 min fox countdown shows. This is why nobody trusts Dana. Total clown. 

 

Actually, it doesnt always make a fortune. Rousey and lately Conor have really pulled them out of the fire, they had a few lean years, GSP leaving left a hole and so on. Don't be fooled to think they always rake it in. Also, they do pay certain fighters well, Nate is famously on a shit contract but he got a huge amount for his last fight, they didnt fiddle him out of that one, but that's the point, its only certain fighters that get it. If you draw viewers, you get paid.

 

Conor is playing them brilliantly here though, he's been a promotional monster but he's quite rightly sick of being down in the trenches, he's pulling the whole "game" as he puts it to a new level, but the old guard are like prisoners to the UFC, they cannot accept a better way and are openly hostile to their potential benefactor. Its fascinating to watch if nothing else.

[Tofu]

If I made my boss almost half a billion dollars in eight months I'd expect a little leeway too. Problem with that is he's not solely responsible for those numbers, but I'll make a completely unfounded guess and say he's responsible for half that. $200 Million of profit Revenue in 8 months. That's a lot of cheese.

Also, Conor is framing this the right way. What guy doesn't love the Rocky III, and Rocky IV, story of going back to the basics and shutting all the fame out to overcome adversity?

[schmojo]

Conor's put together a perfect response there. I don't really believe most of it, but it's an excellent babyface promo against the only rival that can match his star power: the UFC itself. It's Steve Austin vs the WWF.

 

In reality, I wouldn't be surprised if he's wanting more money - the shady backroom distribution of money in the UFC never gets talked about, so I wouldn't be surprised if they both have a gentleman's agreement not to discuss is publicly.

 

If he didn't have other fights on his contract, Conor is currently at the level of star power where he could run his own HBO PPV. Diaz was an irrelevant opponent and they broke records. Him and GSP should probably be spending time with their lawyers to see if they can both make it happen, and get extraordinarily rich in the process.

[angel]

Unlikely of course, but he is actually pals with GSP

 

[Chooch]

What is between conors right arm and his chest? Looks like pavement.

[angel]

Really?

 

yeah

 

[Corrogate]

Conor's a punk, starts whipping up this frenzy and can't deal with the media storm he created. Talking about owning the game, get out there and fucking promote it. He thinks he's bigger than the UFC, Dana should come down hard on him. With regards to pay, I mean, it sucks, but that's the way it goes, if you're a top draw, you wanna be out there making sure you're top draw.

 

Plus, who doesn't wanna see Diaz and Conor verbally spare again? And where else can Conor make this kind of money?

[schmojo]

As he says, one tweet of his has brought more attention than everyone else's promotional work combined. It was all over mainstream sites, and it will be again when he steps back in.

 

He can deal with everything just fine, and we're all dancing to his tune.

 

Also, watching Mac verbally spar with Diaz is like watching a human try and play chess against a toilet roll. Diaz would be able to say 'Yeah, but I choked you out', but he'd still comes across as pretty dim.

[Tofu]

1 hour ago, angel said:

Unlikely of course, but he is actually pals with GSP

 

They're not friends, he's only met him 2 times and that was only because of UFC events.

I like Conner he's done a lot for the sport brought a lot of interest, and a lot of new fans, but the reality is he is better at talking than fighting. the reason he is where he is, is his ability to sell a fight, Look at the fights he's had, no one else would be headlining UFC 200 with that record it's the Talk thats got him where he is, so to think he can get out of it is bullshit. 

[Gotters]

7 minutes ago, schmojo said:

Also, watching Mac verbally spar with Diaz is like watching a human try and play chess against a toilet roll. Diaz would be able to say 'Yeah, but I choked you out', but he'd still comes across as pretty dim.

 

I was going to say the same, saying 'fuck you* and giving the finger doesn't really count as verbal sparring in my books. 

[Corrogate]

Even if Diaz isn't as verbose, still took it to McGregor. He can't fuck with Diaz psychologically.

[Doomguy]

22 hours ago, angel said:

 

 

Actually, it doesnt always make a fortune. Rousey and lately Conor have really pulled them out of the fire, they had a few lean years, GSP leaving left a hole and so on. Don't be fooled to think they always rake it in. Also, they do pay certain fighters well, Nate is famously on a shit contract but he got a huge amount for his last fight, they didnt fiddle him out of that one, but that's the point, its only certain fighters that get it. If you draw viewers, you get paid.

 

I don't believe that at all. 

 

They've put on more events, fight nights, fox cards, Ultimate Fighter shows, etc than at any point in the UFCs history. Plus they added a sponsor tax and slashed everyones income with the reebok deal. That's not including the money they get from games and having the back library of Pride/ Strikeforce/WEC. 

[angel]

They did have some lean years around 2013, Arials covered it a few times on his shows, we're talking pre-reebok, prebok if you will.

[Orion]

If Ronda and Conor had not blown up they would have been fucked after Brock and GSP retired then Silva got chinned. Mighty Mouse, RDA, Aldo, Cruz, Dillashaw, Weidman, Rockhold, Lawler, Werdum none of these guys are PPV draws. Jones sort of is but not really your talking 750'000 type buys at best. Plus he is a fucking div who seems to be on a course to wreck his whole career half the time.

 

They need to sort things with Conor. Ronda is of making movies this year. Conor adds millions in PPV buys fighting whoever.

[angel]

Is anyone else finding this weekends event utterly underwhelming?  Visiting mma websites im just confronted with "danas reaction to conor", "conor zings dana via twitter" etc headlines to wade through. Utterly sick of that stuff, really not that interested in jones and finding him faker than ever in his interviews.  The only thing that would be a nice bonus is OSP knocking him out but im not staying up for it, and I always stay up.

[Doomguy]

Me neither. I watched the weigh ins. Clearly someone was being overly generous with the stats as OSP is not quite the 'physical equal  of Jones the promos made him out to be. 

 

Reminds me of this:

 

 

 

[angel]

I've not watched the weigh ins yet, thats dissapointing news. I guess even my desire to see JJ derailed a bit wont be happening. I cant believe its a numbered event too, in my head it feels like a fox show live from mexico or something. Conor has utterly overshadowed everything.

 

Forgot about DJ v Cejudo (I won an olympic medal you know - as he walks out to the olympic music while wearing an olympic robe), and even Pettis is on it. Poor Esparza on the prelims while JJ champ gets her own show broadcast in the same week.

[Yobo Ahoy]

Bendo outclassed by Koreshkov in Bellator last night. Can't say it was surprising, he was much the smaller man ... I haven't been overly impressed with him at WW so far, the Thatch fight was an easy intro but he should have stayed at LW. Hopefully he drops back down.

[angel]

I've not enjoyed his previous work but DJ converted be into a fan, in about 10 minutes flat.

[Gotters]

3 hours ago, angel said:

I've not enjoyed his previous work but DJ converted be into a fan, in about 10 minutes flat.

 

exactly the same from me, that was a devastating display against a serious opponent.

 

that Yair Rodriguez looks a bit special too

[Yobo Ahoy]

Jones vs a punching bag was about as interesting as expected. Luckily DJ and Rodriguez delivered...

 

Pettis' decline is so odd. He's gone from one of the most dominant, exciting champions in recent memory to someone without a win in 3 and deservedly so. I know they were by decision but he's looked so hesitant and toothless, I think RDA broke him. A real shame.

[Gotters]

he may be a total tool outside the ring but somebody is sure looking out for Jones in it - that version of him wouldn't have stood a chance again Cormier, but he's got to shake off the ring rust against a pretty average (but notably durable) OSP.

 

DC said as much in commentary, he regretted missing out on this version of Jones and knows it won't be the same when they do eventually meet. He's missed out on that trilogy decider money I suspect as you won't see Jones like that again and he'll go 2-0 when they do meet.

 

Not sure what has happened with Pettis, the whole situation with fighters going into decline with the more stringent testing does seem suspicious, but I also think that MMA is so nuanced that some fighters just get called as awesome too quickly, before they've actually demonstrated the full skill set. Until a fighter has taken out some wrestlers, some strikers and shown some BJJ its too early.

[Tofu]

I think the real winner of tonight is Mighty Mouse. That Flash KO on a co-headline ppv where JJ makes his return has got to garner him a better following, especially after they marketed Cejudo to be this real deal olympic wrestler. MM is known for his decision wins that are technical but slow and he really displayed a different side of him. I think he really made some new fans tonight.

[Tofu]

Plus Yair KO was amazing.

[Doomguy]

Jones post fight ' I feel blessed to be in the cage'.

 

 *walks away and flips off DC*

 

haha. 

 

DC to me seems visible scared. It must have hurt watching ring rust Jones, knowing he might have actually stood a chance if he didn't get himself injured.

[angel]

Yeah, I didnt bother with any of the embeddeds this week because its jones, hes just a nob, I cant put it in any fancy ways. Hes a dick. Fake when asked a question, id be fine with him being a dick but he does everything covertly. Deletes tweets, pretends hes a nice guy, a religious guy etc. He's a cheat on his wife and kids, a cokehead, a hit and run driver, an arrogant arsehole, he's got no class, he's just a moron who can fight. I cant get up for seeing him fight because I want him to lose, thats all I get from him, just waiting for him to lose.  He's an asshat.

[Tofu]

Jon Jones, pound for pound biggest asshole in MMA