Official Mixed Martial Arts Thread

[Doomguy]

2 hours ago, schmojo said:

I'm completely fabricating this, but I have a theory that Dana was always a bit of a wiener wannabe who looked up to aggressive, 'alpha male' combat sports types.

 

Now that he's ingratiated himself with that crowd and jacked himself full of cow hormones, he doesn't see value in any kind of fighter apart from 'shouty bellend'.

 

'I used to be a boxer' 

 

[Gotters]

I think you make a lot of great points on this @schmojo.

 

MMA does owes a huge debt of gratitude to the UFC and Dana White, I don't care what anybody says about Pride,  Rizin or K1 or any other companies, to the majority of fans UFC is MMA (yes I know the UFC followed what these started, I'm talking about the 1m people who buy a Conor PPV)

 

Where you are bang on though is this has happened without them really being very good at promoting or nurturing fighters stories/personalities if they aren't willing to shout it from the rooftops. They've let it happen and given great platforms for people who are well suited at self promotion to shine - their use of Embedded and TUF give far more insight into the fighters, I agree though that if somebody is no good at that aspect of it nobody seems to assist them in coming up with a story or promoting themselves better.

 

I don't want to see full on WWE manufactured storylines, but they could do far more to push the likes of Maia, Woodley etc and let the fans see them in a fuller more well rounded light.

[McFly]

The woman (i think it was her) whose fighting Cyborg whose name i cant even think of, was talked about by Josh Barnett on #jre. She has an insane life pre-mma (abusive partner, rape, single mum) and is now fighting for a belt, incredible and yet nobody knows or even seems to care. All they seem to care about is bloody MacGregor

 

Barnett said hes pretty much been cleared by USADA and it was a tainted supplement that got him busted iirc.

[schmojo]

12 minutes ago, Gotters said:

I think you make a lot of great points on this @schmojo.

 

MMA does owes a huge debt of gratitude to the UFC and Dana White, I don't care what anybody says about Pride,  Rizin or K1 or any other companies, to the majority of fans UFC is MMA (yes I know the UFC followed what these started, I'm talking about the 1m people who buy a Conor PPV)

 

Where you are bang on though is this has happened without them really being very good at promoting or nurturing fighters stories/personalities if they aren't willing to shout it from the rooftops. They've let it happen and given great platforms for people who are well suited at self promotion to shine - their use of Embedded and TUF give far more insight into the fighters, I agree though that if somebody is no good at that aspect of it nobody seems to assist them in coming up with a story or promoting themselves better.

 

I don't want to see full on WWE manufactured storylines, but they could do far more to push the likes of Maia, Woodley etc and let the fans see them in a fuller more well rounded light.

 

If I was a fighter pulling in Woodley money, I’d bankroll a 2D Streets of Rage style fighting game with me as the hero. Give the character some big KO shots and suplexes.

 

Oh man, that’s probably the best use I can think of for the UFC game license: Welterweight Final Fight, 2D 16/32 bit art.

 

GSP: Easy mode all-rounded

Woodley: Suplexes and KO shots

Hendricks: Fat, slow, but big power

Condit: Quick, diverse standup, but takes damage

[Yobo Ahoy]

4 minutes ago, McFly said:

The woman (i think it was her) whose fighting Cyborg whose name i cant even think of, was talked about by Josh Barnett on #jre. She has an insane life pre-mma (abusive partner, rape, single mum) and is now fighting for a belt, incredible and yet nobody knows or even seems to care. All they seem to care about is bloody MacGregor

 

 

 

Doesn't help that it's her first UFC fight. Barely anyone has Fight Pass and I'd be willing to bet even less watch Invicta. She's got a decent record but essentially she's a nobody. Yes, this could be helped with promotion but that would be a big ask, I'd say that even to a hardcore UFC fan she's not exactly well known.

[Gotters]

13 minutes ago, schmojo said:

GSP: Easy mode all-rounded

Woodley: Suplexes and KO shots

Hendricks: Fat, slow, but big power

Condit: Quick, diverse standup, but takes damage

 

There should be a Gastallum character too which if you choose to be you just lose a life as he fails to make weight for the level.

[schmojo]

And Johny Hendricks eats three times as many apples and chickens as everyone else does. YES - the more you eat in a level, the more your weight goes up. The more fighting you do, the more you burn off. You have to make weight for each level...

 

Much like with Megan Anderson, there's even a story in nobody knowing Tonya Evinger: "Cyborg is so fearsome that we're having to travel the world - outside of the UFC - to find other champions worthy of fighting her."

 

 

[Yobo Ahoy]

Sounds like a JCVD film.

[McFly]

48 minutes ago, Yobo Ahoy said:

 

Doesn't help that it's her first UFC fight. Barely anyone has Fight Pass and I'd be willing to bet even less watch Invicta. She's got a decent record but essentially she's a nobody. Yes, this could be helped with promotion but that would be a big ask, I'd say that even to a hardcore UFC fan she's not exactly well known.

Thats true, id no idea about her and id class myself as a veteran fan rather than hardcore i suppose. But the UFC should be telling fans about this stuff.

[McFly]

As a total aside, id love to see all the rubbish nicknames or nom de guerre, abolished. It was always way cooler to have badass dudes with just thier real name bar a few who had earned a name for themselves 

[Doomguy]

12 minutes ago, McFly said:

As a total aside, id love to see all the rubbish nicknames or nom de guerre, abolished. It was always way cooler to have badass dudes with just thier real name bar a few who had earned a name for themselves 

 

You'd really want to miss out on guys with names like;

 

The Dean of Mean Keith Jardine.

 

'Tank' Abbott

 

Marcus 'The Irish Hand Grenade'  Davis. 

 

Mark 'The Smashing Machine' Kerr. 

 

Plus one of my all time favs  'The Headhunter' Mark Buentello.

 

 

 

 

[McFly]

"The New York Badass" Phil Baroni?

 

I can live with stuff thats funny or meaningful its tje generic shitty ones and for all the good ones you mentioned theres

 

Chad "money" Mendes or

Matt "the terror" Serra.

Abel "killa" Truillo etc

[glb]

Rick 'The Horror' Story

'The Vanilla Gorilla'

'The Korean Zombie'

'The Red King'

 

These can stay.

 

To be honest, Bruce Buffer's intro helps elevate some of them. Must be amazing to have him bellow your name out.

[Gotters]

1 hour ago, McFly said:

As a total aside, id love to see all the rubbish nicknames or nom de guerre, abolished. It was always way cooler to have badass dudes with just thier real name bar a few who had earned a name for themselves 

 

for me its not the silly nicknames that grate, but twats like Jon Anik calling them by it constantly in commentary, like its their actual name. In particular his excessive use of 'The Korean Zombie' in a fight made me despise every word that has fallen out of his idiot mouth to this day (the fact he sounds like Arnie Pie in the sky from the Simpson's doesn't help either)

[schmojo]

Andre 'the Pitbull' Arlovski.

Thiago 'the Pitbull' Alves.

Patricio 'the Pitbull' Freire.

Patrick's 'the Pitbull' Freire.

Bethe 'the Pitbull' Correira.

[Doomguy]

3 hours ago, McFly said:

"The New York Badass" Phil Baroni?

 

I can live with stuff thats funny or meaningful its tje generic shitty ones and for all the good ones you mentioned theres

 

Chad "money" Mendes or

Matt "the terror" Serra.

Abel "killa" Truillo etc

 

Agreed.  'Money' Mendes doesn't really work when you're suspended for steroids and broke. 

[schmojo]

3 hours ago, Gotters said:

 

for me its not the silly nicknames that grate, but twats like Jon Anik calling them by it constantly in commentary, like its their actual name. In particular his excessive use of 'The Korean Zombie' in a fight made me despise every word that has fallen out of his idiot mouth to this day (the fact he sounds like Arnie Pie in the sky from the Simpson's doesn't help either)

 

It's just another useful tool. They're under pressure to avoid sounding repetitive, and I'd much rather hear 'Jacare' than 'The Nova Uniao product' or 'the AKA product'.

 

They might also have some kind of marketing driver too, where they want to get more t-shirts shifted.

[Corrogate]

Really like Whitacker for next UFC middle champ.

[glb]

Said it before, will say it again, Dan Hardy is one of the best analysts in sport, not just MMA. Here's his breakdown for Romero Whittaker:

 

 

Would love to hear Hardy and Cruz do analysis together; both give great, accessible insight to what happens and why in the Octagon.

[Gotters]

 

what an athlete this bloke is, does look like he skips calf day though.

 

[McFly]

I guess its an area to save weight? It must be a dream to coach a guy lile that.

 

The robot rock/queen mix was quite cool.

[glb]

Watching the Nunes Shevchencko preview and just thinking how awesome female MMA is; seeing some huge progression in the divisions in such a short space of time, can only imagine how well-rounded the next wave of fighters is going to be.

 

Shevchenko is really slick, think her best shot is getting the fight to championship rounds but Nunes is such a powerhouse now that I doubt the fight goes beyond 2.

[McFly]

Tottally agree womens MMA is fantastic and has added so much to the sport. If Joanna was American or a native English speaker she'd be so huge itd be crazy, shes one of my favourite fighters full-stop

[McFly]

I doubt ill watch but the fights on Danas Contender show will be commentated on by Snoop Dogg and Uriah Faber,

wtf?

[glb]

3 hours ago, McFly said:

Tottally agree womens MMA is fantastic and has added so much to the sport. If Joanna was American or a native English speaker she'd be so huge itd be crazy, shes one of my favourite fighters full-stop

 

Yeah, Joanna is awesome. Probably her only weakness is that knockout power that makes highlight reels, but watching her lacerate opponents with elbows and kicks is pretty emphatic. The performance against Andrade was one of the best of the year so far, and she's now pretty much cleaned out her division.

 

Understand why UFC wanted a featherweight division for Cyborg but flyweight would make more sense with their existing roster. That said, I like the sound of Nunes at featherweight, could be one of the better candidates for a match with Cyborg.

[Gotters]

I think JJ brings a total fight week thing with her - she is great/lovely/funny/nuts in the embedded videos and press then always delivers in her fights.

 

[Doomguy]

12 hours ago, Gotters said:

 

what an athlete this bloke is, does look like he skips calf day though.

 

 

Makes me wonder what he'd be like at 205lbs. He could certainly jump high enough to chin the bigger fighters; he man handled Weidman also who could easily be a light heavy. 

[McFly]

I wonder how much he cuts, 20lb+?

[McFly]

Johnson v Gaethje is insane, one of the fights of the year for sure.

[glb]

26 minutes ago, McFly said:

Johnson v Gaethje is insane, one of the fights of the year for sure.

 

Yup, absolute humdinger.