Official Mixed Martial Arts Thread

[McFly]

I know, was far more into that than the HW fight.

[Yobo Ahoy]

I had high hopes for Holland but he's just shown himself to be a Diaz clone, more interested in clowning and fighting on his own terms than actually trying to counter the opponent in front of them. 

[McFly]

It was bizarre really. He had Brunson almost finished, then seemed to ease off and let Brunson take over and do nothing about it. 

[Orion]

2 hours ago, Yobo Ahoy said:

I had high hopes for Holland but he's just shown himself to be a Diaz clone, more interested in clowning and fighting on his own terms than actually trying to counter the opponent in front of them. 

 

The thing with the Diaz brothers is they chat shit during fights to get you to engage more or if they are winning to discourage you. I think Holland saw it as a gimmick and all the pissing about and dancing around brought him extra attention. He looked completely lost at times on Saturday. It was as McFly says a bizarre performance.

 

Brunson is a tough guy, he happily derailed unbeaten Edmen Shahbazyan last year as well. If your an up and coming middleweight I'd try and stay away from him.

[glb]

Miocic is evens to beat Ngannou this weekend. Even after beating the brakes off him last time around.

[Gotters]

14 hours ago, glb said:

Miocic is evens to beat Ngannou this weekend. Even after beating the brakes off him last time around.

 

That terrifying power always skews the odds in fighting doesn't it, as even when you've seen the fight once which played out how it did it requires Miocic to be perfect to execute against, whereas Ngannou could swing for the rafters and connect in a few seconds. 

[glb]

6 hours ago, Gotters said:

 

That terrifying power always skews the odds in fighting doesn't it, as even when you've seen the fight once which played out how it did it requires Miocic to be perfect to execute against, whereas Ngannou could swing for the rafters and connect in a few seconds. 

Looked at the odds some more. Miocic is 4/1 to win on points again, which feels even more generous than the EVS to win.

 

See you all Sunday morning when we’ll no doubt be discussing Ngannou’s brutal first round victory.

[Orion]

Its interesting the odds are basically the same as before the first fight. After a rocky start Stipe survived the initial barrage and won that comfortably in the end. Says alot about Ngannou's power.

 

I think and hope Stipe wins. I get the impression he might retire if he loses, he has been hinting at it. If he wins I think we get him vs Jones and Ngannou vs Jones at some point.

[Gotters]

well that was super impressive from Ngannou - that was almost the perfect rematch performance in terms of learning from everything you did wrong and adding to your skillset without removing the devastating KO power.

 

Stipe didn't get a thing going and either looked totally flummoxed at what to do (especially when his TD attempt got stuffed) or was oddly very flat.

[McFly]

One of the biggest turnarounds in a rematch I can think of, very impressive. 

 

Woodly v Luque was almost Brown v Arlovski 2 esque.

 

O'malley looked good but was bit too desperate for viralness. The commentating bugged, saying how bad a mistake he made not jumping on Almeida. Then when he did give the extra one at the end DC said he probably didn't need to. I may have misunderstood but 

[Orion]

Only seen the main card but it was a great show. Some wild finishes, the place would have been rocking with a crowd. Gutted for Stipe as he seems a lovely bloke but then so does Ngannou. 3 African born UFC champions atm now, which is very cool as well.

 

Jones has been banging on about money and getting paid on Twitter since the result. It would be a shame if we don't see Ngannou/Jones because of him. He is obviously not retired and is training for heavyweight, check recent pictures he is huge. 

[glb]

Now crowds are soon to be allowed back in Florida arenas, and I think some in Texas as well, Jones Ngannou headlining a sell-out arena/stadium in the summer makes sense.  
 

It’s a strange position with Jones in that he doesn’t do ridiculous PPV numbers (800k is his biggest number) but he’s still one of the biggest draws on the current roster. So he should get paid, but just not as much as he probably thinks he should. 
 

As for last night, gutted for Stipe but also delighted for Ngannou. Miocic has a great legacy, and at 38 really had nothing left to prove in the sport. Wouldn’t be upset to see him retire, enjoy the fruits of his fighting labours while still being a firefighter, and enjoy family life and fatherhood. He’s more than earned that.

[kris_doe]

Ngannou stuffing that take down attempt was possibly one of the most frightening things I have ever seen.

[glb]

8 hours ago, glb said:

Now crowds are soon to be allowed back in Florida arenas, and I think some in Texas as well, Jones Ngannou headlining a sell-out arena/stadium in the summer makes sense.  
 

It’s a strange position with Jones in that he doesn’t do ridiculous PPV numbers (800k is his biggest number) but he’s still one of the biggest draws on the current roster. So he should get paid, but just not as much as he probably thinks he should.

Adding to my own post, as it’s been bugging me: do think UFC fighters generally should get paid way more than the do, and I didn’t want it to sound like I don’t think that’s the case.
 

Lowest salary on the main card of UFC 259

was reportedly $50k, for an event that hit around 800,000 buys or (roughly) $48m in revenue (based on the US price of $60). Rough estimate glancing over the salary numbers  is less than 10% of that income went on fighters’ pay.

 

Jones’ last payout for UFC 247 was reportedly $540k, which is actually staggering. I’d have thought as champion, a headliner and just about the best fighter in the game he’d be getting $1m+ minimum. And you’d think a Jones Ngannou fight would do the kind of buys, and ticket sales, where both men could get healthy seven figure paychecks, and Dana White could still get his ample slice of the pie.

[McFly]

That's pretty surprising about Jones salary, I assumed double that.

 

Jim Miller was due 125k to 250k for his last minute cancelled fight with Bobby Green. He got less than 10k iirc.

 

It's really beyond a joke now. Or bring back sponsors.

[Gotters]

UFC pay has always been a combination of Dana White undervaluing the fighters combined with their PPV drawing power, the best fighters aren't always the biggest draw - I understand the latter and whilst a champ holding a belt deserves a level of pay they aren't all equal and whilst nobody would compare Jones to McGregor in terms of fighting ability in PPV terms they aren't in the same league. 

 

I think you're talking about McGregor, Lesnar, GSP & Rousey as the biggest sellers in history, everybody else is a long way back.

 

In more recent years I think fighter pay has suffered further with the need to service the investors/shareholders when the Fertita's sold up, especially with talks of an IPO needing to fatten up the bottom line even more.

 

Thing is it's still the organisation to be in if you're up and coming isn't it, and whilst they don't earn top boxer money where else in MMA can they enhance their reputation and earn more ? Bellator is an option but seemingly more for established names on the decline going into free agency.

[McFly]

In a way it's a meritocracy where the most popular fighter, usually the champs, get the most money and vice-versa. Which I don't have a problem with in itself, its the amounts that are wrong. I don't see why a fighter can't earn minimum $100k a fight which I think is reasonable, plus more based on length of tenure, bonuses etc. 

[Orion]

I think the UFC stiffs the fighters paywise but those reported pay numbers for Jones won't include certain contracted bonus's that champions get and most importantly his PPV points. He will have taken home over a million at least, pre tax and managers/gym cuts though.

 

I think like everyone else he wants McGregor type money. Which he won't get but if he is asking for champions PPV points which he lost when giving up the LH belt, I think he should get them. He is still a draw, not a massive one but bigger than most. 

[McFly]

Plus Jones should maybe consider himself fortunate after all his shenanigans that he even has a career with the ufc. Its his own stupidity that cost him his lucrative Nike deal amongst others. 

 

I hope we see the Jones we used to see when he hopefully fights Ngannou.

 

I wish we  could see PFL on TV here, it $1m tourneys are interesting and has been worth watching when I've seen it on holiday.

 

Gordon Ryan signing to OneFC is interesting too.

[Naysonymous]

I think I've said this in here before, but at what point does MMA follow boxing and fighters just do independent promotions?   It's probably still a generation away but when top guys who have dedicated their lives to the sport are fighting incredibly dangerous opposition then it must sting to see that YouTubers are earning more for play fighting.  Given social media and streaming technology being where it is it must be much easier to have a breakaway promotion now.    I like the UFC from a sporting point of view, you generally do see the best fight the best which just doesn't happen often enough in boxing, but you can't tell me that the pay in the UFC is fair right now. 

[Orion]

It would take someone the level of Conor McGregor at his height a few years back to do that and actually compete with the UFC. He probably wanted to as well but was iron clad locked in his contract by the UFC. He certainly did'nt want to give the UFC a cut of the Mayweather money but had to if they were going to agree to it. 

 

The problem with the UFC is if you start to become a draw and want more money. The UFC will say ok we will give you a new contract but we are going to add more fights to it. Thats what they did with McGregor. Keeping him tied to them. You don't like it as a fighter, they don't care. We have seen UFC champions Henry Cejudo and Jon Jones both say we want more money or we will retire and the UFC just says "go on then" and keeps on rolling.

 

This Paul brothers/YouTubers celebrity boxing might be a fad too.  I'm not convinced it will last forever. I think someone will eventually get really badly hurt and the backlash will be nasty.

[McFly]

The automatic 3 fight addition to a fighters contract if you fight for a title and 6 fights if you win a belt, I think that's right, is madness.

[Yobo Ahoy]

I see Paddy Pimblett has finally signed with the UFC. He's far from the finished article but the kid has charisma in spades, can't wait for a full house show over here. 

[Orion]

43 minutes ago, Yobo Ahoy said:

I see Paddy Pimblett has finally signed with the UFC. He's far from the finished article but the kid has charisma in spades, can't wait for a full house show over here. 

 

Im going to have to bite my tongue on Paddy, I work with someone from his gym. They all think he is a flake though. They are dreading pubs and clubs reopening here though regards Paddy. 

[Yobo Ahoy]

Haha don't hold back on my account, I've only seen him fight 3 or 4 times and on at least one of those occasions he was totally outclassed - I'm no fanboy. Win or lose I think he'll make some noise in the UFC though.

[Orion]

Talented but lazy as fuck about training. Can be a bully in the gym with less experienced fighters. Not alot of nice things said about him tbh. Another guy I know who worked the doors in Liverpool city centre said you would see Paddy out and about all the time usually trashed, even a few days before fights. 

 

He will certainly make alot of noise outside the cage. If people found Darren Tills personality abrasive, they are going to hate Paddy.

[McFly]

Is cage warriors still on BT?

 

Interesting to see how Miesha Tate gets on after her time away and 2 kids. She's younger than I thought too so a fight with Renau should be decent but I can't see her, or anyone, beating Nunes.

[MattKB]

I can’t help but feel that Paul is absolutely going to wreck Askren. 

[skittles]

7 hours ago, MattKB said:

I can’t help but feel that Paul is absolutely going to wreck Askren. 

I also have the same feeling..

[McFly]

Till is out of his fight with a busted collarbone.

 

Leon Edwards is fighting Nate Diaz in a 5 round co-main.