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UFC May - Ariel Bombardment Last month's thread is here. UFC in April was a mixed bag. Some good fights, some pointless fights, some interesting news, some odd news, and women's champions again in the news for the wrong reasons. This month's title is brought to us by Intel&Sebastian, who reminds us that sometimes Ariel Helwani is right, sometimes he's wrong, but always he deserves to get dunked on. The first weekend of the month brought us UFC 223: Khabib vs. Iaquinta, because I guess American audiences aren't ready for an event named after a guy whose name is basically Nur-Mohamed-ov who is also Russian. I've noticed very little reference to the fact that he's the first Islamic UFC champion, hmm, wonder why, what could the connection be . After being matched up for the fourth year running (2015, Khabib pulled out due to injury, 2016 Tony pulled out due to a lung infection, 2017 Khabib pulled out due an overdose of tiramisu) it was Tony's turn to ensure that he couldn't make it to the fight, severely insuring his left knee at a press event. The photos of the surgical scar are gnarly as hell if you want to look them up. The card looked to be saved by the late-replacement callup of Max Holloway. A huge featherweight, Holloway has discussed moving to Lightweight in the past, and now had the chance to become only the second UFC fighter ever to hold two belts in two weight divisions at once. Unfortunately, very late in his weight cut, an official from the New York State Athletic Commission "didn't like the look of him", and removed Holloway from the fight. Must be nice to have that kind of power in your eyes based on no actual medical evidence. At that point in time, the UFC went into serious damage control mode. Names tossed around included Anthony Pettis, who had lost his opponent Michael Chiesa to a cut forehead courtesy of Conor McGregor, Paul Felder, who was scheduled to fight Al Iaquinta, and then finally Al himself. Pettis didn't get the fight due to reasons that were speculated to do with money, Felder didn't get the fight as the NYSAC again in their infinite wisdom decided that someone unranked by the UFC wasn't allowed to fight for a title (seriously) so finally the match went to the 13-ranked Iaquinta. Iaquinta then proceeded to get steamrolled. The main takeaway from this whole saga is that sanctioning MMA in New York State was a ~~~mistake~~~. In other fights that night, Rose Namajunas beat Joanna Jędrzejczyk in the rematch, soundly out-striking her over 5 rounds to clinch an unanimous decision victory. Zabit Magomedsharipov defeated Kyle Bochniak in a really fun fight that is a must-watch. Joe Lauzon was solidly beaten by Chris Guetzmacher for two full rounds, with his corner deciding to pull the plug in a wise move before the start of the third. And Olivier Aubin-Mercier folded up Evan Dunham like an accordian, with some vicious knees to the body. https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/DaORBnZWkAA41gc.mp4 The 14th of April saw us head to Glendale, Arizona for UFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje. Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje went to loving war in the main event, with Gaethje throwing savage leg kicks and getting some head and body shots in, while Poirier beat his opponent's head like it owed him money. Eventually even that chin will crack, and Gaethje went down in the fourth. https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/Dayk9DDXcAEkSCi.mp4 The other highlight from this card that I only caught about half way through was Alex Oliveira taking out Carlos Condit with a guillotine in the 2nd round. This represents the Natural Born Killer's fourth loss in a row, and serious questions are being asked about whether the game has passed him by. https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/Dayan3nW4AAXN9a.mp4 Finally, the night of the 14th of April brought us to Atlantic City for UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Lee. The main event was an incredible one-sided affair, where apart from a brief period in the 2nd round, Lee took Barboza down and mauled him with impunity. The absolute highlight from that match was the point Barboza almost had it, landing a near-perfect wheel kick to the head of Lee and severely rocking the Detroit native. https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/DbXMcBxX4AAdZ1F.mp4 Highlights from the other fights included Dan Hooker putting his reach to good use, planting a vicious knee to the chin of Jim Miller, and Siyar Bahadurzada crumpling Luan Chagas with a perfect toe-poke to the liver. https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/DbWm1MnW4AA8y0f.mp4 https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/DbWR1oLX0AE5EQo.mp4 UFC events in May The night of the 12th sees us head to Rio de Janeiro for UFC 224. Amanda Nunes will look to make her third successful title defense, with her opponent Raquel Pennington a very long-odds underdog going into this match. The home crowd for Nunes certainly won't help her chances. Other fights on this card include Vitor Belfort fighting Lyoto Machida, in a fight that should almost certainly see a retirement one way or another, and Ronaldo Souza taking on Kelvin Gastelum in what could be a great clash-of-styles matchup. Junior Albini is also on this card because gotta have trashweights I guess. The following weekend sees the UFC in Chile for the first time. Originally scheduled to have Santiago Ponzinibbio in the main, UFC Fight Night 129 now features Demian Maia stepping in to take on Kamaru Usman. I have no idea what to expect from this matchup and to be honest it's not really on my radar. The card is mostly fleshed out with a local cast of fringe names, which often results in some quality fights with most fans carrying very little expectation into the card. The third and final UFC event for May comes from Liverpool, England, and represents the first time in a very very long time that the UFC will go a whole month without holding a single fight on US soil. UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Till on the 21st sees the local hero Darren Till taking on the former Welterweight contender Stephen Thompson in the main. Neil Magny was orignally slated to fight Gunnar Nelson, but the latter dropped out due to a knee injury on the 28th of April. Other highlights include Beautiful MMA Boy Elias Theodorou fighting journeyman Trevor Smith. UFC News Once again Conor is some big news, being charged with three counts of various flavours of assault and posting $50,000 bail to be released. The UFC has stated that they won't punish Conor before his court case is finalised. There are a lot of people who consider that last sentence to be six words too long at the end there. Leslie Smith (18-7) was originally slated to fight Aspen Ladd at the Atlantic City card on the 21st of April. Ladd came in heavy, and Smith declined to take the fight. In response, the UFC paid her her fight and win money and told her that they considered her contract to be complete, and released her from the company. It's very transparent that this is due to the fact that Smith is agitating for UFC fighters to organise into a union, and in fact later in the month she filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations board against the UFC, alleging retaliation for union activities. Watch this space for updates. Your Current Champions Men's Heavyweight Champion - Stipe Miocic (20-2) Stipe Miocic won the Heavyweight title in May of 2016, stopping Fabricio Verdum in front of his countrymen in a single round. He backed this feat up with another first-round stoppage of the most decorated Heavyweight of all time, Alistair Overeem, in Miocic's home town of Cleveland in September 2016. It was considered that the winner of the fight between Werdum and Cain Velasquez at UFC 207, a rematch of the fight where Werdum took Velasquez' belt from him in 2015, would be Miocic's next opponent, but Velasquez was forced out of this bout with yet another leg injury. Miocic defended his title in May 2017, with yet another first round KO of his opponent, making Junior dos Santos his second scalp as champion and equalling the all-time title defenses record. A dominating performance of Francis Ngannou in January 2018 saw Miocic become the first ever UFC Heavyweight champion to defend the belt three times in a row. The first UFC Superfight in many years has been booked for UFC 226 in July during International Fight Week, which will see Miocic put his title on the line against Daniel Cormier. Men's Light Heavyweight Champion - Daniel Cormier (20-1-(1)) Daniel Cormier won the belt initially in May of 2015 against the heavy-hitting Anthony Johnson by rear-naked choke in the third round. Cormier defended his belt against Alexander Gustaffson in October of 2015 in a split decision. A planned rematch against Jon Jones was scheduled for UFC 200, which was called off after Jones tested positive for post-cycle therapy drugs. Cormier went on to fight Anderson Silva in a non-title bout on three days' notice. Cormier was slated to fight Anthony Johnson in a rematch for the belt in December, a match which did not took place due to Cormier suffering a groin adductor injury. The bout took place at UFC 210 in April, with Cormier defending the belt in under two rounds and Johnson riding off into the sunset with a surprise retirement. The rematch against Jon Jones finally took place at UFC 215 and saw Jones KO Cormier in the third round. Then Jones tested positive for Soviet-era steroids, and the CSAC overturned the fight result to a No Contest. The UFC dutifully stripped Jones of the championship, again, and it is now back around the waist of Cool MMA Dad Daniel Cormier. DC showed the world that there are indeed levels to this game, and defended easily against Volkan Oezdimir at UFC 220 in January. His next Light Heavyweight title defense is not booked, but his next fight will be against Stipe Miocic for the Heavyweight championship at UFC 226 in July. Men's Middleweight Champion - Robert Whittaker (19-4) Whittaker rode a seven-fight winning streak, including shutting down the deadly takedowns of Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza to slot himself into an Interim Middleweight championship match against Yoel "Soldier of God" Romero. The canny Australian showed incredible heart in taking it to the Cuban Olympic silver medalist over five rounds, and even with a severe knee injury coming in the first he managed to outpoint his opponent to take the unanimous decision. With Georges St-Pierre vacating the Middleweight championship in early December 2017, Whittaker has now been promoted to Undisputed Middleweight Champion. With his health issues now cleared up, his next title defense is scheduled to be against Yoel Romero at UFC 225, after the Cuban Muscle Crisis definitively sparked out Luke Rockhold in Perth in February. Men's Welterweight Champion - Tyron Woodley (17-3-1) Woodley was promised a title shot against the Welterweight champion 17 months before the fight took place. After Robbie Lawler put in Fight Of The Year performances against Rory MacDonald in July 2015 and Carlos Condit in January 2016, Woodley went into their fight in July of 2016 as a significant underdog. This meant nothing, with Lawler going down to strikes in the first round. Woodley defended his belt against Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson, putting on an incredible fight that ended in a majority draw at UFC 205 in New York in November 2016. A rematch for this fight was held in March month at UFC 209, with Woodley again the winner in a stilted affair. He defended the title again at UFC 214 in late July 2017 against Demian Maia, following a conservative but sharp gameplan that saw him stop all 22 of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace's takedown attempts. Rafael dos Anjos has been booked to fight Colby Covington for the Interim Welterweight championship at UFC 225 in August in Chicago, with Woodley still on the shelf after undergoing shoulder surgery. Men's Lightweight Champion - Khabib Nurmagomedov (26-0) Finally, it's Khabib Time. After going 16-0 in regional promotions in Russia and The Ukraine, Khabib signed a deal with the UFC in late 2011. He then went on a near-unprecedented tear in the promotion, racking up a 9-fight UFC winning streak, including setting the record for the most takedowns in a single UFC fight with 21 against Abel Trujillo. While he seemed to have some issues with his weight, coming in heavy a few times and pulling out of a bout, and had recurring issues with his knees, causing the cancellation of more than one fight, it seemed like only time would be the barrier betewen him and a Lightweight title shot. Finally in 2018, the fight was booke for UFC 223 against Tony Ferguson. The week of the fight it seemed that literally nothing could go right, and after Ferguson seriously injured his left knee at a press event, and the late replacement Max Holloway was pulled out with 36 hours to go via a NYSAC ruling that he "didn't look good" , finally it was settled that Al Iaquinta would be Nurmagomedov's Men's Featherweight Champion - Max Holloway (19-3) Holloway put together a 9-fight win streak, with several Performance of the Night bonuses, before answering the call to contend for the Interim Featherweight Championship at UFC 206 in December 2016. Taking out Anthony Pettis with a body kick and punches late in the third round, he set himself up for a unification bout against Jose Aldo at UFC 212. At that event in early June 2017, he defeated Aldo in the third round with focused ground and pound, and unified the belts. Frankie Edgar was announced as Holloway's first defense, but with Edgar out with a broken face, the rematch with Jose Aldo Jr took place at UFC 218 in early December 2017. It was a carbon copy of the first match, with Aldo unable to weather the combinations of The Blessed One, this time being stopped in the third round. Holloway was again scheduled to defend against Frankie Edgar in March 2018, however a leg injury to the champion has forced that fight to the co-main with Brian Ortega stepping in, for what many consider to be a Number 1 Contender match. Ortega won that match handily, and is schedule to have his chance at the gold at UFC 226 in July. Men's Bantamweight Champion - TJ Dillashaw (18-3) When he was announced as the coach on The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption against then-champion Cody Garbrandt, the outcome was planned to be a fight between the two for Garbrandt's Bantamweight championship. While the fight between the two was originally announced for July 8 2017 at UFC 213, Garbrandt dropped out with a back injury during May, and it was re-booked for UFC 217 in November. Dillashaw started a slight underdog, but got the job done in the second round with a solid right hook and follow up ground and pound. With his second title reign starting, Dillashaw's next title defense is currently scheduled to be at UFC 227 in August, a rematch against Garbrandt. Men's Flyweight Champion - Demetrious Johnson (27-2-1) After winning the Flyweight Championship in September 2012 in a split decision against Joseph Benevidez, Johnson has amassed a 10-fight streak against the best that the division has had to offer. He has been so dominant that the UFC held an entire Ultimate Figher tournament to find his next challenger. The culmination of this was that Tim Elliott came back out of the MMA wilderness to lose a competitive match against Johnson in early December 2016. Johnson easily defended his title against Wilson Reis in April 2017, tying the all-time title defense record held by Anderson Silva. His next was scheduled to take place at UFC 215, with Ray Borg the chosen recipient of a life-altering mauling, but Borg pulled out with an unspecified illness. This match was re-scheduled for UFC 216 on the 7th of October, which saw Johnson soundly beat Borg for four and a half rounds. The champion then casually threw his opponent over his shoulder and grabbed his arm on the way down for a GOAT-level submission win. No title defense is scheduled at this stage, with the superfight against TJ Dillashaw being confirmed as not going ahead. Women's Featherweight Champion - Cristiana Justino (20–1 (1)) With the vacating of this championship by Germaine de Randamie in May 2017, a match was set up for UFC 214 between Justino and Megan Anderson. Anderson pulled out of the fight in late June, and was replaced by current Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion Tonya Evinger. The significantly larger fighter on the day, Justino dominated a one-sided affair and won the fight in the third round with brutal knee strikes. Justino defended her championship against Holly Holm at UFC 219 in December 2017, again being the much larger fighter and keeping Holm at bay to take a comprehensive decision victory. Justino made her next defense against promotional newcomer Yana Kunitskaya in March 2018, flattening another promotional newcomer and Featherweight debutant in a very one-sided matchup. Women's Bantamweight Champion - Amanda Nunes (14-4) Nunes headlined UFC 200 in July of 2016, putting a vicious beating on Miesha Tate and securing a rear-nake choke victory in a little over three minutes. She backed this up with a brutal 48-second TKO victory against former Women's Bantamweight Champion and WMMA pioneer Rounda Rousey in late December 2016. Nunes was slated to take on Valentina Shevchenko in a rematch of their March 2016 fight, with that match being moved to UFC 215 in September 2017. Nunes retained by a razor-thin split decision. her next fight is tentatively booked against Raquel Pennington for UFC 224, which will be held this month in Rio de Janeiro. Women's Flyweight Champion - Nicco Montaño (4-2) After amassing a 5-0 record as an amateur, Nicco turned pro in late 2015. Going 3-2 before signing up to The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion, Nicco used her tenacity and solid striking game to garner three decision wins in a row on the reality show. Originally slated to face Sijara Eubanks at the TUF Finale, she ended up taking out a hard-fought decision victory over Goon favourite Roxanne Modaferri to become the first UFC Women's Flyweight champion. No defense is announced at this stage, but Valentina Shevchenko has been announced as the number 1 contender. Montaño was recently in a social media feud with Ariel Helwani over the latter's claims that she's ducking or scared of Shevchenko, with Montaño responding with the fact she had recently had tonsil and adenoid surgery and hasn't been able to train. Women's Strawweight Champion - Rose Namajunas (11-3) After cleaning out the Women's Strawweight division, Joanna Jędrzejczyk seemed to have no more mountains to conquer. After beating Michelle Waterson by rear-naked choke in April 2017, Namajunas was announced as the next contender for want of any other new challengers. In a massive upset, Namajunas beat Jędrzejczyk by TKO in the first round of their championship fight at UFC 217. A rematch for this fight took place at UFC 223 in April 2018, and while it took longer to decide the result was the same, with Namajunas taking a solid unanimous decision over the former champion. No title defense is scheduled at this stage. Other poo poo Thanks very much to LobsterMobster for putting together the awards thread for this year - go and vote! 2017 Rowdy Ringsports MMA Awards. Go to the MMA's Best and Worst of the Year, 2017 thread administered by Fentry to refresh your memory on what has been considered by your fellow PSP-MMA posters as the best (and worst) of the MMA world last year. This year's thread (MMA's Best and Worst, 2018 Edition) could always use more love Thanks also go to LobsterMobster for putting together both iterations of the UFC Fightpass Thread UFC Fight Pass Playlists and Collections The NEW UFC Fight Pass Collection Thread Shout out to DumbWhiteGuy for providing details for the MMA IRC channel. irc.synirc.net #mma Join your fellow MMA fans in discussing all things MMA in a place probably secure against nuclear armageddon - IRC has been around for so long I'm not convinced anything could kill it. More thanks go out to Unfunny Poster for putting together a new UFC Fight Pass Thread - Earning Your 3rd Degree Blackbelt In MMA Posting. This thread is being updated approximately every week with information on new and upcoming additions to the streaming service, and is good for general banter about old fights. April's UFC Fight Pass Match of the Month is the match between Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes from UFC 200. This short match was Tate's first title defense after finally snatching the gold against Holly Holm, and saw her legacy run into the roadblock that is The Lioness. As usual, let me know where I hosed something up, and you too could win the No-Prize!
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# ? May 4, 2018 14:33 |
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# ? Mar 28, 2024 20:21 |
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good op, just one small mistake - you seem to think that womens featherweight exists and famous video game guy nico beliç is champ of the division
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# ? May 4, 2018 14:47 |
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Why do we have beef Memento?
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# ? May 4, 2018 15:12 |
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https://gfycat.com/ClutteredBewitchedFirebelliedtoad
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# ? May 4, 2018 15:14 |
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Anyone have that Jacare gif of him terminator walking towards his downed opponent?
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# ? May 4, 2018 15:27 |
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Nierbo posted:Anyone have that Jacare gif of him terminator walking towards his downed opponent? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1P07jfSqek
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# ? May 4, 2018 15:31 |
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Hmmm, seems different than I remember. Thanks though.
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# ? May 4, 2018 15:35 |
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What is it about the Korean MMA landscape that produces fighters with poor defense? It's weird that TKZ is the guy who comes to mind for having any defensive sense.
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# ? May 4, 2018 16:14 |
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Despite it all, I'm still a Cub fan. e: it all being that he loses sometimes but also rules
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# ? May 4, 2018 16:20 |
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Korean superboy owns
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# ? May 4, 2018 16:27 |
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Olienik vs. Albini has high potential to be funniest fight of the year
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# ? May 4, 2018 16:29 |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KZA1xM1BXw
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# ? May 4, 2018 16:32 |
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I'm going to take one moment to seriouspost about Nico Montano - I train with a few aboriginal women and they loving love her: the w125 champ has like 3 dedicated fans in rural Canada. So with that footnote, please continue to make fun of the mysterious ghost division.
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# ? May 4, 2018 17:24 |
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My beautiful baby boy
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# ? May 4, 2018 18:10 |
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handsome only face posted:Olienik vs. Albini has high potential to be funniest fight of the year Like taking strangle from a baby
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# ? May 4, 2018 18:29 |
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handsome only face posted:Olienik vs. Albini has high potential to be funniest fight of the year It's scarf (hold) vs diaper: which garment reigns supreme?
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# ? May 4, 2018 18:35 |
Other than being the first Islamic fighter, is Khabib also the first undefeated champion?
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# ? May 4, 2018 20:48 |
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zerozerozero posted:Other than being the first Islamic fighter, is Khabib also the first undefeated champion? Ronda was undefeated.
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# ? May 4, 2018 20:55 |
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Machida was undefeated.
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# ? May 4, 2018 20:59 |
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The Maine-iac before them as well
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# ? May 4, 2018 21:01 |
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cain wideman cody rashad holly joanna
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# ? May 4, 2018 21:08 |
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CommonShore posted:So with that footnote, please continue to make fun of the mysterious ghost division. i wonder how erwin rommel would do in mma
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# ? May 4, 2018 21:09 |
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Josuke Higashikata posted:i wonder how erwin rommel would do in mma Historians are divided on how involved he was with training
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# ? May 4, 2018 21:50 |
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Hell yea didn't know diaper babby was fighting soon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIHzubi2kgg&t=45s Radical 90s Wizard fucked around with this message at 22:55 on May 4, 2018 |
# ? May 4, 2018 22:50 |
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Is "Magomed" Dagestani for mohammed? They can't seem to get enough of that knock-off lego name
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# ? May 4, 2018 23:24 |
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TheRationalRedditor posted:Is "Magomed" Dagestani for mohammed? They can't seem to get enough of that knock-off lego name its just a literal translation of it into russian
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:00 |
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Then they stop caring at all about subtlety and you end up with Islam Makhachev and Muslim Salikhov.
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:10 |
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El Roncho posted:Then they stop caring at all about subtlety and you end up with Islam Makhachev and Muslim Salikhov. yeah could you imagine anyone named christian or judah being a fighter
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:16 |
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STONE COLD 64 posted:yeah could you imagine anyone named christian or judah being a fighter Fair point and I find that equally silly. For the record.
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:21 |
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Junior Two Saints
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:22 |
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Imagine a fighter named Joshua, frankly that's too far
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:24 |
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Intel&Sebastian posted:Junior Two Saints It’s jr from saints. Dos isn’t two in portuguese.
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:25 |
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Unless your moms called you something like Applebees or Weasel out of a total lack of respect for you or youre from a tiny tribe or something then you can probably trace your name back to the bible or the jewish bible or some other style of bible
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:27 |
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I like that you can't laugh at silly names without getting hot taken upon.
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:27 |
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El Roncho posted:I like that you can't laugh at silly names without getting hot taken upon. This is real dumb.
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:46 |
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I.N.R.I posted:Unless your moms called you something like Applebees or Weasel out of a total lack of respect for you or youre from a tiny tribe or something then you can probably trace your name back to the bible or the jewish bible or some other style of bible Both my first and middle name are biblical and my last name means badger.
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:48 |
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YOLOsubmarine posted:This is real dumb. Agreed?
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:49 |
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El Roncho posted:Agreed? I mean your posts.
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# ? May 5, 2018 00:56 |
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Mr. Nice! posted:Both my first and middle name are biblical and my last name means badger. be proud .. badgers are noble
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# ? May 5, 2018 01:04 |
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# ? Mar 28, 2024 20:21 |
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I.N.R.I posted:Unless your moms called you something like Applebees or Weasel out of a total lack of respect for you or youre from a tiny tribe or something then you can probably trace your name back to the bible or the jewish bible or some other style of bible Yes those tiny tribes of India and China.
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# ? May 5, 2018 01:15 |