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Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Last month's thread is here.


July Recap

To start the month off we saw the UFC head off to Abu Dhabi for Fight Island to host UFC 251: Usman vs Masvidal. This was originally set to be a fight between teammates Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns but Burns tested positive for COVID-19 and had to pull out, so on 2 weeks notice Jorge Masvidal stepped in but we’ll get to that fight later. First on the card Amanda Ribas scored a quick and early armbar submission on Paige VanZant sending her packing out of the UFC to test Free Agency. Next up former UFC Strawweight Champions Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade held a rematch which saw Andrade score a slam KO on Thug Rose to win the Strawweight Championship. This was Namajunas’ first fight since that loss, and Andrade’s first fight since losing the title to current champion Zhang Weili. Namajunas showed the super striking and gameplan and picked up a Split Decision victory over Andrade. Should Namajunas earn back her title, a third rubber match would be warranted. Then we moved on to the first of three title fights for the evening for the vacant UFC Bantamweight Championship. This pitted former UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo against rising star Petr Yan. Overall Yan had some difficulty early but as the fight wore on Aldo began to be picked apart by the Russian fighter succumbing to punches a little over halfway into the final frame. Yan is our new UFC Bantamweight Champion. The co-main event was a rematch between former UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway and current champion Alexander Volkanovski. The two had a great showing in their first fight and this one again showed why these two are such top tier fighters. Holloway was able to drop Volkanovski a handful of times early on, but Volkanovskis pressure and takedowns ultimately gave him the Split Decision victory. I would argue Holloway won overall, but it was so close that a Volkanovski victory isn’t absurd. Finally in our main event we saw the BMF Champion Jorge Masvidal take on the UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman in a classic striker versus grappler matchup. Despite a lot of the intrigue in this matchup and associated hype behind Masvidal, Usman’s clinch and wrestling work was too much and Masvidal had no answer for it and was pressured for 5 full rounds losing in his first UFC title opportunity. Usman took home the Unanimous Decision victory as well as his Welterweight Championship.

Shortly after this event we had our first UFC Fight Night on Fight Island with UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs Ige. THis card wasn’t really talked about much so we can sort of skim over it. In the co-main event Flyweight Tim Elliott defeated Ryan Benoit via a Unanimous Decision, and Featherweights Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige put on a fun scrap that lasted for five full rounds which saw Kattar take the judge’s Unanimous Decision. We also saw the emergence of a new potential star on the undercard in the form of Khamzat Chimaev who fought at Middleweight and scored a D’Arce Choke early into the 2nd round taking little to no damage at all.

We then traveled a few days down the week for UFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs Figueiredo 2. This card had a bit more oomph to it. Flyweight fighter Ariane Lipski scored a beautiful kneebar on Luana Carolina that saw the latter scream out in pain and all of us recoil in horror at bending in the opposite direction of Carolina’s leg.



Rafael Fiziev and Marc Diakiese threw down in a Fight of the Year contender in a Lightweight showdown. Both fighters won out regardless of the outcome, which saw Fiziev win a Unanimous Decision nod from the judges. Seriously, go check it out. In the co-main event, Middleweight contenders Jack Hermansson and Kelvin Gastelum faced off in a fight we wouldn’t have expected to end so suddenly and quickly. Hermansson was able to take advantage of the quickness that the fight got to the ground and set up a beautiful leg entanglement to secure a nasty heel hook.Someone better situated to explain the entanglement can illustrate this set up for the rest of us. Finally in the main event we saw a rematch between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant UFC Flyweight Championship. The first matchup saw Joe B get KO’d by Deiveson who had missed weight and was ineligible for the Championship belt back then, and also an accidental headbutt was used by Joe B to claim he was actually winning the fight until he got clocked. This time around both fighters made weight and again a similar result occurred where Joe B was unconscious as Deiveson celebrated except this time it was thanks to an RNC and not a KO. With that Deiveson Figueiredo is our new UFC Flyweight Champion.

Finally for July the UFC hosted another ESPN card with UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs Till. This was also a pretty solid card all around. The previously mentioned KHamzat Chimaev returned after a 10 day layoff to fight at Welterweight this time versus Rhys McKee who he beat in quick and easy fashion via TKO. Chimaev now holds the fastest turnaround fight time and fastest victory to victory record in UFC history. He’s certainly a guy to keep an eye on. Also on the card Alex Oliveira took on Peter Sobotta in a Welterweight fight that saw the Brazilian Cowboy pick up a clear and decisive victory. Next we had a Light Heavyweight battle between Gadzhimurad Antigulov and Paul Craig which saw the latter pick up a quick and early triangle submission victory. Then in the Women’s Strawweight division Carla Esparza picked up a split decision victory by out wrestling Marina Rodriguez. In Heavyweight action former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion challenger Alexander Gustafsson moved up a division and faced off with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum. Many suspected this could see a new breath of life in Gustafsson’s career after his brief retirement. However Werdum was having none of that and opted to end Gustafsson’s potential Heavyweight career early with an armbar victory. In the co-main event Light Heavyweights Antonio Rogerio Noguiera and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Maurico Rua faced off for a third fight which saw Rua pick up a 3rd victory over Lil Nog. This also was Lil Nog’s final fight in the UFC and in his career as he announced his retirement moments afterwards. This wasn’t really a fight we needed but it happened. In the main event former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker returned to action after a spell away from fighting following his loss to current champion Israel Adesanya to take on former UFC Welterweight title challenger Darren Till. This was a big test for Whittaker but he easily controlled the action aside from a short elbow in the first round that dropped him on his butt. Whittaker used his range and better sense of timing to force till off the attack. There was a moment between rounds that Till complained to his corner that his lead leg, which was being pushed by Whittaker’s kicks, was damaged to the point that later he said he may need to get surgery on it. This wasn’t a barn burner, but a fight worth watching to comprehend what makes Whittaker such a dangerous fighter to face.

UFC events in August

August will see a bunch of fight cards mostly confined to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV. Since this thread is a tad late in the month I’ll mention the first card. First up was UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs Shahbazyan. This event actually took place prior to this thread being made so forgive the past tense discussing it. On the card we saw Bobby Green take on Lando Vannata in a rematch which saw Green edge out a clear Decision victory in a predominantly standup affair. Vicente Luque and Randy Brown faced off and for 9 minutes the fight was back and forth until the final moments of the 2nd round Luque KO’d Brown via a vicious knee and follow up punches. In the co-main event Jennifer Maia scored a super slick armbar over Joanne Calderwood in the first round of their fight, derailing Calderwood’s potential Flyweight Championship meeting with Valentina Shevchenko which I think we can all agree is actually a blessing for JoJo.

Next up on August 8, the UFC will host UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Oleinik. This card is potentially a great card overall. We will see Beneil Dariush taking on Scott Holtzman in a Lightweight fight, Bantamweight’s Yana Kunitskaya and Julija Soliarenko facing off, Middleweights Darren Stewart and Maki Pitolo are on the card, with the return to Middleweight by former UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman taking on Omari Akhmedov in the co-main event and in the main event we have a Heavyweight showdown between Derrick Lewis and Aleksei Oleinik. For a Fight Night, this is quite good.

Then we have our sole PPV for the month on August 15th, and first (?) at the UFC Apex in the form of UFC 252: Miocic vs Cormier 3. The total fights for this card haven’t been fully formalized but there are at least a few worth pointing out and boy are they great fights. First in Heavyweight action we have former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos taking on Jairzinho Rozenstruik, as well as a superb Bantamweight fight between Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera. Finally in the main event we have the UFC Heavyweight Championship on the line between former champion Daniel Cormier and current champion Stipe Miocic in their rubber match showdown.

A week later on August 22nd we will see UFC Fight Night 175. There is no confirmed Main Event just yet but a bout between Middleweights Yoel Romero and Uriah Hall is a potential main event in the works. Pedro Munhoz is supposed to take on Frankie Edgar in a Bantamweight fight, Angela Hill and Michelle Waterson will face off in a Strawweight bout, Ovince Saint Preux is returning to Light Heavyweight to fight against Shamil Gamzatov as well. Overall, not a great card but some potentially fun fights.



Finally on August 29 the UFC will host another Fight Night without a confirmed main event at the time of writing with UFC Fight Night 176 however we are supposed to get Light Heavyweights Anthony Smith and Aleksandar Rakic facing off, Flyweights Alexa Grasso and Ji Yeon Kim throwing down, Featherweight Yair Rodriguez taking on Zbit Magomedshairpov, and Ricardo Lamas facing Ryan Hall all on the card.

Finally on

What To Keep Busy With

We have been watching old or random MMA events on the MMA Goons Discord and have floated the idea of watching some of the awful/silly 1960s martial arts movies they added to UFC Fight Pass (or potentially other stuff like Bloodsport, etc.). The link to join is here - https://discord.gg/SkR8ZeC

You can also watch an old event from the UFC Fight Pass library (or any non-Fight Pass library event) and do your own write up over in the Let's Watch: Random Old MMA Events! Thread - https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3918401


Your Current Champions


Drawing by Macksy
Baddest Motherfucker Champion - Jorge Masvidal (35-14)
From the backyard street fights featuring fellow MMA icon Kimbo Slice, Jorge Masvidal has made a living off being as real as real can be. An MMA veteran of 16 years it’s hard to describe Masvidal’s career other than “consistently growing and adapting. Being brought over to the UFC following the Strikeforce purchase, Masvidal was somewhat viewed as a gatekeeper of sorts for the Lightweight and later Welterweight divisions. Losing only to surging title challengers via split decisions, Masvidal changed his approach to fighting ultimately looking to “baptize” his opponents with violent KOs. This change in strategy worked and Masvidal accrued two beautiful KO victories. Following Nate Diaz’s return to the UFC, Diaz called out Masvidal respectfully to fight to see who is the true Badded Motherfucker in the UFC. This gimmick somehow gained traction and an actual belt was made for the winner, which would be determined at UFC 244. The fight was competitive and exciting, with Masvidal taking an early advantage but Diaz working his way back into the fight. However a Doctor’s stoppage resulted in Masvidal being declared the winner via TKO in an anticlimactic fashion, prompting everyone to wish for a rematch to see the full fight play out in its entirety. Masvidal is a great fighter for you to watch the growth of on UFC Fight Pass if you haven’t seen it already. Though he lost his Welterweight Championship fight versus Kamaru Usman his BMF title has not officially changed hands but we’ll retire it from the OP after this month.


Drawing by FishBowlRobot
Men's Heavyweight Champion - Stipe Miocic(19-3)
Having worked his way up to the Heavyweight Championship, Stipe Miocic went on to be the winningest champion in the division amassing a startling title defense record of 3 title defenses. However Stipe’s legacy was stopped short after being knocked out by Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier (who went on to be a Champ-Champ) in the first round of their fight at UFC 226. Miocic disputed the loss, even though he was cleanly knocked out, and lobbied for a rematch. This took a full year to materialize and the whole time while Cormier was riding high as a defending champion in two divisions, Miocic stayed in Cleveland working his argument via Twitter. Eventually the rematch came to be thanks in part to Brock Lesnar using his appeal to the UFC to get a better paycheck off the WWE, making a DC/Lesnar fight disappear. Miocic was put in as a new opponent for Cormier for UFC 241 in 2019, a little over a year after their first meeting. This time however, Miocic went on to get revenge on Cormier and knocked him out following a setup via body punches earning his Heavyweight Title for the second time. Given the state of the UFC Heavyweight division, Miocic’s next opponent may be Daniel Cormier for a third time and a chance for DC to finally retire from MMA. Rumors are Stipe doesn't want to fight until COVID is taken care of as he's an active duty firefighter and Dana implied Stipe may be stripped due to inactivity. DC/Stipe 3 is still planned but if not, DC/Ngannou seems the likely replacement.


Drawing by Macksy
Men's Light Heavyweight Champion - Jon Jones (25-1-(1))
Daniel Cormier won the belt initially in May of 2015. After a series of defenses, Cormier lost the title in a rematch against Jon Jones, who himself was stripped afterwards due to testing positive for a PED. Jones eventually settled with USADA after a 15 month investigation. Cormier was reinstated as the champion, before himself being stripped due to being a dual-weight champion and competing more recently at Heavyweight. To determine the new champion, the UFC decided to pit Jon Jones against Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch of their barn burner from 2013. Jones subsequently was able to best Gustafsson and win via third round TKO victory, becoming Light Heavyweight Champion again. Jones recently defeated Thiago Santos but another legal issue has come up for the champion involving assault at a strip club in Albuquerque so maybe Jones will be stripped of the title...again. Jones will possibly face Reyes but some people think a rematch with Santos is warranted. In March, Jones got arrested for a DWI and improper use of a firearm (read: he was drunk driving and shooting his gun off) despite the quarantine situation in the US. As usual Jones got a slap on the wrist and then shortly after mocked former opponent Anthony Smith over Smith’s home being invaded by some random dude. Jones is still somehow beloved by some idiots. Jones is currently having Twitter slapfights/rants over the UFC not letting him go to HW and fight, while also donning he GI Joe uniform and taking his guns to protect businesses during the BLM protests/riots in ABQ.


Drawing by Lucasar
Men’s Middleweight Champion - Israel Adesanya (19-0)
Israel Adesanya entered the UFC for his first bout on February 11, 2018. In less than a year (by 1 day) he was headlining a UFC PPV, thanks in part to the main event falling out, against Anderson Silva. To say he was a rising star is an understatement and fate seems to be willing to back him on that notion. Following Robert Whittaker getting another injury that put him on the shelf, Whittakers initial opponent Kelvin Gastelum was paired up with Adesanya to determine who would be the Interim Middleweight Champion while Whittaker recovers. At UFC 236 Adesanya was pushed to his limits by Gastelum, but the man known as “The Last Stylebender” showed that he wasn’t all hype and nearly finished Gastelum in the final moments of the fight, which certainly helped him clinch his Unanimous Decision victory and become the UFC Interim Middleweight Champion. His followup performance was that of near perfection as he faced reigning champion Robert Whittaker, who Adesanya KO’d with a solid counter hook in just two rounds. To follow that up, Adesanya wanted to face Paulo Costa but the latter was out with injury so Yoel Romero was sent in. The two more or less half fought for 5 rounds but saw Adesanya win the Unanimous Decision. Izzy/Costa seems like the most logical booking for the champ next.


Drawing by Cavauro
Men's Welterweight Champion - Kamaru Usman (17-1)
Debuting in the UFC back in 2015, Usman took a slow and methodical approach towards working his way up the UFC’s Welterweight division en route to a title shot. Running through opponents Damian Maia and Raphael Dos Anjos most recently with dominant performances, Usman earned the opportunity to face Tyron Woodley in Woodley’s fifth title defense. Many presumed that Woodley’s size and power would be too much for The Nigerian Nightmare, but boy were those people wrong. Throughout the entire contest, Usman controlled Woodley easily on his way to a Unanimous Decision victory with Usman winning all five rounds on all three judges' scorecards. Woodley essentially never got any offense going throughout a 25 minute fight thanks to Usman’s style of smothering pressure. The next challenger for Usman was Colby Covington, who put up a challenge but ultimately was TKO’d in the 5th round of their fight. As said above, Burns is the next challenger on July 12th.


Drawing by Jerusalem
Men's Lightweight Champion - Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0)
Finally, it's Khabib Time. At the UFC 25th anniversary press conference, it was announced that Conor McGregor would be Nurmagomedov’s first opponent as champion. The bout went down at UFC 229 and, surprising some, Khabib dropped McGregor early in the fight but unsurprisingly relied on his wrestling to keep the Irishman down before submitting him with a crank. Post-fight however, chaos erupted as both teams got into various brawls. Khabib has said he would sit out his suspension, which he did until September before handily schooling Interim Champion Dustin Poirier. We really want Tony vs Khabib to actually happen this time as it’s scheduled to take place in April but because of Coronavirus Khabib is in lockdown in Russia. He will next face Justin Gaethje this month.


Image by Macksy
Men's Interim Lightweight Champion - Justin Gaethje (22-2)
Justin Gaethje came into the UFC off the winning streak he accumulated at WSOF. He put on a FOTY performance with Michael Johnson in his first fight and then would go on to become a household name thanks to his never boring fights. When he was paired up with Tony Ferguson to fight for the Interim Lightweight Championship we all knew there was a chance The Highlight would beat El Cucuy but we all hoped both guys would be better off regardless of the outcome. In just 7 fights with the UFC, Gaethje captured Championship Gold (yes its Interim but loving come on). He's won so many performance bonuses in just those 7 fights its insane. His wrestling is good, and his striking (when he is composed and patient) is hard to beat at the Lightweight Division. If Ferguson wasn't your pick to beat Khabib, Justin probably would be the next likely guy. He's likely to fight Khabib by the end of the year should things not blow up between now and then.



Drawing by kimbo305
Men's Featherweight Champion - Alexander Volkanovski (22-1)
Quietly working his way up the ranks over the past year or so, Volkanovski finally assumed the throne of Featherweights in the UFC at the tail end of 2019. Besting Max Holloway in a 5 round banger by solid gameplanning and scouting of his opponent, Volkanovski was as humble in his victory as Holloway was in his defeat and promised to be a respectful champion. Alex and Holloway are gonna run it back 1 more time and see if the initial fight was a fluke or not. I don’t think it was personally.


Men’s Bantamweight Champion - Petr Yan (16-1)
A new addition to the UFC in mid-2018, Yan quickly made a name for himself with impressive finishes and victories over an ever growing number of ranked opponents. This all came to a climax for the Russian fighter when he faced off against former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber and won rather lopsidedly with a KO victory in the third round. Yan was then possibly the next to take on Henry Cejudo but Cejudo’s retirement thrust Yan into immediate discussions about who will get a shot at claiming the belt. Rather than face other ranked opponents like Aljamain Sterling, Yan was scheduled to fight against Jose Aldo for the vacant belt and took the fight towards the end of the scheduled time via TKO. A fight versus the aforementioned Sterling, given Sterling also won recently in declarative fashion, would be a good first test for the new champion.


Men's Flyweight Champion - Deiveson Figueiredo (19-1)
Joining the UFC with a 12-0 record, Deiveson would go on to make quick work of his early opponents before suffering a decision loss to Jussier Formiga. Bouncing back, Deiveson then went on to win two fights, one being a victory over former Flyweight title Challenger Tim Elliott. This earned the Brazilian a chance to fight for the vacant Flyweight Championship but missing weight by 2 ½ pounds meant that despite his eventual KO win over Joseph Benavidez, Figueiredo did not claim the title gold just yet. It would take another 5 months for Figueiredo to get a chance to fight for the gold in another fight with Joseph Benavidez, this time making the championship weight and winning again in clear fashion becoming the 3rd ever man to hold the Flyweight Championship.


Drawing by NAG
Women's Featherweight Champion - Amanda Nunes(20-4)
Amanda Nunes claimed the Featherweight Championship with relative ease given the opponent she was facing was the long time problem known as Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino. After a quick KO in the first round we’re now left wondering “What is the Featherweight Division really for now that Cyborg is dethroned?” With Cyborg no longer in the UFC, and Nunes seemingly more interested in fighting at Bantamweight we’ll probably see the 145lbs division for women shut down. Just kidding the UFC put together a Featherweight bout for UFC 250 rather quickly so this division is somehow still alive. Nunes again dominated her opponent and we’re all left wondering “so really who is next for the GOAT?”



Drawing by NAG
Women's Bantamweight Champion - Amanda Nunes (20-4)
Nunes headlined UFC 200 in July of 2016, putting a vicious beating on Miesha Tate and securing a rear-naked 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 Ronda 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 was against Raquel Pennington at UFC 224, which was held this month in Rio de Janeiro. Nunes spent four rounds mauling Pennington, then pounded out a clearly already finished Pennington in the fifth, to retain her Championship. Nunes then faced Cyborg for the UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship and much to the surprise of pretty much everyone, beat the long time feared Featherweight with relative ease. With her victory, Nunes became the first two division champion in Women’s UFC History as well as the first Champ-Champ in UFC Women’s History. Nunes next defeated Germaine de Randamie at Bantamweight and is awaiting for a new challenger to arrive.


Drawing by awesomeolion
Women’s Flyweight Champion - Valentina Shevchenko(17-3)
The UFC’s Women’s Flyweight title was vacanted after Nicco Montaño failed to make it to the weigh-ins at UFC 228, citing a need to visit the hospital. This, in turn, left her bout with Valentina Shevchenko nullified. Having not fought in roughly 9 months, the UFC decided Montaño was no longer the champion of the division that they just made 10 months ago and instead opted to vacate the title. As a result of this, Shevchenko faced Former Strawweight Champion Joanna (Jędrzejczyk) at UFC 231 winning a clear decision victory. The next opponent for “Bullet” was Jessica Eye at UFC 238, who Shevchenko basically murdered and it was not a fun KO. Seriously, it was pretty heartbreaking if you have an ounce of sympathy in your body. Following this up, “Bullet” faced and avenged a loss to Liz Carmouche in a showdown in South America that nobody really remembers. Shevchenko then faced and defeated Katlyn Chookagian at UFC 247. Flyweight is a bit of a wasteland and thus a new challenger has yet to amerge, and an injury has put Shevchenko on the sidelines for the time being until one can step up and stake a claim.


Drawing by NAG
Women's Strawweight Champion - Zhang Weili (21-1)
With the fall of Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Strawweight seemed to be lost with anyone who could serve as a dominant champion. Rose Namajunas had the best run with two bouts as a champion but fell to Jessica Andrade via a powerful slam. So understandably the idea Andrade is the new ruler of the division and would be for a while was held. However Andrade’s reign came rather abruptly short when she took on Zhang Weili in her first defense. The Chinese fighter has been on a tear since arriving in the UFC. Defeating the likes of Tecia Torres and Jessica Aguilar, the UFC promoted her to be the first challenger as they began their push further into China’s entertainment market. The gamble paid off as Zhang won in less than a minute. However, Zhang is not just a fluke fighter. She’s been undefeated in 20 fights in a row, with her lone loss being her professional debut back in 2013. Zhang then called out former champion Joanna, with the two facing off in an all out barn burner of a fight at UFC 248. Zhang was tested but persevered and ended up taking home the victory extending her win streak to 21. In happy news, Zhang got back home to China about 3 weeks after the event due to the coronavirus issues to be with her family.




Other Stuff

In the ever crazy landscape that is MMA fight rosters, you can always head over to the B-League MMA: Grand Prixs and Untested Pee thread by CommonShore if your favorite fighter is unceremoniously fired via Twitter by Dana White.

Head over to the 2020 Best & Worst of MMA thread to post your memorable moments of 2020.

We have the Let's Watch: Random Old MMA Events! Thread thread which has been great to read about/relive events through other people’s eyes and worth getting in on yourself if you like writing.

Finally, 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.

As previously mentioned there is also the MMA Goons Discord if you no longer use IRC because you are living in the 21st century - https://discord.gg/SkR8ZeC

As usual if there’s any mistakes please let me know and I’ll fix it as soon as I can.

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BrotherJayne
Nov 28, 2019

What if Till's MCL bust turns him into a plodding brawler?

I think his gorilla faces would be much scarier if pulled while wading forward instead of dancing back.

Anyone got an argument for DC beating Stipe, short of a stopover to Cuba to sugarwater his gut into concrete? I feel like Stipe will belly hunt, and there's not a lot DC can do to counter that given the height differential

Untrustable
Mar 17, 2009





DC is a much better wrestler than Stipe. He could just, ya know, wrassle.

Note the height discrepancy between DC and Gusstafson, and how easily DC did a wrestle on him.

Screama
Nov 25, 2007
Yes, I am very cereal.
I just rewatched Cormier/Stipe I this weekend and yeah I think Stipe takes the 3rd fight. DC did hit him with some very solid shots in both their fights, but like BrotherJayne said, I think the path to victory is just so clear for Stipe. Maybe a very high-level game plan and better training camp could be the difference for DC, depending on how they've both used the lockdown time. I do like Cormier a lot and would love to see him take this W and retire on top but this sport rarely works out that way :smith:

Brut
Aug 21, 2007

Screama posted:

I just rewatched Cormier/Stipe I this weekend and yeah I think Stipe takes the 3rd fight. DC did hit him with some very solid shots in both their fights, but like BrotherJayne said, I think the path to victory is just so clear for Stipe. Maybe a very high-level game plan and better training camp could be the difference for DC, depending on how they've both used the lockdown time. I do like Cormier a lot and would love to see him take this W and retire on top but this sport rarely works out that way :smith:

Stipe was unable to train for a long time while DC literally built a gym and a cage in his house and flew in a bunch of different people to train with, he's also not coaching high school wrestling or doing a bunch of other poo poo. But I don't really know if any of that will save him from collapsing if he gets hit in the stomach 5 times.

Memento
Aug 25, 2009


Bleak Gremlin
Can we really compare the wrestling of Stipe Miocic (NCAA D1 wrestler) with Alexander Gustaffson (lol dunno)

Snowman_McK
Jan 31, 2010
The second fight was really goddamn close until those body shots. My theory is that Stipe absolutely did drill them and planned them, but purposefully didn't throw them early. He waited till DC was a little tired before he started throwing them, reasoning that it would be much harder for DC to adapt later in the fight.

Tezcatlipoca
Sep 18, 2009

Snowman_McK posted:

The second fight was really goddamn close until those body shots. My theory is that Stipe absolutely did drill them and planned them, but purposefully didn't throw them early. He waited till DC was a little tired before he started throwing them, reasoning that it would be much harder for DC to adapt later in the fight.

DC doesn't adapt to anything at any point in fights so that would be a stupid rear end plan. Also DC can't wrestle Stipe to win because that'll make him exhausted by the 2nd round. If he wins it'll look like the first fight.

Southpaugh
May 26, 2007

Smokey Bacon


I agree DC's path to victory are elite level eyegouges

I.N.R.I
May 26, 2011
i thought paul craig aka the bear jew got cut but i guess his record is looking good now. but like . im sure i read it.

The Automator
Jan 16, 2009

Tezcatlipoca posted:

DC doesn't adapt to anything at any point in fights so that would be a stupid rear end plan. Also DC can't wrestle Stipe to win because that'll make him exhausted by the 2nd round. If he wins it'll look like the first fight.

Probably exactly like it. He kept hitting stipe with the same shot even in the second fight.

I want stipe to win though because he seems like a really cool guy

BrotherJayne
Nov 28, 2019

Southpaugh posted:

I agree DC's path to victory are elite level eyegouges

Gotta couple it with good cage control - you want to make sure your eyestrikes land away from the refs eyeline.

Shadow225
Jan 2, 2007




I want Stipe to win because DC winning makes no sense for the greater HW picture, as much as I like him. He should stay for at least two more fights if he wins this to actually defend the title.

MotU
Mar 6, 2007

It was like she was evicting walking garbage.
Pillbug
if DC wins he should have to fight challenger after challenger after challenger until he cannot move like Zack at the end of Crisis Core

leftist heap
Feb 28, 2013

Fun Shoe

Snowman_McK posted:

The second fight was really goddamn close until those body shots. My theory is that Stipe absolutely did drill them and planned them, but purposefully didn't throw them early. He waited till DC was a little tired before he started throwing them, reasoning that it would be much harder for DC to adapt later in the fight.

Stipe got punched in the head repeatedly for the better part of 3 rounds. If he had planned it he should have deployed sooner.

I think part 3 could go either way. Cormier pretty much had his way for 2.5 rounds last time and I could see it happening again, but maybe Stipe can find a groove earlier this time.

Waroduce
Aug 5, 2008
Stipie lost because he went 5 rounds with Ngannou and despite handling bizness and wrestle loving ngannou like a child he still ate some serious power and was not totally recovered. Stipes chin was much better in the second fight and it showed.

Soothing Vapors
Mar 26, 2006

Associate Justice Lena "Kegels" Dunham: An uncool thought to have: 'is that guy walking in the dark behind me a rapist? Never mind, he's Asian.

I.N.R.I posted:

i thought paul craig aka the bear jew got cut but i guess his record is looking good now. but like . im sure i read it.

He was about to get cut, then won a fight with a cool triangle after getting beat up for like 14 minutes

TheTofuShop
Aug 28, 2009

Ideally, I want an exciting 5 round fight that ends in a split decision for stipe. DC can retire and be full time wrestledad, stipe can hang around to be champ.

beep by grandpa
May 5, 2004

MotU posted:

if DC wins he should have to fight challenger after challenger after challenger until he cannot move like Zack at the end of Crisis Core

Like, face challenger after challenger within the same event?

Brut
Aug 21, 2007

TheTofuShop posted:

Ideally, I want an exciting 5 round fight that ends in a split decision for stipe. DC can retire and be full time wrestledad, stipe can hang around to be champ.

Do you mean you want Stipe to win 3 rounds and DC to win 2 rounds? Or do you literally mean you want the judges to disagree on who won?

beep by grandpa posted:

Like, face challenger after challenger within the same event?

Uhh, sure, yes :getin:

Josuke Higashikata
Mar 7, 2013


What if we're in the remake timeline and DC beats them all up

TheTofuShop
Aug 28, 2009

Brut posted:

Do you mean you want Stipe to win 3 rounds and DC to win 2 rounds? Or do you literally mean you want the judges to disagree on who won?


Uhh, sure, yes :getin:

I guess more like a close competitive fight, but I wouldnt be mad if two judges picked stipe and one had dc.

Though maybe that makes it more likely dc sticks around.

Josuke Higashikata
Mar 7, 2013


Ngannou has better grappling than Rob Whittaker and only half a star worse (out of 5) than Tony Ferguson in UFC 4 🤔🤔🤔

Bluedeanie
Jul 20, 2008

It's no longer a blue world, Max. Where could we go?



Anyone can slip sub attempts from Jacare. Takes a real expert to hang out in Open Flat Guard under Stipe Miocic.

Josuke Higashikata
Mar 7, 2013


Whittaker qualified for the commonwealth games in wrestling.
Granted, the commonwealth countries generally aren't the elite of the world's wrestling but it's still demonstrative of elite grappling.

Bluedeanie
Jul 20, 2008

It's no longer a blue world, Max. Where could we go?



Ngannou inverted the Mobn sprawl to neutralize Miocic's power, lying motionlessly underneath him. Really slick poo poo, not sure what you are getting at.

beep by grandpa
May 5, 2004

Josuke Higashikata posted:

What if we're in the remake timeline and DC beats them all up

Does that mean Jon Jones is Sephiroth

Josuke Higashikata
Mar 7, 2013


and matt hamill is cloud yes

CommonShore
Jun 6, 2014

A true renaissance man


Btw not sure if you guys saw it but in UFC adjacent news Brian Callen has been accused of multiple rapes.

Pb and Jellyfish
Oct 30, 2011
At the fight night this weekend Dominick Cruz was constantly pointing out and praising when refs didn't stop fights. He is still clearly very mad lol

Southpaugh
May 26, 2007

Smokey Bacon


CommonShore posted:

Btw not sure if you guys saw it but in UFC adjacent news Brian Callen has been accused of multiple rapes.

what is it about stand up and rapists.

Was Angie hill on the desk the other night was she good?

Memento
Aug 25, 2009


Bleak Gremlin

Pb and Jellyfish posted:

At the fight night this weekend Dominick Cruz was constantly pointing out and praising when refs didn't stop fights. He is still clearly very mad lol

the pissiest pissbaby

he better not get too worked up, he might break his hands on the desk or blow out his knees standing up too quickly

blue footed boobie
Sep 14, 2012


UEFA SUPREMACY

Southpaugh posted:

what is it about stand up and rapists.

Was Angie hill on the desk the other night was she good?

She was there for some of the post fight stuff. I wasn’t paying close attention, but I wasn’t impressed.

Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Angie was working the analyst desk with Rashad and they made a good combo. I love Rashad's calm voice talking about the fight afterwards and previewing stuff.

Brut
Aug 21, 2007

I basically never watch the post-fight analyst desk stuff, I always got the impression back in the Fox days that it was meant for people who didn't watch the fights or if they did, didn't know what they were looking at because they just happened to catch it on TV. Am I wrong on that?

blue footed boobie
Sep 14, 2012


UEFA SUPREMACY

Brut posted:

I basically never watch the post-fight analyst desk stuff, I always got the impression back in the Fox days that it was meant for people who didn't watch the fights or if they did, didn't know what they were looking at because they just happened to catch it on TV. Am I wrong on that?

I mean, it’s just the same post-event coverage that they have after most sports events. Ex pros and talking heads go over what just happened to fill time and retain what’s left of the viewership after the event, knowing that everyone already went to sleep or moved onto something else.

Memento
Aug 25, 2009


Bleak Gremlin
https://twitter.com/SandhuMMA/status/1290424771814068226

Brut
Aug 21, 2007

https://twitter.com/AngieOverkill/status/1290382818007068672

Edit: LMAO, also

https://twitter.com/AngieOverkill/status/1290525731219357697

Brut fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Aug 4, 2020

Scapegoat
Sep 18, 2004

Mekchu posted:


Quietly working his way up the ranks over the past year or so, Volkanovski finally assumed the throne of Featherweights in the UFC at the tail end of 2019. Besting Max Holloway in a 5 round banger by solid gameplanning and scouting of his opponent, Volkanovski was as humble in his victory as Holloway was in his defeat and promised to be a respectful champion. Alex and Holloway are gonna run it back 1 more time and see if the initial fight was a fluke or not. I don’t think it was personally.

As usual if there’s any mistakes please let me know and I’ll fix it as soon as I can.

This Volk blurb is in need of an update.

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Memento
Aug 25, 2009


Bleak Gremlin
https://twitter.com/TElliott125/status/1290433919133913090



What a bunch of bullshit. Isn't weed 100% legal in Nevada now?

Memento fucked around with this message at 09:15 on Aug 4, 2020

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