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Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Previous thread is here.


July Events & Dates
UFC 264: Poirier vs McGregor 3 - July 10, 2021
UFC on ESPN: Makhachev vs Moises - July 17, 2021
UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs Dillashaw - July 24, 2021
UFC on ESPN: Hall vs Strickland - July 31, 2021


Current Champions
Men's Heavyweight Champion - Francis Ngannou (16-3)
Men's Light Heavyweight Champion - Jan Blachowicz (28-8)
Men’s Middleweight Champion - Israel Adesanya (20-1)
Men's Welterweight Champion - Kamaru Usman (19-1)
Men's Lightweight Champion - Charles Oliveira (31-8-1)
Men's Featherweight Champion - Alexander Volkanovski (22-1)
Men’s Bantamweight Champion - Aljamain Sterling (20-3)
Men's Flyweight Champion - Brandon Moreno (19-5-2)
Women's Featherweight Champion - Amanda Nunes (21-4)
Women's Bantamweight Champion - Amanda Nunes (21-4)
Women’s Flyweight Champion - Valentina Shevchenko (20-3)
Women's Strawweight Champion - Rose Namajunas (11-4)


Other Things to Check Out

MMA is not solely restricted to UFC but it is pretty much guaranteed that the UFC will more often than not put on fun cards. There’s a bunch of B, C, and Z tier MMA organizations which you can chat about over at the B-League MMA: Grand Prixs and Untested Pee thread.

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.

We also are always looking for nominations for the 2021 Best & Worst of MMA awards.

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.

There is also the MMA Goons Discord if you no longer use IRC because you are living in the 21st century.

:siren: Please Note: this is not an official Fight Island discord, and is just some of us hanging around to chat and such. :siren:

Link - https://discord.gg/SkR8ZeC

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Mekchu
Apr 10, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
June Recap

June was quite busy but nothing seriously stood out aside from the UFC PPV that month and the Korean Zombie fight for me personally.

On June 5th we had UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs Sakai which wasn’t too awful but not a whole lot was impressive. Bigi Boi won via TKO in the main event against Augusto Sakai and that was about it in terms of serious note.

Next on June 12th the UFC held UFC 263: Adesanya vs Vettori 2. This was quite a good card overall. Paul Craig somehow was allowed to keep pulling on Jamahal Hill’s arm despite it clearly not looking how an arm should look evr, and would take the win via TKO. Belal Muhammad returned to action and fought Demian Maia in a “Who is the King of Grapplers” fight and it was pretty good. Muhammad ended up taking the W home that night via decision. In the first non co-main event 5 round fight, Leon Edwards defeated Nate Diaz but honestly I think we all assumed that’d happen. Leon won via a decision, but at a later point in the fight it did look like Nate could have stolen the win after rocking Edwards some. Whether Edwards will finally be given a title shot is still a mystery. In the co-main event we had a rematch for the Flyweight Championship between Champ Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno. Just like their first fight, the two put on a fantastic performance. Moreno looked markedly improved and would secure the win via a 3rd round rear naked choke.

https://i.imgur.com/qqFBnVI.mp4

Finally in the main event Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya rematched with Marvin Vettori and while some assumed Vettori could win via a flash KO or even maybe hopefully grapple Adesanya to a decision win for the Italian, Adesanya easily pieced Vettori up and took home the unanimous decision and retained his Middleweight belt.

Then on June 19th there was UFC on ESPN: The Korean ZOmbie vs Ige. This was a pretty good card actually. Matt Brown was beautifully violent with his KO win over Diego Lima which you can see here.

https://i.imgur.com/wFT8vZ8.mp4

Also on the card we had a few more KO/TKOs. Bruno Silva (no clue who that is) KO’d Wellington Turman as well as Seung Woo Choi getting a KO win over Julian Erosa. Marlon Vera put on a great clinic on how to dominate opponents inside a clinch position when he rematched and beat Davey Grant. In the co-main event we had a sloppy and almost perfectly peak Heavyweight bout between Sergey Spivak and Aleksei Oleinik, which the former took via a decision. In the main event Korean Zombie showed his craftiness, awareness, and overall strong performance over Dan Ige. There were a few moments that Ige actually could have stolen the fight and clearly hurt TKZ, but lacked the urgency to do so and let TKZ get the time needed to recover and recompose.

Finally for June we had UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Volkov. Personally I didn’t watch this card but from what I can see it wasn’t too great but had a few solid fights. Tanner Boser, the most redneck Canadian I’ve ever seen, god a solid KO win over Ovince St. Preux. Boser has been actually fighting a ton lately from what I can tell as well. Since around this time last year he’s fought 5 times which in general is not too uncommon but I recall that at some point Donald Cerrone also did about 6 or 7 fights in a 1 year span and it was considered impressive so hey, good on you Boser.

https://i.imgur.com/Ly0jt6e.mp4

In the main event Ciryl Gane took on Alexander Volkov and it was pretty much Gane the whole way through. I used to be hot on Volkov and now think he’s essentially relegated to mid-tier gate keeper which is pretty lame because he has had some great performances etc. over his career.


UFC events in July

(coming soon, i didn’t have a chance to finish my writeup before going to work)


Current Champions


Men's Heavyweight Champion - Frances Ngannou (16-3)
Making an impactful debut in 2015, Francis Ngannou quickly rose to a top contender status amongst the dearth of talent that is Heavyweight. He became known not only for having a high percentage of finishes, but in the viciousness in which he was able to KO/TKO his opponents. His KO of Overeem will forever remain a highlight reel moment in UFC history. After amassing an impressive run, Ngannou was paired with Stipe Miocic for the latter’s UFC Heavyweight title. The undersized and underrated Miocic made Ngannou look like a completely different fighter outwrestling his opponent into exhaustion shutting down Ngannous impressive power. This was Ngannous first loss in the UFC and was then followed up by an utterly bizarre performance against Derrick Lewis which saw Ngannou seemingly do a 180 flip on his vicious aggressive style to a timid and gunshy fighter en route to a Lewis victory. After that fight Ngannou then amassed a winning streak earning his way back to the title via impressive wins, seemingly returning to his tried and true ways. With the rematch with Miocic booked, Ngannou was able to secure victory and become UFC Champion. The next fighter for Ngannou is unknown but good ole Jonny Bones Jones is yapping on Twitter for a fight which means it’ll 100% not be Jones who is next for The Predator.


Men's Light Heavyweight Champion - Jan Blachowicz (28-8)
Poland’s Jan Blachowicz pre-UFC career was mainly a string of beating up European MMA fighters until being called up to the UFC. Things didn't go well for Blachowicz losing 4 of his first 6 fights in the promotion. Eventually though he found his groove and would string together wins and even avenging a few of his early losses in the UFC in rematches. It was when he fought and lost to Thiago Santos that things seemed to have changed. Blachowicz admitted the loss made him better and more focused on his fight game. He was relatively not a top end contender when the UFC matched him against the former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold. The viciousness of Rockhold’s KO loss that night sent the clear message that Jan was not to be overlooked and thanks to a pair more wins that immediately followed, he was clearly a top challenger for the UFC Light Heavyweight championship. When Jon Jones vacated the belt the UFC put Dominick Reyes and Jan against one another to determine the new champion. Many assumed Reyes, who arguably won against Jones in his last outing, would simply claim the vacant belt. Much like the Rockhold fight, Jan’s power and focus made it abundantly clear that he was not to be anyone’s stepping stone. The first test for Jan was Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya which, mostly, was a Jan affair thanks to him learning to use his size more effectively than Adesanya could use his precision and speed. It was a solid test but LHW remains really devoid of viable contenders after the division was summarily cleaned out.



Men’s Middleweight Champion - Israel Adesanya (20-1)
A native of Nigeria, New Zealand’s Adesanya started his career not with MMA but with kickboxing and amassed a significant record of bouts throughout Asia and Australasia. Adesanya even made an appearance in Glory Kickboxing before moving to MMA full time. Debuting as an undefeated fighter, Adesanya simply kept collecting “scalps” (as he puts it) until he was facing off against the Middleweight Division’s best. With wins over Derek Brunson and Anderson Silva within his first year in the UFC, the brass decided he and Kelvin Gastelum would face off for the Interim Middleweight Championship. This was arguably the best fight of 2019, if not the best Round of the Year. With the Interim Belt to his name, he was set to face fellow Kiwi, but Australian based, Robert Whittaker in a showdown. Fittingly in the same arena that Adesanya was in the nosebleeds to see Holm KO Rousey, Adesanya KO’d Whittaker and took the Undisputed Middleweight Championship home. In his first defense Adesanya did not waste time aiming to clear out the division and fought against Yoel Romero. While this fight arguably was lackluster, it was clear that Romero’s prowess for chaos was at least stifled by Adesanya’s awareness and ability to not get caught. Next Adesanya defended his title against a fellow undefeated Middleweight in the form of Paulo Costa. Many believed this would be at least a greater test for Adesanya than before and yet Adesanya put on a picture perfect performance with a 2nd round TKO win. Adesanya then was booked to move up to 205 lbs to fight Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Blachowicz. The undersized fighter did not emerge victorious and become a two division champion though as Adesanya was mostly held down or stifled in the clinch by Jan’s size and strength advantage. That said, Adesanya did show why he was a top talent, and this lone blemish on his record is not too concerning at present.


Men's Welterweight Champion - Kamaru Usman (19-1)
Debuting in 2015 with The Ultimate Fighter: Blackzilians vs American Top Team, Kamaru Usman quickly showed his belief in his own self and mental toughness was a trait you could easily identify about him. Following the TUF finale, which Usman won, he would then go on to amass more and more wins against the Welterweight division’s top fighters. However Usman’s performances weren’t as eye-catching as others in the division, and yet he was there easily dispatching his opponents. Following wins over Demian Maia and Rafael Dos Anjos, Usman served as a replacement for Colby Covington against Tyron Woodley for Woodley’s Welterweight Championship. This would be Usman’s standout performance of his career, easily controlling and just beating up Woodley for all 5 rounds to earn a lopsided decision. Next Usman was put up against Colby Covington who had already begun a campaign to challenge for the belt. Usman again put on a fantastic performance and shut Covington up by breaking his jaw. He was then expected to face fellow teammate Gilbert Burns but Burns contracted COVID19 and a last minute replacement of Jorge Masvidal was chosen. Again, Usman’s hard work and ability to grind his opponents down served him yet another victory. Usman then fought, and dominated, Gilbert Burns in a phenomenal showing. Usman then rematched Jorge Masvidal, who claimed he only lost their first fight due to having to cut weight, and KO’d him spectacularly inside of two rounds. It was then announced Usman would rematch Colby Covington because somehow he is the only other reasonable title challenger at the moment.


Men's Lightweight Champion - Charles Oliveira (31-8-1)
After the mystique of Conor McGregor was destroyed by Khabib, The Eagle retired from the UFC just two fights later thus vacating the title. Common logic just pointed to Conor getting an immediate title opportunity, but instead the UFC opted to pair newly signed Michael Chandler, and longtime UFC veteran Charles Oliveira. Do Bronx has had one of the longest paths from UFC debut to UFC title shot and was paired with someone who had one of the shortest paths to their first title opportunity. The fight was a pretty great one, with Chandler being just seconds from a victory, only for Do Bronx to put Iron Mike away via TKO just a few seconds into the second round. With Oliveira in the Champions seat, Lightweight looks rich for contenders and Oliveira being a worthy champ only helps solidify the notion that the Lightweight division remains one of the UFC’s best.




Men's Featherweight Champion - Alexander Volkanovski (22-1)
A former rugby player who pushed 200 lbs, Alexander Volkanovski’s athleticism has been a key factor in his UFC run. The Australian native entered the UFC with a 14-1 record and, much like his fellow champions on this list, just kept winning until he was facing off against former title challengers in the form of Chad Mendes, who he TKO’d, or former champions like Jose Aldo, who he beat via decision. With his winning ways he then saw himself across the Octagon from UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway. In a 5 round tactical battle, Volkanovski earned the upset win and dethroned the surging Holloway who had been undefeated at 145 for a good while. It was only fitting that Volkanovski then gave Holloway a chance to win the belt back and the 2nd fight was just as exciting as the first. Suffering an early knockdown, Volkanovski was able to recover and eventually work out another decision victory, setting Holloway off the Featherweight mountain for the foreseeable future. Volkanovski is currently filming the newest season of TUF against Brian Ortega who is his next title challenger.



Men’s Bantamweight Champion - Aljamain Sterling (20-3)
A product of Matt Serra & Ray Longo, Sterling made his UFC debut in 2014. Early on, Sterling looked like a decent young prospect at Bantamweight and did well against his opponents. This path led him to fights with Bryan Caraway and Raphael Assuncao which were his first two ever losses, which oddly happened back to back. Sterling reworked his gameplan and continued to amassing a winning record before being dropped by Marlon Moraes thus derailing his momentum momentarily. With a return, Sterling then again amassed a winning streak and put himself back in title contention despite the two runs of setbacks. Earning the nod to get a title shot at Petr Yan, Sterling entered UFC 259 as an underdog of sorts thanks to Yan’s impressive performances. However mid-fight Sterling took an illegal knee that resulted in a DQ loss for Yan, meaning the UFC belt changed hands and Sterling became the new UFC Bantamweight champion. He is also the only person ever to win the belt in any division via DQ, a dubious honor to hold. Sterling is likely to face Yan next in a rematch though there’s been reports that Sterling is saying Yan needs to not be given a “reward” with a rematch. So who loving knows.


Men's Flyweight Champion - Brandon Moreno (19-5-2)
The UFC fanbase was first introduced to Brandon Moreno fittingly on the TUF season entitled “Tournament of Champions” where 125lbs champions from around the world competed on the show to get a chance at UFC Flyweight king Demetrius Johnson. Moreno was not very lucky as he lost in the opening round of the tournament. Following the season, Moreno entered the UFC and won his first bout in just the first round earning himself a Performance of the Night bonus. He would go on to have several more fights against tougher competition before losing to Sergio Pettis, Alexandre Pantoja (who he lost to in TUF) and was subsequently cut in 2018. He moved on to the LFA for a spell before being picked up again by the UFC. This time he fought more ferociously and accumulated an impressive win streak. Eventually he would be given an opportunity to fight Deiveson Figueiredo for the Flyweight Championship he had sought since 2016, ultimately ending that fight in a draw. Just 6 months later the pair would rematch and Moreno took home that gold thanks to a dominant performance that ended with him submitting the champion.


Women's Featherweight Champion - Amanda Nunes (21-4)
Having claimed the UFC Bantamweight Championship, Nunes would go on a winning streak while the Featherweight division sat under the control of Cristiano “Cyborg” Justino. When the two were eventually paired for a Champion vs Champion bout at Featherweight, many assumed that Nunes likely could win, but it wouldn’t be that easily. Boy did she make us all eat our words on that one. Nunes KO’d Justino in less than a minute and became the first Two Division Champion for the UFC’s women’s roster and also the first female Double Champ. From here Nunes would bounce back and forth defending her Bantamweight and Featherweight titles, most recently in Featherweight where she beat Felicia Spencer. Amanda easily beat Megan Anderson and then the UFC finally opted to put the nail in the coffin with regards to Women’s Featherweight, though the announcement was made via Megan Anderson on Twitch so….idk?


Women's Bantamweight Champion - Amanda Nunes (21-4)
Following her third fight in the UFC, a loss to Cat Zingano, Amanda Nunes seemingly changed everything about her fighting style and went on a tear in the Bantamweight division. She would pick up wins over title challengers like Sara McMann and top title contender Valentina Shevchenko. This thrusted her into a Bantamweight Championship match against reigning champion Miesha Tate at UFC 200 which saw Nunes easily win in just three and a half minutes. Following this she would welcome former champion Ronda Rousey back to the UFC, and simultaneously retire her as well. A rematch with Shevchenko and a win over Raquel Pennington saw Nunes quickly become a top champion in the division. When she was put into a Champion vs Champion bout against Cristiano Justino, we all just assumed she would be undersized and yet she surprised us again with a quick KO. Since then she defended her Bantamweight title twice against Holly Holm, who she KO’d, and Germain de Randamie and then went back to Featherweight being the only truly active multi-weight champion defending both her titles.


Women’s Flyweight Champion - Valentina Shevchenko (20-3)
Debuting as a Bantamweight, Shevchenko’s skills were easily notable in the women’s division. However key losses to Amanda Nunes at UFC 196 in a non-title bout, and then later in a title bout at UFC 215 would see her return to the Flyweight division which she had fought in during her pre-UFC days. A fight against then champion Nicco Montano fizzled when Mantano couldn’t make weight let alone the fight due to illness and was stripped. Valentina then faced former kickboxing opponent and former UFC Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the vacant belt which she won. Since then Shevchenko has been on a tear with KO and TKO wins over Jessica Eye and Katlyn Chookagian and a decision win over Liz Carmouche (who Shevchenko lost to prior to the UFC). Shevchenko then faced and dispatched of Jennifer Maia. Shevchenko then took on Jessica Andrade and dismantled her easily, leaving her once again without any seemingly reasonable competition other than long time rival Amanda Nunes.


Women's Strawweight Champion - Rose Namajunas (11-4)
Fighting for the first time under the UFC banner (officially on a UFC card) for the inaugural UFC Strawweight Championship, Namajunas came up short. A few years later and an impressive winning streak put together, Namajunas shocked the MMA world by KO’ng the seemingly unstoppable Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Thug Rose then went on to defend the title against Joanna in an immediate rematch before dropping her belt to Jessica Andrade. This then led rose to take a year off and recover, before rematching Andrade (who had in the mean time lost her title to Zhang Weili). With the loss avenged, Rose set herself up as the most reasonable opponent for Zhang. At UFC 261 Thug Rose shocked the world again by KO’ng Zhang Weili with a perfectly placed head kick, snapping her 21 fight win streak, and also being the only woman in UFC history to capture her division’s championship twice. At present the perceived belief is Rose will rematch Zhang but whether or not that happens thanks to the UFC being dumb about Corona related procedures/distancing is up in the air.



As always, if i forgot something please let me know.

Mekchu fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Jul 2, 2021

Orange Carlisle
Jul 14, 2007

Lets start a gofundme for performance bonuses for the fighters having to eat cat food and live in their van during training

like a people's choice award

CommonShore
Jun 6, 2014

A true renaissance man


June thread is a month late

Brut
Aug 21, 2007

CommonShore posted:

June thread is a month late

Despite the thread title, the last thread was in fact posted at the beginning of June, and is the June thread, not the May thread. :colbert:

This post is probably brought to you by the sound of a joke going over my head

LobsterMobster
Oct 29, 2009

"I was being quiet and trying to be a good boy but he dialed the right combination to open the throw-down vault and it was on."

"Walter Foxx is ten times brighter than your bulb at the bottom of the tree merry xmas"
For title challengers (Note, of course, that no title match is official until the cage door closes and any champ could be stripped or an interim fight be made on a whim), Jan is supposed to fight Glover in October, and Amanda is matched up with Juliana Pena in August.

Snowman_McK
Jan 31, 2010

LobsterMobster posted:

For title challengers (Note, of course, that no title match is official until the cage door closes and any champ could be stripped or an interim fight be made on a whim), Jan is supposed to fight Glover in October, and Amanda is matched up with Juliana Pena in August.

my god Pena is going to get killed.

NObodyNOWHERE
Apr 24, 2007

Now we are all sons of bitches.
Hell Gem

Snowman_McK posted:

my god Pena is going to get killed.

Good.

Snowman_McK
Jan 31, 2010

That was my reaction too. I can't remember why she's terrible but I do remember enjoying a couple of her losses, particularly the one to Shevchenko

CommonShore
Jun 6, 2014

A true renaissance man


Snowman_McK posted:

That was my reaction too. I can't remember why she's terrible but I do remember enjoying a couple of her losses, particularly the one to Shevchenko

She's a meathead who gets into bar fights and there are some stories about her injuring people in training

Shirkelton
Apr 6, 2009

I'm not loyal to anything, General... except the dream.
Dustin says he ‘put Conor in airplane mode’ which rules.

Shirkelton fucked around with this message at 07:38 on Jul 2, 2021

beep by grandpa
May 5, 2004

i :h: dustin, I was saying since last year that I don't think 2021 Dustin loses to 2021 Conor (this isn't like a callout or anything, no one disagreed w me) and i cant wait to see him do it all over again :getin:

Nierbo
Dec 5, 2010

sup brah?
This might be Conor's retirement fight if he loses

mewse
May 2, 2006

Nierbo posted:

This might be Conor's retirement fight if he loses

beep by grandpa
May 5, 2004

Nierbo posted:

This might be Conor's retirement fight if he loses

Yea I totally agree, tho his stupid fans probably won't care and will still think he's the GOAT, but in the grand scheme of things if he loses to a non-champion twice in a row, there's really not much of a path for him to stay in this anymore as a title contender anymore at his age. He wouldn't deserve a third shot against Dustin and he'll be 1-3 in the division, his only win being 5 years ago. He's an incredibly good fighter but like someone said, he'd just become a top 10 gatekeeper if he keeps getting hosed up by this ridiculously stacked division so he's more than likely to just ronda rousey off into the sunset.

Dustin's so drat likable though I can't think of anyone better to put a cap on his career. But this is MMA and villains always win so he'll probably KO Dustin in the opening flurry like he did Aldo and then we have to hear about him for another 5 years

beep by grandpa
May 5, 2004

I also think it is unwise for Conor fighting again just 6 months after such a bad KO. If Dustin lands with basically any power shot he's gonna be on the canvas. He should have taken a year off after that

CarlCX
Dec 14, 2003

I would also like him to go away, but in terms of divisional relevance y'all are talking like they wouldn't make a Fight Night Ireland main event between Conor McGregor and Longtime Veteran And Perennial Contender #38-ranked Johnathan "The Bull" Makdessi and give Conor a title shot after because the Old Conor is back

CommonShore
Jun 6, 2014

A true renaissance man


CarlCX posted:

I would also like him to go away, but in terms of divisional relevance y'all are talking like they wouldn't make a Fight Night Ireland main event between Conor McGregor and Longtime Veteran And Perennial Contender #38-ranked Johnathan "The Bull" Makdessi and give Conor a title shot after because the Old Conor is back

Makdessi is #36 you clown

kimbo305
Jun 9, 2007

actually, yeah, I am a little mad

Nierbo posted:

This might be Conor's retirement fight if he loses

I mean he's gonna make more easy money on the YT boxing circuit, so the circus only moves a little further out of town limits.

beep by grandpa posted:

I also think it is unwise for Conor fighting again just 6 months after such a bad KO. If Dustin lands with basically any power shot he's gonna be on the canvas. He should have taken a year off after that

It's not great, but it also depends vastly on how he's been doing his camp and how much damage he's taken there.
Getting a steady diet of punches in the months leading up is worse than getting a clean KO on fight night.

GTO
Sep 16, 2003

Surely if he loses they'll immediately book the Nate trilogy fight?

mewse
May 2, 2006

GTO posted:

Surely if he loses they'll immediately book the Nate trilogy fight?

Nate fight would be contingent on them actually paying Nate - far from a given

BlindSite
Feb 8, 2009

Snowman_McK posted:

That was my reaction too. I can't remember why she's terrible but I do remember enjoying a couple of her losses, particularly the one to Shevchenko

As a person has been covered but as a fighter she kind of poses some mild question for Nunes, she's dumb and tough which is always a good combination when fighting a poo poo wrecking striker and she does to her credit have an excellent gas tank and no quit. She might be able to make it a fight if she can avoid getting her head punched into the 2nd tier on her clinch entries but if I was a betting man I'd bet everything I have on Nunes punching her stupid into an early finish.

GTO posted:

Surely if he loses they'll immediately book the Nate trilogy fight?

You would think so, it would break all kinds of records.

Alaois
Feb 7, 2012

beep by grandpa posted:

I also think it is unwise for Conor fighting again just 6 months after such a bad KO. If Dustin lands with basically any power shot he's gonna be on the canvas. He should have taken a year off after that

oh i dunno, i think its pretty cool

Nothing But Hate
Oct 7, 2006
When night falls, she covers the world, in impenetrable darkness
Here’s a bad prediction: Dustin beats Conor, Conor takes the Nate fight so he can “have an easy win before he rides off into the sunset” but he loses

Bluedeanie
Jul 20, 2008

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



Why do so many people believe that if McGregor gets knocked out one more time, he will retire and stay retired from fighting? What single fact about the history of combat sports in general or Conor McGregor specifically has led people to believe this

Nierbo
Dec 5, 2010

sup brah?

beep by grandpa posted:

Yea I totally agree, tho his stupid fans probably won't care and will still think he's the GOAT, but in the grand scheme of things if he loses to a non-champion twice in a row, there's really not much of a path for him to stay in this anymore as a title contender anymore at his age. He wouldn't deserve a third shot against Dustin and he'll be 1-3 in the division, his only win being 5 years ago. He's an incredibly good fighter but like someone said, he'd just become a top 10 gatekeeper if he keeps getting hosed up by this ridiculously stacked division so he's more than likely to just ronda rousey off into the sunset.

Dustin's so drat likable though I can't think of anyone better to put a cap on his career. But this is MMA and villains always win so he'll probably KO Dustin in the opening flurry like he did Aldo and then we have to hear about him for another 5 years
I completely agree. I think Dustin is a pretty good champ and hasn't had any drama outside of the UFC like a lot of other belt holders. I do wonder sometimes if Conor had been able to stay at 145 (yeah I know the cut was taking years off his life but just say he was able to somehow) would he be still be in top of the division. I know he got his 50mil from boxing, but I would have liked to see his evolution in MMA only. Watching chimaev and O'Malley and even Usman and other 'next gen' fighters all start green and just grow into themselves has been a real pleasure as a fighting fan. Colby would be the antithesis of that pleasure for a counter example.

Nierbo
Dec 5, 2010

sup brah?

Bluedeanie posted:

Why do so many people believe that if McGregor gets knocked out one more time, he will retire and stay retired from fighting? What single fact about the history of combat sports in general or Conor McGregor specifically has led people to believe this

Money

Bluedeanie
Jul 20, 2008

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




Do you think this knockout will magically be the time he finally stops being a draw, or do you think some mysterious benefactor will fund McGregor's cocaine and legal funds to protect his health?

Brut
Aug 21, 2007

Nierbo posted:

I completely agree. I think Dustin is a pretty good champ and hasn't had any drama outside of the UFC like a lot of other belt holders. I do wonder sometimes if Conor had been able to stay at 145 (yeah I know the cut was taking years off his life but just say he was able to somehow) would he be still be in top of the division. I know he got his 50mil from boxing, but I would have liked to see his evolution in MMA only. Watching chimaev and O'Malley and even Usman and other 'next gen' fighters all start green and just grow into themselves has been a real pleasure as a fighting fan. Colby would be the antithesis of that pleasure for a counter example.

Usman's 2 years older than Conor lol, edit: eh...well, 1 year and 2 months, just the birthdays line such that one's 34 and the other 32 right now.

Gumball Gumption
Jan 7, 2012

The UFC will throw money at Conor at least one more time if he gets knocked out.

reeg
Jul 5, 2002

I think if Conor loses without at least getting Poirier in some trouble, he will never fight a "traditional" opponent in the UFC again. That could mean a lot of things. It might mean he just does irrelevant superfights inside the UFC forever--Nick Diaz, GSP, Masvidal. It might mean that UFC brings in Paulie Malignaggi or some poo poo to lose to Conor in an MMA fight. It might even be mutually beneficial to let Conor go box someone with a name he could conceivably beat so he could return to the UFC with a renewed star power. Lots of options, but the UFC title shots would have to stop if he gets whomped by Poirier.

Of course, I think there's a greater than zero chance he beats Poirier and this is all moot. Poirier has been so much more consistently good than Conor for the last half-decade that I think we're discrediting Conor's ability to put pretty much anybody out on a good day

Radical 90s Wizard
Aug 5, 2008

~SS-18 burning bright,
Bathe me in your cleansing light~
If Conor walked out to Return of the Mack and ko'd Dustin I'd be right back on the hype train tbh

Nierbo
Dec 5, 2010

sup brah?

Brut posted:

Usman's 2 years older than Conor lol, edit: eh...well, 1 year and 2 months, just the birthdays line such that one's 34 and the other 32 right now.

Okay well maybe next gen isn't the best way to describe kamaru but he has become so much more well rounded since his initial few fights and I genuinely look forward to his fights now

Snowman_McK
Jan 31, 2010

Gumball Gumption posted:

The UFC will throw money at Conor at least one more time if he gets knocked out.

They won't even have to. Historically, fighters are loving terrible at knowing when to hang it up.

Untrustable
Mar 17, 2009





Bluedeanie posted:

Do you think this knockout will magically be the time he finally stops being a draw, or do you think some mysterious benefactor will fund McGregor's cocaine and legal funds to protect his health?

Conor will be a draw forever. I worked with a guy who still thought Lesnar was heavyweight champ. The UFC isn't courting us as fans.

Shirkelton
Apr 6, 2009

I'm not loyal to anything, General... except the dream.

Nothing But Hate posted:

Here’s a bad prediction: Dustin beats Conor, Conor takes the Nate fight so he can “have an easy win before he rides off into the sunset” but he loses

That's not a bad prediction at all. Honestly, the Dustin winning part is the bit I'd think is hardest. Dustin's got Conor figured, but that first round is still far more dangerous for him than it is for Nate.

Shirkelton
Apr 6, 2009

I'm not loyal to anything, General... except the dream.

Radical 90s Wizard posted:

If Conor walked out to Return of the Mack and ko'd Dustin I'd be right back on the hype train tbh

Keep that train rolling for the net five years of him not fighting then, lol.

Memento
Aug 25, 2009


Bleak Gremlin
Nate's advanced scar tissue that busts open the first time someone glances at it makes that fight incredibly winnable for Conor. Doctor's stoppage TKO is still a TKO

ilmucche
Mar 16, 2016

Memento posted:

Nate's advanced scar tissue that busts open the first time someone glances at it makes that fight incredibly winnable for Conor. Doctor's stoppage TKO is still a TKO

The sad thing is i'm pretty sure he'd want to fight through pretty much any amount of blood

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CommonShore
Jun 6, 2014

A true renaissance man


I had a mild sensible chuckle during the Edwards fight where the booth boobs were babbling about how Nate should get the surgery that Wanderlei had without noting that Nick had that surgery in the Strikeforce days.

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