[amphibian]

If I'm DJ, I don't want a TJ fight or a Cruz fight. It is a certain amount of risk for not necessarily that much reward. Especially as DJ lost to Cruz twice before.

Would rather go after Garbrandt and get an easier win via his more open style.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Malankazooie, on 05 November 2017 - 05:16 PM, said:

I think Cruz will get the belt back if given the opportunity. Dillashaw was calling out Demetrious Johnson after the fight. Not sure how they would do that. A catchweight bout or Dillashaw would cut weight down to flyweight class?

Dillashaw would cut to flyweight. DJ has already been offered the fight.

'“The reason why I look so lean at 135 is the way I work,” Dillashaw said. “I put muscle on to be at 135. I’m not a big (bantamweight). I walk around at 150, but I stack on, and I stay lean.”'


http://mmajunkie.com...shaw-dana-white


Then there's the question of what happens if Dillashaw wins. Does he try to defend both titles at once?

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Oddly enough, there's serious speculation that GSP will also cut weight to fight for the Welterweight belt. But first he's expected to defend the Middleweight title against Robert Whittaker.

HIstorically, iirc, fighters would "clean out" all the top contenders in their weight division and then move up to challenge someone supposedly bigger than themselves (all weight cutting being equal... which it isn't). Though otoh there's a fairly strong argument that the lower divisions actually have better P4P fighters, so moving down a weight class should theoretically be more of a challenge than moving up a weight class.

GSP could even fight... McGregor. How's this for a clusterfuck: Dillashaw beats Mighty Mouse to hold two titles at once, McGregor beats Dillashaw, GSP beats Woodley, Cormier moves back to heavyweight (while still holding the LHW belt) to beat Miocic, then McGregor beats GSP... before challenging Cormier. (J/k... probably.) Before Cyborg catches him coming out of a pub, knees him in the nuts, and slams his head down to earth to declare herself "Mistrzynią"....


https://www.bloodyel...g-editorial-mma

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 06 November 2017 - 04:19 AM

[Malankazooie]

I guess McGregor is being difficult. Talk is that since he got a taste of the boxing promotion game (I believe his "company" got a percentage of the fight between him and Mayweather), he now wants to do the same with the UFC. So it might me awhile until we see him fight again. I could be wrong though.

[amphibian]

If I were GSP, I would grab for an Anderson Silva fight immediately. Bust up the Gastelum fight to do it.

Then it's McGregor at 170. Then it's retire, with a few more million to live on.

If I were the promoter, I'd give Anderson to get a Whittaker fight after. Rub shine onto the new champ. Keep McGregor far away from GSP, as the styles don't suggest a great fight for both.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

amphibian, on 06 November 2017 - 05:11 AM, said:

If I were GSP, I would grab for an Anderson Silva fight immediately. Bust up the Gastelum fight to do it.

Then it's McGregor at 170. Then it's retire, with a few more million to live on.

If I were the promoter, I'd give Anderson to get a Whittaker fight after. Rub shine onto the new champ. Keep McGregor far away from GSP, as the styles don't suggest a great fight for both.

Yeah, GSP challenging for the WW title might sound appealing in theory, but Woodley's defenses have been so dull that I don't think most fans would consider it much of a superfight. GSP has more striking power (and finishing ability) at MW anyway. Though if a McGregor fight would have to be at WW, GSP could try to set that up by going for the WW title....

[amphibian]

I would skip Woodley entirely if I were GSP or the promoter. He's too tough and doesn't bring as much money as the other possible fighters.

GSP should go for a beltless 170 money fight.

[polishgenius]

Francis Ngannou, mates.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

polishgenius, on 03 December 2017 - 08:06 AM, said:

Francis Ngannou, mates.

Interesting that he only started training in boxing at age 22 and MMA at 26. His father was a "streetfighter" though and iirc he grew up watching Tyson and other boxers on tv.

Punching power reminds me of Sokoudjou, who also happens to be from Cameroon.

[Malankazooie]

I didn't see it. Did he KO Overeem?

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Malankazooie, on 04 December 2017 - 11:17 PM, said:

I didn't see it. Did he KO Overeem?

(That's not actually the full fight---it edits out the part where Overeem clinches and tries to push Ngannou against the fence, but Ngannou turns him around and pins him against the fence, landing a few foot stomps and knees to the thighs before the referee breaks them.)

Yeah. Overeem had his head low and ate something between a left hook and an uppercut. Wonder if Ngannou practiced that as a child, imitating Tyson....

The way Overeem was rushing at Ngannou, it seemed like he was trying to mess with his head and catch him offguard (rushing left hook, takedown attempt, clinch), or closing the distance quickly because he didn't want to give Ngannou a chance to get a good punch in. Maybe he lowered his head because he thought Ngannou wasn't too likely to land a knee or a kick, but it was perfect for a lightning-like uppercut.

Overeem was accusing Ngannou of lying about his age before the fight (claiming he's older, insinuating that African immigrants lie about their age)... that show of handspeed shut him up (and curled his toes).

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Interesting description of Ngannou prior to the fight:

"Ngannou has a unique way of moving about. He doesn't really strike from angles, although he can, so much as angle his strikes. That Arlovski knockout was from a punch that came from his hip, but that didn't require wind up on. His knockout of Luis Henrique was similar. At his best, he manages to turn otherwise sweeping, hooking punches into insertions. Speed, power, and crackerjack timing make him a unique fighter in ANY division. "

Granted he did strike from a bit of an angle in the KO there, but he also angled the strike in a way that made it start as more of an uppercut and end as more of a hook.

https://www.bloodyel...-to-toe-preview

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 04 December 2017 - 11:58 PM

[amphibian]

Is called a shovel hook. Fun punch to play with and hit out at a leaning backwards opponent. The catch is that if they're not leaning backwards, it's very counterable

[Malankazooie]

UFC 220
What do you fight freaks say? Will Miocic vs. Ngannou make it out of the first round? Who will prevail?

[Malankazooie]

Damn, when you can readjust your ground game by actually standing up and then re-grappling your opponent on the mat (and him not being able to explode up to his feet), your opponent is completely exhausted and has ZERO ground game. Miocic totally outclassed Ngannou.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

People were overestimating Ngannou's takedown defense: "It's been great ever since the Curtis Blaydes fight." But he hadn't really fought a takedown artist since then. And Hunt had pretty good takedown defense too, but it didn't give Miocic too much trouble....

Ngannou wasn't patient like he'd been in past fights and his haymakers contributed mightily to his fast fatigue. But Miocic deserves a lot of credit.

Coincidentally, an opinion piece in the New York Times suggests that Switzerland may not be such a surprising country of origin for an MMA fighter:

'Recently, during a visit to Switzerland, I watched two kids beat each other to a pulp on a crowded playground while their parents looked on. I had to quell every American helicopter parent impulse in my body not to intervene.

Surprisingly, playgrounds in Switzerland are lawless zones. Twenty-five years ago, when I moved to Zurich from the United States in the fifth grade, I was mercilessly bullied by my classmates. They changed the indiscriminately terrifying name of the favored playground game "Alle Gegen Alle" ("Everyone Against Everyone") to "Alle Gegen Annie" ("Everyone Against Annie"). The game consisted of throwing a handball at somebody as hard as humanly possible. The rest of the students jumped at the chance to pummel the newcomer with all their pent-up, prepubescent rage.'
https://www.nytimes....ection%2Fsunday

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 22 January 2018 - 04:02 AM

[Malankazooie]

That Switzerland playground dynamic is not unique or specific to Switzerland at all. I live in the United States and when I was a kid, we played a game called "smear the queer" (obviously not at all PC), which entailed tackling the kid who had the ball. The kid was set upon by all the others' playing and we played on a dirt playground with pebbles and rocks (no soft grass to fall on). We used to play straight up tackle football on dirt also, with little pricker bushes and cacti in the ditches that lined the play area. We used to have dirt clod fights and throw hard clods of dirt at each other. When we got older, we used to have bb gun fights. Shooting at each other with legit air rifles (shoot your eye out be damned). We had illegal fire works and used to have bottle rocket wars and roman candle battles.My older brother who was quite big for his age picked up a kid by the belt of his pants and the scruff of his neck and outright threw him over a fence. He also decided one day he wanted to beat up all of the 4th grade. He lined all the boys up and punched then in the face one by one. His punishment was having to spend the rest of recess on the black top, that was it. When I was in high school I was playing a pick up tackle football game with some friends. I had a hoodie on and I caught a pass and was running for the end zone and an opponent grabbed me by the hoodie and outright yanked me backwards so violently that I legit had a concussion. I did not know where I was or what happened. Suffice it to say, that ended the game. I went home and slept if off. Those are just a few examples. There are pockets all over the planet I imagine where a Lord of the Flies culture sort of takes root with the youth. It can be out in the country (like my example) on in the inner cities. Children, left to their devices, can be cruel AF.

[Malankazooie]

UFC FIGHT NIGHT 125


That fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Priscila Cachoeira was messed up. The UFC has been taking a lot of criticism for it too. Dana White has come out and gone right after the refereeing of Mario Yamasaki. I agree that he should have stopped it, but why the hell was Cachoeira in there with Shevchenko to begin with? It was her UFC debut against a woman who is a seasoned veteran and who recently lost by decision to Nunes. I don't know if you guys watched the event, but there is NO WAY Cachoeira should have been in the octagon with Shevchenko. Damn that was hard to watch.

[Coco with marshmallows]

Let's not forget, Yamasaki has form for this kind of thing.

The number 1 duty of a referee is to protect the fighters.

He didn't.

[Malankazooie]

Connor McGregor news today. A stunt by the UFC (pulled right from the WWE's playbook) that went awry? Or legitimate criminal actions by McGregor? I'm leaning towards the former because I think the popularity of the UFC has dropped since McGregor has been inactive and Rousey retired (unofficially). In other words, they have no marquee names, so they set up stunts like this to get people talking and interested.