[Malankazooie]

Didn't watch UFC 224. But the buzz has been Raquel Pennington's corner telling her to fight on when she wanted to quit, and was obviously hurting, and had a face that looked like it was left unprotected in a batting cage to take 100 mph fast balls.

The other buzz was the finish by Lyoto Machida over Vitor Belfort. Do yourselves a favor and try to find video of it.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Oleynik managed what could almost be described as a flying Ezekiel choke... set it up standing in the clinch and finished it while mounted.

https://www.youtube....k5nVr_T8U

Makes me wonder how many other fighters may be able to do this in the near future. Does Oleynik benefit from competition being weaker at heavyweight? Does being a heavyweight give him extra arm strength without which these submissions would be much more difficult?

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 15 May 2018 - 02:36 AM

[amphibian]

The Ezekiel is something that people with a certain length of arm can get extremely good at. Too long and there's too much space, too short and the angles aren't right to grab onto. It's something that judo players really like to do from top of guard and it works well against BJJ players who just don't deal with it coming from different angles other than the standard judo player angle.

That being said, Olly Olly Oxenfree is a genius at hitting it just right. He's had multiple opponents plan to stop this and still hits it.

[Malankazooie]

UFC 227
Henry Cejudo defeated Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson in a close decision. What an upset. Johnson has held the title since 2012. I definitely thought the fight could have gone to Johnson instead, as he seemed to be more active with the kicks and strikes (Cejudo mainly countering). But I guess Cejudo's wrestling expertise shined through with the judges with those take-downs he executed on Johnson. That thing with Cejudo's foot early in first round was weird AF. Must have gotten a nerve stinger or something by one of Johnson's kicks behind the knee. This fight should definitely be in the discussion for fight of the year. Any you karate chops watch it? What do you think?

[Malankazooie]

Any of you fight fanatics going to watch UFC 229 this Saturday for the return of Conor McGregor to fighting? His last fight was the boxing match against Mayweather? Right? Not sure when the last time he fought in the UFC.

[Malankazooie]

Amanda Nunes released her hands all over masculine faced (steroids?) Cris Cyborg's face.

That was a veritable balled fist bukakke.

[Malankazooie]

Not happy with ESPN winning the rights to the UFC. This past weekend's UFC Fight Night event had the main card pushed to their ESPN + (have to pay for) streaming service. When Fox Sports ran an event like 'Fight Night', they showed it all on their various channels. They even showed the weigh ins, which ESPN doesn't (unless you get it on ESPN +). It's really crappy that ESPN is now in control of airing UFC events (outside the big event Pay Per View schedule).

[Malankazooie]

I gotta say. Ben Askren is growing on me.

[Malankazooie]

Hunh. Conor McGregor announced his retirement. Not really buying it and see him coming back. McGregor vs. Diaz 3 needs to happen.

McGregor has let fame go to his head and has been stepping into the 'traps' that comes with money and notoriety - public fights, lawsuits, fan (or haters) conflicts, stupid Irish whisky business, etc. I'm sure someone will offer support for him and spew out the over used and tired: "he's a new dad and wants to devote time to his family" bullshit. GTFO.

If he is truly retired, I sorta wish he would just fade away and only make an appearance when people wax nostalgic about his years fighting. Otherwise, I don't really need to know about him or what "new" and "exciting" "projects" he has in the works for his future.

[Malankazooie]

I pretty much stopped watching the UFC. Ever since it went to ESPN and you have to pay a monthly subscription for their ESPN + service I was out. Plus ESPN is owned by Disney and Disney is really horrible in so many ways, so I try not to support anything they are about.

Anyway, about the McGregor win last night. Really bummed out by that. I wanted Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone to win. McGregor took him out in 40 seconds or something ridiculous. I caught some highlights - how do you let a shorter man kick you in the head like that? McGregor is a terrible person, and the out of the octagon news about him the past couple of years proves just how reprehensible a human being he is. So it would have been excellent if Cerrone beat him. I think Cerrone is more than past his prime and should consider calling it a career. I guess everyone now is wanting another BMF fight, this one featuring Masvidal v McGregor. A rubber match between McGregor and Nate Diaz would have been interesting at one point, but I think that ship has sailed. And of course, there is the rematch between McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov, and that would generate a lot of attention too, but a BMF fight - McGregor v Masvidal - would be the big money fight (Nurmagomedov is a boring personality). Oh and yep, sadly, McGregor has said he would entertain another boxing match against Mayweather. Ahhh, fight corruption money and sucker paydays, don't you just love America?

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Malankazooie, on 19 January 2020 - 10:14 PM, said:

I pretty much stopped watching the UFC. Ever since it went to ESPN and you have to pay a monthly subscription for their ESPN + service I was out. Plus ESPN is owned by Disney and Disney is really horrible in so many ways, so I try not to support anything they are about.

Anyway, about the McGregor win last night. Really bummed out by that. I wanted Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone to win. McGregor took him out in 40 seconds or something ridiculous. I caught some highlights - how do you let a shorter man kick you in the head like that? McGregor is a terrible person, and the out of the octagon news about him the past couple of years proves just how reprehensible a human being he is. So it would have been excellent if Cerrone beat him. I think Cerrone is more than past his prime and should consider calling it a career. I guess everyone now is wanting another BMF fight, this one featuring Masvidal v McGregor. A rubber match between McGregor and Nate Diaz would have been interesting at one point, but I think that ship has sailed. And of course, there is the rematch between McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov, and that would generate a lot of attention too, but a BMF fight - McGregor v Masvidal - would be the big money fight (Nurmagomedov is a boring personality). Oh and yep, sadly, McGregor has said he would entertain another boxing match against Mayweather. Ahhh, fight corruption money and sucker paydays, don't you just love America?

Nurmagomedov vs McGregor at welterweight might be interesting, since McGregor says he wants to stay at welterweight and Nurmagomedov has fought at welterweight before. Not particularly keen on seeing it at lightweight again.

[Malankazooie]

Nurmagomedov has a fascinating style. He's a difficult puzzle for most opponents to solve. Once he gets latched on to you, he's very difficult to get off. It would be interesting to see if McGregor could solve that puzzle a second go around. Rumors already percolating that they could meet in Russia. McGregor says he wants to stay active this year (multiple fights), so we'll see if it happens. Nurmagomedov, because of his devout Muslim faith, has restrictions on how active he can be due to Ramadan and the time it requires him to get back into fighting form because of the fasting involved over a the month it is observed.

[amphibian]

Malankazooie, on 20 January 2020 - 04:38 AM, said:

Nurmagomedov has a fascinating style. He's a difficult puzzle for most opponents to solve. Once he gets latched on to you, he's very difficult to get off. It would be interesting to see if McGregor could solve that puzzle a second go around. Rumors already percolating that they could meet in Russia. McGregor says he wants to stay active this year (multiple fights), so we'll see if it happens. Nurmagomedov, because of his devout Muslim faith, has restrictions on how active he can be due to Ramadan and the time it requires him to get back into fighting form because of the fasting involved over a the month it is observed.

McGregor will never be able to solve Khabib's extreme pressure beyond what he did in the first fight for one round to clip Khabib.

It would be different if Khabib's pressure was equal to that of Ferguson, but it's much better and unlike anything that non-elite wrestlers like Cormier, Cejudo, and Romero have experienced before. Khabib isn't as good a freestyle wrestler as any of them, yet he's managed to get close in a way that incorporates strikes and a modicum of submission threats.

Cerrone was never going to win vs McGregor. The only question was whether McGregor would look good in winning or mediocre. He looked great - controlled distance perfectly, put some serious mustard on almost every shot, and was controlled in hunting the actual cessation of the fight after the big head kick. That's about as good a performance as you can get in there.

I bet they go with Masvidal next simply because of the money side of things. I think McGregor can readily beat Masvidal, but I'm not as sure about him beating Gaethje. He should stay far away from Khabib for right now and hope that somehow Ferguson hurts Khabib enough during Khabib's win that Khabib can't crush people as well anymore.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Chinese UFC champion Zhang incorporates Tai Chi, Shuai Jiao (Chinese wrestling/grappling), and probably other traditional Chinese martial arts in her training (and her fights too? 'Tai Chi uses a lot of shoulder and elbow strikes'):




She does throw a lot of spinning kicks (which I think would be from other TMA... not Tai Chi).

'the earliest Chinese term for wrestling, "jǐao dǐ" (角抵, horn butting), refers to an ancient style of military Kung-Fu in which soldiers wore horned headgear with which they attempted to butt, throw and defeat their enemies. Ancient Chinese imperial records state that "jiao di" was used in 2697 BC by the soldiers of a rebel army led by Chiyou against the Yellow Emperor's army.[1] In later times, young people would play a similar game, emulating the contests of domestic cattle, without the headgear. Jiao di has been described as an originating source of wrestling and latter forms of martial arts in China.

[...] Jiao li eventually became a public sport held for court amusement as well as for recruiting the best fighters. Competitors wrestled each other on a raised platform called a "lei tai" for the potential reward of being hired as a bodyguard to the emperor or a martial arts instructor for the Imperial Military. Jiao li was taught to soldiers in China over many centuries and its popularity among the military guaranteed its influence on later Chinese martial arts through the end of the Qing dynasty.

The term "shuai jiao" was chosen by the Central Guoshu Academy (Zhong Yang Guo Shu Guan 中央國術館) of Nanjing in 1928 when competition rules were standardized .[5] The art continues to be taught in the police and military academies of China.'

https://en.wikipedia...wiki/Shuai_jiao

[Edit: on Zhang's computer screen at 9:46 in: 'English for MMA']

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 08 March 2020 - 01:20 AM

[Malankazooie]

I guess the latest on UFC 249 is that it is still on (scheduled for April 18), but it will need to find a new venue. I think I heard it might go on without an audience also, not sure it that is confirmed though. This is one of, if not the marquee event of the UFC events scheduled this year > Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson. This fight has been highly anticipated by many MMA fans. I know I want to see it. It will be fascinating to see how things develop as the date approaches.

[amphibian]

They shouldn't do it, but I bet it'll go on anyways. Probably in the Middle East.

[Malankazooie]

I could see the opulent greed of a locale like Abu Dhabi happening. They could probably issue all the fans hermetically sealed hazmat suits, no problem.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

If accurate, fast (< several hours) testing becomes available, MMA could go on safely. Test the fighters, refs, doctors, ringside support, and camera crew. (Judges can be remote. Maybe camera crew too. Drones?...) Have alternate fighters and refs on call just in case. Isolate fighters between their test and fight time.

Nuke the mat and fence (or ropes etc.) with fast-drying, non-toxic cleaners between bouts.

If possible, have private hospital care reserved... or convert non-hospital space into a medical space for injured fighters and have doctors ready to attend to them.

[Malankazooie]

ESPN is airing recent UFC events today. I haven't seen the full Weili v. Jedrzejczyk bout. By most accounts, that is easily the fight of the year so far. So looking forward to watching that.

[Malankazooie]

Watched the Weili v. Jedrzejczyk fight on ESPN Saturday night. That fight was crazy. There will obviously be a rematch. Jedrzejczyk's forehead was disturbing to look at when she was being interviewed by Joe Rogan afterward. Weili had to have broken her hand punching her forehead to cause a hematoma like that. Also, that slo-mo shot of Weili punching Jedrzejczyk in the face and seeing her nose reshaped was disturbing too. Jedrzejczyk is tough as nails.