MMA Thread II

A forum for non-baseball sports
Post Reply
User avatar
Jocephus
99% conan clips
Posts: 63640
Joined: April 18 06, 5:14 pm

Re: MMA Thread II

Post by Jocephus »


User avatar
thrill
bronoun enthusiast
Posts: 30368
Joined: April 14 06, 10:45 pm
Location: barely online

Re: MMA Thread II

Post by thrill »

If you're a casual MMA fan who is on the fence about whether or not to buy PPV/go to a bar to watch PPV events or are curious about the sport and want a good entry point, this weekend's UFC card is a guaranteed banger. The two main events are both interim titles because the middle weight champ is out after a surgery and the lightweight champ is out because he tried to fight an entire arena after toying with and then tapping the creep McGregor, however they're both guaranteed to be incredible fights.

In the co-main you have Kelvin Gastelum vs Israel Adesayna. Gastelum is a classic Mexican-American fighter story. Comes from very humble beginnings, became a college wrestler and has developed some great Mexican-style boxing pedigree. He's got great power, and fights with a ton of heart. Israel Adesanya is a [expletive] video game given human form. He's a long, lean Nigerian-Kiwi who is maybe the greatest pure striker the sport has ever seen. He pulls out [expletive] in every fight that blows my mind. He's also an incredibly entertaining, uber-millennial personality.

The main event is Max Holloway vs Dustin Poirier. Max is by far my favorite fighter to watch. He is the most game dude I've ever seen and his MMA striking is next-level. He's the best feather weight of all time and accomplished that at a very young age. He's only 27 and his frame has filled out so he's jumping to lightweight to try and pull off the champ-champ thing. He's mastered distance and timing. He throws punches at incredibly high volume. Poirier is more powerful and a better wrestler, but we know how this fight is going to go. Poirier is going to start fast and Max is going to get his measure and then just start peppering him from every angle with constant pressure. Both these guys are incredibly tough and incredibly aggressive.

The best thing is that all 4 guys have no trouble making weight in these weight classes so the fights are almost guaranteed to actually happen. This is as sure a thing as you can get with two main event, championship fights. You'll get your money's worth.

User avatar
thrill
bronoun enthusiast
Posts: 30368
Joined: April 14 06, 10:45 pm
Location: barely online

Re: MMA Thread II

Post by thrill »

Should mention that Holloway & Poirier have fought before at featherweight. Poirier tapped him with a rudimentary arm bar in the first.


But that was in Feb 2012, it was Max's first UFC fight and iirc 4th pro fight ever. Max took that L and two more rookie L's to Conor McGregor & Dennis Bermudez but his since won 13 in a row.

User avatar
MAGA
All-Star
Posts: 1323
Joined: November 10 16, 10:22 am

Re: MMA Thread II

Post by MAGA »

Great posts thrill.

I recently re-watched the Holloway/Aldo fights and came out more impressed the 2nd time around than I did initially. I somehow convinced myself Aldo was washed or that the game left him behind but damn Aldo looked good in parts. (His unwillingness to leg kick and resorting to exclusively boxing is odd). Holloway just looked better. Holloway ate some absolute bombs and honestly didn't look phased by them in spite of their obvious power. They probably knock out almost everyone in the entire division. Hell, Aldo's body hook TKO'd someone. But Holloway...no panic, nothing. He definitely leans on his adamantium chin more than you'd like to see but he is what he is. It lets him work in some angles others can't.

His endless gas tank is crazy. You may even be better than Holloway in some spots, but you aren't going to outlast him.

Chances are current Holloway avenges his losses to everyone, should he be provided the opportunity (he won't be).

I really want to see Holloway and Ferguson fight. Two guys who never get tired and who are more game than anyone.

So many good fights to make and not enough time. I need to see Holloway/McGregor II, Ferguson/Khabib, Ferguson/Holloway, Cerrone/McGregor, and many more.

User avatar
thrill
bronoun enthusiast
Posts: 30368
Joined: April 14 06, 10:45 pm
Location: barely online

Re: MMA Thread II

Post by thrill »

I think the pool of ridiculously compelling matchups at LW is part of the problem for McGregor right now. He's gone full Tyson. He's in the news for bad reasons every week. He's trying to leverage an ownership stake in the UFC. He's more famous than ever, but unfortunately for him, the UFC doesn't need his PPV draw like they used to now that they have the guaranteed money from ESPN. Also, he's probably not even a top 5 guy in the division. We'll see how all these upcoming fights shake out, but where does Conor fit in here?
Khabib
Ferguson
Holloway
Poirier
Gaethje
Iaquinta
Cowboy

Conor at his best is a truly great fighter. He's incredibly smart and has great timing and power. I don't think we've seen that Conor since the Eddie Alvarez fight. I think I'd pick him over Cowboy out of that list, wouldn't be surprised if he beat a few of the other guys, but honestly I'd pick everyone else against him.

Plus, since Conor fought Mayweather, Jon Jones is back, DC climbed to a new height as a draw when he KO's Stipe, there's a ton of compeling compeition at MW and WW, Max went on a devastating tear, Nunes became a legend, and some really interesting fun fighters like Ben Askren have come to the forefront.

The UFC has moved on from needing him more than he needed them, and unless he finds his edge again, I just don't see anything better for him than doing the trilogy with Nate Diaz. He's in a tough spot.

User avatar
MAGA
All-Star
Posts: 1323
Joined: November 10 16, 10:22 am

Re: MMA Thread II

Post by MAGA »

Some would argue Holloway is more of a 155er because he goes holocaust mode to make 145. I think we know how that would go now. The experiment is over.

User avatar
thrill
bronoun enthusiast
Posts: 30368
Joined: April 14 06, 10:45 pm
Location: barely online

Re: MMA Thread II

Post by thrill »

MAGA wrote:Some would argue Holloway is more of a 155er because he goes holocaust mode to make 145. I think we know how that would go now. The experiment is over.
I think if he did what Poirier did and make his way up the ranks, filling out his frame, building power into his shots, he'd be a contender eventually. The question is what's going to be harder for him? Making that weight cut or giving up his belt for good without knowing whether or not he'll ever make his way back up to the top?

User avatar
thrill
bronoun enthusiast
Posts: 30368
Joined: April 14 06, 10:45 pm
Location: barely online

Re: MMA Thread II

Post by thrill »

Real quick about the fights.

WHO KNEW ADESANYA HAD A CHIN LIKE THAT? Dang, man. That fight was incredible. I knew Kelvin could eat shots, but we just hadn't seen it from Style Bender. Now we know, that dude's a dog. I'll still pick Whitaker against him, but he'll always have that fight. It was one for the books. Also, the people who want to see him fight Jon Jones must not like him very much. Jon would eat him alive and spit out the bones.


The Holloway-Poirier fight went about how I expected with Dustin starting hot out the gate and Max trying to catch up with volume in the middle and later rounds. The power was the difference. Those early shots that Max can weather at feather weight just caused too much damage from a true 55'er like DP. This is why I think there's a future for Max at 155 if he takes his time. He executed his game plan flawlessly. He just needs to tweak it for the bigger power players (get touched less early while those shots still have all their heat and add some actual KO power in his big shots). It'll take time, but I think he'll be back at the top of 155 eventually. He needs to defend the FW belt a couple more times (Frankie Edgar, Volkanovski possibly) and then take someone in the bottom of the top 10 at LW after bulking up.

User avatar
Fat_Bulldog
likes to grate his own cheese
Posts: 12553
Joined: May 9 06, 12:41 pm
Location: Drunk

Re: MMA Thread II

Post by Fat_Bulldog »

I want to watch but I don't have any Affliction shirts. Can I still watch?

User avatar
thrill
bronoun enthusiast
Posts: 30368
Joined: April 14 06, 10:45 pm
Location: barely online

Re: MMA Thread II

Post by thrill »

Fat_Bulldog wrote:I want to watch but I don't have any Affliction shirts. Can I still watch?
UFC is a strictly Reebok operation these days, so you're good to go.

Post Reply