🤛 Official UFC Thread - Part 8

[killface]

Incredibly sad to see Anderson Silva fight nowadays, what you're currently seeing in Anderson Silva is exactly the reason why I don't want to see George St Pierre come out of retirement.

I get that Uriah Hall has power & he himself is a fighter that never quite reached the potential he should have with the striking ability he has, but the punch that dropped Silva was borderline Chuck Liddell vs Rich Franklin.. it was the sort of punch Silva in his prime would have walked through or dodged completely.

I hope he doesn't fight again, absolutely nothing left to prove. MMA is a young man's sport & he hasn't looked like 'Anderson Silva' since that terrible leg break + the fact he was already old when the injury happened didn't help.

Well said. Anderson is truly a warrior. I agree with Dana White that letting Anderson fight in the future would be a great risk to his health.

 

[B]

He made an IG post that supports terrorism.

I tried to find the post but couldn't read it cause it's all in Russian/Arabic but did find an article on Bloody Elbow about it -

Khabib Nurmagomedov attacks French President Macron over comments about Islam

“May God disfigure the face of this scum and that of all his followers who, under the slogan of free speech, offended the feelings of over 1.5 billion Muslims,”

“May the Almighty humiliate them in this life, and in the next. Allah is quick in calculation and you will see it.

Distasteful & unhelpful to put it mildly would be the best way I could describe how he's worded that to show his displeasure with the French President given number of terror attacks France have had over the years, even more recently in Nice if I'm not mistaken that was a terror attack also.

 

[Lobo]

What do you guys think of the Izzy vs Jan upcoming fight?

 

[B]

What do you guys think of the Izzy vs Jan upcoming fight?

Should be a good contest, I think Izzy can beat him, he's got the speed, length & overall striking ability to pepper Jan at range in areas that he can't be hit back.

I am a little worried for him though as I always am because Adesanya looks so skinny even at 185 & Jan to me looks big for 205, if he can get hold of him it could be a rough night for Adesanya because of the weight difference come fight night.

 

[TheGuy]

Valentina got decent competition, but it was a route, nonetheless. Rogan's commentary was dumpster fire. Lol. She'd better be careful with Andrade. Figueirido is a monster. Aside from holding the cage, a masterful performance. The transition from leg lock to guillotine...

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Yeah, Tony's done. What Gaethje did to him, he's never going to be the same. So much of his game to walk through the punishment, pressure and not stop. He can't do that anymore, plus whatever mystique he has is gone. He's just another name now. Then again, I did think he was overrated before, and now that he is fighting some beasts, he seems to be getting exposed. Bad. He was definitely never in Khabib's league. Unlike Khabib, who could dictate to the best fighters where he wanted to fight, Ferguson couldn't take Gaethje down and got tore up on his feet, and now Olivera wanted to grapple and Ferguson had no choice.

Serious question. How can anyone see Ferguson have his last two fights, and think he could hang with Khabib? No one grapples like Khabib, and Tony can't even fight off his back. And spamming random triangles is not grappling off your back. What Khabib does is grappling and he would have torn Ferguson apart imo.

 

[killface]

I'd rank UFC 256 as the best one for the year. (runners up would be 249, 253, and 251)

Figueiredo vs Moreno was like a video game with the health bar turned off.

As for Ferguson, seems like he's now best suited for a gatekeeper role a la Cowboy Cerrone. Not championship material but can still give young up-and-comers a tough fight. The dude's 36, turning 37 in a few months. If they gave him a shot 4-5 years ago, I don't doubt that he would have been a champion.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I'd rank UFC 256 as the best one for the year. (runners up would be 249, 253, and 251)

Figueiredo vs Moreno was like a video game with the health bar turned off.

As for Ferguson, seems like he's now best suited for a gatekeeper role a la Cowboy Cerrone. Not championship material but can still give young up-and-comers a tough fight. The dude's 36, turning 37 in a few months. If they gave him a shot 4-5 years ago, I don't doubt that he would have been a champion.

That would mean he would of had to beat Conor or Khabib. What is the basis that he could beat either of them? If he couldn't get Conor to the ground, and there is no reason to think he could, Conor would have lite him up standing. I don't know how he is suppose to beat Khabib, who could out grapple him and force Tony where ever he wanted him. Who was Tony going to win the title off of?

Who are Ferguson's prime time wins? Guys he beat at their best, even during his win streak? Before this year started, the idea was Ferguson was as good as ever, and ready to fight Khabib. Now he is considered too old, after getting absolutely dominated. Which I am not even saying is unfair, but then i don't understand the idea that he was ever good enough to win the title from either Conor or Khabib, when two guys who aren't even on that level, absolutely embarrassed him this year. It wasn't even close. You could argue Ferguson lost every single round 10-8 this year. No decline should mean he is so bad, he can't even win a round.

 

[killface]

That would mean he would of had to beat Conor or Khabib. What is the basis that he could beat either of them? If he couldn't get Conor to the ground, and there is no reason to think he could, Conor would have lite him up standing. I don't know how he is suppose to beat Khabib, who could out grapple him and force Tony where ever he wanted him. Who was Tony going to win the title off of?

Who are Ferguson's prime time wins? Guys he beat at their best, even during his win streak? Before this year started, the idea was Ferguson was as good as ever, and ready to fight Khabib. Now he is considered too old, after getting absolutely dominated. Which I am not even saying is unfair, but then i don't understand the idea that he was ever good enough to win the title from either Conor or Khabib, when two guys who aren't even on that level, absolutely embarrassed him this year. It wasn't even close. You could argue Ferguson lost every single round 10-8 this year. No decline should mean he is so bad, he can't even win a round.

If the fights happened 4 to 5 years ago, I'd go with Khabib over Ferguson but Ferguson has a chance. Against Conor, Ferguson would stand and bang with Conor and could outpace him in the latter rounds.

A 36 year old who has lots of mileage is being shown up by fighters in their early 30s who are in their primes. No surprise there. Also why I thought that if Khabib and Tony fought this year, Tony would have been mauled to oblivion.

 

[TheGuy]

Tony is a bit overrated. Yeah. But Charles was much much better. He got slept hard by observers because of his previous losses to named fighters but they forget that ever since his defeat against Felder his striking has improved leap and bounds. Charles would also have defeated Tony on the feet. He absolutely belongs in the top 4 (Conor, Dustin, Justin, Charles). Out of the 4 he might actually be the best provided his wrestling and grappling are enough to nullify the other 3's striking. Gaethje would lose against him. He has awful take down defense and even poorer grappling defense. He also isn't the best striker of the division despite what some here would claim. Dustin could beat him as he is more balanced on the feet and ground. Conor for his division best striking. The winner of Conor/Dustin should face Charles for the LW title. As for Tony, he should fight Felder. Gaethje vs Hooker as the first title defense of the Conor/Dustin/Charles winner. Michael Chandler has no business being in contention.

 

[TheGuy]

JDS should retire. Gane has smooth striking. Kevin Holland is legit. My man Figueiredo singlehandedly saving the men's FLW division lol. Dern is highly impressive. Also, hot as hell. None of the prelim fights disappointed as well.

 

[Iceman]

Saw Junior dos Santos vs Ciryl Gane. JDS could do nothing to close the range from Gane's kicks and was always eventually going to suffer from one of those heavy hits.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

If the fights happened 4 to 5 years ago, I'd go with Khabib over Ferguson but Ferguson has a chance. Against Conor, Ferguson would stand and bang with Conor and could outpace him in the latter rounds.

A 36 year old who has lots of mileage is being shown up by fighters in their early 30s who are in their primes. No surprise there. Also why I thought that if Khabib and Tony fought this year, Tony would have been mauled to oblivion.

After the Gaethje fight, I just can't imagine what Ferguson would do to Conor, especially after the second Conor/Diaz fight, where Conor showed he could stop TDs from someone with pretty much Ferguson's TD quality, even gassed. I don't like Conor. Hate him actually. But he hits like a truck, and way better technique then any of these guys. Ferguson couldn't bang with him, because Conor wouldn't even do that. He'd technically pick him apart imo. Also Tony has never banged with anyone that hits that hard. Conor has legit WW power. The one time Ferguson fought someone even close to that, he was broken into pieces.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Tony is a bit overrated. Yeah. But Charles was much much better. He got slept hard by observers because of his previous losses to named fighters but they forget that ever since his defeat against Felder his striking has improved leap and bounds. Charles would also have defeated Tony on the feet. He absolutely belongs in the top 4 (Conor, Dustin, Justin, Charles). Out of the 4 he might actually be the best provided his wrestling and grappling are enough to nullify the other 3's striking. Gaethje would lose against him. He has awful take down defense and even poorer grappling defense. He also isn't the best striker of the division despite what some here would claim. Dustin could beat him as he is more balanced on the feet and ground. Conor for his division best striking. The winner of Conor/Dustin should face Charles for the LW title. As for Tony, he should fight Felder. Gaethje vs Hooker as the first title defense of the Conor/Dustin/Charles winner. Michael Chandler has no business being in contention.

The way Dana was talking last night, I am actually think Khabib might not be done. Which makes me curious what is going to happen there. Have Chandler fight Ferguson imo. I would say Charles needs to fight Gaethje. While the win over Ferguson was good and all, that's pretty much his record here. Even as he'd probably beat Gaethje, I just think he needs to do it, to get a top 5 win. Because he shouldn't be getting a title shot based on what happened last night imo.

 

[TheGuy]

The way Dana was talking last night, I am actually think Khabib might not be done. Which makes me curious what is going to happen there. Have Chandler fight Ferguson imo. I would say Charles needs to fight Gaethje. While the win over Ferguson was good and all, that's pretty much his record here. Even as he'd probably beat Gaethje, I just think he needs to do it, to get a top 5 win. Because he shouldn't be getting a title shot based on what happened last night imo.

Well, Tony is #3. Though he'll be lower on the updated p4p. I could see Khabib coming back in late 2021 or 2022 just to troll whoever the champ is and demonstrate he is the true champion. But his words are almost always 100% true. Dana will want Khabib back for that Khabib-Conor 2 money.

 

[Iceman]

Nurmagomedov named BBC World Sport Star

 

[killface]

Herb Dean's going to get fired with all these non-stoppages

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Dustin is my favorite fighter of all time.

It is the same story with Conor every time he gets past the first 7-8 mins. He gets so tired if he hasn't got the guy out of there.

 

[killface]

Excellent strategy by Poirer. Took out McGregor's power with the leg kicks. Reminds me of the Adesanya vs Costa fight.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Excellent strategy by Poirer. Took out McGregor's power with the leg kicks. Reminds me of the Adesanya vs Costa fight.

He took some risk, but they paid off. Some of those early shots could have taken him out. But when he started working those low kicks at the end of the first, and he didn't look too beat up I had a good feeling.

 

[Iceman]

A great scalp for Poirier, even if Conor is past his peak.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Julianna Pena calling out Amanda Nunes.

 

[TheGuy]

Man, the lightweight division is on fire. Conor getting tkoed is a good thing so that he doesn't **** around with boxing. Poirier has cemented himself as the best lightweight, sans Khabib. He should fight Oliveira for the title, himself on a hot streak. But it's understandable he would rather have the Conor trilogy or Nate Diaz. UFC pays peanuts to the amount of damage these guys takes. Conor and Diaz are money fights.

1. Poirier v Oliveira for undisputed belt
2. Gaethje v Chandler for 1st title defense
3. McGregor v RDA
4. Ferguson v Hooker (both guys should probably fight lower ranked guys after 2 consecutive losses for both)

Diaz can just **** off. The Conor trilogy is there anytime next year or next next year. The lightweight must be moving on.

 

[killface]

Man, the lightweight division is on fire. Conor getting tkoed is a good thing so that he doesn't **** around with boxing. Poirier has cemented himself as the best lightweight, sans Khabib. He should fight Oliveira for the title, himself on a hot streak. But it's understandable he would rather have the Conor trilogy or Nate Diaz. UFC pays peanuts to the amount of damage these guys takes. Conor and Diaz are money fights.

1. Poirier v Oliveira for undisputed belt
2. Gaethje v Chandler for 1st title defense
3. McGregor v RDA
4. Ferguson v Hooker (both guys should probably fight lower ranked guys after 2 consecutive losses for both)

Diaz can just **** off. The Conor trilogy is there anytime next year or next next year. The lightweight must be moving on.

I like those matchups. The only thing i'll flip is that McGregor should fight Hooker (based on the pseudo-final four setup of UFC 257 and because those two will probably be given 3 to 4 months to recover) while Ferguson fights RDA.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Burns knocked Usman down early (might have been a balance shot) and got a nice knee in. Other then that, Usman beat the hell out of him. His jab and body shots took Burns soul. Great performance from the champ.