The MMA thread
- Thread starter Fortitude
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Better enjoy it while he can, because he's going to get spanked hard when they meet again.
There's a guy on a UFC forum who bet USD 25,000 on Stipe to finish Ngannou. That seems extremely risky and it's a crazy amount of money to bet on a heavyweight title fight where one punch can change anything.
Especially if you're betting on the older fighter that's been through a couple of wars since they last fought.
I am finding the Aljamain Sterling stuff so interesting.
A lot of people said at the time that he was right to take what was a rightful win purely because of the rematch and the money for his family. After all, it wasn’t his fault.
There appears to have been an extended backlash from fighters and fans who didn’t buy his antics after the knee and think he hasn’t been honest.
He is leaning into it now after trying to excuse it for a while, but it seems to have damaged his brand considerably and made him a bit of a laughing stock.
What do people here think? Would you have done the same considering the cash? I would have, but after seeing the reaction, I’m wondering if his career will be marked by this forever. Is this what he will be remembered for?
A lot of people said at the time that he was right to take what was a rightful win purely because of the rematch and the money for his family. After all, it wasn’t his fault.
There appears to have been an extended backlash from fighters and fans who didn’t buy his antics after the knee and think he hasn’t been honest.
He is leaning into it now after trying to excuse it for a while, but it seems to have damaged his brand considerably and made him a bit of a laughing stock.
What do people here think? Would you have done the same considering the cash? I would have, but after seeing the reaction, I’m wondering if his career will be marked by this forever. Is this what he will be remembered for?
He is betting on Stipe taking NGannou down. Simple as. Ngannou has been very impressive, but Stipe / DC are a different caliber to Overeem, Rozenstruick etc.
People kept saying he had a right to take the knee and the title but he was clearly good to go imo. It should only have been stopped if he couldn't continue and it looked like he was good to go so its cheating. He took a dive.
Yan deserved to lose the title for doing something so fecking stupid. There is a discussion for that rule being changed but while it is what it is it’s moronic to do what he did. I have no sympathy for him losing the title. I expect him to win the rematch anyway so feck it, not like it ended some Cinderella story.
Yep, zero issue for me. Yan fecked up, he has to deal with it.
The minute Dana wrapped that belt around my waist, I'd be doing backflips off the cafe, Gaethje style, then I'd do a spinarooni, Booker T style and finished up with a can of beer, like Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Yan knew the rules, and then he fecked up. That's his problem, not Aljo's.
Everyone loses in a situation like this. Yan was clearly winning the fight and Sterling clearly milked the moment to gain the belt in a fight he would've otherwise lost and in the process ruined his credibility for a long time (if not forever). The fans obviously lost as well since they were robbed of the rest of the fight and a dominant champion.
But what was Aljo meant to do? Carry on fighting after Yan gave him an illegal knee flush to the head?
The only way to continue would be to give Yan a hefty points deduction.
What good is credibility really? People have short memories in sports, particularly in the UFC.
If Aljo, when he’s done fighting, just admits with brutal honestly he milked the opportunity for all it was worth people will forgive him instantly anyways. Nothing kills uproar like the naked truth.
Also seems like Dan Hardy wasn’t let go. At least by BT. Has a good breakdown of the upcoming heavyweight carnage here.
Credibility is everything in the UFC - as in, if the prevailing sentiment is he cheated his way to the belt then Dana could freeze him out. He's already a fighter no one cares about and what happened v Yan (even though Yan was in the wrong) won't help his cause it all.
I think if he’d lost that fight in the manner in which he was going to prior to the illegal strike then he’d be pretty frozen out by Dana anyways.
That was a comprehensive beat down by Yan that was only going to get worse as the fight went on. Definitely a long road back to a title shot from there. Even more so with the selection of bigger names coming back into the 135 mix (Cody, TJ, Cruz etc).
Aljo wouldn’t have got a rematch in a million years and would probably have to go through another 3/4 guys to get back in consideration.
Or he milks the perfectly valid excuse of Yan’s illegal strike and gets an instant rematch with PPV points as champion. It’s a no-brainer.
He’s an idiot for having allowed the photos to surface of him posing with the belt though.
He was definitely fired from the UFC (thanks to Herb dean wife), but I'm glad he landed on BT to keep doing the breakdowns.
The recent UFC "Inside the octagon" without Hardy was painful to watch.
I honestly think it depends if people like the fighter and bias involved.
I don't really think Sterling has done anything wrong, make hay well the sunshines etc. The rematch will have far more interest cos of what he is doing at the moment, probably is slightly cringing but they are hardly going to take the title off him for that. I'm sure he's well aware he isn't favourite in the rematch and it's highly likely he'll lose so might as well generate as much interest as he can now.
Agreed. Anthony Smith did the honourable thing in this situation against Jones. Now look at him...
Why is Yan in the conversation? That is cut and dry — he fecked up and he deserved the DQ.
@Maluco specifically talked about Aljo not carrying on. It has definitely damaged his rep. When you look back; yeah that knee is pretty bad but like come on, the way he was rolling back with his eyes open. Then all the ‘I don’t want the belt - not like this’ only to then go to his after party. I understand that it’s his prerogative to do that but we seen other fighters like Poirier come out and say they want the real thing and they don’t feel like a real champ.
A lot of people would have had more sympathy for Aljo if he just put the strap to the side and said it’s my by a technicality but it’s not Yan either. He lost it fair and square and I didn’t win it like I want it to. Let’s run it back. I doubt anyone would had issues with that. Problem was, he doubled down on the victim card.
@Maluco specifically talked about Aljo not carrying on. It has definitely damaged his rep. When you look back; yeah that knee is pretty bad but like come on, the way he was rolling back with his eyes open. Then all the ‘I don’t want the belt - not like this’ only to then go to his after party. I understand that it’s his prerogative to do that but we seen other fighters like Poirier come out and say they want the real thing and they don’t feel like a real champ.
A lot of people would have had more sympathy for Aljo if he just put the strap to the side and said it’s my by a technicality but it’s not Yan either. He lost it fair and square and I didn’t win it like I want it to. Let’s run it back. I doubt anyone would had issues with that. Problem was, he doubled down on the victim card.
Because he was winning? He will demolish Sterling in the rematch. It’s a fight. Yeah, he broke a dumb rule & got punished. Now do the rematch.
Who’s taking the bet it go 5 rounds again on Saturday night?
Imagine McGregor V Mayweather... Suddenly McGregor kicks Mayweather in the head and loses the fight
Oh dear, there's a reason that MMA fighters retire and it's usually because they don't like getting punched in the face anymore. In fairness I was surprised that she retired when she did. She went out fighting the best that division had to offer. A loss to Pennington and the Goat after a pretty impressive winning streak. I guess she's struggling with the notion that she's ending her successful MMA career on a loss.
That TUF series with Ronda and her was a classic.
She’d be an instant top contender, so if she wins her comeback I could easily see her squaring off against Nunes again.
And unfortunately sparked out again. The only person I'm interested in seeing fight Nunes is Cyborg despite the way the first fight went. Or Shevchenko maybe.
They shouldn’t put Miesha anywhere near Nunes even if she wins this return fight. I’d be shocked to see anything other than verging on a murder inside round one for Nunes. She’s got history and a bit of a name because of the Ronda fights but just don’t do it.
Cyborg is finished. The only rational fight for Nunes would be Shevchenko, who would have a legit chance of beating her.
Well...there's one reason
He took a knee in the face at full force. The only surprise is he wasn't knocked out unconscious. Regardless, it's an automatic TKO in my book and no ref in their right mind should allow a fighter to continue after a blow like that......
But he could continue, its why he had to act so much.
That just the rule though, its not an automatic disqualification and thats why the ref disnt just stop it right away
Debatable. Even if you're Ngannou you're not gonna be able.to take a knee like that without being compromised. Point is safety aside, he was never going to win that fight anyway, so taking the win was fine.
Anyway him acting like a dick now will make it all the more sweeter for Yan when they meet again.
Imagine someone else breaking the rules, getting kneed in the face at full force and people criticising you for not carrying on and letting the other guy win
Damn this guy is huge.