The MMA thread

sizzling sausages said:
Leon's brother has just dominated Mousasi in Bellator.
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Gutted at that. That's two absolutely listless showings in a row for Mousasi. He was talking retirement before the fight and I think the end might be nigh for him. The durability still seems to be there, which is pretty remarkable given the miles he has on the clock, but he looks slower and unfocused now. He's had those slumps before in his career but at this stage it's probably curtains.
 
Ian Garry with a nice R1 finish.
 
Made that look easy. Very pleased, really like Garry.

Gives it the big I am 'conor' schtick but much more intelligence and grace underneath I think.
 
Almeida looks like he could add an interesting wrinkle to the top of the HW division, a potential matchup between him and Aspinall would be fun.
 
redom said:
Almeida looks like he could add an interesting wrinkle to the top of the HW division, a potential matchup between him and Aspinall would be fun.
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Have to see what Aspinall comes back as post-injury as that kind of opponent could be a surefire way to him breaking down again if he hasn't regained his mobility and ability to push all his weight and power through that knee.

Think he'll be steering well clear of genuine threats for a while until he's 100% about his leg in terms of confidence and automatic/superfluous execution. Needs a few feeler fights first, I think.
 
Fortitude said:
Have to see what Aspinall comes back as post-injury as that kind of opponent could be a surefire way to him breaking down again if he hasn't regained his mobility and ability to push all his weight and power through that knee.

Think he'll be steering well clear of genuine threats for a while until he's 100% about his leg in terms of confidence and automatic/superfluous execution. Needs a few feeler fights first, I think.
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I think the Tybura fight in a few months will be that tester for him, if he comes through that unscathed I think it's off to the races for him again because I don't think Dana will want to leave money on the table and have him fighting lesser guys when he's already putting him as the main event in his comeback fight. As far as rankings go he's at 5 and Tybura is 10 so he'll probably have to fight up from that if he wins, Almeida will probably get 9 from Rozenstruik and he's already beat Volkov and Spivac so that would only leave Tuivasa at 6 as the other option which I could see the UFC booking as Tai and Tom would be a decent draw I think.
 
redom said:
I think the Tybura fight in a few months will be that tester for him, if he comes through that unscathed I think it's off to the races for him again because I don't think Dana will want to leave money on the table and have him fighting lesser guys when he's already putting him as the main event in his comeback fight. As far as rankings go he's at 5 and Tybura is 10 so he'll probably have to fight up from that if he wins, Almeida will probably get 9 from Rozenstruik and he's already beat Volkov and Spivac so that would only leave Tuivasa at 6 as the other option which I could see the UFC booking as Tai and Tom would be a decent draw I think.
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I think his dad - who plays a huge role in his career - will protect him until they are certain that he's back to 100%. I don't think a single fight will determine that, tbh. The knee needs to be tested against different opponents and stress tests to verify it's good to go; it's important because once you go up to the top of the division, there is no time to worry about physical ailments and the body has to be obedient and responsive to shortened thinking and execution times.

Personally, I'd be amazed if it's just one feeler before he goes back to those top-end contests.
 
Fortitude said:
I think his dad - who plays a huge role in his career - will protect him until they are certain that he's back to 100%. I don't think a single fight will determine that, tbh. The knee needs to be tested against different opponents and stress tests to verify it's good to go; it's important because once you go up to the top of the division, there is no time to worry about physical ailments and the body has to be obedient and responsive to shortened thinking and execution times.

Personally, I'd be amazed if it's just one feeler before he goes back to those top-end contests.
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He's been saying it's the best his knee has been for years though. Combine that with the shape he's in, the level of confidence he's showing whenever he gives interviews, the newfound dedication and the fact he's only been out for a year and I'm actually sort of surprised he's even taking a tune-up at all.

I guess a real fight is different to drills and sparring, probably needs to take a few solid leg kicks to be sure. Either way, as solid as Tybura is ultimately he's a level or two below talent wise, I predict Aspinall takes him out inside 2 and then be straight onto a top 5 opponent before the year's out.
 
DannyCAFC said:
He's been saying it's the best his knee has been for years though. Combine that with the shape he's in, the level of confidence he's showing whenever he gives interviews, the newfound dedication and the fact he's only been out for a year and I'm actually sort of surprised he's even taking a tune-up at all.

I guess a real fight is different to drills and sparring, probably needs to take a few solid leg kicks to be sure. Either way, as solid as Tybura is ultimately he's a level or two below talent wise, I predict Aspinall takes him out inside 2 and then be straight onto a top 5 opponent before the year's out.
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Wrestling; pivoting off the knee explosively with full range of motion under extreme duress; working off the backfoot; taking hits behind the knee or hyperextended ones etc. There's loads of ways that knee needs to be tested that he will not be able to replicate in training.

We see it often in sport where people come back and fall apart on their return; that pressure and exertion won't be revealed until in the octagon.

All power to him if he comes back and is right as rain with little to no tune-ups, but for what's at stake, I don't think it'd be a smart way to go about things, if not only for precautionary reasons. Another blowout and his career is effectively over.
 
George Owen said:
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:drool: A couple of other fights announced for the prelims too:

  • Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson vs. Michel Pereira
  • Derrick Lewis vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima

Wonderboy vs Pereira should be an intriguing watch, and I hope Lewis has a bit left in the tank, although I doubt it. July looks brilliant providing the cards remain intact, after a quiet-ish period before then.
 


That's a great first fight at LHW for Pereira. There's a real possibility that his MMA career will burn out quickly now but I hope that's not the case. This should go a fair way towards establishing whether his power carries up a division (not too many worries there), whether he's developed adequate wrestling and submission defence, and whether his punch resistance improves without the brutal weight cut. An impressive win against Jan places him right in contention for the title.
 
Must be rank to be 30-27’d by Chase Hooper then listen to the post match interview where he speaks like an 8 year-old nerd
 
Buckley is a cnut. The ref stepped in to finish the fight, put his hand across him and he still threw a cowardly punch after it.
 
Shane88 said:
Buckley is a cnut. The ref stepped in to finish the fight, put his hand across him and he still threw a cowardly punch after it.
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Yep. In my opinion, lucky he didn’t get disqualified for that sort of shit. Not sure why the commentators didn’t call it out either. There’s no excuse as he knew the fight was over but threw another punch on an unconscious fighter anyway despite the ref already stepping in.
 
See Loughnane got slept by a nobody last night. Out the PFL playoffs this year now.

PFL taking a lot of L's of late. From some of the bigger names like Kayla and Loughnane losing, to all the bigger names FAs they signed (Santos, Burgos, Morales) all losing, tonnes of fighters popping for PEDs.

The Francis thing feels like it's going to blow up aswell. He's not even fighting this year and there's just going to be zero interest in him fighting the scrubs they have at HW - especially after he gets beaten in boxing. Struggle to see how they won't end up hemorrhage money on that deal.
 
Of course it's staged, didn't Wilder do similar recently?

It's still very cringe though, he always needs to be the centre of attention.
 
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