The MMA thread

KiD MoYeS said:
:lol: You must be joking! The confidence that man has, he genuinely believes every word out of his mouth.
Click to expand...

He does have a lot of confidence but his windups didn't seem to work against RDS. McGregor came off as nervy and agitated, which was punctuated by losing the staredown.
 
RedFish said:
There's a fair size difference - doesn't look good for McGregor.
Click to expand...

I think this is all part of the natural game plan. Conor has weight to catch up on, so getting inside his head is what he can do now til he physically matches up. Mission accomplished there. The tone of the press conferences will probably change as he gets closer to him size wise and he'll start talking a lot about that. Plenty of smoke and mirrors til then.
 
RedFish said:
There's a fair size difference - doesn't look good for McGregor.
Click to expand...
Difficult to tell. McGregor wearing that tightest shirt and white tights he could lay his hands on and RDA looks like he borrowed his Dad's suit.

Come fight night, I can't see much of weight advantage in either direction.
 
I think RDA was getting annoyed at being interrupted and not what McGregor was saying. He seems like a simpleton... It probably just went over his head.

Connor looks like he's turning into Tyson Fury :lol:
 
Dirty Schwein said:
McGregor's trolling is funnier when doing it against the likes of Mendes or Faber, who already have a strong grasp of English so it really becomes a battle of wits whereas what he did against Aldo and doing with RDA is just annoying. It's already difficult for RDA to as he is trying to speak a different language to his mother tongue and constantly being interrupted by someone acting like a 12 year old child must be annoying.

Also, Conor bringing in the race stuff is just stupid. So is he saying all those Irish people who moved to USA are traitors too? But what I hate most are the Conor nut-huggers. I just want him to get sparked out one time so these "fans" can just feck off. That guy shouting "precision beats power" really needed a slap across the face.

I preferred Dominick Cruz's trash talking as it had a bit more substance to it.
Click to expand...
Theres a difference there though, the Irish left Ireland because of poverty whereas RDA found fame and as soon as he did he left Brazil and the Brazilian people behind (In the eyes of McGregor), We all know Conor doesnt actually believe leaving a country makes you a traitor, he's just trying to get some Brazilians onside, and if he manages to do that, think about how much of a mind feck that would be for RDA
 
The race and nationality stuff is irritating. I think McGregor going down an unsavoury road with the constant jabs about Brazil, fake Brazilians, slums and gringos.

It was quite prevelent in the build ups to the Aldo fight too. The stand out one going along the lines of 'What are you gonna do, you f***ing little Brazilian'. Aldo's nationality being used disparagingly to cause offence.

I know some will point to Chael trolling for the Anderson Silva fights, but when he was doing it, it was on pantomine/WWE levels, to build himself up as a villain amongst the Brazilians. When McGregor does it, there's a derogatory element to it.

Considering all the barbs fighters can throw at each other, I don't see why he needs nationality in his arsenal. It's not clever, its the complete opposite.
 
The reason RDA looks intimidating is because of his facial features. The dude looks like Frankenstein's monster.

Like wtf it's uncanny.

8973733_G.png
 
Jammydodger7 said:
Theres a difference there though, the Irish left Ireland because of poverty whereas RDA found fame and as soon as he did he left Brazil and the Brazilian people behind (In the eyes of McGregor), We all know Conor doesnt actually believe leaving a country makes you a traitor, he's just trying to get some Brazilians onside, and if he manages to do that, think about how much of a mind feck that would be for RDA
Click to expand...
He won't get any Brazilians on his side after he shit all over Aldo for 9 months straight.
 
Welsh Wonder said:
I'd say the fact none of you can agree whether RDA or McGregor looked more worried is a surefire sign that neither of them looked worried.
Click to expand...

You're right on that. People overanalyze this bs so much. He didn't sleep Aldo because he won the mental warfare, he won because of his skill and correctly predicting an opening in Aldo's striking (you can see him practicing the same strike in the locker room beforehand). RDA was mad at Cerrone too who kept calling him Frankenstein and throwing PED accusations, but we saw how that worked out.

It's good for promoting fights but you don't rely on 'mental warfare' to win you a fight. I'd say its effect is almost completely negligible. These are prize fighters for god's sake. They know what they've signed up for.
 
justboy68 said:
You're right on that. People overanalyze this bs so much. He didn't sleep Aldo because he won the mental warfare, he won because of his skill and correctly predicting an opening in Aldo's striking (you can see him practicing the same strike in the locker room beforehand). RDA was mad at Cerrone too who kept calling him Frankenstein and throwing PED accusations, but we saw how that worked out.

It's good for promoting fights but you don't rely on 'mental warfare' to win you a fight. I'd say its effect is almost completely negligible. These are prize fighters for god's sake. They know what they've signed up for.
Click to expand...
I think the mental warfare can have an effect depending on who the opponent is. Aldo seemed very shaken at certain points during the build up and didn't seem like himself, he also came out too aggressive, something he isn't known to do. I think the mental element also got to Poirier, but I don't think it will have as big an effect on RDA, he seems less emotional than the two I have mentioned. Even if it gives 1% advantage, Connor will use it and that's good for him I guess.
 
Raoul said:
He does have a lot of confidence but his windups didn't seem to work against RDS. McGregor came off as nervy and agitated, which was punctuated by losing the staredown.
Click to expand...
Losing a staredown? Christ. Worse than the body language experts in the football forum.
 
Dominos said:
Losing a staredown? Christ. Worse than the body language experts in the football forum.
Click to expand...

Why do you think they do staredowns ? Beyond the photo op, its an exercise of gaining a psychological advantage over the opponent. McGregor even commented on this against Aldo (twitchy fist etc).
 
Raoul said:
Why do you think they do staredowns ? Beyond the photo op, its an exercise of gaining a psychological advantage over the opponent. McGregor even commented on this against Aldo (twitchy fist etc).
Click to expand...
There is no beyond the photo op, it's for show.
 
Dominos said:
There is no beyond the photo op, it's for show.
Click to expand...

Nonsense. You think the fighters don't care about the psychological implications of staring in one another's eyes before they step into the Octagon. Of course they do. They're not robots.
 
How exactly do you win a staredown?

Who decides the outcome of these things. Honestly for this one (at least in the video i saw) you couldn't even see mcgregors face so how would we know who 'won'.

Lets be honest staredowns are silly in general, ''right guys stand a foot apart and do your best crazy eyes at each other for the cameras''. I expect most of the time the fighters are doing their best not to bust out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

On the conference itself, i am really surprised how easily McGregor wound Dos Anjos up. I thought he would have been able to laugh off McGregors antics. If he is that thin skinned he's in for a rough time over the next few months promoting this fight.
 
Raoul said:
Why do you think they do staredowns ? Beyond the photo op, its an exercise of gaining a psychological advantage over the opponent. McGregor even commented on this against Aldo (twitchy fist etc).
Click to expand...

They train everyday to fight people for a living , always someone roughly their own size and always in a controlled environment. You honestly think how their opponent looks at them is going to have a serious effect on the mental readiness of these seasoned fighters? Mma more than anything showed that fighting ability isn't determined by how scary or intimidating one looks.
 
Raoul said:
Nonsense. You think the fighters don't care about the psychological implications of staring in one another's eyes before they step into the Octagon. Of course they do. They're not robots.
Click to expand...
If they do care they're probably deluding themselves into thinking it matters. Quite often you'll hear both fighters claim his opposition is frightened - "I can see it in his eyes" :lol: one of them must be wrong..

I'd suspect most see it as just an obligation but no doubt there'll be some weapons who think they're gaining something in 5 seconds of staring, and there'll be a long list of these fighters who have gone on to lose the fight.
 
Cain is out injured (surprise, suprise). Miocic steps in to fight Werdum for the belt. This fight is better anyway, Cain getting an immediate rematch was bullshit. Miocic has looked pretty good recently so he might be coming for that belt.
 
Wanted Overeem but I guess his contract talks didn't help him. Maybe if Werdum beats Stipe quickly, then Overeem can fight him at 200?
 
Has to be cancelled.
This was their Superbowl card as well. They cant go ahead with such a poverty event
 
Just seen that Werdum has pulled out as well. Seems that he was willing to fight Cain again while carrying an injury but not Stipe. 196 is doomed, Dana gonna be mad.

I don't know if it's feasible with them having hired the MGM, but they should just switch it to a FP event with Hendricks - Thompson main event. It looks like a FP event on paper. I don't see what else they are going to do on short notice. The absolute long shot would be Silva - Bisping being moved 3 weeks ahead to headline. It could probably sell with it being Anderson but it's still a very unlikely scenario.
 
Last edited:
I don't care at all for Stipe, Cains injury was a great opportunity for him to get his shot so we didn't have to listen to him whine further down the line.

Now not only have we missed out Cain vs Werdum, we missed out on shutting Stipe up. Fecking disastrous couple of days.

I doubt Overeem will risk the fight on short notice seeing as he's on a good run and he's just fought.
 
Jon Jones and Barnett saying they will fight Miocic for Interim belt. Wonder if they can make it happen? Would have been almost a year since Werdum's last fight by the time he can fight again. Could be a good option or they risk losing a whole event again.
 
The heavyweight division is a bit crap nowadays. No wonder Jones wants to move up, he'll take that belt with relative ease.
 
KiD MoYeS said:
UFC 196: Hendricks vs. Thompson...

At least its now free.
Click to expand...

Good move and potentially sets a precedent going forward. I don't think it's ever been done before, a scheduled PPV card moving to free tv. Doesn't make a difference for me as they are all on BT sport anyway, but good for those who'd otherwise have to pay.
 
Makes no difference for me, but I'm pleased event isn't cancelled. Looking forward to wonderboy v fatty
 
You must log in or register to reply here.