The MMA thread

justboy68 said:
Yes, that makes him a baby in terms of heavyweights. He could possibly still have 10 years to improve and fight at thge top level. Especially because he started late so hasnt accumalated much damage in his years so far. When Stipe was roughly his age he was getting knocked out by Stefan Struve.
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It's very difficult to pick up something like MMA when you start as late as he did. As I understand it he was originally training to be a boxer and it shows. He displayed zero ground game at the weekend, to the extent that Rogan says he doesn't believe he actually trained for it. That and the obvious cardio issues are not good signs.

As to whether the fight would play out any differently in a rematch, I still say no. He has a puncher's chance. That said, he had 25 minutes to land a KO punch and couldn't do it. Unless he can reinvent his game at 31 / 32, his punching power will only take him so far.
 
George Owen said:
One thing is the hype from the UFC to sell the PPV and create their next superstar, and other thing is the hype generated by Ngannou himself. It was him who left a trail of stiff bodies in the octagon. You don't need the UFC to tell you the guy is special.

He obviously is not at his top level yet, but where he is right now is enough to be a top 5 HW.
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In fairness you're dismissing people who said he's a hype train but putting him in the Top 5 of the UFC after 1 win vs. a top contender (who is arguably on decline anyway.) Don't get me wrong I think the guy has got talent but there's no denying he was hyped up massively by the UFC. Look at the guys he's KOed in his fights:

Luis Henrique 2-3 in the UFC
Mihaijovic - Lost 2 in a row since KOed both times (and dropped a weight)
Anthony Hamilton - Was 3-3 in the UFC before Ngannou fight, lost 3 in a row since (including getting KOed in less than 30 seconds)
Arlovski - Lost 3 in a row before the Ngannou fight and is ridiculously past his best
Overeem - Impressive KO of a top level opponent albeit he may be on a decline of sorts.

DOn't get me wrong, the guy has talent and has exceptional power and I think he has the right attitude to improve but he was hyped up massively by the UFC. They helped the hype by feeding him fighters who aren't of his ability and he could KO them pretty easily and in impressive fashion. If I had to guess I think they'll do the same again and give him fighters who benefit his style. I don't think they'll throw him vs. Werdum for example who could do similar to what Miocic did the other night.

Like I said, the guy has talent and could come back from this but he was massively helped by the UFC promo train and also some very good matchmaking. I'd like to see him run some ind of gauntlet similar to what Miocic has done to be honest. The division isn't the strongest so it is doable.
 
George Owen said:
People calling Ngannou a hype train LOL!!
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I think he was massively overhyped in the build up to the fight. Can't see it necessarily as a bad thing, but Stipe did not get the respect he deserved. The ruling champ, who has been knocking out former champs at that. In sparring for the fight he knocked 8 partners out in 2 weeks. He's a damn scary dude too, and a legit heavyweight champ.

Dana seemed crushed that the next best thing in the heavyweight division lost. Joe Rogan was on another level pre fight too. Credit where it's due, no?
 
Stipe definitely deserves credit. Forget the caveats; he went out there and did what he had to do. Any issues Ngannou did or didn't have aren't his concern.
 
Why would Till who is ranked in the middle of the table and on the upward ascendency, fight Nelson - who got knocked the feck out in the first round of his last fight. Sounds like Dana is pandering to the Conor cabal to get him back in the Octagon by throwing his team a bone.
 
Raoul said:
Why would Till who is ranked in the middle of the table and on the upward ascendency, fight Nelson - who got knocked the feck out in the first round of his last fight. Sounds like Dana is pandering to the Conor cabal to get him back in the Octagon by throwing his team a bone.
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I watched an interview with Till and he said he just wants to fight, he’s not bothered about rankings.

I’m guessing his logic is Nelson is some what of an established name and it’s more exposure for him, it’s better fighting someone than fighting no one at all which is what he’s done since the Cerrone fight.
 
Raoul said:
Why would Till who is ranked in the middle of the table and on the upward ascendency, fight Nelson - who got knocked the feck out in the first round of his last fight. Sounds like Dana is pandering to the Conor cabal to get him back in the Octagon by throwing his team a bone.
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Till said he wanted to fight in London unless he could get the Wonderboy fight. So i'm guessing he didn't got it (rightfully so).

Both Till and Nelson have big following in Europe, so its only one of the logical fights.

ps. Till vs Ponzinibio would have been better...

Ponzinibio is probably being saved to headline in Chile or Argentina.
 
I get that Nelson may have a bit of a following in the UK, but in fairness to Till, he should be fighting someone the calibre of Lawler - a once top fighter who is on his way down, to get a proper test to see if his previous performance against Cowboy was a one off or whether he can get two top WW scalps and maybe set himself up for a number one contender fight against the likes of Wonderboy. Fighting Nelson does nothing for him in this regard.
 
Raoul said:
I get that Nelson may have a bit of a following in the UK, but in fairness to Till, he should be fighting someone the calibre of Lawler - a once top fighter who is on his way down, to get a proper test to see if his previous performance against Cowboy was a one off or whether he can get two top WW scalps and maybe set himself up for a number one contender fight against the likes of Wonderboy. Fighting Nelson does nothing for him in this regard.
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Isn’t Lawler injured?? If you look at the rankings there’s not much for him to choose from they’re either all fighting or just had a fight.

It doesn’t do much for him but it gets him more exposure especially a good finish. If it’s an easy nights work a quick turnaround as well.
 
Oggmonster said:
Isn’t Lawler injured?? If you look at the rankings there’s not much for him to choose from they’re either all fighting or just had a fight.

It doesn’t do much for him but it gets him more exposure especially a good finish. If it’s an easy nights work a quick turnaround as well.
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Lawler is just one option. The likes of Maia or Masvidal are others. But lets see how it goes. If Till wins but not convincingly, it may blunt his perceived momentum to the top.
 
If Nunes fights Cyborg, I think she might win. Who knows. Shes far more athletic and explosive than Cyborg at this point. Prob not as powerful, but Holly basically had her way with Cyborg in the clinch. Cyborg hits hard, that's literally all I see going for her atm after the Holm fight.
 
Nucks said:
If Nunes fights Cyborg, I think she might win. Who knows. Shes far more athletic and explosive than Cyborg at this point. Prob not as powerful, but Holly basically had her way with Cyborg in the clinch. Cyborg hits hard, that's literally all I see going for her atm after the Holm fight.
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It will be a brawl....since neither are inclined to cede the center of the Octagon.
 
Yea, it should be spectacular. I'm sure someones gonna get dirt napped!
 
Stipe v Cormier at UFC226 in July is official.

I can see DC winning and retiring. He'll always have the Jones losses thrown at him but if he can go out a 2 weight champ, that would be great.
 
duffer said:
Stipe v Cormier at UFC226 in July is official.

I can see DC winning and retiring. He'll always have the Jones losses thrown at him but if he can go out a 2 weight champ, that would be great.
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I can't see DC beating Stipe. But I can see DC retiring.
 
It also shows the utter desperation of the UFC to make interesting megafights, where they have to match people from different divisions against one another.
 
He said he will 100% retire by March next year so this is less of a surprise now. A few years younger he wouldn't have taken it due to Cain IMO. With him not POTENTIALLY back till the end of the year (and this is Cain so that probably means 2020) I'm not too surprised by this. Good on Cormier for doing it. He knows he'll be out in a years time and there's nobody left in the LHW division bar Gus who I don't think Cormier is too bothered about anyway right now.

Cormier/Stipe and then potentially one final fight for Cormier. The bad news for the UFC is they're going to have another vacant title if he does beat Stipe. It wouldn't surprise me either if we see DC's retirement fight being against Jones despite him saying he's moved on. I think he'd see that as the ultimate win to go out on.

They'll also be the coaches on TUF 27.
 
Raoul said:
It also shows the utter desperation of the UFC to make interesting megafights, where they have to match people from different divisions against one another.
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Stipe has run the gauntlet at HW and beat everyone. Cormiers only interesting fight left is rematch with Gus. I can understand your point but I dunno if I’d call it desperation myself I think they’re putting on a genuinely interesting fight.

I think DC has 2 fights left, this and s rematch with Gus.
 
Oggmonster said:
Stipe has run the gauntlet at HW and beat everyone. Cormiers only interesting fight left is rematch with Gus. I can understand your point but I dunno if I’d call it desperation myself I think they’re putting on a genuinely interesting fight.

I think DC has 2 fights left, this and s rematch with Gus.
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I'm not really a hardcore fan and although Gus is an interesting fighter, DC v Gus again does nothing for me. As you say, there's not much else for either man.

I think DC v Stipe is a great fight.

They need Rumble to come back.
 
duffer said:
I'm not really a hardcore fan and although Gus is an interesting fighter, DC v Gus again does nothing for me. As you say, there's not much else for either man.

I think DC v Stipe is a great fight.

They need Rumble to come back.
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Nah. Whilst DC is champ, there's no point. He has nothing for DC.
 
I do not see a problem with this.
I think more fighters should move up and down devisions tbh, its not like Cormier was born a LHW and this goes against nature.
 
Vato said:
Agreed. They're desperately trying to build a new superstar.
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They just don't have enough quality fighters to populate the divisions at the moment - at a time when their main bread winners are no longer around to consistently fight (McGregor, Rousey, GSP, Jones et al). So they have to make their money somehow, and this is one way to do it.
 
I actually like this fight a lot. For one Cormier is 13-0 undefeated as a HW with wins over many big names, Nelson, Mir, Bigfoot, Barnett and actually has more fights in the division than at LHW. Beat Stipe and he is an all time great HW in his own right. Plus the weight cut has been terribly hard for him recently so he will not have to worry about that. Plus on top of that there isn't too much else out there for either guy right now so it seems like the right time to make that fight.
 
DC vs Stipe is one of those exceptions. Both cleaned up their divisions, there is no clear contender next, so its a great fight to make.

Got DC on this one.
 
Main Card
Middleweight Ronaldo Souza vs. Derek Brunson
Featherweight Dennis Bermudez vs. Andre Fili
Lightweight Jordan Rinaldi vs. Gregor Gillespie
Welterweight Drew Dober vs. Frank Camacho

Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)
Lightweight Bobby Green vs. Erik Koch
Featherweight Mirsad Bektić vs. Godofredo Pepey
Women's Flyweight Katlyn Chookagian vs. Mara Romero Borella
Women's Strawweight Randa Markos vs. Juliana Lima
Women's Flyweight Justine Kish vs. Ji Yeon Kim
Lightweight Vinc Pichel vs. Joaquim Silva

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Welterweight Niko Price vs. George Sullivan
Featherweight Austin Arnett vs. Cory Sandhagen

some good fights tonight...
 
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