The MMA thread

George Owen said:


The 2 best MW in the world. Would love to see this fight.
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Whittaker.

Mousasi is arguably becoming overrated right now simply because he left the UFC. The only top guy he's beaten in recent time is Weidman. Mousasi is obviously very good but no way can I start calling him the best MW in the world when he's not competing with the best. In fact if I'm being honest I'd favour most of the top five in the UFC rankings over him.
 
JP77 said:
Whittaker.

Mousasi is arguably becoming overrated right now simply because he left the UFC. The only top guy he's beaten in recent time is Weidman. Mousasi is obviously very good but no way can I start calling him the best MW in the world when he's not competing with the best. In fact if I'm being honest I'd favour most of the top five in the UFC rankings over him.
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Mousasi certainly isn't overrated since he has already proven himself repeatedly in the UFC. He would probably beat Whitaker if they faced off.
 
Was on the plane listening to Tyron Woodley on MMA Hour. Funniest interview ever. "Colby turned blue... Like a... Blueberry!" :lol:
 
Raoul said:
Mousasi certainly isn't overrated since he has already proven himself repeatedly in the UFC. He would probably beat Whitaker if they faced off.
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Not overrated by all but certainly by some. What are you basing it on that he's the best MW in the world? His biggest win over the last few years is against Weidman, other wins were against the likes of Leites, Santos, Belfort, Hall etc...all fights you'd expect a very good/great fighter to win. It's tough to know if he's possibly the current best because the harsh reality is he's not fighting the current best and his previous UFC run doesn't back up the idea that he's proven he's the worlds best because it wasn't a run that had him smashing the top fighters or winning the belt. And I stick by what I said, I don't think I'd favour him over the top 5 or even 6 current top ranked UFC Middleweights.
 
JP77 said:
Not overrated by all but certainly by some. What are you basing it on that he's the best MW in the world? His biggest win over the last few years is against Weidman, other wins were against the likes of Leites, Santos, Belfort, Hall etc...all fights you'd expect a very good/great fighter to win. It's tough to know if he's possibly the current best because the harsh reality is he's not fighting the current best and his previous UFC run doesn't back up the idea that he's proven he's the worlds best because it wasn't a run that had him smashing the top fighters or winning the belt. And I stick by what I said, I don't think I'd favour him over the top 5 or even 6 current top ranked UFC Middleweights.
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He's just fighting at a higher and more sophisticated level than any other MW i know at the moment. This is based on his string of final fights in the UFC as well as his two in Bellator. There's just no part of this game that is an obvious weakness. He's one of the most cerebral fighters in all of MMA and would (imo) be matched favorably against all MW with the possible exception of Rockhold.
 
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Don't sleep on Gastelum either, dude has nasty hands and pressure. His weakness is just his size for the weight division and he can get overpowered by a giant wrestler like Weidman. But he has a good shot against both Mousasi and Whittaker in my opinion.
 
How long was Mousasi Bellator deal?
Not that I think it will matter, he’ll be able to demand even more money now he’s the champ over there and could claim being the best in the world.

And even less chance Dana coughs up now I’d say
 
EdWeatherall said:
How long was Mousasi Bellator deal?
Not that I think it will matter, he’ll be able to demand even more money now he’s the champ over there and could claim being the best in the world.

And even less chance Dana coughs up now I’d say
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6 fights. I read a while ago (from some journalist on twitter I think) that he is on big money though and they can't afford to pay him to fight regularly so he may be there for a while.
 
Its 6 fights an he's likely to never return to the UFC since he would be about 34 or 35 at that point. Bader and McDonald are probably also not going to return.
 
Raoul said:
Its 6 fights an he's likely to never return to the UFC since he would be about 34 or 35 at that point. Bader and McDonald are probably also not going to return.
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I don't know which 1 they are currently regretting letting go the most.

It's out of Bader and Mousasi I'd say. I'd probably lean towards Bader as that division is awful at the moment, at the time he was the one no one was probably that bothered about either.
 
Raoul said:
He's just fighting at a higher and more sophisticated level than any other MW i know at the moment. This is based on his string of final fights in the UFC as well as his two in Bellator. There's just no part of this game that is an obvious weakness. He's one of the most cerebral fighters in all of MMA and would (imo) be matched favorably against all MW with the possible exception of Rockhold.
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Sadly I doubt either of us will ever know who is right because I don't see him fighting in the UFC anytime soon as ya'll have mentioned above.

Oggmonster said:
I don't know which 1 they are currently regretting letting go the most.

It's out of Bader and Mousasi I'd say. I'd probably lean towards Bader as that division is awful at the moment, at the time he was the one no one was probably that bothered about either.
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Bader is similar to Mousasi for me, probably worst in fact. The LHW division in the UFC right now is average outside of the top two/three but IMO if he never left or returned now he'd still be just another guy in the exact same position he was before. They've got plenty of guys like that. Decent to good fighters in that division who just aren't anywhere near the level of DC, Jones and arguably Gus too. They really need to start investing time and effort into younger guys in that division and building them up more than ever with DC up at HW and retiring next year, Jones out of the sport and Rumble retired too...all that division has right now is Gus.
 
JP77 said:
Sadly I doubt either of us will ever know who is right because I don't see him fighting in the UFC anytime soon as ya'll have mentioned above.



Bader is similar to Mousasi for me, probably worst in fact. The LHW division in the UFC right now is average outside of the top two/three but IMO if he never left or returned now he'd still be just another guy in the exact same position he was before. They've got plenty of guys like that. Decent to good fighters in that division who just aren't anywhere near the level of DC, Jones and arguably Gus too. They really need to start investing time and effort into younger guys in that division and building them up more than ever with DC up at HW and retiring next year, Jones out of the sport and Rumble retired too...all that division has right now is Gus.
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I don't think he's great but he'd of been a short term solutions. He's far better than the likes of Volkan and they've had a title shot. If DC loses to Stipe and goes back down then who's next? Maybe Gus who he's already fought. The whole division is empty, it'll take years to promote people and get them ready for a title shot. That's where the likes of Bader would be massively useful.
 
George Owen said:


The 2 best MW in the world. Would love to see this fight.
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That would be a fantastic fight. I'd very narrowly favour Mousasi, partly due to bias as I love the guy, but I do also think he's the most technical striker in the division and Whittaker doesn't seem to be the sort of uber-strong takedown artist that can give him stylistic problems.
 
Oldyella said:
Yeah true. But it's a lot of money for most people, is it for him? I honestly don't know what kind of money wrestlers make but I imagine he doesn't need the cash. Anyway as said, Uncle Dana should be the one we are pointing fingers at here. I would have had no problem with him being put on the prelims.
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I think he got 650k for the fight which if you’re just a normal guy working a 9-5 in an office somewhere is a hell of a lot and I think in UFC terms it is quite a lot of money. The wages they pay are actually just ridiculous. As for CM Punk I think he is an Auther or writes, draws comics and makes most of his money off of that. His wife is also an auther.

Watching the fight tho and hearing Joe Rogan mention he isn’t an athlete I kinda have to agree. There was no pop in his punches, kicks or even just the way he moved. He looked like a 22 stone heavy weight or something which o guess could be just the occasion and Adrenalin dump but he shouldn’t be allowed to fight again. Watching that I’m pretty sure I could beat up Punk. Probably be a more Even match for him.
 
Pat_Mustard said:
That would be a fantastic fight. I'd very narrowly favour Mousasi, partly due to bias as I love the guy, but I do also think he's the most technical striker in the division and Whittaker doesn't seem to be the sort of uber-strong takedown artist that can give him stylistic problems.
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yeah Mousasi is easy the best middleweight striker out there. He would be my pick too, although i wouldn't bet on it.

A one handed Bobby Knuckles survived one of the most scary man alive, so it would be quite ridiculous to doubt him at this point.

In my head is something like 51% chances for Mousasi, 49% to Whittaker.
 
Not entirely shocking. Despite loads of known fighters....none of them were top draws like GSP, Conor et al.
 
Raoul said:
Not entirely shocking. Despite loads of known fighters....none of them were top draws like GSP, Conor et al.
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Amanda Nunes sold more than this?

edit. nope, it seems they sold less than 90.000 ppv for 224.

Its a fecking shame though...

How many times you have the true Champion fighting the true number one contender? (in any division)

its a rare spectacle, a clash of the highest level. I though it would sold better.

Dana better get Conor and the dolly to come back!
 
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George Owen said:
Amanda Nunes sold more than this?

edit. nope, it seems they sold less than 90.000 ppv for 224.

Its a fecking shame though...

How many times you have the true Champion fighting the true number one contender? (in any division)

its a rare spectacle, a clash of the highest level. I though it would sold better.

Dana better get Conor and the dolly to come back!
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The trouble with UFC is the PPV model is slowly going away. Most people aren't going to shell out $65 an event when they can stream it for free. That's something the UFC are going to have to deal with in the future. The Fertitas sold at just the right time imo.
 
Raoul said:
The trouble with UFC is the PPV model is slowly going away. Most people aren't going to shell out $65 an event when they can stream it for free. That's something the UFC are going to have to deal with in the future. The Fertitas sold at just the right time imo.
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Well, the new massive TV deals they've been getting is indication they are moving in the right direction.

I pay 10 dollars for Fox Sports premium*, and i get all the events and fights (except fightpass exclusive prelims). That's a good deal.

*Although 99.9% of the time i just watch it via streaming... the Argentinian commentators are not very good or knowledgeable.
 
George Owen said:
Well, the new massive TV deals they've been getting is indication they are moving in the right direction.

I pay 10 dollars for Fox Sports premium*, and i get all the events and fights (except fightpass exclusive prelims). That's a good deal.

*Although 99.9% of the time i just watch it via streaming... the Argentinian commentators are not very good or knowledgeable.
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The money from foreign TV deals is probably a small fraction of what the UFC makes. The main bread winner for Dana and Co is US domestic PPV events once a month, followed by fight pass subs, sponsorship deals, and TV deals.
 
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Raoul said:
They money from foreign TV deals is probably a small fraction of what the UFC makes. The main bread winner for Dana and Co is US domestic PPV events once a month, followed by fight pass subs, sponsorship deals, and TV deals.
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isn't the new TV deals on the billions range? (according to google it's 1.5B for 5 years (300M per year))

lets say 12 PPV events, averaging 500k buys at USD $70 dollars = 420 million per year. (Maybe im being generous?)

TV deals are quickly catching up.
 
Andersons Dietician said:
Watching the fight tho and hearing Joe Rogan mention he isn’t an athlete I kinda have to agree. There was no pop in his punches, kicks or even just the way he moved. He looked like a 22 stone heavy weight or something which o guess could be just the occasion and Adrenalin dump but he shouldn’t be allowed to fight again. Watching that I’m pretty sure I could beat up Punk. Probably be a more Even match for him.
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He's one of my favourite ever wrestlers but he's never been particularly athletic. This was always going to end badly.
 
Raoul said:
Can't see any other logical fights at the moment. Khabib is champ, Conor is the #1 contender and given their beef, its the next fight to make in terms of PPV buys.
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McGregor's demands will be huge. Maybe he wants to take a dolly into the fight.
 
Raoul said:
Can't see any other logical fights at the moment. Khabib is champ, Conor is the #1 contender and given their beef, its the next fight to make in terms of PPV buys.
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I think it's whatever Conor wants to do. If he doesn't want to fight Khabib but would fight woodley or colby they'd do that instead. If he decided he wanted Diaz III they'd do that. I want it to be Khabib but I wouldn't believe it just cos Dana said it.
 
Oggmonster said:
I think it's whatever Conor wants to do. If he doesn't want to fight Khabib but would fight woodley or colby they'd do that instead. If he decided he wanted Diaz III they'd do that. I want it to be Khabib but I wouldn't believe it just cos Dana said it.
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I don’t think Conor holds the level of sway that he did a year or two ago, especially after the bus incident and arrest. He is now in a way indebted to the UFC and will have to go with what Dana wants him to do. If he doesn’t want to fight Khabib then he will look like he’s attempting to run away from an Octagon confrontation with him after having wanted to fight him on the bus. Woodley will fight Covington next and the winner will likely be in the mix to fight Conor after he (win or lose) fights Khabib.
 
Raoul said:
I don’t think Conor holds the level of sway that he did a year or two ago, especially after the bus incident and arrest. He is now in a way indebted to the UFC and will have to go with what Dana wants him to do. If he doesn’t want to fight Khabib then he will look like he’s attempting to run away from an Octagon confrontation with him after having wanted to fight him on the bus. Woodley will fight Covington next and the winner will likely be in the mix to fight Conor after he (win or lose) fights Khabib.
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Yeah maybe so. I reckon if he came back and said he wanted X fighter who wasn't Khabib though they'd do it for him. Same with Jon Jones and same with Lesnar they will probably pick their fights if/when they return.
 
Raoul said:
I don’t think Conor holds the level of sway that he did a year or two ago, especially after the bus incident and arrest. He is now in a way indebted to the UFC and will have to go with what Dana wants him to do. If he doesn’t want to fight Khabib then he will look like he’s attempting to run away from an Octagon confrontation with him after having wanted to fight him on the bus. Woodley will fight Covington next and the winner will likely be in the mix to fight Conor after he (win or lose) fights Khabib.
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I think the opposite. I think the company is severely lacking a personality that attracts people, not saying the best fighter per se, but that it factor that people like Jones, Lesnar and Rousey had. Conor v Khabib is a fight for the ages, and when you break it down, Conor hasn't fought in 2 yrs . Khabib's last 4 fights have been Iaquinta, Barboza, Johnson and Horcher. This fight would break all records for a man whose been inactive v a man who hasn't beaten a genuine top level fighter since 2014 when he beat RDA. Measures like giving CM Punk main card fights and the rapid push of Covington show how much the UFC are in need of that next personality. I think right now Conor still holds as much or possibly more sway than ever.
 
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