Gastelum has an absolute chin on him too!
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He probably walking around at 250-260 now. I’d imagine he would diet down to about 220-230 range by the time he fights.
Fair play to Till though in taking this fight. Is it as big of a risk as people are making out? If Till came up and took a couple of fights with guys ranked outside the top 10 or seen as more easy fights people would complain about that. A win over Gastelum would sky rocket him straight up the ranks at Middleweight and tbh cover up his previous two defeats. A lot of people will expect him to lose to Gastelum so if he shows up and shocks those people, it'll be a huge win.
The Masvidal fight surprised quite a few people but let's not forget his only other loss was against former champion Woodley. He got absolutely dominated in that fight but I'm not sure it's all doom and gloom like people are making out. He's been knocked down quite a few pegs after people complained he was fast tracked to a title shot. At 26 a loss to one of the best fighters in the MW division in Gastelum isn't going to end his career. Somebody like Weidman is probably a good example, really good fighter that has lose four of his last five, albeit all to bloody quality fighters.
I'm excited. Till might not be a top tier fighter right now and maybe never will be, but Middleweight is a shark tank full of amazing fighters so to throw another good fighter into the mix just creates more hopefully awesome and fresh fights. I'm interested to see how he does moving up in weight and against a guy like Gastelum. Till getting knocked into another dimension wouldn't really be a surprise but let's see, after back to back losses and his reputation taking a knock this a huge opportunity for him to turn it all around in a single fight. And if he loses he's just lost to one of the best fighters in the division. I think it's a smart and equally brave decision taking the fight.
The Masvidal fight surprised quite a few people but let's not forget his only other loss was against former champion Woodley. He got absolutely dominated in that fight but I'm not sure it's all doom and gloom like people are making out. He's been knocked down quite a few pegs after people complained he was fast tracked to a title shot. At 26 a loss to one of the best fighters in the MW division in Gastelum isn't going to end his career. Somebody like Weidman is probably a good example, really good fighter that has lose four of his last five, albeit all to bloody quality fighters.
I'm excited. Till might not be a top tier fighter right now and maybe never will be, but Middleweight is a shark tank full of amazing fighters so to throw another good fighter into the mix just creates more hopefully awesome and fresh fights. I'm interested to see how he does moving up in weight and against a guy like Gastelum. Till getting knocked into another dimension wouldn't really be a surprise but let's see, after back to back losses and his reputation taking a knock this a huge opportunity for him to turn it all around in a single fight. And if he loses he's just lost to one of the best fighters in the division. I think it's a smart and equally brave decision taking the fight.
Would they? No one complained when Poirier did it for example. It's expected, you're new to the division so shouldn't just jump right up and fight the best...look at Holloway vs. Poirier for example people even said then he should of come up slowly.
He's had 2 losses and a really close fight in his previous 3, he loses to Gastelum and all he has is a highlight reel KO vs. Cerrone that people will remember. He is still a young fighter but it's hard to get back in to the W column and be a top challenger when losing 3 in a row. Weidman is a good example to use but in fairness their records are nothing alike, Weidman is an ex champion who fought and beat Maia, Anderson Silva twice who was on a huge win streak at the time, Machida and Belfort. Weidman is also pretty competitive in his losses, Till got completely outclassed by Woodley to the point it was a bit embarrassing really. If he goes and loses this he falls right down the pecking order for me. Weidman would probably do the same if he lost another I'd say. I'd say his situation is similar to Kevin Lee's at the moment and they're both fighters the UFC pushed through a bit to quick.
The thing is that Till is young enough to overcome a loss to Gastelum if he has the right mentality. What does a loss to Gastelum do? It pushes him down the pecking order as you say. All that really means is that Till would go to fighting guys ranked outside of the top 10 or hovering around the top 10, which is kind of what you and maybe some others think they should do with him instead right now to give him a chance to build himself in the division mate. So really, what does he have to lose? A win would be absolutely massive while a loss would mean he would just go down the line and start trying to string a run together against lesser guys anyway. IMO the potential reward is worth the risk for him here.
And I honestly do think a good amount of people would look down on him or the UFC if they put him in there against lesser guys so he could get a streak going. I would have no problem at all with them and him taking the route for the record mate, but I can see the reaction it would get from some. They'd say he was getting easy match making to build him up and how he would get destroyed once he meets a top challenger. We've seen it said about some guys in the past tbh. I just honestly feel the risk of coming up and taking on a guy who is a beast that has been fighting around the title is worth taking because I don't feel a loss will hurt him as much as some might think. He's young enough to recover if he has a strong mentality. Understand you can look at it from different angles but look at it from this one. He could go in there, beat Gastelum and be right at the top of the pile instantly while showing he's over the previous two losses. Equally he could go in and get knocked out by top contender Gastelum...but let's be real, a lot of fight fans IMO will probably think that's the most likely outcome, so if he does, will it really hurt him that much in the long run? If it happens, go back to the strong board against some of the lesser guys and see if he can build something up...but personally I love seeing fights where somebody is taking a risk, stepping in there and going for it.
And on paper it looks like a bloody good fight too!
I think a loss hurts his reputation quite a lot. People have largely already forgotten about the Cerrone KO cos he got brutally KOed by Masvidal and embarrassed by Woodley. If he was to get brutally KOed again (possible vs. Gastelum) then I just feel a lot of interest goes in him to be honest. There's more beneficial fights for him in the top 10. Gastelum is a really bad style match up for him. It's not just reputation but it's significant damage to all at the age of 26. The Masvidal KO was brutal like has been said and Gastelum is capable of similar, to lose 2 fights back to back in less than a year just doesn't seem right, for me it would of been best to give him a lesser opponent or one without a background in striking. There is no harm in easing people in to divisions. It's a common technique really, I don't think many would complain...it would be different if he was an unbeaten champ or something but he had dropped down the WW rankings already.
It would hurt him even if the predicted result happened I think, people would be saying his career is done etc on the back of 3 losses in a row (and 2 KOs) and saying he was just a hype job. There's plenty below Gastelum he could of fought and got some confidence. If he does beat him he's got to face a potential death row of fighters! Romero, Costa, Adesayna, Whittaker etc....all of them are a bad night for him I think!
Bar fight apparently
Ten years ago he was champion of the world. This is nuts
likeaboss
UFC SHENZHEN prelims starts in 7 hours!! I'm gonna be 
...
...Can't wait for the main event. Zhang has the skills to beat Andrade, does she have the nous?
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This Song vs Krantz fight is so weird. How can they both be so gassed by the 3 round. Good fight but I wouldn’t say they set a pace that would leave them this exhausted.
The Brazilian fighter in the co-main, Elizeu or something, has a pretty big winning streak at 170 and is a very entertaining fighter to watch by all accounts. Strange they never give him anybody of note to fight. Give him journeyman Mike Perry, sink or swim. Would be fireworks too.
Agreed. He's not going to get more well known fighting on an inconspicuous card , halfway across the world at stupid'o clock.
Speak of the devil, here he is.....
Feck yes. Great scenes.
The dumbass translator just translated Chinese into Chinese
What a finish to close the show. Can't believe he was such a big underdog before the fight.
YESSSSS!
Zhang just became a multi millionaire
Zhang just became a multi millionaire
OMG
holy feck!
Thought Zhang would win but not like that!
HOOLY SHIT! I did not see that coming!
Fantastic moment for Chinese MMA.
Fantastic moment for Chinese MMA.
Andrade is pretty much feck for a rematch since Rose would seem the likeliest option...maybe Joanna as well if she goes back down.
Rose vs Weili would be a great fight if Rose is up for it.
FFS this translator thinks it's all about himIs there a gif yet?
That was beautiful. Thanks guys!
That’s awesome but surely some of those elbows were illegal no? Looked like a few of them were around the back of the head. Might just be the camera angle mind.
Just finished the China card...
What the feck!!!???
I was expecting Zhang to win, but never that easy.
What the feck!!!???
I was expecting Zhang to win, but never that easy.
What made GSP so big of a draw ? In his prime he arguably had a boring fighting style and he was never one to trash talk, so why the fans loved him so much ? Brock had the crazy physique, Fedor had that cold stare in the eyes, Ronda talked a big game, Conor is Conor and Jones/Silva had that unbeatable thing going on, but what was the deal with GSP's popularity ?
I keep thinking about it and can't come up with a good answer, but whenever there was a GSP fight booked, it was a mega show.
I keep thinking about it and can't come up with a good answer, but whenever there was a GSP fight booked, it was a mega show.
Because he was a complete fighter and was generally very likable.
Yeah, not being a wanker certainly helps. Contast with Jon Jones for eg.
I appreciate him more and more as time goes on especially as I was a casual fan back in the day.
Just realized that Shenzhen is next to Hong Kong. Cantonese is the dominant language in those areas, as opposed to Mandarin in the big majority of China.
So probably he was translating Mandarin to Cantonese.
I know what you mean but GSP commands so much respect from so many people within UFC. He is spoken highly of by so many fighters
GSP was absolutely phenomenal. Just listen to how some of the current best fighters speak about him - khabib etc. He wasnt a gobshite either and he just comes across as a nice bloke. But ultimately he is arguably the best fighter in MMA history.