It’s official. This is going to be immense. Can’t wait for the weekend now.
The MMA thread
- Thread starter Fortitude
- Start date
Damn! So many days till saturday. Please God don't let me get hit by a truck or something like that at least not before sunday
I'd say Masvidal is bigger than Adesanya already. I'd probably say the likes of Khabib are bigger than him to
Masvidal is going to get mauled. I'm going to enjoy it. I give him zero chance. Hope this is the end of him.
What?! One potentially will be in the GOAT conversation when all is said and done. The other won the MMA equivalent of the Checkatrade trophy. They are a universe apart in terms of ability and relevance.
Clearly you must be talking about popularity in which case who cares? That's a circus, and Masvidal belongs right there no doubt.
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In fairness it said biggest star in the initial post, for which popularity plays a huge part. Nate Diaz is a star attraction while being a pretty average fighter.
Usman is going to batter Masvidal (little Bengali joke there), which means I'll probably end up putting money on Masvidal.
Yeah it says star and implies fame. If he wins this the post says he's the biggest star. Surely meaning fame not ability. Masvidal is already a bigger star than most the UFC...he has probably the most famous KO ever already.
A wannabe star definitely. Famous in a D list TV celebrity way? LO.L, cut my throat already.
Nah, he is in a win/win/win situation.
- Got a new contract/getting paid.
- His stock with Dana and some fans went up because he "saved" the main event.
- When he loses (because Kamaru will rag-doll him silly), he has the excuse ready. "Mmm it was short notice fight... with a full camp I would have smeshed blah blah"
So he is going nowhere. He probably gonna rematch Nate Diaz for that silly belt.
Nate and Nick are the way they are andfans love them for it. Non-conformist brothers, sticking a finger to Dana.
Masvidal before he turned into utter cringe had a certain underground credibility a la Eddie Alvarez. A fighter to be respected, under valued and underestimated definitely. Then, this completely unpalatable playboy persona, he's selling since Askren handed him a ticket to fame. Truth is, Masvidal is about as fake as they come. Total embarrassment.
Yeah I don't disagree, he's also a Trump supporter which always leaves a sour taste for me though I know other can look past that.
I'm not a fan either my point is hes a far bigger star than most of the other fighters in UFC so hid act clearly works
UFC identity crisis in my humble opinion. Tentatively overlapping professional sport with the entertainment world of WWE. What does it wanyt to be? The ultimate fighting championship or the suck my sweaty balls fighting show?
Not that pro sports shouldn't be entertaining but when the 'stars' are defined by their schtick and not their 'game' then you have to question the direction the sport is heading in. (Under Dana at least).
BMF belt, rankings that don't mean shit, fighters that don't get paid, pressers that are like staged propaganda and fighters that are rewarded for being controversial.
Rant over.
UFC identity crisis in my humble opinion. Tentatively overlapping professional sport with the entertainment world of WWE. What does it wanyt to be? The ultimate fighting championship or the suck my sweaty balls fighting show?
Not that pro sports shouldn't be entertaining but when the 'stars' are defined by their schtick and not their 'game' then you have to question the direction the sport is heading in. (Under Dana at least).
BMF belt, rankings that don't mean shit, fighters that don't get paid, pressers that are like staged propaganda and fighters that are rewarded for being controversial.
Rant over.
Not disagreeing at all here. That problem goes a lot further than UFC and combat sports. The "characters " generate interest and always get more coverage
I get that though. Dana and the UFC are in it for the money and eyeballs equals money. Those "characters" being eyeballs to the product. All my casual mates are tuning into this weekends event because of Masvidal. Had it been Burns, that wouldn't have been the case.
Adesanya will be a big Star of he keeps defending like he's expected to.
I'm in.
How big of a following Khabib got outside of Russia though ? I think in the United States Masvidal is bigger, but dunno
I think Marcus, Mason and A...oops
Sorry thought this was another thread
Looking forward to this weekends fight
Sorry thought this was another thread
Looking forward to this weekends fight
Masvidal isn't overrated by any MMA fans with any sense. He's always been a very good fighter, rarely been beaten comfortably outside of one or two fights. When you get a very good fighter with a big personality and they go on a hot win streak you're going to get the media, UFC and fans eating it up. Fair play to him as well, he's been fighting to earn a title shot and he's been building his brand. Maybe the brand stuff isn't for everybody but the fighting game is a tough one, make as much money as you can while you can.
I think Usman wins but I hope I'm wrong. Masvidal is a dangerous fighter with his confidence sky high. Usman will be the favourite but it would be crazy to rule out Masvidal. There's no doubt what so ever in my mind if he wins he will fight McGregor. The UFC will be dribbling at the thought of Masvidal/McGregor fighting for the title with Diaz then thrown into the mix.
I think Usman wins but I hope I'm wrong. Masvidal is a dangerous fighter with his confidence sky high. Usman will be the favourite but it would be crazy to rule out Masvidal. There's no doubt what so ever in my mind if he wins he will fight McGregor. The UFC will be dribbling at the thought of Masvidal/McGregor fighting for the title with Diaz then thrown into the mix.
I'm so excited for this card. It's stacked. Hoping Rose and Max level the scores this weekend.
I hope Masvidal has been secretly training for this all along as he needs to be at 110% for Usman.
I think Usman wins this with ease if he doesn't get sucked into a stand up fight, but his hands looked great against Colby so he might fancy a scrap.
I think Usman wins this with ease if he doesn't get sucked into a stand up fight, but his hands looked great against Colby so he might fancy a scrap.
I thought Usman looked like shit. Stabby punches through his arms, wild looping archs.
Masvidal will piece him up if he stands
God dammit, betvictor was processing my £75 bet for Usman by Decision at 3.00 and then realised they messed up with the odds (should be 2.62) and took the market offline.
He snapped Colby's jaw. I would have to watch the fight again, and intend to do so before fight night, but I remember Usman looking fantastic on the feet. I think if he's getting hurt by Masvidal he'll simply take it to the ground. Usman's take down transition is one of the best in the UFC.
But remember, he was fighting someone who isn't naturally a striker and someone who has no power. Masvidal has a bit more tenacity in his striking so it's more advisable for Usman to take him down.
I'm no striking expert but he pretty much won every trade and hardly got touched. Compare the damage to Covington and it was night and day.
I think he was happy to brawl with him knowing he had the advantage. Maybe his technique will be more solid against a proper boxer?
Anyway I suspect Usman will more than likely use his wrestling a lot more this time.
Colby may not be a natural striker but that's because he doesn't have that KO power; he certainly busted up Lawler though.
Some serious hate against Masvidal here. I think he is a very good, rather complete fighter. Not sure if he is ready for Usman now but this could be a great fight. I am sure Usman preferred Burns
His whole thing is a bit cringe really, it doesn't particularly bother me but it's just a bit boring really for me. He's a good fighter to watch though and it is a good redemption story of sorts.
100% agree with that mate, the characters definitely get people talking and definitely generate interest that others don't. Some of the dominant champions will have no interest in them at all cos they're just pretty boring people, it is a shame but it's the way of sport. There's plenty of average footballers who get more interest than some great ones.
It's especially true in combat sports.
Muhammad Ali
Mike Tyson
Floyd Mayweather
Tyson Fury
Prince Naseem Hamed
Massively popular because of their characters. Of course you need to also back it up in the ring/cage, or else you'll become this:
In the case of Masvidal, I think that the chip on his shoulder is genuine. He has been underrated for a while or more accurately underhyped and I think that it would have stayed the same if hadn't changed his public appearances.
His hype started with serving poor Leon Edwards a three piece with a soda. Talking of, Edwards needs to do something like Masvidal has because he is another guy who seems talented but will probably never get the attention he needs for a title shot due to him being as interesting as a fridge.
I was more interested in seeing Usman Burns to be honest because I don't know if Usman can risk taking Burns down which makes it a dangerous fight for him. He should be comfortable against Jorge but you never know.
I like Masvidal. Sure he can come across a tad cringey with his shtick but he's been in the fight game a long time and only recently gained enough traction to be able to leverage it for more monies - and he's savvy enough (3 piece with the soda, super necessary etc) so fair play. There is an air of WWE about it at times in the sense that you can have all the talent but lacking on the personality side can leave you lost amongst all the other fighters trying to stand out. It's not entirely ideal, but entertainment and being entertaining is just part and parcel of combat sports nowadays if you want the eyes and £€$ prize. Not even gonna lie I didn't used to pay attention to UFC much until the BMF fight *hangs head* so I feel Dana is doing some things right in terms of attracting fans to the sport; though now that I'm here I also don't want him pulling too much by the way of gimmicks and have stuff like Rankings actually mean something - otherwise, what's the point of it? I found it somewhat annoying when some where mentioning McGregor in title shot conversations after he came back to beat an over-the-hill Cowboy with a couple shoulders and a toe kick, so wouldn't really be elated by the idea if UFC went that direction in a universe where Masvidal beats Usman. Would I watch it?...yeah but ffs.
Masvidal is nowhere near as big a star as Khabib btw, he shouldn't even be close to Adesanya but I guess it's the casuals who end up dictating these sort of conversations.
Masvidal is nowhere near as big a star as Khabib btw, he shouldn't even be close to Adesanya but I guess it's the casuals who end up dictating these sort of conversations.
Adesanya did himself no favours with his last fight being arguably one of the worst ever fights in the UFC. Fans, especially people who aren't massively into the sport, do remember stuff like that.