UFC talk

So UFC traded Mighty Mouse to another promotion in exchange for Ben Askren. And they are eliminating the mens 125lb division, which makes sense since the field was fairly shallow with DJ and Cejudo above everyone else. Some of the fighters are moving up to 135lbs, so I guess we'll definitely get that Cejudo v TJ fight. The rest are being cut. This should make the bantamweight division a bit more interesting.

And best of all, we'll get to see Askren compete against the UFC's best. I assume he'll fight at welterweight, but maybe we could see a Khabib v Askren fight at 170 or maybe a catchweight between 155 and 170.
 
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drypowder said:
DC won, as expected, and he made it look so easy. It really highlights the lack of depth at HW. You have DC and Stipe and then everyone else. Blaydes may be moving up; he's got Ngannou next, and that should be a pretty easy fight for him as he'll look to take it to the ground.
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Blaydes was the favorite, and I think everyone, including myself, expected Blaydes to take Ngannou down and ground and pound and tire Ngannou out to take the power out of his punches. I'm guessing the UFC expected this too, and put it on a Fight Night card instead of a pay-per-view card.

So much for that plan. TKO within the first minute by Ngannou. Hit him upper side of the head, and that was enough to get Blaydes partially to the ground. If that power connected on the chin, Blaydes would have been put to sleep. So I guess Ngannou is back. But unfortunately we didn't learn anything about how much his takedown defense or ground game or cardio have improved.

Big setback for Blaydes, and puts him at least 2 fights away from a title shot, IMHO.
 
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Francis has power.

That was like a slight glancing blow and!



Apparently, the Liddel comeback was disappointing, lolz.
 
UFC 231 tomorrow. Ortega v Holloway for the featherweight belt, and Joanna Not Champion v Shevchenko for the womens flyweight belt.

T-City has been looking so good in recent fights, it's hard not to like his chances.

Shevchenko finally gets to be the bigger girl in the ring after fighting bigger women at 135. If Joanna thought Rose hits hard . . .
 
When UFC makes puts these fights on youtube, all but the Dawodu v Bochniak fight are worth watching. Dawodu put on a clinic and Bochniak just isn't in the same league in skill or quickness. Somehow it was a split decision, but that judge should be ousted.

Santos v Manuwa was an absolute slugfest. Shevchenko won as expected, but it would have been closer if Joanna wasn't so skeered the first couple of rounds. Still, Valentina's strength advantage was huge, and the womens flyweight division is hers to rule for a long time. Will be interesting to see what Joanna does next. Flyweight is new and thin, so there are no compelling fights for her there and no one wants to see an immediate rematch of this fight. And Thug Rose has stomped her twice, so her role at Strawweight would be filtering contenders who are good enough to face Rose. Maybe she hangs it up?

Ortega v Holloway - how good is Holloway. Ortega was undefeated coming in and was the favorite, yet at times Holloway looked like he was toying with him. Ortega got in some good shots, but Holloway was just an avalanche of punch combinations. Interesting to see who they give the next title shot to, given that Holloway has convincingly beat the top two ranked contenders. I suppose Frankie Edgar. But McGregor would make for a compelling rematch.
 
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Holloway really made a statement. His forward pressure was astounding. I'd like to see a Mcgreggor rematch. Holloway took him to a decision when he was just a kid. He'll smash him this time. Of course, won't happen because Conor picks his own fights now, and is likely too smart to go there. Ortega would ragdoll him.

He's cleaned out featherweight. If he goes to lightweight I'd like to see him vs. Ferg. That would be seriously awesome. But Ferg deserves a title shot.

So, maybe Holloway vs. Kevin Lee or Poirier. Then see what happens.
 
drypowder said:
For those who haven't seen it, UFC posted Rousey v Nunes on Youtube. If you're a Rousey fanboy, you might not want to watch.

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My problem is I can’t STOP watching it.
It’s like someone nailed Ronda’s feet to the floor right on the end of Amanda’s punches!
 
Some interesting parallels between Cyborg and Rhonda Rousey. Both became famous running through a thin division. Both rolled those early victories into a fearsome reputation that had many competitors on the defensive even before the first bell rang. Many fans got on the respective hype trains.

And finally, both ran into someone who was highly skilled and not afraid.

Remains to be seen how Cyborg comes back from this - like Rhonda, with her confidence permanently shaken, or does she take her game to the next level. Because clearly, doing what she did last night - trying to power through a hailstorm of flying hammers - isn't going to work against Nunes.
 
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Rhonda who? lol
She faded quick once her teeth were loose and she was crying on tv and stuff.
Off to the B-Movie world!
 
I've been telling people for a little bit, Nunes could beat Cyborg. Nunes has some very heavy hands, and is not afraid, and can take some punishment. Loved seeing it.
 
Here's where Cyborgs fearsome reputation comes from:

Screen Shot 2018-12-31 at 12.37.23 PM.png
Something like 12 championship fights in there.

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A past riddled with the souls and broken dreams of many many many top opponents.
 
I had hoped Arlovski would win. I remember him from about a decade or so ago, when he was pretty good and, sometimes, a main card fight.
 
NKD said:
Here's where Cyborgs fearsome reputation comes from:


Something like 12 championship fights in there.

A past riddled with the souls and broken dreams of many many many top opponents.
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Sure, and a similar argument could be made about Rousey, but the counterargument is that these were weak fields. 135lb womens was a weak division and Rousey ran it until it attracted better talent. And if that's true of 135lbs, it's certainly true of 145lbs. Heck, UFC created a 145lb division specifically for Cyborg.

That said, I don't think Cyborg was as outclassed by Nunes as Rhonda was by Holm and Nunes. I think Cyborg was just overconfident and rushed in when she would have been better served to bide her time, like she did against Holm. Guarantee if there's a rematch, she will be a lot more patient and not in any hurry to eat those fists of fury.

And the weak division argument holds for the far ends of the weight spectrum in mens - particularly 125lbs and heavyweight.
 
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drypowder said:
Sure, and a similar argument could be made about Rousey, but the counterargument is that these were weak fields. 135lb womens was a weak division and Rousey ran it until it attracted better talent. And if that's true of 135lbs, it's certainly true of 145lbs. Heck, UFC created a 145lb division specifically for Cyborg.

That said, I don't think Cyborg was as outclassed by Nunes as Rhonda was by Holm and Nunes. I think Cyborg was just overconfident and rushed in when she would have been better served to bide her time, like she did against Holm. Guarantee if there's a rematch, she will be a lot more patient and not in any hurry to eat those fists of fury.

And the weak division argument holds for the far ends of the weight spectrum in mens - particularly 125lbs and heavyweight.
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Yeah, I agree.
 
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