MMA/UFC Discussion Thread MMA • Page 451

Does anyone in the UFC not have shitty political beliefs? Lol

 

Eddie Alvarez, Frankie Edgar, and Mike Perry have all been tooting their Trump horns this past week.

I think the unfortunate reality is that those fighters with liberal views in the UFC are generally not from the US.

 

Getting oddly excited for Hall vs Anderson at the end of the month.

Hopefully Hall is ready to pull the trigger.

 

I suddenly don’t mind seeing Frankie get ko’d anymore lol. Had no idea about that

 

Speaking of Perry...this is terrifying. And really tough to listen to.

'He was just uncontrollable': Mike Perry's ex-wife, Danielle Nickerson, speaks out on alleged abuse

The gist of the story [warning - it's pretty bad]... Perry gets into a fight with a random girl at the bar who poured a drink on him, he hit her and knocked her out, but his friends worked at the bar and got him escorted out before he could face any consequences. His wife tries to calm him down, but he's driving home aggressively. He pulls over and pins his wife to the ground and starts screaming at her and makes her get back in.

She's still trying to get him to come back down to earth, orders him a pizza, talks him down once they get home, etc. but eventually he flips again and starts chasing her around the house. He pins her down again but starts beating her head and her ribs (she said she believes she cracked a rib during this time). He finally tires out and she makes a break for the neighbor's house where she's able to contact Mike's mom through Facebook. Mike's mom picks her up and brings her back to her place where she hides under the bed. Mike's mom ends up calling 911 herself.

 

What the hell fuck the UFC for enabling Perry, the guy is complete scum

 

According to TSN, Leon Edwards will be removed from the UFC rankings seemingly due to inactivity.

 

WHAT

 

That’s pretty crazy. Ortega just sat out how long? I don’t even really like Edwards but that seems a bit stupid. Especially since they keep “retired” fighters in the rankings.

 

Connor just leaped Hooker this past week. Based off of what? I don’t know

I can’t fault Leon for having to turn down Usman when Covid started.
He couldn’t get to the states so Burns jumped him due to activity and hype.


But if he’s turned down fights against high ranked guys like Wonderboy, etc.
Then send him down the ranks. But don’t remove him.

it’s bullshit if he’s removed but no one has hurt their stock more in the last six months than Edwards.

 

Just realized the main card starts at 2pm eastern Saturday haha

 

I think you mean he had to pull out of the Woodley fight, right? That's how Burns jumped him - by beating Woodley and securing the title shot that Leon would have hypothetically gotten.

Either way, I think the UFC is just trying to stick it to him for refusing the fights they've offered him. Beating Wonderboy (#5) is arguably the best possible thing (maybe outside of a win over Colby or Jorge) if you're advocating for a title shot. No reason to call Wonderboy unworthy.

I understand the guy is on a great streak, but his latest wins are over RDA (#12) and Gunnar (currently outside the top 15) and that was over a year ago. I don't agree with moving him down the rankings, but he needs some activity if he's going to be this demanding of a title shot.

 

Leon gets wrecked if he fights any of the top contenders. Usman, Colby, Burns, Masvidal would all destroy him. I think Thompson would as well which is why he refuses the fight because Wonderboy is a hard fight for anyone due to his style. He hasn’t even beat anyone currently in the top ten. If he won’t fight then I agree with him being stripped of his ranking. At this point he hasn’t done enough to turn down fights and refuse to fight.

 

The UFC rankings are a mess, mostly by their own fault. Joe Benavidez got blasted by Figueiredo twice and is currently the #1 contender? You can't keep ranking guys coming off losses that highly and expect people to fight dangerous fights down the rankings.

If you want to cutoff for inactivity, that's great, but what's the cutoff then? Leon's at about 18 months since his last fight. Iaquinta, Gillespie, Nate Diaz are all at a year of inactivity but are still ranked. McGregor hasn't fought at lightweight in over 2 years but is still top 5 in the division? Removing Leon is just the UFC punking him for not playing ball.

Anyone that follows the sport knows the rankings are worthless. Thompson is 1-2 since 2018, but is ranked #5 and you want Leon to put his streak on the line for that? With no guarantee of a title shot? Boxing is a mess with it's rankings/titles, but at least there's a path to become a mandatory contender.

 

I agree with all of that except that Leon is probably 2-3 fights from a title shot in my opinion due to inactivity and the fact that he has already lost to Usman even if it was awhile ago. Regardless, rankings do mean jack shit so removing him doesn’t hurt/help Edwards anyways. He doesn’t have the selling power of Colby/Masvidal and since he hasn’t fought Burns passed him in terms of momentum by fighting Woodley. I don’t think a win over RDA puts him where he thinks it does.

 

I feel like you're answering your own question a little bit there. haha. The rankings are meaningless which is why people still value a win over Wonderboy regardless of where he is or should be in the rankings. That's why people expect him to take the fight instead of sitting back and complaining. Like I said, I don't agree with removing him from the rankings whatsoever, but I also don't support him sitting out indefinitely until they grant him a title shot.

RDA was also 1-2 in his last three whenever Leon faced him, so I'm not sure why that would definitively warrant a title shot vs. a win over Wonderboy if you're looking at it from that standpoint. It's almost completely about generating hype which is why there's little-to-no consistency. At the moment, he's not doing any of that whatsoever.

 

Also if you look at WW beyond the top guys I’ve already discussed it’s rather shallow. I mean behind Thompson, you have Maia and Woodley who both looked like shit their last fights. Chiesa and Magny both have streaks, but nothing sustained against top talent. Nobody has a lot of momentum so Thompson is ranked fifth due to the division being so inconsistent beyond the top five.

 

Leon is officially removed.

 

He got removed for turning down an unranked guy. Holy shit lmao

 

People like you and me value a win over Wonderboy, that'd be an awesome fight. The problem is, the UFC won't. Leon wouldn't have been propelled over Burns or Colby if he beat Wonderboy, so why even do it? UFC is just rewriting the rules like they always do. I just don't blame Edwards for protecting what little leverage he had.

But all of this is avoided if the UFC put a little effort into their rankings. Move guys like Edwards (and everyone else) out for inactivity. Move active guys like Chimaev in. Have Champ vs #1/2. #3 fights whoever the champ isn't fighting. Have #4-10 fight each other, same with #11-15. Drop a few spots after losing, move up after winning. Take out guys like Woodley who are shells of themselves. Move guys down for declining more than one fight.

 

According to Ariel, Leon turned down fights against

Usman (short notice in July)
Covington
Woodley
Neal
Khamzat


yeahhhhhhhhh lol good luck Edwards

 

Starting to see Khamzat get some shit for not getting a fight but it seems that falls on Dana and the matchmakers.

They aren’t interested in the Magny fight (which makes no sense considering he’s now ranked #8) and it seems like Wonderboy isn’t going to take it.

Looking like a case where the UFC wants him to get someone in the top 5 and go straight into a title shot.

 

Maia conveniently went up two spots and is now ranked #5 fwiw.