MMA/UFC Discussion Thread MMA • Page 493

It was me that said it. It just makes sense.

That’s your biggest ratings possible for TUF rn. They’ll want something big since it’ll be on ESPN+

 

Nice wrap up of the interview from Meltzers site

• A trilogy fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor "makes sense." He said both guys wants the rematch but it won't be for the title.
• A May-July return for McGregor is realistic.
• White said they aren't doing an official tournament but said all the lightweights (ranked 1-7) are going to end up fighting each other with McGregor in that mix. They will get down to the top two guys and have them fight for the belt.
• White is talking to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov soon in Las Vegas and is still holding out hope he will fight again. He said he truly believes he will return to fight whoever emerges from the lightweight mix.
• He's unsure if Israel Adesanya will return quickly to middleweight after his March champion vs. champion fight against light heavyweight titleholder Jan Blachowicz.
• He said he's 99.9% sure they will do women's strawweight champion Zhang Weili vs. Rose Namajunas in Asia and are working on that.
• Even though videos have surfaced of Georges St. Pierre training, White said he doesn't see an Octagon return in his future.
• Nick Diaz is indeed interested in fighting again.
• White said they will be announcing news people want to hear with Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington and a possible coaching stint on TUF.
• White promised some big "game changing, next level" announcements and moves this summer.

 

I was thinking the same thing up until I saw this....bet the house on Usman.

Just kidding. I really do think that Gilbert has one of the better chances at beating Usman given his striking and grappling ability, but I think Usman will still be able to pressure him against the cage for 5 rounds.

Either way, I'm definitely interested in watching because I feel like Gilbert will be going for the finish the whole time. I just don't really see an obvious formula to beating Usman at the moment even though he's not very exciting to watch...

 

Edwards constantly taking L's. i HOPE he finally fights.

 

I was previously a big supporter of Usman as sort of an anti-Trump guy, mostly because he finished Covington, and then Usman came out as... a Trump guy. So fuck Usman, war Gilbert.

 

call me crazy but I can see Francis winning this time

 

Damn, I hope he's okay. I fear the worst every time people have bad weight cuts.

Unrelated, but I just saw on Twitter that there's never been a Brazilian Welterweight champ. That is wild, but I guess it makes sense considering GSP and Hughes ruled it for so long. That weight also seems to be pretty optimal for wrestlers which is obviously not Brazil's strength.

Maia and Alves are the only two Brazilians to have had title shots in that division since the 90s lol.

 

Picking Usman to win. I won't watch lol.

 

Unfortunately he hasn’t spent enough time in the octagon to know whether or not he has improved with grappling. He went right back to doing what got his first title shot after Derrick Lewis. But if he connects early on like I think he’ll try to, sure he definitely stands a chance.

But I also think Stipe has the highest fighting IQ in heavyweight and has an excellent team behind him so I stick with him.

 

apparently his defense is improving a lot so we'll see

 

We know Francis can win in under a minute.
Fuck, he can win in under 20 seconds.

We knew that the first fight. And we know it even more now.

But can he win a 25 minute war? We’ll see.

I do think he’s gotten better. He’s had all that time to pretty much prepare for Stipe.
Hopefully he can implement it.

I’m looking at it the same way I did in the first fight - Francis has a really really good chance of winning in the first round. The odds of him winning drastically drop after that.

 

I recently went back and watched and Stipe really handled his own that first round though. Not only stayed more mobile and hard to hit, but landed the heaviest shots in that first round. Even seemed to rock Ngannou towards the end a little bit. I think he retains.

If he beats Ngannou twice, Cormier twice, and then Jon Jones I wanna see more luster on my guy’s name haha. Truly the goat heavyweight in my eyes already and soon to be undisputed by the end of the year.

 

don't get me wrong, big Stipe fan but I wanna see my dude hold the strap, at least for a minute

 

I would like Francis to win tbh. I like him. He’s exciting and he has a great great story.

 

That said, Stipe is two wins away (Francis and Jones) from cementing himself into the GOAT talk. He’s already the greatest HW of all time imo.

 

Ok then

 

interesting

 

wonder who Jorge fights then. please tell me it's not Nate again

 

Not that I need anymore reason to dislike him and yes I do get he is skilled, but Colby really does only fight guys he knows he can outwrestle. It wasn’t until he’d lost twice in a row that he fought Woodley who clearly wasn’t the same dominant force he once was, and he couldn’t do what he normally does against Usman which is part of why he lost to him. Dos Anjos was smaller and past his prime. Lawler is/was on a losing streak. Maia hasn’t looked great in some time. Edwards is a striker with a long layoff. He picks the easiest fights for himself.

I don’t like Masvidal, but I think he’d want to genuinely hurt Colby in there and Burns is a powerhouse that he wanted nothing to do with. Wonderboy I think also pieces him up.

Truly, if he wasn’t an intentional heel and constantly being controversial, I don’t really think his wins are or would be that remarkable to most.

 

I’d say he is definitely already the GOAT even if he drops one to Francis in this next fight. I wouldn’t even hold that against him at this point.

This is debatable, but I really think a prime Cain is the best Heavyweight ever in a singular fight. That said, Stipe has the best resume and accolades out of anyone so you can’t really even argue that Cain is above him in the GOAT rankings.

 

I'd way rather see Jones/Stipe than Jones/Francis.

 

Jones is saying on Twitter that he’s still not even made a deal with the UFC and said he “would really like to fight for them again”. Sounds like there’s still contract disputes so hopefully it doesn’t fall through like the last time he was supposed to fight Francis.

 

Really looking forward to Barber vs Grasso tonight more than any fight.

 

JDS is still complaining about the Gane fight and it’s been like two months.

It’s getting kinda sad at this point.


Put more energy into not being used as a highlight reel finish for younger talent to move into the top of the division.