2024 MMA General Discussion and Fight Announcements

[bov]

Aspinall vs Gane might make sense too, although not as main event.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I know how this is going to go but im assuming this is a retirement fight...

Chris Weidman return in the works vs. Bruno Silva at UFC Fight Night in Atlantic City

As if coming back from one leg fracture wasn’t enough, former UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman is about to do it again.

mmajunkie.usatoday.com

 

[m9]

I'd like to see Gaethje get the next shot because it's a fresh matchup. I do think Islam probably runs through him, but Oliveira already got his shot and Islam did run through him. It is complicated, though, because Oliveira stopped Gaethje and I think there is reason to believe Islam-Oliveira would be better than the first one, but still.

Agreed, and also more than anything Gaethje deserves it. Finished Poirier. Actually took a fight against one of the young rising guys in Fiziev and beat him. I still wonder if Islam lands on that Saudi card on March 2nd, though. Would that still be Gaethje or would they slide Oliveira in there and then push Islam/Gaethje to the usual Abu Dhabi card later in the year?

For UFC 300, I think they are hoping DDP beats Strickland so they can do DDP-Izzy. That's the only champ that kind of makes sense to me.

Pantoja wouldn't headline over Leon.
O'Malley and Volk are booked.
Islam's probably not going to be in camp during Ramadan
Maaaaybe Pereira-Hill? Not sure when Hill is expected back.
Jones is probably still out. I don't think they'd have an interim fight over the actual WW title fight (unless it was a massive star which Aspinall isn't).
I think Weili and/or Grasso might get added to pad the card, but they wouldn't headline.

Both Luke and BC predicted Gaethje-Max for the BMF belt, but I don't think that would headline over an actual title fight either.

So unless they got like Rousey-Holm 2 or Rousey-Tate 3 or some other "break glass in case of emergency", I think it's DDP-Izzy (*pending DDP beating Strickland) or Leon-Belal.

I throw out some bad fights on here myself sometimes, but MK is awful at putting together hypothetical fights. So much of what they went into on the last show was stuff that has already been shot down or really doesn't seem to have a hope of happening.

The only reason I can see at this point for not announcing things is that they're waiting on some results from January. So I'm going to guess something like three of these:

Pereira v Anaklaev/Walker winner
Adesanya v DDP/Strickland winner
Edwards v Belal
Maybe one of the WMMA belts - Grasso or Weili defending

I like the idea out there of Max v Emmett. If you do three title fights, Max/Emmett, and Jiri/Rakic that's a pretty great main card IMO.

 

[pistolpete11]

This exact scenario was brought up on a podcast from earlier this week and it makes sense to me, albeit I find it a bit underwhelming.

I think it's probably going to be underwhelming.

I throw out some bad fights on here myself sometimes, but MK is awful at putting together hypothetical fights. So much of what they went into on the last show was stuff that has already been shot down or really doesn't seem to have a hope of happening.

The only reason I can see at this point for not announcing things is that they're waiting on some results from January. So I'm going to guess something like three of these:

Pereira v Anaklaev/Walker winner
Adesanya v DDP/Strickland winner
Edwards v Belal
Maybe one of the WMMA belts - Grasso or Weili defending

I like the idea out there of Max v Emmett. If you do three title fights, Max/Emmett, and Jiri/Rakic that's a pretty great main card IMO.

I didn't like their cards too much, but to be fair, Gaethje-Max wasn't their idea. I've seen that floated before.

 

[pistolpete11]

Izzy/Pereira for the 205 belt?

I think Izzy might be the only available star big enough to be a passable UFC 300 headliner and Pereira for the 205 belt would fit the bill IMO.

However, I have my doubts that Izzy would be interested. Beating him last time was such a triumphant moment for him. He FINALLY got by him in a storybook ending. Does he really want to risk spoiling that?

 

[CDJ]

The hard thing for me with Gaethje is how badly outclassed he is in some pretty major areas of MMA. He's got a great chin, great kicks, good hands, great cardio, but Khabib and Oliveira make him look like an absolute novice the second they get into grappling exchanges. I understand Gaethje wants to stand and bang, but I just don't see any evolution in those areas, which is unfortunate. Because of that, him vs Islam isn't terribly compelling for me. It's the classic puncher's chance fight.

I am so tired of hearing about Conor. I saw a headline about how impressive it'd be for him to have TKOs in 4 weight classes. Umm, yeah, if you were fighting guys who were actually from that weight class. He has one win in seven years and it's against a washed up Cerrone. Just go away already.

Any rumors as to what will headline 300? The card will obviously be very solid, but I can't think of a compelling headliner. Super quick turnaround with Adesanya fighting the winner at 297? Aspinall-Pereira for the interim HW belt. I feel like this is their just in case headliner.

It’s not even grappling as a whole for Gaethje, it’s specifically his BJJ game that lacks. He actually has really good wrestling, it just isn’t gonna hold up against Khabib and it probably won’t hold up against Islam. Islam may humor him by striking for longer than Khabib but the fight probably hits the ground at some point and if it does then Islam is getting that sub

 

[MMC]

 

[16Skippy]

Don’t be too surprised if UFC 300 looks underwhelming. Remember UFC 200 was headlined by Tate-Nunes, and that was long before Nunes was a big name.

 

[Moncherry]

Don’t be too surprised if UFC 300 looks underwhelming. Remember UFC 200 was headlined by Tate-Nunes, and that was long before Nunes was a big name.

That was only because the Jones vs Cormier and McGregor fights fell through. There were still far bigger names/fights on the card, 200 was pretty stacked. Although I agree that 300 doesn't look to be shaping as anything special.

 

[pistolpete11]

That was only because the Jones vs Cormier and McGregor fights fell through. There were still far bigger names/fights on the card, 200 was pretty stacked. Although I agree that 300 doesn't look to be shaping as anything special.

The official story is that Conor vs. Nate 2 was pulled because of a contract dispute with Conor, but I don't believe that they actually wanted Conor on there. They know Conor is going to sell 1M PPV's regardless, so put him on his own PPV. UFC 200 already had Jones-DC 2 (which ended up selling 860,000 when they did fight) and Brock (who was usually good for 1M PPV himself) so it was a good bet to sell 1M PPV's anyway. Adding Conor wouldn't have brought in that many more.

I think they're using the same logic for UFC 300, but we just don't know what the card is going to look like yet.

 

[16Skippy]

That was only because the Jones vs Cormier and McGregor fights fell through. There were still far bigger names/fights on the card, 200 was pretty stacked. Although I agree that 300 doesn't look to be shaping as anything special.

True but that's kinda what I mean. We're already reaching for ways to make it a special card, and likely one or some of the big fights we're looking forward to being announced will fall through after the fact.

Hopefully they have something up their sleeves but it also wouldn't surprise me if we got unretired Masvial vs Garry/Neal winner, Gaethje vs Holloway for a made up belt, and Edward vs Belal.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

I know I'm now officially the get off my lawn guy, but has the UFC lost something over the years to all of you? Could simply be me being older and not caring as much, but the sport was SO much more compelling 10-15 years ago than it is today. And the crazy part is guys would probably be considered better now, and with ESPN they have far more exposure than ever before.

I realize this is handpicking to some degree and time treated it well, but compare UFC 100 to 300. The Lesnar-Mir fight was one of the biggest of all-time. You had one of the greatest champions of all-time in the co-main (GSP), you had an all-timer in Hendo deliver arguably the most memorable KO ever, a solid 4, and an exciting 5. The you had Dan Miller, Bonnar, Coleman, and Jon Jones on the undercard. And yes of course he wasn't Jones yet, but that is an unbelievable card.

Fast forward to UFC 200, you had ELEVEN champs on the card (several all-timers), along with Mousasi and Hunt. AND that's with Conor and Jones falling through.

I realize a lot can happen in 2.5 months, but I don't even know if 300 could compare to just a regular card from 10-15 years ago. I realize this won't be your headliner, but you have a guy who just got TKO'd by a guy who just got flatlined by a guy who just got dismantled by Sean friggin' Strickland. I realize I'm doing a lot of MMAth there to support my narrative, but Jiri has one good win, and it was 30 seconds from being a loss (if memory serves). Rakic arguably doesn't have a good win, and he's fought 3 times in 3 years and only won 2 of them.

And back to the idea that we're still 2.5 months away, but that's the other thing, you can't even imagine a scenario where this card becomes compelling. Pereira/Adesanya for the FIFTH time? I mean does that really excite anyone? Conor's a caricature at this point, him and Chandler at '85 would not have made this card a whole lot more interesting. This card needed Jones-Miocic BADLY. I do think we could look back in say 5 years and Aspinall (who I'm just adding to the card speculatively) and Nickal are potential all-timers, but still, very underwhelming, at least for this old-timer.

 

[pistolpete11]

I know I'm now officially the get off my lawn guy, but has the UFC lost something over the years to all of you? Could simply be me being older and not caring as much, but the sport was SO much more compelling 10-15 years ago than it is today. And the crazy part is guys would probably be considered better now, and with ESPN they have far more exposure than ever before.

I realize this is handpicking to some degree and time treated it well, but compare UFC 100 to 300. The Lesnar-Mir fight was one of the biggest of all-time. You had one of the greatest champions of all-time in the co-main (GSP), you had an all-timer in Hendo deliver arguably the most memorable KO ever, a solid 4, and an exciting 5. The you had Dan Miller, Bonnar, Coleman, and Jon Jones on the undercard. And yes of course he wasn't Jones yet, but that is an unbelievable card.

Fast forward to UFC 200, you had ELEVEN champs on the card (several all-timers), along with Mousasi and Hunt. AND that's with Conor and Jones falling through.

I realize a lot can happen in 2.5 months, but I don't even know if 300 could compare to just a regular card from 10-15 years ago. I realize this won't be your headliner, but you have a guy who just got TKO'd by a guy who just got flatlined by a guy who just got dismantled by Sean friggin' Strickland. I realize I'm doing a lot of MMAth there to support my narrative, but Jiri has one good win, and it was 30 seconds from being a loss (if memory serves). Rakic arguably doesn't have a good win, and he's fought 3 times in 3 years and only won 2 of them.

And back to the idea that we're still 2.5 months away, but that's the other thing, you can't even imagine a scenario where this card becomes compelling. Pereira/Adesanya for the FIFTH time? I mean does that really excite anyone? Conor's a caricature at this point, him and Chandler at '85 would not have made this card a whole lot more interesting. This card needed Jones-Miocic BADLY. I do think we could look back in say 5 years and Aspinall (who I'm just adding to the card speculatively) and Nickal are potential all-timers, but still, very underwhelming, at least for this old-timer.

Over saturation. In 2009, they had 20 events. They had 43 last year.

There's probably a bit of just bad luck and bad timing, too. Huge stars like Brock, Ronda, and Conor only come around every once in a while. Some of their other more reliable PPV draws the last couple of years aren't available for whatever reason. Jones is hurt. Izzy lost. Nate left. Masvidal retired. Islam is (probably) not available for Ramadan. Like I said above, I think they want Conor on his own PPV.

 

[MMC]

 

[Avs_19]

Two great fights and ones I can’t believe are actually happening. Good on Poirier and Oliveira for taking those fights. I imagine they had to be convinced in a big way but whatever it takes.

 

[CDJ]

Ooooo baby

Maybe my Benoit Saint-Denis championship prediction is in the cards for 2023 after all. Beat DP, beat ?, beat Islam. It’s quite simple really lmao

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Ohhhhhh myyyyy those are awesome fights.

The winner of Charles vs Arman gets Islam this summer... Helwani is saying Islam is banged up and won't fight before then.

 

[m9]

Oliveira v Tsyrukan had kind of been out there but I'm glad they got it done. Great fight.

Really like BSD v Poirier as well.

The Islam stuff is interesting. So he'll be back in the summer (lets face it, likely Abu Dhabi in September) but I wonder what that means for Gaethje. Max is the name out there that would be really fun and makes a ton of sense as neither guy has any other obvious fight.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

 

[Taytro]

Oliveira v Tsyrukan had kind of been out there but I'm glad they got it done. Great fight.

Really like BSD v Poirier as well.

The Islam stuff is interesting. So he'll be back in the summer (lets face it, likely Abu Dhabi in September) but I wonder what that means for Gaethje. Max is the name out there that would be really fun and makes a ton of sense as neither guy has any other obvious fight.

We gotta stop throwing Gaethje into high profile but low reward fights. We saw when he won the interim belt how much the real belt means to him, I don't think he's going to potentially throw away a title shot for one of these high profile fights I keep seeing on here. Max vs Gaethje will still be a potential option after a title fight, but a title fight might not be an option after a Max or Olivera fight or something.

Gaethje needs to wait, get his shot, maybe lose, then put all his eggs into the exciting fight basket.

 

[pistolpete11]

Wow.

Poirier vs. BSD
- Surprised Poirier would take that fight. Good on him.
- These guys must view BSD as beatable for some reason. Didn't Dariush also call him out?
- I'm surprised they didn't put this on UFC 300. First of all, Poirier's a pretty big star and UFC 300 still needs some stars and UFC 299 is already a solid PPV. Second, if would give them some options to move stuff around if there are injuries, weight misses, etc. with Charlie Olives-Arman.
- Tough fight for Poirier IMO. BSD can crack, but can also wrestle and has a submission game.

Oliveira vs. Arman
- Banger.
- No idea what to expect, but I picked Arman to be champ at the end of 2024, so I guess I gotta go with him .

 

[m9]

Wow.

Poirier vs. BSD
- Surprised Poirier would take that fight. Good on him.
- These guys must view BSD as beatable for some reason. Didn't Dariush also call him out?
- I'm surprised they didn't put this on UFC 300. First of all, Poirier's a pretty big star and UFC 300 still needs some stars and UFC 299 is already a solid PPV. Second, if would give them some options to move stuff around if there are injuries, weight misses, etc. with Charlie Olives-Arman.
- Tough fight for Poirier IMO. BSD can crack, but can also wrestle and has a submission game.

Oliveira vs. Arman
- Banger.
- No idea what to expect, but I picked Arman to be champ at the end of 2024, so I guess I gotta go with him .

Poirier fights out of Florida and is from Louisiana so maybe he just wanted that fight vs having to go to Vegas or somewhere else. I know he's talked in the past about it being difficult for him to do fights & fight camps while his kids are in school so maybe the proximity helps.

We gotta stop throwing Gaethje into high profile but low reward fights. We saw when he won the interim belt how much the real belt means to him, I don't think he's going to potentially throw away a title shot for one of these high profile fights I keep seeing on here. Max vs Gaethje will still be a potential option after a title fight, but a title fight might not be an option after a Max or Olivera fight or something.

Gaethje needs to wait, get his shot, maybe lose, then put all his eggs into the exciting fight basket.

I agree in general, but Gaethje is going to have a looooong layoff during his prime years here for a title shot that there's no guarantee he gets. He beat Poirier in July 2023 and waiting for a title shot probably means he is looking at early 2025 at the soonest to get that title shot.

 

[pistolpete11]

We gotta stop throwing Gaethje into high profile but low reward fights. We saw when he won the interim belt how much the real belt means to him, I don't think he's going to potentially throw away a title shot for one of these high profile fights I keep seeing on here. Max vs Gaethje will still be a potential option after a title fight, but a title fight might not be an option after a Max or Olivera fight or something.

Gaethje needs to wait, get his shot, maybe lose, then put all his eggs into the exciting fight basket.

I don't know why you're so confident he can wait another ~year+ and still get the next title shot. He's been waiting 6 months as is and they just passed him up to put 2 other guys in a #1 contender fight.

 

[pistolpete11]

Poirier fights out of Florida and is from Louisiana so maybe he just wanted that fight vs having to go to Vegas or somewhere else. I know he's talked in the past about it being difficult for him to do fights & fight camps while his kids are in school so maybe the proximity helps.

I didn't think of UFC 299 being in Miami. Might be something to fighting in front of his second hometown crowd.

I don't think it changes anything about the fight camp being difficult, though, and fighting in Vegas can't be that much more difficult for him. He's only there for Fight Week anyway.

 

[Mickey Marner]

Sure makes it seem like Holloway vs Gaethje for the BMF belt is going to happen.