MMA General Discussion and Fight Announcements 7.0

[Rocko604]

Not sure how to feel about Big John in the booth. He did some work with the Fight Network back in the day but wasn't anything special in that role. I don't think he was bad either though and he probably knows the rules as well as anyone else out there. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

It sounds like Jimmy Smith going to the UFC is all but official as well. They already have a bunch of good guys like Rogan, DC, Cruz, and Felder so I'm not sure exactly where he'll fit. Rogan only does the NA PPVs now so maybe they'll add Smith to the other shows and we'll see a lot more three man booths going forward.

Big John interviews very well. I remember him being interviewed after the Mousasi/Weidman fallout and the way he explained everything was crystal clear and easy to understand. So, he's well spoken, can that translate to doing colour commentary? I hope so, but we'll see.

UFC landing Smith would be a great move. Sad that everyone accuses him of being a Rogan knock off even though he was bald before Rogan and was doing MMA colour before he went to Bellator, but I digress. I expect he'll be used for the main Fox cards, and eventually take over the PPV role when Rogan leaves. I REALLY hope they get rid of the 3 man booth all together, though. At the very least I want DC gone. He's a great analyst, can't stand him doing colour. Felder and Cruz are much better.

 

[1specter]

Whittaker out of UFC 221 due to injury, f***. Was really looking forward to that fight. Romero is now filling in for the interim title.

 

[m9]

Looking ahead at the upcoming PPVs, I wonder if the UFC is going to be announcing some main events soon.

The first thing that will be done is announce the new TUF coaches. Rumors of Woodley v Covington. The season will feature only undefated fighters, with the coaches likely fighting around Fight Week in the summer.

UFC 220 is the double main event - Miocic & Cormier defending this month. The card is kind of hilariously bad after that, I don't even know if they've released the bout order.

UFC 221 is Whittaker/Rockhold next month. Right now Mark Hunt v Curtis Blaydes is the co-main. I would have to think they will add another high-end fight to that card. Couple rumors about Cyborg defending again here, but I think they will end up adding a Rose title defense vs Tecia Torres as the co-main here. So if you get the two title fights and a Hunt/Blaydes fight, you're looking at a solid card.

So you have UFC 222 (March), UFC 223 (April), and UFC 224 (May) all left, with these title fights to disperse:

Cyborg v Nunes (Champ v Champ)
DJ v Dillashaw (Champ v Champ)
Khabib v Ferguson (Strip Conor, will be for the lightweight belt)
Holloway v Edgar (145 belt)
Tyron Woodley v Colby Covington(?)
Nicco Montano v Sijara Eubanks (Could be a free TV main event)

Lots of different directions to go. I think you try to do Khabib/Ferguson sooner so that you can get the potential Fight Week fight v Conor at the beginning of July.

So they decided to not add another title fight to UFC 221.

UFC 222 gets Max v Edgar. No co-main event as of now, though there are still more fights to add.

UFC 223 gets Khabib v Ferguson & the rumor is Rose v Joanna rematch in the co-main. That lines up for a Conor return in the summer.

No word on next fights for the woman's strap at 125, 135, or, 145. Also nothing yet for DJ, Woodley or Dillashaw.

 

[1specter]

Really hope Khabib-Ferguson finally comes through without issue. Can't handle blue balls again with a last minute Khabib injury or weight issues. Thankfully, seems like he has figured that out for the time being.

Rumours also floating around that UFC is looking to do a Russia card in September. I guess their hope is that Khabib can beat Tony and set up Khabib vs Conor in Russia. Would be interesting if Tony won and completely threw a wrench in that plan lol.

I just hope they strip McGregor of the belt, it's a pretty huge joke if Tony is defending an interim belt.

 

[Rocko604]

They won't strip Conor. Dana probably came to him with an ultimatum to fight by August, Conor told him to f*** off, and Dana said, "yes, Daddy."

Winner will fight Conor at MSG in November.

Remember hearing an interview with Khabib (can't remember how long ago, however) saying that the UFC won't host an event in Russia because the mob will want a huge fee. I don't know how true that is, but it's Russia, so I'm leaning towards it being true.

 

[Avs_19]

They won't strip Conor. Dana probably came to him with an ultimatum to fight by August, Conor told him to **** off, and Dana said, "yes, Daddy."

They've already stripped him once and I'll be surprised if they don't do it again.

 

[LSCII]

Really hope Khabib-Ferguson finally comes through without issue. Can't handle blue balls again with a last minute Khabib injury or weight issues. Thankfully, seems like he has figured that out for the time being.

Rumours also floating around that UFC is looking to do a Russia card in September. I guess their hope is that Khabib can beat Tony and set up Khabib vs Conor in Russia. Would be interesting if Tony won and completely threw a wrench in that plan lol.

I just hope they strip McGregor of the belt, it's a pretty huge joke if Tony is defending an interim belt.

I have zero faith in Ferguson vs Khabib ever happening. Heard this story too many times.

 

[darko]

Not sure how to feel about Big John in the booth. He did some work with the Fight Network back in the day but wasn't anything special in that role. I don't think he was bad either though and he probably knows the rules as well as anyone else out there. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

It sounds like Jimmy Smith going to the UFC is all but official as well. They already have a bunch of good guys like Rogan, DC, Cruz, and Felder so I'm not sure exactly where he'll fit. Rogan only does the NA PPVs now so maybe they'll add Smith to the other shows and we'll see a lot more three man booths going forward.

Always liked Smith on Bellator.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Sonnen weighed in at 222, Rampage 253. Rampage looked HUGE. Not fat either. Sonnen looked decent for 222. Should be interesting if nothing else. I wanna say Rampage was around -170 last time I looked?

 

[Avs_19]

The Bellator card isn't bad at all. Rory is arguably the best WW out there and Lima is solid as well so that should be a good fight. I think it's the second best fight this weekend behind Miocic/Ngannou. Rampage/Sonnen probably won't be any good but I just can't quit Rampage for some reason. Chandler is usually fun to watch.

I don't like the fact that they're on the same night but at least Bellator starts an hour earlier. They also made Rory/Lima the co-main event so hopefully it ends before DC/Volkan starts.

 

[Kitten Mittons]

Why did Bellator decide to go head to head? Wouldn't it be better to make their PPVs on Fridays? Cockblock UFC that way?

 

[Rocko604]

Why did Bellator decide to go head to head? Wouldn't it be better to make their PPVs on Fridays? Cockblock UFC that way?

They didn't. UFC 220 was announced after the Bellator card was.

The Rory/Lima fight finished before DC/Oezdemir so I was able to jump back to the UFC.

 

[LSCII]

Sonnen weighed in at 222, Rampage 253. Rampage looked HUGE. Not fat either. Sonnen looked decent for 222. Should be interesting if nothing else. I wanna say Rampage was around -170 last time I looked?

It wasn't decent. Rampage looked fat, slow, and tired from the opening bell. Sonnen won by default, just by throwing a few punches and scoring a take down each round. Laughable fight, but I wanted Sonnen to win, so it went the way I hoped.

 

[LSCII]

Why did Bellator decide to go head to head? Wouldn't it be better to make their PPVs on Fridays? Cockblock UFC that way?

They put on a pretty decent card and it was really to promote the new Paramount Network they're going to be airing on.

 

[LSCII]

The Bellator card isn't bad at all. Rory is arguably the best WW out there and Lima is solid as well so that should be a good fight. I think it's the second best fight this weekend behind Miocic/Ngannou. Rampage/Sonnen probably won't be any good but I just can't quit Rampage for some reason. Chandler is usually fun to watch.

I don't like the fact that they're on the same night but at least Bellator starts an hour earlier. They also made Rory/Lima the co-main event so hopefully it ends before DC/Volkan starts.

Chandler put a beating on Yamauchi. It was as one sided as it gets. Yama took a ton of punishment, but to his credit, he didn't get finished.

 

[1specter]

According to White, who spoke to TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter following Saturday’s UFC 220 event at TD Garden in Boston, Whittaker was dealing with a staph infection in his stomach that did not receive proper treatment. As a result, the 185-pound champ apparently is in serious condition.
“He had staph infection in his stomach,” White said. “From what I understand it wasn’t treated properly and started to eat away at parts of his organs. He’s in serious condition, so it’s going to be a minute before he’s back, I think. Hopefully it turns around quick, but that stuff is life threatening if not treated the right way.”
After winning the interim title against Romero at UFC 213 in July, Whittaker was promoted to undisputed champion in December when Georges St-Pierre vacated the strap due to a medical condition.
Whittaker was set to get his first title defense on home soil at UFC 221, which takes place at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia, but now his future is unknown.

Poor guy, that sounds pretty scary. Hope he comes back soon, he's super talented.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

It wasn't decent. Rampage looked fat, slow, and tired from the opening bell. Sonnen won by default, just by throwing a few punches and scoring a take down each round. Laughable fight, but I wanted Sonnen to win, so it went the way I hoped.

Yeah no that comment was before the fights, I was referring to the weigh-in. Fight was definitely pretty dull.

 

[LSCII]

Morning Report: Khabib Nurmagomedov hints at not giving Conor McGregor title shot if he beats Tony Ferguson

It's so funny seeing this and hearing Khabib putting the cart before the horse. Focus on your fight with Tony before you start spouting off whom you're willing to defend against, FFS. Also, he doesn't have any real say. White will have whomever wins between the two fight McGregor as soon as McG comes back, so the title will be legitimized officially.

 

[Kitten Mittons]

Sure Khabib. Go fight some rando at LW; while Conor makes millions rematching with Diaz.... for the belt. Just because he's popular among Dagestanis and Chechens who don't pay a dime for PPV, doesn't mean he has any power here in NA lol.

 

[1specter]

It's just posturing, there's no way he doesn't fight McGregor if he's champ and Conor is willing to.

 

[Rocko604]

So are they even going to strip McGregor since Tony/Khabib is for the real title? Or, are they just going to name Conor the lineal champion and call him that until he comes back? After all, Dana really wants to go into boxing, why not bring in lineal titles?

Or, are they going to wait until after the Tony/Khabib fight and then bring Conor out with his belt to confront the winner ala CM Punk/John Cena on Monday Night Raw? You may recall Cena won what was supposed to be a vacant title on that particular night because two weeks earlier Punk beat Cena at Money in the Bank to win the title but then left with the belt because his "contract expired".

 

[member 51464]

Have any of you watched The Hurt Business? It is a documentary about MMA from a few years ago. It is interesting to see now knowing what has happened to some of these people since.

 

[m9]

Have any of you watched The Hurt Business? It is a documentary about MMA from a few years ago. It is interesting to see now knowing what has happened to some of these people since.

Yes I have, and I really enjoyed it.

I would also recommend Dawg Fight to MMA fans. Completely different but very good.

 

[member 51464]

Yes I have, and I really enjoyed it.

I would also recommend Dawg Fight to MMA fans. Completely different but very good.

I liked that one as well. Though, it seemed like a bad stand-up in Dada's fight at the end, haha.

 

[Avs_19]

Now that's a true superfight. I don't like them screwing around with divisions and holding up belts but I don't think there's really a true #1 contender in either division right now.

In that article Helwani says they might be looking to do TJ vs. DJ and Cyborg vs. Nunes on the same card. It'd make for a huge card but I'm not sure how well that'd go overall because you'd be holding up six divisions until July 7th. I guess the good thing is there's not a whole lot going on at men's 125/135 and women's 135/145.