OT: General UFC/MMA/Boxing discussion IX

[LyricalLyricist]

Should be an easy decision for Johnson.

I thought 1st 2 rounds can go either way but MJ won round 3 decisively.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

Don't blink, this could be over real quick.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Don't blink, this could be over real quick.

Prediction? I think Smith but it can go either way easily.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

Prediction? I think Smith but it can go either way easily.

Smith has a lot of momentum going in, I have him scoring another first round KO.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

Welp, my prediction is already off.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

I wonder if Oezdemir loses a lot of power round by round. I think Smith felt his power and is backing off a bit.

 

[MD thaivuN]

smith has godawful takedown defense. i know LHW is awful, but a lower mid-tier MW establishing himself has a top 5 LHW would be hilariously bad

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

We're getting into uncharted territory for both guys. Conditioning is going to be key. Can't say I've been all that impressed to be honest, neither guys seems poised to be big time challengers going forward.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Didn't expect that finish.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

I thought Oezdemir was going to win after that second round which seemed to drain Smith.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

Not a perfect performance but the finish might be enough to get Smith in position for a title fight. I can't see him giving either Jones or Gustafsson any problems though.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Not a perfect performance but the finish might be enough to get Smith in position for a title fight.

He will get one. He beat the #2.

Jones and Gus are already fighting.

All that's left is DC vs Jones/Gus. If DC doesn't fight then Smith would be the guy.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

I have no idea if DC will beat Lewis at UFC 230.

I mean, odds are strongly in DC's favor but Lewis is a big guy. Not easy to wrestle a guy like that for 5 rounds. IF DC keeps that entire time Lewis just needs one punch.

If I'm DC I take him to the ground and try to tired him out and submit him early.

 

[MD thaivuN]

I have no idea if DC will beat Lewis at UFC 230.

I mean, odds are strongly in DC's favor but Lewis is a big guy. Not easy to wrestle a guy like that for 5 rounds. IF DC keeps that entire time Lewis just needs one punch.

If I'm DC I take him to the ground and try to tired him out and submit him early.

Good Good, let DC fall into Lewis' trap. Everyone thinks it's a good idea to take Lewis down until he sweeps you with his superhuman strength.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

Good Good, let DC fall into Lewis' trap. Everyone thinks it's a good idea to take Lewis down until he sweeps you with his superhuman strength.

Cormier has more of a ground game than what Lewis has been against up to now though. He hasn't even been up against all that many pure grapplers in his career, it's probably been since Abdurakhimov and that was a couple years ago at least IIRC. Gonzaga has a very good BJJ background but he doesn't use it too much, I don't even remember him taking Lewis down at all.

 

[ImNeverWrong]

hearing about gsp vs khabib at a catch weight. talk about a dream fight.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

hearing about gsp vs khabib at a catch weight. talk about a dream fight.

Meh. Any fight with GSP and a decent opponent is a dream fight.

GSP vs Woodley, GSP vs McGregor, GSP vs Silva(back in the day), GSP vs Askren.

He's just so good anything looks great.

Khabib and him will be "I try to take you down vs you try to resist"

That simple. I'll be pumped for it but the hype will be better than the fight with him or Askren.

 

[Kriss E]

I have no idea if DC will beat Lewis at UFC 230.

I mean, odds are strongly in DC's favor but Lewis is a big guy. Not easy to wrestle a guy like that for 5 rounds. IF DC keeps that entire time Lewis just needs one punch.

If I'm DC I take him to the ground and try to tired him out and submit him early.

Another thing to consider, Lewis proved he still has KO power when completely exhausted.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Another thing to consider, Lewis proved he still has KO power when completely exhausted.

True but honestly it was a weird fight.

There was a part where Volkov hurt him but stopped because he thought he did an eye poke when he didn't. He let Lewis get out of danger free.

Also Volkov put zero pressure. It's like he gave Lewis time to recover.

Cormier isn't like that, he puts on the pressure and forces you. So...as long as DC is smart and doesn't rush into a punch he can outpace and outwrestle Derrick.

DC is the heavy favorite for me but Lewis can always surprise. I don't see DC letting Lewis catch his breath. Don't forget, he was gassed after 1-2 rounds with Volkov. This is a 5 round fight.

 

[Kriss E]

True but honestly it was a weird fight.

There was a part where Volkov hurt him but stopped because he thought he did an eye poke when he didn't. He let Lewis get out of danger free.

Also Volkov put zero pressure. It's like he gave Lewis time to recover.

Cormier isn't like that, he puts on the pressure and forces you. So...as long as DC is smart and doesn't rush into a punch he can outpace and outwrestle Derrick.

DC is the heavy favorite for me but Lewis can always surprise. I don't see DC letting Lewis catch his breath. Don't forget, he was gassed after 1-2 rounds with Volkov. This is a 5 round fight.

I don't see DC losing this...would be very disappointing.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

As far as I know, there's been absolutely nothing new on the GSP front, let alone anything concrete regarding Conor, outside of the fact that GSP would very much want that fight. The whole Askren situation has brought in a new element to the 170 mix and I could see the UFC trying real hard to convince George to be his first opponent. And him going '' what do I have to gain from this ? '' .

 

[pistolpete11]

As far as I know, there's been absolutely nothing new on the GSP front, let alone anything concrete regarding Conor, outside of the fact that GSP would very much want that fight. The whole Askren situation has brought in a new element to the 170 mix and I could see the UFC trying real hard to convince George to be his first opponent. And him going '' what do I have to gain from this ? '' .

There's nothing concrete. Just Ali's tweet that there is big news coming and another tweet from some Dagestan twitter handle that said Khabib vs. GSP is in the works. Supposedly that account announced Khabib vs. Conor well before everyone else. Who knows? Wouldn't be the first fight that misreported.

Yeah, I'd be shocked if GSP accepts Askren. Most people don't know enough about Askren, so a loss would look really bad for George and a win wouldn't mean much...to most people. Any lead up with Askren would be fun, though.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

There's nothing concrete. Just Ali's tweet that there is big news coming and another tweet from some Dagestan twitter handle that said Khabib vs. GSP is in the works. Supposedly that account announced Khabib vs. Conor well before everyone else. Who knows? Wouldn't be the first fight that misreported.

Yeah, I'd be shocked if GSP accepts Askren. Most people don't know enough about Askren, so a loss would look really bad for George and a win wouldn't mean much...to most people. Any lead up with Askren would be fun, though.

From how Askren has tweeted to George and spoken of him in interviews he doesn't say a bad thing. He talks shit to everyone and he seems to be begging GSP to go.

It's just not worth it.

GSP barely fights, he isn't going to put his legacy on the line to fight guys who are far more active and in his weight class.

If he goes down or up he can say it's not his natural weight and if he wins it's huge, 3 division champ for example.

Askren's presence at 170 is actually not good for Woodley IMO. I was thinking if Woodley kept winning he'd get GSP's attention but if Askren is clearing out the division for him(assuming Askren can) then what happens?

 

[pistolpete11]

From how Askren has tweeted to George and spoken of him in interviews he doesn't say a bad thing. He talks **** to everyone and he seems to be begging GSP to go.

It's just not worth it.

GSP barely fights, he isn't going to put his legacy on the line to fight guys who are far more active and in his weight class.

If he goes down or up he can say it's not his natural weight and if he wins it's huge, 3 division champ for example.

Askren's presence at 170 is actually not good for Woodley IMO. I was thinking if Woodley kept winning he'd get GSP's attention but if Askren is clearing out the division for him(assuming Askren can) then what happens?

Yeah, I'm not expecting Askren to try and trash someone like GSP like Conor did to Khabib, but he would poke at him and I just find him really funny.

I don't know. I think Woodley is about the worst possible matchup for GSP in the UFC right now (besides the middleweights, but GSP has no business being in that division anyway), so I have my doubts he would accept that fight regardless of how big of a name Woodley becomes or how many title defenses he has.

 

[Mike Mike Caron]

Yeah, I'm not expecting Askren to try and trash someone like GSP like Conor did to Khabib, but he would poke at him and I just find him really funny.

I don't know. I think Woodley is about the worst possible matchup for GSP in the UFC right now (besides the middleweights, but GSP has no business being in that division anyway), so I have my doubts he would accept that fight regardless of how big of a name Woodley becomes or how many title defenses he has.

I don't know if it's real, but Ben Askren said GSP don't want to fight KO artists at this point of his career because he wants to leave the game without any brain injury. He said that's why GSP is dodging Woodley.