MMA General Discussion and Fight Announcements 11

[m9]

Usman/Covington and Gaethje/Chandler? That's quite the start to a PPV lineup.

 

[pistolpete11]

Was the obvious fight to make. Glad it got done.

 

[CDJ]

Usman/Covington and Gaethje/Chandler? That's quite the start to a PPV lineup.

I am hyperventilating

 

[m9]

I assume it means Oliveira/Poirier is pretty much a done deal at some point later this year as well.

 

[MMC]

 

[MMC]

 

[MMC]

 

[MMC]

 

[MMC]

 

[Chaels Arms]

I wonder what the plan is for Beneil.

 

[SuperScript29]

I wonder what the plan is for Beneil.

Beneil's camp said they wanted him to be a backup fighter for the title. Thing is I can't help but think this may be a bad move for him, on one end yes, he could get dibs on the title if that fight falls apart somehow, but the smart thing was to book him against one of Gaethje, Chandler, or Islam in the same night as Oliveira/Poirier, that way if the main event falls apart he can step in. Now he's gonna cut weight and prepare for a match that he's likely not gonna fight, and then what? Probably get booked to fight Islam beginning of next year for a title eliminator (Should Islam beat RDA that is).

If I'm Beneil's management, screw this backup fighter stuff and just take the rest of the year off. Islam will likely get the victory here and will be ready beginning of 2022 for a title eliminator.

 

[Avs_19]

Getting Jan/Glover and Sterling/Yan on free TV would be pretty cool. I can't imagine that PPV would sell all that well either so they'd get a lot more eyes on it this way.

 

[CDJ]

Looks like I’m putting a block in my calendar on a Saturday morning/afternoon then

hell yeah that’s sweet

 

[m9]

Really hope this fight actually happens - the build-up should be cringy as hell but the fight will be great.

Not sure about Garbrandt dropping, but this is a pretty fun fight for his first one.

Glad this got booked. It was the obvious fight to make but we all know that doesn't always work out. Obviously would have preferred a 5 round fight but that card should be great and I'm not going to complain about the free part.

 

[m9]

Beneil's camp said they wanted him to be a backup fighter for the title. Thing is I can't help but think this may be a bad move for him, on one end yes, he could get dibs on the title if that fight falls apart somehow, but the smart thing was to book him against one of Gaethje, Chandler, or Islam in the same night as Oliveira/Poirier, that way if the main event falls apart he can step in. Now he's gonna cut weight and prepare for a match that he's likely not gonna fight, and then what? Probably get booked to fight Islam beginning of next year for a title eliminator (Should Islam beat RDA that is).

If I'm Beneil's management, screw this backup fighter stuff and just take the rest of the year off. Islam will likely get the victory here and will be ready beginning of 2022 for a title eliminator.

I know Dariush wanted some time off since he was having a kid anyway, so maybe this all works out for him. He's the obvious fill-in if anyone drops off. I would also still be fine with him just fighting Dan Hooker on one of these cards. I know it doesn't completely make sense in terms of rankings but it's still a quality fight that keeps him busy. He's probably still 2 fights away from a title shot anyway.

 

[SuperScript29]

I know Dariush wanted some time off since he was having a kid anyway, so maybe this all works out for him. He's the obvious fill-in if anyone drops off. I would also still be fine with him just fighting Dan Hooker on one of these cards. I know it doesn't completely make sense in terms of rankings but it's still a quality fight that keeps him busy. He's probably still 2 fights away from a title shot anyway.

He's one fight away from a title shot, not two. The guy is on a 7 fight win streak, his last two opponents were top-10 and top-5, if his next victory is against anyone in the current top-5 then it's a title shot after that.

Also if his management got him to fight Hooker next then I'd question if they have the best intentions for him. Nothing against Hooker and I think he's a great fighter, but you don't matchup a guy that close to the belt to a #8 guy on a two fight losing streak. Hooker should probably fight Tony Ferguson next, that fight makes most sense.

 

[m9]

He's one fight away from a title shot, not two. The guy is on a 7 fight win streak, his last two opponents were top-10 and top-5, if his next victory is against anyone in the current top-5 then it's a title shot after that.

Also if his management got him to fight Hooker next then I'd question if they have the best intentions for him. Nothing against Hooker and I think he's a great fighter, but you don't matchup a guy that close to the belt to a #8 guy on a two fight losing streak. Hooker should probably fight Tony Ferguson next, that fight makes most sense.

I don't disagree that Dariush is one fight away based on merit, but he needs to fight a top guy to earn that title shot. Poirier will likely fight Oliveira, Chandler is fighting Gaethje. That brings us to the end of this year. Then next year, we are likely looking at the two winners of those fights facing each other. And then by that time in 2022, you have Conor and Islam both possibly in the mix as well. So how how does Dariush get that fight to earn the title shot?

I am only suggesting Hooker in that if Dariush wants a fight that's probably his only option for the near future. Not everyone can afford to sit out a year and wait for a fight, so I'm not sure if he can. If he can wait, then sure. If he wants to stay in shape and be ready if any of the top 4 guys fall out of these fights this fall, that's fine too.

 

[MMC]

 

[MMC]

 

[SuperScript29]

I don't disagree that Dariush is one fight away based on merit, but he needs to fight a top guy to earn that title shot. Poirier will likely fight Oliveira, Chandler is fighting Gaethje. That brings us to the end of this year. Then next year, we are likely looking at the two winners of those fights facing each other. And then by that time in 2022, you have Conor and Islam both possibly in the mix as well. So how how does Dariush get that fight to earn the title shot?

I am only suggesting Hooker in that if Dariush wants a fight that's probably his only option for the near future. Not everyone can afford to sit out a year and wait for a fight, so I'm not sure if he can. If he can wait, then sure. If he wants to stay in shape and be ready if any of the top 4 guys fall out of these fights this fall, that's fine too.

He said he can be ready end of this year or early next year. He fought in May and this would be like 6-8 month layoff, which he has had before, so not exactly out of action.

I think they could have booked him vs Islam end of this year to be honest, but looks like their manager whom they share has other plans. Best case scenario now is Islam beats RDA and faces Dariush for number one contender early 2022. Guys like Hooker and McGregor have no business being in the title picture nor fighting guys that close to the title for the time being.

 

[MMC]

He said he can be ready end of this year or early next year. He fought in May and this would be like 6-8 month layoff, which he has had before, so not exactly out of action.

I think they could have booked him vs Islam end of this year to be honest, but looks like their manager whom they share has other plans. Best case scenario now is Islam beats RDA and faces Dariush for number one contender early 2022. Guys like Hooker and McGregor have no business being in the title picture nor fighting guys that close to the title for the time being.

Why not? He looked great against Poirier

 

[CDJ]

Looks like they’re moving towards Rockhold-Strickland

 

[pistolpete11]

He said he can be ready end of this year or early next year. He fought in May and this would be like 6-8 month layoff, which he has had before, so not exactly out of action.

I think they could have booked him vs Islam end of this year to be honest, but looks like their manager whom they share has other plans. Best case scenario now is Islam beats RDA and faces Dariush for number one contender early 2022. Guys like Hooker and McGregor have no business being in the title picture nor fighting guys that close to the title for the time being.

Why hold Islam up 2 or 3 months for Dariush?

If Dariush wants to take time because he's having a kid or whatever his reasoning was, that's fine, but the division moves on without him. Dariush is not a big enough name to hold anything up for.

 

[m9]

He said he can be ready end of this year or early next year. He fought in May and this would be like 6-8 month layoff, which he has had before, so not exactly out of action.

I think they could have booked him vs Islam end of this year to be honest, but looks like their manager whom they share has other plans. Best case scenario now is Islam beats RDA and faces Dariush for number one contender early 2022. Guys like Hooker and McGregor have no business being in the title picture nor fighting guys that close to the title for the time being.

Right, but you completely missed my point. Who is Dariush going to fight later this year if not someone like Hooker? Everyone is booked up or soon will be.

I am fine with Dariush waiting but again, if he wants a fight and wants to get paid he's going to have to be a bit creative with his next fight.

 

[chicagoskycam]

He said he can be ready end of this year or early next year. He fought in May and this would be like 6-8 month layoff, which he has had before, so not exactly out of action.

I think they could have booked him vs Islam end of this year to be honest, but looks like their manager whom they share has other plans. Best case scenario now is Islam beats RDA and faces Dariush for number one contender early 2022. Guys like Hooker and McGregor have no business being in the title picture nor fighting guys that close to the title for the time being.

Conor vs Tony is the fight to make if either of them get back to it. They are on the downside at this point. I think both of them should retire TBH.