MMA General Discussion and Fight Announcements 8.0

[pistolpete11]

I was gonna touch on this in my post because it is true, the problem as we know is it 100% is not happening. You put the mindset of a very strategic fighter in him who can follow a game plan and this fight gets very interesting. But rather than adopt that strategy he'll fight exactly how he always does, he'll lose, then he'll smile and say how "fun" it was. Personally I'd rather fight to win than fight to entertain, but to each his own.

Yeah, the things that make Cowboy a fan favorite are also the things that are frustrating about him if you are rooting for him to win a title. You've got to just accept that Cowboy is going to be Cowboy and his days of being able to win a title are likely over. So at the very least, I'm glad he is (hopefully) going to get a really big pay day. He'll always be one of my favorite fighters.

UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington, Holloway vs. Volkanovski, Nunes vs. GDR

UFC 246: McGregor vs. Cerrone

UFC 247: Jones vs. Reyes, Schevchenko vs. Chookagian

UFC 248: Zhang vs. Joanna, Adesanya vs. Romero (rumoured)

UFC 249: Khabib vs. Ferguson

That leaves Stipe and Cejudo as the only champs without fights scheduled assuming the Adesanya fight gets done. A 125 lb title fight involving Benavidez and another contender is also possible if Cejudo is forced to vacate.

Would still rather see Saurez vs. Zhang, depending on her status, but it's tough to argue Joanna getting the shot. Still the only person she's lost to at 115lbs is Rose. I don't see it ending well for Joanna, though. She might be equally skilled or even more skilled, but I think the power discrepancy is going to be too much for her.

Hopefully they put Cejudo on the same card as another title fight. He's still in that category of wanting to see the fight, but not enough to build a must-see PPV card around it, IMO.

Also, it would suck to wait until May to see Stipe-DC 3, but I can't imagine them upstaging Conor, Jones, Stylebender, or Khabib-Tony and you can't have a HW trilogy title fight not be the main event. So unless Stylebender-Romero falls through, then I guess there's no other options but to wait until May.

 

[m9]

Waiting on Miocic to fight again sucks, but I also wonder when they do a Masvidal fight as well. I could see them holding him out until next May/June/July for either the 170lb belt or vs Conor.

 

[CDJ]

Seems like there is some steam behind Ngannou vs Volkov

Also Corey Anderson vs Jan Blachowicz seems to be headlining a fight night in a couple of months. That would surely be a #1 contenders bout

 

[Avs_19]

Would still rather see Saurez vs. Zhang, depending on her status, but it's tough to argue Joanna getting the shot. Still the only person she's lost to at 115lbs is Rose. I don't see it ending well for Joanna, though. She might be equally skilled or even more skilled, but I think the power discrepancy is going to be too much for her.

Hopefully they put Cejudo on the same card as another title fight. He's still in that category of wanting to see the fight, but not enough to build a must-see PPV card around it, IMO.

Also, it would suck to wait until May to see Stipe-DC 3, but I can't imagine them upstaging Conor, Jones, Stylebender, or Khabib-Tony and you can't have a HW trilogy title fight not be the main event. So unless Stylebender-Romero falls through, then I guess there's no other options but to wait until May.

Saurez still isn't ready to return. She said she's getting treatment on her neck and has a MRI coming up and if it doesn't get better then she might have to get surgery.

I'd go with Zhang for pretty much the same reason. Joanna is still good and has only lost to the best but Zhang has been very impressive and has a lot of power for that weight class. I think you also have to wonder when the age and weight cuts will catch up to Joanna. I still wouldn't count her out though, especially if it went to a decision, because of her ability to fight both at range and the clinch work. The latter will be interesting because we've seen her bully some of the strawweights at times but I'm not sure if she'll be able to hold Zhang against the cage.

Hopefully it doesn't take until May for the HW title fight but it might have to. For those reasons you mention as well as Stipe possibly just being an ass. If that eye injury is the issue then obviously there isn't much you can do but it seems like he just wants to make DC wait. He also said something about DC not deserving the rematch after how the second fight went, even though DC was up on every score card going into the 4th round. He refused to fight for a year because he said he deserved an immediate rematch. Now, unless that eye is still bothering him, he might be refusing to fight because he doesn't think DC deserves a rematch and because he had to wait.

 

[m9]

Anthony Smith mentioned that on the radio that since he didn't get the Corey Anderson fight, he's signed another fight that should be announced soon.

Looking at the rankings, virtually nobody makes sense other than Glover so I'll assume that is the fight.

 

[pistolpete11]

Saurez still isn't ready to return. She said she's getting treatment on her neck and has a MRI coming up and if it doesn't get better then she might have to get surgery.

I'd go with Zhang for pretty much the same reason. Joanna is still good and has only lost to the best but Zhang has been very impressive and has a lot of power for that weight class. I think you also have to wonder when the age and weight cuts will catch up to Joanna. I still wouldn't count her out though, especially if it went to a decision, because of her ability to fight both at range and the clinch work. The latter will be interesting because we've seen her bully some of the strawweights at times but I'm not sure if she'll be able to hold Zhang against the cage.

Hopefully it doesn't take until May for the HW title fight but it might have to. For those reasons you mention as well as Stipe possibly just being an ass. If that eye injury is the issue then obviously there isn't much you can do but it seems like he just wants to make DC wait. He also said something about DC not deserving the rematch after how the second fight went, even though DC was up on every score card going into the 4th round. He refused to fight for a year because he said he deserved an immediate rematch. Now, unless that eye is still bothering him, he might be refusing to fight because he doesn't think DC deserves a rematch and because he had to wait.

Definitely can't count out JJ and a decision is probably her only route to victory. I just think it is kind of like Poirier-Max or Cyborg-Holly or Masvidal-Nate. Both good strikers, but when one can walk through the strikes and land shots that really make a difference, it's tough to overcome.

I think Stipe definitely is jerking around DC to some degree with his comments because he felt he was being jerked around by DC with the whole 'I'm going to fight Brock and if not it will be Stipe but wait a minute I'm going to fight Derrick Lewis real quick and then Brock but first I'm going to have back surgery'. I know a lot of people don't like Stipe, but I think he has a point and I think he had a point when he wanted the rematch initially. Plus DC kept saying Stipe would get the rematch if Brock didn't happen, so why would he fight anyone else until DC-Brock was signed? But if he was being honest, I think he knows the trilogy has to happen and would probably be his biggest payday anyway.

He said on Ariel's show a few weeks back that he has a doctor appointment in December, so hopefully he gets the go ahead, but as we've been discussing, there's not a lot of open cards to put that fight now. I can't really blame him. Your eyes aren't anything to mess with, so if he's not healthy yet, then tough shit, DC. Maybe you shouldn't have poked him in the eye so many times.

 

[Avs_19]

Definitely can't count out JJ and a decision is probably her only route to victory. I just think it is kind of like Poirier-Max or Cyborg-Holly or Masvidal-Nate. Both good strikers, but when one can walk through the strikes and land shots that really make a difference, it's tough to overcome.

I think Stipe definitely is jerking around DC to some degree with his comments because he felt he was being jerked around by DC with the whole 'I'm going to fight Brock and if not it will be Stipe but wait a minute I'm going to fight Derrick Lewis real quick and then Brock but first I'm going to have back surgery'. I know a lot of people don't like Stipe, but I think he has a point and I think he had a point when he wanted the rematch initially. Plus DC kept saying Stipe would get the rematch if Brock didn't happen, so why would he fight anyone else until DC-Brock was signed? But if he was being honest, I think he knows the trilogy has to happen and would probably be his biggest payday anyway.

He said on Ariel's show a few weeks back that he has a doctor appointment in December, so hopefully he gets the go ahead, but as we've been discussing, there's not a lot of open cards to put that fight now. I can't really blame him. Your eyes aren't anything to mess with, so if he's not healthy yet, then tough ****, DC. Maybe you shouldn't have poked him in the eye so many times.

I criticized DC as well with that Lewis situation where he clearly went for an easy pay day. With Lesnar, whoever won the first DC/Stipe fight was going to fight him next. Stipe ended up losing and then started talking about what he's owed and deserves and how it's disrespectful Lesnar gets to come back and jump ahead of everyone, even though he would've 100% done the same thing as DC had he won. I don't really dislike Stipe but he's just always complaining about something.

 

[member 51464]

I just think DC looked like a big bitch in the whole thing. I felt like he should have had a real fight like against an Ngannou rather than a perpetual gatekeeper like Lewis. Stipe had done more to get an immediate rematch with his title reign than DC ever did. So I sort of just want to see Ngannou splatter DC and have DC retire to the broadcast booth. I know, I know. It won't happen.

 

[m9]

DC didn't even want to fight again that early, they just gave him a ton of cash to save a MSG PPV that had no other option for a main event. I don't fault him at all for doing that.

Miocic acted like an entitled baby sitting out saying he deserved an immediate rematch. But hey, it worked out for him too.

So yeah, maybe you can fault both guys.. I know I did. They did what was right for their career though.

 

[CDJ]

There’s a lot of revisionist history in here

Stipe didn’t deserve an immediate rematch, he got starched in the first round. Just because he eventually won the 2nd fight doesn’t mean he deserved to be the next guy DC faced

“Perpetual gatekeeper” Derrick Lewis had won 9 of 10 with 7 finishes leading up to his title fight, and one of those wins was against a guy considered the “real fight” in Ngannou. As a matter of fact the “real fight” was on a 2 fight losing streak and had already recently fought for the title. There would be zero (0) justification in giving him a shot

 

[pistolpete11]

DC didn't even want to fight again that early, they just gave him a ton of cash to save a MSG PPV that had no other option for a main event. I don't fault him at all for doing that.

Miocic acted like an entitled baby sitting out saying he deserved an immediate rematch. But hey, it worked out for him too.

So yeah, maybe you can fault both guys.. I know I did. They did what was right for their career though.

I understand why DC did what he did and I don't really blame him for it, but it still jerked Stipe around. You can say he was being a baby, but when you're the most successful HW champ in UFC history, you're looking around and seeing the title fights and immediate rematches the UFC is giving out, and the guy that beat you is saying you deserve the rematch, why on Earth would you not try to get the rematch? Taking another fight, especially before DC-Brock was signed, would have been remarkably stupid for Stipe. He played it exactly as he should have and it worked out for him.

Now that the roles are reversed he's jerking DC around a little bit. It's petty and silly since the trilogy has to happen, but it's understandable why he would feel that way, too.

 

[m9]

I understand why DC did what he did and I don't really blame him for it, but it still jerked Stipe around. You can say he was being a baby, but when you're the most successful HW champ in UFC history, you're looking around and seeing the title fights and immediate rematches the UFC is giving out, and the guy that beat you is saying you deserve the rematch, why on Earth would you not try to get the rematch? Taking another fight, especially before DC-Brock was signed, would have been remarkably stupid for Stipe. He played it exactly as he should have and it worked out for him.

Now that the roles are reversed he's jerking DC around a little bit. It's petty and silly since the trilogy has to happen, but it's understandable why he would feel that way, too.

I just disagree with the premise that Miocic deserved an automatic rematch after getting knocked out in the first round. You can say he was most successful HW champion of all time, I can say he only won 3 fights as champion and both are true. Anyways, it worked out for everyone so it's all good.

 

[pistolpete11]

I just disagree with the premise that Miocic deserved an automatic rematch after getting knocked out in the first round. You can say he was most successful HW champion of all time, I can say he only won 3 fights as champion and both are true. Anyways, it worked out for everyone so it's all good.

It doesn't really matter what you or I thought he deserved. DC was publicly saying he deserved a rematch and he would give it to him if the Brock fight fell through. So on top of what he already felt he deserved, the champion was also saying he deserved it. So why would he not hold out for the rematch?

I know DC also at one point made comments that Stipe should win another fight first, too, but that even adds to the point that DC ended up jerking Stipe around (whether there were legitimate reasons for it or not).

 

[m9]

It doesn't really matter what you or I thought he deserved. DC was publicly saying he deserved a rematch and he would give it to him if the Brock fight fell through. So on top of what he already felt he deserved, the champion was also saying he deserved it. So why would he not hold out for the rematch?

I know DC also at one point made comments that Stipe should win another fight first, too, but that even adds to the point that DC ended up jerking Stipe around (whether there were legitimate reasons for it or not).

I think DC's opinion changed over time, and are exactly how I feel.

Yeah m,aybe Miocic deserved the immediate rematch but when it didn't happen go and win a fight and we'll run it back after. Why should the champ defend and the guy who got knocked out sit around waiting? That just doesn't happen very often.

 

[pistolpete11]

I think DC's opinion changed over time, and are exactly how I feel.

Yeah m,aybe Miocic deserved the immediate rematch but when it didn't happen go and win a fight and we'll run it back after. Why should the champ defend and the guy who got knocked out sit around waiting? That just doesn't happen very often.

Why would it change? The only reason it took so long to happen was because DC was waiting for Brock, then took (which he basically admitted) an easier fight in Lewis because he didn't want to fight Stipe on short notice, waited some more for Brock, and then had back surgery. That's not Stipe's fault. If it's anyone's fault it was DC, especially with his mixed messages in the media.

 

[Kevin27NYI]

UFC put up RDA vs Colby, watching Colby is so impressive, just constant constant constant pressure

 

[CDJ]

UFC put up RDA vs Colby, watching Colby is so impressive, just constant constant constant pressure

I very much think he’s annoying but he’s really high quality in there. Doesn’t give his opponents a chance to breathe. The output in the lawler fight was absurd. Thank goodness he has pillow paws or else he would be really hurting people

 

[m9]

Why would it change? The only reason it took so long to happen was because DC was waiting for Brock, then took (which he basically admitted) an easier fight in Lewis because he didn't want to fight Stipe on short notice, waited some more for Brock, and then had back surgery. That's not Stipe's fault. If it's anyone's fault it was DC, especially with his mixed messages in the media.

Because the situation changed. Miocic was waiting for the DC fight, he didn't get it. So go fight someone else.

 

[pistolpete11]

Because the situation changed. Miocic was waiting for the DC fight, he didn't get it. So go fight someone else.

That doesn't make any sense to me. It only changed because DC chose to fight Lewis instead of Stipe. If Stipe had turned down the rematch at any point, sure, DC should move on. But that's not what happened.

I really see no way that DC wasn't jerking Stipe around. He should have:

1. Said from the beginning, "Dude, I just KOed you in the first round. Go win a fight and maybe you'll get your rematch."

2. Even after the Lewis cash grab, continued to say "I'll still fight Stipe if I don't get the Brock fight. I just wasn't going to do it on short notice."

It's really that simple. But to act like "I won another fight. Why shouldn't he have to?" when you admitted you took an easy payday instead of giving him the rematch like you said you would?

 

[m9]

I don't really care. It worked out for both guys, good for them.

 

[Avs_19]

We lost the Ortega vs. TKZ fight in a few weeks after Ortega messed up his knee. That's one I really wanted to see so that sucks but the good news is that Frankie jumped in and took the TKZ fight now. I don't know if it'll end up being a good idea for him but I like it as a fan. Biggest loser in all of this might be Sandhagen, who no longer has a fight in January now.

 

[Peter Griffin]

We lost the Ortega vs. TKZ fight in a few weeks after Ortega messed up his knee. That's one I really wanted to see so that sucks but the good news is that Frankie jumped in and took the TKZ fight now. I don't know if it'll end up being a good idea for him but I like it as a fan. Biggest loser in all of this might be Sandhagen, who no longer has a fight in January now.

Apparently Frankie still wants to keep the Sandhagen fight, but that all depends on how healthy he comes out of the fight with Korean Zombie.

 

[m9]

Is anyone healthy after a fight with TKZ?

 

[Avs_19]

Apparently Frankie still wants to keep the Sandhagen fight, but that all depends on how healthy he comes out of the fight with Korean Zombie.

Is anyone healthy after a fight with TKZ?

Certainly possible with an early finish but that's a tough ask. Like m9 is saying, you're most likely going to be hurting after fighting TKZ regardless of whether you win or lose.

 

[Peter Griffin]

Ya I think it’s wishful thinking on Edgar’s part but it was mentioned in one of the articles I read announcing Edgar as Ortega’s replacement. Perhaps he still ends up fighting Sandhagen but at a later date.

Edit: Just after posting this, I see this article:

Cory Sandhagen doubts Frankie Edgar will leave Chan Sung Jung bout unscathed