MMA General Discussion and Fight Announcements 8.0

[member 51464]

Two part question.

A) does Israel beat Romero?

B) If yes, can he put him away early?

I love how electric Israel is, and I worry a total war with Romero will make him not the same fighter on the other side. I just remember how Gastelum took him deep, and no disrespect to Gastelum, but Romero is a different kind of beast. If this is some 4 or 5 round war, Israel might not be the same even in victory.

Maybe I'm just overrating Romero. Lol. The dude is just a hard out if there ever was one.

 

[CDJ]

A) yes

b) I’ll go out on a limb and say yes. I bet he catches him coming in on a blitz.

like you said though it’s hard to find a tougher out than Yoel. I feel like his traps stabilize his head so his brain doesn’t rattle around when he gets popped

 

[pistolpete11]

I think Stylebender wins, but I don't think he will be able to finish him. Aren't vertebra in his neck fused together on top of his mountain traps?

 

[pistolpete11]

I've seen/heard this mentioned by a few people.

Jones vs. Stipe
Reyes vs. Jan for the interim belt

I don't hate it. I know the Jones to HW momentum has taken a hit since he lost barely beat Reyes, but it would be by far the biggest fight he could take. And both Reyes and Jan deserve a title shot. So it's a win for Jones, Stipe, Reyes, Jan, and the fans. That's a win-win-win-win-win.

But I expect him to fight Jan next. I think that breaks Mighty Mouse's title defense record.

As much as I'd like to see Stipe-Jones, I also think we have to see Stipe-DC 3 first, too.

 

[CDJ]

I think Stylebender wins, but I don't think he will be able to finish him. Aren't vertebra in his neck fused together on top of his mountain traps?

*krieger voice* also yes

chin is made of granite and I think those are big factors why

I think adesanya sees something in his game though and that’s why he called him out

 

[CDJ]

Cannonier has surgery to repair torn pectoral

Cannonier tore his pec. That sucks

 

[CDJ]

Michel Prazeres Suspended Two Years by USADA for Violating UFC Anti-Doping Policy

Michel Prazeres suspended 2 years for steroids. He misses weight a lot but he’s a solid fighter


Eryk Anders vs Krzysztof Jotko in Portland


Shevchenko vs Calderwood at 251. Poor Joanne

 

[chicagoskycam]

Michel Prazeres Suspended Two Years by USADA for Violating UFC Anti-Doping Policy

Michel Prazeres suspended 2 years for steroids. He misses weight a lot but he’s a solid fighter


Eryk Anders vs Krzysztof Jotko in Portland


Shevchenko vs Calderwood at 251. Poor Joanne

ha quick turn around for Shevchenko but that won’t do anything with Connor. Love watching her fight though

 

[pistolpete11]

ha quick turn around for Shevchenko but that won’t do anything with Connor. Love watching her fight though

Meh, I think it seems like a quick turn around because she just fought, but UFC 251 is still 3.5 months out. That's a pretty standard schedule for someone who took almost no damage and got through their fight without any injuries. If they waited a month to announce this, it would be like "Oh, OK."

 

[chicagoskycam]

Meh, I think it seems like a quick turn around because she just fought, but UFC 251 is still 3.5 months out. That's a pretty standard schedule for someone who took almost no damage and got through their fight without any injuries. If they waited a month to announce this, it would be like "Oh, OK."

Just relative to some of the other big names lately. I read she wanted to fight 3x this year so makes sense.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Unfortunately Shevchenko's talent is getting absolutely wasted right now. Calderwood? Coming off a loss and split decision win? Jesus.

I don't like Jones/Miocic and Reyes/Jan for the vacant belt. For two reasons. The first is DC deserves Stipe more than Jones does. Second, Santos has as equal a claim to a rematch as Reyes. Both fights were essentially draws, and Santos managed to do it on one leg, so you're completely screwing him if he's left out of the mix.

As for Adesanya/Romero, Adesanya is the rightful betting favorite, but we all know Romero is just an absolute freak. And outside from Cavalcante (at 205 and on a pretty flukey spinning backfist), he's never been finished by strikes (or sub). You just figure he'll struggle to find distance and then capitalize, and at some point time beats everyone and at 42/43 that decline's bound to come sooner than later.

 

[m9]

This obsession people have with Jones to HW just needs to go away. He has Jan, then probably a Reyes rematch. Then when Santos is back and wins a fight, that's a very good rematch too. By then we probably have a new contender like Rakic who has worked his way up. The LHW division is actually interesting again, can we just leave it be?

One interesting note I read is that Santos is expected back in the summer but the UFC offered him an unranked opponent for his return fight and he turned it down. Very strange they offered him someone that low, unless it was someone moving up or maybe a Luke Rockhold or Chris Weidman. I wonder if Santos would give it another shot at 185lbs - would love to see him fight Adesanya.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

One interesting note I read is that Santos is expected back in the summer but the UFC offered him an unranked opponent for his return fight and he turned it down. Very strange they offered him someone that low, unless it was someone moving up or maybe a Luke Rockhold or Chris Weidman. I wonder if Santos would give it another shot at 185lbs - would love to see him fight Adesanya.

This made absolutely no sense to me. Santos has as equal a claim to a rematch as Reyes IMO. He actually won according to one judge, and he did it on one leg. If I'm him I feel just as deserving as Reyes. I'd be upset too if they offered me some fringe top 10 guy.

 

[pistolpete11]

I don't like Jones/Miocic and Reyes/Jan for the vacant belt. For two reasons. The first is DC deserves Stipe more than Jones does. Second, Santos has as equal a claim to a rematch as Reyes. Both fights were essentially draws, and Santos managed to do it on one leg, so you're completely screwing him if he's left out of the mix.

Santos is still out, though. It's unfortunate for him, but he's hurt. The world goes round.

As m9 said, he's expected back this summer, but still that means he'll have been out a year. With there being other legitimate options for Jones, he'll probably have to win a fight before he's back in title contention. Also, it's probably a good idea for his first fight back from such a long layoff to not be Jon Jones.

This obsession people have with Jones to HW just needs to go away. He has Jan, then probably a Reyes rematch. Then when Santos is back and wins a fight, that's a very good rematch too. By then we probably have a new contender like Rakic who has worked his way up. The LHW division is actually interesting again, can we just leave it be?

It's not like people are just making it up out of nowhere, though. He and his team have been talking about it for a long time now and as recently as after the Reyes fight. He's even went as far to say it's inevitable.

And you're honestly telling me you'd rather see Jones-Jan than Stipe-Jones? If you would, you are in the vast, vast minority. Nobody is going to give a shit about Jones-Jan and Stipe-Jones would be one of the biggest fights of 2020.

Last point I'd make, a move to HW could actually benefit him. I think as he's getting older, he's starting to slow down and these other LHW are catching up to him. If he goes to HW, yeah, he'll be dealing with bigger guys, but he'll be faster than most (all?) of them as well.

 

[m9]

Santos is still out, though. It's unfortunate for him, but he's hurt. The world goes round.

As m9 said, he's expected back this summer, but still that means he'll have been out a year. With there being other legitimate options for Jones, he'll probably have to win a fight before he's back in title contention. Also, it's probably a good idea for his first fight back from such a long layoff to not be Jon Jones.


It's not like people are just making it up out of nowhere, though. He and his team have been talking about it for a long time now and as recently as after the Reyes fight. He's even went as far to say it's inevitable.

And you're honestly telling me you'd rather see Jones-Jan than Stipe-Jones? If you would, you are in the vast, vast minority. Nobody is going to give a shit about Jones-Jan and Stipe-Jones would be one of the biggest fights of 2020.

Last point I'd make, a move to HW could actually benefit him. I think as he's getting older, he's starting to slow down and these other LHW are catching up to him. If he goes to HW, yeah, he'll be dealing with bigger guys, but he'll be faster than most (all?) of them as well.

If you are asking me which fight I would rather see and then the world ends, of course it would be Miocic/Jones. But if my option is that fight or Miocic/Cormier 3 and Jones/Jan then it's definitely option #2. Then that's not even considering where the divisions go from there.

LHW is extremely interesting now because everyone has caught up to Jones, and if someone actually beats him it becomes even more interesting. If he leaves, a Reyes/Jan fight for a vacant or interim belt isn't that interesting to me. And then what, the winner fights Anthony Smith or Santos? Sounds like a division that nobody cares about anymore. HW doesn't need Jon Jones, LHW needs him.

When a long-term champ finally gets caught up to it's one of the most compelling things in the sport to me. Seeing Frankie Edgar beat BJ Penn,or Johnny Hendricks almost beat GSP.. this is what I want to see. I want to see the long-term champ fight in his division until he can't hang with the best anymore. I don't want to see them move up a division so we can have a super-fight for one night.

As for a move to HW benefiting him, hard to say. I do think there's a certain amount of people who want him to move up because they know that's his best chance of being violently KO'd which would make a lot of people happy.

 

[CDJ]

This made absolutely no sense to me. Santos has as equal a claim to a rematch as Reyes IMO. He actually won according to one judge, and he did it on one leg. If I'm him I feel just as deserving as Reyes. I'd be upset too if they offered me some fringe top 10 guy.

Agree with what you’re saying and I’ll take it a step further- he did it on zero legs. Needed major surgery on both of them


But I’m the boards resident Santos Stan. Favorite fighter out there.

 

[CDJ]

They should do Corey Anderson vs Santos this summer imo. Maybe Dom. There are plenty of possibilities for him


Chael put out a good video on Santos though- basically told him to take one of the scrub fights offered. It’s not a bad idea tbh. Especially coming off of double knee surgery


Edit: as an aside, Helwani thinks they are leaning towards booking Gaethje vs McGregor

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Last point I'd make, a move to HW could actually benefit him. I think as he's getting older, he's starting to slow down and these other LHW are catching up to him. If he goes to HW, yeah, he'll be dealing with bigger guys, but he'll be faster than most (all?) of them as well.

Jones is still phenomenal, don't get me wrong, but him going to HW was far more compelling when he was dominating at 205.

Also, for as great as he was/is, he does not have fight ending type power, and at HW that's gonna be a huge problem. And given his inability to secure takedowns anymore that means he's gonna have to stand with guys that all do have one shot fight ending power, who also have zero concern with his wrestling. That's not a good recipe for Jones.

Edit: as an aside, Helwani thinks they are leaning towards booking Gaethje vs McGregor

Not saying the report is wrong but I'd be absolutely shocked if they made this fight. I think Conor walks right through him but it's a higher risk lower reward fight that doesn't make a ton of sense from the UFC's perspective. Unless they run it at 170.

 

[pistolpete11]

If you are asking me which fight I would rather see and then the world ends, of course it would be Miocic/Jones. But if my option is that fight or Miocic/Cormier 3 and Jones/Jan then it's definitely option #2. Then that's not even considering where the divisions go from there.

LHW is extremely interesting now because everyone has caught up to Jones, and if someone actually beats him it becomes even more interesting. If he leaves, a Reyes/Jan fight for a vacant or interim belt isn't that interesting to me. And then what, the winner fights Anthony Smith or Santos? Sounds like a division that nobody cares about anymore. HW doesn't need Jon Jones, LHW needs him.

When a long-term champ finally gets caught up to it's one of the most compelling things in the sport to me. Seeing Frankie Edgar beat BJ Penn,or Johnny Hendricks almost beat GSP.. this is what I want to see. I want to see the long-term champ fight in his division until he can't hang with the best anymore. I don't want to see them move up a division so we can have a super-fight for one night.

As for a move to HW benefiting him, hard to say. I do think there's a certain amount of people who want him to move up because they know that's his best chance of being violently KO'd which would make a lot of people happy.

The world doesn't end either way, but to the bolded, no, you do the winner versus Jones. If Jones were to go to HW, that doesn't mean he has to stay at HW.

Most people barely know who Jan is and those that think he is next, it is again more of a he's the next guy up type of thing. Nobody really cares about that fight. But if he were to go out and beat Reyes for an interim belt, people would take notice. And if Reyes wins, a rematch with Jones to unify the belts would make the rematch even better. If Jones were to win the HW belt in the meantime, it makes either of those fights bigger, too.

I'm not strongly advocating for it, though. I just wouldn't hate to see it. The only fight that I have to see at LHW or HW is Stipe-DC 3 and that one is running out of time as I think DC gets closer to retirement with each passing day. But I've been saying for years that Jones should go to HW and let someone at LHW build up their name BEFORE fighting Jones. Jones deserves a certain amount of credit for just fighting the next guy up, but I've seen that enough recently. I want to see him in a big fight against a big name. Jan Blachowicz is not that.

It has nothing to do with wanting to see Jones getting violently KO'ed because I don't think think he'd get KO'ed by Stipe. It's certainly possible and that possibility is what makes the fight that damn exciting. Each guy would have a very real possibility of winning. THAT'S what it's about. You have to go back to the first DC fight where he was less than a -300 favorite going into the fight. Most he's a -500 or more favorite. I know the last couple turned out to be very close, but the 25min they are actually in the cage is only half the fun. The rest is the build up to the fight.

 

[pistolpete11]

Jones is still phenomenal, don't get me wrong, but him going to HW was far more compelling when he was dominating at 205.

Also, for as great as he was/is, he does not have fight ending type power, and at HW that's gonna be a huge problem. And given his inability to secure takedowns anymore that means he's gonna have to stand with guys that all do have one shot fight ending power, who also have zero concern with his wrestling. That's not a good recipe for Jones.

Not every HW fight ends in a KO and not every HW would have zero concern with his wrestling. It's entirely possible he could out box Stipe for 5 rounds. Stipe could KO him for sure, but it's not like he has touch of death power like Francis either. And a guy like Francis absolutely would be concerned about his wrestling. I believe Jones's wrestling isn't as dominant as it once was because he's not as explosive as he was (due to age and/or PEDs), but at HW, he'd be much quicker than most HW's still.

....although I don't think I'd advise Jones to take a fight with Francis. You do have to be perfect against Francis and the size difference is massive.

 

[m9]

The world doesn't end either way, but to the bolded, no, you do the winner versus Jones. If Jones were to go to HW, that doesn't mean he has to stay at HW.

Most people barely know who Jan is and those that think he is next, it is again more of a he's the next guy up type of thing. Nobody really cares about that fight. But if he were to go out and beat Reyes for an interim belt, people would take notice. And if Reyes wins, a rematch with Jones to unify the belts would make the rematch even better. If Jones were to win the HW belt in the meantime, it makes either of those fights bigger, too.

I'm not strongly advocating for it, though. I just wouldn't hate to see it. The only fight that I have to see at LHW or HW is Stipe-DC 3 and that one is running out of time as I think DC gets closer to retirement with each passing day. But I've been saying for years that Jones should go to HW and let someone at LHW build up their name BEFORE fighting Jones. Jones deserves a certain amount of credit for just fighting the next guy up, but I've seen that enough recently. I want to see him in a big fight against a big name. Jan Blachowicz is not that.

It has nothing to do with wanting to see Jones getting violently KO'ed because I don't think think he'd get KO'ed by Stipe. It's certainly possible and that possibility is what makes the fight that damn exciting. Each guy would have a very real possibility of winning. THAT'S what it's about. You have to go back to the first DC fight where he was less than a -300 favorite going into the fight. Most he's a -500 or more favorite. I know the last couple turned out to be very close, but the 25min they are actually in the cage is only half the fun. The rest is the build up to the fight.

I guess the simple way I can describe it is this -

I am intrigued by Jones at HW, but I am currently more intrigued with him at LHW for reasons above. Maybe things change, but that's where I'm at right now.

 

[member 51464]

Cannonier has surgery to repair torn pectoral

Cannonier tore his pec. That sucks

So if Till can get a visa, does he hang out just in case Romero misses weight and fluke himself into a title shot? Lol.

I'm trying to think who else might make sense for him on this timeline.

 

[Peter Griffin]

Looks like Weidman is heading back to MW against Jack Hermansson.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Looks like Weidman is heading back to MW against Jack Hermansson.

He really does not take easy fights. There was some talk he would this time but my guess is Hermansson is ranked right around 5. I like Weidman a lot but if he gets finished again in this one I think you've gotta call it a career.

 

[m9]

I actually like this matchup for Weidman. Not sure if he'll win but I give him a better chance than most of the other options he would have.