I will forever be grateful for the memes that Mr. Lobov bestowed upon us. "Choochoo motherf***ers" always gets at least a chuckle out of me.In a move that is sure to send shockwaves through the MMA community, the UFC cut ties with a legend.
Artem Lobov has been released.
It really is starting to get old. I think the only way to solve it is to start laying down some ground rules with the belt. You don't fight for 6 months, they create an interim belt. You don't fight for a year, they strip you. It doesn't matter if it's because you're hurt, if you're suspended, if you're out partying, if your out doing charity work, if you're boxing, if you're fighting in another division, if you're pouting because your friends were rightfully suspended. Whatever. They can't keep tying up divisions.Apparently Khabib isn't going to fight until November and he no longer wants to fight in Nevada. **** this guy. Tired of these divas holding up lightweight. Worst part is that Tony keeps getting screwed in all of this. At this point I'd love nothing more than to see Tony submit both Conor and Khabib.
235 is stacked.
Do interim champs get paid more? Or is the belt really only for show? If it comes with a pay bump, I could see Tony willing to fight for the interim belt again. Otherwise, he might as well wait for Khabib. The exception might be is if it is Conor. He might take that regardless. Don't know if Conor would if it's not for a belt, though.Fighters overreact and complain all the time so we'll have to see how it actually plays out with Khabib and Poirier, who are doing the overreacting and complaining right now. Hopefully Ferguson will be willing to fight for another interim belt because that'll solve a lot of issues in the short-term. At least Conor seems eager to get back in there.
Do interim champs get paid more? Or is the belt really only for show? If it comes with a pay bump, I could see Tony willing to fight for the interim belt again. Otherwise, he might as well wait for Khabib. The exception might be is if it is Conor. He might take that regardless. Don't know if Conor would if it's not for a belt, though.
That $500k likely converts into barely 5% of what Khabib made that night after PPV points. He'll calm down. Remember how he was going to quit altogether in support of his henchmen? If he truly doesn't want to fight in Vegas, they'll have him fight in LA or New York.
I'm pretty sure Conor said the same thing about Vegas when he got fined for throwing water bottles. Sure enough, he was back.
As for 5%, did Khabib get 10 million for that fight? That's a great payday if he did. I thought he would get around half that.
My coworker started watching MMA a couple years ago and recently sprung for Fight Pass. He's starting to go through some of the Pride fights now. My memories of Pride aren't as fresh now, but any recommendations I should toss his way?
All champs or ex-champs in the top four fights with game opponents. Jones likely walks through Smith, but Smith is at least a bit of wild card. Not sure what the lead-off fight is yet but I see three solid options including the Diego - Gall fight. It would be odd if that fight stays on the early prelims.Yeah, that's a great card. Best part is it's only about a month away too.
Normally, I think Zabit-Stephens would be the 5th fight on the main card. But I don't know if the prelims are on ESPN and if they will save it as the prelim main event like they did on ESPN+ 1 with Cowboy-Hernandez. You should be able to go to the UFC's website to find out for sure, but they still have Holly-Ladd listedAll champs or ex-champs in the top four fights with game opponents. Jones likely walks through Smith, but Smith is at least a bit of wild card. Not sure what the lead-off fight is yet but I see three solid options including the Diego - Gall fight. It would be odd if that fight stays on the early prelims.
Problem is if Conor wins. They are going to want him to fight for the belt. If he fights in July, wins, then has to wait for Khabib vs. Tony/Poirier in November, Conor wouldn't fight again until like March 2020 at the earliest.Sounds like the UFC is leaning towards McGregor v Cerrone for the summer, according to Dana. Would make sense as the Fight Week (July) headliner.
He also said that if Khabib waits until November they will probably have to do an interim title belt. So just do Conor v Cerrone for the interim belt? The issue would be Cerrone isn't really deserving and really jumps the line.
Maybe you do Poirier v Ferguson for the interim belt in April, Cerrone v Conor in the summer, then Khabib v Poirier/Ferguson winner when Khabib is back?
Maybe Iaquinta works in there somwhere.
What a mess.
Having Conor fight Cerrone for the interim belt is absolutely perfect for the UFC. Very sellable fight, and a very winnable fight for Conor. And if we're to believe Cowboy's tweet we're gonna get it. One would imagine on their big July card.
Oh no question. Ferguson especially. The appeal with Cerrone, as you know, is it's probably the most sellable fight, and also likely the most winnable fight. A rematch with Poirier, while certainly winnable, won't draw what Cerrone does, and while Ferguson could, there's legitimate risk that Conor loses. We all know how badly the UFC wants a Khabib rematch.The only issue is that Cerrone isn't even ranked in the top 5 of the division and I don't really remember the UFC granting interim title shots to guys that low before. If they're going to do an interim title fight involving Conor it should be with Ferguson or even Poirier.