MMA General Discussion and Fight Announcements 8.0

[YNWA14]

I feel like Tony would eat Conor but I forgot that Cowboy wasnt official yet. If they make that fight it would be the only thing that makes sense IMO about Ferguson turning down Holloway.

A win here is the only legitimate shot Conor has at getting the Khabib rematch, also.

 

[m9]

I actually think Ferguson is an okay matchup for Conor because Ferguson is so easy to hit. I like Ferguson and his cardio to take over the fight if it goes past 10 minutes, but wouldn't surprise me to see Conor KO him within the first two rounds.

 

[pistolpete11]

I actually think Ferguson is an okay matchup for Conor because Ferguson is so easy to hit. I like Ferguson and his cardio to take over the fight if it goes past 10 minutes, but wouldn't surprise me to see Conor KO him within the first two rounds.

Easy to hit, hard to put away. Kind of like Nate, but I think Tony is just a better and more creative version of Nate. I think it would be a real tough fight for Conor.

 

[Neutrinos]

McGregor vs Ferguson makes sense, but if you're the UFC and that fight is on the horizon, why make Holloway vs Poirier for the interim title?

That leads me to believe Ferguson vs McGregor isn't in the works

 

[YNWA14]

Well if Khabib is out 9 months you could have the winner of McGregor/Ferguson fight Holloway/Poirier for a shot at Khabib.

 

[m9]

Easy to hit, hard to put away. Kind of like Nate, but I think Tony is just a better and more creative version of Nate. I think it would be a real tough fight for Conor.

Ferguson is great and it's a tough fight. I would still probably favour Ferguson, but it's a way better matchup for Conor than Khabib was.

 

[pistolpete11]

Ferguson is great and it's a tough fight. I would still probably favour Ferguson, but it's a way better matchup for Conor than Khabib was.

Sure, but who isn't?

Besides Khabib, Tony or Max is probably the next worse match up for him. Guys that can eat shots and still put on crazy pressure for 5 rounds.

 

[pistolpete11]

Main event on now.

Santos has scary power.

With his hood on, Blachowicz looks like Stipe's long lost brother.

 

[Jasper]

Santos is looking pretty good at LHW.

 

[m9]

Santos looks legit at 205, his striking continues to look excellent.

 

[m9]

Sure, but who isn't?

Besides Khabib, Tony or Max is probably the next worse match up for him. Guys that can eat shots and still put on crazy pressure for 5 rounds.

They're bad matchups because they're really good, but Ferguson doesn't create the same issues a top wrestler would to Conor. I think Ferguson has some major issues with Conor in the first 10 minutes.

 

[Avs_19]

Another nice KO for Santos. Guys like Romero, Rockhold, and Weidman need to look at what's happening at 205 and make the jump. Smith is getting a title shot and Santos isn't far away now.

Yan didn't get the finish but he put it on Dodson for the second half of the fight. There are so many good opponents and fun fights for him in the top 10. The Lineker fight is the one I want to see the most.

 

[m9]

Another nice KO for Santos. Guys like Romero, Rockhold, and Weidman need to look at what's happening at 205 and make the jump. Smith is getting a title shot and Santos isn't far away now.

Yan didn't get the finish but he put it on Dodson for the second half of the fight. There are so many good opponents and fun fights for him in the top 10. The Lineker fight is the one I want to see the most.

Agreed that Yan looked great.

That was a fun card other than the dreadful woman's fight. I feel like I say that every week now, but outside of the top of the division some of their fights have been so, so bad lately. And to be fair, the first fight on the main card was just as bad.

 

[dss97]

I'm not sure how Ferguson isn't involved in the interim title fight when he's the most deserving but at least this is a good match up. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Holloway looks at 155.

I’m not sure how Ferguson isn’t involved either but damn, that’s a great matchup. Awesome fight

 

[pistolpete11]

They're bad matchups because they're really good, but Ferguson doesn't create the same issues a top wrestler would to Conor. I think Ferguson has some major issues with Conor in the first 10 minutes.

I guess I'm missing your point. There aren't really any other top level wrestlers in the LW division besides Khabib. And of the guys most people have been talking about Conor fighting next (Tony, Max, Cowboy, Nate, Poirier, Al...), none of them are really wrestlers. So again, I think Tony and Max are the worst realistic match ups for Conor.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Can't say I love Holloway getting involved in a both messy and stacked 155. The UFC is such a mess right now. HW champ on the verge of retirement, who's lost to the 205 champ twice. 185 champ who can't stay healthy. No challengers at 205. Interim champ at 170 who got leapfrogged. Khabib out essentially a year. 145 stalled with Holloway moving up. The 135 champ just lost at 125. 125 may be dissolved. Then your women's 135/145 champ wants to be off for a year.

 

[1specter]

Post on Reddit speculating Conor and his coach are done

 

[YNWA14]

There's a lot of speculation about Conor on reddit and other forums right now. I'm not going to repost or speculate on here myself, but there's some really damning 'evidence' out there of some pretty bad stuff that really wouldn't surprise me, though I still subscribe to innocent until proven guilty.

 

[pistolpete11]

Post on Reddit speculating Conor and his coach are done

I wouldn't read to much into most of that stuff.

Most of Kav's comments were shortly after the Khabib fight. I don't know if it was so much "I don't want to work with Conor anymore" or it it is trying to send a message to Conor.

I also wouldn't read too much into him training at different camps in the US. Maybe he's sampling. But maybe he's doing other stuff that requires him to travel and he's just trying to get some work in.

I'm not saying it is one way or the other, but this seems more like finding evidence to build a narrative. Until we see hear something more concrete, I'm not going to pay much attention to it. Conor has always talked about loyalty and how important that was to him. So I'd be a little bit surprised if he left Kav. Of course, there's nothing he can do if Kav doesn't want to coach him, but we don't really know that.



I do think going to a bigger camp could be good for him, though. Imagine him working with Woodley or Askren at ATT to get better at wrestling. He's never going to be as good as Khabib at wrestling, but maybe he could stuff a takedown or 2 and that turns the fight.

 

[1specter]

I wouldn't read to much into most of that stuff.

Most of Kav's comments were shortly after the Khabib fight. I don't know if it was so much "I don't want to work with Conor anymore" or it it is trying to send a message to Conor.

I also wouldn't read too much into him training at different camps in the US. Maybe he's sampling. But maybe he's doing other stuff that requires him to travel and he's just trying to get some work in.

I'm not saying it is one way or the other, but this seems more like finding evidence to build a narrative. Until we see hear something more concrete, I'm not going to pay much attention to it. Conor has always talked about loyalty and how important that was to him. So I'd be a little bit surprised if he left Kav. Of course, there's nothing he can do if Kav doesn't want to coach him, but we don't really know that.



I do think going to a bigger camp could be good for him, though. Imagine him working with Woodley or Askren at ATT to get better at wrestling. He's never going to be as good as Khabib at wrestling, but maybe he could stuff a takedown or 2 and that turns the fight.

I don't know man. I do think some of that post was stretched out like the stuff about Kav and Conor not talking after the fight, but Kav's dropped some pretty questionable tweets recently. There's the one linked in the reddit post, and then another one from today



Sure, it could be anyone, but Kavanagh is also smart enough to know that if he tweets stuff like this, people are going to automatically infer that it's about Conor

 

[pistolpete11]

I don't know man. I do think some of that post was stretched out like the stuff about Kav and Conor not talking after the fight, but Kav's dropped some pretty questionable tweets recently. There's the one linked in the reddit post, and then another one from today



Sure, it could be anyone, but Kavanagh is also smart enough to know that if he tweets stuff like this, people are going to automatically infer that it's about Conor

Again, I'm not saying Conor won't leave Kav. I'm just saying that the evidence he will leave Kav is pretty flimsy. Sure, if you want to build the narrative that he will, you can interpret that stuff to support that narrative. But you could interpret it another way.

Even that tweet...it is obviously in response to something. If he's being asked, "How do you feel about Conor training at other camps? Are you afraid he's going to leave?" There's different ways to interpret his response even if you assume he's talking about Conor (which I agree, he probably is).

1. He's acknowledging that Conor might leave.
2. He's saying he doesn't have a problem with him training other places (and if you read his tweet at face value, he encourages it) and he can't force Conor to train with him so there's no use in worrying about it.

It's all how you want to interpret it until someone says something more direct.

 

[m9]

I think Kavanagh knows that Conor's commitment to MMA will never be as high as it used to be. Better to jump off now than go down with the ship.

 

[pistolpete11]

I think Kavanagh knows that Conor's commitment to MMA will never be as high as it used to be. Better to jump off now than go down with the ship.

What good is jumping off do, though? Conor is still his best fighter and going to make him the most money. I mean, other than Gunnar (and Artem), who else does he even have?

I believe he's coming to peace with post-Conor because I agree Conor won't be fighting much longer, but there's nothing to gain from parting with Conor.

 

[pistolpete11]

UFC is working on Gillespie vs. Lee. Good fight and big step up for Gillespie.

 

[YNWA14]

UFC is working on Gillespie vs. Lee. Good fight and big step up for Gillespie.

Agreed. It'll be a good test to see just how good he really is. Looking forward to it.