GDT: UFC 239: Jones vs. Santos

[K Fleur]

Judging by how poorly he just did against Santos, Jones needs to stay the f*** away from Ngannou.

 

[HansonBro]

Some highlights

 

[jaric1862]

How many Main Events has there been? I would hope you could bring up three.

2 of those examples are main events and all three are championship fights. Doesn't get much bigger than that. Jackson vs Griffin (also a title fight and main event), even Till vs Thompson just recently (main event). There are plenty of examples. I don't really see your point though, close fights are judged differently by different people.different perspectives so its logical that there would be more split decisions.

 

[tmurfin]

Judging by how poorly he just did against Santos, Jones needs to stay the **** away from Ngannou.

The fight we needed that never happened. Rumble/Jones would’ve been insane

 

[Know Your Enemy]

Yeah the UFC would need to throw a lot of money at Jones to fight Ngannou

 

[Know Your Enemy]

I missed the first part of the Post fight presser. Was there any update on Askren?

NVM Dana said he's ok

 

[Neutrinos]

LOL what do you mean why get in that position? He joins the exclusive club of being a double champ and he gets the biggest payday of his life out of it. Some people saying he's ducking Ngannou will not get in the way of that

That "exclusive club" really isn't all that exclusive

McGregor, Couture, Penn, GSP, Cejudo, Belfort, Cormier, Nunes. Am I missing anyone?

I don't think the majority of fans really care about it

And "the biggest payday of his life" would be the same if he fought Cormier at 205 lbs

 

[jaric1862]

That "exclusive club" really isn't all that exclusive

McGregor, Couture, Penn, GSP, Cejudo, Belfort, Cormier, Nunes. Am I missing anyone?

I don't think the majority of fans really care about it

And "the biggest payday of his life" would be the same if he fought Cormier at 205

Belfort has never been a UFC champ and Couture+GSP+Penn did not hold belts simultaneously. So 3 people. I would say thats exclusive.

Also, Heavyweight draws more than Light heavyweight, so ya it would be bigger at heavyweight. It gives a different element to the fight and can be sold much more easily because they can market that Cormier is better at Heavyweight and that he has a shot (since he lost twice to Jones at LHW)

Im not saying that I want to see Jones at Heavyweight, I want to see a Jones vs Santos rematch, Im just saying i can see how it makes logical sense for Jones and for the UFC.

 

[Neutrinos]

Belfort has never been a UFC champ and Couture+GSP+Penn did not hold belts simultaneously. So 3 people. I would say thats exclusive.

Also, Heavyweight draws more than Light heavyweight, so ya it would be bigger at heavyweight. It gives a different element to the fight and can be sold much more easily because they can market that Cormier is better at Heavyweight and that he has a shot (since he lost twice to Jones at LHW)

Im not saying that I want to see Jones at Heavyweight, I want to see a Jones vs Santos rematch, Im just saying i can see how it makes logical sense for Jones and for the UFC.

Belfort was the HW and LHW champ in the UFC, though not at the same time

And, yes, fair enough. I mistook "double champ" to mean a fighter who has won belts in 2 divisions

With that said, McGregor, Nunes, Cejudo, and Cormier have all accomplished it recently, so it really doesn't seem like that big a deal anymore

 

[HansonBro]

What a boring fight. No anything in any round

 

[Know Your Enemy]

It felt like a big deal when McGregor did it. But now it has lost it's intrigue

 

[jaric1862]

Belfort was the HW and LHW champ in the UFC, though not at the same time

And, yes, fair enough. I mistook "double champ" to mean a fighter who has won belts in 2 divisions

With that said, McGregor, Nunes, Cejudo, and Cormier have all accomplished it recently, so it really doesn't seem like that big a deal anymore

Ya you're right, I forget his early days in the UFC. We'll see what happens, Comrier's still gotta get through Stipe

 

[kabidjan18]

My heart was in a million pieces after the Askren fight. Really did not care at all about the rest of the card. We were hoping for an update before the end of the day and in typical Ben fashion

You can still hear the sass and everything.

After this I'm sure he'll sit down with his family and talk about where he wants to go with his career, and by all means he has every right to make any decision.

If he comes back, I hope he'll fight smarter obviously. Masvidal may not be book smart, but he was a wise man today, and Ben a foolish man, and he paid for it.

I'll probably take a break from following MMA, or at least UFC (might still follow the regional cards). It really takes it out of you to watch one of your favorite fighters get rung like that.

If he comes back, I'll be ready and waiting. War Askren!

 

[Moncherry]

Have you trained in Bangkok before? It's an amazing experience to actually get to train with professional Muay Thai fighters. many of whom have 100+ fights under their belt.....except they dont have belts

Unfortunately no, I have never been to Thailand, but I have had some sessions with Thais who fought in the stadiums, which is the highest level of Muay Thai, as well as some professional European fighters, both in North America and in Europe. I could go on for hours about what it's like to train under strikers with that knowledge and ability. It's extremely rare to find a decent Muay Thai gym in North America though, the European scene is much more established.

Yeah a belt system has been introduced in places other than the place where Thai Boxing exists in its true form. It means nothing. Not that belts mean much anyways, but at least belts have been an integral part of other martial arts for a long time. Belts in Muay Thai feel gimmicky

It's worse than gimmicky, it doesn't make any sense. It's the equivalent of being a "black belt" in Boxing.

 

[Know Your Enemy]

Unfortunately no, I have never been to Thailand, but I have had some sessions with Thais who fought in the stadiums, which is the highest level of Muay Thai, as well as some professional European fighters, both in North America and in Europe. I could go on for hours about what it's like to train under strikers with that knowledge and ability. It's extremely rare to find a decent Muay Thai gym in North America though, the European scene is much more established.

It's worse than gimmicky, it doesn't make any sense. It's the equivalent of being a "black belt" in Boxing.

That's cool that you found top end talent outside of Thailand. I didn't have anything close to that where I trained in Vancouver. Fortunately though I got to train for 2 months at Keatkhamtorn gym just outside of central Bangkok. I was completely blown away with the level of skill the fighters at that gym possessed. There were a few guys who were highly ranked in Lumpinee stadium at the time. It really put things into perspective for me. I was absolute shit compared to those guys LOL.

 

[dss97]

Would you believe that after watching both of them tonight Melendez once bested Masvidal?

 

[Rocko604]

My heart was in a million pieces after the Askren fight. Really did not care at all about the rest of the card. We were hoping for an update before the end of the day and in typical Ben fashion

You can still hear the sass and everything.

After this I'm sure he'll sit down with his family and talk about where he wants to go with his career, and by all means he has every right to make any decision.

If he comes back, I hope he'll fight smarter obviously. Masvidal may not be book smart, but he was a wise man today, and Ben a foolish man, and he paid for it.

I'll probably take a break from following MMA, or at least UFC (might still follow the regional cards). It really takes it out of you to watch one of your favorite fighters get rung like that.

If he comes back, I'll be ready and waiting. War Askren!

I'll be shocked if Askren isn't released. Wouldn't put it past Dana at all.

 

[kabidjan18]

I'll be shocked if Askren isn't released. Wouldn't put it past Dana at all.

Is your only reasoning for this something to the effect of "Dana is fickle" or "Dana is unreasonable"?

 

[darko]

Not in Thailand? Well that settles it then doesn't it?

Any belt system used at a Muay Thai "gym" is Americanized McDojo bull****. It didn't exist at any of the gyms I've trained at in North America, and I haven't heard of any such thing in Europe either. I've never heard of any actual Muay Thai fighter having a "black belt", Thai or otherwise. The only time I've heard about Muay Thai "black belts" is in the context of MMA, which doesn't even have actual Muay Thai. As someone who watches and has trained Muay Thai, I will tell you definitively, it's not a thing. They might have it at American MMA or Kickboxing gyms that claim to be "Muay Thai", but it's nonsense.

There's world title belts.

 

[darko]

Yeah a belt system has been introduced in places other than the place where Thai Boxing exists in its true form. It means nothing. Not that belts mean much anyways, but at least belts have been an integral part of other martial arts for a long time. Belts in Muay Thai feel gimmicky

I agree. Just saying they do exist.

 

[m9]

I'll be shocked if Askren isn't released. Wouldn't put it past Dana at all.

You'll be shocked if Ben Askren isn't released? Really? There is zero chance.

 

[pistolpete11]

At no point was I arguing that Romero would be moving up to fight Jones

I said that I would like him to move up, and if he did, I thought he would get an immediate shot at Jones

It's all right there on the first page of this thread

I'm not saying I wouldn't want to see it, I just don't think the UFC would do it.

There are many more quotes I could pull, too.

 

[pistolpete11]

He shouldn't.

This "move up to HW" is fueled by UFC fans who hate Jones and want to see him lose. The best thing Jones can do for his career and legacy is to fight at 205 until he retires.

I don't think he has to, but I think winning the HW belt too does more for his legacy than just staying at LHW. I also think it gets him the biggest paycheck, especially against DC, Francis, or if Stipe gets the belt back. Jones is smart, though, and knows HW is a tough division for him. He doesn't have the length advantage against everyone at HW like he does with pretty much everyone at LHW and that's one of his biggest strengths. So it would be a big risk, but it would be a big reward. It's up to him if he wants to take it.

 

[m9]

I don't think he has to, but I think winning the HW belt too does more for his legacy than just staying at LHW. I also think it gets him the biggest paycheck, especially against DC, Francis, or if Stipe gets the belt back. Jones is smart, though, and knows HW is a tough division for him. He doesn't have the length advantage against pretty much everyone at LHW and that's one of his biggest strengths. So it would be a big risk, but it would be a big reward. It's up to him if he wants to take it.

If he wants to step up and pick his spots like when GSP fought Bisping, sure that's fine. I just think he needs to be very careful.

As for a paycheque, sure. But if the option is fighting twice at 205 or fighting Francis Ngannou once, I think fighting twice sounds pretty appealing.

 

[SuperScript29]

I'll be shocked if Askren isn't released. Wouldn't put it past Dana at all.

I don't think they'll cut him, but he is walking on egg shells.