OT: Official MMA discussion thread pt 3 UFC 319: DDP vs Chimaev, Aaron Pico vs Lerone Murphy

[j4remi]

i fear pantoja is going to do to van what he just did to kkf. too soon for van

Reminds me of Horiguchi when he first got to the UFC. He smoked a few guys, got rushed into a title fight, and got bodied by Mighty Mouse. But that loss inspired Horiguchi to move to ATT and train his wrestling like crazy. So, Guch got way better for that loss...the only problem is the UFC let him walk and missed out on his best years which included Rizin and Bellator title runs, plus wins over every great non-UFC fighter in his divisions.

[HarthorneWingo]

The way Dana (and ESPN) treat their fighters is criminal. The fighters should unionize or go to PFL. The Ali Act should be extended to the UFC. No wonder under Dana sucks Trump’s dick.

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[HarthorneWingo]

This guy Nubil Anane is a freak!

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[Ghetto Gospel]

The way Dana (and ESPN) treat their fighters is criminal. The fighters should unionize or go to PFL. The Ali Act should be extended to the UFC. No wonder under Dana sucks Trump’s dick.

Watch on YouTube

the PFL is horribly managed and has no money so that's just not happening. really, i think the only solution to the fighter compensation problem is some sort of fighters union or association within the UFC but i don't see that happening anytime soon.

the only guys with any sort of influence and power in the UFC are the top guys, maybe only 1 or 2 guys in each division. i think we've seen them try or at least consider unionizing before, and iirc, GSP was a part of it but then dana probably just gave GSP a better contract because GSP pretended to not speak english and only french anytime the word was brought up again. there'd need to be some truly self-less UFC superstars that are willing to go to bat for their lower-tier fighters because should a union form, the only way that the fighters could create change is to go on strike and the problem is that outside of the top 3-5 guys in each division, the fighters are broke and can't afford to strike. it would take a truly wealthy fighter like conor mcgregor (lol) to step up and pay for these guys living expenses.

[j4remi]

This guy Nubil Anane is a freak!

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I've seen multiple MMA writers mention how ONE FC and PFL have been throwing better events than the averager UFC this year. Outside of a few numbered events, there haven't been many memorable UFC cards (talking about full cards rather than one or two great fights). ONE's pipeline is really impressive, with kids like Nubil and a bunch of specialists developing their MMA skills like the Ruotolo Brothers. PFL changed their season format and it's actually improved the product.

But that comes with the unfortunate reality that PFL and ONE don't have audiences. Amazon's not renewing their deal with ONE, and PFL ratings are minuscule, while their promotions' biggest news has been disgruntled fighters and a beef with Ariel Helwani. PFL's schedule has never made a lot of sense to me, and ONE's predominantly doing shows in time zones where we have to catch them first thing in the morning to avoid spoilers.

For the MMA heads, it's worth it to check in on the second-tier promotions. ONE, PFL, Rizin, and GLORY are all pumping out great cards and fights right now. Glory has been KILLING it, and had their first card on U.S. soil in more than five years. So, hopefully someone finally pops.

[HarthorneWingo]

This guy Nubil Anane is a freak!

Watch on YouTube

I've seen multiple MMA writers mention how ONE FC and PFL have been throwing better events than the averager UFC this year. Outside of a few numbered events, there haven't been many memorable UFC cards (talking about full cards rather than one or two great fights). ONE's pipeline is really impressive, with kids like Nubil and a bunch of specialists developing their MMA skills like the Ruotolo Brothers. PFL changed their season format and it's actually improved the product.

But that comes with the unfortunate reality that PFL and ONE don't have audiences. Amazon's not renewing their deal with ONE, and PFL ratings are minuscule, while their promotions' biggest news has been disgruntled fighters and a beef with Ariel Helwani. PFL's schedule has never made a lot of sense to me, and ONE's predominantly doing shows in time zones where we have to catch them first thing in the morning to avoid spoilers.

For the MMA heads, it's worth it to check in on the second-tier promotions. ONE, PFL, Rizin, and GLORY are all pumping out great cards and fights right now. Glory has been KILLING it, and had their first card on U.S. soil in more than five years. So, hopefully someone finally pops.

Where can we watch the other promotions? YouTube?

[j4remi]

I've seen multiple MMA writers mention how ONE FC and PFL have been throwing better events than the averager UFC this year. Outside of a few numbered events, there haven't been many memorable UFC cards (talking about full cards rather than one or two great fights). ONE's pipeline is really impressive, with kids like Nubil and a bunch of specialists developing their MMA skills like the Ruotolo Brothers. PFL changed their season format and it's actually improved the product.

But that comes with the unfortunate reality that PFL and ONE don't have audiences. Amazon's not renewing their deal with ONE, and PFL ratings are minuscule, while their promotions' biggest news has been disgruntled fighters and a beef with Ariel Helwani. PFL's schedule has never made a lot of sense to me, and ONE's predominantly doing shows in time zones where we have to catch them first thing in the morning to avoid spoilers.

For the MMA heads, it's worth it to check in on the second-tier promotions. ONE, PFL, Rizin, and GLORY are all pumping out great cards and fights right now. Glory has been KILLING it, and had their first card on U.S. soil in more than five years. So, hopefully someone finally pops.

Where can we watch the other promotions? YouTube?

For their biggest cards, you may need a subscription service like DAZN. Particularly, GLORY and ONE make a lot of stuff easy to watch on youtube or facebook.

[j4remi]

Prospect watch:

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[HarthorneWingo]

Isn't there supposed to be a pretty good women's boxing match tonight?

[j4remi]

Isn't there supposed to be a pretty good women's boxing match tonight?

Amanda Serrano vs Katie Taylor 2. Serrano got robbed last time, but it was one of the best boxing matches of the year period. So, this should be good!

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[HarthorneWingo]

It’s on mow

[j4remi]

I had it a draw with Taylor taking the final two rounds. Can't be mad about it going either way because the rounds were so close. The last one was a robbery, this felt less so.

[The Vo Show]

Didn't see any posts about Ben Askren needing to crowd fund the cost of his double lung surgery. I'm surprised the UFC didn't just pay for it themselves as a show of good will towards their fighters. Also surprised that they don't have long term health insurance for their fighters.

The real reason I'm making a post though is that no one is mentioning anywhere about the fact that Ben Askren looks just like Trae Young now.

[HarthorneWingo]

The Black Beast is BACK!!!!! (Not sure about the stoppage though.)

I thought Stephen Thompson should’ve won.

[j4remi]

Didn't see any posts about Ben Askren needing to crowd fund the cost of his double lung surgery. I'm surprised the UFC didn't just pay for it themselves as a show of good will towards their fighters. Also surprised that they don't have long term health insurance for their fighters.

The real reason I'm making a post though is that no one is mentioning anywhere about the fact that Ben Askren looks just like Trae Young now.

Dana White admitted that he paid a lot to help Ben, but my cynical nature has me thinking Dana did it to avoid the tough conversation about long term health insurance for fighters. Every attempt to unionize the fighters has been crushed, so we get these horror stories once every few years. Mark Coleman saved his parents from a fire and had to crowdfund his medical bills...the man is a living legend and one of the first great American Heavyweights in UFC history.

[j4remi]

UFC 318 has me pretty hype for this weekend fam...that's rare these days. But this is the rare card where the matchmakers said "screw rankings, let's just make a bunch of fun fights." To put that into perspective, all five fights on the main card are Striker vs Striker match-ups and the Main Event is a BMF match and rematch of a 2019 fight of the year candidate. I don't have time to type about all the match-ups right now, but I wanted to make sure to tell yall that this one is actually worthwhile!

[Guano]

This guy Nubil Anane is a freak!

Watch on YouTube

I've seen multiple MMA writers mention how ONE FC and PFL have been throwing better events than the averager UFC this year. Outside of a few numbered events, there haven't been many memorable UFC cards (talking about full cards rather than one or two great fights). ONE's pipeline is really impressive, with kids like Nubil and a bunch of specialists developing their MMA skills like the Ruotolo Brothers. PFL changed their season format and it's actually improved the product.

But that comes with the unfortunate reality that PFL and ONE don't have audiences. Amazon's not renewing their deal with ONE, and PFL ratings are minuscule, while their promotions' biggest news has been disgruntled fighters and a beef with Ariel Helwani. PFL's schedule has never made a lot of sense to me, and ONE's predominantly doing shows in time zones where we have to catch them first thing in the morning to avoid spoilers.

For the MMA heads, it's worth it to check in on the second-tier promotions. ONE, PFL, Rizin, and GLORY are all pumping out great cards and fights right now. Glory has been KILLING it, and had their first card on U.S. soil in more than five years. So, hopefully someone finally pops.

Damn, that amazon/one news sucks. They were entertaining cards even for a casual like me. The fights and production were felt pure. Horrible news

[j4remi]

Damn, that amazon/one news sucks. They were entertaining cards even for a casual like me. The fights and production were felt pure. Horrible news

Yeah, it sucks because they have a great product imo. I hope they keep growing and have a product that remains accessible. ONE is the most legitimate competition to the UFC imo.

[Guano]

2 of my favs fighting each other tonight and I'm not excited about it at all.

Ill be rooting for Dustin cause its his swan song. But im not exactly rooting for max to get beat up either.

This just feels like lazy match making from a washed promoter.

[j4remi]

My notes from UFC 318:

- Max has WAY more pop at 155. He slept Gaethje, knocked down Poirier twice, and Dustin commented on the power while explaining why he clinched during the final 10 second square up that Max always does. Max has always been really precise, but the power never translated. It looks like it does when he's less weight drained.

- Great sendoff for Diamond. The only retirement that I think outdoes it is Korean Zombie's.

- Paulo Costa went from overrated to way underrated recently. If he can get to the octagon, he's a problem for 99% of middleweights. He made me some money this weekend, and I think he's an interesting future opponent for Chimaev or Dricus because of his raw strength.

- Kevin Holland might be cooked from all the fighting he's done in short time. Daniel Rodriguez has always been good but not great, and I'm not buying his stock yet. But D-Rod is tough and looks to be in better shape than ever (my USADA suspicions are tingling).

- Pitbull shook off the nerves and looked like himself against Ige. That's still low output, but with such lethal counter striking that he'll lull opponents into eating a big strike.

- Michael Johnson's longevity should be studied. He was 5-11 from 2015-2023. But slept Dustin Poirier for one of those wins and is on a 3 fight win streak the past couple of years.

- Vinicius Oliveira isn't a new name, but he's still fairly slept on. Buy stock now...I think he'll be top-10 by this time next year. I REALLY want him to fight Marlon Vera or Song Yadong purely for how entertaining those fights would be.

My picks for next opponent for some winners:
Max vs Oliveira 2 needs to happen. The first fight ended because of a freak injury to Do-Bronx before it ever started.

Paulo Costa vs Jared Cannonier would be pure fireworks.

D-Rod vs Geoff Neal is all power and striking with very little defensive sensibilities...I love it.

I don't know if it's too soon for Pitbull vs Diego Lopes, but I want Pitbull vs another contender. So Lerone Murphy or Diego Lopes..

Hear me out; Michael Johnson vs Michael Chandler.

And of course, Vinicius vs Chito Vera is the fight to make.