UFC 205 (11/12: MSG, NY) McGregor vs. Alvarez, Woodley vs. Thompson, Jedrzejczyk vs. Kowalkiewicz

Post #1 » by **CPT** » Thu Sep 8, 2016 1:37 am

The UFC's debut in New York, in Madison Square Garden, and the first fight announced is...

Thiago Alves vs. Al Iaquinta

But there's also Lawler vs. Cowboy, which is **** sweet.

Wonderboy says he expects to get his shot against Woodley on this card, but I'd kind of be surprised if that was the main event.

Will Jones be eligible to fight? Even if his suspension is reduced to 6 months, that would still be too long, but if it's thrown out completely, maybe he could.

Jasen777 · Post #2 » by **Jasen777** » Thu Sep 8, 2016 1:58 am

I think Jones gets suspended for a year.

CPT wrote:The UFC's debut in New York, in Madison Square Garden, and the first fight announced is...

Thiago Alves vs. Al Iaquinta

You better not be booing him.

Post #3 » by **Headliner** » Thu Sep 8, 2016 6:34 pm

It's gotta be Conor. They've fought so long and hard for NY, and they want to create an event out of it. I'm betting they line up CM for the 155 title.

REDDzone · Post #4 » by **REDDzone** » Thu Sep 8, 2016 7:02 pm

Headliner wrote:It's gotta be Conor. They've fought so long and hard for NY, and they want to create an event out of it. I'm betting they line up CM for the 155 title.

The problem is the negotiations, because you are right that it HAS to be Conor. Problem is that Conor knows that is has to be Conor lol.

Ronda's out. GSP can't be back in time because of the USADA period. Brock and Jones are on suspension for abusing steroids.

Nemesis21 · Post #5 » by **Nemesis21** » Thu Sep 8, 2016 8:42 pm

WAR Cowboy!

phanman · Post #6 » by **phanman** » Thu Sep 8, 2016 10:16 pm

All roads lead to a Conor vs Alvarez showdown for the 155 strap. Alvarez has been begging for fight since his KO over RDA and MSG is something Conor has been alluding to since the bill passed.

The only potential roadblock I see would be the UFC/Dana's insistence on Conor giving up his featherweight belt if he takes the fight. Imo, the media/fans would still see him as the rightful titleholder of the 145lb belt (similar to Jones) but I'm guessing that the technicality that comes with being a 2 division champion at the same time is something that appeals dearly to McGregor and thus causing the friction between both sides. He'd become the 3rd person to win two divisions, but the technicality prevents him from becoming the first two hold both at the same time - and with McGregor very much concerned with his legacy that is huge issue I would believe.

That said I can see why the UFC is pushing for him to give up his belt though.
It will be almost a year since he took the belt @ UFC 194 - Dec 12/15'. - which his a valid point but considering that Aldo also took plenty of time off between fights its kind of unfair in way to strip him (14 months between the Mendes and Conor & 13 months between Mendes & Edgar as examples). He has also already beaten Aldo/Holloway and Edgar just recently lost to Aldo.

Stripping him does keep the FW division going though, with Aldo finally giving Holloway his very much earned title shot. 9 straight wins since his loss against Conor, he has taken out #4, #5, #7, and #8 in his last 4 fights alone. It sets up Conor's return to the FW division nicely with either Aldo reclaiming his position at the top of the division or giving the man who gave Conor his second greatest challenge a rematch.

On a side note, winning the LW belt also sets up the trilogy with Diaz to become more lucrative with the LW belt on the line. Or if not Diaz maybe they set up a super fight with GSP moving down to 55' and try to accomplish the same feat as Conor did by winning the LW strap.

REDDzone · Post #7 » by **REDDzone** » Thu Sep 8, 2016 10:59 pm

Why not just let him fight Eddie regardless? If he loses, he can go back to 145 for his next fight or be stripped. If he wins, he becomes the first ever two division champion and can voluntarily vacate from there. Better marketing to call him the first ever two division champ, unless the UFC doesn't want that because its another chip in his favor negotiation wise? lol.

phanman · Post #8 » by **phanman** » Thu Sep 8, 2016 11:23 pm

The issue isn't about fighting Eddie, its about fighting Eddie while still maintaining his belt. It's something that McGregor has feel has earned the right to do, and something that Dana and the UFC are adamant he do in order to keep the FW division going. Dana has been known to be stubborn as hell and probably thinks he has allowed McGregor to do so much already.

Its kind of a double edged sword for the UFC, on one hand letting him keep the strap allows them to market the fight as a champion vs champion a la UFC 94 between GSP and Penn. But on the other hand, like you said it gives someone like McGregor more leverage in terms of negotiating the fight on his own terms.

Then again with a superstar like McGregor you really don't need any more marketing to sell his fights. Dude is the rightful owner of 3/4 top PPV sales and they have all come in succession from 194, 196 and 202. First card in MSG with Conor on it - its almost guaranteed to smash the estimated 1.65m UFC generated whether he keeps his FW title or not.

Nemesis21 · Post #9 » by **Nemesis21** » Fri Sep 9, 2016 6:04 pm

REDDzone wrote:Why not just let him fight Eddie regardless? If he loses, he can go back to 145 for his next fight or be stripped. If he wins, he becomes the first ever two division champion and can voluntarily vacate from there. Better marketing to call him the first ever two division champ, unless the UFC doesn't want that because its another chip in his favor negotiation wise? lol.

Do you mean simultaneously? Because Penn and Couture have been champs in 2 divisions.

REDDzone · Post #10 » by **REDDzone** » Fri Sep 9, 2016 6:12 pm

Yessir.

phanman · Post #11 » by **phanman** » Fri Sep 9, 2016 7:08 pm

Rashad Evans drop to MW is something I've always wanted to see also. He has always looked like a smaller LHW out there.. which is crazy considering he won the ultimate fighter as a HW.

He has a true body of 195lber.

Post #12 » by **Shaazzam** » Fri Sep 9, 2016 8:05 pm

his pawing is absurd

Jasen777 · Post #13 » by **Jasen777** » Fri Sep 9, 2016 8:24 pm

phanman wrote:He has a true body of 195lber.

I don't think he is big for a middleweight.

phanman · Post #14 » by **phanman** » Fri Sep 9, 2016 9:23 pm

Jasen777 wrote:
phanman wrote:He has a true body of 195lber.

I don't think he is big for a middleweight.

Which is why I always wondered why it took him so long to make the drop..

Like I said him beginning as a HW is shocking tbh.

Post #15 » by **Headliner** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 12:02 am

fighting Anderson silva might have been one reason. During Evans prime, Silva was the Goat and the LHW division was wide open. People were probably dropping weight, or adding it to avoid Middleweight.

I think fighting the likes of Forrest Griffin, Tito Ortiz, Rampage, Shogun and Machida, and not having to do an extensive weight cut was probably far more appealing.
After Jones came in though, he should have dropped immediately. Jones became the new Goat and Silva was going to soon decline.

Post #16 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 4:23 am

I think I recall Rashad saying that he liked the speed advantage he had at LHW over most guys, and might not have felt comfortable being one of the bigger/slower guys at the next weight down.

Nemesis21 · Post #17 » by **Nemesis21** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 8:42 pm

Anybody else see that Lawler pulled out of this fight?

Jasen777 · Post #18 » by **Jasen777** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 9:09 pm

Lawler says he needs more time to recovery from his KO. Probably a good decision for his health.

Jasen777 · Post #19 » by **Jasen777** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 11:08 pm

Woodley v. Thompson looks confirmed.

Post #20 » by **CPT** » Sat Sep 17, 2016 2:23 am

Wonder if they add anything else, or they just count on the novelty of it being the first event to sell out.

Pretty underwhelming so far, IMO.