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

[ibraheim718]

I would take Olivera over any lightweight in history. He's just so lethal and he recovers so fast from big shots.

Khabib?

Stylistically.. yeah. His progression has been insane.

[HarthorneWingo]

I would take Olivera over any lightweight in history. He's just so lethal and he recovers so fast from big shots.

Khabib?

Stylistically.. yeah. His progression has been insane.

It has. I would say that Charles probably hits harder. Justin can take a punch. It's like his head is made of granite (actually he was tested and has very high bone density which makes sense given the amount of punishment he dishes and takes) and he knocked Justin down with one punch before he went to work on his back.

A fight against Khabib would be a crazy fight but he isn't coming back. I think Charles could be a good reason for him to do so.

[HarthorneWingo]

Did Carla Esparza "beat" Rose? Not in the fight that I watched.

[GEOLINK]

Did Carla Esparza "beat" Rose? Not in the fight that I watched.

Should've been a draw. Carla won basically off octagon control

[GEOLINK]

I would take Olivera over any lightweight in history. He's just so lethal and he recovers so fast from big shots.

Khabib?

Absolutely over Khabib.

[GEOLINK]

It's a good thing those two Dustin fights with Conor were charity bouts and didn't count!

[HarthorneWingo]

I would take Olivera over any lightweight in history. He's just so lethal and he recovers so fast from big shots.

Khabib?

Absolutely over Khabib.

Still can’t let it go.

[GEOLINK]

Khabib?

Absolutely over Khabib.

Still can’t let it go.

Nah, it’s just facts.

Sorry about your Tiramisu boy.

[HarthorneWingo]

Absolutely over Khabib.

Still can’t let it go.

Nah, it’s just facts.

Sorry about your Tiramisu boy.

Sorry? 30-0 bro.

[GEOLINK]

Still can’t let it go.

Nah, it’s just facts.

Sorry about your Tiramisu boy.

Sorry? 30-0 bro.

Take that record and shove it, pal!

[HarthorneWingo]

Nah, it’s just facts.

Sorry about your Tiramisu boy.

Sorry? 30-0 bro.

Take that record and shove it, pal!

Hey, is Conor coming back?

[Little Italia]

Did anyone here talk about the Chandler/Ferguson fight?

Holy smokes, Chandler knocked Ferguson into the next world. Sad to see Ferguson go out like that but brawlers usually go out like that.

Chandler is quickly becoming my favorite fighter in the UFC. His post fight interview was the greatest of all time.

[j4remi]

Did anyone here talk about the Chandler/Ferguson fight?

Holy smokes, Chandler knocked Ferguson into the next world. Sad to see Ferguson go out like that but brawlers usually go out like that.

Chandler is quickly becoming my favorite fighter in the UFC. His post fight interview was the greatest of all time.

GREAT fight and I honestly think it's the best Tony's looked in a long time. He was hurting Chandler on the feet and cut him from his back. But that front kick was CLEAN and caught him completely off-guard. Chandler's definitely proven himself tough-as-nails with the power to get ANYONE out of there. He's starting to get up there in age, but his hand speed hasn't lost a beat. Every fight of his is a must-see (also, in case you've never seen them...Chandler vs Eddie Alvarez is probably the best series in the history Bellator).

The post-fight was great. He dropped the right names and played to a crowd that had been tilted against him most of the week. It's definitely a top tier speech, but I think it'll fall just shy of the all-time quotable post-fight interviews (Nate's "Not Surprised" speech, Conor's "we're not here to make noise, we're here to take over" drop, and Derrick Lewis' "My balls were sweaty" are timeless lol).

[j4remi]

Khabib?

Stylistically.. yeah. His progression has been insane.

It has. I would say that Charles probably hits harder. Justin can take a punch. It's like his head is made of granite (actually he was tested and has very high bone density which makes sense given the amount of punishment he dishes and takes) and he knocked Justin down with one punch before he went to work on his back.

A fight against Khabib would be a crazy fight but he isn't coming back. I think Charles could be a good reason for him to do so.

I don't think Khabib comes back, but you're absolutely right that Charles would be the best hope to drag him out. Oliveira has matched Khabib's defenses already and taken down some of Khabib's toughest opponents in similar fashion. He'll probably fight Islam Makchaev next which would give him a shot to beat the closest avatar for Khabib and his chosen student. That might be enough to get Khabib back into fighting mode, though I think it's more likely to get Conor McGregor chasing one last shot at glory...McGregor sees a dude that gets knocked down in every fight and probably fools himself into thinking it'd be doable.

In terms of Oliveira matching with Khabib...it's REALLY intriguing. Khabib has bullied everyone he fought on the ground, which doubles as letting him take prolonged breathers when needed. He might still be too powerful for Oliveira to scare away from grappling exchanges, but I don't think he'd be able to take the breaks he's taken against some opponents (most notably, in the round Conor won against him but also the one round Poirier clipped him a few times as well).

That's always been the factor I wanted to see most against Khabib. I liked prime Ferguson as his test, because Ferguson's strikes without fear of being taken down. When he's on his back, he doesn't slow down or let guys breath. Oliveira is the same, but with sharper striking and more power behind it. I thought Prime Ferguson was good to beat Khabib, I think Oliveira is too. Islam's actually the tougher match-up because he's a crisper striker with better defense. But I think both guys lose to Oliveira...Do Bronx is having a special run.

Read on Twitter

[j4remi]

Read on Twitter

I'm a huge Ferguson proponent, but this one got me

[HarthorneWingo]

Read on Twitter

I'm a huge Ferguson proponent, but this one got me

Is that Tony after the Chandler foot to chin job? That’s cold, man. Poor Tony.

[HarthorneWingo]

Did anyone here talk about the Chandler/Ferguson fight?

Holy smokes, Chandler knocked Ferguson into the next world. Sad to see Ferguson go out like that but brawlers usually go out like that.

Chandler is quickly becoming my favorite fighter in the UFC. His post fight interview was the greatest of all time.

Chandler's a very likable fighter. Good guy.

I don't know that this KO is a further sign of Tony's decline. I mean, that was a nasty, hard kick that landed on the button of Tony's chin. Moreover, the kick shot out of the blue. You can see that Tony wasn't expecting it. I sure wasn't expecting it. It was definitely a "Wow!" moment. A lot of other fighters wouldn't gone lights out too if they were hit by that kick.

But prior to that, Tony was looking pretty good. He sliced Chandler with one of those elbows from his back, I believe. And his striking looked clean. I wonder whether Chandler saw that opening from watching videos of Tony's fights because sometimes he opens up his arms leaving himself exposed up the middle, which is what exactly happened here. I wonder what his next move is. I'd like to see him give it one more shot.

[j4remi]

Did anyone here talk about the Chandler/Ferguson fight?

Holy smokes, Chandler knocked Ferguson into the next world. Sad to see Ferguson go out like that but brawlers usually go out like that.

Chandler is quickly becoming my favorite fighter in the UFC. His post fight interview was the greatest of all time.

Chandler's a very likable fighter. Good guy.

I don't know that this KO is a further sign of Tony's decline. I mean, that was a nasty, hard kick that landed on the button of Tony's chin. Moreover, the kick shot out of the blue. You can see that Tony wasn't expecting it. I sure wasn't expecting it. It was definitely a "Wow!" moment. A lot of other fighters wouldn't gone lights out too if they were hit by that kick.

But prior to that, Tony was looking pretty good. He sliced Chandler with one of those elbows from his back, I believe. And his striking looked clean. I wonder whether Chandler saw that opening from watching videos of Tony's fights because sometimes he opens up his arms leaving himself exposed up the middle, which is what exactly happened here. I wonder what his next move is. I'd like to see him give it one more shot.

The cool part is that if Tony can take some time and let his chin recover, that version of him adds ANOTHER interesting name to the mix at Lightweight. Oliveira vs Islam seems set. After that we've got Gaethje, Chandler, Ferguson, Dariush, Gillespie and the winners of Gamrot vs Tsaryukan and Fiziev vs RDA....there's a ton of fun to be had.

And notice I didn't mention Dustin Poirier...that's because his most recent tweets had him angling for a match with Colby Covington. Though he seems open to more options as long as they fight July 30th. Poirier moving off the Nate Diaz match-up is a good sign that Chimaev vs Nate might really be in the works.

[j4remi]

Tonight's card is super light. Angie Hill fights in the prelims which is always fun. The main and co-main are the only two fights I really have interest in. Ryan Spann vs Ion Cutelaba and Jan Blachowicz vs Aleksander Rakic.

Spann and Cutelaba are 15-10 range talent that haven't shown enough to get beyond that. But they have interesting tools. Cutelaba has a great chin and a ton of power. Spann has similar power and a massive frame and length. I like Cutelaba to win this because Spann fades against pressure, but Ion also flops when he can't bully guys. It's intriguing and should be a striking battle.

Rakic is gonna try to take down Jan. That's his road to a win almost every time. If Jan can't keep it standing, this fight could become boring. Jan's wrestling defense is fairly underrated though and he only needs one punch to change a whole fight. Rakic could be the next contender with a win.

[HarthorneWingo]

Did anyone here talk about the Chandler/Ferguson fight?

Holy smokes, Chandler knocked Ferguson into the next world. Sad to see Ferguson go out like that but brawlers usually go out like that.

Chandler is quickly becoming my favorite fighter in the UFC. His post fight interview was the greatest of all time.

Chandler's a very likable fighter. Good guy.

I don't know that this KO is a further sign of Tony's decline. I mean, that was a nasty, hard kick that landed on the button of Tony's chin. Moreover, the kick shot out of the blue. You can see that Tony wasn't expecting it. I sure wasn't expecting it. It was definitely a "Wow!" moment. A lot of other fighters wouldn't gone lights out too if they were hit by that kick.

But prior to that, Tony was looking pretty good. He sliced Chandler with one of those elbows from his back, I believe. And his striking looked clean. I wonder whether Chandler saw that opening from watching videos of Tony's fights because sometimes he opens up his arms leaving himself exposed up the middle, which is what exactly happened here. I wonder what his next move is. I'd like to see him give it one more shot.

The cool part is that if Tony can take some time and let his chin recover, that version of him adds ANOTHER interesting name to the mix at Lightweight. Oliveira vs Islam seems set. After that we've got Gaethje, Chandler, Ferguson, Dariush, Gillespie and the winners of Gamrot vs Tsaryukan and Fiziev vs RDA....there's a ton of fun to be had.

And notice I didn't mention Dustin Poirier...that's because his most recent tweets had him angling for a match with Colby Covington. Though he seems open to more options as long as they fight July 30th. Poirier moving off the Nate Diaz match-up is a good sign that Chimaev vs Nate might really be in the works.

Khamzat will destroy Nate. Nate wants out of the UFC in order to transition to boxing, allegedly. This fight does nothing for Khamzat. It’s a step back in competition.