MMA/UFC

[britbox]

Any UFC / MMA fans here?

Just watched the McGregor / Diaz fight at UFC 196.

What a fight!

 

[brokenshoelace]

I can't believe the UFC is booking Diaz vs. McGregor II at 170 pounds. Another loss could seriously hurt Conor, who's obviously the most marketable star they have at the moment. It's a fantastic fight, don't get me wrong (as evidenced by their first showdown), but at least make it at lightweight (155 pounds) so that Conor isn't moving up two weight classes again.

The fight is scheduled to take place at UFC 200, which the company wants to build as a historic event since it's their 200th PPV. UFC 100 was a smashing success and produced the company's biggest buy-rate ever. The main event was Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir II, in what is one of the biggest blood feuds in UFC history. The show delivered beyond anybody's expectations so I'm hoping for the same at UFC 200. The co main event will be an absolutely fantastic fight between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar for a shot at Conor's featherweight belt. Aldo and Edgar already fought 3 years ago when Aldo was the champ and the Brazilian triumphed in a really good battle.

 

[britbox]

Not sure Diaz could get to 155 mate, but maybe 160ish. Personally I thought McGregor came out of it with his reputation intact and you've got to give the guy huge kudos for his guts.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Not sure Diaz could get to 155 mate, but maybe 160ish. Personally I thought McGregor came out of it with his reputation intact and you've got to give the guy huge kudos for his guts.

Nate Diaz fought the majority of his career at 155, and his last fight before the Conor fight was at 155.

I admire Conor's courage a lot, but I do hope he comes in with a game plan this time around. His power didn't seem to translate well to 170 (and Nate has quite a chin, just like his brother), and I think Conor figured that he can just hit him (both Diaz brothers have terrible head movement and are extremely hittable) and eventually he'll fall. As a result he clearly expanded way too much energy and seem to be gassing quite early. Needs to be much more efficient in the rematch.

 

[britbox]

I don't follow it much due to time, but I love watching fights here and there, so thanks for the info... but Diaz looked much bigger than McGregor to me, I'm surprised he can make 155 - what was he in the last fight? 167?.

I like McGregor though - he's got balls of steel.

 

[brokenshoelace]

I don't follow it much due to time, but I love watching fights here and there, so thanks for the info... but Diaz looked much bigger than McGregor to me, I'm surprised he can make 155 - what was he in the last fight? 167?.

I like McGregor though - he's got balls of steel.

Yes, Diaz is much bigger than Conor, and it's visually quite striking. That is why I'm really surprised Conor's camp didn't lobby for the fight to be at 155 for the rematch, since it would at least force Diaz to endure a weight cut. MMA doesn't have a weigh in on the day of the fight. So the fighters weigh in the day before, and then we never actually learn how much they weigh on the day of. This is quite relevant in this case as Diaz could have very well been 180 lbs on the day of the fight.

In other news, Daniel Cormier got hurt and pulled out of the Jon Jones fight. The good news is the fight might now be scheduled for UFC 200, which would make that card absolutely loaded.

For those unaware, Jon Jones is the best fighter in the world, and was absolutely dominating the light heavyweight division before he got in trouble outside the cage (coke, hit and run incidents, etc...) and was stripped of the title right after defeated Daniel Cormier. Cormier won the vacant belt and the two were scheduled for a rematch. These two absolutely loathe one another and it's probably the best and most heated rivalry in MMA at the moment.

 

[britbox]

Here are a few highlights from Diaz/McGregor



I've been meaning to get into UFC for at least a couple of years but struggled for time... Hardly watch boxing these days either.

Will be freed up a lot by the end of the month, so will start getting into it. I haven't even heard of half of these guys, but when I do occasionally get to watch the fights I love them. First one I saw was Randy Couture giving James Toney a basic introduction in learning to crawl before you walk. I even bought that fight...

More exciting than boxing because they put the top guys in with each other. I'll check out Jones, thanks.

 

[britbox]

Having said that @brokenshoelace - just watched a corker of a fight (boxing) from this weekend.

Check this baby out:

 

[britbox]

Hey @brokenshoelace - what's this I'm hearing about McGregor maybe retiring?

 

[brokenshoelace]

Hey @brokenshoelace - what's this I'm hearing about McGregor maybe retiring?

The official story is the following:

Conor tweeted that he's retiring. At first, some thought he was trolling. Shortly thereafter, the UFC confirmed he was pulled from UFC 200. The official reason, which is totally bullshit by the way, is that he was pulled out because he refused to appear at a press conference.

Now, there is no way in hell the UFC would throw away a potential 2 million buy-rate (UFC 100 did 1.6 million, and Conor vs. Diaz did 1.5 million. Conor vs. Diaz II at UFC 200 is guaranteed to shatter UFC records) because Conor refused to appear at a press conference 2 months before the show. Keep in mind, the precedent for this took place at UFC 137, where Nick Diaz (Nate's brother) was supposed to fight Georges St-Pierre (then the biggest star in the company). Nick no-showed a press conference, got pulled from the card (and that fight was nowhere near as big), only to end up headlining it anyway against BJ Penn after GSP got hurt and they desperately needed a star name in the replacement main event.

Dana White is a notoriously shady promoter, like all prize-fighting promoters are, and the UFC is infamously stingy with its money as far as underpaying athletes. From the moment Conor beat Jose Aldo to win the title, there were reports of the UFC feeling bitter-sweet about it. On one hand, they were happy a gigantic star was born out of nowhere, but on the other hand, they knew he would be hell to deal with because he viewed himself as an equal partner, while the UFC always throw around the "nobody is bigger than the UFC" bullshit. Dana White looked visibly unhappy after that fight, and Conor had previously expressed his desire to make as much money as he can (sensible plan if you ask me). Currently, reports are that the whole thing is a money dispute, which makes a lot of sense.

 

[brokenshoelace]

New last night came in that Conor is fed up with the media obligations and felt he should get a bigger cut of the PPV if he is to do what is basically a world tour promoting the event. Today, he released a statement. Of course, neither he nor the UFC are explicitly mentioning money as a reason for the dispute, smartly I might add, but Conor's statement is pretty revealing, and in his defense, he raises some great points:

"I am just trying to do my job and fight here. I am paid to fight. I am not yet paid to promote. I have become lost in the game of promotion and forgot about the art of fighting. There comes a time when you need to stop handing out flyers and get back to the damn shop. 50 world tours, 200 press conferences, 1 million interviews, 2 million photo shoots, and at the end of it all I'm left looking down the barrel of a lens, staring defeat in the face, thinking of nothing but my incorrect fight preparation. And the many distractions that led to this. Nothing else was going through my mind.

It is time to go back and live the life that got me this life. Sitting in a car on the way to some dump in Conneticut or somewhere, to speak to Tim and Suzie on the nobody gives a fuck morning show did not get me this life. Talking to some lady that deep down doesn't give a fuck about what I'm doing, but just wants some sound bites so she can maybe get her little tight ass a nice raise, and I'm cool with that too, I've been giving you all raises. But I need to focus on me now. I'm coming for my revenge here. I flew an entire team to Portugal and to Iceland to make my adjustments in preparation and fix my errors I made with the weight and the cardio prep. With the right adjustments and the right focus, I will finish what I started in that last fight. I will not do this if I am back on the road handing out flyers again.

I will always play the game and play it better than anybody, but just for this one, where I am coming off a loss, I asked for some leeway where I can just train and focus. I did not shut down all media requests. I simply wanted a slight adjustment. But it was denied. There had been 10 million dollars allocated for the promotion of this event is what they told me. So as a gesture of good will, I went and not only saved that 10 million dollars in promotion money, I then went and tripled it for them. And all with one tweet. Keep that 10 mill to promote the other bums that need it. My shows are good. I must isolate myself now. I am facing a taller, longer and heavier man. I need to prepare correctly this time. I can not dance for you this time. It is time for the other monkeys to dance. I've danced us all the way here. Nate's little mush head looks good up on that stage these days. Stuff him in front of the camera for it. He came in with no shit to do that last one. I'd already done press conferences, interviews and shot the ads before RDA pulled out. Maybe I'll hit Cabo this time and skull some shots pre-fight with no obligation.

I'm doing what I need for me now. It is time to be selfish with my training again. It is the only way. I feel the $400million I have generated for the company in my last three events, all inside 8 months, is enough to get me this slight leeway. I am still ready to go for UFC 200. I will offer, like I already did, to fly to New York for the big press conference that was scheduled, and then I will go back into training. With no distractions. If this is not enough or they feel I have not deserved to sit this promotion run out this one time, well then I don't know what to say.

For the record also - For USADA and for the UFC and my contract stipulations - I AM NOT RETIRED."

 

[britbox]

I guess you watched the fight @brokenshoelace ... what did you think?

 

[brokenshoelace]

I guess you watched the fight @brokenshoelace ... what did you think?

Thought Conor won. Great fight but I really don't see a convincing case for Diaz winning. The knockdowns, while not particularly brutal, have to sway the first couple of rounds in Conor's favor.

As great as their two fights have been and despite the memorable back in forth, I think they should just give this fight a rest. A trilogy isn't really needed. I'd like to see Conor defend his featherweight belt for a change.