Zuwadza
1721
Yeah it didn’t end up being a great card unfortunately.
Conor’s promos were hilariously one-sided. It will be doubly funny if he somehow loses to Siver.
RickH
1724
4 kids already?
Been working on his cardio, ifyaknowwhatimean.
Tonight’s FOX UFC fight night had the first women’s UFC match that I’ve watched live. Paige VanZant beat the heck out of Felice Herrig, and it was a better fight than most of the men’s matches I’ve seen. Lots of action and energy, even a few near-reversals despite VanZant being clearly better most of the way. I’ve read a few articles about the women’s game, seen the Ronda Rousey clips, etc, but never really gave it much thought compared to the men’s side. I might pay a little more attention now, though.
The woman’s game in general is years behind the men, but that’s to be expected. There are some real talented fighters but in general it’s like watching the men’s game from a dozen years ago. Still enjoyable if you accept it for what it is now. Hopefully the talent pool will increase in the years to come and raise the level up.
That noise was the Ronda Rousey hype train derailing.
Damn. Holly flatout schooled Ronda and made her look pretty bad tonite even before that sick headkick.
and the answer to “what will it take to beat the undefeated champion” is the same it has always been
Their next fight.
I’ve really liked Ronda Rousey’s movie appearances, but I don’t know the first thing about UFC or MMA. And even to me it looked like Holly Holms had the upper hand the entire time. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have guessed Ronda Rousey was a relative amateur. She was just flat-out aggressive, basically putting herself in harm’s way over and over. It was like watching someone play Street Fighter where one player just moves backwards while the other player keeps recklessly closing the distance into punching range.
-Tom
Alstein
1731
Funny you mentioned Street fighter and Rousey- this video was making the rounds yesterday:
Unfortunately Rousey looked about as bad as Cammy was in SFII last night.
I don’t know what Rousey’s gameplan was, but for the sake of her coaches I hope it wasn’t “chase a boxer around the ring without using any head movement.”
I was interested to see what Rousey was going to do against someone with a lifetime of boxing-style footwork and after Rousey’s weird comments on instagram the day before the fight, and the weird refusal to touch gloves I was rooting for Holm. There’ll be a focus on Holm’s striking, but it’s worth remembering that round one featured Holm stiffing a takedown attempt, escaping an arm bar attempt and taking Ronda down too.
On a card headlined by four women, the fight before between Jedrzejczyk and Letourneau was good for a different reasons. Pre-fight, 96% of voters had Jedrzejczyk winning, (and she did), but Letourneau lasted five solid rounds and in the first round she took a kick straight to the face that hurt my teeth through the TV screen.
Not exactly sure what you’re getting at but I hope you’re not implying that Rousey has been all hype all along. Whatever you or others might think about women in the ring she has been the epitome of a champion, taken on all comers and really hadn’t been given a real fight until last night. And out of the ring, what a breath of fresh air. No false modesty and no uber bravado either; surprise she comes across as a confident woman and a real person. What I’m actually fearing is that this fight was thrown by her people in order to promote future fights.
I’d seen Holm in a few fights, and when I saw that she was going to be fighting Ronda, I had a feeling it would be a challenge. Holm is a very precise fighter.
It’s funny though, I mean, so much of it is in the preparation. Judging from what they were saying, Holm had gone to extraordinary lengths for her preparation, and while that’s normally what Rousey does too (again, just going by what they show of her) maybe this time she wasn’t quite as prepared as she had been before, relative to Holm. I guess, in the transition to “rock star” status (and doing things like chasing the Ms Marvel movie role and all that sort of stuff), she lost a bit of the focus that won her her fame.
IOW, those things fill up time and mental space, so maybe it’s (paradoxically) the fruits of her fame that did her in on this occasion (she’s bound to be back with a bang at some point, though).
The Jedreczyk/Letourneau fight was also excellent.
I haven’t paid much attention to MMA in a number of years, but I’m wondering where Cris Cyborg is in all of this. I’d take her against any woman out there (except for maybe the one that had a sex change).
ddtibbs
1736
The Rousey/Horn fight reminded me of Tyson/Douglas. A shorter champion trying to get insIde, while the taller boxer kept the fight at range and dished out punishment.
Soma
1737
Yeah, so UFC is pretty successful in expanding the its market share, because I actually get to watch that Ronda Rousey character (who appeared in Furious 7 right?) fight Holly Holm (whom I don’t know completely). The fight was more Rousey being beaten to a pulp by Holm. And I’m instantly cured of UFC forever because of the brutality.
After Holm landing a high kick on Rousey’s neck, she went down like a stone. The ref didn’t stop the fight there. Only AFTER Holm followed up with a couple of punches to the head of a downed Rousey did the ref stop the fight. WHY? Isn’t the protection of the welfare of the fighters #1 priority? Is that just the norm or the exception? Body blows are mostly ok because the body can take it, but the lack of protective headgear is just not on.
Zuwadza
1738
Way safer than football IMO.
Zuwadza
1739
Also I would say about 7/10 fights are stopped at a kick like that. I agree it was a slow stoppage.
The stoppage was fine. Herb dean the ref is one of the best around. It was also the champ and he’s gonna give at least a second see see if she’s out cold. MMA is far less dangerous than boxing or football.
