Gotta say I thought Mark Hunt was going to knock Lesnar out in the first round. Major kudos to Brock for fighting intelligently while not just being a wet blanket. I actually hope he sticks around.
It’s a shame Jones is a blithering idiot. He’s probably the only one in the division that can control DC. It’s sad watching him implode like this. There’s no doubt in my mind that he had the potential to be the greatest of all time.
Agree on Jones’s potential and how he screws it up. DC is just so boring, and Silva obviously wasn’t in fighting shape - that fight was dreadful. Although I was happy Lesnar won, those two fights were sort of circus sideshows, and not very exciting ones, which dragged down the card. No real surprises at all, and a bunch of mismatches, except Aldo/Edgar
What a weird mess this card turned out to be. With the original McCgregor fiasco, then Jon Jones crap. IMO two,of the best fights were the main events for the two previous nights. Give Joanna the props she deserves and make her a main event PVP match. She’s way more enjoyable to watch than most of the the men and just about all the other women fighters.
The UFC was just sold for $4 billion to a set of investors. Dana White will stay on a president.
It will be interesting to see if the new owners make any changes. The UFC apparently pulls in $600mil+ per year, meaning they may just say “it works as is, why change anything?”
I found UFC 200 kind of disappointing, given the hype. Compared to the last century event (UFC 100), it turned out to be middle-of-the-road as far as entertainment is concerned.
RickH
1865
Indeed. Cormier used the Sonnen Method to grind out Silva, proving that he needs to stay in 185 or below.
Good God, McGregor-Diaz II was an absolute monster.
Find a way to watch that without knowing the result if you can.
Desslock
1868
UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden on Nov 12 is the card that I hoped for with 200. 3 title fights, 8 current or former champions, and every fight on the card is just incredible. Easily the best MMA card ever, if it holds – now comes the terrible waiting game while we see which fights end up being scrapped due to injuries.
Anyone else going? Pricey card, and I’m not even sure that I enjoy watching MMA live more than on TV, but the atmosphere for this one will be incredible, so I couldn’t pass up attending.
JFrazer
1869
A bit far of a trip for me to attend. But I get all the UFC PPVs because of my work, so planning on having a little get-together at my place. My wife really hate the UFC, but she’s on board for any excuse for a gathering.
Guap
1870
So Rhonda Rousey just returned to the UFC tonight and then immediately retired herself. I’ve never seen a fight called like that. Nunes, the champ, just hammered her with unanswered blows. It might have been called early but it looked like Rousey just wasn’t there.
Analogy for old school MMA fans. Ronda is the female Royce Gracie. Great on the ground but zero striking skills.
This amount of punishment within the first minute of the fight? Ronda wasn’t defending herself coherently anymore and I think Herb stopped the fight with good cause.
Sad though. I would have liked Ronda to have had more gone out with more dignity. That was a real beating.
JFrazer
1873
Nunes gave some insightful feedback after the fight that I 100% agree with. Rhonda’s trainer is dead set on turning Rhonda in to a stand-up striker, which she isn’t and never will be. If she doesn’t flat out retire, she needs to go back to her judo roots and start winning via arm-bar again.
Last time Rhonda and her trainer were on Joe Rogen, he just kept talking about how she could be the top striker in women’s MMA. Why? Why force your fighter in to a style she isn’t comfortable with? Yes, she needs enough striking and striking defense to deal with the stand-up portion, but you need her to concentrate on getting her opponent to the ground. Otherwise she’s going to continue (unless she’s done) to get destroyed by these next generation kick-boxers and Thai fighters
I don’t know anyone other than people who don’t watch MMA regularly who were surprised that Nunes destroyed Rousey, or thought that the fight would go more than a round (even if Ronda won, that was likely, if she managed to judo flip and get an armbar). Ronda was just the champ of a completely immature weight division that allowed her to dominate despite her significant weaknesses. She was never the “Royce Gracie” of women’s MMA - she was more Tank Abbot, or at best, Dan Severn.
JFrazer is right too - her coach is an idiot. If Ronda doesn’t retire, she needs to go to a real camp like Greg Jackson’s to get the training she needs to address her weaknesses and capitalize on her strengths. I would actually like to see that, as the weight class is still so shallow that it can’t bear to lose someone who is still better than all but maybe a couple fighters, even with her weaknesses.
The big surprise of the night was Garbrandt – I knew he was excellent, but I really underestimated how dexterous he was, and how great his head movement and footwork was - I really did not expect someone to be able to move like that against Cruz, especially after Cruz was so effective against Dillashaw (my personal favorite fighter, because of his fantastic movement and technical striker). Really hope we see Garbrandt /TJ next - I think Garbrandt is potentially a real superstar.
Sad that Mike Goldberg got the boot, even though he has never been a great commentator - for almost 20 years he was just the voice of the UFC along with Rogan, and I liked his goofy phrases and his over the top voice. Really disappointed that the UFC didn’t give any tribute to him and it wasn’t acknowledged at all (maybe for litigation reasons?) and by the fact that it seems the UFC is intent on bringing in a commentator who has no background with the sport. The Fox guys (Jon Anik and Brian Stann, as well as Kenny Florian although he seems to have been relegated to the desk) are really good and deserve that role. I also wouldn’t mind some obnoxious fighter/former fighter like Bisping or Sonnen in the booth.
That’s kind of what they need though, since really that’s the role Goldberg played… ;)
He was the audience surrogate, and Rogan would teach us by explaining things to him. It was a pretty interesting dynamic and I don’t think having two people who both know the same stuff would work as well.
jpinard
1876
Isn’t Rondas trainer her boyfriend? Or did she date him at one point? I’ve heard him called out as the UFC’s worst trainer for the second year now.
No, her boyfriend is heavyweight fighter Travis Browne, who has the same coach (and career trajectory, lately). She formerly dated another heavyweight, Brandon Schwab
robc04
1878
I usually don’t post / read online about the UFC because I watch the events of Fightpass after the fact and I hate when they are spoiled. I hope Alexander Gustafsson kicks Jon Jone’s ass almost as much as I wanted Khabid to beat down Connor McGregor. Jones seems like such an arrogant dick.
It’s funny because I don’t necessarily mind all trash talkers, some of them are funny and it seems like a shtick - Bisping, Sonnen, etc. McGregor and Jones just strike me as real asses.
Amanda Nunes is the UFC’s biggest badass. Sends Ronda running off to the WWE and now trashes “Cyborg” in less than a minute.
robc04
1880
I didn’t think it would go down that way, but Amanda kicked ass. If there is a rematch it will be interesting to see how it goes down now that Cyborg knows she can’t just stand there and get hit.
I’m not surprised that Jones won, but doesn’t make me happy.
