The new MMA general news, events and thoughts thread

[David]

Conor's statement regarding a fight with Ferguson;

Quote

 

"We are in the negotiations stage right now and that is a lengthy process, they have got to make me excited about it," he said.

"I came from a crazy event, a record-breaking event - I made insane money. The opponents they are trying to line up for me have a $600,000 gate in Las Vegas - $600,000 in Las Vegas is unheard of, it is abysmal.

"It is hard to get excited by that, 100,000 pay-per-view buyers compared to my 6.5 million.

"Can they entice me? No doubt they can. Have they yet? No."

 

I'm at the stage now where I just want him to either fight, or fuck off. Yeah, you made insane money, you can live very comfortably for the rest of your life, you can buy zillions of cars, wear dead animals every day of the week, we get it, but if you don't want to fight in the UFC for the money that you know they can offer you against the guy who's holding that #1 contender spot then drop the title. I think he's angling for a 3rd bout with Nate, which he'll likely win via decision, then he retires. Easy money against a guy who, in all this furore about PPV buys and suchlike, we've forgotten isn't actually all that good and who hasn't fought in a year.

I don't think he wants to fight Ferguson or Khabib. Far too much risk for too little money in his eyes probably.

Which is fair enough, but as I said, either come out and tell us when you're fighting, or just piss off and do a few exhibition type boxing matches for the money. I have zero interest in hearing a multi-millionaire hum and haw about money, referring to the kind of cash that would change the lives of many an ordinary person as fuck all.

Sit your arse round the table with some other ridiculously rich cunts and discuss it with them. Tell us when you're ready to either fight, or when you're giving up the belt.

[Carbomb]

At this point, I have to agree with David. McGregor knows the UFC can't afford to pay him even close to what he got for the Mayweather fight. Much as I like to see pricks like Dana and the UFC squirm, at the same time, McGregor has just made a shit-ton of cash; how much more does he really need to be paid to fight in the UFC? If he wants the kind of money he got for fighting Mayweather, he knows what the answer is: go to boxing, don't mess people around in MMA. 

At this point, he needs to accept that if he wants to stay in MMA, he's got to effectively treat it like a vanity project, rather than a livelihood, now. In which case, just get on with the fucking sport, and stop holding up everything with ridiculous demands. 

[BigJag]

Not sure of it's been mentioned before. However the Beeb are hosting an MMA podcast. Dan Hardy and OJ Borg are involved. Therefore, possibly similar to some of the MMA discussion stuff that airs on BT Sport.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05l34vb/episodes/downloads

 

 

 

[the_mole]

They should tell him to ask Manny Pacquiaou if he made anywhere near $100 million after his loss to Mayweather and the answer would be not even close.

These fights are usually once in a lifetime numbers but if he kept on winning like Floyd did, maybe he could occasionally get massive numbers like that, Floyd did 300,000 buys in his fight with Berto after the Manny Pacquiaou fight, so those big numbers aren't guaranteed.

[David]

The thing for me is, he fully deserved the big payout from the Floyd fight. I doubt many fans would grudge him that.

However, when he's already pocketed that kind of dough and is now angling for more, there's a point where he starts to look like a greedy cunt. He knows fine well that any fight he takes part in for the UFC from here forward will see him paid extremely well in MMA terms. 

[Dead Mike]

Nobody ever remembers the money. When people are talking about former greats how much they drew, PPV points & all the money stuff is never brought up. It's about who you beat, how many title defences you had, the close fights, the questionable decisions, the big KO's etc. I doubt McGregor wants to be remembered as the bloke who had 2 titles stripped from him because he refused to defend them.

[Egg Shen]

1 hour ago, BigJag said:

Not sure of it's been mentioned before. However the Beeb are hosting an MMA podcast. OJ Borg is involved. Therefore, possibly similar to some of the MMA discussion stuff that aired on BT Sport.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05l34vb/episodes/downloads

 

 

 

might be a decent listen, Hardy's usually worth the time. Never really took to Borg though, always seemed a bit of a bellend.

[Egg Shen]

12 minutes ago, Dead Mike said:

Nobody ever remembers the money. When people are talking about former greats how much they drew, PPV points & all the money stuff is never brought up. It's about who you beat, how many title defences you had, the close fights, the questionable decisions, the big KO's etc. I doubt McGregor wants to be remembered as the bloke who had 2 titles stripped from him because he refused to defend them.

never defending the titles either.

He's a unique case, one that we'll never likely see again. Whilst Conor's antics and demands are slowly turning the MMA faithful against him, the casual fanbase which worships the ground he walks on likely doesn't give a fuck, the defeat in boxing did nothing to harm his appeal either, he's just operating on a different playing field and it can be frustrating as an MMA fan that wants to see him in certain fights.

...i don't think anyone touched on this sidebar, but did anyone read/hear that the Russian choo choo Artem Lobov is looking to make the move into boxing? Lobov is the greatest coat-tail rider in MMA history.

[Keith Houchen]

58 minutes ago, Dead Mike said:

Nobody ever remembers the money. When people are talking about former greats how much they drew, PPV points & all the money stuff is never brought up.

As I've said before, it gets mentioned on here a lot because this is a pro wrestling board, and that shit matters in pro wrestling.

[Dead Mike]

9 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

As I've said before, it gets mentioned on here a lot because this is a pro wrestling board, and that shit matters in pro wrestling.

Absolutely. The idea that success is measured by how much you draw is an entertainment thing rather than a sporting measure. It's the same as Hollywood stars measuring success by opening weekend box office.

Nobody gives a fuck how many replica shirts Pele sold.

[wandshogun09]

I agree with almost all of what you said Dave. But you saying Nate Diaz "isn't all that good" is a bit of a turnaround, isn't it? Before the second Diaz-McGregor fight I remember you completely writing McGregor's chances off and basically saying it was a fight he couldn't win due to Nate's size, reach, BJJ etc. Now he's no good? 

The rest of your post I'm pretty much on board with though. Even as a McGregor fan it's getting tiresome now. He's set for fucking life already. His son is set for life and doesn't even know it yet as he's plopping out millionaire shits into his nappy. His son's future kids are probably going to have a nice comfy lifestyle as well. If he never wanted to fight again he wouldn't have to. He seems to still want to fight though. And if he wants to fight on he's got to be realistic. The Mayweather payday is something he or anyone else in the game is unlikely to see again anytime soon, if ever. And let's be honest, while he won't make even a fraction of that kind of dough in the UFC going forward, he's still going to pick up a nice few million for most fights. It's all just icing on the cake. But it's so frustrating as a fan who just wants to see him fight. I'm happy for him that he's minted and his family are sorted. That's great. But beyond that, how many zeros are on his bank balance makes no odds to me. And it seems like we talk more about his bastard money than his fighting these days. Just either fight or don't. I'd be gutted if he decided he's done but I'd even rather that than this boring old song and dance every time between his fights. 

In theory, you'd think that because he's set financially now he'd be more focused on building the legacy now. Racking up title defences, facing the top contenders, doing the superfights that pop up. And all this would naturally top up his already bursting at the seams bank balance even more along the way. But now anytime a potential McGregor opponent pops up, instead of basing it on whether the challenger has earned the shot or not all we're going to hear is "how much does he draw?" Like him going on about Ferguson's gate there. You can't decide a guy doesn't deserve a title shot just because he doesn't smash it at the Box Office. That's not how titles work. If you won't defend against the top challenger, relinquish the belt. You can't hold onto titles indefinitely and not defend them because your opponent, who wins fights and has fully earned the shot, doesn't draw. And who cares anyway? McGregor will draw to a certain point whoever he's in with. More with the right guy. If he's such a huge megastar himself why does he even care what Ferguson would draw? 

I think it's time to set a deadline. I'd say if McGregor doesn't have a title defence signed and booked by November 12th, which is a year since he won the title from Eddie Alvarez, it's time to strip him and let the division move on. Then he can fight Diaz or GSP or The Black Beast or whatever the fuck. I know November 12th is just around the corner but sod it, you've got to draw a line somewhere. They won't though. I know he makes the UFC a load of money but I'm starting to think if Dana White walked in on McGregor in bed with Dana's wife he'd ask them if they wanted him to bring breakfast in bed. 

[David]

Quote

I agree with almost all of what you said Dave. But you saying Nate Diaz "isn't all that good" is a bit of a turnaround, isn't it? Before the second Diaz-McGregor fight I remember you completely writing McGregor's chances off and basically saying it was a fight he couldn't win due to Nate's size, reach, BJJ etc. Now he's no good? 

I've said a few times that my assessment of how Conor would do in the rematch was primarily based on how he approached the first fight. It's been well known for many a year now that there's a very distinct blueprint for beating a Diaz brother, and it doesn't involve taking the fight to them, gassing like fuck and giving up your back.

I've happily admitted that I underestimated McGregor's fight IQ, and that I didn't see him implementing that gameplan that anyone who beats Nick or Nate has used.

Having seen him do it once, I have absolutely no doubt he'd do the same again. In fact, I'd stick virtually every penny that I have on him winning via decision.

[kev2050]

Strangely, I've just had a DM from UFC Europe on twitter, saying the UFC returns to London on March 17th (also St Patrick's day), the same weekend as last year. 

Edit - sorry, accidentally underlined it all, and can't seem to easily remove it all. 

[wandshogun09]

9 minutes ago, David said:

In fact, I'd stick virtually every penny that I have on him winning via decision.

Would you? Would you really Dave? 

It's not like that second fight was a cakewalk. It was a close fight that Nate had his moments in, and McGregor faded again in the middle of the fight (he got a second win late but it was looking dicey for a bit there). I had McGregor winning but a fair number of people scored it for Diaz. It's not the type of fight I'd ever be hugely confident in one way or the other. And I know you didn't mean it literally (I hope) but would you honestly put all your money down and hope that the judges get it right? You know the saying on the TUF gym wall, don't you? "Never leave a fight, or your life savings, in the hands of the judges!" 

[David]

1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said:

Would you? Would you really Dave? 

It's not like that second fight was a cakewalk. It was a close fight that Nate had his moments in, and McGregor faded again in the middle of the fight (he got a second win late but it was looking dicey for a bit there). I had McGregor winning but a fair number of people scored it for Diaz. It's not the type of fight I'd ever be hugely confident in one way or the other. And I know you didn't mean it literally (I hope) but would you honestly put all your money down and hope that the judges get it right? You know the saying on the TUF gym wall, don't you? "Never leave a fight, or your life savings, in the hands of the judges!" 

Yes, yes I would.

Of course it wasn't a cake walk, no fight against either Nate or Nick ever is, but the harsh truth is that any fighter who's to be considered top three in their division should be able to implement the gameplan that beats them.

Virtually every top fighter that either have faced has beaten them, and there's a reason for that.

I honestly believe that McGregor today, especially with his much improved ring awareness and movement that he used against Mayweather will have more than enough to defeat a rusty, inactive Nate Diaz.

Let's be honest, Nate beat him the first time around because of poor fight IQ. You don't go into a firefight with those guys. Conor did, and paid for it. He smartened up second time around.