The new MMA general news, events and thoughts thread

[wandshogun09]

It is definitely a jump but it's one they've almost had to give him. Because 1) Till himself has been calling for it for months, 2) there aren't that many guys above Cerrone who wouldn't be risky and 3) there doesn't seem to be a long line of welterweights calling for a fight with Till. That kind of makes it a short list options-wise for opponents. I'm not underestimating Wonderboy but it's hardly the biggest mismatch we've seen booked. Far from it. Till might well lose and maybe in hindsight it will look like it was a mismatch but what can you do? This is why they fight. I'm usually all for being a bit careful with matching up prospects with tough fights too soon but in this case I've got no problem with it. You smash Cerrone in a round and talk yourself up the way Till has and you find yourself in these kind of fights faster. Then it's up to you to prove you're ready for it. I'm interested to see if he can back up his talk now against a top contender and in Wonderboy we'll see if he can. And if Wonderboy wins then he's knocked off an undefeated young prospect with some hype behind him and it puts him right in line for another crack at the title (maybe, but a third Woodley fight doesn't seem too likely just yet). It's great matchmaking IMO. 

If not Wonderboy who did people think Till should've been paired with? Because all the other options like Masvidal or Lawler or RDA or Covington are also jumps up from 2017 Cowboy. He was getting a big step up regardless. It's just the way it has to be. If Till somehow beats Thompson then I want to see him get the grappler test next. 

[jimufctna24]

There are rumours that the UFC is likely to be leaving FOX. This quote from Meltzer is doing the rounds (excuse the capital letters)

Quote

 

There Is A Lot Of Talk That UFC Television Negotiations Are Not Going Well. The Company Had Hoped To Have The Deal Done By The End Of Last Year, And Now We're Almost In April With No Sign Of A Deal Being Done And The Target Looks Like The Summer For An Announcement. There Have Been Some Stories Along With The Word On The Street That UFC And FOX Would Likely Be Done. FOX Made UFC An Offer But Now It Looks Like FOX Is More Interested In WWE, As They Could Get WWE For Similar Money And WWE Would Deliver Higher Ratings. Still, FS 1 And FS 2 Have Relied On UFC For A Live Percentage Of Their Programming For Years.

 

 

[the_mole]

Endeavor (UFC owners, they changed names) just bought streaming company Neolion $250 million, who run fight pass, internet PPVs, NFL & NBA game pass streams and run the Sky Box Office PPVs this week. Some have said they would just stream the full product but I highly doubt that, TV is still the best way to get new viewers.

Time Warner is said to be interested but are in a law suit right now, that's TNT, TBS (WCW's old home) and apparently they would be main sport on Tru TV, it has a younger demographic, TNT has NBA & TBS has MLB plus they other sports rights spread across all 3.

Time Warner & AT&T are trying to merge but the government are suing them, some say it's because Trump hates CNN, they also own HBO which would be ideal, even a lot of cord cutters are keeping HBO.

The UK deal is up as well in 2018, Ari Emanuel etc sells premier league rights worldwide among many other sports, so I would assume both Sky & BT would like to get endeavor on side, premier league deal was down but if he gets more money abroad, clubs budgets will remain the same, thus the product won't suffer 

[jimufctna24]

Thanks for the information. 

TNT do a very good job with their NBA coverage. 

[ColinBollocks]

IIRC, the new owners are trying to get double what they get just now in rights fees. You can see why FOX isn't too keen. Particularly with the rumours the UFC is looking to sell different packages to different networks.

Bruce Prichard said on his podcast that FOX have been sniffing about WWE for decades - with Vince being pally with Rupert Murdoch.

[the_mole]

Yeah Fox are selling most of their stuff to Disney, so they will basically be without a TV studio, so will need to buy scripted programing and be the only network without one, leaving just Fox, Fox Sports & Fox News, so they are saying they will concentrate on more live sports and news on normal Fox, they just signed a deal for Thursday Night Football. The rumor is WWE Raw would be 2 hours on Fox & Smackdown would be live on FS1 obviously WWE isn't a sport but it is live TV, thus less DVR proof. Then maybe Fox would be interested in the XFL.

UFC brings itself plus maybe some Boxing, so they don't have a American Football brand.

I would like to see what HBO could do with the UFC, I loved 24/7 but think it doesn't fit like it did a decade ago, now everybody is watching on phones, things like embedded are more likely to hit the young fans.

[TildeGuy~!]

Donald Cerrone Vs Leon Edwards on June 23rd as per Ariel

[wandshogun09]

That's a good fight. I was wondering who Edwards was going to get next because he called out Till but Till's obviously booked now. This is probably a better fight for Edwards because Cerrone is a big name like he was after, and he's probably got a better chance against him than Till. 

[jimufctna24]

Update on Lesnar: 

 

Quote

Dana White: Yeah, Brock Lesnar’s coming back. I don’t know when, but yes he is.”

 

Quote

Ariel Helwani
‏@arielhelwani
According to multiple sources, this isn’t promoter talk from White. UFC is confident Lesnar will be back after his WWE duties are wrapped up on Sunday. A deal is in place. Key now is to finalize it.

 

[Guest]

Chael Sonnen on talk is jericho the other week was talking about how Lesnar still has his suspension to work through with 6 months of clean testing required. Is there any public record of him withdrawing his retirement and starting that clock going again? Otherwise he’s over a year from getting back in the octogon isn’t he?  

[David]

21 minutes ago, Louch said:

Chael Sonnen on talk is jericho the other week was talking about how Lesnar still has his suspension to work through with 6 months of clean testing required. Is there any public record of him withdrawing his retirement and starting that clock going again? Otherwise he’s over a year from getting back in the octogon isn’t he?  

There were various rumours about him registering his come back with the USADA drug-testing pool, but they were always confirmed as being incorrect.

If he does come back he'll have to serve out the rest of his suspension, which will kick in from a formal written notice to both the UFC and USADA that he's coming out of retirement. 

[ColinBollocks]

Him sitting out for a few months is fine anyway, what with Stipe/DC and Jones being tied up. You imagine those are the two fights they'll be offering to Lesnar, so they can fully exploit his drawing power.

They can then feed him to Ngannou afterwards.

[wandshogun09]

I actually think they might go with Lesnar vs Ngannou first. With Ngannou's apparent lack of wrestling they'll probably see that as a winnable first fight back for him. Then onto a Stipe or DC or Jones. If Jones ever gets his academics in order.

Of course, the risk you run there is Ngannou might punch his big head into the lights and then there goes your big plans. But I can see why a Lesnar vs Ngannou fight would appeal to them. It's an easy sell, isn't it? Lesnar's return will probably sell regardless of opponent. Then you put him in with a monster like Ngannou and he wins? Instantly establishes him again at the top of the division. 

[David]

4 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

I actually think they might go with Lesnar vs Ngannou first. With Ngannou's apparent lack of wrestling they'll probably see that as a winnable first fight back for him. Then onto a Stipe or DC or Jones. If Jones ever gets his academics in order.

Of course, the risk you run there is Ngannou might punch his big head into the lights and then there goes your big plans. But I can see why a Lesnar vs Ngannou fight would appeal to them. It's an easy sell, isn't it? Lesnar's return will probably sell regardless of opponent. Then you put him in with a monster like Ngannou and he wins? Instantly establishes him again at the top of the division. 

The thing is, if the UFC have any real inclination that Nagannou could still become a major player why would they put him in there with Lesnar (a guy who's got a very, very limited shelf life) hoping he'll lose?

Wouldn't that be them sacrificing a potential future star for a short-term fix? I know the UFC seem to work that way these days, but still.

I reckon they'll plop Lesnar in with a decent, recognisable mid-level guy. Arlosvski? A rematch with Overeem? Struve? Even see if Barnett is back by then?

[Carbomb]

3 minutes ago, David said:

The thing is, if the UFC have any real inclination that Nagannou could still become a major player why would they put him in there with Lesnar (a guy who's got a very, very limited shelf life) hoping he'll lose?

Wouldn't that be them sacrificing a potential future star for a short-term fix? I know the UFC seem to work that way these days, but still.

I reckon they'll plop Lesnar in with a decent, recognisable mid-level guy. Arlosvski? A rematch with Overeem? Struve? Even see if Barnett is back by then?

Wait - do you mean they're hoping Ngannou will lose, or Lesnar? I can't see why they'd be doing the former. Maybe I've missed a statement or comment - has anyone from UFC said something to that effect?