The new MMA general news, events and thoughts thread

[David]

11 hours ago, Tamura said:

He's fought on live TV, on NBC no less. If anything fighting on some UFC Fight Pass prelims would be a step down from there. His record is largely meaningless when you consider he was retired for over two years. If you take two years off fighting it stands to reason it may harm your career, no matter how many limbs you have. If it was November 2015 and he hadn't retired and was looking to leave WSOF for Bellator or the UFC he'd probably be getting "the chance to step up", but as it is he's fought one fight in three years so the chance he got was on Tuesday Night Contender Series. 

So, what's his route then? Back to the shows and the competition that he's already beaten? 

He'd probably be better off just retiring again if that's the case.

[Carbomb]

🎼🎵Nick Newell in Bellator, doo-dah, doo-dah🎵

[Egg Shen]

17 minutes ago, David said:

So, what's his route then? Back to the shows and the competition that he's already beaten? 

Yeah, get back on the horse and prove himself. Dave you completely seem to be ignoring the 3 year gap in competition we are talking about. If Newell goes back on the smaller circuit and wins some fights there's every chance the UFC will bring him in...or least not another shot at the Contender show. 

 

 

[David]

13 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

Yeah, get back on the horse and prove himself. Dave you completely seem to be ignoring the 3 year gap in competition we are talking about. If Newell goes back on the smaller circuit and wins some fights there's every chance the UFC will bring him in...or least not another shot at the Contender show. 

I don't think he'll do that.

When he retired previously he spoke about injuries and wear and tear on his body, and the fact that at that level it just wasn't worth it.

He also doesn't seem to be an "I'll do anything to compete in the UFC" type guy either. When he called it a day previously and was asked about the UFC he said;

Quote

 

"For a while that really was what I wanted and I thought that was what I needed to justify a good career, was to get in there," he admitted. "Really, I don't need anyone to say whether I'm good enough or not. I know I'm good enough. I know that I could beat most of the guys in there. If they didn't want me, they didn't want me. I'm not going to resent that. That's going to be the least of my worries or things I think about in retirement.

I think overall I'll be remembered as a good fighter. This is, it's a part of who I am. It's not who I am, but it's a part of it and it's a big part and it makes me stand out. If that's how I'm going to be remembered, it's how I'm going to be remembered. When I started fighting, I kinda figured that's how I'd be remembered, but it wasn't why I did it. I've never gone out to be, 'I'm going to show the world!'

 

When you hear him talk like that, I don't think he's gonna be re-running old ground against a level of guys he's already beaten in the hope that the UFC decide to grant him another shot.

Like Ben Askren, he'll likely call it a day and just move on with his life. I just think it's a real shame we never saw either of those dudes in against some of the names in the sport.

[jimufctna24]

I can live with Newell not having a proper run in the UFC. 

But it's a real shame that Askren and the UFC have never done business. You could make the argument that Askren is the best MMA fighter to never fight in the UFC, other than Fedor. 

[Egg Shen]

Askren will always be the one that sucks, him and Michael Chandler are two modern MMA fighters id really have liked to have seen in the UFC.

 

[the_mole]

Michael Chandler is a free agent, either now or his next fight, he obviously doesn't want a title shot as he would have to renew his contract without testing free agency. Bellator have fought hard to sign certain ex UFC guys but hopefully they do the same for Bellator originals.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Interesting development: Costa has an outstanding invitation to join ATT, where Romero trains, and Romero still hasn’t signed to fight Costa.

Fucking mess.

[the_mole]

These camps, especially ATT & Jackson-Wink are so big, with enough trainers, they can have two fighters fighting each other and never really meet in person, Overeem has fought one or two guys from the same camp, while training at Jackson's.

[TildeGuy~!]

He did it then

[wandshogun09]

Fucking hell. Too much cunt in one picture. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

Dustin Poirier/Nate Diaz at 230, then.

Been received pretty well by everyone and Dustin deserves his moment BUT I’ve never seen such a blatant ‘we can’t guarantee you a title shot, but how about...?’ fight.

Dana must be sacrificing goats to the MMA Gods as we speak, praying Nate and Conor both win.

[David]

In all honesty, the more I think about it, the less I think that Dana actually gives a fuck now. He's made his fortune, this is simply bonus money for him at this point.

When it all eventually goes tits up, he'll walk away very wealthy. 

I think we're gonna see Khabib face either Poirier or Nate, with my hope that it's Poirier. Nate will just get demolished by Khabib most likely. So would Nick for that matter as well. In fact, he'd probably smash them both at the same time if need be.

Poirier vs Khabib for the title, and let nate and Conor do their trilogy thing.

[Egg Shen]

Cant see Poirier having an issue with fighting Nate Diaz. If hes hanging around for a title shot, he's looking at probably a year on the shelf and Diaz is a very winnable fight with possibly the highest exposure outside of fighting for the belt. No brainer for me. 

The UFC is in a weird transitional period where sportsmanship and rankings are less important and than making fights that make money and sense from a spectator and business standpoint. Its pissing people off along the way but im not entirely against it. Also strange how after all the shit MMA fans used to give boxing for their approach to promotion and how the UFC was all about top to bottom quality, the longer it goes the more boxing-like MMA's fight making process is becoming.

[Dead Mike]

1 minute ago, Egg Shen said:

Cant see Poirier having an issue with fighting Nate Diaz. If hes hanging around for a title shot, he's looking at probably a year on the shelf and Diaz is a very winnable fight with possibly the highest exposure outside of fighting for the belt. No brainer for me. 

The UFC is in a weird transitional period where sportsmanship and rankings are less important and than making fights that make money and sense from a spectator and business standpoint. Its pissing people off along the way but im not entirely against it. Also strange how after all the shit MMA fans used to give boxing for their approach to promotion and how the UFC was all about top to bottom quality, the longer it goes the more boxing-like MMA's fight making process is becoming.

The issue here is that it only makes sense from a very short term 'business standpoint'. I completely understand why they're doing it as the new owners have a fucking great bill to pay & need cash fast. It's not a sustainable model for growth though.