The new MMA general news, events and thoughts thread

[Egg Shen]

Nah, not a chance Dave. Woodley/Covington is a good fight for a standard PPV but as far as an MSG blockbuster, i dont see it.

Plus, the UFC cant have had that lined up in the hope that Woodley was gonna come out of the Till fight unscathed. And what if Till had won?

It may be a contingency plan but theres no way thats the fight UFC had planned to headline the Garden.

 

[ColinBollocks]

Jones, Brock and GSP are the only draws about that can make a card pop - maybe Cain too, at a push. I first thought it may be Jones v DC, but I'm not so sure how long DC needs to take out to heal his hand.

[David]

1 hour ago, Egg Shen said:

Nah, not a chance Dave. Woodley/Covington is a good fight for a standard PPV but as far as an MSG blockbuster, i dont see it.

Plus, the UFC cant have had that lined up in the hope that Woodley was gonna come out of the Till fight unscathed. And what if Till had won?

It may be a contingency plan but theres no way thats the fight UFC had planned to headline the Garden.

I'm fairly sure that Dana would rather run the event with no main event fight than put Woodley in there.

[David]

Sorry for the double post, but it looks like we could see Jose Aldo make the move to 155lbs. That's something that I like the sound of, plenty of fresh matches for him there that could breathe new life into his career.

Quote

 

It’s been a while since your win. What are the plans for your next fight? How is the talk going between the UFC and your manager?

Right after the fight, Dana talked about the big possibility of fighting on Dec. 8, in Canada again. I’ve had already asked for that fight, I said I wanted to be on that event. I really enjoyed fighting in Canada, where I made my UFC debut, and I hope to fight there again. It’s up to ‘Dede’ now, he’s looking into that and talking to the Dana and Sean to get my next fight done.

When they mentioned the Toronto card, did they say any specific opponent? You mentioned Pettis’ name earlier.

Pettis was a request from fans, I got many messages saying he would be a great fight for me next. They also asked me to fight in Sao Paulo, but there was not enough time to get it done at lightweight. They even put me to fight Cerrone, but it wasn’t done. I’m waiting for ‘Dede’ now, talking to him, and when he finds a good name and they agree to it, we’ll fight.

Cerrone was someone offered to you by the UFC?

Exactly, the UFC (offered). When Glover pulled out and they had no main event, they asked if there was a possibility for me to fight. We accepted, depending on the opponent, and they offered Cerrone right after, and he had already agreed, and ‘Dede’ didn’t think it would be good because there wasn’t enough time. We needed some time to rest before we started another camp again, so it didn’t happen. But now we’re waiting for ‘Dede’ to talk to them again so we know who we’re fighting.

Cerrone is fighting currently at 170, not 155. Would it be at 170, or would Cerrone move down to 155?

It was actually funny. Sean called ‘Dede’ talking about the fight, and ‘Dede’ asked who would be the opponent, and they called back moments after offering Cerrone. It would be 155 for sure, right? No way it’s 170, it’s too heavy. But it was tough because we didn’t have enough time to prepare, especially against Cerrone, a very tough guy, someone who fights hard in his losses, so there was no possibility. Maybe the possibility of fighting in Brazil got me overexcited, I said it was possible, but thinking clearly there was no way we could fight, especially someone like Cerrone. I have to be very well trained to fight him.

After ruling out Sao Paulo, which is next week, you mentioned Toronto. Looking at the options in the featherweight division, who would be a good option for you at 145, or maybe fight at 155 while you wait for Holloway vs. Ortega, which could also take place at that card?

That fight between Holloway and Brian is booked, and I hope it happens. I hope Max is okay and can put on a great fight and let the division move. To me, I don’t care if it’s at featherweight or lightweight, what matters is fighting at that card. I had already asked for it before that fight was booked, so for me it’s great because we know that if anything happens, we can fight for the belt, so I will get ready. No matter the weight, 145 or 155, I’ve earned a title

Being at the same card, wouldn’t it be the ideal scenario for you to fight at featherweight, since you would already be cutting weight to fight at 145?

I don’t cut weight, so it’s no problem for me to fight at lightweight. I only cut weight during fight week, and I wouldn’t be too heavy because it’s not my characteristic. I know nobody pulls out on fight week. If you have to pull out it would be before, when you’re training harder and that possibility exists. But I think about myself first, being on that card. That was my idea to begin with, to go there and fight, and if I have the opportunity to fight at featherweight I will be ready because I only cut weight from Monday to Friday.

Some featherweights mentioned your name recently, like Renato Moicano and Zabit Magomedsharipov. Who would you think it’s the ideal for you?

I can’t say there’s an ideal guy at featherweight because they’re all behind me, they are all trying to promote themselves to get to a title fight, and they all know I’m ahead of them. Especially if Brian wins, if he wins there’s no other option. That’s what we’re waiting for. There’s no reason for me to fight (them) now. In the future, yes, I want to fight them all because that’s how I have always was, fighting the best. If they are the best, I want to fight the best.

You don’t think it makes sense for you to fight anyone ranked below you, right?

Exactly, yes. They are below me and it doesn’t make sense. For them to move up in the division they have to fight me, but that’s not my idea now. My idea is to fight for the belt as soon as possible.

So, there’s basically no fight for you at featherweight…

There is. The belt.

Besides the belt, obviously, there’s no one else since you’re ahead of everyone.

Yes. There’s only Brian ahead of me, so he’s the guy I want to fight, and I know that. I’m waiting for that.

 

I think Cerrone is too big for Aldo, you're talking about a guy who can make welterweight facing someone coming up from featherweight. 

[wandshogun09]

Finally, Aldo at lightweight is something I've wanted to see for years. I wish he'd made the move after the McGregor loss or the second Edgar win. Now after the two beatdowns from Holloway it might be a tad too late but it's still something I'm interested in. 

Aldo vs Pettis is the fight I want to see at 155. There are others of course, but for now, Aldo vs Pettis for me. We were robbed of that fight in 2013 when both were at their peak but I still think it's a great fight. 

[ColinBollocks]

Agreed. Well up for this. Realistically Aldo is always going to get battered by Holloway.

I assume he'll be banging on about wanting Conor again.

[David]

11 hours ago, ColinBollocks said:

I assume he'll be banging on about wanting Conor again.

If Conor loses to Khabib, then fights Nate and he fancies kicking about for a bit longer there's worse fights they could look at. 

[ColinBollocks]

For sure, but I think you're relying on Aldo to look really impressive at LW first. After the Conor and Holloway losses Aldo has lost a lot of his aura - some even questioning if he is on the slide. More finishes like his last one and he'll definitely be on Conor's radar.

[Egg Shen]

If Aldo somehow establishes himself at lightweight, id definitely like to see it again. But i think the chances of that happening are slim at this point, Aldo should probably have gone to 155 a few fights back but at this point i dont see him putting a dent in the top end of that division. If Aldo goes in and beats a big name out of the gate id be mentioned Conor's name in every interview.

[David]

9 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said:

For sure, but I think you're relying on Aldo to look really impressive at LW first. After the Conor and Holloway losses Aldo has lost a lot of his aura - some even questioning if he is on the slide. More finishes like his last one and he'll definitely be on Conor's radar.

It also depends on where Conor's at in a year or two as well I guess.

He could very easily go in and lose badly to Khabib, then lose to Nate as well. 

[TildeGuy~!]

Rafael Dos Anjos Vs. Kamaru Usman is headlining the TUF 28 Finale

[wandshogun09]

That's a great fight. Tough one for RDA though. He's been beat now by Khabib at 155 and Covington at 170, both strong grapplers. Now he's fighting another one in Usman. Huge opportunity for Usman this, and like I said the blueprint is out there for him to follow. As much as I really don't want to see RDA lose again, Usman is a fresh face in the title picture and I'd like to see how he'd match up with Woodley and Covington. I think Woodley comes out on top against both regardless but it'll be interesting to see him against these other strong wrestlers. 

When the fuck are they announcing this 230 MSG main event? The delay, IMO, can only mean they're trying to get Jon Jones on there and are currently working on getting him cleared and good to go with USADA and all that. What else can it be? GSP chooses when he fights and he's been silent lately. It'd seem a bit too sudden and knee-jerk for someone as calculated and smart as GSP. Cain's injury status hasn't been updated in forever. There's Brock but he's probably even further off getting cleared than Jones at the moment. Jones ticks all the boxes for me, plus he's a New Yorker so it's a perfect fit. Jones vs Gus 2 or even a Jones heavyweight fight would do very nicely. 

[AdamTH17]

Anyone played any of the WMMA games by Adam Ryland? 

Great fun. I'm still on WMMA 3 at the moment, though they've released 2 newer versions since. It's essentially like a Football Manager version of MMA, with real-world updates available to download. Because it's an outdated version, the latest modern update for 3 is November 2014, but because the game runs fairly quickly, I've reached February 2016 in the space of a couple of weeks.

Some notable moments so far on my save include Rumble knocking out Jones at UFC 187 to win the Light Heavyweight strap, Michael McDonald knocked off Faber, who beat Dillashaw for the Bantamweight belt, Bisping beat Romero and Weidman to become Middleweight Champion until he lost to Rockhold, Anderson retired after beating Belfort but then failed a drugs test! GSP came back and submitted Hendricks in the first round to reclaim his Welterweight title, and has since defended it against Rory Mac. Pettis is a monster at Lightweight, submitting Khabib and then flattening RDA with a spinning back kick. He's facing Alvarez next. Aldo won rematches against both Mendes and Edgar and next defends against Conor, who's coming off a first round KO of Swanson. Rousey beat Zingano with a fifth round armbar and next defends against Nunes, who's coming off a KO win against Holm, and DJ is still bossing Flyweight, racking off two submission wins against Jussier Formiga and Brad Pickett. Trying to line up a fight between him and Barao if Barao can win his Flyweight debut.

[WeeAl]

I didn't even know that those games existed Adam. Are they available as a phone app or just on desktop/laptop? I used to have a slight addiction to the old EWR games years ago. 

[AdamTH17]

11 minutes ago, WeeAl said:

I didn't even know that those games existed Adam. Are they available as a phone app or just on desktop/laptop? I used to have a slight addiction to the old EWR games years ago. 

As far as I know, they're only available through laptop.

I'm sure I got WMMA3 for free a couple of years back, but maybe that was an offer because I can only see paid versions now. There is a demo, however, as well as for the two more recent versions, which will have modern updates probably from last month. They have a few members of the forums who are insanely dedicated to uploading mods which are up to date, and there's a few good Youtube tutorials which explain in really simple terms how to download them. It's a really good game, I think. The only tedious side in WMMA3 for me is that offering / negotiating contracts can be a bit of a slog, especially when you have quite a lot of them to go through, but it's not difficult - just boring. I know however in WMMA4 and 5 there is an option to turn on auto-contract renewal.

I'd definitely recommend the demo, though. I'm pretty sure you can download the real world mods to play with it. I like it because you can cater your "world" to suit however you want to book it, essentially. Like in my game, I'm not trying to turn a profit or anything, I just enjoy the matchmaking and seeing how the game world progresses, so I edit the database now and again to maximise my finances and turn on fantasy booking so you won't have fighters refusing fights etc, but then again on the contrast you can start with a grassroots organization and try to build your way up and turn a profit.