Paid Members Carbomb Posted October 24, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted October 24, 2018 So just how much credence can be given to the claim that 125 is being closed down? Because if it's true, then One FC will legitimately be the best promotion in the world to be in if you're a flyweight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted October 24, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted October 24, 2018 I'm taking this as the next best thing to confirmation that the 125lb division is done, and that they are going to split their two best weight classes and make the 165lb division. With the desire to have a title fight headline every single PPV and the booking nightmare that we see UFC go through almost every time out to make that possible, they just can't dissolve a division without adding another one. If they want to keep 155 and '170' as competitive as they have been whilst adding in 165, then there becomes a need to replenish the fighters in this weight range. That's just my thinking on it. Having said that, Eddie Alvarez just left for ONE. If my guess was correct, then UFC would have likely been more competitive with trying to keep him, so what do I know. Maybe Dana hates Askren less than DJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 24, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted October 24, 2018 Yeah they must be closing their 125 division, mustn't they? I mean people already thought the flyweight pool was shallow. There's no way they'd just let a fighter the calibre of Mighty Mouse go if they had any desire to keep that division around. If they're not folding flyweight then man, if people thought it was weak before then it's pretty fucked now. The biggest fight at 125 right now is surely Cejudo vs DJ 3. Not that it would set the PPV world ablaze or anything but it's the best they've got to work with at flyweight if that division is still going to be a thing. If DJ goes to ONE, what is there? Cejudo vs Benavidez 2? Party. Letting DJ walk would be a big indicator for me that they've just decided to fuck the division off because it's a wasteland without him in terms of interest in the title picture. There's some really good fighters at the weight but if the UFC feel they can afford to lose DJ - the division's first ever champion and the most dominant UFC champ ever - then it doesn't bode well for 125's future. Also, remember Sergio Pettis just signed to fight Rob Font at 135. He's going back up to bantamweight. We thought that seemed a bit odd and desperate when it was announced but it makes sense if flyweight is no more. All signs point to them shutting the weight class. Which makes you think what happens next with the guys in that division? I'm sure most will give 135 a bash but it's not ideal for the smaller guys in the class. And what do they do with Cejudo? He's the lame duck champ here. He's Rhyno when ECW went kaput. Does he just get an immediate title shot at 135 vs Dillashaw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted October 24, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted October 24, 2018 If DJ is to leave the promotion and therefore not fighting Cejudo next, then I would give Cejudo the crack at Dillashaw, in a kind of Championship amalgamation fight. Sort of a 'here's your reward for us taking your belt away already' deal for Henry. Say 125 isn't closing, if I'm making the call, Cejudo doesn't get the BW title fight because there are a tonne of contenders at 135 already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 24, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted October 24, 2018 It's going to be Dillashaw vs Cejudo, I'm almost sure of it. It's really only Marlon Moraes and Raphael Assuncao who outright deserve the crack at TJ. I'm not having that Cruz warrants a shot. He hasn't fought since Garbrandt schooled him nearly two years ago. And Garbrandt is out of the picture for the forseeable as well. It's Moraes or Assuncao. And for PPV, I can see the UFC preferring TJ vs Cejudo over those options because they can tell the champ vs champ story and try to sell it as a 'superfight'. Which is a real stretch but it's how they think these days. Personally I'd prefer TJ vs Moraes of all the options but if 125 is folding then you almost have to go with Cejudo otherwise what else do you do with him? Seems a bit harsh to just go 'Soz, Henry. You're not the champion anymore'. They don't necessarily owe him a shot at TJ but it feels like the right thing to do. Then maybe have Assuncao vs Cruz and Moraes vs Lineker (how awesome would that be?) or something. They'll work it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D@mm Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I would love to see Askren Vs Khabib if they can find a way to do that at the same weight as each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_mole Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 One moves everyone up a weight class, Ben Askren is currently the 185lb champion as they don't want guys cutting a lot of weight, DJ would fight at flyweight but that would be 135lbs. DJ's trainer Matt Hume is a VP of talent or something over there (also helped Pride set up their rules back in the day) basically if One were in the US it would be illegal but it's Asia and most don't care. Horiguchi works for Rizin and he's the best Flyweight outside the UFC, DJ beat him before but he was younger and has more experience now, who knows if they could get him for a fight. Askren has never fought at 155, hes a WW and wrestled at a higher division than Tyron Woodley (both were on the same wrestling team) who knows if he could make it and probably too early for Khabib to go up, so I think they want a GSP fight as I think that's someone GSP would like to fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted October 25, 2018 The Horiguchi rematch is the one outside the UFC that I want to see. I'd still favour DJ but Horiguchi has looked really good since leaving the UFC. It definitely felt like his shot at DJ just came a bit too early in his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted October 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted October 25, 2018 just listening to an Eddie Hearn interview on IFL where he says that Canelo Alvarez signing with DAZN has basically killed the PPV market in America for boxing. Saying that no promoter can justifiably charge $90 for a PPV now because the biggest PPV attraction in the country will be boxing on DAZN for a $9.99 a month fee. He said promoters in America have got to greedy with their PPV prices and has forced the way the market is rapidly changing. Boxing is moving more toward a WWE style network model. Hearn also hinted that that it could be coming to the UK with a bit of a wink. With PPV numbers being down i wonder if the UFC move toward a similar model? moving to ESPN+ is big but the idea for the UFC is to still run PPV dates outside of its smaller shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 At least we now know what kind of tear a fighter has to go on when Dana says they've "got some work to do and can fight in another organization and work their way up." A tear that involves beating the likes of Bakhtiyar Abbasov, Agilan Thani, Shinya Aoki and Zebaztian Kadestam. Wins over fighters like that take you from the level where you're not even worth signing to all of a sudden being worthy of coming in as a highly anticipated guy who could face top 3 or 5 talent. I now await Askren coming in, five years too late and now at the age of 34, having been "retired for a year" only to likely lose to someone like Covington and for Dana to say "Yeah, well, I told you guys he wasn't really as good as you all thought." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Bifkin Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted October 25, 2018 Let's hope he's on about Khabib though, and not Artem Lobov. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted October 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted October 25, 2018 Askren dont want any part of Lobov. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted October 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted October 25, 2018 Oh yeah, when the hell is the Whittaker vs Gastelum fight meant to go down? I only ask because I've just got a bollocking off my wife for clogging loads of the Sky planner up with "my fighting shit". I started going through deleting stuff and saw I had about 6 or 7 episodes of TUF. Didn't even know there was a series on at the minute, turns out I had it on series link. Can't be arsed now and just deleted it all. Did we even bother with a thread for it on here? Anyway, Whittaker and Gastelum are coaching. Completely forgot that got announced. Not bothered about them doing TUF but the fight should be great. When is it though? Had a look online and can't find a date or venue. Is this Dana going all Frank Warren on us? Is it "ON"? Usually the TUF coaches fight on the July and December PPVs but I can't see another title fight getting added to 231 or 232 now. What's the crack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted October 25, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted October 25, 2018 I think it was originally scheduled for December, but has been pushed back to February. It's Whittaker with the injury, as far as I can recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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