The new MMA general news, events and thoughts thread

[METAL ON METAL]

Call me a pessimist, but I'm not rating anyone until they compete in the UFC and win against decent fighters. If Cormier beats Mir, and maybe goes on to win another one or two fights in the company then I'll buy into it.

 

Isn't that exactly the opposite of what you said about Fedor? Obviously the two don't relate but it's interesting to see you mention that.

 

 

But anyway, back on topic. I think most people know I've never been a fan of Cormier (or AKA in general - bar Swick, Rockhold & Kingsbury) and have been quite critical of him, but even I can admit his performance against Barnett was very good. Will he get to the level of JDS or Velasquez? Probably not (especially given his age), but he's proved to me with that fight that he will have an upper level future in the HW division.

[Bus Surfer]

Funnily enough, Cormier has commented on Frank Mir:

 

"You've got to tip your hat off to the executives at Zuffa for doing something like that and to Frank Mir for doing it. I respect Frank greatly for stepping in and taking this fight. This fight can elevate my status in the sport a ton. The reality is Frank Mir is a guy people from the UFC know, he's been a champion, he's always around the top of the sport. Frank Mir is going to introduce me to the UFC fans a little bit more than I would fighting a different guy. There's no motivation like fighting a champion. I respect Frank, the fight's very similar to Josh Barnett. I think Josh Barnett is better. No disrespect to Frank, but I think Josh is better and I'm going to train as if I'm fighting Josh Barnett again, and let's see how this fight plays out."

 

-MMAMania http://www.mmamania.com/2012/7/26/318848

[Egg Shen]

truth be told, I'd probably pick both of them to beat Frank Mir, too.

 

I would too.

[David]

Isn't that exactly the opposite of what you said about Fedor? Obviously the two don't relate but it's interesting to see you mention that.

Fedor fought in PRIDE when it had arguably the greatest heavyweight division of all time. The company was on an even footing with the UFC (and even better on occasion).

 

Since 2007 though, there's been the UFC then everyone else further down the ladder. I simply don't buy into these guys who fight in Bellator, Strikeforce or wherever and look great. Take Lombard as an example. He was tearing up the non-UFC landscape, but didn't look great once he started thinking that Tim Boetsch wasn't going away and wasn't intimidated by his mean mugging and muscles like his previous opponents. I have no doubt at all that he'll falter against the guys who sit in the top five in that division in the UFC.

 

If Cormier comes in and beats Mir, then puts a few wins together over the likes of a Cheick Kongo, Roy Nelson or a Stefan Struve, then fine. Until he does that though I'm taking his potential with a huge pinch of salt.

 

For the record, I'd pick Frank Mir to beat Josh Barnett if they fought just now.

[jimufctna24]

Sorry, I only scanned Jim's post where he mentions Hendo. The talk of Shogun/Machida/Bader is post Hendo0- Jones then?

 

All this talk of rematches for Jon Jones assumes people don't think Henderson's got much of a chance?

Yes sorry I did not make that more clear.

 

Shogun vs Hendo 2 for the belt would be perfect, its just very unlikely to happen.

 

My post is a assumes that Jones will win on September 1st, which I am very confident he will. So I previewed all the potential challengers with Jones in mind. In the unliekly event Hendo wins, as said Shogun is perfect and Machida would be a fun bout.

 

Bader is the only one who no matter who wins on September 1st I would groan if he someone got a title shot as I think he is the new Matt Hamill, I doubt he will get a title show because Machida is a horrible style matchup for him.

[wandshogun09]

Shogun vs Hendo 2 would be great but I can't see how it could ever live up to the first one. Some fights are just meant to be a once in a lifetime thing. It is one of them pairings though that almost guarantees a classic. They're both just too aggressive for it to be anything short of a war.

 

205 has always been one of the most stacked divisions. And it still is. A weight class which boasts Shogun, Hendo, Machida, Rashad, Rampage, Gustafsson, Griffin, Little Nog, Bader, Thiago Silva, Vera, Bonnar and up and comers like Teixeira, Phil Davis, Maldonado, Pokrajac. It's a deep division. It's just Jones is so dominant he's already nearly cleaned out the division. And he's beating them so convincingly it makes rematches hard to sell.

 

If Hendo beats Jones (which I doubt) then overnight the 205 field looks deep again. It's Jones' awesomeness that's the only thing making 205 look weak.There's plenty of good fighters at 205, it's just that Jones has beat most of them already.

[Egg Shen]

i only just realised that the the 4 guys in the main event/co main event of next week's show are all victims of Jones...4 guys he finished with relative ease, Jones is a f'n wrecking machine.

 

The only guy from the 3 (dicounting Vera) i'd like to see fight Jones again is Lyoto, that first round of their fight was intense, i loved it. He's the only one that's showed that if he fights the perfect fight has the beating of Jones.

[Magnum Milano]

Junkie are reporting Travis Browne vs Bigfoot Silva to headline UFC FX 5 in October. No doubt the fight will change several times over the upcoming months, but it's on tap for the time being.

[wandshogun09]

I like that fight, if it happens. Diego Nunes vs Bart Palaszewski is meant to be on that FX 5 card also, which should be a good one. If they happen.

[Supremo]

Nick Diaz said he'd make an announcement at 4pm today regarding his career. That's 9pm UK time, isn't it? There's been no announcement yet so either I've gotten the times mixed up or Nick Diaz has taken no-showing to a new level by no-showing his OWN announcement!

[jimufctna24]

Says 4pm Pacific Time, after checking its 2.35 Pacific Time right now, so around Midnight our time.

[cutch]

It

[jimufctna24]

It will not happen, but it is great to think about.

 

If this was anyone else I would think they were grandstanding, but Diaz is that mental to challenge Anderson. In reality, he will fight someone like Sanchez or the loser of GSP vs Condit, but it is fun to entertain the fantasy.

 

The shitstorm from fans (David on here)and other 185lbs would be something to behold, whilst it would do big business and in the 800k range, it would borderline too much on novelty when Dana is trying to get networks and the masses to except MMA as a sport.

 

I doubt Nick will be back by years end, maybe March of next year. For the record I think Diaz is the 2nd best straight boxer in MMA along with JDS, but Anderson should murder him at 185lbs or at a catchweight, Diaz is tough and has a granite chin but it would be a case of how much Diaz could take before the ref would call it off or has his lights turned out. Without power and wrestling to trouble Anderson and his aggressive style he is made for Anderson to counter.

[cutch]

I don't think it would do big business (I would say Bisping would do the biggest numbers with Silva outside of a super fight with Bones or GSP or a rematch with Sonnen) his fight with Condit did similar numbers as Bendo-Edgar and I don't think anyone would seriously believe Diaz would win.

[jimufctna24]

I dunno, Bendo vs Edgar had Rampage to support them and yet Diaz still beat it by 25k.

 

Bisping would indeed do very well, maybe 800k is a high estimate for Diaz, but remember Diaz is more infamous now than ever and after the Sonnen fight Anderson is a bigger draw now than ever.

 

Even if fans do not believe Diaz would have a shot the public I think will still want to pay to see both him and Anderson. A good preview show that would be shown on TV in a decent timeslot would help also.