The new MMA general news, events and thoughts thread

[The Natural]

Cesar Gracie doesn't help matters either (not just with what he tweeted last week), I've always thought he was an arse.

 

You aren't alone thinking that way.

[Snake Plissken]

Cheers Ebb. I didn't even know Daley was fighting. Whats happening with him and Bellator? I know he had that alleged bar fight which he denied but whats the deal? Is he still with Bellator?

 

Side note - Has anyone else noticed lately in interviews Dana keeps referring to Bjorn Rebney as 'Bjork'? He's not even taking the piss, he seems to genuinely think his name is Bjork Rebney

 

Yes and also Bellator as Viacom MMA. It's quite funny, but will wear thin pretty quick.

[David]

the thing you forget to mention though Dave is that Dana said Fitch is on the way down and that he's expensive, that was the was the key to this whole thing, the UFC clearly need to trim the wage bill and Fitch fits the criteira.

How many fights did Fitch have left on his current UFC deal? Surely they could have waited until his deal expired and offered him a new contract at a reduced pay level?

[Supremo]

Listening to Dana during that scrum addressing the Jon Fitch situation was interesting. Every reason he gave for dropping Fitch could easily apply to the likes of Dan Hardy & Leonard Garcia many times over. .

No it can't. He specifically mentioned how Fitch was, "super fucking expensive," and, "makes a lot of money," which isn't applicable to Hardy or Garcia. Fitch was making over 60 grand to show and 60 to win, whereas Hardy and Garcia are on around 20 to 25 grand to show and win. So you've got a guy making around three times more, yet putting on performances that the paying audience don't enjoy. There's no secret to it. They aren't willing to pay a guy shit loads of money for fights that don't entertain, but what they are willing to do is keep guys around if they put on entertaining fights and/or are contracted to make less money. Dana says it himself; "First and foremost don't ever think this isn't a business because it is."

 

Plus, he also specifically described why he kept both Hardy and Garcia! He described Hardy as some who, "puts it out there all the time," and stated that, "I wanna keep Leonard Garcia because the guy's got fucking heart and he comes in and fights." The differences between Fitch's case and the cases of Hardy and Garcia couldn't have been made clearer. He wants guys who have good fights and stated that, "when you have a bad fight it's not good for any of us."

 

He basically denied that Fitch was released because of his so-called "boring" style.

Again, no he didn't. When asked how guys should fight off the back of these releases he said, "Do you wanna go around and lay on guys? How many people are beating down the door to see any of those guys fight again?" Then he went on to say, "You better fight your fucking ass off, make it good, and win. That's the only way people want to see you. People want to see you when you're exciting. Unfortunate. It sucks. It'd be nice if you could go lay on a guy for three rounds and people would love it and wanna buy all your pay per views. Welcome to the fucking real world." What parts of that are you confused with? He made it as clear as possible that they want exciting fights and fighters and that style will dictate which guys stay and which guys go. I get that you don't like Dana, but don't make shit up and pretend there's this crazy conspiracy wherein they won't admit that they prefer exciting guys and promote according to what they think fans want to see. They're more open about it than ever before.

[David]

I've always said that my main peeve with Dana is that he talks about the NFL in the same breath as the UFC on occasion, as if he's running a legitimate sports league. He did that again in that video.

 

Why? Why did he bring up an example of an NFL player being released when he knew fine well that any reporter worth their salt will simply say "yeah, but that guy isn't a top ten player"? NFL teams don't drop players who perform consistently well and who rank highly, and he knows that.

 

Why not just say "Fitch wasn't exciting enough, he didn't fight in a style that I like and he's getting paid too much money"? Wouldn't that have did the job?

[lambyUK]

Potential bad news for Lamby. Bisping's got some problem with his neck/trapped nerves. Nowhere does it say he's out of UFC 159 but it raises some concerns.

 

Sounds bad;

 

"My right arm, and this is the first time I've mentioned this, I have a trapped nerve in my neck and need surgery on my neck. The way they've described it is that if you stand on a hosepipe, a lot of the water doesn't get through. The nerves along my right arm aren't getting through. You could squeeze my pec, really get your nails into it, and I wouldn't feel a thing. My right arm is so much weaker than my left, it's called atrophy, my muscle is wasting away because nerve signals aren't getting through. I need that taken care of but I've been fighting so much that I haven't had time for the treatment ... My hand, I can't even make a fist because I keep going into fight after fight after fight. Really what I need is six months off -- but I don't want to take six months off. I like what I do, I like to be kept busy."

 

If it's as bad as it sounds he really shouldn't have accepted the Belcher fight, this needs taking care of.

 

Full article is here..

http://www.mmamania.com/2013/2/21/4014126/...cle-atrophy-mma

 

Apologies for not responding to this sooner Wand. With the wedding close it's been manic at my end and haven't had much time for this place.

 

My guts telling me that Bisping will continue with this fight and then take some time off after surgery.

 

If he doesn't, what the hell will they do? I actually can't think of anyone to draft in? Everyone I can think of is currently scheduled.

[METAL ON METAL]

I wouldn't worry too much (yet, at least), he has been tweeting today about starting his camp - saying that he's on weight already.

 

 

 

 

Another thing to remember about Fitch is he is 34 with his best years already gone by, 1-2-1 in his last 4 fights, miles from the title scene and someone who has a history of boring fights - with a big purse.

 

I'd rather he gets cut than two or three mid-card fighters it'd cost to save the amount Fitch got.

[Supremo]

I've always said that my main peeve with Dana is that he talks about the NFL in the same breath as the UFC

Then just say that then. It's a weird gripe to have, as we've discussed in the past, but whatever. Just say it. Whenever Dana mentions the UFC and the NFL or the NBA in the same breath, say that it annoys you. But don't make shit up or pretend there's more to it than there really is because, as I just demonstrated, they're massively open about how they run things, what they want from their fighters and what is likely to get guys cut. That whole scrum was brilliant not only because Dana was going nuts, which is always good for a laugh, but because he was saying everything anyone with a brain has knew for years. Be exciting or they'll cut you. And fuck the rankings because they're always going to book fights and fighters that fans want to see. It's a business. It's a business. It's a business.

 

Anyway, onto Bisping. Now, I know this is a really strange thing to bring up, but after he sat in front of us for a couple of fights at Wembley (and was a top bloke, it pains me to admit) it was something that definitely caught my eye; Michael Bisping has fucking massive hands. I know it's weird, but he really does. As in, almost freakishly large hands. Now, far be it for me to suggest he's on something illegal, but does anyone know if ridiculously large hands is a side effect of using growth hormone? It'd be interesting to know, considering his stance on TRT.

[Supremo]

Dana Q&A that supposedly covers a tonne of subjects.

[lambyUK]

Supremo, according to a few forums and articles I've quickly read, HGH can increase hand and foot size. Unfortunately it doesn't increase the size of your cock, as, well, you probably can guess the rest..

[wandshogun09]

I've always suspected HGH was Randy Couture's PED of choice as well during his career. Just my opinion.

 

Me and my brother were watching UFC 70 recently and Randy was doing his role as the 3rd commentator back then. He came on screen before the Cro Cop vs Gonzaga fight as they were breaking down the fight, well he was fucking humongous. I had to double-take. I remembered him being big back then but christ, he was bursting out of his suit like Hulk. His head was like a basketball as well. Serious HGH head on him.

 

'The Natural' eh?

 

EDIT - Lamby, in the (hopefully) unlikely event that Bisping has to pull out of 159, I'd say Cung Le or Rich Franklin would be good replacements. If not maybe they could throw Shogun vs Little Nog 2 on there instead or something. Unlikely with 159 about 8 weeks away, unless Bisping pulls out really soon.

 

Franklin vs Belcher would be ace (pun intended) actually.

[lambyUK]

Talking of massive heeds, look at Tito Ortiz. Compared to his earlier career his head size now is ridiculous.

[Egg Shen]

That suckers still growing too!

[jimufctna24]

I've always suspected HGH was Randy Couture's PED of choice as well during his career. Just my opinion.

 

Me and my brother were watching UFC 70 recently and Randy was doing his role as the 3rd commentator back then. He came on screen before the Cro Cop vs Gonzaga fight as they were breaking down the fight, well he was fucking humongous. I had to double-take. I remembered him being big back then but christ, he was bursting out of his suit like Hulk. His head was like a basketball as well. Serious HGH head on him.

If you want to use the "no smoke without fire" viewpoint. There were serious rumors around pretty much every forum and place which in unofficial that he used HGH going into the Gonzaga fight.

 

I am not 100% sold he is The Natural either. Tito is another odd one, he used to rant about the Lions Den being full of of riods, but if you want to question his big head, then he is also a hypocrite.

[jimufctna24]

 

Awesome MMA highlight video.