UFC 178: Johnson vs Cariaso

[jimufctna24]

McGregor has arrived in the United States 

 

As Rogan said, he looked very loose and relaxed. No one could say McGregor's actions do not match his work, as he projected in the cage that he felt Poirier had little to offer him. McGregor is not unbeaten in his MMA career, but he fought like he was last night, that is how relaxed and loose he was. Regardless of where the knockdown punch landed, McGregor was the boss beforehand, he had little regard for anything Poirier tried.

 

Even when he won, McGregor gave off an aura that it was all a bit routine for him. That is ironic, because McGregor is anything but routine for MMA, he is the best thing to happen in years. I am tempted to say the best thing since Lesnar, or maybe even Chael's resurgence in 2010. I now anticipate McGregor's fights more than Rousey's fights. 

 

It is hard to not get excited. I really hope he goes all the way. Last night he proved he can beat top 10 opposition, which is a huge step forward.

 

Elsewhere

 

- Cerrone has a chin on him!. That first round he was taking some blows from Eddie. I am not a fan, but he performed well last night, and as always he was exciting to watch. 29-28 was a fair score.

 

- Romero vs Kennedy is an odd one. They had a argument backstage after the show, as shown below

 

https://vine.co/v/OZDmEI1XXgI

 

It is a vine video, which is pretty shitty quality, but you get the jist of what Kennedy is saying. Romero has a lot of talent. At 37, he has to move quickly, it is a shame he is not 10-15 years younger, as he is diamond in the rough with his speed, wrestling chops and power. Kennedy did get shafted last night, like him or not. He has a legit gripe. A rematch would be fair

 

- The women's fight was perfectly acceptable. Cat is becoming a bit like the female Big Nog in terms of comebacks. 

 

I only watched the Main show, but from what I saw, the card was very good overall.

[d-d-d-dAz]

To be fair to Romero, it doesn't look like straight up cheating.

 

Their cut man greased him up, and there was confusion over who was supposed to wipe it down. The old guy was screaming at them to leave, and the cut man was telling them to deal with the vaseline.

 

They probably made the most of the confusion, but like Dana said as it was partly caused by a UFC official Herb couldn't have called the fight.

 

I'd say an equally large concern, if not larger, is that Kennedy had two fingers in Romero's glove holding it down when he first got his shots in at the end of round 2. That is just straight up cheating.

 

It is a vine video, which is pretty shitty quality, but you get the jist of what Kennedy is saying. Romero has a lot of talent. At 37, he has to move quickly, it is a shame he is not 10-15 years younger, as he is diamond in the rough with his speed, wrestling chops and power. Kennedy did get shafted last night, like him or not. He has a legit gripe. A rematch would be fair

I'd say even 4/5 years earlier, and he'd still be able to look forward to a 7 year career at the top (at least) that he could grow into and have more than one chance at the gold. As it is, he might get one shot and he'll need to make it count.

[jimufctna24]

To be fair to Romero, it doesn't look like straight up cheating.

 

Their cut man greased him up, and their was confusion over who was supposed to wipe it down. The old guy was screaming at them to leave, and the cut man was telling them to deal with the vaseline.

Agreed

 

But, Kennedy got the rough end of the stick due to other people's incompetence. Romero did gain an unfair advantage, regardless as to whether it was blatant.

 

Romero's flurry to finish the fight was still brilliant though.

[wandshogun09]

Romero vs Kennedy had everything. I legit thought Big John was going to call it when Romero wouldn't stand up.

I'm glad he didn't stop it because we wouldn't have seen Kennedy get smashed, but there's an argument to be made that he probably should've stopped it really. But fuck it. Apparently there was a confrontation backstage between Romero and Kennedy as well afterwards.

 

Guida next?

Nah Guida just got crushed by Bermudez.

 

For McGregor it's got to be either a title shot at the Aldo-Mendes winner, or he gets the Edgar-Swanson winner. At this point anyone else is a step backwards. If one of those four gets injured I'd expect McGregor to be slotted in. It's got to be a title fight or, at minimum, a #1 contender fight now for him. 4-0 with three first round finishes and one over Poirier, he's earned it with more than just his mouth now, that's for damn sure.

 

I could've watched Cowboy/Alverez for 5 rounds. I hope Cerrone gets the props he deserves for this but I fear a lot of people wont know how good Eddie A really is. Cowboy's looking awesome at the moment & another fight where he comes out relatively unscathed! He'll be back in there a the start of next year.

Yeah I wish it was a five rounder. If it was I think Cerrone would've stopped him in round four. Eddie's leg was jacked. I agree as well, most of the comments I've seen have been along the lines of Eddie not being all he was cracked up to be but I don't buy that. I just think Cerrone is on fire at the minute. He's in his career best form and this was his biggest and best career win in my opinion. Alvarez is legit and although it was a competitive fight, Cerrone won convnicingly.

 

I think it'll be Cerrone vs Nurmagomedov next though. And that's where I see Cowboy's streak halting. Rogan and Goldberg were on about Cerrone vs the Nate Diaz-Dos Anjos winner but I don't want that yet. Both beat him handily. Cerrone vs Dos Anjos wasn't that close despite what Rogan says. I think in terms of determining the next title challenger, Donald Cerrone vs Khabib Nurmagomedov is THE fight to make now. The winner of that will have an undeniable case for a title shot.

[Egg Shen]

I agree with what he said in the post fight about this being a new era/fighters widely adopting a muay thai stance, it's a very interesting time in the sport & it feels like we're in a transitional period stylistically

i've been thinking that about myself. I've made a few comments recently on here about being fed up of seeing two very average kickboxers have a kickboxing match in MMA. I started on about it when i started watching Glory Kickboxing more often, watching that makes you realise how average most MMA strikers are. However, there seems to be a shift happening where guys who do something different are just standing out from the pack. McGregor is a great example, you saw another perfect example on the undercard where Stephen Thompson just embarrassed Patrick Cote on the feet. Last nights fights were packed with creative and interesting fighters style wise. There's definitely a shift taking place.

[Dead Mike]

Yeah I was gonna mention the Thompson fight. It seems so foreign when you watch a some adopt that stance as we're so used to the standard kickboxing stance. When it's utliised properly (like Thompson did or Machida does) it'sreally exciting. I was on pins throughout the Thompson/Cote fight as in that Karate, horse stance with his hands by his waist I kept thinking he was one shot away from getting KO'd. 

[wandshogun09]

Mystic Mac doing his thing at the presser;

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=0AO7OYODCGc

 

The man!

 

Love that Rashad story at the end as well. I want an Ivory Elephant Trunk suit.

[herbie747]

[wandshogun09]

Ha, that encapsulates in one picture about 60% of today's Sherdog posts, I'm guessing.

[jimufctna24]

I rarely agree with Rogan, but he made a sound point last night.

 

No one has beaten Poirier like that. It took Zombie 4 rounds to beat Poirier, and Swanson could not finish him. Styles make fights, but no one has been as impressive against Poirier like McGregor was last night.

 

Someone on Sherdog forums was saying that Hector Lombard is like a prime Mike Tyson "but quicker and with better head movement". Like the site, but the forum attracts a very mixed bag of fans.

[lambyUK]

God knows where to start. Everything that needs to be said about Connor has been said. Just awesome. Watching him really is an experience. My heart literally was jumping through my chest for the whole thing.

 

And when Tim Kennedy sees the below, do you think that he will continue his cheating bitching? From this clip, the only reason his upper cuts were connecting to Romero was due to the blatant glove grabbing that didn't allow Romero to defend himself. I hate Tim Kennedy!

 

 

 

Also US MMA Journalistic Kevin Iole truly is an arduous cunt. As Connor walks out, this is his tweet!

 

Kevin Iole ‏@KevinI

I could count many many fights where it was louder for a fighter's entrance. So not sure McGregor is so big outside of Ireland

 

He then proceeded to talk shit about the punch and even started grilling McGregor during the press conference. For me, he's the US equivalent of GAD. He's a old bastard who likes the sound of his own voice.

 

This is him...

 

 

COCK. He even sleazes his way into one of the embedded eps trying to interview Cerrone outside of his bus.

 

I thought Zingano looked absolutely incredible and is a real threat to Ronda. She is lethal in every facet of the game. To survive Nunes' ground and pound was a testament in it's own right. Some think that it showed a weakness in ZIngano's game to allow Nunes in that position, but you can see by the footage that Nunes simply ends up on top by accident.

 

Cruz vs Dillashaw is a no brainer now. If Dillashaw wins, then let that Faber fight happen. If Cruz wins, I would give him Faber after that if Faber wins his next one. Where that leaves Barao I don't know, but perhaps if Barao faces Assuncao and wins, have him face Dillashaw (if he loses) in a no 1 contenders fight.

 

I would like to see Alvarez drop down to featherweight too. Not that he did badly, but the UFC's lightweights are simply too big for him.

[Guy Bifkin]

That was a really enjoyable show, probably the best since I’ve been watching. Although there weren't really any classic fights, we had lashings of drama and emotion in almost every round up to the main event. I’m a bit gutted I bottled out of doing my usual accumulator as all my picks on the main card plus Cruz came in. I just felt too many of the fights were too close to call. I don’t have a great deal to say that hasn't already been covered but quick thoughts –

 

 

Cruz looked incredible! Felt the ref should have stepped in a bit earlier mind. I think a title fight with Dillashaw could have the makings of a classic, and of course if he wins (or even loses) you can do the Faber match further down the line. Love his walkout music.

 

Zingano vs Nunes was probably the best women’s fight I have seen so far, loved it. I hadn’t realised what had gone on in Cat Zingano’s life over the last year so it was another brilliant triumph over adversity following on from Cruz. I think I’ll be rooting for her when she fights Ronda.

 

Kennedy v Romero was mental. You almost feel sorry for Tim Kennedy. Almost. I can’t even pick the bones out of stoolgate but Dana White seemed to suggest it was the UFC cut guys fault rather than his trainer’s?? Romero should have turned on the Vegas crowd at the end, but his interview was hilarious none the less. I have a new favourite middleweight.

 

In my mind, Conor eliminated any lingering doubts that he’s a contender at featherweight. He pasted poor Dustin who has just looked out of his depth all week. For all Conor’s shenanigans, I really think he’s a joy to watch in action. I still think maybe one more fight before the title shot to build the anticipation – perhaps the loser of Aldo vs Mendes or Swanson vs Edgar.

 

I felt a bit sorry for Eddie Alvarez but he run into a fighter who looks to be at the peak of his powers in Cerrone. He put together a good first round but never seemed to rock him too much with that flurry of punches. Cerrone looked to be in complete control after that and picked him apart. Not the war I was hoping for but another impressive performance from Cerrone who must be in the running for fighter of 2014.

 

The main event was, as expected, a bit of a comedown. Mighty Mouse is brilliant, the rest of the division isn’t. I can’t see him losing that belt anytime soon. 

[Chunk]

Also US MMA Journalistic Kevin Iole truly is an arduous cunt. As Connor walks out, this is his tweet!

 

Kevin Iole ‏@KevinI

I could count many many fights where it was louder for a fighter's entrance. So not sure McGregor is so big outside of Ireland

 

He then proceeded to talk shit about the punch and even started grilled McGregor during the press conference. For me, he's the US equivalent of GAD. He's a old bastard who likes the sound of his own voice.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm no Connor McGregor, but even I know that a man as oddly shaped as Iole has absolutely no business tucking a polo shirt into a pair of jeans that terrible:

 

 

Anyone pick out GADs voice in the post fight conference? What a smug bastard; just loves the sound of his own voice. Dana's reaction with pricless though, his body language clearly showed he can't stand the bloke.

[wandshogun09]

I completely missed the glove grabbing stuff in the Kennedy vs Romero fight. Yeah, balls to Kennedy. I only just got chance to watch the full press conference and from what Dana was saying (and a couple of people on here), it wasn't a straight forward case of Romero cheating anyway with the corner stuff because it was a UFC guy to blame for putting too much Vaseline on and then there was a load of confusion in the corner due to the language barrier. The only thing Romero's corner can be blamed for is that Romero sat on the stool too long. That glove grabbing is even dirtier than any of that stoolgate shit, in my opinion.

 

And besides, Kennedy still got fucking battered. Once he knew the fight was continuing then the fight is continuing. He couldn't stop Romero from fucking him up.

 

Reminds me of the Mike Tyson vs Buster Douglas controversy when Tyson knocked Douglas down, Douglas got up at 9 and went on to KO Tyson. But Don King and Tyson insisted the ref's count when Douglas was down went too long, that Tyson got robbed and that Tyson should've won by KO (King: "the first knockout OBLITERATED the second knockout"). Despite the world seeing him get knocked spark out.

 

At that point, regardless of any wrongdoing you felt was done, you still actually got knocked out and the world saw it. No amount of campaigning to the commission will reverse that. Even if they called it a No Contest, we still all saw him get smashed and left looking like a spare rib on the canvas. Just deal with it Kennedy.

 

All that said, I wouldn't mind a rematch. Five rounds on a FS1 or Fight Pass card would be good.

 

Some stuff from Meltzer;

 

--UFC 178 was the No. 2 searched for term in the U.S. yesterday behind only Amal Alamuddin. There were more than 100,000 searches, which doesn't correlate with a big PPV number, but well up from the last show. There was a lead in a story that was in the searches that said "The UFC's most wildly anticipated card of the year is in the books." C'mon, this anticipation of this show couldn't hold a candle to UFC 175.

 

--Dana White claimed the show will do way over budget and credited it to Conor McGregor.

What's he on about "the anticipation of this show couldn't hold a candle to UFC 175?" 175 was really good and there was buzz going in but this was at least equal, if not more from what I was seeing and reading. If 175 still had the Chael vs Wanderlei or Chael vs Vitor fights then it may have been different. But I certainly wouldn't say the anticipation for 178 "couldn't hold a candle" to 175. This was a much deeper card with way more questions going in, more interesting fights, a couple of comebacks and really hard to predict. And the McGregor factor.

[Supremo]

I've seen loads of examples of Kevin Iole proving he's completely clueless when it comes to the business and entertainment side of MMA, but to be fair to the guy, he's somewhat correct here.

 

The reaction to Conor was a bit disappointing on Saturday night. But then it was always going to be when compared to Dublin, where the loudest crowd ever treated him like a God. Plus, nobody has ever claimed that Conor is the finished product. Or that he's the most popular guy in the sport. What everyone has claimed is that he's definitely on his way to being that, most certainly has the potential to be that, and is light years ahead of most people with only four fights in the company. These "louder reactions," Iole has probably heard will be for champions and legends like GSP or Randy Couture. Guys who've been headlining shows for years, and at a time when the product was more popular and nowhere near as diluted. That Conor has achieved so much in so little time, especially in the current climate, is nothing short of miraculous.

 

The problem, of course, is that understanding stuff like this requires a mindset that most MMA fans and journalists don't have. You have to grasp how business works and sense what makes a star. Iole can't even grasp what a mess he looks tucking his shirt in like that, so the odds of him understanding how business works are very slim indeed.